Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Kimchi Stew Set Meal
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Tower's first inventory development!
The first step was 'suffering from old lady worries'.
"No, I'm serious. For real."
This was genuine concern.
Would inventory be treated as underworld tech?
That wasn't the issue.
'Worst case, I can tweak the skill to be shady.'
With inventory, stealing's a breeze.
It'd definitely qualify as thief-exclusive underworld tech.
Conveniently, I had similar experience.
Back when I worked at the mart.
Customers sneaking snacks, fighting the owner, cops showing up.
- Caught on CCTV! Empty your pockets if you're innocent!
- Who you calling a thief?!
The outcome?
After all the screaming, they confessed.
Cops made it too big; they gave up.
But with inventory?
They'd never get caught.
Inventory: must-have for thieves!
True underworld tech.
Perfect for smuggling or theft crimes.
"Hmm."
Suddenly wondered if I should reveal it.
Make it first, think later.
Real worry: my dev skills.
'I can whine it's underworld tech after completion, but during dev? Tough.'
Hard to control direction mid-practice.
Look now.
-ZAP!
"Shit, smells bad."
Ghostly first experiment failure.
Stew's fishy stench scattered in the snow.
Not food smell.
My detection signaled skill failure.
Stuck to underworld tech only.
Even experiments tough solo.
"Gotta get help from Tower Noobs."
Who?
Mage ideal.
That one... Three-Day Worker?
She's first-string raid mage.
Ask her.
'Need demo sample.'
Old classmate who got youth startup grant said.
Show item's uniqueness, marketability, sustainability.
To pass review.
Like webtoon/novel contest.
I slacked thinking month left, got 'tomorrow' KakaoTalk, mental broke.
'Alright, let's do it.'
Laid boards on snow, sat.
Began wrestling hot pot.
How to make inventory?
Easy.
Infinite pot, Anonymous Clone Art.
And Tower Shop.
Key to their common point.
"I tried magic, so I know. Mana convertible to matter."
"Right."
"Main body can't, but ice spear exists."
Yeah~ you can't use cool skills~.
Anyway.
"That's it. Tower Noobs call it mana materialization."
"What's that got to do with us?"
"Ah, got it. We're mana blobs too."
Smart.
Infinite pot makes food,
Clone art makes clones,
Tower Shop makes items.
No materials needed.
Mana alone creates/destroys from nothing.
I focused on commonalities.
And differences.
"Unlike clones, pot/shop byproducts don't vanish."
"Hence our state."
"Starved half-day, then 'kill each other', thought main body snapped."
Shut up.
You're me; human experiment fine.
"Culprit's my doppelganger... ugh."
One sprawled clone groaned dying.
Clone vanishing like Tower monster.
I watched intrigued.
"Interesting..."
"What's fun? What're lives?"
"You human Baek Jeong-uk?"
No, crazies.
It's fascinating.
Human-like clone disperses to mana.
Fuse that mana via skill?
Back to human-like clone.
Cooldown blocks it.
'Process not amazing?'
Matter recovery/storage.
Generation.
All inventory-adjacent.
"Apply principle to items."
"Items?"
"Yeah. Materialize pre-registered items like clones, dematerialize."
Talking clones?
Dictating to memo notepad.
Forget insight, disaster.
No voice phone annoying.
Chat over.
Reset focus.
Glared at pot.
'No need touch space.'
Just hold, erase freely.
Image hard? Think data.
3D print pulls files to reality.
Reverse too.
Skill different?
Near-living clones possible.
Inanimate items? Why not?
'Proof: this pot.'
Food digested loses meaning.
This stew permanent.
To goblin blood/flesh level.
My inventory target.
"Experiment 4. Start memo."
"Yes."
-Squelch.
Infused pot mana, scooped ladle.
Eternal materialized mana sample.
My mana stew.
'Revert to... my mana...!'
Sweated focus.
Not hard.
Well, fucking hard, but possible.
Why? Done similar tech before.
'Same as Clone Art.'
Advanced arrange copying gear.
Item to mana, restore.
Mana to matter, matter to mana.
Natural procedure done many times.
'Reproduce other matter!'
Splash-!
Scooped stew evaporated.
Back to mana.
"Whoa shit! Did it!"
"It works."
"Main body's not human..."
Cheers me, clone quips.
Give joy time, brats.
"You can't, so I'm doing this."
Subordinate talents too?
Why clones easier jobs?
Wiped sweat, sighed.
"Tch. 1/4 success bad."
"Commercialization tough?"
"Rare item evaporates on fail? Lawsuit."
I know, brats.
"Told you. Need partner. Can't register this 'Dataize' skill."
"Lab急求... memo..."
"Main body... no grad student... can't research... memo..."
Initially anxious.
Tech impossible?
But no.
Tower has inventory-like.
'Tower Shop.'
Tower Shop.
Trades items for Tower currency.
Guided by it.
Nodded clone.
"Hey, fake Jeong-uk! Fetch spare spear!"
"Yes."
Clone fetched orc glaive.
Shoved to Tower Shop.
Asked etc. gallery earlier.
How vets dispose junk.
They said sell Tower Shop if excess.
Vets say so, trust once.
"Sell item."
Works.
Gallery helps life.
'Wait stop.'
You bastard halt.
Starter longsword 3 nyang, this 1?
"Card sharp? Wanna get hit, boss?"
Beating has limits.
How much profit gouging.
Mad, sold anyway.
New item in Tower Shop.
Orc Glaive listed.
Whoa! Sold 100 won, rebuy 500!
Rice prevention thorough.
Go pawn shop, vultures.
"Better sell hardware store?"
"Sell too many, ID exposed?"
"Common floors trash drop; 10+ spears suspicious."
Yeah.
Pocket money good.
Sold spear jingled as coins.
Side hustle decent.
That's why smirk.
What?
Item to data, data to item skill?
"Perfect inventory. What I sought."
Saw it.
Selling orc glaive to Tower Shop.
Glaive reverting to mana.
"Act aloof, peel layer: Tower Shop mere skill."
System part?
Tower function?
Bullshit.
Like etc. gallery.
World Tree server etc. gallery, Tower-engraved Shop: twins.
Thus.
"No reason I can't make similar."
Personal material conversion skill.
In other words, inventory.
"You do, I do."
Glared distant Red Tower.
Sat again.
Resumed clone research.
"Clones smooth cross-section. No internals."
"Say that after slicing arms?"
"Back off aaaack."
Lucky me.
No Clone Art or infinite pot? Screwed.
Popular Post Carver thanks Tower grace today.
Wanna choke Tower later too.
After more toil.
Declared satisfied.
"Good. Mana ↔ food conversion mastered."
Etc. gallery flip, Pseudo-Dragon Raid scramble supply cheat.
Complete.
'Leak to Tower Noobs, aggro draws inventory dev supporters.'
And feed some eye-sore Tower Noobs.
"Ahem."
Anyway.
Infinite pot? Useless now.
-Splash!
Reached; honey pork stew poured snow.
Baek Jeong-uk here.
Mana summons honey pork stew from air.
"Jambap jambap fruit user!"
"Attach severed leg, regrow?"
"That's my leg, give back."
Local news noisy.
Forget your meat sacrifice.
'No climbing today. Clones collapsed.'
But Popular Post fine.
Grinned.
Mastered food creation: other foods too.
Who am I?
Sausage seller butcher.
'And Magnolia Butcher Shop owner!'
Meat/sausage stew?
Easy.
First: kimchi stew.
Tied apron tight, grinning.
Summoned shop's signature.
"Power turns mana to thin-sliced beef kimchi stew!"
Mana surged, gathered.
Light flashed.
Full table set before me.
Bright red porridge, dubious chunks afloat.
"?"
"?"
"?"
Blank stares with clones.
Limbless corpses (not) rolling.
Center: bubbling blood broth.
Obvious [Data Deletion].
Hm.
Well, uh.
"...Screenshot first?"
Great men say,
Failure mother of success.
Today's Popular Post set.
(Bubbling bright red soup)
Failed
Hug me
"...Pfft."
44th floor.
Climber Jeong Chae-ah snickered.
Layer prisoner.
Term for climbers stuck unable return safe major layer.
Applied to Chae-ah.
Vroooom-!!
Distant wingbeats.
Chae-ah wiped smile, huddled cave.
Minutes breathless.
"Hoo..."
Monster hunt aura gone.
Chae-ah hid longer, gallery-focused.
'Love etc. gallery this.'
Sound/light hallucinations.
Hide hours undetected.
Gallery huge difference.
Thus.
Chae-ah pondered, commented.
(Spam kimchi stew rice photo)
Gallery Master gave giftcon
Thanks
Will eat well
44th floor backdrop Chae-ah proof post.
Gallery uproar meanwhile.
Chae-ah ignored gallery first time.
"Aaa...! Hwaaaaang...!"
Just cried.
Shoved rice mouthfull.
Home taste missed.
Safe zone denied taste.
As long tongue held memory,
Chae-ah could live tomorrow.