“Team lead, did you hear?!”
“The Association director called me first thing this morning.”
The Talent Management Team of the Korean Awakened Association.
Oh Won-taek, who ran the team, had just arrived at the office when a subordinate came rushing over in a frenzy. He squared his eyes with the look of someone who’d made up his mind.
“Yun Jin-gi!”
“Sir!”
“Any intel on the wandering merchant and the rabbit?”
“I made contact with Awakened Hwang Gyu-beom, sir! He said it was a wandering merchant that appeared before he cleared the floor!”
“And the rabbit?”
“Awakened Seo I-an is…… well, you know how she is, sir.”
The man called Yun Jin-gi gave a small shrug.
Same as always — meaning she wasn’t answering.
“Should we go through Enchanter Park Si-woo, sir?”
It was an open secret within the Association that Seo I-an only communicated with them through Park Si-woo.
Yun Jin-gi suggested the most workable option.
“No. Leave it. The wandering merchant and the rabbit can wait — Awakened Kim Woo-joo is the bigger problem right now.”
Team lead Oh Won-taek’s eyes sharpened as he finished the sentence.
Even accounting for multiple Floor 1 runs before clearing Floor 2, those numbers don’t add up. Which means Awakened Kim Woo-joo is likely S-rank. A-rank at the absolute minimum.
Awakened could view rankings across other countries’ Towers.
Which meant scouts from other nations were always watching for promising newcomers — ready to swoop in early with good terms before anyone else got there.
The precedent of ‘Steven Lee’ already existed, and that made the urgency all the more acute.
“Looks like he registered with the Association just yesterday, sir. I figured you’d want to move fast, so I already pulled the full registration file!”
Yun Jin-gi. First-year employee, just barely past the one-year mark.
There was a reason Oh Won-taek kept him closest.
A new hire who actually did his job well.
When someone like that showed up, the only appropriate response was to treasure them — there was no reason to feel anything but fond.
“That’s exactly why I keep you around!!”
Oh Won-taek and Yun Jin-gi’s eyes met.
They looked at each other with matching expressions of smug satisfaction.
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
The man who had suddenly become the hottest topic in Korean Awakened circles was——
Checking his newly acquired skill.
He’d accidentally broken the Floor 2 record.
In practice, it was all down to level advantage.
Level wasn’t a stat per se, but it fed into something called “attack power” that functioned differently — and that had carried him.
Anyway, he’d met Ragcho at the end.
Their beloved cat was in unusually fine spirits today, chest puffed out, tail swaying with an air of self-satisfaction.
“Did something good happen?”
He asked.
“Something good is about to happen to Woo-joo-nim-nya.”
She smiled and answered.
He’d had absolutely no idea what that meant at the time.
“Why is there no loot box today?”
The loot box that only appeared for whoever had the highest party contribution.
He’d entered the Tower alone today. It should have been there by default — but it wasn’t showing up.
“No loot box today-nya. Instead——”
— Shwing!
A book made of glowing lines materialized in the air with a bright, clear tone.
It looked like a miniaturized version of the Crafting Codex.
“Instead?”
“A skill book appeared-nya!”
Ragcho’s blue eyes caught the light of the skill book and glimmered, and reflected in those eyes was his own expression — sparkling no less brightly.
“Woo-joo-nim is very lucky-nya. Skill books normally appear more often at higher levels — this is practically a miracle drop-nya.”
He’d heard about this. Most people said you’d be lucky to see one skill book before Level 10.
“Of course, the luckiest part is having met me as the Tower Merchant-nya.”
“Ragcho!”
“Nya?”
“I love you!!”
He genuinely wanted to throw his arms around her.
The Tower Merchant penalty held him back.
“It wasn’t really because of me, but still~”
She was clearly pleased regardless, her eyes curving into happy crescents, corners of her mouth lifting.
Nothing to buy, so he headed straight home.
Back there, he examined the skill book carefully.
[Skill Bloom!]
[Skill ‘Eagle Eye’ obtained!]
[Eagle Eye] — F Rank
Blink rapidly twice to activate for 3 seconds!
The description was as unhelpfully terse as ever.
One thing was immediately clear: Eagle Eye was not a combat skill.
“Oh! Right……”
Skills obtained from skill books supposedly only ever generated ones the Awakened could actually use — determined by their trait and their primary weapon.
For example: trait is Flame, primary weapon is a sword. Skill bloom produces a flame-based sword skill.
“Ugh! I completely forgot about having a trait like Intrude!”
He dry-washed his face in frustration, but it did nothing to improve his mood.
Trait: Intrude. Primary weapon: light bowgun. Skill bloom: Eagle Eye.
“What’s this even for……? The system wouldn’t give me a useless skill…… right?”
He pressed his fingertips against his temples against the oncoming headache and glared at the status screen in front of him.
“More detailed description!”
He called out. Nothing changed.
He hadn’t expected it to.
Well — actually, he’d hoped a little. Just a little.
“You can’t expect a person to look at ‘blink rapidly twice to activate for 3 seconds’ and know what kind of skill it is or how to use it! That’s not reasonable!”
He’d just have to go into a Tower and try blinking.
Seeing was believing.
Try it in practice and the feel would come — same as when he’d first gotten his trait.
……But even knowing that much, he still had no idea whether to put points into Strength or Intelligence.
[Name] : Kim Woo-joo
[Level] : 10
[Strength] : 0
[Intelligence] : 0
[Agility] : 4
[Luck] : 0
Unspent stat points = 6
He still hadn’t put a single point anywhere new.
He’d been holding back because dumping everything into Agility up to 10 felt wrong.
For a light bowgun as primary weapon: Strength for stronger basic attacks, Intelligence for stronger skills — so the community said.
Source: Awakened Community, collective wisdom at its finest.
He’d read more posts, but the Strength camp and the Intelligence camp were split so evenly he’d given up deciding.
Specifically for a day like today.
If he got a new skill, he’d look at it first and then decide.
But Eagle Eye was……
He couldn’t tell whether it used Strength or Intelligence.
Pretty sure it wasn’t Strength, though. What was he supposed to do — put strength into his eyes?
But blindly dumping everything into Intelligence didn’t feel right either.
Just in case, he decided to consult the beloved collective wisdom one more time.
He opened the Awakened Community and typed ‘Eagle Eye’ into the search bar——
Wait, is that my name?
He clicked, almost involuntarily, on the post sitting at the very top of the latest feed.
[Title] Kim Woo-joo’s record time has to be S-rank, right?
[Author] Anonymous47
— Is the Association about to lose another one to America?
└ [Anonymous07] Association dropping the ball isn’t exactly news
└ [Seo I-an] throwing a fit over Floor 2 lol pathetic
His recent dream had been to stay unknown but make a lot of money.
The “stay unknown” condition was now under serious attack.
Should I have gone slower?
Brief thought. Immediately followed by the recognition that he’d needed to go fast for better rewards.
Everyone knew that at the same 100% contribution, a faster clear meant a bigger payout.
I’ll just have to time it so I land outside the top three……!
That was his solution.
Below third place collapsed into an unlabeled section that most people never bothered to expand and read.
He’d use that.
One problem handled.
He returned to his original reason for opening the Community — typed ‘Eagle Eye’ into the search bar.
Right. Nothing.
He hadn’t expected anything.
Well — actually, a little. He had a little. Sniff.
Setting aside the emotional whiplash, he pulled up the Tower Intrude screen.
He still had work to do.
His trait was the kind that turned to garbage if left sitting idle.
That said — running two rounds a day was genuinely exhausting.
He wanted to rest. Desperately, passionately, with full commitment — he wanted to rest.
Either way, he sighed deeply and looked at the Intrude screen.
[Towers Currently Available for Intrusion] : Republic of Korea
[Floor 41] Seo I-an
[Floor 41] Hong Je-hun
[Floor 12] Yeom Gi-hun
……
“Oh!”
Floor 41 — Korea’s current highest floor — and two options at that!
High floor = even a low contribution share means a massive payout = faster leveling = new skill books with actual combat skills.
The plan was perfect. His mood lifted.
Today’s intrusion was starting with good omens.
But which one to enter? He wanted to try Eagle Eye at least once……
He’d already met Seo I-an.
Hong Je-hun, though — he’d never seen him.
And on top of that — the uncontested Korean number one before Seo I-an cleared Floor 40. That title alone.
Wasn’t that worth being curious about?
What did he look like. What was his trait. What kind of abilities did he use.
“Hong Je-hun it is.”
Mind made up, he searched for Hong Je-hun on the Community to see if there was anything he might need bringing in——
Except a post from someone he recognized stopped him and he clicked it without thinking.
[Title] BUNNY!! I MISS YOU!!!
[Author] Seo I-an
— Hurry up!! Very very very much!!!!!!
Why, though.
She hadn’t even mentioned what she needed.
We’ll meet another time.
He pressed back without a second of hesitation and typed Hong Je-hun into the search bar.
Most recent post, fifteen minutes ago.
[Title] If a wandering merchant really exists
[Author] Hong Je-hun
— I’d like to meet one myself.
No mention of anything he needed specifically — but it didn’t matter.
He wanted to meet one. Show up, and that itself was contribution.
He was looking forward to it a little.
The undisputed Korean number one.
He wondered what kind of person he’d be.
Floor 41, interior.
A white snow mountain, blizzard raging.
“Ugh. At this rate I’m going to freeze to death before he does.”
Outside the Tower right now: peak summer.
Which meant he was in a short-sleeve shirt and shorts.
And this place was a snow-covered mountain with wind cold enough to cut skin.
The cold was miserable — but on top of that, this floor was noticeably bigger than most.
Which meant the gathering spots were spread out further apart than usual.
“Ngh……”
An involuntary groan escaped.
He couldn’t just stand there though, so he started working his arms and legs.
The result:
“Crafting Codex.”
The enormous book spread open in front of him, and one of the index tabs lit up.
He opened it.
[Name] Boss Damage +20% Elixir (5 min)
[Materials] Frost Bloom × 5
……It’s like how one plus one equals two, and one times two also equals two, and four divided by two is also two.
Something he’d learned today: the Crafting Codex could produce the same result from different ingredients.
Which was why he was now holding a Boss Damage elixir made from Frost Blooms.
But——
“What’s that? Another gatherable spot?”
A small, faint glow visible far in the distance.
He’d been planning to start looking for Hong Je-hun by now.
If he stayed out here any longer he was genuinely going to freeze to death — that was the feeling.
He’d even moved his low-grade recovery potions to the front of his inventory out of concern for frostbite.
But——
Just that one more, then I’ll go.
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
Hong Je-hun, dressed in every layer he’d deliberately put on, was sprinting across the snowfield, leaving red footprints behind him.
Twenty-two more to go.
According to Seo I-an’s community post, the NPC rabbit appeared right before the boss.
And Hong Je-hun wanted to meet the NPC rabbit (Woo-joo) more desperately than anyone.
Regular Tower mobs weren’t particularly hard, as a rule.
It was always the boss that acted as gatekeeper for a hundred mobs at once — sometimes more.
Floor 41’s boss: the Raging Snow Mountain Yeti.
Dealing damage wasn’t the issue.
But as always, this boss had its own particular obstacle.
That obstacle was a root mechanic.
When its HP fell below 10%, it periodically locked you in place with ice and pulled you toward it — and for him, a magic-type Awakened, that was genuinely threatening.
According to America’s top-ranked Awakened, Hudson, the Raging Snow Mountain Yeti’s root pattern didn’t trigger if you killed the boss before it activated.
But he was already at a high level — further leveling wasn’t going to meaningfully increase his power at this point. His gear was nearly all at maximum spec too, so there was nowhere obvious left to squeeze more damage from.
So he was hoping for a windfall.
Seo I-an — who had cleared Floor 40 and shattered the record despite receiving far less government support than he had — and the rabbit she’d encountered.
He hoped, desperately, that he might meet that same rabbit.
Atop the pure white snowfield, it wasn’t long before Woo-joo came face to face with Hong Je-hun.
The man had clearly come prepared — bundled up in full cold-weather gear from head to toe.
“Hey. I’m Bunny. Wandering merchant.”
Woo-joo blinked a couple of times and greeted him in a clear, steady voice.
Looking completely fine, by all appearances.
“You’re the rabbit? Good to meet you…… wait, you’re the wandering merchant too?”
The ‘rabbit’ Seo I-an had mentioned on the Community, and the ‘wandering merchant’ Hwang Gyu-beom had mentioned — it apparently hadn’t occurred to him that they were the same person. Hong Je-hun looked briefly puzzled, then settled into a quiet smile.
He extended a hand toward Woo-joo as if to shake it.
This man was going to spend the day doing the hard work of killing the Tower boss on his behalf.
Knights of such selfless dedication always deserved courtesy.
Woo-joo moved to take the hand — but Hong Je-hun suddenly pulled it back.
Oh right. I’m supposed to be an NPC.
He’d probably thought better of touching an NPC carelessly and risking the entry penalty.
Fair enough.
He would have done exactly the same.
Anyway.
“You must be cold, Awakened Hong Je-hun.”
He opened, smoothly and naturally, with that.
“Hmm……”
Hong Je-hun paused as if considering the question, hand on his chin, and scanned Woo-joo up and down.
Looking at Woo-joo standing there in short sleeves and shorts, perfectly untroubled, he narrowed his eyes for a moment.
“Does being an NPC mean you don’t feel the cold?”
A question back instead of an answer.
White breath continued to pour steadily from his mouth.
Understandable question, really — not a trace of red on Woo-joo’s fingertips despite the biting wind.
“Naturally.”
He puffed his chest out and answered with full confidence.
Which was, technically, not accurate at all.
Just moments ago he’d been inwardly wailing about freezing to death.
How was he standing here looking this fine?
It was all thanks to ten ice crystals.
The small, faint glow he’d spotted in the distance earlier — he’d gathered it and found ice crystals.
Putting them in his inventory had lit up the Crafting Codex.
He’d opened it to find: combine 10 ice crystals, and you could produce one bottle of Cold Resistance Elixir — good for a full hour of protection against the cold.
Before discovering that, he’d nearly gone back and forth twenty times on whether to just leave.
No usage limit on intrusions, after all.
He’d seriously considered making a quick exit and heading to Seo I-an’s Tower instead.
The floor number might be the same, but the interior layout varied completely depending on who had entered — same difficulty, totally different environment.
Short padded jacket, padded trousers, fur hat, fur gloves. Obviously came fully armed against the cold……
He looked at the empty air beside Hong Je-hun and smiled comfortably behind his mask.
Contribution seems likely.
Floating in that empty air was the status screen of Hong Je-hun — currently recognized as Korea’s number one ranked Awakened.