The Eagle Eye skill from the skill book.
The only description it had offered: blink rapidly twice to activate for 3 seconds.
No mention of what it actually did.
So the moment he entered the Tower, he’d started blinking like a man with dust in both eyes.
Nothing happened at first.
Is it broken? But Ragcho is the Tower Merchant — there’s no way she’d lie to me.
He wandered around with that question in mind for a while.
Then he met Hong Je-hun, and since the Cold Resistance Elixir didn’t help much with the wind stinging his eyes, he blinked rapidly on reflex.
And then he could see it.
[Hong Je-hun Status Screen]
— Currently in a good mood from meeting you!
— Currently feeling quite intensely cold!
That kind of text — for 3 seconds.
That was how he learned what Eagle Eye actually did.
Of course the trait is Intrude — even new skills show up as things that apply to other Awakened.
That said, it was a little different from a normal status screen.
No level, trait, or skill information appeared.
Instead — something more like what the person was currently feeling or experiencing.
Probably because of the low rank.
……From my perspective, this is incredibly useful.
Not what he’d expected, but the satisfaction level was higher than anticipated.
Anyway.
“Want to know how an NPC stays warm?”
“Strength stat……?”
Hong Je-hun offered a reasonable guess.
For reference — Strength raised physical-type Awakened’s attack power while also toughening the body. Physical resilience was part of the package.
Even Woo-joo found himself thinking that’s actually plausible.
But it wasn’t the answer he had in mind.
He shook his head.
“All you need is a Cold Resistance Elixir.”
“Cold Resistance Elixir?”
“Keeps the cold off for a full hour. The effect is remarkable.”
Not an empty compliment — he’d used it himself, so he could recommend it with full confidence.
“How much?”
He’d forgotten to set a price.
“300 TC.”
Like how food at a ski lodge costs more, and ice cream sold deep in the mountains in midsummer costs more.
He used the low-grade recovery potion as his baseline and tripled it.
And Hong Je-hun was a ranker, after all.
More than enough money.
“I’d like to stock up — how many can I buy?”
The question snapped him out of his thoughts.
“One should be more than enough — do you really need more?”
He only had one on him. He’d made two, but used one himself just now.
“There’s no guarantee the cold floors stop here.”
He answered while blowing warm breath into both cupped hands.
Fair point.
“I only have one unit in stock today. Next time I come through, I’ll set some aside for you.”
Merchants always appreciated regulars.
And a confirmed repeat customer with a standing order was even better.
He felt the same way.
And if it translated to contribution on top of that?
No need to even ask.
“Thanks.”
“Oh — one more thing, Awakened Hong Je-hun.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you need a Boss Damage +20% Elixir? Five-minute duration——”
He didn’t get to finish the sentence.
Their eyes met.
A gaze almost uncomfortably bright fixed itself on him.
“How many do you have? I’ll take all of them.”
True to being a ranker — same as Seo I-an, he didn’t even ask the price.
“Is this going to take long?”
“The boss here only appears ten minutes after the eternal flame rises.”
He was currently standing on the snowfield alongside Hong Je-hun, making casual conversation.
Not by design — they had to wait here for ten minutes for the boss to appear.
The Tower’s plan to freeze them to death while waiting for the boss: a reasonable suspicion that was beginning to feel less like a suspicion and more like a certainty.
Around the time that thought started rising steadily in his mind, he spoke.
“Do you think you can clear it?”
The Tower had to be cleared for the Tower Merchant to appear, and the Merchant had to appear for him to collect his contribution reward.
Which was why he asked.
Hong Je-hun answered with a quiet smile instead of words.
When he couldn’t read someone’s thoughts:
Blink blink.
[Hong Je-hun Status Screen]
— Currently feeling very confident!
— Currently very excited!
……Looked like he thought he could clear it.
“Oh, by the way.”
He suddenly turned to Woo-joo and spoke.
“Yes?”
“Any chance you could get me something with an ice attribute?”
“Out of nowhere?”
“I’m an S-rank ice-type Awakened, so ice attribute items are something I always need.”
That composed face wearing its neat smile.
“……I’ll put some aside when I have stock.”
The only ice-type Awakened in Korea with the buying power to actually purchase that kind of thing was probably him alone.
And help equaled contribution.
High floor equaled better efficiency.
No reason to refuse.
“Thanks. I think I understand now why Seo I-an is so fixated on you.”
“Are you close with Awakened Seo I-an?”
He never got an answer.
Right on cue, the snowfield shook, and the floor’s boss mob — the Raging Snow Mountain Yeti — appeared.
“Stay back, Bunny!”
He did as told and put significant distance between himself and the fight.
After that — his field of vision went white, somewhere between snow and light.
Explosions going off from every direction at a volume that threatened to rupture his eardrums.
A cascade of snow from somewhere above, enough to bury him.
From here on, any floor with snow is an automatic skip.
2:12 PM.
A notification audible to every Awakened in Korea went out.
[Tower (Korea) Floor 41 has been cleared!]
— 1st place: Hong Je-hun. 42 minutes 02 seconds 24.
He heard it from inside the blue room, where he’d been whisked in an instant.
“Hewwo?”
His head dropped naturally to look down now.
Today too, Ragcho greeted him with her tail swaying, as adorable as ever.
“Hey!”
“Why are you so wet today-nya?”
“Got buried in snow.”
“You’re lucky to be alive-nya!”
Ragcho’s eyes curved into crescent moons.
“Whether it was the Cold Resistance Elixir or not, the snow around me melted pretty quickly so I could get out. Though I’ll admit the moment of being buried with no air to breathe was a bit rough.”
“Items crafted from Tower materials are all useful specifically on the floor they come from-nya!”
Oh. That explained it.
So that was why the Boss Damage Elixir kept showing up as an option.
The realization arrived.
“Reward first-nya!”
He was used to it by now.
He narrowed his eyes and reached for the Floor 41 Reward Basket.
— Flash!
[Floor 41 Contribution] — 10%
[Reward] — 35,000 TC
“Wow……”
An involuntary sound of amazement.
35,000 TC?
That was insane.
“Was it the Encouragement effect again?”
“That’s right-nya! Woo-joo-nim gave Hong Je-hun-nim the feeling that he could do it-nya~!”
“But the contribution percentage feels high.”
5% with Seo I-an. 10% now.
That was a significant jump.
“Was it the Cold Resistance Elixir that helped?”
That was the only thing he could think of, so he asked Ragcho.
Ragcho let out a hmph and explained.
“That’s not it-nya! It’s a difference in confidence-nya! On Floor 40, Awakened Seo I-an already had some sense that if she pushed hard enough she might be able to clear it. Awakened Hong Je-hun just now was running the floor while thinking it might still be too soon to clear Floor 41-nya!”
“So if the two of them ever show up at the same time, Hong Je-hun is obviously the better pick?”
“Why does the conversation go there-nya?!”
Ragcho’s already-large eyes went even wider.
“I mean, Seo I-an just seems way more fired up, doesn’t she? Like the energy is definitely ‘I’m clearing this no matter what!'”
“Nya……”
“Whereas Hong Je-hun gives off more of a ‘what will be will be’ vibe. Like ‘if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.'”
“Nya……?”
“So who’s going to feel a stronger ‘I can do this!’ from my help?”
“AAARRGH! Contribution isn’t that simple-nya!”
“Whoa.”
Ragcho hissed, fur standing on end.
Already fluffy as a ragdoll, with the fur fully raised she looked twice as voluminous.
Getting bigger only made her cuter.
“Cute.”
“I’m ANGRY right now-nya!”
The fur rose another level — she hadn’t finished, apparently.
He wanted to keep poking to see how big she’d get, but that risked actually damaging their relationship, so he stopped here.
“Okay, so what kind of thing is contribution? Is there a specific formula?”
He asked what he’d actually wanted to know.
“There is a formula but it’s classified, I can’t tell you-nya! What I can tell you is that the maximum contribution a hidden party member can receive is 50%-nya!”
“I wasn’t expecting more than 50% anyway……”
Intruding always meant entering a floor higher than his own.
50% or more was just not realistic.
Who knew what things might look like later, but he’d cleared Floor 2 today.
“Anyway-nya! What I’m saying is, if Awakened Woo-joo simply acts with the genuine intention of helping someone, that is the best way to earn the most contribution-nya! It also essentially means don’t pick and choose who you help-nya!”
Tower Merchants don’t lie.
“Thanks for that. Honestly, since Intrude is a trait only I have, there’s been no way to get information on it — I’ve been feeling pretty lost.”
He smiled, and Ragcho, watching him, went quiet for a moment before smoothing her fur back down.
“Anyway, are you buying anything-nya?”
“Can you pull up the sales screen?”
The 5×5 window appeared.
Two items filled.
“The pickaxe is 5,000 TC, right?”
“You remembered-nya! Woo-joo-nim has a good memory-nya!”
“I’ll take the pickaxe.”
The man — that Enchanter who somehow looked like a combat-type Awakened. He’d asked him to buy one and sell it to him.
The man had lent him his first weapon, the light bowgun. Showing him this much consideration seemed reasonable.
“Is this a key?”
“Not just any key-nya! It’s the Secret Key-nya!”
“……I can tell.”
Usually, hovering over an item brought up a detailed description.
But this one: name displayed as ‘?? Key.’ Description displayed as ‘????.’
Was the system joking with him?
He stared blankly into the air, then at Ragcho, alternating.
“It’s a good one too-nya!”
“There’s basically no description.”
“System restrictions prevent me from going into detail, but having it will be useful at some point-nya.”
At some point.
This phrase referred to an unspecified point in the future.
But when that unspecified point would arrive — nobody knew.
Like insurance.
And with insurance, coverage mattered — but more important than the coverage was——
The premium.
“How much?”
Worth hearing at least.
Unlike a certain Seo or a certain Hong, he wasn’t a ranker who could just say give me all of them.
“30,000 TC-nya!”
210,000,000 won.
He’d tried not to think in those terms, but the number was so absurd his mental calculator started running on its own.
“No thank you, Tower Merchant-nim.”
“Nya?! Why so formal all of a sudden-nya! That stings a little-nya!”
In protest, the thick blue tail started thumping up and down.
“I earned 35,000 TC today. If you’re trying to immediately extract 30,000 of it, what exactly am I supposed to live on?”
He pressed his hands together in front of his chest and asked, politely.
Think about it.
Today’s windfall: 35,000 TC.
Pickaxe: 5,000 TC. Key: 30,000 TC.
Did that add up?
Wait, hold on.
Actually — come to think of it, this had seemed a little off for a while now.
Was Ragcho possibly pricing things specifically to drain everything he earned each time?
Could it really be a coincidence that the items lined up this perfectly with the amount he’d made?
And the whole Tower Merchants don’t lie thing — was that actually verified?
Maybe it had just become accepted wisdom because no one could disprove it.
One crack and the suspicions started chaining together.
He narrowed his eyes and stared at her. Ragcho’s deep eyes rolled away to the side.
“……S-still, it’s worth more than that-nya! The base price is actually 60,000 TC, so buying now saves you 30,000-nya!”
Even adorable as she was, a Tower Merchant was still a Tower Merchant.
The moment he showed resistance, she immediately pivoted to spelling out exactly what he stood to gain.
True to form for a salesman.
He kept his eyes half-lidded and watched her with an expression that said he was seeing straight through her.
“You can buy it later too-nya. But you’ll need it eventually for faster growth-nya.”
Ragcho adjusted her position.
“Then just the pickaxe for now, and I’ll get the key next time it comes up.”
“Thank you as always-nya!”
Pickaxe purchased. He exited the Tower and pulled up his status screen.
[Name] : Kim Woo-joo
[Level] : 15
His level had jumped by 5 thanks to Hong Je-hun.
This was why he couldn’t stop intruding even when exhausted.
Anyway.
[Strength] : 5
[Intelligence] : 6
[Agility] : 4
[Luck] : 0
Unspent stat points = 0
Quick allocation.
Strength: the wide maps were starting to wear his stamina down.
Intelligence: the monster counts kept going up, and he was using Rapid Fire almost like a basic attack at this point. He’d started to feel his mana running thin.
That should cover it for now.
Today’s actual net earnings: 30,000 TC.
Instead of buying a key of unknown future use, he chose to invest in getting stronger right now.
“Let’s see.”
He pressed Strength.
[Stat Purchase]
Strength increases by 1.
— 1,000 TC
1,000 TC per point? That’s cheap.
He figured he’d use the remaining 30,000 to buy 15 Strength and 15 Intelligence.
He started moving his finger.
Strength increases by 1.
— 2,000 TC
“Oh……”
So it doubled with each repeated purchase.
Strength increases by 1.
— 4,000 TC
It doubled each time.
Four Strength points purchased — 15,000 TC evaporated instantly.
Since he was spending big anyway, he bought four Intelligence points too and burned through everything he’d earned today.
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
The Awakened Community was packed — all the Awakened who’d heard the notification flooding in at once.
Burning bright.
Nothing stoked the fire like a new highest-floor clear.
[Title] Does anyone else hear something?
[Author] SevenLetterUsername
— The sound of Seo I-an’s heart shattering. lmaooooo
└ [Anonymous1] yeah I can hear it
└ [Anonymous5] same
[Title] I knew you could do it!!
[Author] JehunHamLover
— The undisputed number one as always, our Jehun Ham! On a completely different level from that delinquent Seo I-an!
└ [Seo I-an] go die
└ [Anonymous1] LMAO she showed up herself
The first sparks were lit by people teasing Seo I-an over her rivalry with Hong Je-hun.
The thread was running along those lines when the person who’d thrown the logs on in the first place made an entrance.
[Title] I also met the rabbit today.
[Author] Hong Je-hun
— Turns out the rabbit is the same wandering merchant another Awakened mentioned previously. I hope more people get the chance to meet them.
The post was gasoline, and it set off a chain reaction.
The ‘rabbit’ and the ‘wandering merchant’ — what had seemed like a joke or a rumor.
One person who’d mentioned it had been relatively unknown. The other was well-known but not necessarily taken seriously.
But now Hong Je-hun — known for his measured, polite, always-accurate image — had confirmed it.
And with that, what had only been passed around like a ghost story began to feel genuinely real to a significant number of people.
Meanwhile.
Someone who had read Hong Je-hun’s post was hammering at their phone keyboard with what could only be described as Agility-maxed fingers.
[Title] Our rabbit ^^
[Author] Seo I-an
— I clearly said I wanted to see you, so I guess you got confused? I’ll close my eyes and forgive you just this once, so come back ^^
└ [Anonymous33] did the rabbit cheat on her or something lmaooo
└ [BunnyIsWooWooCute] the attachment tho
└ [Anonymous3] wait why did this person who used to do nothing but start fights on here suddenly switch to fan mode
She didn’t respond to any of the comments flooding in.
Instead she posted one more.
[Title] No but honestly what exactly am I lacking compared to Hong Je-hun?]
[Author] Seo I-an
— Only the rabbit needs to answer. Everyone else keep your opinions to yourself.
Having posted her final entry, Seo I-an ignored the avalanche of comments already piling up and threw her phone onto the bed.
“Haa…… what the hell, the more I think about it the more annoyed I get.”
She pushed her bangs back off her forehead, feeling the heat building behind it.
But it wasn’t cooling down at all.
What had her irritated right now was not that the rabbit hadn’t appeared in her Tower.
It was that the rabbit had appeared specifically in Hong Je-hun’s Tower.
And so Hong Je-hun had once again climbed to the highest floor.
She’d barely scraped out a clear on Floor 40 and closed the gap — and tonight it was back to one floor behind. Back to square one.
“Getting to the top just once is ungodly hard.”
Just once.
Once would be enough.
To earn standing in the Awakened Association — and use it to flush out the rot that had been festering there for years.
To make sure the taxes quietly disappearing somewhere actually went where they were needed.
“Haa…… but somehow the road never seems to get shorter.”
A long exhale.
Whether it was about herself and the gap she couldn’t close, or about a society that refused to function properly, or about the rabbit who had shown up in Hong Je-hun’s Tower of all places without warning —
even she couldn’t say.