Meeting
Meeting
Phat―
When I pressed the [Enter Meeting Shelter] button, my body was transported somewhere, just like when I was in the arena.
The place I arrived at was, just as Yoo Hyun-min-hyung from the 7th Channel had said, a vast expanse of green grassland that seemed quite large even at a glance.
'A few hundred people could run around here, right?'
Also, only one person was standing alone in that wide grassland.
"Oh, is that Kim Min-ho?"
I looked at the man calling my name.
He was a man with a height and physique larger than average, with a cool, handsome, and tall impression.
"Yoo Hyun-min-hyung?"
I didn't know exactly how old Yoo Hyun-min-hyung was.
But seeing him in person, he looked to be in his late 20s. At most, he looked to be in his early 30s.
"Why? Surprised because this hyung is too handsome?"
Yoo Hyun-min-hyung said with a grin, as if he were glad to see me.
"I was surprised for a similar reason."
"Really? Anyway, you look exactly how I expected."
Huh?
"What do you mean, how you expected?"
"I thought you'd have a gentle, pushover-like impression."
"......?"
Is that a compliment?
'It must be a compliment, right?'
The moment I thought it was a compliment.
[You have entered the Meeting Shelter.]
[As the Integrated Channel Manager, you can freely adjust this Meeting Shelter.]
[You can adjust everything from the terrain to the environment, weather, and even special effects including the ecosystem.]
[However, adjustments require points.]
[Now, please decorate the space to your heart's content.]
"......."
Wait, you tell me to decorate it however I want, but what's this about needing points?
'And special effects? What does that mean?'
Anyway, as I was staring at the message, Yoo Hyun-min-hyung noticed immediately and asked.
"Why? Did a message pop up?"
"Ah, yes. It says I can decorate this Meeting Shelter however I want."
"Decorate it? Well, yeah. It'd be boring with just this wide grassland."
"The problem is that it costs points to decorate."
When I pointed out the points again, Yoo Hyun-min-hyung frowned slightly.
"Everything costs points. But what do you mean by 'decorate however you want'?"
"The message says I can adjust terrain, environment, weather, ecosystem, special effects, and all that."
The most confusing part here was 'special effects'.
Since I couldn't clearly understand what kind of effects they were, I decided to find out first.
'Special effects... but how do I adjust them?'
As I thought about it and opened the gallery window, I could see a new button under [Enter Meeting Shelter].
[Adjust Meeting Shelter]
'Do I press this?'
When I pressed it, a message popped up again.
[Think of the part you want to adjust in your head, then say 'Execute'.]
'Just think about it in my head?'
Suddenly, it felt like the technology of this gallery had leveled up several times over.
Anyway, since it said I could just think about it, I thought about the special effects.
'Special effects. Since this is a shelter... Health recovery?'
As soon as I thought of health recovery, the message reacted.
[Health recovery speed increased. 1% increase costs 1,000 points.]
"1,000 points?"
While I was checking the special effects little by little, Yoo Hyun-min-hyung asked.
"Did you find something out?"
"I think I figured out the special effects. It seems like I can add things like health recovery speed while in this Meeting Shelter."
"Health recovery speed? Then is injury recovery speed or energy recovery speed possible too?"
"Hold on."
[Injury recovery speed increased. 1% increase costs 2,000 points.]
[Energy recovery speed increased. 1% increase costs 3,000 points.]
As I thought about injury and energy recovery, I could see the price gradually increasing.
'Does the price go up every time I set one?'
So this time, I thought of something a little different.
[Fatigue recovery speed increased. 1% increase costs 500 points.]
It seemed it was just my misunderstanding.
Injury and energy recovery simply had higher base prices.
"Like you said, injury and energy recovery are possible. Though it costs 2,000 to 3,000 points to raise it by 1%."
"2-3 thousand for 1%? That means it would cost 200,000 to 300,000 to raise it by 100%."
"Yes."
"And 2 to 3 million to raise it by 1,000%."
Yoo Hyun-min-hyung spoke as if he were planning to raise it by 1,000%.
"Is there a need to raise it by 1,000%?"
"If you're just using this Meeting Shelter to rest, then no."
Having answered that, Yoo Hyun-min-hyung told me how he planned to use this Meeting Shelter.
"There are five monsters in my world that are a pain in the ass. I plan to use this Meeting Shelter to deal with them."
"Wait, are all five of them Transcendent-class Monsters?"
"Transcendent-class? What's that?"
"The owner of the claw you gave me before was said to be a Transcendent-class Monster."
When I spoke based on the monster claw I had received before, Yoo Hyun-min-hyung nodded.
"Ah, yeah, those monsters. There are five of them in total."
"It's surprising there are five."
"That's probably why the world was destroyed. Anyway, I can win 1:1. The problem is other monsters targeting me when I'm exhausted."
Only then could I understand Yoo Hyun-min-hyung's thoughts.
"So you're thinking of taking refuge in the Meeting Shelter when you get tired from fighting."
"Exactly. Now imagine having 1,000% health, injury, and energy recovery here."
Then, even if I rested for a short while, I would be able to fight again.
"That would be nice, but... 1,000% is still too much."
"True. That would cost millions of points."
"But I think I can manage 100%."
Since I had 9 million points now, I thought I could manage about 100%.
"I'll try it."
"Points?"
"I have enough."
After answering, I immediately tried to increase the recovery speed, but then I thought of this.
'Maybe instant injury recovery. Is that possible?'
[Instant injury recovery costs 200,000,000 points.]
"......."
As soon as I heard the price of 200 million points, I erased it from my mind.
Even if I added up all the points I had collected so far, it wouldn't even be 100 million, let alone 200 million.
'It means don't do it.'
Thinking that, I applied the recovery speed increase I had originally intended.
[100% increase in health recovery speed has been applied to the Meeting Shelter.]
[100,000 points deducted.]
[100% increase in injury recovery speed has been applied to the Meeting Shelter.]
[200,000 points deducted.]
And so, I raised the recovery speed for four types: health, injury, energy, and fatigue, by 100% each.
'Has anything changed?'
Since I didn't really get tired or anything, I didn't know what had changed, but Yoo Hyun-min-hyung seemed different.
"Oh? It has an effect."
"Really?"
"But since it's a recovery speed increase, it's subtle. I'd have to sleep well for a night to see the proper effect, right?"
A night...
"Should I try building a house?"
"You can build buildings too?"
"I have to try. If it doesn't work, I can just buy one with my Modern Item Purchase."
"You really have an insanely broken ability."
Yoo Hyun-min-hyung called my Modern Item Purchase ability an insanely broken ability, but I thought differently.
'If we're talking about abilities, time stop seems more broken.'
The previous manager of the 6th Channel just had a bad matchup; if they had started in a place like the 3rd Channel, they would have been quite active.
Anyway, thinking only that far, I calculated the number of people, including myself and the sub-manager, and thought of a reasonably large 2-story mansion.
[Will you build a structure exclusive to the Meeting Shelter?]
[Structures exclusive to the Meeting Shelter are bound to this place, but the cost is calculated at 1/10th.]
'Bound?'
If it's bound, does it mean the house is fixed to this Meeting Shelter?
'But I wouldn't have any reason to take the house out anyway.'
Since the price was also reduced to 1/10th, there was no reason not to do it.
'Proceed.'
[2-story mansion, 180-pyeong, capable of accommodating 20 people comfortably.]
[Cost is 290,000 points.]
"Execute."
Pabat!―
Fortunately, it was an amount I could afford, so I executed it immediately.
When I said execute, a huge light soared from a little distance away, and soon a massive mansion was created.
"Oh. The house is built in an instant?"
"Must be a feature of this Meeting Shelter."
"But why is the house so big? It's similar in size to the house I lived in in Korea."
"Hyung, you lived in a house like that?"
When I asked back in surprise, Yoo Hyun-min-hyung said as if it were obvious.
"I told you before. I was the #1 ranker in Korea. The money I earned was far more than you can imagine."
"That's amazing."
"Amazing, my ass. I'm living in a ruined building right now. Anyway, let's go in."
Following that, Yoo Hyun-min-hyung and I entered the mansion, but it was completely empty inside without a single piece of furniture.
"Nothing here."
"Yeah. Should we buy furniture?"
But this time, the points I spent on this Meeting Shelter alone were nearly 1 million.
Thinking it was a waste to spend more here, I thought of a good method soon after.
"Ah. Yoo Hyun-min-hyung. Can't you gather some decent furniture from your world?"
"From my world? There probably isn't anything intact."
"I can repair them with my [Product Repair] to make them look like new. Buying them directly seems like a waste of points."
Otherwise, I could just buy furniture exclusive to the Meeting Shelter.
If I bought them exclusively for the Meeting Shelter, I would only have to pay 1/10th of the price.
"Point consumption... True. I thought I only had to buy the Meeting Shelter, but that changes things."
Yoo Hyun-min-hyung also seemed to know that I had used more points than I thought, so he nodded and readily accepted.
"Alright. I'll look for some reasonably decent furniture."
After hearing Yoo Hyun-min-hyung's answer, I looked around the inside of the mansion again.
Then, I found the kitchen, walked over to it, and turned on the water, and the water came out very naturally.
"......?"
Why is water coming out?
'Did the electrical and water facilities get built along with the house?'
Yoo Hyun-min-hyung seemed to have a similar thought to me, as he said as if it were fine.
"We could live here."
"You can."
Even in my opinion, it seemed better to live here than in the ruined 7th Channel.
'Besides, Yoo Hyun-min-hyung goes around here and there catching monsters.'
There was no house as good as this Meeting Shelter, where he could return immediately if he wanted to.
"Right? Then I'll bring Yeo-eun here and..."
Yoo Hyun-min-hyung stopped speaking seriously and turned his head immediately.
The place he turned his head to was outside, and I also turned my head to look through the glass window.
'Huh?'
There, a woman I had never seen before was looking around, and soon she met eyes with me and Yoo Hyun-min-hyung.
'Who is it?'
I thought for a moment.
Since she had entered the Meeting Shelter, she was definitely a sub-manager.
'The person I designated as a sub-manager is...'
1st Channel Heavenly Demon, 3rd Channel Ice Queen, 4th Channel Mr. Know-it-all and Super Beautiful Girl.
'Since I saw the Ice Queen on a broadcast before.'
The remaining one was one of the three.
Along with that, I paid attention to the outfit the woman was wearing.
'It looks similar to the martial arts uniform worn by people in the 1st Channel.'
However, the pitch-black color that seemed to swallow even the light, and the golden embroidery that seemed to shine even more because of it, stood out particularly.
'......Is it the Heavenly Demon?'
Looking only at the outfit, it looked like the Heavenly Demon of the 1st Channel, but I couldn't be sure.
That was understandable, as far as I knew, the Heavenly Demon was 65 years old, but the woman now was not.
'She looks about my age.'
No, in some ways, she even looked younger than me.
However, including her gaze, the overall atmosphere, and the posture in which she stood loftily, it seemed like years of experience were embedded in her.
"Right, are you the castaway?"
At that moment, the woman presumed to be the Heavenly Demon looked exactly at Yoo Hyun-min-hyung and asked if he was the castaway.