Chapter 16
[Name: Joo So-jeong]
[Class: Phoenix]
[Age: 20]
[Stats]
Vitality: 152(+60)
Mana: 1112(+120)
Strength: 62(+80)
Agility: 72(+80)
Intelligence: 90(+90)
[Skills]
Pyrokinesis
Immortality
Agelessness
Inventory
Flight
Explosion
Mana Manipulation
Gravity Resistance
Fire Immunity
Pain Transfer
Mana Absorption
Flame Blink
Blaze Step
'I ate the fruit and sap on floor 24, and everything except Intelligence went up by 12... Does the amount you gain depend on which floor the monster appears on?'
Then what would've happened if I'd chewed up the parasite while it was still alive? I think some countries have a culture of eating living things as they are, though they do cook some of them. I don't know the details.
Well, if things go south, I can just set myself on fire and die once...
The bracelet and boots I got on floor 20 raised all my stats by 10. Strength and Agility went up by 20 each. Mana and Intelligence went up by 20 and 10, like with the necklace and ring.
And the set bonus from the necklace, ring, and bracelet raised all my stats by 20 each.
I don't know what the average stats are for other Awakened, but thanks to that Constellation supporting me from floor 10 onward, I've ended up like this.
And I've raised some stats with points, too. The ones I never raised must have gone up because I ate monsters, or because I ate that thing called a poison neidan last time.
'...Come to think of it, I've never been inside the Tower at night.'
I heard that people used to be able to enter the Tower freely 24 hours a day, but it's been a while since that was the case.
Now they stop letting people in after six at the latest, and it doesn't open again until exactly six in the morning.
The other Awakened seem to know why.
"Should I just go home?"
I slipped my hands into the pockets of my shorts, spread my wings with the Flight skill, and flew off.
'I wonder if I could avoid being bothered if I found a new place to live...'
I wonder how much houses cost these days. Or should I just buy a camper van and use that?
I think I heard somewhere that you'd need one about the size of a bus for it to be any use...
What Ms. Mi-reu suggested to me was surprisingly sudden.
"...The GED?"
"That's right! Registration's open right now, so let's sign you up while we can!"
The GED.
An exam for people who, for whatever reason, didn't graduate from elementary, middle, or high school. If they take exams in several subjects and get an average score of at least 60, they're considered to have graduated.
Of course, you can't take them all at once. You have to take the elementary, middle, and high school equivalency exams separately...
"I'm not interested."
"Aw, come on~"
It would take until at least next year to do all three. And I hadn't taken any of them so far. I'd never cared about educational qualifications anyway.
So I was just about to leave, but before I even realized it, I'd been made to sit down on the sofa.
"It's not like education is important for Awakened who climb the Tower, but a lot of people still make a fuss about it. Before the Bureau was established, they used to discriminate against Awakened with little or no education by paying them less for their magic stones or not paying them at all."
"Sounds like they had nothing better to do."
"Discrimination is something that follows you everywhere, whether or not it's justified."
I didn't know exactly what had happened, but apparently some people couldn't stand the thought of those with less education having a chance to earn more money than they did. They'd lobby to get in the way, maim Awakened while they were still weak so they couldn't climb the Tower, or ambush them along the way and rob them. It had been common for Awakened with little or no education to suffer serious physical or emotional harm.
That had decreased significantly after the Bureau was established, but apparently the prejudice still lingered in society.
"Actually, when you were streaming your climbs, there were viewers who criticized your education, too. They went quiet once they learned you'd lost all your relatives, though."
"I didn't see any of that."
"Of course not! I was moderating the stream."
Apparently, managing the stream while doing paperwork was no problem at all for a dragon.
But Mi-reu wasn't even my official manager. Mi-reu had a personal secretary, too, and had to run a stream, so why was Mi-reu handling my moderation as well?
So I asked.
"If you saw the stuff those haters wrote while streaming, you'd get all fired up, charge up the Tower, and ask someone to kill or eat you."
"That's right."
It hadn't even been a month, but Ms. Mi-reu had already gotten to know me very well.
Ms. Mi-reu sighed, wondering how I could be so predictable.
"Sigh... Anyway, even with the Tower appearing, people don't seem to stop discriminating against others over certain things. So whenever I have time, I try to take away, one by one, the excuses they might use to go after you."
"There are so many. I don't even know where to start."
"That's why I said I'd help you."
"...?"
For a moment, I couldn't understand at all. It must have shown plainly on my face.
"Uh... Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing. I've just never had anyone offer to help me, no matter what it was."
"What about the people from the one-room building?"
"I don't know how I'm supposed to ask people who've been abandoned or lost for help."
"Is there anything you want? Something to eat or something to wear?"
"Why did the conversation suddenly turn to that? And why did you pull out a card?"
After that, Mi-reu kept pestering me with a black card in hand until I finally asked for help getting a few driver's licenses. Only then did Mi-reu stop.
I'd registered, and I'd bought study materials to prepare in advance. Whether it was a driver's license or the GED, apparently you could study ahead on your smartphone these days... But what I still couldn't understand was...
"Why can't I do them all at once?"
If I could've signed up for all three—the elementary, middle, and high school exams—in one quarter and taken them together, I wouldn't have had to go through all this.
Honestly, since I was going to die anyway, what did educational qualifications matter?
I sat on a bench in Hangang Park and gazed out at the river.
At some point, a monster that had emerged from the Tower settled in the Han River, and people stopped coming here altogether. Well, not completely, but it was awfully quiet.
Even so, there hadn't been any casualties since the early days, because it ignored people and cars passing over the Han River bridges and didn't attack unless they came within a certain distance of the park.
I asked Ms. Mi-reu why the Bureau didn't just catch it. Mi-reu said there were plenty of things to approve as Bureau chief, and the Awakened were also charging in as a group, accusing Mi-reu of trying to steal a monster they could hunt themselves. Mi-reu couldn't do anything about it, so ordinary people were currently banned from entering.
Was a momentary gain really worth more than a human life? Pathetic. Come to think of it, I heard they spotted a Great Rejuvenation Pill inside that monster.
"...Maybe I'll take a look."
I was a little curious, since the photos online said it looked like something from an old movie.
Apparently, it was a monster like a mutated fish that walked on all fours.
As I walked toward the river, I sensed someone behind me.
"...What is it?"
"Huh!? What the... How did you notice me?"
"I sensed you."
"That can't be! I completely erased my presence with an item!"
I didn't know why they wouldn't believe me when I'd told them the truth.
"I don't know why you're so worked up, but I just came to look at the monster."
"Don't lie! You're after the neidan inside that monster, too!"
"I'm not interested."
Even though I'd answered properly, these people didn't seem to have any intention of believing me—or even listening.
"Sigh... What I'm trying to say is—"
Whoosh!
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
Something like a black tentacle wrapped around my ankle. Then it yanked me toward it.
...This is my first time being dragged away by a monster.
The Awakened from Pungjin Guild were baffled to see a white-haired, red-eyed Awakened suddenly get grabbed by a monster and dragged into the Han River. Did it just appear out of nowhere?
"Hey, what are you going to do? You were yelling so loudly that the monster came out!"
"Shut up! You're saying this is my fault!?"
One of the others spoke up, but Shin Chang-ho—the Awakened who'd been yelling at Joo So-jeong just moments ago—shouted back instead.
"It's too late to do anything now! Once that thing eats that bitch and starts digesting her, we'll—"
BOOOOM!!!
While Shin Chang-ho was saying something, a huge explosion suddenly erupted in the Han River, sending a massive spray of water into the air.
'Splash! Splash!'
Then chunks of what seemed to be the monster's flesh fell from the spray into the park, and the Awakened who'd been dragged in a moment ago climbed out of the water.
'That startled me.'
I knew the monster had dragged me in because I'd suddenly gone underwater, but I couldn't see properly because of the bubbles when it pulled me under.
And on top of that, I got eaten, so I accidentally used Explosion. I wanted to experience what it felt like to get digested, but all the commotion with those people kept me from finding out. What a shame.
After I climbed out, I dried my wet body and clothes with Pyrokinesis. The Awakened from earlier were staring at me.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"...!! M-My neidan! Where's the neidan?!"
"The neidan?"
"Damn it! Did it fly into the park when it exploded!?"
"Aaagh!! Isn't this the Han River monster's head!?"
I only asked them a question, but they suddenly started rummaging around the park.
I was just looking at the thing in my hand and about to ask if this was what they meant.
"They wouldn't listen anyway."
I put the neidan in my hand into my Inventory and decided to go home.
That evening, I saw the news that ordinary people were allowed back into Hangang Park.
[Title: Han River Park Update]
[Posted by: Deep Sea Diver]
(A photo of something exploding in the Han River)
(A photo of Awakened searching the park late into the night)
I was taking a stroll through the park for the first time in ages when something suddenly exploded, and pieces of the monster that lived in the Han River started raining down from the sky.
So now the lackeys from Pungjin Guild who were there are still searching for its neidan at this hour lololololol
-Fire Chicken: Ah. I was the one who blew that up.
└I Am Empire: ? For real?
-Fire Chicken: It's nothing. I went to look at the monster, then they suddenly came over and started interrogating me. I was trying to explain when it dragged me in and I ended up in its mouth. So I blew myself up with Explosion and got out.
└Fire Chicken: (A photo of the neidan resting in my palm)
└Fire Chicken: I was going to show them this, but they started muttering among themselves and searching the park. I figured they wouldn't listen, so I just left. If I'd known this would happen, I would've tried getting digested once. What a bummer.
└Clacker Maniac: What idiots lololololol
-Future Archmage Pro: Good for you. You should just eat it while you're at it.
└Fire Chicken: ? Is it okay if I do? Aren't you guys going to eat it?
└Dragon Chicken: It's fine, it's fine. You killed it anyway, so it doesn't matter.
└Environmental Protection: That's right. You haven't been Awakened for very long, have you?
-Fire Chicken: Okay, wait a sec.
└Fire Chicken: Strength, Agility, and Intelligence each went up by 10, but I died once. It was a poison neidan.
└Deep Sea Diver: Aw, come on lololololol
└Turtle King: Lmaoㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Caw Caw: (A dragon emote using Murasaki)
└World Peace: You filled another stack, damn it.
└Fashionista: Even if they'd gotten it, they wouldn't have been able to use it~