He’d heard the saying — a bit superstitious as beliefs went — that if you encounter the rabbit in a Tower, that’s the day you clear.
“Depends on how you go about it. Anyway——”
“Everything. I’ll take all of it.”
The give me everything declaration before he’d finished listing the items.
Seo I-an really had trained her Awakened people well.
Impressively so.
“Boss damage boost, all-stat boost, strength-stat bundle — 2,000 TC.”
The shorter explanation was his mood talking.
They were all necessities with clear uses — even if not needed today, they’d be needed later. No loss on the buyer’s end.
He handed the elixirs over with that thought, and Yang Mu-geon looked at them.
“Can they be mixed?”
He didn’t know. He’d never tried.
Better to be safe.
“Drink them one at a time.”
A small sigh, and Yang Mu-geon started emptying the bottles in sequence.
“Still — better than EXP potions……”
“You’d have a hard time finding anything worse than EXP potions.”
EXP potions.
Colloquially: EXPs.
He drank them every Tower run himself.
The taste? Awful. And bitter on top of that.
“Fair enough.”
Small nod. Pre-fight doping complete, including capsule recovery potions. Helmet back on.
Then Yang Mu-geon bent to retrieve the shield and sword he’d set on the ground——
Wait, where’s the sword? Why are there two shields?!
Seo I-an’s twin swords flickered through his mind for a brief moment.
BANG.
Yang Mu-geon brought the two shields together with a threatening crack.
Black sparks flew, then ran along the dragon pattern engraved on the shield’s surface like lightning.
“That looks cool.”
“It’s the main.”
“But why two shields? Where’s the weapon?”
Hwang Gyu-beom had given him two pieces of information when recommending Yang Mu-geon.
First: good-natured.
He couldn’t tell yet.
What he could tell was that Yang Mu-geon didn’t answer often and spoke very little.
Second: an exceptionally well-rounded tank.
He couldn’t speak to the well-rounded part yet, but exceptionally seemed accurate.
But no matter how I think about it, I don’t remember him.
Hwang Gyu-beom had said A-rank or above.
Which meant they’d have crossed paths in the Special Floor.
But nothing in his memory matched.
The first Special Floor he’d been too overwhelmed to pay attention, and the second he’d been too focused on the clear to look around. That was probably why.
“Weapon?”
Yang Mu-geon echoed him and held up a shield.
Was that the weapon?
Surely not?
“That’s a shield.”
“If you can hit with it, it’s a weapon.”
Not at all.
This person was heading somewhere dangerous.
At this rate he’d be calling pens lethal.
He’d come to find a tank. His only recommendation. A wave of unease arrived.
“Hope I can clear this today.”
Hope?
Why was he still uncertain after drinking every elixir?
“Not confident?”
He’d meant it as a provocation.
He wanted to hear the man speak at some length.
“Three shields. I’ll show you directly. It’s been two months and I still haven’t cleared because——”
Yang Mu-geon didn’t finish the sentence.
He shot toward the boss.
And then——
BOOOOOM!!!
On the still-dark hilltop.
A massive eruption of light, like the dawn breaking all at once, followed by a column of smoke.
The explosion was large enough to send a sharp, immediate gust crashing into him from even this distance.
Leaves and soil carried on the wind grazed his cheek as they passed.
“……But that’s not typically how a tank fights?”
Going by Hwang Gyu-beom as a reference, the standard tank style was: hold the line, then hit back.
Not driving forward with both shields swinging.
It was unusual.
Less like a tank, more like a runaway locomotive.
A quiet runaway locomotive.
Still — watching longer, it was clearly tank work.
He didn’t dodge. He planted both feet and held his ground.
“Actually, this might be even better……? A tank who deals damage on top of tanking is two for one.”
The combat style — very appealing.
And once one thing looked good, everything started looking better.
He’d already mentally stamped the approval on the paperwork.
Interesting enough spectacle that he decided not to keep it to himself — he tapped record on his phone and slipped it into his breast pocket.
And then——
Ding!
[Party member’s mana has dropped below a critical threshold!]
— Mana (Yang Mu-geon): 0.1%
A warning.
“You’re not Hong Je-hun, why are you triggering this?!”
A tank?!
“Our prospective tank needs a lot of looking after.”
He bolted up the hill.
He hadn’t raised the guild topic yet — he was still in observation mode.
But if Yang Mu-geon ran out of mana and retreated today——
He’d have to come back tomorrow.
Coming back tomorrow itself wasn’t a problem.
But he’d have to time his entry to match Yang Mu-geon’s, and that was genuinely tedious.
“Yang Mu-geon-nim!!”
“Ha……”
Eyes inside the helmet glowing with a mix of resignation and frustration.
Yang Mu-geon killed his offense and shifted entirely into defense.
Was he actually starting the exit procedure?!
That couldn’t happen.
“Why can’t you clear this? Aren’t you giving up a bit early?”
He meant it as a provocation.
Yang Mu-geon tilted his chin toward the boss.
Boss HP: 30%.
Then — black sparks. Not running along the dragon pattern. Dissipating into nothing.
“Urgent situation, so I’ll take payment after. 1,000 TC. Plus a condition.”
Price set at twice the buy-in.
He couldn’t clear it?
Absolutely not.
Unless the boss was an oversized insect monster, that kind of thing was not going to happen to his guild members.
Or potential guild members.
And the condition — well.
Joining the guild.
“Give it.”
He tossed the Mana Restore Potion (10%) at Yang Mu-geon — the one he’d bought from Ragcho for Hong Je-hun.
Yang Mu-geon dropped quickly into a crouch, lifting the helmet just enough. He timed the catch perfectly, rolling the potion bottle inside the shield’s hollow interior, then pried off the cap and tipped the whole thing into his mouth.
“Not great, apparently.”
Confirmed.
Yang Mu-geon’s brow furrowed with no restraint whatsoever.
But the effect was kicking in — the resignation in his eyes receded.
What replaced it was something cold and certain.
KA-RAAAAK!!!
The boss’s enormous claw sheared through the air with a sound like tearing space.
One shield, braced and rigid, blocking it head-on.
And the other — driving through the opening straight into the boss’s solar plexus.
The moment shield met boss, the dragon pattern blazed to life and a massive explosion detonated.
BOOM!!
“Not again!”
A shockwave, crashing in from everywhere.
Instinctive hand over the eyes.
Weight shifted forward so he didn’t get blown back.
And when the light faded and he properly opened his eyes.
A dark silhouette. Yang Mu-geon.
He pushed up his helmet, and smiled faintly.
“The rabbit legend holds, apparently.”
Yang Mu-geon walked toward him.
Mana potion payment: settled.
“Oh — one more thing, Yang Mu-geon-nim. Do you have a guild?”
He shook his head.
“Then — any interest in joining Outlaw? I heard they’re looking for a tank there. I could write you a recommendation.”
There was a difference between going to recruit someone and having someone come knocking to be recruited.
Contract terms — he’d align them fairly with the other guild members.
No intention of undercutting.
Predatory organizations shine briefly at the start and then hemorrhage every person they trained when better options appear.
As guild leader, preventing that was the job.
So — what was the difference between recruiting and being recruited?
The question of who held the choice.
Going to recruit meant choice transferred to the other party. The other party coming in meant choice stayed with him.
“Outlaw…… the twin swords?”
He was talking about Seo I-an.
But why bring her up now?
A flicker of unease.
Seo I-an had fans, but she also had detractors.
If Yang Mu-geon was in the latter group, this was going to be complicated.
“For someone tanking with swords, the aggro control was solid.”
It was the Special Floor he was referring to.
Hong Je-hun had actually put on the more visually spectacular skill display that day.
Yet Yang Mu-geon’s thoughts went straight to Seo I-an.
You see what you understand, and recognize what matters to you.
What had left an impression was Seo I-an’s aggro management.
“Recommendation — please.”
“Of course.”
He smiled behind the mask.
“I want to meet the twin swords in person. There’s something I want to learn directly.”
“……Learn what, exactly?”
Please, no bad habits.
This felt like something important, but Yang Mu-geon went quiet again.
And then——
“Eep.“
A sound from down around his ankle.
A cute little black otter.
“Reward-eep!”
Yang Mu-geon’s Tower Merchant, apparently.
For a tank’s Tower Merchant, it had quite a soft feel.
“I’ll pass the recommendation along to Awakened Kim Woo-joo. You’ll be hearing from them.”
Yang Mu-geon nodded.
“Oh — Yang Mu-geon-nim. Outlaw currently has melee and ranged damage dealers. That’s why they’re looking for a tank. Lowering your attack stat and building defense instead would probably be the right direction.”
A tank who also dealt damage was excellent.
That was exactly what had made him more interested in Yang Mu-geon.
But damage couldn’t be the priority at the expense of tanking.
Outlaw already had more than capable damage dealers.
Yang Mu-geon watched him for a moment, then nodded. And then:
“My trait is that defense scales proportionally with my strength stat and attack power.”
It was the first time he’d heard Yang Mu-geon say a full sentence.
But wait — that meant raising attack was more efficient than raising defense directly.
In that instant — Hwang Gyu-beom’s booming laugh echoed through his mind.
Followed by: an exceptionally well-rounded tank!
……That was what he meant.
“Ragcho~.”
Fast Churu offering.
Satisfied Ragcho.
“Reward-nya!”
[Floor 38 Reward Basket]
[Floor 38 Contribution] — 2%
[Reward] — 1,500 TC
“Ragcho. The Encouragement rewards have felt a little stingy lately.”
He’d sold a decent spread of elixirs, and even handed over the mana potion that had been meant for Hong Je-hun as sub-leader — and still only 2%?
“And my level doesn’t seem to want to go up either.”
“That’s because Woo-joo-nim has grown so much-nya. As your own level rises, the contribution reward from the same floor necessarily shrinks-nya.”
True enough.
His current level was already 88.
Three months in from Awakening.
He knew himself this was unusual.
The fastest climbers averaged around a year of grinding to reach Level 50.
“So I need to be going to higher floors. Or something like the Special Floor.”
“That’s right-nya! But Woo-joo-nim! You called Ragcho especially late today-nya!”
“Had some things to handle.”
At that, Ragcho’s eyes lit up.
He pulled the feather toy from his inventory and waved it in front of her.
Worth telling her about.
And while he was at it — time to get their round little cat some exercise.
The following day.
He went to the Association.
The lobby.
He passed through the entrance and tapped his Association card on the auto-registration terminal.
At some point a voice had been added — Welcome! rang out in a pleasant mechanical tone.
“Right, right. Good to see you too.”
He muttered it to himself, and from behind him — he hadn’t noticed when Park Si-woo had spotted him and started following — came a quiet snort.
“It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen the guild leader’s face. What brings you to the Association?”
“Actually, I was looking for you, Park Si-woo-nim.”
They found a quiet spot to sit — a small break room table.
He pulled out his phone and played the video he’d shot of Yang Mu-geon fighting the boss.
“Our new tank. Signed the contract this morning. With this — can’t Outlaw handle the Special Floor as a guild, just the five of us?”
At that, Park Si-woo lifted his eyes from the phone.
“Hmm. Do you genuinely think that?”
Why that reaction?
“Is it not possible?”
Park Si-woo had sharp eyes — he might have caught something that Woo-joo had missed.
He wanted Park Si-woo’s read before pushing his own assessment.
The only brain in Outlaw, after all.
“The inscription discharge is scattering too much……”
“Hmm?”
Eyes met.
He scratched the back of his head and gave an embarrassed smile.
Their Enchanter was expecting a lot of knowledge from someone who was still relatively new to all of this.
But Park Si-woo was the guild’s brain.
He read the expression and started filling in the gaps without being asked.
He rewound the video to a specific point and paused it.
“Look here, guild leader. The pattern engraved on this shield — you see it? That’s an inscription. Inscribed using an inscription stone.”
“Ah……”
“An inscription can be carved into an item using an inscription stone. I understand why you wouldn’t know about it. They’re rare, and because they drain mana at a punishing rate, most Awakened avoid them — so there’s almost no public information out there.”
Right — he’d done some studying since Awakening. A fair bit, actually.
“Either way — once an inscription is carved into an item, mana can be condensed into it to amplify certain effects. You can also accumulate that mana over time and release it in a burst. Used correctly, it’s a method that can output surprisingly high concentrated damage.”
“Is it a good thing?”
“……When used well, it’s a good thing. Well!“
That phrasing made one of his eyebrows instinctively twitch.
He was fairly sure this meant Yang Mu-geon was using it poorly.
“As you can see in the footage, the mana flow is unstable — the explosion scatters.”
Park Si-woo replayed the explosion frame and explained.
Why? What’s the problem? What does scattering mean here? And isn’t an explosion supposed to scatter by nature?
Questions tangling and pulling him deeper.
Then — a light tap on his shoulder. He looked up.
“Come to the training room with me for a moment. I can show you this in person.”