Checking whether Seo I-an was out of the Tower was simple.
Scan the Community and see if she was there.
That was the whole point of being a community regular.
He confirmed her post and pressed the call button without hesitation.
“I-an — did you buy it?”
If she hadn’t, his 500,000 TC (including the Ragcho short-term loan) would evaporate into the air.
He trusted Seo I-an.
From the early days of the wandering merchant rabbit all the way to now as guild leader.
Not once had he ever heard from her lips anything like I won’t buy that.
Her commercial vocabulary contained exactly two entries: give me and all of it.
[What? Oh — the eye thing?]
“That’s it! The phrasing is a bit unfortunate but yes, that thing!”
[Obviously I bought it! Did you? If you didn’t buy it, you’re not my benefactor anymore. You’re a traitor.]
The voice hitting lower registers with every sentence — that was their guild ace.
“Of course I bought it!”
[Our benefactor!! But did you check? The eye says ‘cannot be deleted’ — can’t be broken down either. But it can be transferred once between party members who cleared together.]
“Right, I saw that. So I-an — can I buy it from you for 1,000,000 TC?”
For reference — not double the price.
He’d entered through intrusion and received the 50% discount, making his 500,000 TC.
Which meant Seo I-an had paid full price: 1,000,000 TC.
[Buy it? Just take it.]
“Are you rich?”
[I manage well enough for myself.]
“Still though……”
He wasn’t the type to say no to free things or discounts, but this one was different.
At his TC exchange rate, 1,000,000 TC was approaching 10 billion won.
Casually accepting something like that would make his conscience ache.
[What do you mean still though.]
“My conscience hurts.”
[Then put it down as advance payment under my name with the rabbit.]
A faint laugh came through the receiver.
[Oh, and benefactor! You absolutely have to bring me when you meet Lian Carter! No one but me!]
“Why?”
The sudden assertiveness was making him uneasy.
He’d honestly been thinking of secretly bringing Hong Je-hun, since Park Si-woo had said he was busy.
Not Park Si-woo with his snake-smooth conversational ability, but at least Hong Je-hun — composed enough to hold his ground without escalating.
And also the sub-leader.
[You don’t want me?]
“A little?”
He’d said a little not to be too direct — afraid that the full truth would sting.
What came back through the receiver immediately made him switch to speakerphone to protect his hearing.
[WHY NOT???]
“Why does it have to specifically be you?”
[I have to ask about the Level 111 awakening.]
“What’s that?”
[No idea. Something terrible that exists. If you don’t make the selection, Tower clearing doesn’t yield EXP. I’ve been sitting on it.]
“Oh dear. That won’t do. Our ace needs her EXP.”
A reason to bring Seo I-an appeared for the following day.
The following day. Small conference room, 7th floor, Association main building.
Through the glass windows, a clear autumn sky spread wide and open.
Lian Carter and Dylan had already arrived.
Blond hair carefully combed back for what was nominally an official occasion, inscrutable blue eyes.
And the characteristic easy smile.
“Running a little late.”
Lian caught Dylan’s reflection in the window.
A barely visible crease appeared between Dylan’s brows.
“You arrived two hours early — and you’re complaining that the other side is late? I genuinely cannot fathom your logic.”
Meanwhile, at that same hour.
This was bad.
“Ugh……”
He rubbed his face and stared at the BUSY red light above the Association workshop door.
Right. Park Si-woo had gone in for work and couldn’t come.
“But why is Park Si-woo busy?”
“I-an. Do you have a Litmus of Truth by any chance?”
“Why would I need that? Isn’t that what police use?”
No need for a longer explanation — clearly she didn’t have one.
“I was going to use it when meeting Lian Carter.”
“Is Park Si-woo the only Enchanter? Just buy it at the Enchanter shop.”
“Like you said, it’s sold entirely to law enforcement — Enchanters don’t carry it separately.”
“Then hit up the Association. Benefactor is close with the Association, right?”
The word Association briefly flickered something unpleasant across Seo I-an’s expression — but he let it pass for now.
And corrected it gently.
“Not the Association — Team Lead Oh Won-taek. First client, and likely to become our biggest client.”
Probably.
“He’s still Association-affiliated though.”
“He has to be Association-affiliated so he can use the Association’s authority to give us more.”
Seo I-an didn’t answer.
But her eyes made it openly clear: still feels uncomfortable.
“By the way — I-an.”
“Yeah?”
“Park Si-woo Enchanter-nim is also Association-affiliated.”
“Oh!”
No permanent jobs in this world.
Even the supposedly iron-clad civil service had been downsizing since the Canada economic collapse.
In other words — affiliation wasn’t a bond of deep loyalty, just a temporary traveling together for mutual benefit.
Seo I-an’s inner circle included the Enchanter Park Si-woo, for instance.
The palm-meeting-fist gesture told him the point had landed.
He called Yun Jin-gi.
His logic: Oh Won-taek and Yun Jin-gi would be together, and if he called Oh Won-taek directly it might turn into a longer conversation — time was tight.
[Hyung-nim?]
The neat, pleasant voice — definitely Yun Jin-gi.
“I need a Litmus of Truth — any chance of getting some?”
[The Association currently has only 3 sheets remaining, but I’ll bring them to you right now!]
Three sheets?
What was he supposed to do with three?
“No, it’s fine — don’t come!”
“What’s going on?”
Seo I-an asked — she hadn’t heard the call.
“Something like that.”
“Like what?”
“Trust me a little. When have I ever let you down?”
“Never?”
“Fate must have brought us together again — here we are!”
Small conference room, 7th floor, Association main building.
Lian Carter rose as they entered the room, approaching warmly and extending a hand.
He reached out to take it lightly, trying to make eye contact — but Lian’s gaze had already moved past him to Seo I-an.
A briefly sharp look flashed — quickly covered by a smile again.
“Is this your partner?”
“Then — is the person standing over there your boyfriend?”
Before he could say a word, Seo I-an nodded toward Dylan at the window and fired back.
Then caught his eye and flashed a private look of satisfaction.
A look that said: I established dominance, didn’t I?
I-an.
This was exactly why he’d been planning to bring Hong Je-hun.
Lian Carter had clearly been caught off guard — his eyes went round for a moment — before he regathered himself and laughed it off.
“Ha ha — so not a couple. My apologies.”
He extended a hand toward her in a gesture of conciliation, but Seo I-an pretended not to see it and walked to her seat.
“Are we standing for this?”
I-an’s line. Everyone sat down.
“So — what’s the reason for this meeting?”
He opened.
Their stated offer: Floor 50 and above information.
That was the surface reason — the bait they were dangling.
What they actually wanted from Korea was something else.
“How about we drop the formal speech first? My polite Korean is a bit limited.”
He was at least self-aware enough to acknowledge it. A good sign — noting your mistakes was the first step to not repeating them.
And he was happy to contribute to Lian’s Korean politeness education.
“You can still understand it though. I prefer formal speech.”
First step: make him listen.
You had to hear a language before speaking it became easier.
“Either way — what specifically made you want to meet me and not someone else?”
“This first.”
Lian’s characteristic smile stayed in place as he lightly snapped his fingers.
Click. A hologram window appeared over the table.
Dense data on Korea’s Tower climbing stats.
“Is this data the Association provided?”
“Browsing other countries’ records is possible, so I put this together from that. And I was hoping we could use this for our conversation today……”
Lian’s sentence trailed as he placed a long stack of paper on the table.
The Litmus of Truth.
“Did you come prepared, Woo-joo?”
He had — past tense.
Which was why it was past tense: the Hidden Dungeon with Lumen, Seo I-an going feral, and then Ragcho chewing it all to pieces.
He’d tried to get replacements — but Park Si-woo was absent on personal matters, other Enchanters had sold their entire stock to law enforcement, and the Association had confidently offered all three remaining sheets.
He hadn’t taken them.
Did he have a Litmus of Truth?
Obviously not.
“Oh, that. That’s for our use on your end.”
“Of course.”
Lian slid the papers across toward them as if it went without saying.
He stared at them for a moment, then looked up.
“Why would we be using these? The arrangement was: you provide Floor 50 information, we make sure the rabbit prioritizes visiting America.”
The information provider?
Them.
So who should be using the Litmus?
Them, wasn’t it?
Lian, apparently expecting exactly this, laughed without a trace of discomfort.
“Oh, that? That’s the surface meeting request. My personal purpose here is different.”
Seo I-an:
“I knew that’s what this person would do.”
She ground her teeth.
And the large, grim-faced man beside Lian?
This was apparently news to him. He was staring Lian down.
So: not an agreed-upon item. Confirmed.
“What’s the personal part?”
Might as well hear it.
If there was a Pandora’s box in front of him, he was generally in the camp that opened it.
“Personally, I’m very curious about you, Woo-joo. So I was thinking we could do a rotating Q&A format — how does that sound?”
“Hmm……”
Honestly — Floor 50 information?
He could get it the hard way through intrusion as the rabbit, if he had to.
But there was something else that made this appealing.
The Level 111 awakening, or whatever it was — the choice of secondary trait.
He briefly thought: can’t I just ask Seo I-an?
But what if it was like a second job class unlock — choose wrong and you’re stuck with a dead-end build?
Their carefully acquired guild ace — too valuable to lose.
And this person was offering him a legitimate right to ask questions?
The catch was that they got the same right in return.
That was something to factor in — but it wasn’t a dealbreaker.
Lian Carter’s questions were going to be about the Special Floor and the wandering merchant rabbit. And if he had any additional insight, he’d probably probe the one other person mentioned in the Hidden Dungeon announcement.
But none of those questions would run their full course.
Because he was going to use up all his questions and end the Q&A before that happened.
He’d be using the Litmus — so no lying.
A matter of trust, anyway.
But that didn’t mean he had to reveal everything they were curious about.
“Q&A sounds fine. But I’ll be the one deciding when it ends.”
In case new things came up mid-conversation that he’d want to ask about.
Most likely it would end with them having gotten the information they came for anyway.
If Lian Carter refused?
Then he’d refuse too.
He had plenty of energy. Just not time.
Time to resume doing foreign Tower runs the hard way.
“Sure. Let’s do it.”
Lian agreed readily and slid the Litmus of Truth back across the table.
“Oh — we won’t be using those.”
Won’t was the word. The truth was can’t.
But saying that wouldn’t look very sharp.
“Why?”
“We don’t need them.”
At his words, a flicker of doubt crossed Lian’s eyes.
He glanced toward Seo I-an with a slight smile.
See — this is how you establish dominance properly.
Not a bluff.
He didn’t have the Litmus, but he did have Eagle Eye.
A message of trust: I’ll engage with you without it.
And simultaneously — a subtle pressure: I can tell truth from lies regardless.
Psychological edge, established simply.
And furthermore:
“Since we’re not using the Litmus — we’ll ask first. That alright?”
First strike wins — as the saying went.
Lian’s eyes brightened, and he smiled and said yes.
And so he asked:
“How much have you looked into us before coming here today?”
A variation of how high are you willing to go? — designed to reveal what they were working with.
“Hm……?”
Uncharacteristically caught off guard, Lian quickly recovered and laughed broadly.
“How much…… what I’ve confirmed and can say I’m fairly certain about would be: Woo-joo’s connection to the rabbit, and the fact that he’s the key variable in Korea being able to clear the Special Floor.”
Eagle Eye confirmation: true.
Or rather — close to true.
Eagle Eye generally showed states in the abstract.
Either way — rabbit and Special Floor were the core keywords.
The questions coming from Lian would circle these two.
He’d be using the Litmus — no lying allowed.
Which meant before a rabbit-related question arrived, he needed to redirect the topic toward Hidden Dungeon.
Because the rabbit was his most personal territory.
The Special Floor and Hidden Dungeons were areas that applied to anyone.
But the rabbit was his personal space.
So:
“The Special Floor was a bit rough this time. Right, I-an?”
Designed to invite a Special Floor question first.
What he was here to get from Lian today: the Level 111 awakening — the secondary trait selection. That was it.
He wanted to get the Special Floor topic — already documented in foreign-shared footage — cleared first.
“Rough? It was easy mode.”
“I-an……?”
He’d just said a bit rough. Her saying easy mode in response was going to look a certain way——
“But it’s not like they could replicate it even if they watched!”
She shrugged, unconcerned.
Lian’s eyes brightened. Dylan’s eyes narrowed.
Either way — curiosity provoked, successfully.
“Then it’s my turn?”
“Yes.”
“I’m curious about the Special Floor too, but……”
Lian made brief eye contact with him, arms loosely crossed.
The slight smile was enough for him to sense — without Eagle Eye — that Lian wasn’t going to start with the Special Floor.
“The Hidden Dungeon clear this time — that was I-an and Woo-joo, wasn’t it?”
He’d laid rabbit and Special Floor on the table — and opened with Hidden Dungeon instead?
Generously put: unpredictable.
Less generously: was this person a little unhinged?
He caught his own earlier mistake.
How much did you look into us?
Lian had prefaced his answer with what I’ve confirmed and can say I’m fairly certain about — meaning the Hidden Dungeon was something he hadn’t confirmed yet and was asking first to verify.
This person buried a conditional in his own answer and then extracted what he wanted.
Impressive.
He was using it too.
“Yes. It’s the two of us.”
He touched the Litmus to his tongue.
Blue.
“My turn. What is the Level 111 awakening?”
He asked the reason he’d agreed to this Q&A — the key to growing their ace.
“Hang on — awakening?”
Lian looked at Dylan.
“After Level 111, it would be the secondary trait selection.“
“Yes, that!”
Seo I-an chimed in immediately.
“That’s — sort of what it feels like when your trait subdivides and gets enhanced. Say your trait is Body Enhancement. The secondary trait would be: do you go attack-focused and boost power or speed, or defense-focused and boost durability? That kind of thing.”
He blinked quickly to check.
[Lian Carter Status Screen]
— Currently pleased to show off his knowledge!
Confirmed true.
“Oh, and worth adding — depending on which secondary trait you choose, a few of your current skills might change. So don’t make the decision purely based on what you have right now.”
He glanced at Seo I-an.
She looked thoughtful — something had clearly landed.
“Did that help?”
Of course it helped — Lian’s expression was practically gleaming with the satisfaction of being useful.
Annoying, but since Seo I-an wasn’t pushing back, the information was probably solid.
“Yes.”
“My turn. How did Korea clear the Special Floor? Does Woo-joo have some incredible skill? Oh, and for the record — an answer like we just attacked and it fell won’t cut it. Even with the Litmus, I’d appreciate some basic effort.”
From Hidden Dungeon to Special Floor.
The Hidden Dungeon was an unpredictable whenever-it-drops event — but the Special Floor was happening next month.
Obviously they were hungrier for Special Floor information.
He’d been expecting this question and had no intention of brushing it off.
He’d actually been waiting for it.