“What are you?”
Seo I-an spotted him from a distance and called out first.
Beneath the silver helmet, a pair of rough, burning red eyes radiated sheer intimidation.
At a glance it might have looked like predator and prey — but the reality was something else entirely.
“Hey there! I’m NPC Bunny. A wandering merchant.”
He introduced himself with complete natural ease.
This was exactly why he’d bought the rabbit mask at Daiso.
Hidden Party Member?
Get labeled a contribution thief and things could turn dangerous real fast.
But an NPC?
The moment someone so much as attempted an attack, they’d eat a one-month Tower entry ban.
God, even he had to admit — this was genuinely genius.
Anyway.
“Wandering merchant?”
The eyes visible behind the visor narrowed into a flat line.
“Tower Merchants only appear after you clear the floor you’re on.”
He began subtly closing the distance.
Woo-joo backed up the exact same amount to keep the gap between them.
Wow. So this is what a top-rank ranker feels like.
The height difference between them wasn’t that significant, looking at it.
But the person standing in front of him looked as massive as a mountain.
True to his reputation as Korea’s undisputed top ranker — the sheer pressure rolling off him was no joke.
The intimidation pouring from his entire body.
It made the person standing in front of him want to shrink back involuntarily.
But that was that, and this was this.
Setting aside his impressions of Seo I-an for the moment, Woo-joo went with the answer he’d prepared in advance.
“The regular ‘Tower Merchant’ appears after clearing the floor — the ‘Wandering Merchant’ appears in the middle.”
“Hm……”
A gaze loaded with suspicion and wariness aimed directly at him.
What was he going to do about it? That’s just how it was.
A brief silence settled.
Seo I-an was the one to break it.
“Alright. So. What are you selling?”
“Low-grade recovery potions, for starters.”
Right before coming in.
Woo-joo had read Seo I-an’s furious post about running out of low-grade recovery potions, and had sprinted straight to the Awakened Association to buy some and bring them along.
In case something went sideways with the floor’s owner.
He’d brought them as a kind of preemptive peace offering — but still.
Handing over a flat million won as a housewarming — Tower-warming — gift wasn’t something he could do easily.
More than a little, it was a lot painful to part with.
He was thinking he’d read the mood a bit more before deciding whether to sell — when.
“Oh?”
The sharpness in the other man’s eyes eased back to its default shape in an instant.
Still a fierce look overall, but better than before.
Like going from a tiger sizing up prey to a large cat eyeing a silvervine branch.
Progress, in its own way.
The atmosphere had definitely loosened compared to a moment ago.
“Give it here.”
Seo I-an extended a hand toward him.
The gesture of someone expecting delivery of something already owed to them.
Not a chance. This was a full million won on the line.
Woo-joo calmly held up his own open palm in response.
“What?”
A look that said: what do you want from me?
He pressed on, shamelessly.
“Payment upfront.”
“How much.”
“200 TC.”
He’d actually wanted to ask for cash.
But a merchant appearing inside a Tower accepting cash? In Korean won, no less?
That would look a little off.
So he went with 200 TC.
The reference point: the Association Enchanter.
He’d stopped by the Association today to buy the recovery potions. The Enchanter there had mentioned you could pay in TC instead of cash — at 100 TC per bottle.
So he’d used that as his baseline and decided to mark it up exactly double.
Delivery surcharge. House calls are always more expensive.
“Here.”
200 TC dropped out of Seo I-an’s inventory without a moment’s hesitation.
Did I lowball myself……?
A top-rank ranker like him obviously knew the market rate on low-grade recovery potions. The Association shop was probably his second home.
He absolutely knew Woo-joo was gouging him at twice the going rate.
And yet — Seo I-an had handed over the TC like buying gum from a convenience store.
Looking at that, the first feeling that hit wasn’t satisfaction at closing the deal. It was regret.
I should’ve said 300 TC. He was going to buy it no matter what — he needed it.
Brief regret. Then moving on.
Woo-joo gave a small, polite bow and delivered his scripted merchant line.
“Thank you for your business, sir.”
“Just hand it over already.”
Impatient.
He looked fine from the outside — so why was he in such a rush?
“Okay, okay, I’m moving. Did your inventory lag out?”
“Here.”
Dragging it out any longer and he was liable to bleed from the ears, so Woo-joo quickly retrieved the recovery potion from his inventory.
Seo I-an snatched it the moment it left his hand.
And immediately downed it in one.
Those vertical slits on the sides of the helmet visor — are those actually there so you can drink through them?
He tossed the empty bottle to the ground and abruptly burst out laughing.
“Ahhh. Now I feel like a person again.”
Good to see the customer satisfied, at least.
Whatever wariness had been there — some of it had unwound. Seo I-an’s tone shifted easier, more casual.
“Anything else?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“Anything else you’re selling? Tower Merchants normally carry multiple items. Or is it just scraps because you’re only a wandering merchant?”
A genuinely curious question.
Which somehow made it cut deeper.
Scraps!
“I do have a Boss Damage +20% elixir, five-minute duration——”
“Oh for the LOVE OF — HEY! If you had THAT, you should have led with THAT!!”
A roar erupted right in his face out of nowhere.
Hadn’t this guy been in a good mood two seconds ago?!
“Don’t just SCREAM at me without warning! Rabbits are sensitive — you can scare them to death!”
He actually had been startled. The part about rabbits was made up on the spot, but the part about not screaming was completely sincere.
“Oh, you got scared? Sorry. But anyway — how much?”
How much to ask?
He had no idea what the going rate on a Boss Damage elixir was.
But given what he’d put into making it, there was no way he was going low.
Countless failed gathers. Countless failed syntheses.
The kind of ordeal that made manual labor start sounding less stressful by comparison — and at the end of it all, a single bottle. One successful attempt.
He glanced over at Seo I-an.
He looked like he was trying very hard to hold back whatever impatient comment was forming — probably guilty about snapping a moment ago.
But push the wait any longer and that would come flying out again.
Seo I-an’s a ranker at the top of the charts. He’s got money. He just paid double market rate on recovery potions without blinking. So if that’s the case……
“Hey. Seriously lagging out? Is it because you’re an NPC? You know, computers start listening when you hit them.”
He’d held out as long as he could. Seo I-an started walking toward him.
Before the gap closed further, Woo-joo blurted it out.
“1,000 TC!”
His brain, worn down by indecision, had taken the path of least resistance.
Before he could stop himself — the same number, just with one more zero, was out of his mouth.
Is that…… a lot? Doesn’t matter now. Locked in. Southeast Asian night market bargaining mode, let’s go.
He steeled himself.
The other party was a loaded ranker.
And he had the labor costs to justify it. Starting high and working down was the correct play here.
“1,000 TC?”
Seo I-an repeated the number, eyes narrowing.
But then nodded.
“Yeah. Sure, that’s fair. So how many do you have?”
“One.”
As mentioned — his level and skill rank, mismatched to the floor.
Countless failed gathers. Countless failed syntheses.
Fingernails chipping against stone through round after round of collecting — and one single successful result to show for it.
“I’ll take it.”
“Thank you for your business, sir.”
“And also.”
“Sorry?”
“Anything else?”
Is this person addicted to shopping?
Seo I-an turned to look at him — clearly expecting an answer, making no effort to hide it.
This guy. Korean through and through. The impatience was just baked in.
“That’s everything for today.”
“Got it. Well, either way — thanks to you I should be able to clear Floor 40 today.”
Seo I-an’s expression had fully relaxed. He looked at Woo-joo as he said it.
“That happy about it?”
“Obviously!”
And then Seo I-an launched into an explanation, words flowing freely.
Said he’d been clearing the 50 wyverns without much trouble — but the boss, the Great-Horned Wyvern, had always been the problem.
The final phase especially.
Once its HP dropped below 10%, a sheen would spread across the creature’s hide and its defense visibly spiked through the roof — and he just couldn’t punch through it.
Like cracking an egg against a boulder.
Like trying to split stone with raindrops.
He’d tried hoarding skills to dump everything right before the phase transition and burn the HP down in one burst — thinking if he could kill it before the skin hardened, that would solve it.
“But if that had worked, would I be standing here like this right now?”
He gave a short, self-deprecating laugh.
This guy — he seemed completely convinced Woo-joo was an NPC. He just kept talking, all of it spilling out freely.
“God. Why do the high-defense boss mobs always have to show up as timed runs? Kill it within the limit or what?”
And then, mid-sentence, something seemed to catch fire in him.
He started stamping the ground. Hard.
The ground shook. Woo-joo felt it faintly through his feet.
Not that he knew the answer.
But Seo I-an was looking at him with eyes that very much expected one.
“I’m just a humble wandering merchant, sir. We only get the scraps of information, I’m afraid.”
Something in his chest cleared all at once. Like a hot red knot that had been sitting right in the center of his chest went suddenly, completely cold blue.
That felt satisfying.
“Ha. You hold a grudge, don’t you.”
Seo I-an grinned openly.
“Anyway — I went all out before coming in today, for real. Gear farming, skill upgrades, levels, stat allocation — everything. Still felt a little shaky about it, honestly, but that elixir you gave me is going to be the finishing touch.”
He gripped the elixir bottle tight as he said it.
“Is that so?”
If I’d known it was that valuable to him, I should’ve opened at 2,000 TC and worked down from there……!
A sting of regret.
He’d learn from this. Next time — lead with a number so outrageous even he’d cringe at it, and bargain from there.
“Anyway — thanks, Bunny!”
Decent enough, despite the mouth on him. Seo I-an got the words of gratitude out — and then, with the energy of someone shifting gears into full combat mode, pulled his helmet off and tucked it under his arm.
And then.
Wait — she?
Before a real fight, Awakened do something called doping.
Not the liquid recovery potions — the capsule kind. You pre-load both cheeks and keep them ready to bite down on at a moment’s notice.
That was probably why she’d taken the helmet off briefly——
With the helmet tucked under her arm, Seo I-an’s face came fully into view.
Jet-black hair in a high ponytail. Sharp, clean cat-like features with an open, uncluttered quality to them.
Objectively beautiful, but with a cold edge to it. The composed, remote kind of beautiful.
The voice, he could explain away. It had been ambiguous enough.
But the height difference between them was barely anything.
Woo-joo was 180 — tall even for a man, right on the edge of being conspicuously so.
And yet——
Oh.
He dropped his gaze and found his answer.
Those armor soles are no joke.
He was still standing there quietly processing when his eyes accidentally met Seo I-an’s.
“First time seeing doping? Or did I just sweep you off your feet?”
Snicker.
Seo I-an smiled openly, both cheeks rounded with the capsule potions tucked inside.
Woo-joo couldn’t quite smile back.
Because what he’d just caught in Seo I-an’s eyes was written all over her face — her gaze had gone somewhere past sharp. Somewhere unhinged.
— Pop.
A crisp, clean sound as the elixir bottle’s cap came off.
The deep red liquid disappeared fast.
She tossed the empty bottle aside without looking at it and stared into the middle distance.
Checking her stat window, probably — seeing whether the boost had applied properly.
“Oh, yeah. That’s the stuff.”
Now, finally, she looked over at him with a proper smile.
“Think you can clear it?”
“Clear it? Obviously. Might as well time myself while I’m at it.”
She snapped her helmet back on with a solid clunk and fired two streaks of sword aura straight up into the sky.
— Fwooom!!
The air split open. Twin arcs of red sword aura shot skyward.
What the——
Just watching it raised goosebumps all over his body.
If you had to put the word intimidation into a visual — it would probably look exactly like that.
He wasn’t the only one who felt it.
One particularly large wyvern up in the sky clearly felt it too — it let out a screech and began hammering its wings toward the ground.
The resulting gust slammed into him.
His hair whipped across his face.
He desperately wanted to leave. He couldn’t.
Seo I-an had said clearing it was a given.
I want to see an actual Tower Merchant for myself!
Seeing was believing.
There was a world of difference between learning something from text and seeing it with your own eyes.
Even more so when what you were trying to learn was how to imitate someone.