Chapter 3

Why the hell do they deduct taxes? What has the country ever done for me?

Grumbling inwardly, Han Siwoo picked up a few cheap potions, thinking they might come in handy someday.

He also collected some low-grade mana stones that he could sell for a little pocket change…

“……?”

At that moment, something strange caught Han Siwoo’s eye.

An unfamiliar object floating within the pale, haze-like smoke.

It emitted a faint, pure-white glow as it drifted in the air.

Snatch!

Han Siwoo grabbed it, and his eyes narrowed.

It looked different from a mana stone, and the light it emitted was unlike anything produced by mana stones of any rank.

Frowning, Han Siwoo stared at it and used Appraisal.

Ding!

$SpiritStone\times1Spirit Stone \times1$

$CurrencyusableintheTempleofTranscendenceCurrency usable in the Temple of Transcendence$

Han Siwoo stared expressionlessly at the object in his hand.

An item that could be used in the Temple of Transcendence?

“Interesting.”

Han Siwoo rose to his feet with a cold smile.

There was nothing else worth obtaining from the Goblin Chieftain.

Besides…

$HanSiwoo(Transcendent)—Lv.10Han Siwoo (Transcendent) — Lv. 10$

$Class—NoneClass — None$

$Title—NoneTitle — None$

$Strength—17(+9)Strength — 17 (+9)$

$Vitality—10(+6)Vitality — 10 (+6)$

$MagicPower—1(+6)Magic Power — 1 (+6)$

$RemainingPoints—4Remaining Points — 4$

He had reached level 10, the minimum level required to challenge the first floor of the Temple of Transcendence.

Satisfied with that fact, Han Siwoo turned and walked away.

The reward for hunting the boss monster, the Goblin Chieftain, was 400,000 won.

After taxes were deducted, he was left with 360,000 won.

Even a five-person party would probably need several days to clear a dungeon like this. They wouldn’t even make minimum wage.

Before his regression, he had once been disappointed after struggling like hell to clear this dungeon, only to receive that amount.

Back then, he had forced himself to think positively, telling himself that it was merely a stepping stone toward entering higher-level dungeons.

Of course, that wasn’t entirely wrong.

Still, things were different this time. Did it take me about an hour to clear it?

After taxes, he had received 360,000 won for the boss monster.

And after selling the mana stones, he had nearly 400,000 won in his hands.

He mulled over that fact with a peculiar expression, then gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

I’ll just buy a few potions and head home.

Han Siwoo purchased several potions from the shop inside the Center.

They were cheap potions costing around 50,000 won each. These consumables could instantly heal minor injuries.

They were only capable of stopping the bleeding from severe wounds, but they were still quite useful.

I should prepare for emergencies, just in case.

They said even monkeys fell from trees. There was no guarantee that Han Siwoo would never get injured.

He was on his way home when—

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“……?”

Someone called out to him, and Han Siwoo turned his head.

His eyes narrowed when he realized that they were employees of the Center.

“What is it?”

“You just turned in a dungeon-clearance token. We’d like to ask for your cooperation in an investigation.”

“Cooperation?”

From the unexpected obstruction, Han Siwoo could roughly guess what was going on.

It clearly wasn’t about the token being invalid or forged.

It is a suspicious situation.

Han Siwoo had awakened for the first time today and had his identity verified at the Center.

Yet a level 1 Awakener had immediately entered a dungeon and cleared one with a recommended level of 10 or higher.

From a third party’s perspective, it wasn’t unreasonable to suspect that some kind of foul play had been involved.

But Han Siwoo had nothing to hide, so he followed the employee.

“Please take a seat. The investigator will be here shortly.”

“……An investigator is coming, too?”

Even an investigator, someone called in when something suspicious or improper occurred, was being sent.

Hearing the obvious displeasure in Han Siwoo’s voice, the employee gave a small laugh.

“There have been frequent cases of people illegally trading dungeon-clearance tokens lately.”

“I see.”

“Please have a cup of coffee while you wait.”

The issue had once become a major social problem, so Han Siwoo remembered it well.

When someone submitted a large number of tokens proving that they had cleared dungeons to the Center, the Center judged that Awakener to be trustworthy.

As a result, their chances of receiving contracts from companies that had entrusted the Center with recruitment, or participating in rare missions organized directly by the Center, increased significantly.

For those reasons, the black-market trade in clearance tokens had been quietly flourishing.

Click.

A short while later, a man appeared as the door opened.

The employees bowed politely to him before leaving the reception room.

“I’m Yoo Seok-hwan, an investigator.”

“I’m Han Siwoo.”

Yoo Seok-hwan sat down across from Han Siwoo.

Then he took out a notebook and spoke in a firm voice.

“I’ll get straight to the point. Where did you obtain the token?”

There was a strong implication in his tone that a newly awakened Awakener could not possibly have cleared a dungeon himself and obtained the token.

Han Siwoo’s eyebrow twitched.

But from the investigator’s perspective, it was an entirely reasonable suspicion.

“I cleared a dungeon near Peace Park and obtained it there.”

“……Peace Park.”

Yoo Seok-hwan wrote down Han Siwoo’s answer.

Han Siwoo didn’t know what the investigator was thinking, but he had no intention of being questioned any further.

So he decided to dispel the investigator’s suspicions immediately.

Ding!

$Goblindefeated.Obtained77EXP.Goblin defeated. Obtained 77 EXP.$

$Goblindefeated.Obtained81EXP.Goblin defeated. Obtained 81 EXP.$

……

$GoblinChieftaindefeated.Obtained3,175EXP.Goblin Chieftain defeated. Obtained 3,175 EXP.$

“This is proof that I defeated the goblins myself, one by one.”

Yoo Seok-hwan stared blankly at Han Siwoo’s message window.

It was irrefutable proof that he had personally cleared the dungeon.

Yoo Seok-hwan stared at the message window in bewilderment and stammered,

“H-How did you……?”

“What do you mean, how? You’re asking how a level 1 Awakener hunted goblins?”

Han Siwoo stood up and downed the remaining coffee in his paper cup in one gulp.

Then, as he began walking away, he said,

“You just have to kill them properly. Why are you asking such a strange question? Have you not been in this business for more than a day or two?”

Click.

Han Siwoo walked straight out of the reception room.

Left alone, Yoo Seok-hwan remained lost in thought for a moment before standing up.

Soon afterward, he took a deep breath in front of the office of the department head who oversaw the investigators, then entered.

“I have a report.”

“Go ahead.”

“It concerns the clearance-token brokers who have been causing problems lately. We’ve discovered an individual suspected of possibly having contact with a broker, but he doesn’t appear to be guilty of anything.”

The department head demanded an explanation, and Yoo Seok-hwan told him everything he knew.

A man who had awakened today, yet had cleared a goblin dungeon single-handedly.

However, since Yoo Seok-hwan had personally confirmed the hunting messages, there was no room for fraud.

But the department head spoke in an indifferent voice.

“He isn’t guilty? From where I’m standing, there are plenty of reasons to suspect him.”

“……Pardon?”

“Who knows if he’s someone being trained by a broker? Who knows whether he has connections to unregistered Awakeners? Don’t make judgments on your own. If someone seems suspicious, register them as a person of interest first and investigate from there. That way, we might be able to catch at least one more person later. And don’t bother me with reports as pointless as this.”

At the department head’s words, Yoo Seok-hwan became speechless.

He already knew that his superior was a scumbag blinded by the pursuit of performance records.

But he hadn’t realized it was this bad……

“……Understood.”

Still, it was an order from his superior.

Yoo Seok-hwan nodded weakly and left the office.

When Han Siwoo’s mother returned home, she was about to prepare dinner.

But then she witnessed something completely unexpected.

“……Son, what are you doing?”

Han Siwoo was standing in the kitchen.

The sight was so unbelievable that his mother rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things.

“Welcome home.”

Until yesterday, her son had been unemployed, spending all his time lounging around in his room.

And now, that very son was wearing an apron and holding a ladle.

“Is chicken yukgaejang okay for dinner? I’m not sure if you’ll like it.”

“Son, come here for a second.”

At his mother’s call, Han Siwoo put down the ladle and walked over.

When his mother’s cool hand touched his forehead, he opened his eyes wide.

“Oh my, you have a fever. So that’s why you were crying your eyes out earlier.”

“……I don’t have a fever. Your hands must just be cold from being outside.”

Han Siwoo gave a small laugh, leaving his mother utterly bewildered.

More importantly, how had someone who never cooked managed to make chicken yukgaejang?

When she asked him, Han Siwoo answered simply,

“What do you mean? I just cooked it. Aren’t you hungry? It’s ready, so all you have to do is eat.”

“W-Well, yes. Siyeon will be home soon, too, so let’s eat together.”

“Yes. Go wash up.”

Han Siwoo had been an Awakener for several decades before his regression.

After living that kind of life, even the sight of convenient rations or combat food was enough to make him nauseous.

But to fight, you needed strength. And to have strength, you had to eat.

Veteran Awakeners had no choice but to learn how to cook if they wanted to survive.

A short while later, Han Siwoo’s younger sister returned home.

At the sound of her arrival, he made a deeply emotional expression and hurried to the entrance.

“……You’re home?”

“Huh?”

Her older brother had personally come all the way to the entrance to greet her.

Han Siyeon looked at Han Siwoo suspiciously.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“You, come here.”

Han Siwoo beckoned her over.

Han Siyeon looked frightened.

Other people might have romanticized the relationship between an older brother and younger sister, but wasn’t reality often a complete mess?

“Mom, Oppa is going to hit me again……”

But what happened next was completely unexpected.

Han Siwoo gently began stroking her head, as though he were simply happy to see her.

In a way, it was a rather creepy gesture, but Han Siyeon could only stare blankly at the unexpected situation.

“……You’re home?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Good. Let’s eat.”

His mother, whom he had seen again after several decades.

His younger sister, whom he had reunited with after several decades.

This time, I absolutely will……

Did I eat too much?

Han Siwoo’s mother and sister were horrified by his behavior, as though he had suddenly become a completely different person.

But aside from that, the family dinner had been a success.

They’re more shocked by this than by the fact that I became an Awakener. Just how pathetic must I have been in the past?

Han Siwoo made a self-deprecating expression and drew in a deep breath.

He had eaten a hearty meal, so his next course of action was obvious.

Crackle!

The moment Han Siwoo activated the Temple of Transcendence, his field of vision began to change.

Soon, the pure-white world came into view.

The sound of bells rang out from somewhere in the distant expanse, while pure-white spires rose toward the sky as though they could pierce the heavens.

Boom!

A pure-white stele dropped in front of him.

Since he had already experienced this once, there was no reason to be surprised by every little thing.

“I challenge the first floor.”

$WouldyouliketochallengethefirstflooroftheTempleofTranscendence?Would you like to challenge the first floor of the Temple of Transcendence?$

“Yes.”

When Han Siwoo accepted, his field of vision began to be drawn inward, just as it had before.

Soon, the invigorating sound of drums echoed through the surroundings.

Boom, boom, boom.

The sound seemed to beat in time with his heartbeat, and then—

Slither.

Something pitch-black began to rise from the ground a short distance away.

It emerged in a strange form, as though countless strands of black thread were being released. The mass gradually gathered together, beginning to form the shape of a human.

No—more precisely, something resembling a human.

Clank!

A humanoid figure stood before him, its entire body clad in black full-plate armor.

Blue-green eyes glowed from within the gaps of its pitch-black helmet.

$TheDarkKnighthasappearedonthefirstfloor.The Dark Knight has appeared on the first floor.$

$Thetimelimitis5minutes.The time limit is 5 minutes.$

$Additionalpointswillbeawardedifyoudefeatitwithin1minute.Additional points will be awarded if you defeat it within 1 minute.$

“……Ghk!”

The corners of Han Siwoo’s eyes trembled.

The tutorial had featured nothing more than a crude pile of bones.

Just the first floor, and it spawns a Dark Knight with a recommended level of 100 or higher?

The gap between the first floor and the tutorial was absolutely absurd.