Identity (1)

*

Thanks to the recovery potion, my vision slowly began to return.

Now I could finally breathe a little easier.

I’d escaped death by the skin of my teeth.

“…So I’m not fully healed. It still hurts.’

As expected, the recovery potion was only first aid, not a complete cure.

My whole body was still creaking, and a dull ache lingered.

“Whew, still, I’m alive. That’s what matters.”

At least it was an Advanced Recovery Potion, or I wouldn’t have recovered this much.

If I hadn’t had a recovery potion at all, I’d probably be high-fiving King Sejong by now.

I let out a sigh of relief,

then forced my creaking body upright to check my rewards.

As if it had been waiting for me to come to my senses,

the blue window I’d ignored while struggling at death’s door appeared before my eyes.

[You have cleared the ???-difficulty Floor 5 Boss Room.]

My heart started pounding the moment I saw it.

What kind of rewards would I get?

This was the first boss-room reward at ??? difficulty—a tier no one else had ever been placed in.

And even though I’d used one, one of those rewards had included an Advanced Recovery Potion.

So it was bound to be an extraordinary reward.

[??? Difficulty bonus applied.]

[400 g of Low-Grade Mana Stones]

[20 Free Stat Points.]

[Companion Egg.]

[2 King Slime Jellies.]

[You have acquired the skill Hellfire.]

“Nghhh—what a haul! I’m stuffed to bursting.”

The rewards just kept piling up, and I felt like I was about to burst from the sheer haul.

Countless rewards were raining down before my eyes. All that trouble had been worth it.

“I’ll gather everything up and check it when I get home. Heh heh.”

I gathered up the rewards one by one with my creaking body.

I put the mana stones in the black bag I’d brought, along with the blender,

then tucked the egg and jelly—whatever they were—against my chest and hurried straight home.

As soon as I got there, I shoved the jelly into the fridge and tossed the mana stones wherever,

then sat on the floor and set the thing I was most curious about—the so-called Companion Egg—down in front of me.

“So what am I supposed to do with this? Roast it?”

I didn’t know why the egg was so huge,

but at least I could tell it wasn’t food.

“When in doubt, there’s only one thing to do. Appraise-emon, tasukete!”

When I had no idea what something was, using Appraisal was always the best option.

I stared intently at the enormous egg in front of me, which looked just like an ostrich egg, and used my Appraisal skill.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Companion Egg

This is not edible!!!

It will hatch after absorbing 10 kinds of food made from recipes.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

“Oh… So it really isn’t food…”

From the description, it seemed I had to make it absorb ten different kinds of food made from my recipes.

Maybe once it hatched, it would help me out like a pet.

“I get the gist… But I have to feed it my recipe dishes?”

The effects of my food were outstanding, every single one of them.

And I was supposed to let this thing absorb them instead of eating them myself?

I wasn’t sure I liked that.

“Hmm… Maybe I should ask the Gallery?”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t decide, so asking the Gallery seemed like the best idea.

I immediately took a picture of the thing—I couldn’t tell if it was Donggeuri’s egg or a Companion Egg—and started posting it on the Gallery.

Of course, I remembered to delete the metadata and route my connection through a proxy.

[Title: Bet Your House Doesn’t Have One of These]

This thing says spring cabbage bibimbap is delicious.

Just kidding. I got a Companion Egg from the Tower. Is this any good?

(Photo of a huge egg with blue spots)

ㄴ Oh, I smell a newbie. Nice.

ㄴ It’s a Companion Egg, so I’d say it’s a bit iffy.

ㄴ But is it normally that big?

ㄴ Oh, now that I look again, it is. Way bigger than a normal Companion Egg lol

The comments came pouring in despite the late hour. Classic Hunter Gallery.

“So is it good or not?”

I’d posted on the Gallery, but everyone had a different reaction, so I couldn’t tell.

Even when I kept checking the comments, they were all more or less the same.

None of them were the kind of answer I was looking for.

I was about to give up and look it up online instead when...

ㄴ RiceRiceBest: It depends on the type, but it’s good for farming mana stones to sell.

“…What’s with this registered user who’s practically radiating trust?”

A registered user had commented, and even their word choice made them seem like an expert on the subject.

This was my chance.

A golden opportunity to figure out what this Companion Egg was.

I immediately replied to the registered user’s comment and asked for details.

ㄴ RiceRiceBest: It depends on the type, but it’s good for farming mana stones to sell.

ㄴ (OP): What exactly is good about it?

ㄴ RiceRiceBest: Hmm… You really don’t know, huh…

ㄴ (OP): No, come on;;

“…Why not just tell me instead of making me wait?”

The way they kept making me coax it out of them really lived up to their username.

I felt a little impatient, but I waited with as much patience as I could muster.

And perhaps my patience hadn’t been wasted, because another reply appeared.

ㄴ RiceRiceBest: I’ll only say this once, so listen up.

ㄴ RiceRiceBest: All companions have a Storage skill. You can use it to store mana stones, and if you’re lucky enough to get a companion with an attack skill, it can farm mana stones automatically.

ㄴ RiceRiceBest: And if you’re really lucky, you might even get an S-rank companion like King Angela.

ㄴ (OP): So you’re saying I should definitely keep it?

ㄴ RiceRiceBest: Keep it.

“Guess it’s better than I thought.”

The registered user’s long, confidence-inspiring explanation, followed by a simple command to keep it.

And I remembered how I’d been carrying mana stones around with me all this time.

Their explanation was so logical that I found myself wondering if it really was valuable after all—and I was convinced.

There was a bit of weird stuff mixed in, though.

Anyway, I carefully set the egg down beside me.

I was just about to close the Gallery and go to bed, since it was getting late, when...

‘Something feels off… Something feels off…’

It was a scene I felt like I’d seen somewhere before.

Then a highly upvoted post caught my eye.

[ ★ Title: Holy Shit, the Association HQ Is a Complete Disaster Today.]

(Photo of Lee Cheol-ho throwing a desk and chair)

The Association says ??? has been registered in the rankings worldwide, but they can’t find them.

This bastard Cheol-bung is losing his shit over the new unified rankings. Fuck, somebody save me.

ㄴ Cheol-bung, Cheol-bung, you did this during the Ice-Flame Emperor incident too. Here we go again;;

ㄴ Cheol-bung’s a famous troll lol

ㄴ Whoa, that desk is flying almost straight at the camera. OP, are you still alive? lol

“What… does this mean?”

If it was ???, it had to be about me.

What on earth had happened while I was climbing the Tower?

I started reading the popular posts piling up near the bottom of the Gallery.

[Title: Official Association Statement on the Unified Rankings—Here]

It’s too long, so here’s the three-line summary.

1. They looked into it too, but no matter how many Tower records they pulled, they couldn’t figure out who ??? is.

2. ??? is listed in the rankings worldwide, not just in our country, so they don’t even know what country they’re from.

3. So they don’t know either, so quit making a fuss. They will, however, tighten Tower security.

In short, they don’t know who ??? is, so they’re going to tighten Tower security.

(A frog pointing its fist forward)

ㄴ LOL, the Association really is fucking useless.

ㄴ Guess they’re going to hassle us over our IDs and Awakener licenses again for a while. Ugh.

ㄴ Can’t blame Cheol-bung for getting pissed about this.

ㄴ No, but seriously, who the fuck is ???

ㄴ Oh, that? We don’t know either lol

“Ah…”

I began to understand what was going on all at once.

The things I’d thought were errors when I’d only climbed to Floor 1...

As I climbed Floors 2 and 3, it became clear they weren’t errors, but the truth.

And now they were going to tighten security at the Tower to find me.

And that Lee Cheol-ho was looking for me, too.

“I’d better get an ID made soon.”

I’d underestimated how badly I needed an ID and an Awakener license.

So far, I’d managed to sneak into the Tower when it was quiet, using one workaround or another.

But if they tightened security now, that wouldn’t be possible anymore.

No—even if I could still get in,

I wouldn’t have much of an excuse if I got caught.

So for now, getting an ID and an Awakener license was practically essential.

But there was a problem.

“…But how am I supposed to get one?”

I was a woman now.

I had no birth record, no proper identity, and no family.

It was as if someone who’d never existed in this world had suddenly appeared.

What was I supposed to do?

I considered every option I could think of—brokers, the dark web, you name it.

But I couldn’t come up with anything that sounded plausible.

I couldn’t think of a solution, no matter how long I mulled it over, and I felt like I was going crazy.

I was clutching my head like that when

a brilliant idea suddenly flashed through my mind.

‘…My phone? Cheonhwa?’

I looked at the phone lying on the floor.

Someone who could make me an identity and had shown me some kindness.

And they’d even given me their contact information along with a whopping 40 million won.

Without hesitation, I hurriedly picked up the phone from the floor.

Then I found the note I’d tossed aside and quickly copied down the number written on it.

[Recipient: Cheonhwa]

Gulp—

[Um, Cheonhwa, could I ask you a favor…?]

Steadying my trembling nerves, I sent the text.