Chapter 2 : Golden Ticket, Black Tower

[Notice] You are the first in the world to clear the Black Tower’s 1st floor with an SSS rank.

[Reward] You have obtained a Golden Ticket.

[Reward] 1kg of Mana Stone

[Reward] 1 Poorly Made Stamina Recovery Potion

The 1st floor mission ended in an instant.

It really happened in the blink of an eye.

Bbyak Bbyak!

Fortunately, Bbyak seemed satisfied, pecking away at the slime it had defeated.

Does it really taste that good?

“Bbyak, is it tasty?”

Nod, nod.

As if answering my question, it nodded its head.

Looking closely, it looked just like an apple-flavored jelly.

Should I try a bite, too?

No, I must not give up my humanity.

Shaking my head, I checked the messages that appeared before my eyes.

An SSS rank, no less.

No matter how many times I looked, there were three 5s.

Wasn’t A-rank supposed to be the highest right now?

Who would have thought such tremendous power was hidden in such a small, cute creature.

As expected, a phoenix is truly a phoenix.

I’m not even jealous of the person ranked #1.

“Good job.”

Delighted, I patted Bbyak on the head, and it proudly spread its wings.

It’s as if it’s telling me to just trust in it.

Since it’s come to this, maybe I’ll try climbing up to the 5th floor.

Anyway, I heard there’s nothing too difficult before the 10th floor.

Wouldn’t it be better for our Bbyak to eat some delicacies from higher floors rather than just 1st floor slime?

But for today, let’s leave the tower.

I should check my rewards and let the Association know about my awakening.

“Tower exit!”

I shouted into the air to return to where I was, but nothing happened.

What’s going on?

Usually, when you clear a floor, you return right away.

That’s when it happened.

Bbyak Bbyak Bbyak!

Bbyak started chirping urgently.

No way, is it because Bbyak doesn’t want to leave yet?

Ah, right.

Take your time eating.

Are you worried I might leave first?

Big bro was being clueless. Sorry, Bbyak.

Peck peck peck—

So small, but eats so well.

No wonder a corner of a kimbap isn’t enough.

I’m glad I climbed the 1st floor.

Bbyak Bbyak.

And after a while—

“All done?”

Bbyak finished eating and perched on my shoulder.

Now, let’s really go.

“Tower exit”

Pop—

With a flash of blue light, I returned to my studio apartment.

I’d only seen this on community sites, but experiencing it myself was amazing.

How should I put it? Now it really feels like I’ve awakened.

Pushing aside all sorts of stray thoughts, I checked my rewards first.

There were three in total.

One was the Mana Stone.

At about 200,000 won per kilogram, that’s about three days’ worth of part-time wages.

The potion is a common item.

But what’s with this Golden Ticket?

No matter how I looked at it, it was something I’d never seen before.

[Golden Ticket] An item required to open a hidden place in the tower.

A hidden place, huh.

I’ve never even heard that there are such places in the tower.

Thinking I should look it up, I turned on my computer and logged in to the community I visit often.

But it was chaos.

The place, which usually had silly stories, was now ablaze.

ㄴ No, for real, SSS rank?

ㄴ No way, what nonsense is this.

ㄴ I’m a Player and it really was announced to the whole tower

….

Could it be, did everyone who awakened get the message?

If not, it wouldn’t make sense.

And it wasn’t just any S-rank.

It was triple S.

If a single plus adds that much value, how crazy will the climb be with three?

This is going to be a hassle.

If the whole world knows, nothing but trouble will follow.

From tomorrow, I’ll need to keep a low profile.

***

Bbyak Bbyak!

Early in the morning, Bbyak urges me to hurry and climb the tower.

It pecks at my palm with its beak, and sometimes hops around on my belly.

“Ugh, big bro wants to sleep a bit more.”

I still have at least another hour before I need to head to my part-time job.

Convenience store shift in the afternoon, café shift in the evening.

I should sleep whenever I can.

Bbyak Bbyak!

But the problem is, Bbyak keeps urging me.

“Are you hungry?”

Bbyak!

“Alright, alright. I’ll get up.”

I got up groggily, just brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my hair.

Looking in the mirror, my looks aren’t half bad.

If people find out a guy with this face is a 555-rank player, won’t it cause a stir?

I let myself daydream for a moment.

Driving a luxury sports car, dressed head to toe in designer brands.

What if I make eye contact with a girl passing by?

Boom.

She’ll fall head over heels for my charm.

Ah, this is the life.

Just imagining it makes me happy.

But reality is—

Bbyak Bbyak!

I’m busy raising Bbyak.

I’m all done, let’s go in now.

“Tower entry.”

[You have entered the 2nd floor of the tower]

Mission: Defeat 20 Swift Blue Slimes

The 2nd floor doesn’t look much different from the 1st.

A wide plain stretches out, and round, bouncy slimes are hopping around.

The only difference is that the green blobs have turned blue.

Of course, it’s not just the color that’s changed.

They’re fast.

The blue balls bounce around at incredible speed.

At a glance, they’re at least twice, no, maybe three times as fast.

But—

Shooaaa—

In front of Bbyak, it’s nothing.

It spread its wings wide and glided freely before swooping down at lightning speed.

In the blink of an eye, all 20 slimes were defeated.

As expected of my Bbyak.

How dare mere slimes mess around!

Of course, I just stood back and watched.

[Notice] You are the first in the world to clear the Black Tower’s 2nd floor with an SSS rank.

[Reward] You have obtained a Golden Ticket.

[Reward] 2kg of Mana Stone

[Reward] 2 Poorly Made Stamina Recovery Potions

Another SSS rank.

Aside from getting more mana stones and potions, the rewards are the same.

Sometimes, I hear people get amazing items, but expecting that on just the second run would be greedy.

I just looked over the system messages with a bit of regret.

Well, so what if I don’t get anything else?

I have Bbyak, who’s more precious than any treasure.

Bbyak Bbyak!

Before I knew it, Bbyak started acting cute, asking for praise.

Hoohoo, my Bbyak did so well.

When I patted its head, it finally looked satisfied and started eating the slimes it defeated.

It pecked away at the blue slimes.

Do those taste like soda?

I really am curious.

Should I secretly try a bite later?

No, Mom always told me not to eat things that fell on the ground.

While Bbyak enjoyed its meal, I looked around the inside of the tower.

I heard there are tons of monsters at the Gate, but it’s more peaceful here than I thought.

Maybe because it’s still the early floors.

Of course, as long as I’m with Bbyak, I’m not afraid.

Bbyak Bbyak!

Just then, I heard Bbyak’s call after it finished eating.

I checked the time—just right, I won’t be late.

“Tower exit”

Making sure I wouldn’t be late for my part-time job, right on time.

The more I look at Bbyak, the more I realize it’s a spiritual creature.

It’s smart, has great sense.

And it’s even cute.

How could I not love it?

Now it’s really time to head to work.

I hurried to get dressed and get ready to leave.

Then—

Bbyak!

Bbyak stopped me in my tracks.

It looked up at me with pleading eyes.

Almost as if it’s saying, “Can’t I come with you, too?”

It looked like it might burst into tears at any moment.

But I couldn’t take it with me.

I’m going to work, I can’t bring an animal along.

I looked back at Bbyak, holding back my own tears.

“No, you have to wait at home.”

At that, Bbyak grabbed onto my clothes.

I guess it really doesn’t want to be apart from me, even for a moment.

I’m sorry, Bbyak.

But I really can’t take you with me.

Even as it dug in its claws to the last, I picked it up and set it on the desk.

“I’ll be back soon, okay?”

Pii—

Leaving the worried Bbyak behind, I left the house.

Of course.

Creak.

Bbyak opened the window all by itself.

Flutter.

I never imagined it would actually go out on its own.

***

“Welcome…”

After my tearful farewell with Bbyak, I arrived at the convenience store near my house and started my shift.

I changed into my vest and was about to restock the shelves, when the bell rang and a customer entered.

But it wasn’t just any customer.

It was an old man, already completely drunk.

He was so drunk he could barely stand, wobbling here and there.

“Hey, part-timer. Bring me a bottle of soju.”

He staggered and pointed a finger at me.

Sigh, and it’s only lunchtime.

At times like this, it’s best to just do as asked.

Try lecturing him, and it’s not a crumpled bill but a soju bottle that’ll fly at you.

“Grandpa, here’s your soju. That’ll be 2,000 won.”

“What, not this one. Bring me the red radish one.”

That’s when it happened.

He started waving his arm around, acting out.

Of course, it had to be the hand holding the soju bottle.

If it hit me, I’d need at least a few stitches.

But then—what was that?

The old man’s movements looked incredibly slow.

Almost like slow motion.

I just had to slightly tilt my head.

The soju bottle passed right in front of my eyes.

A brief silence followed.

No matter how drunk he was, he must’ve been pretty surprised.

“Uh, you said 2… 2,000 won, right?”

Maybe he sobered up a little, because he didn’t do anything else after that.

He pulled out two crumpled bills from his pocket, paid, and hurriedly left the convenience store.

That could’ve been a disaster, but it ended without any trouble.

But what was that just now?

Don’t tell me I have some hidden talent?

Maybe I’m secretly a boxing genius.

God-given reflexes that make everything look slow!

No way.

No one knows my body better than I do.

I’ve always been hopeless at sports since school.

I’ve lost count of how many times I got nosebleeds just from failing to dodge a flying soccer ball.

It must’ve just been a fluke.

Just as I was thinking that—

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone tapped on the convenience store door.

Bbyak Bbyak!

Huh, that’s Bbyak’s sound.

Just in case, I looked toward the entrance.

Bbyak!

Of course.

Bbyak was flapping its wings in front of the glass door.

How did it get out here?

“Bbyak.”

Surprised, I opened the door, and it dove straight into my arms.

Did you miss me that much?

“I told you to stay at home.”

Pii.

Its tail drooped.

It looked so dejected.

“Did you miss me?”

Bbyak Bbyak.

“Just for today, okay? Got it?”

Sigh. What can I do?

If you like me that much…

I’ll just have to keep you with me.

I looked around, making sure I was out of view of the security cameras.

I put my coat in a small box and Bbyak crawled right in.

It curled up and dozed off.

You must’ve been tired since morning.

Smiling, I covered Bbyak with my sleeve.

That’s when it happened.

Ding-a-ling—

The bell rang and someone familiar entered the convenience store.

Hair slicked back, black suit.

The last person I ever wanted to see again.

“Oh, hey, peasant. Working here?”

It was none other than Chun Taejin, the bully who tormented me all through school!