Chapter 3
It's been half a month since I became a cultivator.
I've become homeless.
I suppose that's only natural when I can't get a part-time job.
I've run out of money, too.
I couldn't afford the rent, so I got kicked out of my tiny semi-basement room.
Of course, I could stay here, but… Still….
No, no! More importantly, should I say I became homeless because of the viewers' Spartan-style guidance policy?
"Um… I tried going into the tower today, just to see if I could, and it let me in. Is it okay if I go in and hunt monsters?"
I only asked just in case, so I naturally thought they'd encourage me.
ㄴTaehyun Zhenren: A demonic beast from the lower realm… It'd be dangerous to go in unarmed, so I'll give you a magical artifact.
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: No. What happens if you spoil the child? Are you going to let them grow up ill-mannered?
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: Heh heh, but they should at least be able to hunt demonic beasts. They'll need to protect themself, after all.
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: The Ice Empress is right. We grew up just fine without any of that!
ㄴHeavenly Secrets Pavilion Master: Exactly. Isn't that child a cultivator now?
The mood shifted in an instant.
They talked it over among themselves and reached a conclusion without even considering my opinion.
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Raise your cultivation to the fifth layer of Qi Refining. I won't give you permission until you're strong enough to hunt demonic beasts with the Fireball Technique.
Permission? Would they scold me if I didn't get it?
Were they already trying to control me?
It felt like I'd suddenly gotten teachers.
I just wanted to do what I thought was best.
I was only informing them, though.
Why were they taking it so seriously?
Still, it was hard to ignore them when people who seemed so much older were answering me so seriously.
Should I just do what they said for now?
"How do I raise my cultivation?"
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: That tower you mentioned. You called them Monstas, was it? If there are demonic beasts there, then spiritual energy must be gathered there.
"And then?"
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Go inside, find the place with the densest spiritual energy, and recite the cultivation method as I taught you.
"How am I supposed to know where the spiritual energy is densest?"
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: You'll know when you get there. Move according to what your body tells you.
And that's how I ended up here.
The safety zone near the entrance to the tower's first floor.
Could you call it the safest place for hunters?
It was the best I could manage.
I hadn't been able to adjust when I first entered the tower.
From the outside, the tower was about the size of a high-rise building with dozens of floors.
But once you went inside, a stretch of land dozens—maybe hundreds—of times larger than what you could see from outside unfolded before you.
For reference, the first floor here was a vast plain with no end in sight.
Each floor was divided into a safety zone near the entrance, a public field, and a boss room.
Hunters could run into each other in the field, while the boss room was like an instance dungeon that only members of the same party could enter.
And you had to clear the boss room to reach the next floor.
Since I still couldn't fight, I settled down in the safety zone on the first floor.
Sleeping in the tower was free, so I could somehow manage.
The temperature here was like a warm spring day all year round, so it didn't get cold at night, either.
Every day, I climbed onto a huge rock near the entrance, sat cross-legged, and recited the cultivation method.
And that's how half a month went by.
Before I knew it, I'd become a celebrity on the first floor—or rather, a famous NPC.
Whenever I passed by, hunters whispered as if I were some kind of curiosity.
"That's an NPC, right? Not a real person?"
"It was here when I came by last night, too. It's probably an NPC, right?"
"It's not a monster, is it?"
"Monsters can't enter here."
"Um… Could I take a picture with you?"
"Aaaah~ You're so cuteㅡ"
"Hello, viewers of Daganda Hunter. I'm standing in front of an NPC on the first floor right now."
At first, I considered explaining, but I just kept my mouth shut.
When I thought about it, wasn't it obvious?
I was an unregistered hunter who'd supposedly awakened in my imagination, after all.
This was a place only hunters could enter, and I'd snuck in because I was somehow able to get inside.
What if I got caught and dragged away after blabbing about this and that?
People said I looked like an NPC, so when I moved like one, they treated me differently, too.
And if I quietly let them take pictures, they'd give me food.
Before long, a strange tradition had formed.
One day, people started coming to make offerings beneath the huge rock where I sat cross-legged.
"Lord Goat (Goat), please help me make lots of money today, too."
A female hunter set down some bread and milk beneath the rock, then briefly brought her hands together in prayer.
I waited until she had walked a good distance away before climbing down from the rock.
"Ahem. Chocolate conch bread and banana milk today, huh."
I hugged the offerings to my chest and climbed back onto the rock.
'This suddenly reminds me of when I first got here.'
It was absolute hell.
I'd spent every last bit of money I had on emergency rations!
"I've run out of food! What am I supposed to do?!"
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: Even at the Qi Refining stage, you can last two months without eating.
"How can a person live without eating?!"
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: This old man will send you some food, so take it.
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: No. They need to grow strong so they'll be fine when trouble comes.
There was no doubt in my mind that Jade-Cold Ice Empress hated me.
I didn't understand why they objected to everything.
Anyway, thanks to them, I spent several days reciting the cultivation method while starving.
Still, eventually, hunters began making offerings one by one, so I didn't starve to death.
By now, a decent pile of food the hunters had left behind had accumulated.
"Hehe. Just looking at it fills me up."
Wait! No! I've been spending all day with people who take their roles way too seriously, and their way of talking is rubbing off on me.
Anyway, that's how half a month went by.
And at last, I'd reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining, the condition Jade-Cold Ice Empress had set.
'Now that I think about it, cultivators don't seem that strong.'
I'd heard that Qi Refining was the lowest-level, total-noob rank in their world.
Which meant it was basically level one, right?
It wasn't like I'd gone from level one to level two. I'd only climbed five stages within that level-one bracket, and it had taken half a month.
Hunters could get to level five after going up the tower just twice.
Compared to hunters, leveling up seemed way too hard for me.
Anyway, I'd met the goal, so I happily turned on the broadcast.
"I've reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining! Can I go hunting now?"
But the chat's reaction was chilly.
I thought they'd congratulate me, but they acted like I'd done something terribly wrong.
ㄴTaehyun Zhenren: Tsk, tsk. The Ice Empress was right. We spoiled you too much, and now you're lying.
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: You may be impudent, but I thought you had a good heart. And now you're lying? Do you want to be punished?
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: Heh heh! It's fine to lie, but you have to make sure you don't get caught!
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: Goodness, little one. If you lie, you'll grow up to be a bad adult.
I was honestly so frustrated.
Why wouldn't anyone believe me?
"It's true! I'm really at the fifth layer of Qi Refining!"
ㄴTaehyun Zhenren: You brat! So you want a good scolding, do you?!
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Stop telling a lie that's obviously going to be exposed. Fifth layer in a month with your spiritual root?!
ㄴHeavenly Secrets Pavilion Master: /Cultivation Realm
A system message appeared in the chat.
[System: 'Kkeuaaah-eorinu' is at the fifth layer of Qi Refining]
"……."
For a moment, the chat froze.
I thought the broadcast had stopped because the connection dropped.
"Huh? Did it freeze?"
Suddenly, the chat exploded.
ㄴTaehyun Zhenren: Ohhh! Well done!! My disciple!!
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Impossible! How could a trash spiritual root from the lower realm reach the fifth layer in a month……!
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: Heh heh heh! A peerless genius! A talent who appears once in ten thousand years, if that!
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: You've got some potential, after all.
ㄴHeavenly Secrets Pavilion Master: /Spiritual Land Grade
[System: The grade of the spiritual land where 'Kkeuaaah-eorinu' is located is Grade 9 or higher]
"……."
For a moment, the chat froze solid again.
I thought it had stopped twice in a row.
"Um, hello?"
The chat went wild all over again.
ㄴTaehyun Zhenren: W-where in the world is that place?!
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: What plane could it be, where a plain with Qi Refining beginners is not merely Grade 9, but higher?!
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: A spiritual land of Grade 9 or higher! That's a legendary hidden realm, one you might see once in several thousand years!
ㄴHeavenly Secrets Pavilion Master: Now I understand how that child reached the fifth layer in such a short time despite having a trash spiritual root.
For a long while, I listened blankly as they talked among themselves.
Then a question suddenly occurred to me.
They kept calling me a trash spiritual root, but what was a trash spiritual root?
"Um. What is a trash spiritual root? Is it bad?"
ㄴTaehyun Zhenren: It means your elements aren't pure and consist of a mixture of all sorts of things.
ㄴHeavenly Secrets Pavilion Master: /Spiritual Root
[System: 'Kkeuaaah-eorinu' has the following spiritual roots: Metal(金), Wood(木), Water(水), Fire(火), Earth(土), Lightning(雷), Ice(氷), Wind(風), Darkness(暗), Light(光), Poison(毒), Blood(血), Space(空), Time(時)]
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: What… Doesn't that just make you an ordinary person?
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: The basic five elements, plus mutated spiritual roots…
ㄴBlood River Patriarch: What a waste. If you were in the Cultivation World, they'd make a human pill out of you or use you as a cauldron.
There was something rather ominous about what Blood River Patriarch was saying.
"Is it good or bad?"
Then Jade-Cold Ice Empress explained.
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Simply put, others only need to fill one bowl of water to advance, but you have to fill fourteen bowls.
"Ah! So I need fourteen times as much experience as everyone else."
Then wasn't I a doomed build?
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Usually, there's not enough spiritual energy for a person to fill even one bowl in their entire life. Anywhere else, you'd be no different from an ordinary mortal.
"Then how did I manage it?"
ㄴJade-Cold Ice Empress: Aren't you sitting by a river next to a waterfall, scooping up water?
I more or less understood what she meant. In that case…
"Can I really go hunting now?"
ㄴTaebaek Sword Lord: There shouldn't be any problem. In fact, you'll be practically flying around with all that spiritual power.
They kept making a fuss and marveling, but honestly, I couldn't really feel any difference.
Even hunter mages could use any element as long as they got the skill books. So what was the big deal?
Wouldn't it be a doomed build if I had to fill all fourteen elements one by one just to level up?
I mean, this side seemed worse, with all those conditions like having a trash spiritual root.
'No, no! Still, I'm a hunter now! That's what matters!'
No, more importantly! They'd given me permission, so it was okay now, right?
They weren't being mean or trying to bully me!
They'd just been worried about me, and now they'd given me permission, right?
I climbed down from the rock and walked toward the public field on the tower's first floor.