Chapter 62: Appear, Cube 1!

Surprisingly, Go Nam-tae was not the only boss.

It wasn't until some woman barged in that Go Nam-tae learned there were three other bosses on Floor 100 besides himself.

A boss can create Kin.

Just how many Kin have been sent to Earth as spies?!

"Toto……!"

A furious shout erupted.

[I apologize.]

[Information that would be useless for the boss to know immediately, or that would not benefit the boss, is restricted from being accessed.]

[This information has been opened now because the boss has acquired a Kin.]

"How much more are you hiding, and what is it?!"

[I apologize. I do not know either.]

[However, I am not deliberately hiding any information.]

Danhong and the other familiars were clinging to Go Nam-tae.

It wasn't a joke or an attempt to comfort him.

They were trembling in the face of his anger, which they were encountering for the first time.

Like a frightened child instinctively running to its parents.

The heat that had rushed to his head seeped out and cooled.

"Then you don't know how many Kin have been sent to Earth either? If each floor boss can send them, just how many…?"

[Only the Floor 100 Boss can create Kin.]

[However, I cannot know the number sent to Earth.]

[That said, I expect the number of Kin is limited.]

"Limited? By how much?"

[That too is impossible to gauge, but it is certain that creating Kin and sending them to Earth is not easy.]

[It is far more complex and yields less substance than sending out familiars or subordinates.]

"Wait, creating a Kin is that difficult? I just brought her here and she immediately became a Kin."

[That is the authority of Boss Go Nam-tae.]

[Other bosses can also create Kin, but their methods will each be different.]

"So that's also a unique ability? Like farming?"

[Yes.]

Toto, who had been saying frustrating things about restricted information, now poured out words like a bursting dam.

'So, to access more restricted information, I need to prove myself worthy.'

Go Nam-tae looked back in the direction of the woman.

The woman, Jin Gayoung, was slowly opening her eyes.

Her near-fall had been a complete accident.

It happened because he chose the closest location to open another gate to bring the woman.

Only then did Go Nam-tae realize what he had done.

"...Huh? Now that I think about it, I opened two gates at the same time?"

The moment he first heard Jin Gayoung's scream, Go Nam-tae had sent out Aegi Heung-bok to chase after her.

But the woman had gone farther than expected.

He had opened a new gate while keeping the gate to her location open, to check where she was.

[That was likely the condition that allowed you to bring a Kin.]

[Furthermore, you have come closer to the possibility of opening a fixed gate.]

"Really?"

'So, if a fixed gate appears, can I send out Kin?'

It was just a guess, but it seemed likely.

The system wanted him to open more gates, and stronger ones.

Originally, the system wanted him to 'increase his interference power,' so it was almost certain.

But didn't the curse left by the previous boss also grow stronger each time he opened a gate?

...It was a dilemma.

Anyway, even after opening two gates, Go Nam-tae didn't suffer any major strain.

It felt like a distant memory when he had fainted after holding a gate open for too long in the goblin forest.

"If it's like this, it seems I could open gates in two different locations."

[The mana consumption is also doubled.]

"You don't need to tell me things I already know!"

As Go Nam-tae's eyes narrowed, Danhong, who had climbed onto his shoulder, began patting him.

"...What are you doing."

-Boss's eyes got thin like this. When that happens, you have to calm him down like this, you said.

...It was something Go Nam-tae had taught her.

It was surprisingly effective, which was absurd.

His first Kin, Jin Gayoung, finally opened her eyes and got up.

---

"Am I... alive?"

Jin Gayoung's last memory was sticking her head into a disappearing hole.

She also seemed to remember hearing the angry voice of a beast that had missed its prey.

Her shoe, which had been grazed by the beast's swung claw, lay split vertically.

"Where is this?"

It was unbelievable that the place she arrived at after crossing the fissure (?) was inside a building, and on a bed at that.

However, she couldn't sense any presence at all.

Also, she didn't dare try to call out to anyone.

-Choose. If you enter here, you will be bound for life.

At the scene that flashed in her mind, Jin Gayoung hurriedly felt her own body.

There was nothing binding her body.

Moreover, there were even traces of treatment on her ankle.

Her foot, which had been swollen to almost twice its size, hardly hurt even when she wiggled it.

But the leaf wrapped around her ankle looked familiar.

It looked exactly like the monstrous plant that had protected her.

"Who on earth saved me...?"

She carefully got up and looked around the room first.

The building seemed newly built, with furniture, walls, and floors all in unblemished colors and a faint scent of wood.

Except for the lack of lighting fixtures, outlets, and other power sources, it was no different from the high-end pensions she'd seen on TV.

She didn't know how such a place was connected to an Erosion Zone, but anyway, it saved her.

Only then did Jin Gayoung gather the courage to open the door slightly.

As she half-expected, the door wasn't locked or anything.

"Hello, is anyone there? Is no one here?"

A cracked voice leaked through the slightly opened door crack.

But no answer came back, only the building echoing hollowly.

Jin Gayoung opened the door a little more and tentatively stepped outside.

"Where is this place, really...?"

The villa Go Nam-tae had built, reflecting the wishes of his familiars, was on a somewhat large scale.

Right outside the room was a wide, long corridor, and below the railing at the end of the corridor, the lower floor was visible.

Right above her head was a high ceiling, and seeing the wide entrance hall fully open on the lower front floor, it was overall a two-story building.

A glimpse of a huge dining table was visible through one wall on the first floor, and on the opposite side was a room with its door slightly ajar.

The light spreading from the windows spaced along the walls seemed to serve as lighting.

The luxurious wooden walls and the floor that shone as if studded with jewels in between made it feel like she had stepped into a fantasy from a fairy tale.

As she stood there dumbfounded, mouth agape, a sense of reality returned to her.

Growl!

As if someone might hear, she hurriedly returned to the room and closed the door.

Gurgle, growl!

Her inconsiderate stomach protested more loudly, as if unaware of its owner's embarrassment.

Only then did Jin Gayoung notice the wooden barrel on the table.

She pushed open the slightly ajar lid and bowed her head deeply.

"Thank you, I'll eat well!"

She sated her hunger without even taking the food out of the container, and only then did she notice the stem swaying right beside her.

"Kyaaaah!"

At her scream, the stem seemed startled and flinched back.

She didn't even realize another stem had caught her as she almost fell on her backside while screaming.

"You! It's you, right? You're the one who saved me?"

Only then recognizing the stem's identity, Jin Gayoung called out happily.

The stem seemed to hesitate again at her high-pitched voice.

It didn't feel particularly strange that the stem moved like a living animal or seemed to understand her words.

Jin Gayoung grabbed the end of the stem and shook it as if shaking hands.

"Thank you! I'm alive because of you. Really, thank you. ...Oh, do you have a separate master? I think I should greet them too."

Then, a single leaf suddenly sprouted from the end of the stem.

A short phrase was written on the leaf that had just grown from the stem.

-You will stay here and work. You will be given lodging and food according to the work you do.

Jin Gayoung reflexively shook her head.

"Ah, no! I'll definitely repay the favor of saving me. I have to go home!"

But the moment she said that, she grabbed her chest and slumped down.

Her heart tightened, making it hard to breathe.

It was a mistake to think nothing was binding her.

'...You will be bound for life.'

That was not something she misread or a joke.

The moment she refused the command, all strength left her body and her breathing became labored.

The one who saved her was by no means an ordinary person.

No, it might have been a mistake to think they were human in the first place.

She didn't know if this brand-new building had also been magically created by the owner in an instant.

"I was... wrong...!"

Only then did the pressure ease, and the stem held out another leaf to her.

-Obey the commands well. Then, perhaps you can return someday.

"Th-thank you...!"

Those words reflexively escaped first.

When she raised her head after humbly kneeling and bowing, there was nothing in front of her.

"Daddy...!"

Belated tears fell in clear drops from her pupils.

---

-Boss, can we meet the new human now?

Danhong showed interest in the new resident.

The other guys also perked up their ears, waiting for Go Nam-tae's answer.

"Not yet. It might be dangerous."

Go Nam-tae didn't know who would be dangerous to whom.

The guys, who had been full of expectation, slumped their shoulders.

The one with a severe aversion to the Kin was only Go Nam-tae.

Unlike him, the guys' eyes sparkled with curiosity about the human they were seeing for the first time.

-Heung-bok is lucky. ...Boss, can't we secretly watch from behind Heung-bok?

"Not yet. We don't know what kind of person she is."

-Then, if we find out what kind of person she is, can we meet her?

"We'll see if it's okay. ...But why do you want to meet her?"

-Just, I'm curious about humans. Later, when Boss returns to his hometown, we have to meet humans.

"...!"

Danhong's reason was specific and made sense.

The other guys were nodding as if for the same reason.

-Boss, but why did you tell the woman to work?

"We don't know when we can send her home. Normally, people, except for children or sick elderly, have to work to eat and live.

-Ah, like Boss, you mean?

"...Right?"

Seeing Danhong's admiring expression, Go Nam-tae's conscience pricked him.

He was doing his own work, while Jin Gayoung was forced to do what he ordered.

Anyway, it would be a waste to just let the woman's trait go unused.

Jin Gayoung was a blacksmith.

Her ability was needed immediately to increase the number of carts, of which there was only one.

If she was sent back with compensation as well, wouldn't it be a win-win?

Thinking of 'compensation' reminded him of the magic stone given by the woman who was the cow's owner.

If she could give that much as a gift, her actual wealth must be enormous.

"Toto, there must be magic stones here too, right?"

[Detection is only possible within the boss's domain.]

That meant there were none nearby.

Still, there was one piece of good news.

[Rune iron can be mined in the swamp area 2 kilometers in a straight line from Rock No. 15.]

"Oh, now I can really make carts. Gubok Ajusshi looked like he was having a hard time carrying things anyway; I should make a lot and send them."

[It will also be useful for the hunters.]

"Would it be useful for Seong-yeon too? Anyway, let's try one last time for today."

Go Nam-tae playfully chanted an incantation toward the mirror.

"APPEAR, CUBE 1!"

Something began to be caught on the other side of the mirror.