“…Are you insane?”
Choi Junseok had expected that reaction and calmly continued.
“I’m serious.”
Lee Jiyu openly narrowed her brows, took a sip of beer as if to say fine, let’s hear this nonsense, and spoke flatly.
“What kind of sudden bullshit is this?”
Choi Junseok casually walked to the fridge, pulled out a can of beer, and replied.
He had expected her to drink only top-shelf wine or whiskey, but surprisingly she liked canned beer.
One of the three fridges in the house was stuffed with just two or three brands of beer.
As Choi Junseok moved to sit, Lee Nayeon subtly scooted closer to Song Hana to make space for him.
He cracked open the can, took a big gulp, and slid into the empty spot beside Lee Nayeon.
Lee Jiyu was inwardly a little surprised by the scene.
She had thought Lee Nayeon was always bickering with him, yet unlike the subtle wariness she showed whenever Lee Jiyu approached, she readily offered the seat beside her.
“Of course, you wouldn’t lose anything by it, right?”
“First, protection for Song Hana and Lee Nayeon. You’ve seen the S-rank summoned being Choi Byeongryeol in action, so you know what level their bodyguard service is.”
That’s definitely true…
“Then wouldn’t it be fine to just have Song Hana and Lee Nayeon as guests in my house?”
“But does life work that neatly? Who’s going to protect me? They’re officially my summoned beings under contract with me, you know.”
That was a fair point, so Lee Jiyu couldn’t strongly object.
“You’re not seriously trusting the apartment entrance guards or the first-floor security booth, are you?”
“……”
“Plus, you’re on bad terms with Eden, one of the five major guilds in the east, right?”
What kind of provocation is this? And where the hell did he even hear that?
Lee Jiyu had met all kinds of people as a businesswoman, but this aggressive, straight-to-the-point style of conversation was a first.
She felt herself helplessly being dragged along by his pace.
“No. Can’t anyone guess that? With your personality, you don’t seem like the type to play nice in society.”
…?
Of course, her relationship with the eastern Eden Guild wasn’t good.
But it wasn’t exactly bad either.
Still, Lee Jiyu herself knew very well how people inside the guild looked at her.
They couldn’t openly show hostility, but behind her back they tore her apart—she wasn’t unaware of that.
Of course, Lee Jiyu didn’t give a single damn.
In the end, my position inside the guild has been slipping.
Moreover, the disappearance of the S-rank summoned being Choi Byeongryeol, who had been bound to her.
That was equivalent to losing one of the reasons she had been treated as an executive comparable to SS-rank within the guild.
If Lee Jiyu were merely a double-digit ranker, there would be no reason for a massive guild like one of the top five to give her special treatment.
Her rage at losing Choi Byeongryeol had also stemmed from foreseeing that loss.
Now she had no choice but to accept the harsh reality of the tower and bow her head before Function’s overwhelming strength—so she wasn’t even angry anymore.
By the way, is this guy really trying to ask me for a favor?
Lee Jiyu genuinely couldn’t figure Choi Junseok out.
She thought she had somewhat grasped who he was, yet…
“Anyway, why are you suddenly talking about moving in and then bringing up guilds? Do you… like me or something?”
“…No?”
“You… don’t like me? For real?”
She put on an expression that said as if that could be true.
Of course—Lee Jiyu was a top model and influencer with celebrity-level popularity.
If you gathered all the wealthy and famous male celebrities who admired her, you could circle a parade ground two and a half times and still have people left.
Just searching her name brought up countless famous idols and actors who had publicly named her as their ideal type.
“Don’t you want to move freely?”
“What does living in this house suddenly have to do with that? Unless…”
“Exactly. I’m planning to make a guild. How about it—want to be member number one? This is an honor I don’t offer just anyone.”
“…Function’s guild.”
“I’m only planning to recruit an extremely small number of people for tower climbing.”
“But normally it’s the opposite, right? If I join a guild, I’m supposed to contribute to the guild’s tower climbs and goals and get paid for it. Giving up a room in my house doesn’t add up.”
A reasonable argument.
“That applies when you’re providing labor to the guild, but my guild will be different. I can guarantee it—people will line up to join just to get stronger.”
“How can you be so confident?”
“Then think of it as cashing in the favor from the past few days. I’ll show you.”
Choi Junseok set his beer on the coffee table and opened a portal connected to Haetaesik’s forge.
A dark crimson portal appeared in the middle of the living room.
Lee Jiyu flinched and checked the floor, but there wasn’t a single scratch.
“Follow me.”
Choi Junseok stepped through first.
Lee Nayeon and Song Hana nodded as if to say it was safe, so Lee Jiyu followed him into the dark red portal.
The moment she saw the colossal scene reminiscent of the tower’s interior, she was speechless.
A scale that called to mind the forge of the gods.
As if she had stepped inside an active volcano’s crater—lava filled the ground, and above her hung massive furnaces and thick chains haphazardly linking all sorts of smithing tools.
CLANG— CLANG—!
The sound of a hammer striking an anvil echoed without fail.
Logically, the heat should have been unbearable, yet strangely she didn’t feel particularly hot.
“…Where are we?”
“A kind of item workshop.”
In Lee Jiyu’s sight lay the gigantic corpse of the griffin off to the side.
She instantly recognized it as the 30th-floor boss monster.
She didn’t know how he had moved it here, but she immediately understood the plan was to turn it into items.
“Who the hell did you bring now when I’m busy as hell? Trying to disturb me?”
Haetaesik, speaking with his back muscles as usual, seemed to have sensed the additional presence.
“I’d like you to make some equipment for this person.”
CLANG—!
A cheerful hammer blow sent a shower of massive sparks flying.
With that as the finale, Haetaesik turned around to look at Lee Jiyu.
“Hmm.”
Lee Jiyu was considerably shaken to see Haetaesik’s level read as unmeasurable.
From the circumstances, he was clearly a tower entity, yet because he wasn’t a monster, his level didn’t display—he was unappraisable.
Yet the blacksmith across from her seemed to be appraising her just fine.
“S-rank. Super speed skill awakener. Probably a close-combat agility-based attacker. No equipment equipped… bare-handed fighting style?”
“Correct.”
As if he had been waiting, he tossed something over.
It was a simple pair of leather gloves.
Made from tanned basilisk hide—Legendary-grade equipment, wearable at level 130.
Lee Jiyu’s eyes widened the moment she appraised it.
“Legendary…?”
“Here, take it and use it.”
For something just tossed over, it was far too valuable.
Item Name: Griffin Leather Gloves (Legendary)
Category: Equipment – Gloves
Description: Grants damage immunity and indestructibility to the worn area.
Wearable Level: Lv.130
Binds on acquire.
Even Lee Jiyu didn’t possess a single Legendary-grade item. Shockingly, that was the truth.
She had only equipped herself with Unique-grade items that suited her and had appeared at auctions.
Legendary items weren’t something you could equip just because you were lucky.
Yet he had casually thrown it to her like it was junk.
“Binds on acquire… non-tradable…”
Lee Jiyu stared blankly at the leather gloves.
The design wasn’t bad either.
A bit rugged, but classic rider-style leather gloves.
Haetaesik, as if his only purpose in life was forging, turned his gaze back to the anvil.
“I’ll make you a full custom armor set later.”
Lee Jiyu picked up the gloves in a daze.
The options were simple and outright fraudulent.
Damage immunity… meaning no shock would transfer to her even if she blocked or struck with the gloves.
The biggest drawback of close-combat classes—being directly exposed to enemy attacks—was more than compensated for by this decisive item.
Indestructible and damage immunity meant… if she blocked with the gloves, zero damage would reach that part…
How many times had her wrists throbbed and swollen from the recoil of punching monsters?
“Is it… really okay for me to use this?”
“If you’re going to disturb me, get the hell out. I’m busy.”
CLANG! Sparks flashed again with the hammer strike.
Lee Jiyu, still dazed, clutched the gloves and looked at Choi Junseok.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an item worth easily tens of billions—no, an item money couldn’t even buy—had landed in her hands.
She had received something that wouldn’t be enough even if she gave up the master bedroom, not just a spare room.
“Signing bonus for transferring guilds. So, how high do you think you could climb with a full Legendary set?”
Dazed Lee Jiyu returned to her living room holding just one glove.
She placed the glove on her lap, took a sip of beer, and tried desperately to regain her senses.
She even pulled her soft, fair cheek long to check if this was a dream.
“What do you think? Feeling like giving up a spare room now?”
She quietly nodded.
At that nod, Lee Nayeon and Song Hana also smiled with satisfaction.
“Really?! Waaah!”
Song Hana lifted Kamdori—who had been lying on her lap—high into the air and spun him like an airplane in delight.
“Kamdori! We’re gonna live here!”
Lee Jiyu belatedly moved the item to her sub-space inventory and nodded again.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
She was now certain she had to stay beside the overwhelming player known as Function—Choi Junseok.
“So when are you making your guild?”
To think the prideful Lee Jiyu agreed instantly over a single Legendary item.
Only then did Choi Junseok realize just how immense Haetaesik’s value truly was.
Honestly, from Choi Junseok’s perspective, having staff to manage the house made life convenient, and there was absolutely no downside.
Housekeepers came three meals a day to clean, cook, and do laundry—everything.
And the taste of beer while overlooking the Seoul night skyline from this building?
He could confidently say he wouldn’t get tired of it even after years.
“Then the roommate contract is sealed.”
Lee Jiyu meekly nodded.