— Kueeek. A red crystal spear shot forward and pierced the neck of a Lv.1 ribbon pig. The pig collapsed with a painful roar. Then Chae Nayun pulled the spear out of its neck.

“Dismantle.”

With a soft murmur, the pig’s corpse turned into meat and leather. Chae Nayun stored the food in her inventory.

[Your inventory is full.]

“Mm, can’t you fit more?”

[No.]

Chae Nayun filled her inventory with food she had collected for the past 4 hours.

“Nayun, are you done?”

Yi Jiyoon’s voice rang out from behind her. She sounded tired.

“Yeah, I’m finished. What about you? Is your inventory full?”

“Huh? Oh, uh… yeah, mine is full too.”

She clearly lied, but Chae Nayun didn’t pursue it any further.

“Let’s head back now. More people are gathering at the elevator.”

Essence of the Strait’s team had already found an elevator 5 hours ago, but Chae Nayun delayed setting off to hunt nearby monsters because of Extra7’s advice.

“Nayun, we have to go!”

However, none of the other guild members showed interest in hunting even when Chae Nayun told them the advice came from her master on the 3rd floor. They only repeatedly told her to hurry up. Of course, she understood their reactions. Other players could steal their elevator as they hunted for food.

“How many people do we have?”

Chae Nayun managed to obtain enough food to last the entire team 1-2 weeks despite their uncooperative attitude.

“Around 27 or maybe 28. We have to hurry. A fight might break out if it fills up.”

Essence of the Strait had found the elevator first, but other players had also gathered after they delayed setting off. Only 1 member of a group needed to find an elevator for an entire group to come over. It wouldn’t be surprising if another huge group arrived soon.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Chae Nayun decided to head back.

“Sigh, good. Follow me.”

Chae Nayun followed Yi Jiyoon with the red crystal spear in hand. They returned to the elevator in just 15 minutes. Anyone would notice that the Essence of the Strait members seemed unhappy. They felt annoyed, but held back because Chae Nayun was Yoo Yeonha’s friend. Still, Chae Nayun ignored their gazes and stood in front of them.

“Chae Nayun, you delayed us by 5 hours. Five. Whole. Hours.”

However, it seemed they had something to say this time. The chief officer of Essence of the Strait’s tower subjugation team, high-intermediate rank, grade 2 hero Kim Youngjin stood in front of her.

“…”

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

“I suggested hunting together, leaving behind one team to defend the elevator and taking shifts.”

“What?” Kim Youngjin frowned intimidatingly.

“Like I said, we need to stock up on food for the 3rd floor.”

“The 2nd floor’s administrator said that the 3rd floor is a residential area. You think a residential area would be low on food?”

“…”

Chae Nayun didn’t reply. Extra7 was already on the 3rd floor and told her to stock up on food. However, she didn’t want to explain the same thing again. She knew her words would only sound like an excuse because of their bias.

“We’re late because of you. Do you understand that?”

“… Yes, sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Chae Nayun simply dropped her head and apologized. Following the chief officer’s orders. That was one of the conditions Chae Nayun had to accept for a tower entrance ticket.

“Tsk.”

Kim Youngjin didn’t say anything more and opened the elevator. The other members entered after him and other bystanders also got on. Unsurprisingly, Chae Nayun got on last.

[Departing to the 3rd floor.]

Their elevator contained 29 people. They shared the small space and awkward atmosphere. Yi Jiyoon clapped her hands and tried to lighten the mood since they would be here for 4 hours.

“R-Right, so, um, did any of you meet anyone famous in the tower?”

“Famous?”

“Yeah. I’m sure the tower has many famous heroes, mercenaries, and hunters.”

Everyone ignored Yi Jiyoon, which made the atmosphere even more awkward.

“…”

Shouldn’t they say something since we let them join our elevator? Yi Jiyoon grumbled inwardly.

“I met someone.” A man wearing a black robe raised his hand.

“Wow, really?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

The man smiled at her question. Until then, Chae Nayun hadn’t shown any interest in their conversation. She simply looked through the auction house for any useful items and wondered if she should sell her red crystal spear.

“I saw Fenrir.”

“…!”

Chae Nayun’s head suddenly shot up like lightning struck her and she looked at the black robed man. Jeronimo’s mercenary, Fenrir. Chae Nayun knew his real identity. Only one person in this world could wield a gun so well.

“Ah… really?”

Honestly, everyone who went to Cube with Kim Hajin knew. However, Yi Jiyoon pretended to be oblivious out of courtesy.

“Um, was he strong?”

“Yes.”

The man bitterly smiled and took off his robe. Yi Jiyoon blushed when she saw his handsome face.

“My friend and I almost died picking a fight with him. He was quite scary.”

“Oh… I see…”

“Yes, I suspect he’s the strongest in the tower. Don’t try to fight him if you ever meet him. You’ll die.”

Yi Jiyoon blankly nodded after being enchanted by the man’s handsome appearance. Gzz— Chae Nayun clenched her teeth and the hand holding her spear turned white. Kim Hajin was here. Just hearing this caused blood to rush to her head and filled her with all sorts of complicated thoughts.

“Ah… Dammit.”

Her head seemed to be splitting in half. She felt like she would lose herself in this intense pain. Rage and fear rose in her heart, as well as hatred and sadness. Doubt seemed to devour her reason. There’s no way he killed oppa. It must’ve been a misunderstanding. Such thoughts flashed across her mind. She only believed what she wanted, yet she could never believe such things. It drove her crazy and stifled her breath.

“My, my head…”

An unbearable headache struck her. It felt like a hammer beating on her head. In the end, she smashed her head against the elevator and collapsed.

“Eh? N-Nayun!”

Yi Jiyoon quickly helped her up. However, no one else showed any interest. Even Essence of the Strait members backed off and glanced at the chief officer to take care of the situation.

“Ha, what a mess.”

Kim Youngjin sighed. Just how long did he have to take care of this silver spoon?

“Argh, my head hurts too.”

He massaged his sore temples.

***

[3rd floor, residential area – Prestige] [TIP! Find a guard to purchase citizenship.]

We walked through Prestige. Fewer NPCs sprawled on the ground and proper buildings appeared as we grew closer to the city center.

“What’s that?”

A tall wall and a large gate appeared after about 40 minutes.

“Looks like a gate. Let’s check it out.”

A guard stopped us as we approached.

“The inner city is off-limits to non-citizens. You mush show proof of citizenship to enter.”

“…?”

Everyone except me blinked in confusion. Soon, Cheok Jungyeong began to crack his knuckles. I quickly stopped him.

“Stop, you won’t be able to beat him.”

“Haha, kid, are you looking down on—”

“Ask the system.”

“Ask what? I’m sure it’ll say…”

Cheok Jungyeong stopped talking. He should’ve received a system alert that read something like this: All guards inside Prestige have received a 250% boost in stats. We were only on the 3rd floor, but guards were at least Lv.5. With a 250% stat boost, we wouldn’t be able to defeat them until we become strong enough to clear the 6th floor.

“Uhahaha, that only makes me want to fight more.”

“Shut up and stay put.”

Jain restrained him as he smiled mischievously. The guard spoke again.

“You can pay 1000 TP to register as a temporary citizen or return to the outer city.”

“What do you all want to do? I plan on buying the citizenship.”

I turned around and asked them out of courtesy. You couldn’t do anything without citizenship in Prestige.

“I have 1000 TP.”

“I told you, I think I can beat him in a fight!”

“I don’t have a lot of TP.”

Jain, Cheok Jungyeong, and Boss spoke respectively.

“Then I’ll pay for Cheok Jungyeong and Boss.”

I took out three 1000 TP banknotes from my inventory.

“What about me?”

“I know you’re rich, Jain.”

“I should’ve said I was poor too.”

Jain pouted as she took out 1000 TP. I considered haggling, but guards were the most inflexible NPCs. Haggling probably wouldn’t work on them unless it reached Lv.10.

“Here, 4000 TP.”

“Confirmed.”

The guard turned around and gave the money to a clerk at the front entrance. The clerk wrote down the amount in her accounting book and instantly produced 4 identification cards.

“Here. You are not official residents, so you will have to renew your identification cards once a month for 700 TP. It will cost 1000 TP to replace if you lose it, so keep that in mind.”

We received our identification cards for temporary citizenship. Extra7. Boss. PhantomThief. Goryeo’sStrongest. Our IDs contained our nicknames.

“How did they know our nicknames? We never told them.”

“It’s probably that NPC’s trait.”

“Oh, NPCs have traits too?”

“We call them NPCs, but they’re humans just like us in the tower.”

A series of system alerts popped up.

[You have obtained Prestige’s citizenship.] [Common player quests have been issued.] [1. Undead Monster Subjugation] — You will receive 50 TP per 50 Lv.1 undead killed. — You will receive 75 TP per 25 Lv.2 undead killed. — You will receive 100 TP per 10 Lv.3 undead killed. — You will receive 125 TP per 2 Lv.4 undead killed.

[2. Land Spider Subjugation] — You will receive 50 TP per 4 land spiders killed.

[3. Demon Subjugation] — Prestige contains 666 demons. Each demon has a special bounty on its head.

“There’s quite a lot to do.”

“There sure is.”

Prestige wasn’t the prettiest city, but you could easily earn TP thanks to common quests for its citizens, Medea’s special quests, and other NPC quests. However, these benefits would cause its downfall. The TP earned by players didn’t benefit NPCs and only filled the belly of the administrator Medea.

Of course, I didn’t plan on letting that happen.

I wanted to see a different ending with Kim Suho. I planned to only destroy the tower shell instead of destroying the world within the tower. This was the best ending I came up with after 3 years of planning. I would make this tower support such an ending.

“Your inventories are full of food, right?”

“Yep, just like you wanted.”

We would have to kill at least 66 demons to obtain meat on the 3rd floor. Before then, monsters and wild animals all spawned as undead, so one could only eat grass. That would only be a shortcut to losing vitality and stats.

“Aren’t you going in?” The guard urged us as we stood still.

“We will, but before that…”

I pointed at the building next to the wall. “How much is it for a building like that?”

“You should be able to buy it for 5000 TP.”

The guard answered my question. He probably would’ve ignored me if I didn’t have citizenship.

“Why, do you want to buy a building?”

“Yes, I plan to.”

“Why?”

“I just thought it’d be nice to own a shop.”

I answered Jain’s question. System alerts continued to pop up.

[You can purchase the Lv.2 Wooden Building Outside the Inner Wall for 5000 TP.] [You currently have 24000 TP.] [Would you like to purchase this building?]

Buying buildings felt so easy in a world without real estate. I clicked yes.

[You have obtained ownership of Lv.2 Wooden Building Outside the Inner Wall.] [The wooden building currently contains nothing inside.]

A building suddenly became mine with a single click.

“Let’s go in.”

“Hm? Don’t you have to buy it?”

“I already did.”

“What?”

I left my 3 puzzled companions behind and asked the guard again.

“Is it possible for us to meet the 3rd floor’s administrator?”

“No, it’s too early to have an audience with her.”

“How long do we have to wait?”

“Another week.”

“Hmm.”

I had no reason to enter the inner city yet. I crossed my arms in thought. Then I turned on my smartwatch to read the abandoned settings in my settings book. I wrote these settings, but never included them in the original story.

[3rd Floor Residential Area NPC – 1. Kiri and Henry.] A brother and sister duo. Give them money or food to receive the black pouch. The black pouch will allow you to bring back one item from Earth. Kiri and Henry are both clever and have high growth potential worthy of named NPCs.

“Oh right, these two kids lived here.”

Kiri and Henry aside, the black pouch would be quite useful. I had about 4 free days since I couldn’t meet Medea yet. I should obtain the black pouch and return to Earth to bring back the goblin tablet. That way, I could also visit Evandel.

“Boss, Jain, can you two go inside and look for a hideout?”

“A hideout?”

“Yes, just a place for us to stay. You can rent a house.”

“Sure, but where are you going?”

“I’m going back to Earth for a bit.”

The 3 of them entered the inner city. Then I took out the Book of Truth.

[Where are the NPCs, Henry and Kiri?]

The Book of Truth drained about 0.5 streaks of stigma and displayed their location in real time. They wandered not too far away around the city outskirts. I walked over and about 15 minutes later…

“Buy some flowers. They’re edible.”

I spotted Henry and Kiri in the distance selling flowers. However, no one seemed interested or even had the money to buy flowers. To make matters worse, their baskets only carried withered flowers.

“Flowers, buy some flowers. They’re edible.”

“…”

I silently watched them. Two starving children trying to sell flowers that no one wanted. Did it have to be so realistic?

“Haa…”

I discarded my depressing thoughts and walked over.

“Ah, um, flowers… buy some flowers…”

Kiri and Henry became startled when they saw me since I wore all black. I took off my hood and mask and smiled brightly.

“How much are they?”

“Eh? You’ll buy them?”

“Yeah.”

The younger sister, Kiri, spoke to me. She hesitated and couldn’t meet my eyes.

“… 10, 10 TP.”

“Each?”

“Yes? Ah… um, no. Everything in this basket is 10 TP.”

Kiri gave the entire basket to me. Meanwhile, Henry stood next to her and trembled. Did they think I wouldn’t buy anything if each flower cost 10 TP? I silently looked at them and discovered a black cloth peeking out of Henry’s back pocket. That must be the black pouch.

“By the way, what’s that black thing?”

I knelt to Henry’s eye level and pointed at the pouch in his back pocket. Kiri turned to him nervously.

“This… this? Um…”

Henry fiddled with the pouch in his back pocket with a troubled expression.

“Um, this is… um…”

His small body trembled as he contemplated what to say. Soon, he came to a decision and took it out.

“W-Will you buy this too? This pouch is really good!”

“O-Oppa! Dad said never to—”

“Shh.”

The surprised younger sister stepped in, but Henry stopped her. Kiri bit her lips with a sad look.

“How much is it?”

“This is a bit more expensive. It’s um… 200 TP.”

I looked at his thin cheeks and fearful eyes. I suddenly thought about these 2 NPCs from the setting I had abandoned. A setting I had disregarded in a rush to advance the story or because I felt too lazy to write about it. What would have been their fate in the original story? They would’ve starved to death.

“Um, 150 TP!”

Henry must’ve misunderstood my silence and lowered the price.

“Mmm…”

“I-Is it too much?”

“No, I think it’s too little.”

Their faces lit up when I took out two 100 TP coins. I gave one to Henry and the other to Kiri. They took the shiny coins with their small hands and blankly stared at it as they swallowed their saliva.

“Ah, oppa, give him the item.”

“Oh right, h-here!”

Henry handed me the black pouch.

“And um, take this too!”

Kiri quickly gave me her flower basket.

“I didn’t buy this.”

“You can have it! Um, you can eat these flowers! If you want, I can also teach you where they grow. I’m the only one who knows!”

“…”

Kiri was too kind. Such a young girl acted braver than her older brother. I couldn’t help but worry about them.

“It’s fine.”

I shook my head. I put the black pouch away and tapped their shoulders.

“Hey, aren’t you two hungry?”

“… Yes?”

They both put up their guard this time.

“You see, this hyung owns a building.”

[Lv.2 Persuasive Voice has activated.]

They were born and raised in a harsh environment, but were still children. My voice easily persuaded them.

“Building owner?”

“Yeah. Also…”

I took out my identification card.

“Wow, a citizenship ID.”

“Uwoah…”

Their eyes shone brightly. Collecting money and buying citizenship. This must be their dream. I spoke to them as warmly as possible.

“If you follow me, hyung will make you lots of delicious food.”

I had more than enough reason to bring them along since I wrote that they were worthy of being named NPCs. Not to mention, I needed employees to take care of my new building.