Chapter 16 : So… Why Is There a Dormouse in My House?

[Entered Floor 10 of the Tower.]

Mission: Defeat King Slime 0/1

Time Limit: 12 hours

It has been 10 days since I became a player.

And as always, the start of the day is climbing.

Finally, Floor 10 of the tower.

The opponent was, as I had expected, King Slime.

Of course, the original was killed a long time ago.

That guy in front is just a clone.

The only thing that had changed was not just the King Slime.

It was Bbyak that had evolved.

Thanks to the promotion from Rank S- to Rank S+, it no longer used wing attacks.

Then what does it use?

Obviously, a breath attack.

As it opened its mouth wide, red flames erupted.

Hwararak—

An incredible force.

But strangely, I didn’t feel any heat at all.

[Notice] You have achieved the world’s first SSS rank clearance of the Black Tower’s 10th Floor.

[Reward] Obtained Golden Ticket.

[Reward] 20kg of Magic Stones

[Reward] 10 Potions of Usable Recovery

[Reward] 2 Nutrition-packed Slime Lotions

[Reward] King Slime’s One-time Shield

[Reward] Slime Summoning Staff

As expected of the final reward for a floor, the prizes were generous.

Two lotions, no less.

If I switched them to sprays and sold them, they’d easily fetch over 10 billion won. That’s quite a fortune.

Including the ones made with Somi, this is already the eighth.

[King Slime’s One-time Shield] A one-time shield that activates even outside the tower. When a strong physical impact occurs, a slime shield pushes away the surrounding area.

Not a bad option.

Thinking about Bbyak’s blessing, it might be trivial, but the fact it activates outside the tower is a big plus.

Better to have it ready just in case of an unexpected impact.

If I really don’t need it, I can just sell it.

King Slime-related items easily fetch over 500 million won, after all.

[Slime Summoning Staff] The staff used by King Slime. It can summon various slimes at any time. When used outside the tower, it allows summoning up to 10 slimes for 24 hours.

Ah, just reading the description, this is an excellent item.

Why?

Because there’s one thing I learned while using the tower’s free access pass.

The usefulness of slimes.

Though it’s a symbol of the king, lately I’ve been fully benefiting from the slimes’ abilities.

Good for skincare, effective at removing wrinkles.

Even scalp massages?

Pure bliss.

There’s no other remedy like it.

Plus, it can be used outside the tower as well.

This might just become really handy.

Maybe I should open a slime-specialized massage parlor?

It would be insanely popular.

But the real rewards haven’t even come out yet.

The true prize followed immediately.

[Notice] 10 Golden Tickets have been granted.

[Reward] Ownership of the Hidden Plain obtained. The Hidden Plain allows free access and lets you use magic stones to build various facilities.

The Hidden Plain.

Now I have land inside the tower.

Curiosity got the better of me again.

Let’s go check out the land.

“Entering Hidden Plain.”

Poof—

Just like entering the tower, a golden light enveloped me.

And suddenly, I was teleported.

Before my eyes stretched a vast green plain.

The weather was warm, like a perfect spring day.

Freshly grown grass and flowers swayed gently in the breeze.

“Wow, is this really our land?”

It looked at least 10,000 pyeong.

This would be more than enough to release monsters and live freely.

At that moment.

A blue screen appeared before me.

[Magic Stone Shop] LV.1

Random Monster Feed Gacha: 100kg

Alchemy Furnace: 1000kg Magic Stones

Monster Auto Feeder: 1000kg Magic Stones

Monster Auto Water Dispenser: 1000kg Magic Stones

Fountain of Vitality: 100,000kg Magic Stones

Fountain of Growth: 100,000kg Magic Stones

Fountain of Healing: 100,000kg Magic Stones

Fountain of Abundance: 100,000kg Magic Stones

Garden Development: 1000kg Magic Stones

Workbench: 500kg Magic Stones

Shop Level Up: 3,000,000kg Magic Stones

Various items available for purchase using magic stones.

Good thing I didn’t sell and saved them.

The amount of magic stones earned from tower climbs and gate conquests is only about 200kg (actually around 69kg).

To use all those, how much money would I need?

At 200,000 won per 1kg…

It easily surpasses 600 billion won.

A far larger sum than I imagined.

Forget the world’s richest person. This might break my back.

Still, I might as well buy what I can.

Both Bbyak and Somi have been having a tough time lately; they deserve some rewards.

“Purchasing two Random Monster Feed Gachas.”

Ding—

With a cheerful sound, two small boxes appeared midair.

Golden paper boxes with question marks drawn on them.

“Bbyak, Somi, come here.”

I called the dutiful kids playing on the plain.

Bbyak flew in with Somi on its back.

Before I knew it, they had climbed onto my shoulders, showing their affection.

“Ahaha, that tickles.”

I carefully removed them and placed them on a flat stone in front of me.

Before opening the boxes, I used the petting skill once.

Bbyak Bbyak!

Now, let’s open the real boxes.

Random boxes always make the heart race.

Even mobile game gachas get me excited, so how about a food box worth 20 million won?

I put my hands together, sincerely hoping for the best, and opened.

[Using Random Monster Feed Gacha.]

[Smoked Monster-only Sausage] A very well-smoked sausage. Carnivorous monsters love this.

Hmm, not bad.

Bbyak isn’t carnivorous, but it eats anything well.

I just hope the next box gives veggies or fruits.

Somi needs something delicious to eat too.

Opening another!

With a sparkling glow, what appeared was—

[Using Random Monster Feed Gacha.]

[Dried Tower Mango] Dried mango from tower-grown tower mangoes. Herbivorous and omnivorous monsters love this.

Did my earnest wish come true?

Food suitable for Somi came out.

Very nice.

No more giving good things to some and bad things to others.

They’re all precious to me; no way I’ll discriminate.

“Alright, Bbyak gets the sausage.”

Bbyak Bbyak!

Happiness, Bbyak chirped.

No matter how much I think about it, the name fits perfectly.

No?

Still, it sounds catchy.

“Next is Somi.”

Somi ate the dried mango.

Grabbing it tightly with its small front paws, it took a bite.

Bbiee!

Its eyes sparkled.

Somi’s expression was all surprise at the mango’s new taste.

Its ears, usually drooping, perked up.

It ate without pause, fully immersed.

That was the moment.

Blink—

A bright light began to glow from Somi’s body.

At last, it had started to evolve.

In the radiance, Somi’s silhouette gradually began to change.

It got a little rounder.

Finally, its new form emerged.

Bbiee!

Its confident voice rang out.

Its cuteness had doubled compared to before.

Holding a hammer taller than itself, its chest swelled proudly.

Somi had finally broken out of Rank 6 and reached Rank 7.

Its dexterity seemed much improved as well.

With sharp eyes, it began exploring the surroundings.

Bbiee Bbiee!

It pointed at my chest.

Hmm? Asking for the Slime Trinity?

The symbol of the king, the shield, and the staff.

Collectively, the Slime Trinity.

All were treasures obtained after defeating the Slime King.

Somi nodded confidently.

Yeah, I can’t kill our youngest’s spirit.

“Alright. Take good care of it.”

Bbiee Bbiee!

Somi, holding the Slime Trinity, pounded its chest.

Then it busily began clanging with the hammer.

I have a feeling a very special item is about to be born!

***

Korean Association Item Warehouse.

Famous worldwide for its strict security.

But there was one downside: the number of legendary items stored was small.

So, recently, I made a bold move at the auction house.

I bought one legendary item.

The Lightning Acorn.

A legendary item purchased for nearly 20 billion won.

But I still didn’t know how to use it.

Legendary items reveal their true value only when their proper use is discovered.

Most remain unused, stored as unidentified.

Still, pride in owning many legendary items reflects the strength of each country’s association.

Therefore, the Lightning Acorn was still kept in the deepest part of the warehouse.

No one was allowed to enter.

Laser security system was standard.

Home recognition, fingerprint recognition, 28-character password changing every 2 hours, and 126 001\/ cameras monitoring 24/7.

If possible, it was a perfect unmanned security system.

At that moment.

Yellow sparks flared from the 12 Scepter, where the Lightning Acorn was stored.

Crackle.

A split-second flash.

Too brief to be captured by CCTV.

But soon, a figure appeared.

A small animal wearing a black hood.

A dormouse.

With yellow sparks erupting from both hands.

The legendary dormouse thunder?

Crackle crackle!

The dormouse drooled as it looked at the Lightning Acorn.

How could such a tiny dormouse bypass such a strict unmanned security system?

The question did not last long.

With a wave of its hands, yellow electricity surrounded its entire body.

Pazizjik—

Golden beams shot out at high speed.

Soon, tired and panting, it looked at the acorn stored inside the reinforced glass.

No matter how strict the security was, the opponent was lightning itself.

If there was even the slightest gap, it could slip in, so fast that no human eye could follow.

Its only weakness was low stamina.

But no problem.

Why?

Because this is an unmanned security system.

No one would come to catch it.

But the last remaining vulnerability was the glass.

Lightning wouldn’t conduct through it.

Even if it tried to squeeze through a narrow gap, it would only bounce off the surface.

The lightning dormouse looked around, then raised its hands above its head.

Then.

Pazizjik.

Electricity began flowing.

Gua ga gang!

A tremendous lightning strike fell.

In an instant, the 12 Scepter’s security system was completely paralyzed.

Although alarms blared wildly, it was already too late.

The dormouse shattered the cracked glass, grabbed the Lightning Acorn, and vanished.

***

“Good work, everyone.”

After a fulfilling day, Woo min lay down on his bed at home.

From now on, decorating the Hidden Plain would require a lot of money.

Collect slime fluids, combine the Trinity, it was a busy day ahead.

For now, he bought some magic stones with the money he had and opened a few random food boxes.

Most were processed meats, jerky, and dried fruits.

At that moment.

The lights in the house flickered.

“What, did the power go out?”

Flicker flicker.

An eerie atmosphere was created.

Moreover.

Bbyak Bbyak.

Bbyak was on guard, staring into the empty air.

Somi was the same.

Holding the hammer tightly in both hands, clutching the snack boxes.

Then.

Blink!

With yellow light, something appeared.

A small baby dormouse wearing a black hood!