TC Business (1)

The routine was set.

As always, we gathered at the first light of dawn. After roughly two hours of physical conditioning, we tore into our meal. That meant opening the combat rations purchased at four in the morning. Warmth was never a concern. Combat rations were items; pull them from the inventory and their freshness remained perfectly preserved.

And after that? The mornings belonged entirely to martial training.

"Heup!"

"Haat!"

Heavy shouts of exertion rolled across the open clearing on the camp's outskirts—our private training ground. The members poured sweat as they polished their individual arts.

Tsk tsk.

Ha-wol drifted overhead in her spirit form, circling the field and dissecting every motion with a hawk's merciless eye. Any corrections would be delivered later through Hyun Si-woon's mouth once training ended.

"Dae-un."

"Yes, hyeong-nim!"

"When you swing that blunt weapon your waist turns too soon. Plant your feet completely into the ground first, then rotate the waist—only then does the power land. Rebuild it from the lower body up."

"Ah… Understood! I'll keep that in mind!"

"Cha-yul noona."

"Yeah."

"When you thrust the spear, exhale and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think of sending the energy from your dantian straight to the tip. A plain stab and a strike loaded with qi are worlds apart in power."

"…Got it. I'll try again."

Hyun Si-woon pinpointed each flaw with the precision of a master who saw through everything. To the members it was almost supernatural.

That was just one slip I corrected myself on the next move…

Does that bastard have eyes in the back of his head?

Even so, how does he catch every single one of our five mistakes while running his own training?

In their eyes, Hyun Si-woon was already beginning to look absolute.

Just then—

"Come eat, all of you!"

A warm call from one of the aunties announced lunch. Starved from training, the members headed for the mess hall as if by prior agreement.

The dining hall was a communal kitchen run voluntarily by the camp residents. Today's menu: steaming white rice, earthy soybean-paste stew, and fresh namul side dishes made from vegetables just pulled from the garden plots.

"Khh… This is the real deal."

Baek Yeon-ho scooped up a generous spoonful with pure admiration.

"You couldn't even dream of a spread like this in a city camp. People really do need to keep their feet on the dirt."

It was delicious. A cup of freshly drawn goat's milk was so cool and rich it tasted like pure honey.

After lunch came roughly two hours of free time. Kang Si-a and Jang Cha-yul helped residents with the newborns; Hwang Dae-un worked up a fresh sweat playing ball with the children; Baek Do-hee used her medical knowledge to check on the elderly.

Hyun Si-woon watched it all quietly from a window.

Not bad.

His teammates were blending into the camp—and into these people—as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Who knew? This might not stay a temporary shelter forever. It might become a real home they could lean on.

When the two hours ended:

"Time's up. Let's go."

Hyun Si-woon led the members to Pungjo. Hunting time.

They now needed to stage expeditions into the cities near Wonju, kill beasts, and haul back TC and miscellaneous loot. The real TC farming was about to begin.

Pungjo.

Hyun Si-woon laid a hand on the horn and passed his will.

Take us to yesterday's spot. Once we arrive, head straight back to camp, then come pick us up again in four hours.

Kkirururuk!

Pungjo was sharp. It understood its master's command perfectly and gave a firm nod.

The arrangement existed for the camp's safety—just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in case. Hunting itself was simply training continued by other means: a chance to apply everything learned that morning under real pressure.

After returning to camp they ate dinner, then each member reviewed their martial arts and spent time circulating their energy. It was the hour to melt away the day's fatigue and prepare for tomorrow's training. Naturally, every TC they had accumulated was handed over to Hyun Si-woon.

Once energy circulation ended came pure personal time. Everyone retreated to their rooms and eventually drifted into quiet sleep. Night watch now required only one person for two-hour shifts on alternating days—hardly a burden. Compared to the brutal camping life of before, this was pure heaven.

Then four in the morning arrived—the hour when everyone else lay in deep sleep. Hyun Si-woon opened his eyes right on schedule. He rose silently from the bed.

Time to go.

His destination was the basement of the annex building. In the darkness Lumi, who had been dozing with its tail swaying, cracked open its eyes at the approaching presence.

Kkoo?

From four to five a.m.—exactly one hour. The only window when Lumi's shop opened.

Just as expected. The basement filled with a mystical blue glow, yet the thick walls and earth sealed every last ray, preventing even a sliver of light from leaking outside.

TC: 1,875. Today's four-hour hunt had netted roughly 800 TC—a solid figure. Back in the old days even scraping together 100 TC had been brutal.

Good.

Hyun Si-woon intended to grow this sum in earnest now. Back in Ha-wol's climbing days Rankers had been everywhere, yet she had still squeezed profit from Lumi. How? The answer lay in the Tower Community system's Exchange function. The Exchange was a space reserved exclusively for Climbers. Rankers had no means of interfering with the goods traded there, because remote transactions were possible.

"…Community."

At Hyun Si-woon's soft murmur the familiar hologram window bloomed before his eyes.

The population had grown. It used to hover around 83,000.

Hyun Si-woon tapped the Exchange tab without hesitation. Countless posts flooded the scroll.

…And so on. The board was surprisingly lively. It carried a different heat from the party-finding or information boards.

The transaction system was simple. A seller registered an item and set a price; the moment a buyer paid the TC, the item transferred automatically from the seller’s inventory to the buyer’s. Real-world objects could not be traded. Only items recognized by the Tower’s system could enter inventories—and therefore be exchanged. Every single thing Lumi sold was unmistakably an item.

Time to test the waters a little.

Hyun Si-woon approached Lumi and purchased ten of every item the shop offered that day. Two hundred eighty TC vanished in an instant. His balance dropped to 1,595, yet he felt not the slightest regret.

Kkoo! Kkoo-oo!

Lumi bounced with delight, tail flapping furiously as it spat out orbs of light nonstop. In moments the floor was buried under a mountain of various items.

Hyun Si-woon immediately pressed the Exchange’s “Register Item” button. His inventory window opened, the freshly purchased goods gleaming inside.

First up: the piping-hot kimchi-jjigae rice set. He had hoped to list them as combat rations, but the moment they were purchased from Lumi the items locked into finished food form—no choice.

There’s a fee too, huh.

No free lunches anywhere. Who collected that fee—the Tower Lord? The system itself? Impossible to know for now. What mattered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the pricing.

Cost is 2 TC… so what price will spread the word best?

Too expensive and no one would buy; too cheap and the margin evaporated. The smart play was to probe the market’s reaction and adjust gradually.

Let’s try 3 TC as a taste test.

After the 2 TC cost and 0.3 TC fee, each sale left 0.7 TC profit. Thin margins, high volume. The priority was to shock the market first.

Hyun Si-woon typed the number “3” into the price field. He set the same price for all ten varieties of meals, snacks, and bottled water. Then he wrote the title.

Stars for visibility… Someone would notice for sure.

Heh.

Next.

His gaze shifted to the remaining inventory: low-grade healing potions, two kinds of scrolls, and the spatial expansion backpack. These carried strategic value on an entirely different level from food.

Potions.

Ha-wol had been right. Baek Do-hee’s healing cooldown was longer than expected. The razor-thin gaps that opened mid-battle—if those could be plugged, survival rates would skyrocket. Instant-effect items that put the crude bandages and disinfectant sold in camp to shame. Their true worth was almost impossible to convert into TC.

I could price these a bit higher…

But the first drop was still a sampler. The goal was to explode demand and plant a craving for “Lumi Shop brand” items.

Cost 2 TC, fee 0.4 TC, net 1.6 TC profit per bottle. Hyun Si-woon nodded in satisfaction.

Next came the scrolls. He pressed the icon for the Wind of Purification scroll.

In a ruined world he knew bone-deep how precious “cleanliness” truly was. Beyond merely banishing grime, it was the most basic shield against disease and infection. More than that, it delivered mental stability. Staying perpetually comfortable would do wonders for morale.

Female Climbers especially are going to love this.

Smiling, he set the price.

Then the Wind of Silence scroll. Its value was even more special. Safe rest. Sleeping soundly through the night without the constant dread of a beast attack—anyone who had ever camped knew how decisively that affected a Climber’s condition. For solo Climbers especially it would be nothing short of a lifeline. He priced it identically.

And finally—the crown jewel of every item: the Spatial Expansion Backpack. This one he had no intention of dumping at volume-sale prices. A Rare-grade convenience item hitting the market for the first time. Its scarcity and value would be whatever the market decided to pay.

Goods obtained outside the Tower never entered an inventory. Food, foraged herbs, lucky relics of the old civilization—everything had to be carried on one’s back. That was the Climbers’ reality. Freedom from the crushing weight and bulk translated directly into survival power.

Even as a sampler, this has to prove its worth clearly.

Even scraps of pork belly were selling for 50 TC these days. A permanently usable Rare-grade bag?

Hyun Si-woon considered for a moment, then entered a bold yet reasonable figure.

Honestly, wasn’t this obviously worth more than pork ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠belly? Still just a probe. If demand exploded he would raise the price later.

With every listing complete, Hyun Si-woon swept a satisfied gaze across the hologram. His sales posts sat neatly side-by-side at the very top of the Exchange—like a perfectly arranged banquet.

All right.

He closed the community window and gave Lumi’s head a gentle stroke.

The fishing rod is cast and the bait is scattered.

All that remained was to wait for the big ones to bite.