UTC 05

Chapter 5

Neia asked.

『Shall we start operating the factory?』

“Wait a moment.”

I held off on executing it for now.

There was a slight problem.

Producing like this was one thing, but we also needed to secure extra electricity for operation before actually producing.

“Can you calculate the amount of power that will be consumed if we engage in one battle including the additionally produced forces?”

『Command confirmed. Calculating… Calculation complete. Estimated to consume approximately 1.5 times the previous power usage. Considering unexpected situations, it is recommended to maintain more than twice the power.』

1.5 times, huh…

In reality, it was just adding one more Hunter Drone, but the consumption was fairly significant.

At least under the current circumstances, it seemed a bit reckless to start production blindly.

So, I decided to go back and secure the means first.

“…Wait here for a bit. I’ll go outside.”

『Yes, I will wait.』

Hearing Neia’s voice, I returned to the room and closed the gate.

“So, this is all I can rely on, huh?”

【(Floors 1–5) S-Rank Material Box】

It was what I got after clearing the third floor earlier.

I thought about it on the way back, but in the end, this was the only thing I could trust.

I knew it was greedy.

“Please, please, please…!”

Once again, it came down to leaving things up to luck.

But what else could I do? Luck was all I could rely on.

I opened the box.

Crrriiick.

And what appeared in the inventory was…

【Kinol’s Lightning Flute】

“Huh…? It came out again?”

I wondered if it was a glitch, so I took it out of the inventory to check—and it could be taken out.

Was this just sheer luck?

Kinol was a monster on the fifth floor and also the floor boss of that section.

For its material to drop twice in a row was statistically atrocious.

“Maybe it’s because it’s an S-Rank box?”

If that were the case, it made a lot of sense.

Typically, boxes that players clear and obtain are C-Rank.

Even with some deviation, they were just one rank higher or lower, mostly.

But S-Rank was three ranks higher than that.

So if the probability was adjusted accordingly, it made sense.

“Well, SSS-Rank strategies aren’t exactly easy either.”

Before I appeared, the absolute record that dominated the scene took over six minutes to clear an S-Rank.

Strictly speaking, the reward for that SSS-Rank was an S-Rank material box.

“SSS is even sweeter than I thought.”

This time, Neia’s lifespan wasn’t on the line today.

I decided to patiently find a buyer and sell it through Lucid.

I posted on the community.

[Kinol’s Lightning Flute for Sale.]

-Price: 12,000,000 KRW. Comment if interested.

After posting, I observed the situation.

But there was almost no response.

Views weren’t rising.

The reason seemed to be the explosive activity from the “top-floor experts” today.

Usually, new posts wouldn’t fill up to ten pages.

Today, it went beyond that—30 pages filled entirely with posts written on the same day.

[What is this, isn’t this a bug?]

[If the name is ‘Neia’? Which country is she from?]

[Seems like Latin based on the sound?]

[Judging by the name, is it a woman?]

[The name has to be pretty, anyway.]

ㄴNooo.

ㄴㄴA man with chest hair.

ㄴㄴGo!!

Wrong. No chest hair.

Yes, a 30-year-old man.

I was literally tripping over my own feet.

It was absurd enough to make me chuckle.

But I couldn’t just leave it buried like this.

If the post got buried, exposure would be low.

The proper method was to repost at reasonable intervals.

“What a hassle…”

I hoped Neia’s attention would wane quickly.

A mysterious player suddenly appeared.

A rookie who proved an SSS-Rank strategy to the world.

The appearance of a so-called monster bombing the lower floors of the tower drew great interest.

Neia.

Interest in this person wasn’t just limited to Korea.

Overseas was the same, or rather, hotter.

Especially South America, North America with many immigrants from South America in recent years, and Western Europe.

[Amazing monster.]

[Which country is Neia from?]

[Still nothing known about Neia?]

Three days ago, after clearing the fourth floor at SSS-Rank, she disappeared.

[Is she preparing for the floor boss?]

[That’s odd. If she cleared the fourth floor in about a minute, the fifth floor should be easy.]

[She’s aiming for SSS, dummy.]

[Oh… that might be true! Sharp, friend.]

With the mysterious rookie Neia, there were also voices expressing concern.

[But the name Neia is supposedly Latin, isn’t that under Eclipse influence except Argentina and Brazil?]

[A bit uneasy.]

[Still, many emigrated abroad.]

Eclipse.

The greatest current headache for humanity.

A crime syndicate rooted in South American countries, taking advantage of the tower’s collapse.

[I’m a bit uneasy at the thought she might be with Eclipse.]

[If it’s Eclipse, it’s the worst.]

[Oh Lord…]

“Senior, senior. What are you doing?”

Reporter Park Hyung-jun had recently been very interested in Neia.

Naturally, since public interest was high, any article would get high views.

They say strike while the iron is hot.

So he was digging through foreign sites to write an article about Neia.

Most of the information had already been covered in articles.

“Are you writing an article about this?”

Looking at the monitor, his junior asked, and Park Hyung-jun scrolled the mouse wheel calmly.

“I thought an article from this perspective would be necessary too.”

Up until now, most articles focused on Neia’s overwhelming records or growth potential.

Publishing similar articles now wouldn’t attract public interest.

“Won’t you get criticized?”

Even knowing that, his junior was slightly concerned.

Even a roughly written article would get higher views than the average due to Neia’s high interest.

People only see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear, getting excited over it.

Speculating that Neia might be affiliated with Eclipse would draw attention but not joy.

It could even bring strong criticism.

Just imagining it was grim and dreadful.

“Well, getting criticized isn’t new.”

Park Hyung-jun had a journalist’s sense of duty.

Even though the era demanded sensational, engaging writing, he still retained the romanticism he had when he became a journalist.

“Just get a little criticism, whatever.”

The past three days.

I spent a fairly boring time.

Compared to the dopamine-filled days when I recently started climbing the tower, it was endlessly dull.

Just sitting in front of the computer monitor.

Repeating static work, like writing item sale posts.

At first, it was really hard.

No response, the temptation to give up and sell to the association surged.

But after enduring the first day, that boredom turned into stubbornness.

The determination to sell it at exactly 12,000,000 KRW strengthened.

And today, I finally sold the item.

I went out and handed the item to Lucid headquarters.

The acquisition team could have visited my home, but handing a 10 million KRW+ item to someone else was unsettling, so I went in person.

“Haa…”

After going out and returning, I lay on the bed.

Still, it felt worth it.

I earned 4 million KRW more than when I sold it to the association before.

“Huh? A comment notification?”

I checked and it was a purchase comment.

ㄴIs Kinol’s Lightning Flute sold?

A strange thing.

When I planned to sell, no one cared.

After selling, suddenly like this.

Not obligated to respond, so I ignored it and returned to home.

The community was noisy again today.

“Don’t these people ever get tired?”

Looking closer, most posts were about me.

The name ‘Neia’ kept appearing.

But today, the mood was slightly different.

“Huh?”

Not blind praise or excitement, but a slightly serious tone.

[How likely is Neia to be with Eclipse?]

[If she’s with Eclipse, we’re screwed?]

[Even now Eclipse is too expanded, hope not.]

“Eclipse? Me?”

I checked roughly why such speculation was spreading.

Two main reasons.

First, the name.

Neia was possibly a Latin name.

With the tower collapse, crime syndicate strongholds were in South America.

The commonality of the name fueled the theory.

“The other reason is the blocked mailbox… right?”

Players who awaken get a mailbox from the tower system.

I had set the reception limit from the start, which seemed to arouse more suspicion.

The reason was simple.

Each player gets a unique number.

It’s recorded in the Hall of Fame, and scouts, curiosity-laden messages, etc., would flood in, so I blocked it once it got noisy.

But being treated as Eclipse was even less desirable.

I had no choice but to lift the reception restriction.

Ding-ding-ding—

Endless notification sounds hit my head.

Tens of thousands of messages flooded in.

I decided to send messages to credible institutions saying I had no relation to Eclipse.

After all, nationality information would inevitably be revealed once the tutorial ended.

I considered it an early disclosure.

I skimmed through all the mailbox messages.

From top-tier guilds worldwide.

To player associations of each country.

I read through and then paused.

[Neia, let’s open a new world together at Eclipse.]

A tempting letter from Eclipse.

“So, people’s worries weren’t baseless, huh?”

I smiled wryly.

I scrolled down to clarify and do my work, and finally found it.

[This is the Korean Player Association, Neia…]

I wrote a reply.

The recipient was blocked, so no reply would be expected.

I clearly stated that I had no relation to Eclipse.

• I have no relation to Eclipse and simply do not wish to receive attention for now. Seems many are worrying unnecessarily…

“Is this enough?”

I sent the mail and closed the mailbox. Lying on the bed, I sighed.

Vzzz—

My phone vibrated.

It was a deposit from Lucidnet.

[Balance: 14,803,607]

“Deposited earlier than expected.”

Originally, I would have bought magic stones with this money while out and returned home.

But today, I just came home.

The reason was Lucid’s vague guidance on deposit timing.

They said it would be deposited today, but waiting outside for the deposit was inefficient.

So now, with the situation tangled, I hesitated.

“Hmm…”

People’s psychology is like that.

Once home, going out again felt cumbersome.

I just wanted to postpone buying the magic stones until tomorrow.

Checked the time.

[2:04 PM]

Just past 2 PM.

“Guess… I have to go out…”

Leaving Neia idle was money.

No special reason, but I couldn’t just throw money away.

I went out, bought the magic stones, and returned home.

Entered the extra-dimensional space and instructed production.

『Starting operation of adjacent small-scale factory K-09B5.』

The core center’s light grew stronger, and soon, a building in the city lit up.

Presumably, that was the factory.

As I watched that light, I also heard Neia’s voice.

『Frame assembly line starting. Checking safety of magic compression core attachment, full operation confirmed. Switching to operational state. Beginning production of ordered model.』

By the time Neia finished that announcement, a timer appeared in front of me.

[Required production time 23:05:11…]

During the long production wait, I returned to the room to rest, then came back at the scheduled time to meet the models.

I received full ownership and turned away.

『Wishing you victory, Sunwoo.』

“Yeah.”

『Wishing you victory, Sunwoo.』

“Got it. I won’t break it!”

Ignoring Neia’s subtle warning, I entered the tower.