The Aching Finger Has Arrived

Cho Sanghyuk's post had sparked an explosive reaction.

Reading the comments scrolling by in real time, Cho Sanghyuk furrowed his brow.

Awakeners these days, so utterly crass. Tsk, tsk. And who on earth is it he's "seeing all the time"? Yun-ju? Or Se-jeong?

Then again.

"He truly has no idea."

If anyone had witnessed the cataclysmic event that had just unfolded, not a single soul would have been spouting nonsense about floor limits or how far anyone could climb.

At that moment—

Ping—

Yu Jaewoo appeared before him once more.

He smiled gently and said, "That took less than a minute, didn't it?"

Cho Sanghyuk, suppressing the urge to check the community forums, replied, "Not even close."

"Floor 50 is open now, right?"

"Yes. Jaewoo, you truly are... nothing short of a national treasure."

Yu Jaewoo turned serious at those words. "No, no. That's you, Team Leader Cho."

Yu Jaewoo genuinely believed it—and Cho Sanghyuk knew that he did.

"Jaewoo, do you happen to have items you'd like to sell to the Association?"

"Ah, yes. Of course."

"Are you familiar with the Contract Inventory?"

Yu Jaewoo was quick on the uptake. He grasped Cho Sanghyuk's intent instantly.

"······You can't be serious?"

Cho Sanghyuk smiled warmly and held out a violet ticket. "I would be honored if you would accept this."

Holy crap!

Yu Jaewoo was genuinely stunned. High-capacity inventories were astronomically expensive—and this was a Contract Inventory on top of that!

This thing has to be worth at least 3 billion won!

There was no reason to hesitate.

"Yes."

"From now on, there's no need to visit the Association in person for any sales. Just place the items in the Contract Inventory, and the payment will be deposited immediately."

"Wow."

"And for anything you need to purchase, simply use the VIP Auction app, and I'll have the goods placed into your inventory."

"If you sign up through the link I send you, you'll be registered at the VVIP tier."

"Ha... hahaha."

Yu Jaewoo nearly slapped his own forehead. This is an absolute steal!

He immediately transferred his byproducts into the inventory.

110 mid-to-low-grade iron-attribute magic stones.

50 mid-to-low-grade frost-attribute magic stones.

1 mid-grade lightning-attribute magic stone.

60 kg of mid-grade demon iron.

1 fragment of the Thundercloud.

The Contract Inventory emptied in real time, and—

That was fast!

And then—

Wait, didn't they pay me above market rate?

But he kept that thought to himself.

Before he knew it, roughly 10.5 billion won had landed in his bank account.

Unbelievable.

And that wasn't all. When Yu Jaewoo checked his inventory list—

"And this is?"

"A small token of my appreciation."

"Ah, haha."

Small? Small, my foot!

In that moment, Yu Jaewoo finally understood why people got drunk on the taste of power. This was ridiculously, absurdly convenient.

"S-so, let's tackle Floor 48 together next week."

"Was there ever any question?"

"Oh, and one more thing."

Yu Jaewoo brought up the worry he knew was weighing on Cho Sanghyuk's mind. "Don't worry about the Americans. I've already got a plan for them."

"I no longer worry. From here on, I will focus solely on supporting you, Jaewoo."

Cho Sanghyuk rose from his seat, and Yu Jaewoo stood up after him.

"Uh, Team Leader Cho?"

"Yes. Speak freely."

Yu Jaewoo made his offer with a slightly trembling voice. This was the top awakener of the Republic of Korea, the nation's hero—and it was the day he'd finally met someone he looked up to.

He couldn't help being happy even if he tried to hide it, and he knew full well that chances like this didn't come around often.

"If you have the time, would you care to grab a drink together? It's on me."

"······I beg your pardon?"

Cho Sanghyuk was startled by the utterly unexpected proposal. Naturally, he did not refuse.

"Since we've rented out the entire café anyway, shall we order in here?"

"Ooh—I'm all for that."

"Any preference for the menu?"

"Ah, chicken and beer works for me."

"Will that truly suffice?"

"Of course."

Yu Jaewoo shouted inwardly, We're sworn drinking buddies ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now, aren't we—!

The next day, I woke up in my studio apartment clutching my head.

"Uuugh. I felt so good I drank way too much—the hangover just won't go away."

My completely reborn body could hold its liquor just fine. I'd been downing soju and beer as a pair, then emptied ten bottles of baekseju on top of it—needless to say, that did it.

But then again, there was a fix ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for this too.

I sat up for a moment and circulated my qi, driving the alcohol poison to my fingertips. Then I ignited the Tri-Union True Flame in my palm.

Fwoooosh—

The lingering fumes coursing through my body burned away in an instant, and my head cleared as though I'd never touched a drop. I opened the window and aired the room out.

Then—

"Honestly, I still can't believe it."

Yesterday came flooding back and laughter bubbled up on its own. Next time I met my friends, I'd have quite the story to tell about drinking with the most famous awakener in South Korea. Diluted a little, of course.

There was another reason to laugh, too.

Bank balance: roughly 10.5 billion won.

"Insane. No more worrying about money."

Since my phone was already on, I scrolled through the news feed.

"Whoa. Team Leader Cho was right—they really did come in droves."

"Still, spending all that money just to investigate the next floor... I guess they're the type who work hard for their countries, huh."

This time I opened the climber community.

Hold on. This ID keeps posting everywhere.

jolovegugga?

Don't tell me... is that Team Leader Cho?

"Nah, no way. The hero of the Republic of Korea? Can't be."

I shook my head and snorted. Then I followed the link Team Leader Cho had sent me and signed up for the VIP Auction.

"Ooh. So this is where it all gathers."

"Wow... and here I thought 10 billion won was a lot of money. Turns out it wouldn't even buy me a business card here. The world of pay-to-win truly runs deep and wide."

I gave some thought to what items I might actually need. Nothing else was urgently necessary, but I did think a good sword would come in handy.

It wasn't that I couldn't just use the Formless Sword, but—

It does burn through internal energy rather viciously, after all.

At that moment—

What the heck? Why am I acting like I'm at work?

This was the problem with Koreans.

I flung my phone aside and flopped onto the bed.

Time to rest up properly.

A whole day of rolling around doing absolutely nothing.

I sprawled across the bed watching Shorts.

Played games while ordering bingsu.

Binge-watched an entire drama series.

After lazing about for ages, my stomach started to growl.

"Let's see here."

I opened the delivery app and searched for a jokbal-and-bossam joint. Price was irrelevant.

It had to be the place with the most reviews and the highest star rating. Period.

Order placed, I picked out a masterpiece film to watch.

Ding-dong—

I sprang up, set out the jokbal and bossam, and put the movie up on the monitor.

On a bed of crisp, fresh lettuce.

Tender, succulent jokbal, salted shrimp paste, ssamjang.

And finally, a generous heap ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of shredded radish.

Nom nom— an explosion of harmony in my mouth!

I twirled the makguksu noodles around my chopsticks and swallowed them in one go. The delightfully chewy noodles were simply exquisite.

And then.

I tipped back a shot of soju.

Ahh—

A feast for my mouth, my eyes, and my ears all at once.

This is happiness.

Yeah. This is what living is all about. Exactly.

And so I finally enjoyed my day of golden, honey-soaked leisure.

The next day.

"It's here!"

I threw open my studio apartment's door at once.

Clothes, a wallet, a bag, department store gift certificates.

I gathered everything and headed home.

"That was fast."

After a shower and a change of clothes, I set off for my parents' house.

Eating good food and resting easy.

Taking good care of your family and the people around you.

That's what matters most.

In what felt like an instant, I was standing at my parents' front door—and through it, I could hear my mother on the phone.

"No, that's what I'm saying. Jaewoo has changed, I tell you."

—Changed how? He's nothing like his older and younger siblings—barely calls, never comes to visit.

One look told me it was my eldest aunt on the line. She ran a mart nearby—

Doing quite well for herself, actually. So well that Mom used to be envious.

"Oh, that's ancient history. He came by for his father's birthday this time, and get this—the boy showed up with two-horn premium hanwoo beef."

—Oh my, oh my, oh my! Is that really true? What sudden wind blew in?

"I know, right? I know! And then he looks me straight in the eye and says—guess what?"

—What did he say?

"'Congratulations.'"

—Huh? Congratulations for what?

"He said I'm finally about to reap what my son has sown, or something like that? Apparently things are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going well for him now. Ohohoho!"

—Oh my, how wonderful for him! Our poor worrywart child is finally spreading his wings?

"That's what I said! And even though it sounds like nothing, it somehow gives you this quiet little hope, doesn't it?"

—He was so clever when he was little. Even if he seemed to get dumber as he grew up, that was just a brief detour.

"Get dumber? How could you say such a thing~?"

I listened quietly to my mother's phone call and a chuckle escaped me.

Oh dear, oh dear. Dear Mother. Your aching finger has come calling again.

The achy finger—the child a parent never stops worrying about, no matter how they pretend otherwise. She'd never said a word about me going so long without contact, so I'd just assumed she was getting along fine. All the while, behind my back, she'd been worrying about me like this.

I punched in the front door's passcode right away.

Beep-beep-beep— chirrring—

Throwing the door wide open, I called out, "Mom~! Your son is home~!"

Mother jumped, stammered her way through finishing the call, and hung up.

I played completely ignorant and strolled naturally into the house.

Truly.

I wanted to fling my inventory open right that second.

Somehow, I could almost feel the wallet, the clothes, the gift certificates, and the skincare cream rattling with excitement inside it.