Lumi (2)
- Kkoo-ung!
Lumi let out a short, adorable cry and swished its tail.
At once, blue light soared into the air once more.
"Whoa."
"What the hell is this?"
Awe burst from the teammates watching behind them.
Particles of blue light gathered one by one and painted a massive holographic interface across empty space.
The Wandering Merchant ‘Lumi’ opens the shop.
The shop can only be used by Climbers.
Owned TC: 4,121
"Insane……."
Baek Yeon-ho muttered under his breath.
A shop UI they had only ever seen in games was unfolding before their eyes in reality.
The interface was intuitive and polished, divided into five broad categories.
[Daily Shop]
[Monthly Shop]
[Information Purchase]
[Relocate Lumi]
[VIP Lounge (Locked)]
For the moment, every last TC was in Hyun Si-woon’s possession.
Shall I look through them one by one?
He pointed first at the Daily Shop.
Chaa-rruk!
A new window unfurled, revealing a short list of goods.
Seven items in total.
No time limits, no stock limits—buy them whenever you liked.
……These are ridiculously cheap.
Combat rations, snacks, drinking water—everything tied directly to eating and drinking.
Back at the camp, a pack of ramen cost 5 TC and a cut of pork belly went for 50 TC……
This was practically free.
"Let's buy a few first and check them out."
Hyun Si-woon did not hesitate.
He meant to secure food for his hungry teammates before anything else.
"Six combat rations, six special snacks, six waters."
The moment he pressed the holographic buttons, his TC dropped from 4,121 to 4,085 in an instant.
At the same time—
- Kkoo-ooo!
Lumi let out a satisfied cry and spat small orbs of light from its chest.
The orbs hit the ground with soft pops and became solid objects: sealed combat-ration packs, dessert boxes, and hefty jugs of water.
"Ooooh!"
"They actually come out?"
"Smell that! Smell it! Something delicious!"
Hwang Dae-un reacted first.
He sniffed hard and snatched up one of the combat-ration packs.
Unbelievable lettering was printed across the packaging.
"Huh?"
Hwang Dae-un’s pupils dilated.
The others checked their own packs and could not hide their shock.
"C-crazy!"
"Is this for real?"
This was combat ration?
Not dry hardtack or bland energy bars.
These were the exact home-cooked meals they had eaten every day before the world fell apart.
"U-uhheee……!"
Hwang Dae-un tore open the stir-fried pork pack with trembling hands.
Hot steam and a sharp, spicy aroma billowed out.
Inside the plastic tray sat white rice, glossy stir-fried pork, kimchi, and a simple rolled omelette—everything perfectly arranged.
This was enormous.
Even the camp never served food like this.
In a world where pork belly alone sold for 50 TC, a meal of this quality for a mere 2 TC?
In the apocalypse, food of this caliber would be worth more than anyone could imagine.
"H-Hyeong-nim! I can eat it, right?"
"Eat."
The instant permission left Hyun Si-woon’s mouth, Hwang Dae-un shoveled meat into his mouth.
Tears welled in his eyes.
"Khhhk! I-it’s good! It’s so good!"
That was the signal flare.
Everyone started eating.
Forgotten taste buds seemed to come roaring back to life—pure, overwhelming emotion.
"And what’s this?"
After the meal, Jang Cha-yul began opening the special snack boxes one by one.
Inside were slices of strawberry cream cake, chocolate bars, and even vanilla ice cream still rimmed with frost.
"I-ice cream? How does it not melt……?"
The conclusion was already clear.
Lumi’s Daily Shop existed to erase the daily miseries of a ruined world.
"Lumi is a miracle, Hyeong-nim."
Something close to religious awe already shone on Hwang Dae-un’s face.
"No—Lumi is just a god. Uuuhheee!"
A big guy like that.
The things he had been doing lately were almost cute.
"Let’s look at the rest."
Hyun Si-woon bought the remaining items in bulk—low-grade recovery potions, both kinds of scrolls, and the space-expansion backpack—so he could examine each function one by one.
First, a small glass vial filled with red liquid.
This item never existed inside the Tower.
The Tower of Despair had no potions.
Every recovery had to come from healing skills.
- Its effect will be similar to healing. Quite useful for scrapes and light internal injuries. Better to sell it to the community than use it yourself. You’ll make a tidy profit.
Ha-wol supplied the explanation.
Could be useful.
Baek Do-hee’s Healing Light had a cooldown.
In a crisis, potions would raise their survival rate considerably.
At only 2 TC apiece, stocking a few for emergencies felt reassuring.
"And these scrolls……"
- Tear one open. You’ll understand soon enough.
Okay.
Riiip!
The instant he tore it without hesitation—
Using ‘Wind of Purification’.
Contamination of body and all equipped gear is perfectly purified.
Chaa-rruk!
Cool, clear water began to wrap around Hyun Si-woon’s entire body.
"……!"
His eyes widened.
The sticky grime and fatigue that had piled up inside him washed away in a single rush.
Skin filthy with sweat and dust turned soft and fresh; matted hair felt as clean as if he had just stepped out of a shower.
"Whoa, what?"
"What did you just do, Hyeong-nim?"
The surprises did not stop there.
Clothes stained with dirt and even the backpack on his back turned brand-new the moment the wind brushed past.
Everything dried perfectly as well.
"Like an auto-shower coupon. Cleans every item you own too."
Price: 5 TC.
Extremely cheap.
They knew in their bones how hard it was to stay clean in an apocalyptic world.
One of these scrolls solved every bit of that hardship in an instant.
Next.
Riiip!
He tore this one open as well.
The scroll melted into the still air, and a sensation like an invisible transparent film settling over the surrounding area brushed against his skin.
Using ‘Wind of Silence’.
A Barrier of Silence is generated for 8 hours within a 10 m radius.
The Barrier of Silence conceals all presence inside and blocks approach by beasts of Rank 7 or lower.
"Oh."
A barrier that guaranteed safety?
With this, the burden of standing night watch would drop dramatically.
And the final item.
◈ Internal space expands to three times the external size, and weight-reduction magic lightens stored items by 80 %.
◈ Can store only real-world items that do not link with the item window.
"Heh."
Hyun Si-woon let out a dry laugh.
Only moments ago his pack had been stuffed full of food and gear and felt heavy as lead; he transferred every last item into the new backpack.
Even then, more than half the space remained empty.
What shocked him most was the weight.
A load that had easily exceeded thirty kilograms now felt light as a feather.
"Dae-un."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim!"
"Try this on."
Hyun Si-woon held out the pack.
Hwang Dae-un took it without thinking—and staggered.
"Wh-whoa? Why is it so light? There’s stuff inside, right?"
"Everything. Including what was in your pack."
"What?!"
The shock on Hwang Dae-un’s face spoke for every teammate.
The single greatest constraint on movement—weight—had just been solved.
They could now carry more food and more equipment farther, and far more lightly.
- Kkoo?
Lumi, who had watched everything, tilted its head and tapped Hyun Si-woon’s pant leg as if asking, My goods are pretty good, right?
He bent down and stroked the fluffy head.
Now I understand why Ha-wol went crazy over this.
The Daily Shop alone was this good.
Even this much already filled his head with business plans—and there was still more.
"Next, Monthly Shop."
He tapped the tab.
Woooong!
The entire screen flooded with gold light, and a single item appeared, radiating overwhelming presence.
"……."
Twenty thousand TC.
This one was expensive.
But looking at the features, it was worth every coin.
It costs a fortune right now…… but once more time passes, climbers will line up to buy it for even more.
Can’t afford it yet, though.
Hyun Si-woon moved on to the remaining categories.
There was quite a lot of information for sale.
Hiddens on each floor, boss weaknesses, data on server Rankers, and more.
Not bad either.
It was basically buying cheat keys with TC.
Of course it meant little to Hyun Si-woon; most of those hiddens already lived inside his head.
Still.
He had always wondered how climbers from other worlds had managed to climb this absurdly difficult Tower and become Rankers……
It seemed Lumi had been the reason.
And then—
[Relocate Lumi]
For 3,000 TC, Lumi can be moved to any location within the Republic of Korea.
[VIP Lounge (Locked)]
Completely grayed out and unselectable. Must be unlocked with specific undisclosed information.
He cast a sidelong glance at Ha-wol, but she only shook her head.
A rule violation, apparently.
"Okay. Everyone listen up."
At his low voice the team’s eyes snapped to him.
What needed doing first rose in his mind by pure instinct.
"First, we move Lumi."
This desert fox was a treasure of an ownerless mountain.
Now that they had claimed it first, he intended to carry it deep somewhere no one else would notice—somewhere the blue pillar of light would never reach the sky.