Chapter 41
[Jinjo’s Domain (Unique)]
It claims a specific space as a Territory.
Once a specific space is claimed as a Territory, various functions become available.
- Consumes 180 Blood Power
This Skill can only be used once a specific level is reached.
[Hmm.]
Looking over the Skill Info Window, I tilted my head.
A specific space?
Then, an additional explanation popped up.
[The spaces currently available to be claimed as a Territory are as follows.]
- Hanwool Officetel Unit 302
(Only locations of 10 pyeong or less are possible.)
[That’s my house, isn’t it?]
My Studio Apartment was listed as the available target for the Skill.
An officetel that was exactly 10 pyeong.
To claim this place as a Territory.
What would get better if I did?
I didn’t know what it was, but it seemed like it would upgrade my Home Base.
I’d have to use it to find out the details.
[My maximum Blood Power is 163 right now, so I’m a bit short.]
But it was fine.
If I invested all the Stat Points I had saved up while reaching Level 30 into Blood Power…
Ding!
[Blood Power + 27]
[Blood Power: 190/190]
[Essence of Blood: 33 → 60]
[Good.]
The conditions were met.
Without hesitation, I immediately used the Skill.
‘[Jinjo’s Domain]!’
Paaht - !
Suddenly, a red light flashed in My Room.
“Uwaak?!”
“!”
Riri was startled and hid behind me, while Si-Yeon and Katarina also flinched.
“It is merely an ability of this body, so do not be alarmed.”
I reassured my Retainers.
Soon, a new window popped up before my eyes.
[Jinjo’s Domain (LV.1)]
[Space Expansion]
[Domain Reinforcement]
[Facility Establishment]
[Oh?]
There are three new categories.
Among them, the one that stood out the most was, of course, “Space Expansion”.
When I tapped it, an additional explanation appeared.
[Space Expansion]
- It expands the internal space of the Territory.
Price: 1,000 Gold per pyeong
[Whoa, I can make the room bigger?]
This is totally awesome.
But is it okay to do an illegal expansion?
This is a rented room, after all.
However, there was no need to worry about that.
[TIP: The exterior maintains its original appearance, but only the internal space is independently expanded.]
[Aha. Skills can do things like this too.]
It was a very convenient mysterious ability.
The expansion cost was 1,000 Gold per pyeong.
Should I try just 1 pyeong for now?
Rumble - !
With a loud roar, the room expanded.
It was small, but I could clearly see that more empty space had been created.
“Wow, the room got bigger!”
“To possess such mysterious power… as expected of my Liege Lord!”
“Master, you are amazing.”
The Three Retainers marveled at the same time.
“Hmph. This much is nothing to this Jinjo.”
I shrugged my shoulders proudly and crossed my arms.
Anyway, how much more space should I expand?
Me, Katarina, Si-Yeon, Riri.
For a family of four to live comfortably, the living space should be around 30 to 40 pyeong.
[Owned Gold: 250,000]
The Gold I currently possess is 250,000.
Normally, Gold is mainly used to buy things like items in the System Shop.
Since I didn’t fight directly by nature, I didn’t really have anywhere else to spend it, so I had plenty of money.
[Then let’s go with 50 pyeong.]
I boldly chose 50 pyeong.
I had some resentment from always living in cramped houses, and since I was stuck in my Home Base every day, investing in the house wasn’t a waste at all.
I spent another 39,000 Gold to expand the house to 50 pyeong.
After the 10-pyeong room was expanded to 50 pyeong, the furniture was huddled together in one corner, leaving the rest of the space awkwardly empty.
I’d have to rearrange the furniture later.
“Wow! It’s so spacious!”
Riri ran wildly around the expanded house.
Watching her made me feel good for some reason.
“Riri! What insolent behavior is this in front of our Liege Lord!”
Katarina panicked, running over and grabbing the back of Riri’s neck.
“Kkyaang!”
“I apologize, Liege Lord. I shall teach Riri manners properly once again.”
“No. Katarina, leave her be.”
I smiled and waved my hand.
“It is pleasing to see her enjoying herself.”
“…!”
Seeing my face, Katarina paused.
“…I-I also like it, Liege Lord.”
She muttered in a small voice, her cheeks blushing slightly.
“Master. It is much more comfortable.”
Si-Yeon also chimed in in her own way.
Since everyone liked it, I felt good too.
Anyway, what was “Domain Reinforcement”?
When I pressed the category, various options popped up in a row.
[Vampire’s Hideout]
- Makes it difficult for others to discover the Territory. Even if someone else opens the door, that person will only see the appearance of an ordinary room.
Price: 30,000 Gold
[Barrier of Protection]
- Increases the durability of the Territory. Blocks external physical/Magic attacks up to a certain level.
Price: 20,000 Gold
[Temperature Control]
- Automatically maintains the temperature and humidity of the Territory at a comfortable level.
Price: 5,000 Gold
[Perfect Abode]
- It has no separate function, but by investing a certain amount of Gold per pyeong, the interior of the Territory can be finished with perfect interior design.
Price: 1,000 Gold per pyeong
[Wow…]
This is practically an all-powerful system, isn’t it?
Among these, the most necessary were the Stealth and defense functions.
Stealth was essential to hide my identity, and defense was absolutely necessary to prepare for unexpected situations like a gate opening nearby, as happened last time.
These were must-buys.
And…
[Let’s just buy this building too.]
Since I had a lot of money anyway, I thought I should just buy the building itself while I was at it.
It would be more comfortable to buy the whole thing rather than squeezing my Territory into a single room of someone else’s building.
Also, thinking along the same lines, it would be a bit awkward to call outside contractors to do construction in such a mysterious room.
It seemed better to just do the temperature and humidity control and the interior construction while I was at it.
Since I’m doing it, let’s go with the full package!
I used the Gold without hesitation.
[Purchased Vampire’s Hideout: -30,000 Gold]
[Purchased Temperature Control: -5,000 Gold]
[Purchased Barrier of Protection: -20,000 Gold]
[Purchased Perfect Abode: -50,000 Gold (50 pyeong × 1,000)]
[Owned Gold: 106,000]
Rumble - !
Once again, a loud roar echoed as the entire room transformed.
It took less than a minute for new walls to be erected, furniture to be arranged, and new wallpaper to be applied to the ceiling and floor.
“…!”
The Retainers watched the sight in astonishment.
“It is our new Territory. How is it?”
Once the construction was finished, I spoke confidently.
“To personally provide such a perfect Territory with my Liege Lord’s power, I am simply deeply moved…!”
“Master. You are truly amazing.”
“Waaah!”
The new house was a neat Apartment structure equipped with 4 rooms, a living room, and a kitchen.
The wallpaper was a subtle matte dark gray, making it look luxurious, and the furniture had settled into place on its own.
What I liked the most were the windows.
Beyond the closed windows, a black night sky unfolded like a screen. The stars and moon were beautifully out, so there was no need to draw the Blackout Curtains.
[This is really nice, isn’t it?]
This alone was worth the interior cost.
It would be perfect to expand the space and do construction every time I get a new Retainer.
Satisfied with my new neo-Home Base, I pressed the last category.
“Facility Establishment”.
There was only one thing I could build at Territory Level 1.
[Special Training Ground]
- A place where Retainers can be trained.
[Oho?]
A Special Training Ground.
I don’t know what it is, but it looks good, doesn’t it?
I have 100,000 Gold left, so I should buy it right away.
So I looked at the price.
Price: 3,000,000 Gold
[T-Three million Gold?!]
My eyes widened.
Even if I added up all the money I had spent on Domain Reinforcement so far, it was only about 140,000 Gold.
This single Training Ground costs 3 million Gold?
Did they plate the Training Ground in gold or something…?!
* * *
[Haa.]
Hitting the massive wall of 3 million Gold, I changed into comfortable clothes and lay down on the bed in dejection.
How long would it take to save up that kind of money?
I might be able to earn it if I went to the higher floors of the Tower, but it would take a long time.
Of course, it wasn’t urgent right now, but…
Since it was a 'Special' Training Ground, I coveted it.
Because I couldn’t buy it, I wanted to buy it even more.
I was smacking my lips and staring at the ceiling.
Katarina, Si-Yeon, and Riri all rushed into My Room.
“Liege Lord. I shall serve by your side.”
“Master, I will also Guard you from your side.”
“Riri wants to be with Master too!”
[Eh?]
Katarina and Si-Yeon naturally stood on either side of the bed, and Riri just plopped down on the floor at the foot of the bed.
[No. If it’s like this, isn’t it exactly the same even if I made the house bigger?!]
Even though I had made 4 rooms, a scene unfolded where everyone gathered in My Room.
Well, they probably wouldn’t do this every time, so I left them be for now, but…
[Don’t tell me they’re going to ask to sleep together when it’s time for bed?!]
I felt a slight concern, but anyway, that was that.
[Right. Should I lurk in the Climber Community?]
Since I had cleared Chapter 1 of the 5th Floor this time, I was a bit curious about the reaction.
When I opened the Community Window, it was, as expected, burning with topics about me.
[Title: Jinjo 111 points a new record ???????????]
Poster: Anonymous
<Trial 5th Floor (Nightmare) Chapter 1 Score Ranking>
Rank 1 - Jinjo (True Ancestor) / 111 points (NEW!)
Is this real?
- Wow…
- What did Jinjo-jwa do this time shiver
- Wasn’t it a 100-point scale? Ah lolllll
- Crazy. Was it not just their combat power that was strong?
- Is 111 points systematically possible?
ㄴ Did they Subdue all the soldiers and make the Lord kneel on the floor or something?
- If you’re Sol-Peul-Jeon-Sa, anxious about having all your records snatched, how about hitting upvote?
ㄴ Sol-Peul-Jeon-Sa) No, how on Earth did they do it? It doesn’t make sense;;;
ㄴ He actually came lol
ㄴ Did you hit upvote?
ㄴ Sol-Peul-Jeon-Sa) I did press it for now…
ㄴ Even he’s feeling the wall, fuck lolllll
[Hehe.]
The corners of my mouth crept up.
In truth, I had coasted through it to an embarrassing degree, but since everyone was marveling at it, I felt good.
I moved on to the next post.
[Title: ㅇㅅㅇ?!]
Poster: Meow Meow Punch
ㅇㅅㅇ;;
- Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen them write a post lolllll
ㄴ They must have been pretty surprised
ㄴ Cute lolllll
[Who is this person?]
They were a peculiar person who kept using only that emoticon since the last time.
Since they were a Registered User, they must be an incredibly strong person.
Even among such amazing people, there are those who are obsessed with a gimmick.
Ah, I guess I’m not one to talk.
[Title: We need to be wary of Jinjo.]
Poster: Apostle of Light
Dear brothers and sisters of the Community.
Even after the Voice Comment incident last time, it seems there are still many who take the danger of Jinjo lightly.
However, look at the 5th Floor score this time.
An additional 11 points exceeding the perfect score.
This is unprecedented in the history of the Climber Community, and it suggests the possibility that this person is an entity beyond the category of humans as we know them.
I sincerely hope everyone will consider this carefully.
[This person is very serious.]
I became curious about who they were.
However, given the atmosphere of the Community, the comment reactions were cold.
- Hmm, is it really that serious?
- Ahem, what kind of disrespectful talk is this towards Jinjo-nim?
- Anyway, they’re Rank 1, so cheers~
In particular, one Registered User was dealing massive damage.
Corpse Lover) Ugh, is this moralist bug starting to act all serious again~?
ㄴ Apostle of Light) W-What kind of rude remark is that…! How can you take a potential threat so lightly!
ㄴ Corpse Lover) I don’t know about that, I just want to see Jinjo again quickly; aren’t they coming~?
Corpse Lover. This person seemed to feel strangely favorable towards me from the beginning.
Their nickname was a bit much, so I didn’t really want to get involved with them, though.
Anyway, the atmosphere was such that everyone was hoping I would make an appearance.
To the point where there were even prayer posts like this.
[Title: Day 14 of praying for Jinjo-jwa’s appearance]
Poster: Anonymous
Praying…
- Isn’t Jinjo-jwa going to appear again to celebrate clearing Chapter 1 of the 5th Floor this time?
- If I could just hear Jinjo-nim’s haughty voice one more time, I’d have no other wishes, for real.
- For real, I’ve been doing that every day so I’m getting a bit sick of it.
ㄴ ?
- If Jinjo-nim appears just once, I’ll immediately drop a sponsorship, yep.
ㄴ For real, this time I can offer up all the Gold I earned from clearing the 60th floor.
ㄴ Even if I have to sell my house and car, I must definitely sponsor.
[…Sponsorship?]
Come to think of it, I remembered there was a mention of a sponsorship function in Sol-Peul-Jeon-Sa’s Guide Post.
The Climber Community has a function to sponsor Gold to the Poster of a post.
So it seemed like a structure where people who wrote high-quality information posts like Sol-Peul-Jeon-Sa earned a lot of Gold.
At the time, I didn’t particularly need Gold and only planned to quietly lurk, so I wasn’t interested, but things are different now.
I needed 3 million Gold to build the Special Training Ground.
And if it was this expensive, it was obvious that a massive amount of Gold would be needed whenever the Domain Level increased or new facilities were unlocked in the future.
The people in the Climber Community were all S-Class Big Shots.
Wouldn’t they sponsor quite generously?
[…Should I give it a try?]
I hesitated for a moment.
My real voice being revealed through a Voice Comment was already a thing of the past.
Besides, there was no need to say anything mean this time, was there?
Alright.
Having made up my mind, I pressed the “Write Post” button on the bulletin board.
And I turned on the voice function again.
Ahem. I cleared my throat once.
[Title: Weak Mortals, listen well.]
Poster: Jinjo
(Voice file attached)
“Haa… What is the big deal about such a trivial thing that you all make such a fuss about?”
Hmm.
Is it too short?
Moreover, I hadn’t intended to say anything mean, but somehow it came out sounding incredibly dismissive.
I wondered if they would really sponsor a post like this.
I decided to post it for now.
[The post has been registered.]
As I waited for a moment.
Ding!
[Anonymous Sponsor has sponsored 10,000 Gold!: I’m a fan of Jinjo-nim!!]
[Anonymous Sponsor has sponsored 2,000 Gold!: It’s a small amount, but I’m cheering for you ^^]
[Oh? They’re really giving me Gold?]
Surprisingly, sponsorships actually started coming in.
However,
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The firepower was stronger than I thought.
[Anonymous Sponsor has sponsored 5,000 Gold!: Wakyapyahukhukhuhukhuhguhguhukhukpantpantpantpant]
[Anonymous Sponsor has sponsored 8,000 Gold!: Wawa Jinjo-nim’s voice TTTTTTT]
[Anonymous Sponsor has sponsored 12,000 Gold!: The verbal abuse is crazy]
[Anonymous Sponsor has sponsored 6,000 Gold!: Jinjo-nim, please step on me… Barefoot if possible…]
[Huh…?]
And then, small sponsorships from Normal Users started bursting in.
[GodChris has sponsored 500,000 Gold!: Hey, Jinjo! Nice to meet you!]
[Sol-Peul-Jeon-Sa has sponsored 500,000 Gold!: How on Earth did you do it?]
[24-Hour Inquiries Welcome has sponsored 700,000 Gold!: Oh my~ Welcome, Jinjo-nim~✿]
[Cheonma has sponsored 1,000,000 Gold!: Receive the sponsorship of This Seat.]
[Corpse Lover has sponsored 2,000,000 Gold!: Oh~ Is this your first post~? Welcome~!]
[Apostle of Light has sponsored 1,000 Gold!: Ugh, you. Making such dangerous remarks again…!]
[Artist has sponsored 200,000 Gold! .]
Massive sponsorships from Registered Users came pouring in like crazy!
[Eeeek?!]
I stared blankly at the notifications.
What is all this?
The notifications showed no signs of stopping.
[Anonymous Sponsor has sponsored 10,000 Gold!]
[Anonymous Sponsor has sponsored 3,000 Gold!]
[Anonymous Sponsor has sponsored 5,000 Gold!]
…
Sponsorships are pouring in endlessly.
I was at a loss for words and could only stare at the System Window.
Just like that, I - .
[Owned Gold: 10,120,000]
[Ten million Gold…?]
In just one hour, I had earned dozens of times the money I had made climbing the Tower so far.