At Zzuyou's residence, where various production-type players had gathered.
Generos employees were loading completed products onto trucks.
Yoo Soo-yeon, who had been checking the items being moved, widened her eyes.
What in the world are these pieces of equipment?
The level of completion is absurdly high.
"How is it?"
She turned to look at Jinhyuk, who had asked.
"You already know. Excellent. But seriously, Jinhyuk-ssi, how could you keep treasures like these hidden? Don't tell me they're already under contract?"
"No, they're not. I was planning to introduce them, but things kept coming up. Ah, here they come now."
Wei and Yihwa, the leaders of Zzuyou, appeared.
Yoo Soo-yeon and Wei exchanged ninety-degree bows.
In the meantime, Yihwa approached and lowered her voice.
"Oppa. Is it okay to buy from them at this price? It's two or three times more expensive than the market price I saw online."
"It's fine. I'm going to sell it for five times that."
"Oh... well, that's a relief then."
"Have you been leveling up your blacksmithing a lot?"
"I'm working on it. I've hit a bit of a plateau lately, though."
"Hold on."
Jinhyuk disappeared behind the house for a moment, then came back carrying a large bundle.
As a pile of stones clattered to the ground, Yihwa tilted her head.
She bent down and picked up one of the stones.
[Flint of Romanak, Tempered for a Thousand Years]
A flint imbued with the supernatural power of Romanak.
The flames kindled by this flint are also imbued with supernatural power.
All crafting processes that utilize these flames receive various effects.
Particularly grants exceptional effects for blacksmithing!
"Huuuuuh?! What the hell is this nonsense?"
"I mined it."
"Huh...?"
Her jaw dropped.
It was far too good of an effect to just say he "mined it."
"And."
He pulled a Black Dragon Scale from his bag.
It was the one he'd used to find Greenland, the only scale that had been separated from the rest.
"Let me know when you can work on this, okay?"
This time, she couldn't even gasp.
The moment she confirmed it was a dragon scale, Yihwa froze solid.
An incredible motivation had struck her at an unexpected time.
"This is some frozen meat. Eat it with the Zzuyou folks. I'll be going now."
"Hey...!"
Before she could grab him, Jinhyuk was already running toward his own house.
Then, as if something occurred to him.
He made a sharp U-turn and ran back.
"Almost forgot. Can I ask you a favor?"
"Of course. After getting all this."
"This is a holy-type heavy weapon. Can you make it as light as possible? And reduce the recoil as much as you can without touching the firepower."
Even as he said it, he wondered if it even made sense.
It was like asking to remove the engine but not reduce the speed.
Yihwa thought for a moment, then nodded.
"I have a friend who's really into firearms, so we'll discuss it together. Besides, even if it wouldn't normally be possible..."
She held up the Flint of Romanak.
"With this, maybe it is. The effect is just that absurd."
"Thanks. A small-framed friend needs to use it. I'm counting on you. Alright, I'm really going now!"
"Yeah, okay! Thank you!!"
After waving enthusiastically, she looked over the things Jinhyuk had left behind.
He was practically Santa Claus.
'A heavy weapon, huh.'
It was strange for a swordsman to suddenly be asking about a gun.
But it was Jinhyuk's request, so she'd do her best.
And then, in front of Jinhyuk's house.
*Squeak!*
Jinhyuk slammed on the brakes as he arrived in an instant.
For some reason, Jin Seo-hee's sports car was parked there, stopped.
The owner of the car was loitering in front of the front door.
"Seo-hee-ssi? There's probably no one home. My parents are out working in the fields."
"Oh, you're here? I was going to say hello since I was in the area, but that's a shame."
"At least have some tea."
Jinhyuk opened the door casually.
"Oh, it's open?"
"It's always open. There's hardly anyone here, so if a thief broke in, the culprit would probably be the neighbor."
Jinhyuk slipped inside naturally and opened the freezer.
Sure enough, it was packed full.
I told you to throw away the stuff you're not eating!
But he knew that if he threw it away without permission, a back-smack would be coming his way, so he desperately organized it and filled it with Black Dragon meat.
Meanwhile, Jin Seo-hee, who had been looking at her phone, spoke up.
"Jinhyuk-ssi, have you seen the Crown Jackpot site?"
"That gambling site?"
"It's getting pretty hot."
After quickly brewing some tea, he sat down next to Jin Seo-hee.
It seemed they had released new products related to the fortress.
Every banner on the website was filled with Rakshasa's Fortress.
"From betting on the first country and player to clear it, to the number of attempts. It's practically endless."
"The event itself is a huge success. They say it's the first time since the site opened that this much money has poured in."
Oh, wow. The amount was nearing trillions.
Given that it was a global event, it was probably to be expected.
*Click. Squeak.*
"Oh dear, I'm sorry."
Seeing the two of them sitting side-by-side, his father Yoo Man-cheol tried to back out.
"Dad, it's your house, what are you sorry for? Come on in."
He was about to actually leave, so Jinhyuk quickly dragged him inside.
"Hello. I'm Jin Seo-hee, a friend of Jinhyuk-ssi."
"Oh, Jinhyuk's here... Oh my."
As his mother Kim Min-ji entered right behind him, Jin Seo-hee straightened her back and then bowed again in greeting.
"Welcome. Gosh, the house is a mess, you should have told me a guest was coming. Right, Jinhyuk?"
"No, it's fine, ma'am. I showed up suddenly."
"Just sit for a moment. Let me bring out some refreshments."
"We should get going now. We're here for work."
"I'll come visit again another time, ma'am."
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry. Well, next time you come, I'll make you lots of delicious food."
After exchanging greetings with his parents, Jin Seo-hee left first.
"I put some really delicious meat in the freezer, so please grill it up."
Just as he was about to follow her out.
*Smack!*
Kim Min-ji's back-smack came flying in.
Huh? Why?
"Well, well. Acting all innocent all by yourself, aren't you? The girls around you keep changing, every single time."
"That's not it."
"Don't make those nice kids cry, and treat them well. Yoo Jin-hyuk."
"I'm telling you, it's not like that."
"Your father is on your side. I'm rooting for you. Manly man Yoo Jin-hyuk."
It's not truuuue! he screamed internally, then quickly escaped the house.
Honestly, they're so ridiculous.
"You're riding with me, right, Jinhyuk-ssi?"
"Ah, you go ahead, Seo-hee-ssi. I'm going to go to the fields and run the tower for a bit."
He'd just be standing around idly while the equipment was being loaded anyway.
He might as well burn through his tickets while he was at it.
Jin Seo-hee clicked her tongue and gave him a thumbs-up.
Runner Yoo Jin-hyuk's love for the tower.
That was the real deal.
"I'll head off first, then."
He waved goodbye to the departing Jin Seo-hee.
Then he stepped into the harvested fields.
[Entering the Reinforced Tower of Despair, Floor 73!]
* * *
The Cambodia branch of Crown Jackpot, the world's largest gambling site.
Branch Manager Chenda curled the corners of her mouth.
The betting amount had just surpassed one trillion.
A true jackpot had hit.
"What do you know, our system actually came through. Opening up such a big event like this. Is this what they mean by 'a blessing in disguise'?"
Just yesterday, she had been in an incredibly foul mood.
Because she had bet her personal funds on the Runner achieving consecutive SSS+ ranks, and had lost it all spectacularly.
Even for her, touching the money that flowed into the headquarters was impossible.
She had been taking out her maximum-stress on innocent employees.
But thanks to this Rakshasa's Fortress event, she not only made up for her losses but was also set to receive a massive dividend.
"What a bunch of idiots. How addicted to dopamine do you have to be to bet money on products like that?"
She herself was a dopamine addict second to none, but this time, she hadn't bet.
A product that required guessing the first country and player to clear, and the number of attempts.
Unless you had incredible luck, it was impossible to get right.
If there was any probability at all, betting on the US or China was the safe money.
She spread her arms wide as the betting amount continued to climb.
Was this what it felt like?
Being loved by the system.
Like the whole world was revolving around her.
'Go up. Go up. Make me rich.'
Branch Manager Chenda wore a bright smile.
Hoping that even more people would lose even more money.
* * *
[Entering the Reinforced Tower of Despair, Floor 73: 'Undead Legion Occupied Territory in a Certain City'!]
'Oh? It's not the royal palace.'
Floor 72 had ended with catching a spy in the royal palace.
I naturally assumed I'd be having an audience with King Saintra, but it was unexpected.
"We meet again!"
"Hey, Konu."
"I am Konu... Ah, you called me Konu. Yes, I am Konu."
"Why are we lying down here?"
He looked around.
A ridge of black earth, filled with an evil aura.
That's where we were.
Kancho, who had manifested right next to him, aimed a slingshot at Konu's head.
"I'm going to answer 'I don't know' again too, that's what I'm going to do. And that'll be the last answer that badger ever gives."
"Ah, don't worry. I actually found out properly this time."
Kancho lowered the slingshot.
"Brief us, then."
At Kancho's command to brief, Konu cleared his throat once or twice and stood up.
Then he politely raised both hands.
"I have brought Sir Roberto, the Holy Knight, who will explain the mission."
"Boss, can I turn this guy into a star in the night sky? He's supposed to be our guide, but he hasn't done anything!"
"Cut him some slack. Everyone has a first time for everything."
Moved, Konu covered his mouth with both hands.
This guy's halo is incredible.
"You have arrived, O Hero."
Roberto, who had greeted him, lowered himself to the same level.
"Thank you once again for accepting His Majesty's request. This mission is extremely dangerous."
He hadn't done that, but he figured it was just the flow of this segment.
"Do you see the city ahead?"
"It's completely devastated. And the energy flowing out of it doesn't look good either."
"Yes. It is a city occupied by the Undead Legion. Currently, a force of about a thousand Skeleton Knights is stationed there. It is also one of the units that will advance on Saintra's royal palace shortly."
Roberto continued with a solemn face.
"Unlike the enemy, Saintra has woefully insufficient information about the Undead Legion. If the Hero had not extracted information from the spy, we would not have known about that garrison or the existence of the operation order."
*Ding!*
[The clear condition for the Reinforced Tower of Despair, Floor 73, has been updated!]
[You must obtain the operation order located somewhere in the garrison!]
[The operation order is the number one document to be eliminated in case of an incident! The moment the enemy detects infiltration, the Skeleton Knights will destroy the operation order first!]
[If the operation order is destroyed, the climb will fail!]
He stroked his chin.
This wasn't going to be easy.
If it were just a matter of wiping them out, it wouldn't have taken five seconds.
But it was a fairly large city; where was he supposed to find this scrap of paper?
"I'm not sure if it will help, but this is a fragment of the operation order that was in the spy's pocket. It was just a burnt scrap, so we couldn't salvage any real information from it."
"Oh! Hold on a second."
He quickly took it and held it up to the Yodel Compass.
The compass pointed precisely at the city straight ahead.
The number that appeared was also exactly the distance from here to the city.
Super nice!
"This was a huge help. I'll be going then."
"Pardon? We should conduct a diversionary operation first..."
"No, it's fine. I'll just slip in and take it. Just wait a little while."
Jinhyuk stood up and walked toward the city.
Watching his back, Roberto swallowed dryly.
'Slip in and take it'... what kind of trick was he going to pull this time?
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T/N:
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