The Exclusive Contract
A spear shot up from beneath my feet.
Back Step
The spearhead grazed my greaves as I retreated, narrowly avoiding the thrust. But the danger wasn’t over yet.
A barrage of arrows flew in succession. I manifested Polar Night into a wall and deflected them all on the spot.
“I know.”
I used my nimble hind legs, kicking off the ground and surging forward. I then activated Full Sprint to maintain the momentum.
Lightning Bolt
Spear Trap
A bolt of lightning crashed toward the crown of my head while a long spear hurtled straight at me with lethal force.
My sixth sense, one step ahead, screamed a warning. I raised my right hand.
Mana Absorb
The vivid blue lightning was swallowed by a dark crimson mist. At the same time, I released my internal energy and used the Homi-jo to deflect the spear tip.
The spearhead bounced away harmlessly. I had distributed my power perfectly, altering its trajectory.
The deeper I pushed into the passage, the fiercer the trap onslaught became, but it still wasn’t enough to restrict my movement. Though the trap locations were random, the types that appeared were fixed. With the abilities I had absorbed from the essences so far, I could pass through without taking a single hit.
The God of War of Olympus is impressed by your movements.
The Master of the Corrupted Throne expresses satisfaction at the mouth of greed you have provided.
The Evil of the Heavens expresses disappointment at the low level of achievement and application in your martial arts.
Many Constellations are paying close attention to your movements.
Because of Ares’s threat, the Constellations couldn’t send direct messages. Still, I could feel countless gazes watching me with interest from the Pantheon beyond the ceiling.
“Popular? They’re the type who’d lose interest the moment I slip up once.”
Well, she had a point.
I answered Nyx with a faint smile.
As I continued smashing through the traps without slowing down, a space bathed in green light appeared ahead.
“No. It’s a midpoint. A place to rest.”
I opened the status panel.
Time Remaining — 23:27:10
Thirty-three minutes to the midpoint. “Breaking the record again shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Four hours and eleven minutes.”
Nyx flew up to the top of my head with a little *boing* and began stroking my hair.
Good grief. Ever since she touched my head last time, she’s been doing this every chance she gets.
The midpoint on the third floor was a space that restored stamina, mana, internal energy—everything consumed while breaking through the traps. Time spent here didn’t count toward the mission timer, so you could rest as much as you wanted.
Not that I had anything to recover. Thanks to the blessing of the Earth Mother and the Dragon Heart, my stamina and mana were overflowing. I had used up a bit of Polar Night energy during the run, but the darkness I had spread throughout the passage allowed it to recover almost instantly. As for my internal energy, I had conserved it as much as possible in case of unexpected variables.
“Guess I’ll just do a bit of cultivation.”
I sat down and began circulating the Three Talents Qi Gong.
Small Heavenly Circuit.
Using the simplified form of qi cultivation, the depleted internal energy quickly replenished itself.
At the midpoint, you may use the Midron Merchant Alliance.
You can randomly summon a merchant or input a code to call a specific individual.
Each merchant’s inventory may vary depending on their race.
“Yeah.”
I recalled the memories from before my regression and entered the code.
You have selected Merchant Mors using code #7693.
In a flash of light, a gnome appeared. He blinked several times before looking up at me.
* * *
Mors.
A resident of Oldarin, a dimension absorbed by the Tower of Babel.
The reason I knew so much about him was simple.
He was going to become a big shot.
In 2035—ten years from now—Mors would become so famous that no player wouldn’t know his name. Among all gnomes, his ability to craft equipment was second to none. He possessed an exceptional talent for creating auxiliary gear like rings and necklaces.
His dexterity wasn’t limited to equipment crafting alone. It also affected the performance of consumables used during missions.
The title Meister referred to the gnome merchant with the greatest craftsmanship among all gnome merchants. The very gnome standing before me with a dazed expression was the one who would one day earn that title.
“Um… did I get selected just now?”
“Yeah. I picked you.”
“I only just registered as a merchant. How did you know my code…?”
“If you don’t want to trade, I’ll call someone else.”
When I waved my hand dismissively, Mors looked like he was about to grab my leg.
“N-no! Welcome, honored customer!”
“Good.”
I crossed my arms and looked down at him arrogantly.
Nyx whispered in my ear. Sharp as always.
I gave a slight nod in response.
“Honored customer, I have some decent mission-related items. Would you like to take a look?”
Mors opened the bundle on his back.
“Wow, is that your summon, customer?”
“Yeah. It’s my summon.”
Nyx shrieked.
My lady, if you look like that and claim to be the Goddess of Night, who’s going to believe you?
“Ahem. These glasses reveal the locations of traps. They last for ten minutes.”
Nyx let out an impressed “Ooh.”
“Yeah. I’m not buying them.”
“Using that would deduct from the time limit.”
Mission-related items, as I had learned in the tutorial, were purchased by spending the points or records earned in that mission. The theme of the third floor was time attack. Buying items would make the mission easier, but it would also worsen the record.
“Even so, I’m not going to waste it on useless items.”
Mors made a subtle face. Probably because my words had just turned him into the guy selling useless items. He tried to compose himself.
Well, he really did have immense pride in his work, didn’t he?
“You made them well, but I don’t need them.”
It was the truth.
The Midron Merchant Alliance had many merchants. While the types of mission-related items were similar across floors, their efficiency wasn’t the same. For example, even the same Owl Glasses might cost one merchant seventy-five minutes.
Mors really was different from the start. Even as a rookie merchant, his item efficiency was on another level. A promising sapling truly shows its quality from the very first leaf.
“What about regular items?”
Mors opened the bundle in his right hand.
Regular items were equipment that could be used not only on this floor but anywhere else in the tower.
“You’ll find plenty of uses for them as you climb the tower.”
Nyx’s eyes sparkled.
“I also have some accessories that would suit your summon…”
“I didn’t call you here to buy that kind of thing today.”
I cut Mors off before he could get too excited.
“Y-yes?”
“I want to sign an exclusive contract with you.”
“Wait, customer. Did you just say… exclusive?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Mors frowned.
“I was already nervous because it’s my first trade, and now I get a weird customer.”
He spat on the ground.
Yeah. The Mors I remembered from before my regression was exactly this kind of crooked guy.
“Customer. Do you even know what an exclusive contract means?”
“It means I want you to become my personal merchant who only serves me.”
An exclusive contract meant the merchant would be excluded from random matching and would instead be automatically assigned every time I undertook a mission. The greater the player’s achievements, the more benefits the exclusive merchant would receive.
That was why high-ranking players often signed exclusive contracts with capable merchants.
“You know way too much for your own good. But you’ve got the wrong guy.”
“Take a look at my record. I think you’ll change your mind.”
Mors checked the mission status with a suspicious look. A moment later—
“C-customer… are all these records real?”
His attitude flipped in an instant.
“Why? If you don’t like it or don’t trust me, you can leave.”
“No, honored customer! I spoke nonsense without recognizing someone so esteemed!”
Mors slapped his own mouth with his right hand.
“A mouth that speaks ill must be punished. I shall punish it myself.”
Slap. Slap.
A gnome hitting his own lips.
“Aren’t you being a little too honest?”
“You heard her.”
The moment I spoke, Mors stopped his self-flagellation.
Wow. To think I could move a future Meister with just three inches of tongue. All thanks to the knowledge from before my regression.
I swallowed my laughter and proceeded with the contract with Mors.
An exclusive contract is being formed between Player Yu Jinho and Merchant Mors.
Yu Jinho will only buy and sell items from Mors while climbing the tower.
Mors will be excluded from random merchant matching and will receive additional performance bonuses each time the exclusive contractor sets a new tower record.
The contract will be established once both parties agree.
“I agree!” Mors shouted at the top of his lungs. He looked terrified that I might change my mind.
“I agree to the contract.”
Ziiing—
An invisible string connected the two of us.
“An exclusive contract with someone who keeps breaking the highest mission records in a row… Is this a dream or reality?”
Mors muttered with a deeply moved expression.
If the Mors from before my regression saw this, he would have clicked his tongue and tried to stop him.
I hid my true feelings and held out my hand to Mors.
“I’ll be counting on you from now on.”
“Hehe, the pleasure is all mine.”
Our hands met.
Come to think of it, I should give him a gift to commemorate the contract.
“I’d like you to dispose of an item for me.”
“Your first request is a sale?”
“It’s a reward I received, but it’s useless to me.”
I handed over the C-rank Constellation Contract.
“T-this item…?!”
“How much CP can I get if I sell it?”
“An item that arranges a contract with a Constellation? It should fetch at least two thousand!”
It was a non-transferable item. I couldn’t give it to another player, but I could sell it to a merchant.
The Midron Merchant Alliance judged merchant ranks by two criteria: how much they sold to players, and how well they purchased valuable items.
If he took the C-rank Constellation Contract, he could raise his merchant rank by two levels.
“Since this is our first trade, I will use every connection I have to sell it for the highest price possible!”
“Good.”
“Is there anything else you need?”
“It’s about time I went to break the third-floor record.”
“Hehehe, I wish you great fortune in battle, Player Yu Jinho.”
Mors disappeared in a flash of white light.
A heavy silence settled over the passage.
Alright. Time to go see the end of this floor.