After Kim Hajin left, Yoo Yeonha looked outside the limousine and leaned her head on the window. Han River, the Tower of Hero, and guild buildings shone with their respective insignias. Seoul’s sky seemed unusually grey like it would rain.

“Haa.”

Yoo Yeonha let out a small sigh. Kim Hajin had asked her to investigate the truth behind his parents’ deaths. In that case, how much did he know? Did he know about the Kwang-Oh Incident and that Chae Joochul had plotted it?

Yoo Yeonha felt a headache and pressed her temples. This was why she disliked one-sided knowledge. She didn’t know how much he knew, so she couldn’t decide how much to reveal.

“And this.”

A plastic bag caught her attention. Kim Hajin had made her a homemade hamburger. It smelled good, but Yoo Yeonha didn’t have the energy to eat anymore.

“Um… driver?”

She almost asked if the driver wanted it, but the burger’s smell spread even more as she held it up. It didn’t smell like an ordinary hamburger.

“Yes, Miss? Do you need something?”

The driver asked. Countless thoughts flashed across her mind in this brief moment.

“N-No, it’s nothing.”

In the end, she brought the plastic bag closer and took out its content. The hamburger wasn’t too big or too small. It looked appetizing and even beautiful. Gulp. Yoo Yeonha swallowed her saliva and took a bite. Nom, nom. Her mouth stopped moving and starlight surrounded her. The taste temporarily isolated her from the world, a pure rapture that she had never tasted before.

“Nyam.”

She took another bite. More flavor exploded in her mouth. Mentally, she felt depressed and troubled, but her body remained honest. Her mouth wanted to eat this burger no matter what. Yoo Yeonha slowly ate and savored every bite.

***

I returned to the Chameleon Troupe’s hideout and didn’t waste any time. I sent my bed to Yoo Yeonha and touched my bracelet-shaped re-entrance ticket to return to the tower.

“Wait, coal!”

Setryn suddenly shouted. For the record, coal referred to the color black. Setryn liked to call me by different black objects. For example, she would call me coal, petroleum, oil, blackie, and black cloud.

“Yeah?”

“Our magician wants to live here too.”

“Magician… you mean brown?”

“Yep.”

The seat of brown, Hirano Arashi, a master of destruction magic and stronghold creation. That perverted woman wanted live here too? I felt reassured and worried.

“Then… tell her she can use my room for now. I don’t have time to make another one.”

“Sure, blackie.”

That seemed to be her only business as she hopped back on the couch. Next to her, Yoo Kyunghwan smacked his lips as he glanced at me.

“Cough, then I’m going back.”

I activated the re-entrance ticket, but a portal didn’t appear this time. My vision blurred and I suddenly found myself inside the tower. I knelt and retched. Direct teleportation took a heavier toll on the body.

“Argh, my head…”

[Welcome back, Player Extra7.] [Please get changed.]

“Yes.”

I put on the clothes I wore before I left the tower.

[Confirmed.] [A portal to the 3rd floor residential area will be created.]

A portal shot up from the floor and I stepped into it without hesitation.

[Welcome back to the 3rd floor – Prestige.]

The outer city of Prestige came into view. Hunger and poverty surrounded me. I could easily spot players walking around the streets now. More people must’ve climbed to the 3rd floor.

Boss: You’re back, newbie?

Boss messaged me as soon as I returned.

Me: Yes. Have you been doing well, Boss?

Boss: Yeah, I already earned 1600 TP.

Me: Ooh, that’s a lot.

Boss: Hehe, fighting helps my stats grow quicker. Anyways, where are you?

Me: I’m walking towards the inner wall right now.

Then I grew curious about Henry and Kiri.

Me: Keep hunting. I have something to do, so I’ll join you in about 3 hours.

I changed course to my shop.

— The items they sell here are too poor. Are you sure it’s a named shop?

It didn’t take long to reach it. From a distance, I noticed the 10 or so people around it.

— It sells Lv.3 items and items with attributes. It’s the best place outside the inner city.

— Oh, by the way, I heard you can receive common quests without having to buy citizenship.

I pulled my hood down and walked past the chattering players. The shop had 6 players inside and they debated whether or not to buy the Lv.3 longsword. Henry and Kiri stared at them from the counter.

“Henry? Kiri?”

I used this opportunity to call them. Their faces turned bright when they saw me.

“Ah, it’s time for us to restock everyone. Can you talk outside?”

“Oh? More items are coming in?”

“Yes, the shop is closing for the day.”

“Alright, I’ll come back tomorrow then.”

Kiri skillfully drove the customers away. The players glanced at me on their way out, but treated me like an NPC and didn’t show much interest.

“You’re back!”

“Welcome back!”

Kiri and Henry bowed at a 90 degree angle.

“Yeah, I’m back.”

I took off my hood and smiled. Thankfully, their complexions had grown much better. They looked healthy and well-fed and must’ve also taken baths.

“Are we getting many customers?”

“Yes, I don’t know why, but more people have been visiting lately.”

“What about the items?”

“We sold two!”

“Two?”

“Yes!”

Kiri replied energetically. I looked around the shop. They managed to sell the cheapest items, the bear leather jacket and the gorilla wrist protector. I wasn’t too surprised. Most people couldn’t fill their bellies, so they probably couldn’t buy a Lv.3 steel sword.

“The jacket sold for 600 TP and the wrist protector sold for 500 TP!”

“Oh? That’s more than I expected!”

As I thought, their talents suited the job. I would’ve been happy with 300 TP for each item.

“Um, are there any other items for us to sell?”

Kiri asked enthusiastically. I told them I’d give them 5% of whatever they sold, so they remained quite eager.

“Ah, um, it’s just that many customers feel disappointed. They always say we don’t have enough variety.”

“Hold on. I’ll make some more now.”

I walked downstairs to the empty basement. Then I took out the goblin tablet from the black pouch and infused stigma’s magic power into it. Shooong— Three lumps of light shot out and formed 2 normal goblins and 1 goblin shaman.

“Hello.”

— Kerek, kerek.

— Kurorok.

“Oh, we haven’t met before. I have work for you guys.”

I commanded the goblins to make potions. They had potion recipes and brewing techniques engraved in their DNA and should be able to make them as long as they had the ingredients. I bought all the herbs that could be used from the player shop. It cost about 10000 TP, but I should be able to make 5 times that amount once I sold everything.

“I hope they sell well.”

I set up a shop to prevent the 3rd floor from falling into ruins. Wealth had to be redistributed from players to NPCs, so NPCs could topple the wall preventing their growth by themselves. I wanted NPCs to desire better lives rather than to disappear. Of course, I didn’t plan on doing by myself and hired NPCs like Henry and Kiri.

“Um… Boss?” Kiri peeked into the basement.

“Oh, come down.”

“Eh, eeh?”

The goblins startled her, but Kiri approached with interest when I patted their heads.

“Um, what are these strange creatures?”

“Think of them as friends. They’re going to make potions down here. You just need to take what they make and sell them upstairs. You can also order them to clean the shop or fight if necessary.”

“Ah, okay…”

“Good, you can go back.”

Kiri went upstairs as I sat on the floor. I opened the tower’s system and ignored the goblins rummaging through the herb basket.

[Special Dwarven Potion Recipe] 1. Sylaon Grass (5g) 2. Krumin (3g) 3. Ketelin (1g)…

This recipe came from the dwarven stele and was most likely leagues above anything the goblins knew how to make. However, it required a rather special ingredient called ketelin, which required me to use the random dice.

[Random Dice x5]

I reached the maximum amount and actually wasted 3 dice over the 4 days I wasn’t here. I quickly rolled the dice.

***

In 3 hours, the goblins made 10 potions while I made 3. They took a long time because the tablet hadn’t leveled up yet and I ran out of ingredients. I used the remaining time to make three Lv.2 equipment and one Lv.3 equipment, increasing the shop’s overall variety.

“Come back soon!”

“We’ll do our best!”

“Make sure you eat properly.”

“Okay!”

I left all the equipment with the siblings and went outside.

PhantomThief: Hajin, where are you? We’re walking to your shop right now.

Me: I’ll wait then.

I stood near the shop and Jain soon arrived wearing the robe I gifted Boss.

“Where are the others?”

“They’re coming soon. Anyways, is making TP the only thing we need to do here?”

“For now.”

The 3rd floor took a long time to finish because the demons we had to defeat formed a society of their own.

“By the way, did you get any skills?” I asked Jain.

“Skills?”

Skills were one of the most important aspects of this tower. A single skill could counter and waste all of someone’s efforts no matter how much they increased their stats.

“You didn’t get any skill books as drops?”

“Ah, I don’t hunt that much. You should ask Boss.”

“Oh, okay.

I only wanted a single skill from this floor. One of the best that only took up a slot, [Permanent Materialization].

“Oh, here they come.”

Jain pointed down the street.

“Where?”

I caught sight of two very noticeable people walking towards us.

“Wow.”

I muttered in shock. Boss looked beautiful. She appeared like a goddess with slender legs and an elegant figure. Her delicate face perfectly combined all the good traits between Westerners and Easterners. She looked cool in the leather jacket. So Boss was the one who bought the bear leather jacket. I guess that’s why Jain wore her robe. It seemed she finally started to take an interest in fashion.

“Welcome back, newbie.”

Boss walked up to me in boots that boosted her to my level. I pretended to be blinded by her beauty as she smiled in satisfaction.

“Alright, that’s enough. What is it you want to ask me?”

I wanted to ask for a favor.

“Ah, you see, I want to rob a mansion in the inner city.”

The professor’s mansion contained the skill book I wanted.

“Stealing? Sounds fun.”

Cheok Jungyeong chuckled and Boss also nodded. Then she suddenly held up her index finger as though she recalled something.

“Before that…”

A magnifying glass appeared in her hand. What item was this again? I asked Boss instead of looking through my settings book.

“What is it?”

“Just a fun item.”

Boss vague replied and pointed the magnifying glass at me. The convex lens made my face distort unattractively. After about a minute, the magnifying glass turned into dust and scattered.

“Um, Boss?”

I couldn’t help but grow curious about what just happened.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh…”

“Boss?”

I had never seen this agitation and surprise on her face before.

***

The Tower of Wish’s unprecedented scale caused an uproar throughout the entire world. Television channels dedicated solely to the tower appeared, new websites popped up, and the tower’s progression became hot entertainment for even ordinary people.

The same passion existed in Pandemonium. Entrance tickets became the hottest items to sell and trade without any federal authority restricting its residents and guests. Multiple auctions occurred every day. Both big and small fights broke out over attempts to forcefully take them.

“Hm.”

In Pandemonium’s popular Thousand Demon Arena, Jin Sahyuk sat in her waiting room as a fiend rank fighter. Naturally, her waiting room grew several times larger with her new rank.

“This is the real thing?”

With her legs crossed arrogantly, she asked with the ticket in her hand.

“Y-Yes, certainly.”

The man bowing in front of her replied. Jin Sahyuk looked at him with a bored expression. He curled up like a larva and trembled.

“What if it isn’t?”

“P-Pardon?”

Jin Sahyuk lit a cigarette and placed it in her mouth. Huuu… Thick smoke blew across the room. It tasted quite good as expected of a magic power circulation catalyst that cost millions of won.

“Are you deaf? I asked, what if it isn’t?”

“I, I’m certain. I swear it isn’t fake.”

Jin Sahyuk grinned. She went wherever she pleased and caused a mess with Bell no longer restraining her. She forced her way to entrance tickets and always checked their colors. However, she didn’t bother taking any that weren’t black. She only wanted the best and nothing else.

“Yeah, I guess I have to trust you. What other choice do I have, right?”

Murmuring to herself, she stared at the black ticket. The entire world focused on the Tower of Wish. What happened inside, how it functioned, and everything about it became a newsworthy topic. This drove Jin Sahyuk mad. A world where each person had 7 lives. The fact that she wasn’t a part of it annoyed her. Likewise, she couldn’t wait to kill the person who stole her ticket.

“But I heard the black ticket is a double-edged sword. You can only choose the hardest difficulty and the benefits you get are less than the others…”

“Shut it.”

Jin Sahyuk flicked the ashes from her cigarette. Then she infused magic power into the ticket. Until now, she had burned all the fake entrance tickets. The fools who brought her those tickets also became ashes. However, this entrance ticket felt different. It withstood her magic power and even circulated it within itself. This entrance ticket was… real.

Jin Sahyuk stared at the man who brought her the ticket. He kneeled respectfully while shaking, but still peeked at her. Jin Sahyuk decided to forgive his filthy look since she dressed rather revealing as well.

“You’re right, this looks like the real thing.”

With a grin, she got up and opened her safe. Countless jewels shone beautifully inside. Jin Sahyuk took out the jewel she promised, a blood diamond. Then she tossed it like a piece of trash.

“H-Huk!”

“Take it and scram.”

“Y-Yes, thank you!”

The man ran away as soon as he received the diamond. Then he tripped and fell several times.

“Why run if you’re going to fall, fucking idiot.”

Jin Sahyuk watched him leave and examined the ticket once again with the cigarette in her mouth. At first, she smiled, but then her face viciously distorted. She clenched her teeth and severed the cigarette in half.

“Just you wait, motherfucker. I’ll tear you into pieces.”

She spat out her pent-up rage and had already fully prepared to enter the tower. She hadn’t played around and hunted people who left the tower after the tutorial. Sometimes she tortured them and sometimes she asked kindly. Then she practiced the necessary skills and techniques from the information she gathered.

For some reason, her rage suddenly subsided. Jin Sahyuk tilted her head with a strange expression. Just now, she felt a strange sense of foreboding. Apprehension? Unease? Regardless, her sharp intuition couldn’t be ignored. Jin Sahyuk seriously looked at the entrance ticket.

[Black Entrance Ticket]

“Pft.”

However, she simply sneered and shook off her sense of unease. I just have to excel no matter what. No matter who, I just have to kill them.

“Just you wait…”

Jin Sahyuk trembled with rage and excitement.