Dim, bruised vision — like a black eye.
Damp, metallic air.
SCUTTLE SCUTTLE SCUTTLE — enormous cockroaches clicking across every surface.
Right.
His Floor 30.
Den of the Tenacious Cockroach.
“Wait, benefactor. Are you scared of bugs?”
Seo I-an cackled.
“I’m wondering how you plan to climb the centipede floors when they come……”
Hong Je-hun asked with a look of genuine concern.
“Oh! Benefactor! You should also know — when you pop the centipedes on that floor, they burst and release giant hairworms! First encounter will shake even the most iron-stomached people, hehehe!”
Based on their reactions, there apparently was a centipede floor somewhere up ahead.
But floor backgrounds were random — no fixed sequence.
It wouldn’t appear for him.
He decided to believe that.
Worrying about it wouldn’t change anything.
[Tower (Republic of Korea) Floor 30 cleared!]
The clear notification appeared, and the surroundings turned to a warm, muted ochre glow.
Because they’d cleared it as a party, even though it was a first-time clear, no record was registered.
“Woof?“
“Kyurrng?“
In the distance — a pitch-black Doberman and a snow-white arctic fox materialized.
They turned and looked in this direction, heads tilting simultaneously.
The Doberman’s name was Vehr.
Seo I-an’s Tower Merchant.
Which meant the white fox was Hong Je-hun’s.
Cute. Not quite as cute as Ragcho, but still.
“I-an-nim, are you sick-woof! A party with Hong Je-hun-nim-woof!”
Vehr bolted toward Seo I-an.
Then sniffed at her carefully.
“Je-hun-nim. If you’re being threatened, wiggling a carrot works-kyurrng.”
The arctic fox made its way slowly to Hong Je-hun, then leaped lightly onto his shoulder and pressed its face against his neck.
“Oh, right. Vehr. Found this on the way — want it?”
Seo I-an handed Vehr a dog collar. Clearly bought with thought — packaging completely pristine, not a scratch.
At the center was a silver Doberman pendant.
The resemblance to Vehr was unmistakable.
“V-Vehr knew it! Trusted I-an-nim all along-woof!”
At that moment, the arctic fox’s narrowed, flat eyes opened just slightly — fixing a sidelong look at Vehr.
He caught it.
And immediately thought of Ragcho.
That time when Ragcho came around the instant the Churu appeared…… was there context behind that too? And was Seo I-an at the root of it?
That uncomfortable thought was quickly replaced by something else.
The snow-white arctic fox coiled like a scarf around Hong Je-hun’s shoulders.
“……Can it touch you?”
Touching a Tower Merchant meant a month-long Tower entry penalty.
“It’s fine when the Tower Merchant approaches first.”
Hong Je-hun gave his shoulder a small shake, and the arctic fox adjusted its balance with the ease of long practice.
“By the way — isn’t Master-nim’s Tower Merchant coming?”
Hong Je-hun asked, out of nowhere.
A ha! of laughter shot out of Seo I-an’s mouth.
“Idiot. The rabbit’s busy being a wandering merchant.”
Seo I-an covered for him neatly.
That was exactly why she was his ace.
For the record — Seo I-an knew he was the rabbit.
And from a passing remark he’d made showing off Ragcho, she also knew that whenever he wasn’t running his own Tower, he got pulled into Ragcho’s blue room.
“Wow, at only Floor 30 the rewards look absolutely like this——!”
Seo I-an. Discretion, please.
Ragcho’s blue room.
Where a ball of fluff had been sitting instead of a cat.
All his fault.
He’d been giving out too much Churu.
“Woo-joo-nim-nya!”
“……Want some Churu?”
Last one today.
How could he say no to those shining eyes.
He wasn’t made of stone.
Ragcho raised her tail and laughed “nya!“
And so — a brief Churu session.
Followed immediately by playtime-with-toy (exercise) session.
He’d put the weight on her. He had to work it off.
The last vestige of his conscience in Ragcho’s diet plan.
“By the way, Ragcho.”
“What-nya?”
“Do Tower Merchants brag to each other if an Awakened gives them a gift?”
“……That’s a lot. Tower Merchants can’t carry personal belongings unless an Awakened gave them-nya.”
“……Does Vehr do it a lot?”
“Vehr’s bragging probably accounts for 99% of all Tower Merchant bragging combined-nya.”
The thought must have brought the irritation surging back, because Ragcho tore at the toy more ferociously than before.
……He’d been right. This was Seo I-an’s fault.
“……Ragcho. I’ve had my eye on a cat collar — I think it would suit you. I’ll bring it soon.”
He was going to go home and search furiously, then order for same-day delivery.
He was not going to let their Ragcho feel outclassed.
“Nya——!”
Ragcho looked up from the toy.
Eyes full of anticipation — brighter than any jewel.
A hand that started extending on its own.
He desperately wanted to give those ears a thorough ruffling — but he remembered the penalty and shoved his hand into his pocket.
The most effective way to physically restrain himself.
“Oh, Ragcho — can I choose the floor background when I climb?”
“Random — not possible-nya.”
“Oh. I was slightly hoping.”
He’d wanted to avoid centipedes.
“Anyway — rewards-nya!”
Collect your rewards-nya had shortened to just rewards-nya — a sign of how frequently they now saw each other.
He had that mildly absurd thought as he opened the reward screen.
[Floor 30 Reward Basket]
[Floor 30 Contribution] — 1%
Today’s Floor 30?
The Seo I-an and Hong Je-hun duo had swept through it like a wave the moment they arrived.
He’d been watching from the back.
Getting 1% contribution despite that was probably because he’d been the party leader. A sort of key fee.
[Reward] — 500 TC
“Oh.”
The moment he saw the TC, he understood what Seo I-an had meant by look at these rewards.
“Wow.”
For this much time cut off the clear, the total reward pool should have been significantly higher — and this was what it came to.
There was a bitter taste in his mouth.
The thing still worth hoping for:
“Ragcho — anything to sell?”
Ragcho squinted at him in a way that said she’d been waiting for exactly this.
“Plenty-nya. You know who I am-nya! Ragcho-nya~.”
One thing was already certain: it would be expensive.
“What is it?”
Half anticipation, half dread.
Instead of answering, Ragcho smiled and moved to bring up the sales window — then paused.
“Oh! There are two items-nya. Ascending or descending order — pick-nya!”
“Ascending! Save the best for last — that’s how you eat properly!”
“Got it-nya~.”
“Actually, can you open them one at a time?”
“Who do I think I am-nya! Ragcho-nya! A privilege that came with a rank-up-nya!”
“Congratulations~.”
Ragcho let out a cheerful laugh, tail swaying contentedly.
She opened the first item.
[Mana Restore Potion (10%)]
— The higher the total mana pool, the greater the effect!
“500 TC-nya~.”
He had never once run low on mana.
He had no mana-intensive skills, and Rapid Fire — the one he constantly spammed — was mana-light.
“I’ll take it.”
But he bought it.
Because the moment he saw it, Hong Je-hun came to mind.
Hong Je-hun had never said aloud that he ran low on mana — but he was unmistakably an ice-affinity mage type.
Not knowing the specifics, his mana was surely always running thin somewhere.
I was one attack away from clearing and had to retreat because I ran out of mana — that kind of post flooded the Community at a steady, wallpaper-level pace.
“I thought Woo-joo-nim would say that-nya~. And now — item two-nya~.”
[Cockroach Heart (Single-Use)]
“What is this.”
If the first item had made him immediately think of Hong Je-hun, the second——
It wasn’t moving, so the revulsion wasn’t as acute. But the discomfort was inescapable.
“This item can only be sold in the Den of the Tenacious Cockroach-nya~. Just 10,000 TC-nya!”
“Ragcho.”
You can’t spit on a smiling face, but you can be annoyed by it.
He was of that opinion.
“What-nya?”
“I just earned 500 TC from this floor, and now you’re quoting 10,000 TC for a single-use item……”
“You’ll find it useful if you have it-nya.”
What on earth was the effect?
He pulled up the details.
— When carried, powerfully agitates the target’s aggro instinct!
— Aggro drawn this way cannot be broken!
Ragcho was right — it would have its uses.
But 10,000 TC for one use.
“I’ll take it.”
Aggro bouncing in the Special Floor had been an issue.
But he had something in mind.
“Then — settlement time-nya.”
Right. 700,000 TC……
The borrower forgets. The lender never does.
Their merchant cat had finished selling and instantly transformed into a debt-collecting cat.
“Do I have to pay everything? I want to keep at least some emergency funds.”
“Do however you like-nya. I know you can’t pay it all at once anyway-nya. Just be aware — if you take too long, the system can forcibly deduct from rewards. Keep that in mind-nya.”
Something like an asset freeze or margin call?
For a moment he had the thought that the system understood modern society a little too well.
Current Outlaw guild roster: five members.
Melee damage: Seo I-an.
Ranged damage: Hong Je-hun.
Enchanter: Park Si-woo.
Buffer: Lim Hyeon-jin.
Support: him.
Strictly categorizing it, he was probably better placed in ranged damage or Enchanter — but he had too many things to handle, so he’d decided to just call himself support.
Even so, looking at it from the outside, it was close to a well-rounded composition.
Why close and not is —
“We don’t have a tank!”
Right. No tank.
He paced the needlessly spacious apartment, lost in thought.
Not that he’d make Seo I-an do tanking on the side.
That was completely out of the question.
She’d grumble and do it, of course. That was the kind of person she was.
And her performance wouldn’t even be bad.
But she was glass-cannon melee — defense sacrificed entirely for attack power, Agility maxed out in the spirit of who needs defense when you can dodge everything?
Yes. The problem was that she didn’t block — she evaded.
“The efficiency just collapses……”
A proper tank, when a boss used a skill?
Either absorbed it head-on and held the line, or deflected it.
Planted in place, unmoving — making sure nothing behind them could get hit.
Seo I-an?
He’d seen it in the Special Floor, and watching her climb across multiple runs:
Her tanking style was: oh, it’s using a skill? Let me wait for everyone to scatter, then circle back.
Her Agility was apparently stratospheric — there had been one occasion where she’d vanished from right in front of him and he’d had to sweep with Eagle Eye to track her down.
And the biggest reason tanking couldn’t be her role was temperament.
Ex-firefighter personality: if it looked like others were about to get hit, she’d take the hit herself without question.
She wouldn’t dodge. She’d push herself too hard.
And he’d made her a promise: I will never give you a dangerous order.
Therefore — the guild needs a tank.
That hadn’t changed.
“Hwang Gyu-beom-ajeossi turned me down.”
Yesterday afternoon.
Through Oh Won-taek, he’d reached Hwang Gyu-beom.
The man had agreed happily — initially.
But his first priority was his daughter’s safety, which meant staying on low floors for repeat runs. Whatever terms were offered, he’d just laughed warmly and declined the tank slot.
But the visit hadn’t been completely fruitless.
[Towers Currently Available for Intrusion] : Republic of Korea
[Floor 49] Hong Je-hun
[Floor 38] Yang Mu-geon
……
“Oh — there he is! Yang Mu-geon!”
Another tank-type Awakened Hwang Gyu-beom had recommended.
Yang Mu-geon.
Going to meet him now.
Floor 38.
Floor’s owner: Yang Mu-geon.
The background was a hilltop — a clear, cool night sky spread wide before him.
“Hah. Quite a view.”
That thought arrived before the usual good weather roll.
He stood for a moment, just looking up.
Then——
FLASH. FLASH.
Far in the distance — light erupting, bright enough to pierce the dark sky.
A beat later.
BOOM!! BOOM!!!
Detonations that rattled the air around him.
“Our prospective tank is still handling the regular mobs — might as well do some gathering.”
Materials gathered on a given floor made items useful on that floor.
Yang Mu-geon’s Floor 38.
First-time clear, not a repeat.
Which meant he couldn’t help kill the boss — supplementary damage contribution was off the table.
He’d need to pull contribution through the Encouragement effect.
Incidentally, gathering would probably also yield the default gathering staple of boss damage elixirs and the like.
He moved his feet with purpose.
“Hey. I’m Bunny, the wandering merchant.”
Yang Mu-geon was apparently about to start his pre-fight doping — his hand was on his helmet.
Where Seo I-an wore gleaming silver full plate, Yang Mu-geon was entirely black.
As if the darkness of deep space had been absorbed directly into the armor.
A somewhat Dark Knight energy — imposing and heavy.
Looking strong was a positive.
The helmet came off to reveal his face.
Jet-black curly hair. Skin so pale it was almost white.
A cold impression.
His eyes looked somewhat hollow.
Probably just the exhaustion of having pushed through the regular mobs.
Actually, though——
“Hey. I’m Bunny, the wandering merchant.”
Was he not hearing this?
Why was there no response?
“……”
Really — why was there no response?
He’d never had this happen before. A little caught off guard.
“……Bunny.”
Then, a voice deep enough to seem like it could go through the floor reached him.
“Thanks to you. I think I can finally clear this.”
He smiled faintly.