170
[Tower of Vortex — Underground cleared.]
[Based on clear time, reward has been adjusted to maximum.]
[Achievement: Slaughterer of the Madness Legion unlocked.]
[Additional reward granted for first achievement.]
[Reward distributed according to each party member’s contribution to the clear.]
[30,000,000 Gold received.]
[Madness-Tainted Nail (Rank 7 — Epic) obtained.]
[Madness-Imbued Summoning Stone (Rank 7 — Unique) obtained.]
[60 Stat Points granted.]
[Vortex Coins x70 obtained.]
[Experience points increased by 30,000,000.]
[Level increased by 15.]
[15 Stat Points granted.]
“Wow!”
“Wow…”
The twins, watching the boss die, went wide-eyed.
A complete gap in ability — no crisis, no danger whatsoever.
It had been clear enough for even them, with their limited combat experience, to feel.
“What rewards did you two get?”
“Gold, Stat Points, Vortex Coins, experience, and… something called a Pierrot’s Coat Fragment.”
“I got Pierrot’s Tears!”
Noeul, who had joined for the final area, received a Rank 6 Rare item.
Haneul, who had pushed through from the danger zone, received a Rank 6 Unique item as her reward.
Not a bad result — something useful for each of them.
‘About what I expected.’
The items Hanbit obtained were the nail and the summoning stone.
The nail could be used as weapon crafting material.
And the summoning stone was a tool for clearing the rest of the tower.
[Madness-Imbued Summoning Stone]
Rank: 7
Grade: Unique
Restriction: Total stats of 800 or above
Description: A summoning stone filled with souls of madness. When used, it summons elites of the Madness Legion, who obey the user’s commands.
However, as summoning time increases, the amplified madness energy may cause erratic behavior.
If the elite commander dies, the summoning stone will lose all function.
A summoning stone capable of calling forth Madness Legion monsters.
An extremely convenient item for clearing the rest of the tower.
Slide—
Just then, a blue portal began to open where the pierrot had vanished.
“Let’s head back to Floor 28.”
Hanbit stepped through with the twins.
“Huh?”
“Is this… Floor 28?”
The twins arrived on Floor 28 via the transfer and looked around in surprise.
The outpost that had been completely empty the first time they saw it.
And yet translucent figures of people were now moving through it.
The names floating above their heads were proof they were treated as NPCs.
“That’s the hidden face of the rest floor. The souls of those who climbed the tower in the distant past, remaining as though real.”
“Oh, so they’re ghosts?”
“Ghosts…”
Haneul looked at the souls with fascination.
Noeul was slowly backing away, looking a bit reluctant.
‘Good — everything worked out.’
The reason he had pushed through the underground wasn’t only for the levels.
NPC souls had appeared.
Among them, he had needed the blacksmith and the traveling merchant.
The blacksmith was there for Kim Jaeha’s metallurgy training.
The traveling merchant was there for trading the items Hanbit had in his possession.
“It’s getting late, so let’s start heading to bed. You both have school tomorrow.”
“Aw, I can just sleep there.”
“I don’t need much sleep, so I’m fine.”
When he announced the end of the day, the twins each offered their own reasons to stay.
But he had absolutely no intention of working two sixteen-year-olds through the night.
“Go to bed. Or I’m kicking you out of the tower.”
“Fiiiine….”
“….Understood.”
At the firm warning, the twins shuffled off with their shoulders drooping.
Hanbit watched the changed outpost for a moment, then closed the game immediately.
* * *
The following morning.
Hanbit checked a message that had arrived.
「Hyung, the owner of that information broker cancelled tomorrow’s appointment on his own.」
The appointment that Yeonwoo had set up with the information broker for Saturday.
It had apparently been cancelled without any notice whatsoever.
「It’s fine. I ended up meeting Adventurer A in person anyway.」
The reason he had been trying to meet the information broker was to gather information on Adventurer A.
But having come face-to-face with him unexpectedly, he had confirmed what he needed intuitively.
The intuition that Adventurer A had been drawn by the goddess and crossed into the other world.
The fact that that intuition had hardened into near-certainty was a clear gain.
“Might as well check this too.”
Hanbit turned on his phone and logged into the RP community.
There, discussions about what had happened on Monday were still blazing hot.
Adventurer A and Nesto vice-guildmaster Lucio, struck dead by a bolt from the storm.
The footage, broadcast live, had spread through the community in every conceivable form.
The mockery was relentless — almost creative in its variety.
Hanbit clicked on one of the top posts.
Broke down the scene of Black Dragon’s party disappearing frame by frame.
Looks like there was something like a talisman in his hand — that’s probably the entry ticket?
If anyone knows something, drop a comment.
-A talisman?
-Can something like that be an entry ticket?
-How do you make it?
-No idea what the materials even are
-It’s not even clearly visible anyway
-Saw this and went and took my mom’s lucky charm talisman.
└You filial thief…
└I’m going to my mom’s too.
-Couldn’t it just be a defensive consumable?
The chain of comments below was full of confusion.
But he had no intention of revealing information about the entry ticket just yet.
When enough vanguards were ready to join a survey team, it would naturally come to light on its own.
-Black Dragon, I know you’re reading this. Turn on your stream.
“…This person is psychic.”
Hanbit’s eyes locked onto that one comment, and he let out a dry laugh.
He got up from his bed and walked out to the living room.
His mother had already left for work.
‘It still doesn’t feel real.’
The apartment was still new to him, only two days since the move.
Had his mother stood in this same spot and thought the same thing?
Clatter—
Hanbit threw together a simple meal and ate breakfast quickly.
Then he finished the dishes and washed his face, and returned to his room.
Whooom—
He put on the gear and lay on the bed, logging into the game.
When the darkness cleared, the scene of the outpost came into view.
“Black Dragon!”
Just then, Avant-garde’s figure appeared from across the way.
He had heard Avant-garde was running without streaming — and it seemed he had just arrived at Floor 28.
“Looks like you just made it up.”
“Regrettably, I had to step out for a bit due to work, which made me a little late. It’s a shame I couldn’t see the underground.”
Avant-garde had needed to go out briefly to look into matters related to the information guild.
Hanbit had passed along the story about the underground in a quick message, and apparently that had only made the regret worse.
In any case, reaching Floor 28 in five days was an impressive enough achievement.
“You’ll be able to go after clearing Floor 50. Might as well fill in whatever levels you’re still short there.”
“Oh! Re-entry is possible!”
“It’s less re-entry and more the remnants of the underground floor. Since Haneul, Noeul, and I won’t be able to go in again, you and Jaeha can clear it together.”
“Wonderful! My motivation is back up again.”
Avant-garde’s eyes blazed at the news that the underground was accessible.
Hanbit watched him for a moment, then turned his gaze to the outpost.
“We need to wait for Jaeha and the twins anyway, so let’s get some preparations in.”
“Excellent. I was also quite surprised to see this rest floor looking so completely different from what I saw on your stream — was this all part of the plan?”
“Yes. There was something I specifically needed here. It won’t take long.”
Hanbit walked into the outpost alongside Avant-garde.
Some of the NPCs were moving about as though they were ordinary people.
“How many days has it been since we set up shop? We haven’t even caught a glimpse of Floor 29.”
“I heard the team before us was wiped. They said the information was lacking.”
“Can’t we just march in and sweep the monsters?”
Their conversation, which sounded like planning for the next floor’s challenge, continued naturally.
Their souls were still dwelling in a moment from the distant past.
Not merely something occult — they existed as though solid and real.
“The atmosphere is truly… remarkable.”
Avant-garde, who had been quietly listening, couldn’t take his eyes off them.
Admittedly, a place where you could see ghosts materialized in that kind of form was extremely rare to find even within RP.
It was only possible because of the Tower of Vortex’s unique and sealed environment.
Step—
Hanbit continued on and arrived at a small tent tucked into a corner.
Inside was a short man sitting in front of a large bundle, wearing an indifferent expression.
[Soul Traveling Merchant of the Outpost]
The name floating above.
Hanbit walked closer and gave the tent cloth a light shake.
“I came to do a bit of trading.”
“Trading?”
The traveling merchant snapped his head up.
After staring for a moment, he asked bluntly:
“I don’t deal in rubbish. Trash makes me break out in hives just looking at it.”
A sharp tone that implied he expected nothing.
This man was a traveling merchant who wandered the world buying, selling, and exchanging a wide variety of goods.
And inside that bundle were treasures that had vanished from the world centuries ago.
Slide—
Hanbit drew three items from his inventory.
[Snow Drake Orb (Rank 8 — Epic)]
[Snow Drake’s Blood (Rank 8 — Unique)]
[Snow Drake’s Scale of Wrath (Rank 8 — Unique)]
Rewards obtained from subjugating the Snow Drake.
The reason he had kept them untouched until now was simple.
These were the means to obtain what he wanted.
“Well? I’m looking for something to trade.”
“….?”
The traveling merchant looked down at the three items on the ground.
He tilted his head, then pulled a magnifying glass from his pocket and held it close.
Whooom—
Several layers of mana lenses formed with a clear light.
A magical tool that could examine an item’s detailed information.
Far superior to the ones commonly used in cities.
“What the…”
The traveling merchant’s eyes went wide after checking the information.
He leaned in closer for a better look.
“How is this…”
It was only natural for the man to react so strongly.
He had always harbored a deep interest in the Snow Drake, something that had been treated as mere legend.
Having it appear in front of him without warning was something he couldn’t have imagined.
“You got all of this yourself?”
The traveling merchant finished his careful examination and asked with a skeptical look.
Hanbit shrugged casually at the reaction.
“If it’s too much to handle, just say so. I’ll find somewhere else.”
“Ha, are you joking? Do you know who I am!”
Even that transparent provocation got an easy reaction out of him.
Cheap goods might be one thing, but these were items he would be unlikely to see again in his entire life.
This was not a man who would play games over a trade like this.
“Wait right here.”
Whoosh—!
The man jumped to his feet and quickly untied the bundle.
Then he dove headfirst into the open mouth of it.
“Oh…”
Avant-garde watched the sight with fascination.
He peeked at the bundle for a moment, then asked Hanbit:
“By the way — do the items inside actually exist in physical form? I had assumed they would be illusions, like the souls.”
Avant-garde’s question was understandable.
It was hard to imagine that items held by souls would have any physical substance.
“Both the people and the items are things that were swallowed by the tower. As long as they weren’t destroyed in battle, they should remain intact.”
Not everything dropped by those who died in the tower materialized, but what Hanbit needed was definitely still there.
Whatever the mechanism, getting his hands on what was necessary was what mattered now.
As that conversation continued—
Fwoop—
An arm emerged from the open mouth of the bundle.
The man wriggled with effort and finally pulled himself back out.
“Phew.”
The traveling merchant wiped the sweat from his brow, caught his breath, and stood before them.
“Here. This is the finest treasure I have.”
He held out a single ingot with a transparent interior.
A five-colored vortex surging within.
The sparks colliding between each particle captured the eye as though drawing it in.
Hanbit received it carefully and examined the information.
[Star Ingot]
Rank: ?
Grade: ?
Description: A refined piece of a star that fell from the heavens when the world was first born. If used as the foundation for a weapon or defensive equipment, remarkable results can be expected — though it seems it would be very difficult to work with.
An item with no rank and no grade.
The reason was something he could guess.
There was simply no way to assign an accurate value to this ingot.
Such was typically the case with things that had existed at the beginning of the world.
What he could say with certainty was that even all of the Snow Drake’s spoils combined could not come close to the potential of this ingot.
“Well? An SSS-rank adventurer pulled it from the depths below the Glacial Labyrinth.”
The traveling merchant crossed his arms, brimming with confidence.
His ability to recognize the item’s value had come from the shape of the mana he saw through the magnifying glass.
He must have witnessed something like a tidal wave crashing onto shore.
“Good. Let’s trade.”
“You’ve got a good eye.”
The two completed the exchange cleanly and shook hands.
An ideal trade, each getting exactly what they wanted.
“Come find me again if you have something!”
With that sendoff, Hanbit stepped back onto the street.
Avant-garde followed behind and asked with a curious look:
“I had no idea it would be something without rank or grade. Are you planning to use it as weapon material?”
“Yes. It’s absurdly difficult to work with, but it’ll be fine.”
Hanbit nodded and turned his gaze forward.
At the far end, Kim Jaeha was waving his hand and running over.
“Sorry I’m so late! I pushed as hard as I could, but it took longer than I thought…”
Thwap—
Hanbit reached over and lightly placed a hand on Kim Jaeha’s shoulder as he came close and began to apologize.
Then smiled and said:
“I’m counting on you.”
“…Huh?”
