Chapter 14

“What do you want?”

“An item! I’m from the Hoyeon Guild, name’s Kim Yoo-yeon. But the guild keeps refusing to support me with items! Can’t you help me, mister?”

“Kim Yoo-yeon, you say…”

Hoyeon was one of the four major guilds in South Korea. That name rang a bell. Was it about five years ago? There was a news article about a high school girl Awakener being forced into the Tower, a human rights violation. Her name was definitely Kim Yoo-yeon.

The Hoyeon Guild strongly denied it, claiming it was the Awakener’s own will, but no one really knew the truth. It’s common for corporations to deny their wrongdoings. But they don’t even support her with items? What a terrible guild.

“But, mister?” “Ah, um, then, my benefactor?”

Ahem. I’m not old enough to be called “mister” yet. “Benefactor” feels a bit awkward too, but it’s better than “mister.” Let’s get straight to the point.

“What item do you want?” “A Gandiva replica. The Association has it. From the 95th floor of the Upper Tower, the monsters are huge.”

I remembered hearing about the Gandiva. It’s a famous bow from Korean mythology, said to weigh a thousand geun. The arrows also weigh a thousand geun, making it extremely difficult to use, but I heard its destructive power is equally high.

Indeed, an item from mythology that appears with an extremely low probability when clearing the Tower or conquering a Gate would naturally be powerful.

Of course, none of the mythological items discovered so far were genuine. They were all replicas, copies. Even if they were fakes, they weren’t weak. Since they were replicas of mythological-grade items, they were still demi-mythological grade, overwhelmingly more powerful than other items. And as powerful as they were, they were just as expensive.

It’s probably one of the most expensive items the Association possesses. Even though it’s demi-mythological grade, above S-grade, there’s an immense power difference between S-grade and demi-mythological grade. I can see why the guild couldn’t support her. The commission alone would exceed 100 billion won.

“But does she not know I’ve already signed a contract with the Association?”

After contracting with the Association, I had no intention of refusing if a suitable contract offer came from a guild. Guilds wouldn’t have to auction off support rights at high costs, and I could receive money or items from the guilds.

And this Kim Yoo-yeon is a talent in the Hoyeon Guild, on the 95th floor of the Upper Tower. There’s no way the Hoyeon Guild would just sit still, right? They’d surely want to contract with me to provide weapon support. Even if they couldn’t support her due to the auction now, it would be easier for them to support her if they contracted with me.

“Then again, she’s in the Tower, so information must be slow for her.”

In the Tower, outside news is limited. You can’t know about outside news unless someone comes in. Furthermore, my contract with the Association hasn’t been publicized yet. It hasn’t even been a full day since I signed, and it hasn’t appeared in the news.

This is my chance. I’ll contract with this woman before the guild contacts me.

“If I lend you the item, what can you do for me, Yoo-yeon?” “Uh… What would be good? I can give you points, though.” “I have plenty of points too.” “R-Right? If you just bring things from outside, you can earn an enormous amount of points…” “Then think carefully. I’ll also think carefully about what I’ll demand.” “Oh? Wait a minute! You’re not just leaving, are you? You’re not abandoning me, mister?”

She’s annoying. I closed the window to stop notifications and started thinking. Hmm. What should I get out of this? I should definitely get points, but I’m not sure yet. Should I summon Lee Woo-jae?

Summoning Lee Woo-jae

“Would you like to summon Magic Engineering Doll (Lee Woo-jae)?” “Yes.”

Since he was treated as an item, I could easily summon him without going back and forth to the Tower. When I summoned him, Lee Woo-jae, who was sleeping, appeared lying down.

“Woo-jae, wake up. Woo-jae!” “Hmph… Why’d you call? I was enjoying a peaceful nap.” “I have something to ask you.” “What is it?”

I briefly explained the situation, and Lee Woo-jae nodded.

“Is it a slave contract like mine?” “Hey, a slave contract? Is Woo-jae my slave? Don’t be ridiculous.” “Hmm, is that so?”

Phew, I almost got caught.

“Anyway, what kind of conditions should I ask for in the contract?” “Hmm… A lifelong slave contract like mine is already tied to the guild, so that’s out. Just taking money is a bit of a waste, and I have most items anyway. And asking for her soul is a bit much.”

Lee Woo-jae pondered for a moment, then his face brightened, and he snapped his fingers.

“Ah! I’ve got a good idea.” “What is it?” “How about giving her three summoning tickets if you lend her the item?” “Three summoning tickets?” “Anyway, when she comes out of the Tower, she’ll be an S-rank Hunter, right? Three summons possible, the summoned person acts according to the summoner’s command. How’s that?” “Hmm, with you here, do I really need to go that far?”

I’m safe anyway with Lee Woo-jae protecting me, right? He shook his head and said,

“Even if I have a little more power than an S-rank Hunter, I can’t win against two or more S-ranks. The fewer variables, the better.” “That’s true.” “Midas’s identity might be revealed someday, and you might have to face other nations or guilds. One S-rank might not be enough.”

He had a point. My abilities are incredibly useful, so there will likely be many people coveting them. Some might even want to kill me.

Lee Woo-jae is enough for now, but if I expand my reach globally, as Lee Woo-jae said, anything could happen.

“Then I should ask for a 10% commission and three summoning tickets.” “Good. But what item were you going to lend her?” “The Gandiva replica version.” “Huh.” “Why?” “Who uses that?”

His face was filled with shock. As if asking why anyone would use such trash. Why that expression?

“No, why? They’re strong enough, aren’t they?” “Well, they’re not weak, but why not just use the real thing?”

What’s he talking about now? I looked at him with a puzzled expression, and he said,

“I have the real one.” [Lee Woo-jae has gifted ‘Gandiva’ to Kim Nam-jung.]

Huh? What is this? It looks like a rather ordinary bow. But there’s no way he’d give me an ordinary bow. I’d heard the name somewhere before too. And just in case, I checked the item information and couldn’t believe my eyes.

[Gandiva] Grade: Mythological A weapon of the gods from Indian mythology. The bow used by the hero Arjuna.

“Wh-What is this?”

The description was simple, but the content within was profound. First, the sheer weight of the “Mythological” grade was extraordinary. The reason mythological-grade items hadn’t been discovered until now was simple: demi-mythological-grade items were found in the Upper Tower or S-rank Gates. So item researchers could only speculate that mythological-grade items could only be obtained by clearing the highest-grade Tower.

But a mythological-grade item, in Lee Woo-jae’s inventory? It felt completely unreal. I should have realized from the beginning that all the items he gave me were demi-mythological grade. That this person was no joke.

“N-No. Can you just give me something like this so easily?” “What do you mean?” “It’s a mythological-grade item! A mythological-grade item! Even clearing the Upper Tower with a high rank only gets you one demi-mythological-grade item, and you’re just giving this to me?” “Oh, I have a lot of these. Don’t worry.” “Huh…?”

He has a lot of these? Is that even possible?

“I only use about… three of them? So don’t worry. They’re items I don’t use anyway.”

This person’s sense of economics must be completely off. He has so many mythological-grade items, yet he gets so happy over samgyeopsal and soju, chicken and beer? Then again, even Lee Jae-yong would probably buy chicken for 10 million or 100 million won if he hadn’t eaten it for 29 years in the Tower. Anyway, that wasn’t the important thing.

“No, if you have such amazing items, why didn’t you support other people? You don’t use them anyway. If you had helped, they could have cleared the Tower better.” “It’s annoying.” “Huh?”

What did he say?

“I can’t even leave the Tower, so if I lend out items and they leave, it’s annoying. Why would I lend them?”

Is he a psychopath? Ah, is this why he got that nickname? But it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible. There’s no reason to lend out precious items just because. There’s nothing to gain from lending them out.

“But now I can lend them out. Because I have hope of getting out.” “Woo-jae…”

I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to struggle for 25 years to get out of the Tower and still be unable to leave. A pang of sympathy hit me.

“And I can’t be the only one suffering.”

Of course, that was before I heard his next words. He continued with a joyful expression,

“Since you’re lending out a mythological-grade item anyway, how about using a dedicated summoning ticket while it’s lent out? I don’t think that woman or the guild would refuse that.” “Oh…”

Why does he look so happy? Well, it’s a gain for me anyway, so I guess it’s fine.

Kim Yoo-yeon’s Thoughts

“Ah, damn it. What should I do? Am I not going to be able to borrow it?”

Kim Yoo-yeon was biting her nails and pacing around the Tower. Indeed, she had borrowed too many items so far. To the point where the guild felt a financial burden.

But then, fortunately, someone named Midas appeared. A person who could provide unlimited item support because they had no Tower entry restrictions. So she tried to contract directly with him to receive the item without going through the guild, but…

“What can you do for me, Yoo-yeon?”

This was the reply she received. And she couldn’t give him a proper answer. Even though she was a prospective S-rank Hunter and capable of many things, she realized for the first time that she didn’t have much value herself.

Indeed, if someone had Midas’s incredible abilities, they wouldn’t lack money, and any slight lack in combat power could be made up for with items. Even if he needed combat power, she was already contracted with the Hoyeon Guild, so she couldn’t act as Midas’s exclusive.

“But I don’t want to be stuck in the Tower forever, sniff.”

To become an S-rank Hunter, you had to clear the Tower with an A-rank or higher. She had cleared 94 floors so far, and she couldn’t falter here. But obtaining a high rank naturally required maintaining high performance.

Overexertion was inevitable, and that increased the probability of death. That’s why she wanted to borrow high-grade items. Kim Yoo-yeon huddled her knees and became gloomy.

“Please lend it to me, Midas. If you just lend it, I’ll worship you like a god… I’ll even bow to you every day.”

Just then, as if responding to her prayer, the “god” sent a message.

“Are you there?” “Gah!”

He’s here! Kim Yoo-yeon’s eyes immediately sparkled, and she quickly replied.

“Yes, yes! Of course!” “Are you interested in mythological-grade items?”

Huh? Mythological grade? I clearly asked for the Gandiva (replica), which is demi-mythological grade, didn’t I? Besides, no mythological-grade item has ever appeared in this world. Did he make a mistake?

“Are you talking about demi-mythological grade?” “No, mythological grade.”

Along with his message, a picture appeared before her eyes. It was the item information Midas sent.

“Wh-Wh-What, what is this?”

Gandiva? This is the bow from Indian mythology, isn’t it? It was definitely the bow that India’s S-rank Hunter possessed. That was a replica, though.

But the Gandiva that Midas sent didn’t have the word “replica.” That meant, unbelievably, that this was the real item.

“Wh-What is this?” “If I lend you this, will you take it?”

Kim Yoo-yeon’s eyes went wide. Who would refuse a mythological grade item? Go big or go home. For her, a prospective S-rank archer in South Korea, a mythological-grade bow was an item of incalculable value.

“Yes, yes, yes! Of course!” “Then, I’ve sent the contract, so read it and reply.”

A contract? She thought there was no need to read it, but since the Hoyeon Guild Uncle had strongly advised her to always read contracts carefully, she held onto her last shred of sanity and began to read.

“Oh? What is this?”

Unlimited summoning possible, must help without conditions whenever summoned. It was nothing short of a slave contract. No set work hours, no quitting time, just summoned and had to help—a true slave contract.

The advantages were that Kim Yoo-yeon couldn’t be summoned when she was in a Gate, and she was free when not summoned.

“Th-This needs some thought…”

As she tried to hold onto her last bit of reason, one more sentence caught her eye. If she abided by these conditions, the ‘Gandiva’ would be lent to her semi-permanently. What? A mythological-grade item lent semi-permanently?

“I’ll sign the contract!”

Kim Yoo-yeon’s eyes had completely rolled back.