Chapter 9 : Somi’s Hidden Talent

The Association people arrived, their arms loaded with gifts.

It was none other than Seo Rin and Dohyun.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Dohyun, Team Leader of the Administration Department.”

Dohyun handed over his business card, wearing a pleasant smile.

His broad frame and short hair reminded me of the protagonist from the movie I watched yesterday.

“Wow, you really didn’t need to bring all this stuff.”

“Aigoo, I couldn’t possibly come empty-handed when meeting Mr. Woo min, of all people.”

A luxury seaweed set and Spam.

Grade 1++ beef and all kinds of fruit, too.

There were so many things that my hands weren’t enough to carry them all.

“My place is a bit shabby, but please, make yourselves comfortable.”

“Shabby? Not at all. This place is perfect for a bachelor to live in. Hahaha!”

Dohyun and Seo Rin sat down at the table in the living room.

Woo min took out two bottles from the assorted drinks set he’d received as a gift and started the conversation in earnest.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Serin. I heard you’re the SSS-class Awakener.”

“To be exact, it’s not me, but our Bbyak.”

“You’re humble. No wonder the holy beast chose you as its master.”

“Ahaha, is that so?”

Bbyak bbyak?

He laughed heartily as he watched Bbyak and Somi playing on the desk.

What were those two having so much fun with? The desk was a mess.

“Huh? There’s another one now?”

“It just hatched from its egg.”

“A-an egg?”

Not only did I have a phoenix, but it even hatched from an egg.

Even seeing it myself, it was hard to believe.

It’s already amazing that a beast is operating outside the Tower, but its identity is none other than a phoenix.

And now, a new beast had hatched, too.

“A rabbit, huh.”

“Yes, a ground rabbit.”

“Can I take a closer look?”

Dohyun got up and approached the desk.

With his fierce-looking appearance, he moved as slowly as possible so the beasts wouldn’t be startled.

Fortunately, Bbyak and Somi didn’t have any prejudice against human appearance.

You could say they retained their pure nature.

Bbyak bbyak!

bbiee—

Bbyak and Somi greeted him.

They grabbed Dohyun’s thick fingers with both hands and gave them a good shake.

Dohyun, whose looks didn’t match his love for cute things, felt his heart being powerfully struck.

“Mm, they’re so cute.”

“Right?”

Serin, who’d come up beside him before he realized, answered as she put Bbyak on her finger.

I’d wondered if they’d be shy around strangers, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Ahem, well, I should tell you the reason we came in person.”

After a brief healing time, Dohyun cleared his throat and sat back down.

Then he took out some documents and a tablet from his bag.

“Mr. Woo min, you’re not an ordinary player. Not just because you’re grade SSS, but for several reasons.”

He pulled up a screen on his tablet.

“Currently, there’s a lot of research on the Tower. In particular, research on beasts is seen as a key to conquering the Tower.”

The screen displayed all kinds of information about the identities of beasts.

Among them was even Seo Rin’s Haran.

“As you can see, there are only 24 Tamer classes worldwide, and only about 200 people in total—an extremely rare class. Seo Rin is the only Tamer player in Korea.”

He met Seo Rin’s eyes and she gave a bright smile.

“Most Tamers are treated as top-rank players. Taming even an average grade 8 beast gives the equivalent power of two grade 8 combat players. But Mr. Woo min, your case is a little different.”

The screen soon changed to display my own basic profile.

Attached to it was a picture of the phoenix, from somewhere.

“Up until now, Tamers have always faced the risk of having to defeat a beast themselves before taming it. In other words, because of the limits of a player, they couldn’t tame stronger beasts. The highest beast ever tamed globally is grade 8+. That means, for even the best players to face a beast of equal grade, they need at least three times as many people.”

Gulp.

Somehow, this conversation was getting heavier.

“But no one, no matter their abilities, could ever tame a beast outside the Tower. That’s why the ‘one person, one beast’ principle was absolute.”

With the final slide of the presentation, Dohyun gave a small shiver.

Then he slapped the table hard.

“But Mr. Woo min, you’re different! You personally tamed beasts outside the Tower. And two of them, at that!”

He was excited.

Extremely so.

As passionate as he looked.

Even Seo Rin beside him nodded silently in agreement.

So that’s where the saying, “people become like their boss,” comes from.

“Currently, there’s an official order from the Association to find any grade SSS players and report them immediately. But our Korean Branch is different.”

He clasped both his hands together, his eyes shining as he continued.

“I heard from Seo Rin. You don’t really want your identity known, do you?”

“Ah, yes. I really hate unnecessary trouble and complications.”

“That’s a very wise decision. If news broke that you’re a grade SSS player, you’d have a lot of trouble. In fact, the Association is looking for you for precisely that reason.”

“Wh-why?”

“Well, they’d keep you locked in a basement bunker that no one can enter, just to send you up the Tower.”

How could he say something like that so casually?

Isn’t the Association supposed to be an organization that works for world peace?

Is it okay for him to say things like this about his own organization?

“The Association isn’t as clean as it seems. On the surface, it looks like a group that protects global peace, but in reality, it’s filthy and rotten. Just as there’s always deep darkness behind the bright light.”

I was starting to feel uneasy.

In truth, there’d been posts about the Association’s secrets from time to time.

Rumors like kidnapping any players above grade 2 who refused to join the Association, or owning dozens of tactical weapons more powerful than nuclear bombs—I always thought they were all nonsense.

But seeing Dohyun’s reaction, maybe they weren’t all lies.

“That’s why we’re so glad someone like you is grade SSS.”

“This is the contract we’ve drawn up.”

On the surface, it looked like a very ordinary document.

Mana stone and item trading.

Tax reduction benefits and free housing.

All the perks you get when you become a player.

“Actually, these are secret instructions sent from the Korean Secret Branch Order. If there’s an SSS-grade player in our country, we’re to recruit them at all costs.”

Seo Rin chimed in.

“After all, a player is a citizen of their own country. Even though the Team Leader worked as an international Association player, there was nothing to gain in the end.”

“That’s right. Under the guise of world peace, they restricted each country’s talented people and resources, and ultimately, the Association gained massive influence over nations.”

No wonder people jokingly say the Association stands above countries.

Countries spend huge sums to prevent Gate Collapse events.

And it’s all for the Association’s beasts.

“So the Korean Secret Branch Order intends to keep Mr. Woo min’s identity strictly confidential, and to give you more support than any other player.”

That’s some incredible support.

What could it possibly be?

I asked, a bit cautiously, and Dohyun grinned broadly.

“Monthly activity allowance of 200 million won, priority access to the item auction, and free housing. Plus, if you want, we can even assign bodyguards.”

Oh, what an insane set of benefits.

Especially 200 million won a month?

It’s like winning the lottery first prize every year.

Crazy. Absolutely crazy.

“But if you go this far for me, won’t it actually make my identity more suspicious?”

For a moment, there was a brief silence.

It seemed they hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“Um, I think I’ll take the house and bodyguards only if I actually need them later.”

“U-understood.”

Dohyun hurriedly revised the documents.

He hadn’t realized that more benefits could actually make things look suspicious.

He was just focused on persuading me to stay in Korea.

“All done.”

Thus, the contract was completed.

All the burdensome clauses were gone.

Only the basic benefits and the 200 million won monthly activity fund remained.

Honestly, that’s the most important thing.

Who cares about a house, when I live alone? Even if it’s bigger, that just means more to clean.

And bodyguards—what for? Someone watching me 24/7?

That’d drive me crazy.

“Just call this number and we’ll come running anytime.”

Finally, we exchanged my direct phone number, and everything was wrapped up.

Dohyun quickly got up to leave.

With Association work already piled up, he now had a special assignment just for me.

He’d have to stay up several nights to sort out all the paperwork.

But the results were better than expected.

More than anything, I readily accepted their proposal.

In this day and age, it’s rare to see such a straightforward man.

“Thank you for your trouble.”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

After shaking hands to the end, the Association folks finally left.

Left alone in my rented room, I flopped onto the floor.

Meeting people really isn’t easy.

I barely said anything, but I’m completely drained.

Just then, Bbyak and Somi approached me.

It looked like they wanted to show me something, poking at my side.

“Hmm? What’s up?”

I turned to look at Bbyak.

On his head was a tiny hat, no idea where he’d gotten it.

“Somi made that for you?”

Bbiee!

Somi puffed up her chest proudly.

She’d made a stylish hat out of a bottle cap from the desk.

Somi’s hands are surprisingly skilled.

Give her any old thing and she’ll quickly make something out of it.

If I handed her the wrapping paper from Dohyun’s gift set?

She’d whip up a cape and outfit that suited Bbyak perfectly.

Give her a box, and she’d make a hammer and anvil.

She creates amazing things from materials I’d never think possible.

Could this be the true ability of the ground rabbit?

If so, I should try giving her something really nice.

The Spray-type Slime Lotion +1 I got from defeating the King Slime.

Somi tilted her head at the bottle of lotion, bigger than her own body.

Was I expecting too much?

But then—

Bbiee!

Somi said something.

Understanding, Bbyak flew off somewhere.

He came back carrying something.

Is that… hair spray?

What on earth were they going to make?

Thunk thunk bang.

She worked hard with the hammer.

She placed the lotion and the hair spray on the paper anvil she’d just made, then hopped away.

And then she swung the hammer.

At that moment—

A flash of bright light burst forth.

[Enhancement Successful]

[Spray-type Slime Lotion] +1

Through a combination with a gas-spray format, this spray-type lotion has been further enhanced with even more powerful performance.

Just spraying it now lets you experience more than twice the effects of the original lotion.

What the heck.

It actually worked?

And the effect is twice as strong as before.

Looks like you can’t make light of F-grade after all.

Even if they can’t fight, they have the ability to enhance items.

As expected, my little geniuses.

I can’t stop grinning!