Chapter 22. The First Companion
The morning smelled different.
Do-yoon slowly opened his eyes.
At first, he had no idea where he was. The ceiling above him, the window through which sunlight streamed, and even the feel of the bed beneath his body were all unfamiliar.
This was not the old accommodation at the Mercenary Guild's registration office.
Nor was it the cramped, uncomfortable semi-basement room in reality.
This was the house he had purchased himself.
For the first time since coming to the other world, he finally had a proper home of his own.
Do-yoon lay in bed and stared at the ceiling for a while.
His own room.
His own warehouse.
His own key.
His own door.
Most importantly, a house purchased in his own name.
These were things he had never possessed in reality.
Until now, a home had never been somewhere Do-yoon could choose to live. He had always been forced to settle for whatever his circumstances allowed, put up with the discomfort, and be prepared to leave whenever the situation demanded it.
But this place was different.
He did not have to worry about anyone throwing him out. Nor did he need anyone's permission to stay.
For some reason, that realization filled his chest with a strange sense of excitement.
Just then, a cautious voice came from outside the door.
"Master."
Do-yoon sat up.
"Come in."
The door opened very slowly.
Luna entered with her silver ears slightly folded. She held a wooden tray in her small hands.
Freshly baked bread and soup rested on the tray, with warm steam rising from the bowl.
"Your breakfast is ready."
Do-yoon looked at the tray, then at Luna.
"Did you make this?"
"Yes."
"Already?"
"I woke up at dawn."
Do-yoon frowned slightly.
"Why did you wake up so early?"
Luna looked as though she did not understand the question. She answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Because I'm a maid."
Do-yoon remained silent for a moment.
Because she's a maid.
Because she's a slave.
Because she has to do whatever her master orders.
That way of thinking seemed to be deeply ingrained in Luna.
She spoke like someone who believed it was natural to wake up early without being told and keep working until she collapsed from exhaustion.
Instead of taking the tray, Do-yoon called her name.
"Luna."
"Yes, Master."
"From now on, don't force yourself to wake up at dawn."
Luna's ears twitched.
She looked at him anxiously.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No."
"Then..."
"I'm just telling you not to overwork yourself."
Luna still looked confused.
Do-yoon let out a short sigh.
"You're not going to finish all your work in a single day, are you?"
"No."
"If you want to keep working for a long time, you can't afford to ruin your health."
"..."
"Working until you collapse isn't a rule for people who work in my house."
Luna gripped the tray even more tightly. Her slender fingers turned white.
"Then... how much work should I do?"
Do-yoon thought for a moment.
He had never employed anyone before. Even in reality, he had always been the one looking for work and trying to please others, not the one providing employment.
But there was one thing he knew for certain.
People were not tools.
He understood that better than most because he had spent so long being treated like one.
"Prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
"Yes."
"Clean the house once a day. We'll organize the warehouse together whenever I'm here."
"Yes."
"And rest at night."
Luna raised her head.
"Am I allowed to rest at night?"
"Of course."
Looking at Luna's expression, Do-yoon remembered something else.
"And I'll pay you a salary."
This time, Luna froze completely.
"A... salary?"
"Yeah."
"Even though I'm a slave?"
"Slave or not, if you work, you should get paid."
Do-yoon opened the pouch beside his bed.
He had not yet decided how much he should officially pay her. Handing Luna a large amount of money might even put her in danger.
But he needed to start somewhere.
Do-yoon took out five copper coins and placed them in Luna's palm.
"It's not your official salary. Think of it as an advance."
Luna stared at the coins resting in her hand.
For a long time.
A very long time.
She could not take her eyes off them, as though they were objects she had never seen before.
Her gray eyes slowly began to tremble.
"Am I... allowed to keep these?"
"It's your money."
"Can I spend it?"
"Yeah."
Luna hesitated before asking in a very small voice.
"Can I hide it?"
Do-yoon's expression hardened.
The fact that she had asked whether she could hide her money meant someone must have taken it from her in the past.
Perhaps she had never been paid for her work. Or perhaps she had received money but had never been allowed to use it without her master's permission.
"You can hide it."
Do-yoon spoke as calmly as he could.
"You can save it or buy whatever you want. How you use it is entirely up to you."
Luna pressed her lips together.
Her eyes slowly reddened, but she did not cry.
Instead, she cupped the coins in both hands as though they were precious treasures and bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Master."
Only then did Do-yoon accept the tray.
The soup smelled savory.
He took a spoonful, and the hot broth spread through his mouth.
It was a little bland, but much better than he had expected.
"It's good."
Luna's folded ears immediately sprang upright.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Isn't there too little salt?"
"A little, I guess."
Luna's ears drooped again.
"I'm sorry."
"It's nothing worth apologizing for. Just add a little more next time."
Do-yoon tore off a piece of bread and dipped it into the soup.
It was a strange feeling.
Until recently, he had been a student who often survived on discarded convenience-store lunchboxes in reality.
Now he was eating breakfast prepared by a beastfolk maid in his own house in another world.
Calling it wish fulfillment did not seem like enough.
It felt like a reward that life was finally giving him for everything he had endured.
At that moment, the red symbol on the back of his hand grew faintly warm.
[Pride is satisfied.]
Do-yoon glanced at his hand.
The symbol quickly lost its glow.
Luna stood quietly as though she had not noticed it.
Or perhaps she had seen it but had chosen not to ask.
Just then, someone knocked on the door downstairs.
Knock, knock.
Do-yoon put down his spoon and stood.
"Who could that be?"
Luna immediately turned around.
"I'll check."
"Let's go together."
The two went downstairs.
When they opened the front door, Liana was standing outside.
Her red hair was tied back carelessly, and she wore her familiar leather armor. A sword hung at her waist, and she held a stack of papers in one hand.
The moment she saw Do-yoon, she chuckled.
"You're starting to look like a homeowner."
"What kind of face is that supposed to be?"
"Your eyes have changed."
Liana glanced past the entrance and looked around the house.
"Or maybe I should say you've become greedier than yesterday."
Do-yoon did not bother denying it.
It was true that he felt satisfied when he looked at everything he now owned.
Liana's gaze shifted toward Luna.
"So you didn't run away during the night?"
Luna lowered her head.
"I won't run away."
"You probably can't because of that bracelet."
Luna said nothing.
Do-yoon immediately spoke.
"Don't say things like that."
Liana raised an eyebrow.
"Already defending her?"
"She's one of my people."
Luna suddenly stopped breathing.
One of my people.
Those words could imply ownership.
But Do-yoon's tone was different.
He did not sound like someone claiming possession of an object.
He sounded like someone talking about a person he was responsible for.
Liana watched Do-yoon for a moment before shrugging.
"Fine. If she's one of yours, raise her properly."
"Anyway, why are you here?"
"A request."
Liana handed him the papers.
Do-yoon unfolded them, and the writing became readable in the familiar way.
[Beginner Dungeon Reconnaissance Request]
[Location: Beneath the Abandoned Quarry]
[Danger Level: Low]
[Recommended Party Size: 2–4]
[Reward: 3 Silver Coins]
[Special Note: Low-Grade Mana Stones Recently Discovered]
Do-yoon's eyes stopped on the final sentence.
"Mana Stones?"
Liana nodded.
"They're worth money."
"How much?"
"Depends on the quality. A single Low-Grade Mana Stone is worth a few dozen copper coins. Starting from Intermediate-Grade, the prices are measured in silver."
Do-yoon's heart began beating a little faster.
Mana Stones.
Potions.
Gold coins.
Equipment.
A house.
Companions.
Almost everything he had obtained in the other world was connected to money.
He needed money in reality, and he also needed funds to survive in this world.
Do-yoon looked down at the request and asked,
"Can we go today?"
"Sure."
Liana gestured toward Luna with her chin.
"You're not seriously thinking of bringing her too, are you?"
Luna's shoulders flinched.
Do-yoon looked at her.
"Do you want to come?"
Luna could not answer immediately.
She was afraid.
But she did not look like someone who wanted to run away.
After hesitating for a moment, she cautiously spoke.
"I want to go."
"Why?"
"Because I want to become useful."
Do-yoon fell silent at her answer.
Useful.
It was a painfully familiar word.
Being told that you were useless did not kill you immediately.
Instead, it slowly wore away your heart, little by little, every single day.
Eventually, you began questioning why you were alive and whether you even deserved to exist.
Do-yoon knew that feeling all too well.
"All right."
He nodded.
"But don't get involved in the fighting."
"Yes."
"If anything happens, stay behind me no matter what."
"Understood."
Liana let out a long sigh.
"A rookie mercenary bringing his maid into a dungeon. I guess you're not planning to live very long."
"It'll be fine because you're with us."
"Don't trust me too much."
Liana tapped the edge of the request with one finger.
"Besides, this might not be an ordinary beginner dungeon."
Do-yoon's gaze sharpened.
"What do you mean?"
"The underground area beneath the abandoned quarry used to be an ordinary mine. But strange rumors started spreading a few years ago."
"What kind of rumors?"
Liana lowered her voice.
"They say there's a black staircase if you go deep enough."
Luna's silver ears immediately stood upright.
"A black staircase..."
Liana looked at her.
"Do you know something?"
Luna clasped her hands tightly and answered cautiously.
"I heard about it when I worked under an alchemist."
Do-yoon asked,
"What did you hear?"
"I was told that it's a staircase connected to an entrance of the Tower of Suffering."
Silence settled over the living room.
The back of Do-yoon's hand grew hot.
Liana immediately noticed the change.
"You're reacting to that?"
Do-yoon gripped his hand.
The black tower he had seen in his consciousness last night appeared in his mind.
Ninety-nine floors stretching toward the edge of the sky.
An invisible hundredth floor existing above them.
And a mysterious voice.
Finally, the first Chosen One has begun to move.
Do-yoon asked quietly,
"What exactly is the Tower of Suffering?"
The playfulness disappeared from Liana's face.
"A place every adventurer dreams of visiting at least once in their life."
"Is there a lot of treasure?"
"Plenty."
"Items too?"
"They say you can even find legendary equipment there."
A faint excitement appeared in Do-yoon's eyes.
Liana raised her fingers one by one as she explained.
"Potion ingredients, Mana Stones, ancient equipment, enchantment scrolls. They say the tower contains things even nobles can't obtain with money alone."
Do-yoon's heart began beating even faster.
"If it's such a good place, why doesn't everyone go?"
Liana gave a cold laugh.
"Because they die."
It was a short answer.
But it was enough.
"The Tower of Suffering is said to have a hundred floors. But the highest floor humans have officially reached is the forty-seventh."
"The forty-seventh?"
"Anyone who climbed higher either failed to leave a record or never returned alive."
Luna added in a very quiet voice,
"I also heard that people who enter the tower gradually change."
Do-yoon looked at her.
"How do they change?"
"Their desires grow stronger."
A chill ran down Do-yoon's spine.
Desire.
The word at the center of everything.
Pride.
Envy.
Wrath.
Sloth.
Greed.
Gluttony.
Lust.
Liana looked directly at Do-yoon.
"It might be a place connected to the power you possess."
"I know."
"Then you need to be even more careful."
"I'm going."
Liana immediately laughed, as though she had expected his answer.
"I knew you'd say that."
Do-yoon folded the request in half.
"Let's start with the beginner dungeon reconnaissance."
Just then, Luna cautiously raised her hand.
"Master."
"Yeah?"
"There are some things I need to prepare."
"Like what?"
"We'll need a bag, bandages, water, and cloth. I also need to prepare a padded box so the potion bottles can be carried safely."
Do-yoon looked at Luna in surprise.
She explained in an uncertain voice.
"When I was doing odd jobs for the alchemist, I often organized supplies for dungeon expeditions."
Liana narrowed her eyes.
"You said you worked under an alchemist, right?"
"Yes."
"How much did you learn?"
Luna shook her head slightly.
"I didn't learn anything. I only did odd jobs."
"But you recognized the potion's grade?"
Luna could not answer.
Do-yoon quietly watched her.
Perhaps he had not simply purchased a maid.
Perhaps she was an unpolished gemstone that had not yet been given a chance to shine.
Someone whose value nobody had recognized and who had been discarded as useless.
But if she received proper training and had the opportunity to grow, she might reveal an entirely different kind of potential.
A smile slowly spread across Do-yoon's face.
[Pride whispers.]
[Your eyes were not mistaken.]
