UTC 13

Chapter 13

[Returning from the Tower]

After completing the 11th floor, I returned to my room.

It had been sudden, but judging by the results, I was fairly satisfied.

“So, I got quite a lot, huh.”

Of course, there had been a shocking revelation midway.

About Baek Jin-seong’s traits and the existence of viewers.

At first, I regretted stepping up unnecessarily.

But now, I decided to think positively.

It’s water under the bridge even if I realized it late.

Baek Jin-seong… yeah, he was like a natural disaster.

An inevitable force that ordinary humans couldn’t avoid.

Thinking that way, I could laugh it off.

“And anyway, the drone thing would’ve been exposed even if it wasn’t on the broadcast.”

Using drones was something hard to hide no matter what.

If used consistently in an open field, it would soon catch people’s eyes.

Besides, it had already been exposed in the Mir Guild.

On the other hand, I had gained a lot in exchange for information that would be exposed anyway.

“It was surprising that he even offered broadcast revenue.”

He honestly disclosed his abilities and even shared profits.

So, I admit, my favorability toward Baek Jin-seong had slightly increased.

Honestly, streaming skills weren’t a disadvantage for me either.

I wasn’t planning to hide forever.

“As long as Neia’s identity as ‘Kang Seon-woo’ is kept secret, there won’t be any immediate problem.”

The alias Neia was purely for safety in the real world.

Revealing her identity without specifying Kang Seon-woo wasn’t exactly fatal.

Even with cognitive interference, having Baek Jin-seong by my side offered far more advantages.

“Should I check it out?”

I searched Baek Jin-seong’s MyTube.

At least for now, he was my business partner.

I planned to check the scale of his broadcast, but…

[Sharing the story of welcoming Neia-hyungnim.]

This was the title of Baek Jin-seong’s broadcast.

The background was still Peronta.

He seemed to have returned there and was interacting with viewers.

My gaze naturally went to the viewers as I entered the broadcast—and I was startled.

“1… 100,000?”

The viewers were still increasing.

It felt as if the world’s attention, not just Korea’s, was focused on Baek Jin-seong at this moment.

No wonder he acted as if he were the subordinate.

If he solidified his position while the tide was rising, he could enjoy much even if they parted ways later.

“How much is all that?”

Watching the broadcast, donations kept flooding in.

[… has donated 500,000 won.]
[… has donated 200,000 won.]
[… has donated 100,000 won.]

The amounts were huge.

The reason was clear: as more people gathered, viewers increased their donation rates to get a response.

Those who wanted to ask questions were paying big sums just to get answers.

• So it’s confirmed that you’ll be working with Neia from now on?
  『Thank you for the 500,000 won donation, Nicholas. Yes, that’s correct.』
• Did you get Neia’s contact info?
  『No.』
• Then how will you contact her?
  『She said she would contact us when you strategize. So we’re on standby.』
• Did you actually see Neia’s face?
  『No. She has many secrets. And please refer to her as Neia-nim here, otherwise you’ll be banned.』

Existing viewers were uneasy.

If Baek Jin-seong occasionally read low-value chats, they were likely the same ones.

• It feels strange seeing Jin-seong rise so fast.
  『Me too. Please continue to visit, Beolgyo Haekkkomak-hyungnim.』
• I hoped he’d do well, but not this well.
  『Eh…?』

“Ah, so that’s why he confidently promised concentrated rewards.”

He was raking in money through the broadcast.

Still, knowing that 90% of it was mine made me genuinely happy.

“Maybe I’ll have chicken for dinner after a long time.”

News about Neia made Tower experts go crazy.

They knew she was Korean, but her ability was completely unknown.

Yet it was revealed sooner than expected, in an unexpected form.

The video of Neia clearing the 11th floor gained tremendous attention quickly.

1 million views.

Within an hour of upload, it spread everywhere, hitting that view count.

[So Neia’s trait is probably SS-rank or higher?]
ㄴ Seems so. Her potential surpasses Miller for sure…
ㄴ But her drone might be stronger than her, so not sure…
ㄴ Isn’t a drone just a summon?
ㄴㄴ That’s not certain. It could be self-made.
ㄴㄴ Yeah right, she made that herself?

Modern drones have limited efficiency.

At most, they could deliver missiles, so firepower was limited.

Yet the drone before their eyes, despite its form, had high-output parts and unleashed miraculous firepower.

Such a thing required technology beyond the present reality.

Unless Neia came from the future, it was impossible.

Most captivating was her near-invisible, mysterious stealth technology.

It went far beyond simple radar-evading stealth.

Experts unanimously said it was a paradoxical weapon given modern technology.

[Current drone developer here. With today’s tech, you can’t make that.]
[Defense company researcher here. That tech is at least 50 years ahead. No way such a small frame produces that firepower.]
[Military modern weapons officer here. Wow… if she made that herself, world domination is possible. Deliver it immediately.]

Industry professionals were astonished.

So the public concluded it must be linked to her ‘awakened trait.’

[Seems Tower-related.]
ㄴ Yeah, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense.
ㄴ Then what kind of trait? Related to crafting maybe?

They speculated about Neia’s abilities among themselves.

[Honestly, it felt great watching Neia handle the hunters, right?]
ㄴ Totally… those guys are notorious.
ㄴ Hundreds probably died by their hands.
ㄴ She really met her match.

Some cheered her actions.

[Neia’s male…]
ㄴ Possible.
ㄴㄴ Chill with “possible.”
ㄴㄴ Must be female, why so excited?
ㄴㄴ Male.

[But remove the cognitive interference. I want to see the face.]
ㄴ Why care about a guy’s face?
ㄴ lol

There was also talk about the recent Mir Guild raid.

[Could Neia really be the Mir Guild’s helper?]
ㄴ Very likely.
ㄴ But if that’s an awakened ability, shouldn’t it weaken outside the Tower?
ㄴ Hmm… but then she killed Odusa in that state, what does that mean?
ㄴ Either she had another hidden trick, or it wasn’t Tower-related, so it didn’t weaken. Most likely, she wasn’t the helper.

Reading the comments, Kang Se-hyun grimaced.

Their effort to control information to gain advantage on Neia was useless.

“This isn’t good.”

Neia’s abilities were revealed.

He had no solid clues, and had lost information superiority.

Kang Se-hyun became anxious.

He asked Gu Byung-hoon, who had informed him:

“Did you find out anything else?”
“Sorry… sir.”

Gu Byung-hoon bowed apologetically.

Kang Se-hyun wasn’t scolding him.

They simply had too little information.

The Mir Guild only knew she likely lived near them.

She had visited their guild to buy magic stones instead of another guild.

So, geographically, she was probably near Mir in Jamsil.

But with that alone, finding Neia with cognitive interference was impossible.

“What about the list we compiled last time?”

They had roughly 20 players whose start of activity, awakening time, and residence near Mir overlapped.

“Well… it’s not easy to get cooperation.”

The list came from insider info via the association.

Actively investigating them was difficult.

They could only monitor them.

Without cognitive interference, they could have compared CCTV footage, but that was the limit.

“Instead, let’s also contact Baek Jin-seong, the one working with Neia.”

Baek Jin-seong had become a hot topic, serving as a definite link to Neia.

“I’ll try that.”

Next morning.

I opened my inventory.

Many reward boxes had accumulated.

【(Floors 6-10) S-rank reward box】
【(Floors 11-15) S-rank reward box】 x2
【(Floors 11-15) S-rank material box】 x2

“I’ve slept well, let’s open them.”

【(Floors 6-10) S-rank reward box】

I first opened the 6-10 floor reward box.

The box obtained after clearing the 10th floor.

Squeak.

Inside, 30 lowest-grade magic stones filled my inventory.

I wasn’t too disappointed.

The chance of equipment appearing in a reward box was low.

Next, I opened the 11-15 floor boxes.

“Hm?”

Again, magic stones appeared.

But there was a difference.

The quantity was smaller than usual.

Clicking to check revealed why:

[Low-grade magic stone x 10]

Not lowest-grade, but low-grade.

One grade higher, yet worth five times more.

So the total value increased by 1.5 times despite fewer stones.

“Nice.”

Getting good equipment would be great, but raising the base value of magic stones was also welcome.

I opened the remaining boxes.

Again, magic stones.

“…Am I being too careless opening them?”

I didn’t expect much, but still.

Even S-rank, I hoped for at least one piece of equipment.

“Desperation yields results, right?”

At least, I decided to put my sincerity into opening the material boxes.

“Hoo…”

Material boxes had never betrayed me.

Recently, I even got a jackpot of 120 million won.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the first material box.

Squeak.

【Gardener Cream’s Scissors】

Checking the grade: B.

Kinol’s Lightning Flute and Blood Boar’s Fang were also B-grade.

Though I knew there were price differences, I carefully searched.

“About 5 million won?”

I shouldn’t be disappointed, but honestly, I felt a bit let down.

It wasn’t even as valuable as Kinol’s Lightning Flute.

At least the scissors were durable and usable as low-level weapon material.

Otherwise, I’d have to sell them as junk.

“Something else, come out…”

Thinking that, I wondered if anything could surpass floor boss materials.

“Anyway… anything!”

Squeak.

Opening the last box, an item with a distinct green glow appeared in my inventory.

Neither Kinol nor Blood Boar had items with such impact.

【Forgotten Relic】

• Grade: A