The Novel Is Extra

With Cheok Jungyeong, Jain, and Boss, I destroyed the east, west, and north control towers.
As other Players would destroy the south tower on their own, the gate to the 4th floor should be found within a week.

[Player "Extra7" has made great contributions to Medea"s quest.]
[The performance ranking for Medea"s quest has been updated.]
[You gained the interest of the 3rd floor administrator, Medea.]
[The remarkable power of your explosive unlocks an achievement.]
「Terrorist」
—Destroy three or more buildings with a single explosion.
[You acquired a Trait!]

“…Oh?”

I got several system alerts, but I was most surprised with getting a Trait.
The Tower of Wish had unlockable achievements that gave bonus rewards for being the first one to complete it. Although it was rare for Players to meet the requirements for an achievement, it was even rarer for the reward to be a Trait.
I checked the Trait I received.

===
「Bomber」 [Low-intermediate rank] [Special attribute] [Static]
*Explosive Reinforcement
—Increases the power of explosives by 30%.
*Explosion
—"Explosion attribute" can be added to certain objects. The power of the explosion is dependent on the value of the object or its rank. The object will disappear on explosion.
===

It was quite a good Trait. In fact, I would have been happy with even a lowest-rank Trait. A Trait was equivalent to a Gift, meaning that I just received a free Gift.

“Oi, can I fight with those guys?”

While I was distracted by the Trait, Cheok Jungyeong cracked his knuckles and asked.
I looked out front.
Demons that survived from the Tower"s collapse were running over.

[Lv.4 Demon Foot Soldier]
[Lv.5 Demon Soldier]
[Lv.6 Demon Centurion]

The Lv.6 demon should be a bit tricky, but Boss and Cheok Jungyeong should have no trouble dealing with it.

“Do as you want.”

As soon as I gave the okay, Cheok Jungyeong activated his skill, [Charging]. His already ma.s.sive body became atrociously bigger.
Guooo— His magic power covered his body, making it seem as though he was on fire.
Cheok Jungyeong shouted at the demons.

“Come—!”

Although that was what he said, it was Cheok Jungyeong who impatiently charged towards them.
KOONG—!
The Lv.6 demon centurion was sent flying backwards in one blow.

**

[Lv.5 Chameleon Troupe"s Hideout]
—Your vitality recovers 30% faster.
—You can have sound rest while staying in this place.
—After waking up, your stats and skill proficiencies" rates of increase will receive a 7% boost.

After working up a sweat, we returned to our hideout.
As for why our hideout suddenly jumped up to Lv.5, though I don"t mean to brag, it was all thanks to me.
Unlike other Players who were renting their hideout buildings, I purchased ours entirely, expanded it, and put in several handmade furniture pieces.

There were four "masterpiece beds (made by Kim Hajin)" and two "masterpiece couches (made by Kim Hajin)".
Furthermore, I also built a shower room and turned the entire bas.e.m.e.nt into a training room. Jain even stole an air purifier from a n.o.ble"s castle.
I was confident that our hideout was the best hideout in all of Prestige.

“Ah~ my home~ I love the air here~”

Jain hopped on the couch, full of smiles. Boss sat down next to her and opened the Community.
Recently, Boss had taken a liking to browsing the Community. I couldn"t blame her, since there really wasn"t any form of entertainment in this place.

Other Players were having fun doing things like adventuring, finding quests, and learning skills, but Boss didn"t seem interested in any of them. In fact, she had yet to even learn any skills. She was even pickier than me.
Seeing Boss focused on the Community, I asked.

“Boss, aren"t you hungry?”

“…I already ate.”

Boss replied shortly. Recently, Boss has been acting curtly around me. I still didn"t know why. Was it because of the Community?

I slowly sneaked up to her and peeked at her Community screen. Players could see what each other did once they friended, so naturally, I could see her Community screen as well.

===
[Returnee from a Ruined World – Chapter 19]
When I lost to him, I remembered my home. A world that no longer existed. Families and friends who lived there.
Suddenly, I was struck with sorrow. It felt like the weight of the heavens were pressing down on me.
…
…
…I will not die here. I will survive no matter what and pull him down from his throne. I will kill him with my own hands.
That"s why I lived.
“…Just you wait.”
A voice carrying my soul rose up from the bottom of my heart.

[To be continued.]
—5TP per chapter!
—I am aiming to have at least 10,000 characters per chapter!
—With my skill, "Story Imprint", you will be able to have a more realistic reading experience!
—Readers who donate TP will be able to choose the name of a character!
===

“….”

Boss was reading a webnovel being serialized on some unknown Player"s personal profile.
I was slightly taken aback.
Of course, I did remember writing something like this in the original story.

[After contemplating on how to earn TP, Ordinary Players decided to do what they were best at, creating novels, manhwas, alcohol, and cooking.]

However, I didn"t expect Boss to read a novel.
After finishing chapter 19, Boss pressed on the screen.

===
Would you like to donate 75TP to Player "Wallet"?
[Yes]
Player "Wallet" gifts you a character name selection coupon!
===

…She was even donating to the guy.
I became a bit curious what name she would give to the character.
While I was looking at her screen curiously, Cheok Jungyeong suddenly asked.

“Oi, Newbie.”

“…Yes?”

“What"s the most dangerous thing here?”

“Most dangerous thing?”

“Yeah, I"m looking for something or someone who"s worthy enough for me to fight with my life on the line.”

Cheok Jungyeong was stretching his muscles. He still wanted to fight someone after battling the Lv.6 demon centurion?
I pondered.
The most dangerous thing in Prestige…

“Other than the demon king, it should probably be the banshee.”

“Banshee?”

“Yeah, it"s hard to deal with its curse.”

The banshee"s curse led to death unless treated immediately. It wasn"t just a singular death, but a true death.
This curse prevented Players from leaving the Tower and caused them to slowly suffer for up to three months before dying.
Being able to revive didn"t mean anything. The curse wasn"t lifted upon death and even followed Players to their resp.a.w.n locations.

“I see.”

“If you get cursed by a banshee, you have to tell me immediately.”

If the curse was only Lv.1, I should be able to get rid of it with [Extraction].

“Heh, you think I"d get done in by something like a curse?”

“Well… the same goes for Boss and Jain. If you get the banshee"s curse, just tell me immediately.”

With that, I turned to Boss" Community once again. However, Boss seemed to have submitted the character name already as she was browsing the public forum.

“Kuhum, then I"ll be going now.”

When I got up, Cheok Jungyeong and Jain called out.

“Can you make some food before you go~? I"m hungry~ Hajin, you always only ask Boss~”

“You"re not going to train before you go?”

I could understand Jain asking me, but even Cheok Jungyeong expressed his regret.
It must be because I"ve been training with him recently. Although Cheok Jungyeong"s training was h.e.l.lish enough to kill me, I barely held on with self-hypnosis.
"I can still do it."
"I don"t feel pain."
With these two hypnotic suggestions, I could barely keep up with Cheok Jungyeong.

“Do you want to come to Earth with me?”

“No, I like it here. It"s fun fighting with my strength restricted.”

Cheok Jungyeong smiled as though he was truly having fun.

“…If you say so.”

For Jain, I quickly walked over to the kitchen and made a boar steak.

[Lv.3 Kim Hajin"s Boar Steak]

“Wow. How is it Lv.3? It"s surprising no matter how many times I see it.”

After smiling at Jain who was complimenting me, I teleported to my personal waiting room.
Once I was there, I stretched and took a deep breath. One good thing about the waiting room was that it had sunlight. Muninn"s egg was bathing under the warm light.

“…Wait.”

I examined the egg closer.

“I knew it!”

The egg had gotten bigger.
Was it about to hatch? I smiled and sat down next to it.
I planned to go back immediately… but I decided to wait for 30 minutes. The egg surely needed its master"s love.

“Mm.”

I held the egg in my embrace.

**

[Lv.??? Highest Difficulty Tutorial Town]

The Highest Difficulty Tutorial Town had troubled many Players including Chae Nayun and Aileen and had gained quite a bit of notoriety outside the Tower.
Here, Kim Suho was currently leading a leisurely lifestyle.
Although he couldn"t avoid getting less than what he was promised from the mercenary missions, by being extremely frugal on a living s.p.a.ce and food, he managed to gather the 1000TP needed to pa.s.s the tutorial.

It was all thanks to Kim Hajin"s tutorial guide book, which contained the best haggling price for various shops and inns.
But other than this, the guide book only gave general advices and told Kim Suho to look for things on his own. However, this actually led Kim Suho to find several hidden pieces.

“…?”

The first advice was [walk slow and steady to find hidden pieces. There"s no need to hurry. Direction is more important than speed.]
Following this advice, Kim Suho carefully explored the outskirts of the town and encountered someone unexpected.

“….”
“….”

Kim Suho stood in a daze, while the girl he was facing was sitting on a bench like a thug.
They were both caught off guard by the unexpected encounter.

“…I"m in a bad mood, so screw off.”

The girl broke the silence first. Kim Suho let out a dry cough.

“I had a feeling I"d meet you here.”

“I said screw off.”

Kim Suho observed Jin Sahyuk"s condition. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes were a mess, and her lips were swollen from stress. It was clear that she wasn"t having a good time.

“You don"t look… too good.”

Kim Suho spoke honestly. Jin Sahyuk shot back at him sharply.

“Are you looking to die right now?”

“….”

Kim Suho didn"t react to her provocation and simply sighed.
He knew he was walking a completely different path than her. Still, he knew she was the only remaining person from his home world. Knowing the saying that "a battle can be won without fighting", Kim Suho decided that talking things out would be better than fighting her to the death.
Kim Suho took out a beef jerky from his inventory, which he got from a boar that was terrorizing a farm.

“Do you want some?”

“…You can shove it up your a.s.s.”

Jin Sahyuk declined his offer then got up from her bench and glared at him. Her ferocious look was very Jin Sahyuk-esque.

“I want to kill you now if possible, but you"re far behind in line.”

“Line?”

“That"s right. You got pushed back to rank 237. You should thank everyone else.”

“…There are 236 people in front of me?”

Kim Suho smiled bitterly.
However, it didn"t take him long to come to terms with it, as Jin Sahyuk had always been the center of trouble in his hometown. It wasn"t an exaggeration to say she had been one of the most well-known people.

“Even after I kill them all, you"ll only be rank 2, so don"t count your chickens before they hatch.”

“…What?”

Kim Suho furrowed his brows. He couldn"t quite understand what she was saying. There was someone Jin Sahyuk wanted to kill more than him? Who could it…. Ah!

“…Are you talking about Kim Hajin?”

“Is that his name?”

Jin Sahyuk grinned.
Knowing fully well what this smile meant, Kim Suho"s expression stiffened.

“I wanted to kill him before I learned about his name.”

Jin Sahyuk added apathetically.
Kim Suho placed his hand on his scabbard.
Seeing this, Jin Sahyuk instantly unleashed her magic power.

“You"ll die the moment you take it out.”

“….”

Kim Suho faced off against Jin Sahyuk silently. His sword was shining inside the scabbard, and Jin Sahyuk"s magic power surged fiercely. Kim Suho"s hostility and Jin Sahyuk"s killing intent mixed together.
A cold and heavy atmosphere descended. But soon, Kim Suho gave up on attacking. It was because he realized he was worrying about the wrong person.

“Heh.”

A small smile emerged on Kim Suho"s face. He remembered a past incident and knew what to say.

“Didn"t you already lose to him?”

“…What?”

Jin Sahyuk"s face instantly distorted.

“I didn"t see it clearly, but didn"t you get done in by a coin?”

“….”

“I bet the same thing will happen if you challenge him now.”

Although Kim Suho was clearly provoking her, Jin Sahyuk didn"t say anything.
For some reason, she just had an odd feeling. It wasn"t because of rage. Rather, it was from finally finding out what the uneasy feeling that was bothering her was about.
However, Jin Sahyuk still didn"t know why she felt this way.

“Hajin is the same.”

The tutorial guide book, a leather armor rivaling an intermediate-rank artifact, his career as "Fenrir".
With all these as basis, Kim Suho was certain that Kim Hajin was just as strong as him, if not stronger.

“…Screw off.”

Jin Sahyuk shot back at Kim Suho. At that moment…

“Suho-ssi! This is where you were?”

Kim Suho"s companions found him. The Fermun brother and sister. They had first met half a year ago and decided to travel together after meeting in the tutorial.
Kim Suho put his hand down, and Jin Sahyuk also calmed down.

“What are you doing here? Yeonghan-ssi is looking for you~”

“Pft, I see that you still have annoying flies hovering around you.”

“…Who"s this? I"m not like that!”

The older sister, Venessa Fermun, cut in.

“If anything, it"s natural for b.u.t.terflies to be attracted to flowers.”

Vanessa bashfully grabbed the hem of Kim Suho"s shirt.
Jin Sahyuk"s eyes narrowed immediately. It was as though she was looking at something so disappointing that she couldn"t find the words to describe it.
However, Vanessa tactlessly pointed her finger at Jin Sahyuk and laughed.

“From what I can see, you"re a b.u.t.terfly too.”

…Jin Sahyuk retorted quickly.

“Shut your trap if you don"t want to die, crazy b.i.t.c.h.”

**

I came home. Four weeks had pa.s.sed since the last time I was here. Thankfully, Evandel was doing just fine. She was the leader of a small group which included Hayang, Haeyeon, and a four-year-old kid that lived on the next block.

“…Mm, so you don"t want to go anywhere?”

“I like it here~”

Evandel replied and quickly went back into her tent.

“….”

Left alone, I was slightly fl.u.s.tered.
There was a tent sitting in the middle of the living room. It seemed to be something like a secret base. I did something similar when I was young, so it wasn"t too surprising. In a small, tight s.p.a.ce, close friends would eat together, play games together, and tell scary stories.

“…Then I"m going out, okay?”

—Okay~
—See you later~
—Meow~

I could hear their voices from the tent. I felt a bit sad, but it was too cute for me to not smile.

Just like that, I left my apartment.
September was about to end, and the garden outside the apartment was decorated with beautiful autumn leaves.
I walked past the garden towards the local playground.
Soon, I saw a familiar figure. She was sitting on the swing and gliding back and forth.
I walked up to her silently and sat down next to her.

“…You didn"t take a limousine today?”

Kiik, kiik.
Her swing creaked until it came to a stop.
Ssss—
The leaves rustled from the blowing wind.
Yoo Yeonha looked up at the sky and sighed.

“Did something bad happen?”

“….”

When I asked, she finally turned and faced me.
She looked exhausted and troubled. Was something bothering her? I faced her empty gaze and asked softly.

“What did you want to talk to me about?”

Yoo Yeonha had called me here. Well, to be more precise, left a message, telling me to contact her when I was out of the Tower. I replied as soon as I saw her message, and Yoo Yeonha came here afterwards.

“…It"s about what you requested before.”

“Oh, that"s done already?”

Yoo Yeonha nodded. I was surprised at the Falling Blossom guild"s information network. It seemed to have grown quicker than I originally antic.i.p.ated.

“But…”

Yoo Yeonha looked down at the ground. Kicking the sand, she carefully continued.

“There are things I can and can"t tell you about…”

“…Huh? What"s that?”

Yoo Yeonha sighed and raised her head.

“You can choose. Do you want me to tell you everything? Or do you want me to tell you what I can.”

She seemed to be nervous as her voice was trembling. Her serious face made me take this conversation seriously as well. Suddenly, I was a bit scared. Just how bad was Chundong"s past?

“Then… tell me what you can first.”

The answer was easy. I didn"t want to force her to say what she didn"t want to.

“…Is that okay with you? You don"t know which details I"ll leave out.”

“You can tell me the rest when you"re ready.”

I smiled.

“I don"t know what you"re hiding from me, but I can wait.”

“….”

Yoo Yeonha bit her lips. Then, she moved her swing once again.
Kiik, kiik.
Her swing swayed, the wind blew, and leaves fell. Time pa.s.sed until she was ready again…

“…Um.”

“Yeah?”

Yoo Yeonha looked at me and asked.

“Have you heard of the Chameleon Troupe?”