Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Floor 50

My house.

I dumped everything afterward onto CEO Park and came home.

Media interviews.

Press responses.

I hated all of that.

If my face becomes famous, it'll only create problems.

While lying across my sofa, I remembered the Highest-Grade Magic Stones.

How am I supposed to get more?

I was still broke.

And I couldn't just wait around when I had no idea when money would come in.

I called CEO Park.

· 

Yeah, CEO Choi. What's up?

· 

"When do we start making money?"

I heard him laugh.

· 

Impatient, aren't you? Investors are practically lining up with bags of money begging us to take it.

· 

"Oh, really?"

· 

Yeah. But that doesn't mean the money appears in our account tomorrow. You know that.

· 

"Then when?"

He paused.

· 

First we need an accurate reserve estimate. We need 3D seismic surveys and several appraisal wells. Even fast, that's a few months.

· 

"A few months?"

· 

That's only the beginning. For commercial production, we need production facilities and pipelines. Minimum one year. Maybe two.

· 

"That long?"

I sighed.

· 

That's if you're talking about actual revenue from selling crude. Once the reserve estimate is confirmed, we can raise huge investment money long before production. Banks will lend much more against proven reserves too. Several companies are already asking us to sell equity.

· 

"Oh!"

Hope appeared.

· 

So wait a little. You'll see real money soon. Once we sign an investment agreement, I can immediately assign part of it as your executive salary and transfer cash to you.

· 

"Okay."

· 

By the way, you don't want to meet investors, right? Even the Blue House seems curious about who you are.

· 

The Blue House was already trying to contact us?

Well, of course.

Oil had been discovered in the East Sea.

It was a national issue.

I was about to tell him to keep me hidden as much as possible.

Then...

[Followers x10,891 increased.]

[F-rank Gate Tickets x5,940 acquired.]

[E-rank Gate Tickets x3,661 acquired.]

...

[S-rank Gate Ticket x1 acquired.]

Followers?

Oh, right.

That system existed.

So followers aren't limited to HunVen.

As expected from an EX-rank ability.

"Just tell them I'm an investor."

· 

Got it.

· 

I was about to end the call.

Ding!

A HunVen notification caught my eye.

The message I'd ignored yesterday.

Right. The urgent Magic Stone seller.

I opened it.

But the reply was strange.

[Title: If You Answer a Few Questions]

[Sender: Agent]

· 

I can even give them to you for free.

· 

For free?

Just answer questions?

Suspicious.

I narrowed my eyes.

Why would someone selling items ask all kinds of questions?

Definitely a scam.

Obviously.

Either trying to collect personal information...

Or some new type of payment scam.

I've heard scams like this are everywhere these days.

Without hesitation, I closed the message.

"Tch. Free Highest-Grade Magic Stones, my ass."

Nothing in the world was free.

Guess I'll wait for investment money.

While deleting the message, a new HunVen announcement caught my eye.

[Title: Emergency Update Notice]

[Author: Tower of Fate]

· 

Due to the appearance of a Third-Class Officer, the following system change has been implemented to support Hunters in strengthening themselves.

· 

· 

From the Floor 50 region onward, defeating monsters will also grant Contribution Points.

· 

"Huh?"

My eyes widened.

I slowly read it again.

I hadn't misread.

Monsters give Contribution Points now.

Until now, points had only come from PvP.

But from Floor 50 onward, monsters would grant them too.

Naturally, the comments were exploding.

People argued over the system and wildly speculated about the identity of the Third-Class Officer.

This update isn't bad for me.

I had already been preparing to go to Floor 50.

People say hunting becomes genuinely profitable from there.

I'd cleared up to Floor 49 after returning home.

Using the leeching technique I learned from Scraps had made things fairly easy.

I pulled Shadow Dagger from my inventory and gripped it.

After cutting down Scraps and the Death Knight on Floor 41...

I had a little confidence now.

I even defeated Yoo Seorin.

Sure, she'd been exhausted after fighting Fist.

And I had gotten lucky with a Dodge.

Still...

Shadow Dagger's attack power is reliable.

Combined with the damage bonus from the full Tower Knights Squad Leader set...

Maybe killing people was easier than killing monsters.

Let's go.

[Entering Tower of Fate Floor 50, "Goblin Knight's Forest."]

Tower of Fate, Floor 50.

Goblin Knight's Forest.

Armored Goblins wandered between dense trees.

"They even wear armor."

They were small compared to the Floor 25 Scorpion or Floor 41 Death Knight.

Still, as residents of a place called Goblin Knight's Forest, they carried decent equipment.

Technically, these were only the Goblin Knight's soldiers.

The Goblin Knight itself was the Floor 50 Boss.

Let's kill one first.

I hid behind a tree and approached the nearest Goblin.

Sniping... No, should I call this assassination?

Step by careful step.

Then...

Crunch!

I stepped on dead leaves.

The Goblin suddenly turned.

Gasp.

I held my breath.

But...

It looked around.

Then failed to spot me.

It didn't hear that?

I was confused for a moment.

Then I understood.

The title?

Silent Assassin.

That had to be it.

It really is an S-rank title.

Shadow Dagger.

Laser No. 1.

The way S-rank Hunters fought.

S-rank really was S-rank for a reason.

Feeling more confident after experiencing the title's effect, I carefully approached behind the Goblin.

Then...

"Keruk?"

"Oh."

By coincidence, it turned.

Our eyes met.

"Keruk!"

Its face twisted viciously.

It pointed its spear at me and charged.

"Gasp!"

I panicked and swung Shadow Dagger.

The blade cut through empty air.

Awkward stance.

Awkward movement.

Fortunately, the Goblin's spear also barely missed me.

That was dangerous.

After several more clumsy swings, Shadow Dagger finally grazed its neck.

Slice.

[Contribution Points x18 acquired.]

[Gold x25 acquired.]

"It died already."

Maybe its armor was weak.

It collapsed without resistance.

Shadow Dagger's power was probably doing most of the work.

"But Gold? Ah."

Starting from Floor 50, monsters dropped Gold.

Contribution Points only eighteen though.

That was basically the system saying, "Fine. I'll give you some."

I approached another Goblin.

More carefully this time.

I tried to suppress my footsteps.

Then I wandered through the forest for hours.

Slice. Slice. Slice.

"Keruk!"

"Kyaak!"

"Kyaaa!"

[Contribution Points x19 acquired.]

[Contribution Points x15 acquired...]

My stamina had long since hit rock bottom.

But strangely, my body was getting used to it.

More importantly, monster Contribution Points weren't as low as I first thought.

I think I killed around two hundred Goblins in two hours.

Average seventeen points each.

That was 1,700 per hour.

Twenty hours of grinding could buy one Squad Leader Ring.

Of course, hunting speed depended heavily on ability.

I one-shot them.

For someone who had a tough fight against every Goblin, buying even one ring would feel impossible.

I'd been hit by several spears too.

It barely hurt.

When the spear tip pressed against me, it felt like someone pushing a pen hard into my skin.

That was it.

"Kyaa!"

I twisted slightly, redirected an incoming spear, and stabbed Shadow Dagger into the Goblin's chest.

Stab!

That move actually looked pretty good.

At first, I'd just closed my eyes and swung wildly.

Now I could vaguely read where the enemy's spear was going.

To an outside observer, I might have looked like someone who knew how to fight.

Then...

"Aaaagh!"

I heard a scream.

Between the trees, I saw a stranger.

Not a Goblin.

A person.

And from the murderous aura covering his body, clearly not an ordinary one.

The tag above his head proved it.

[High-Rank Soldier]

"Hehehe."

He seemed to have just killed someone.

The fallen Hunter scattered into dust.

At the same moment, the killer's rank changed.

[Low-Rank NCO]

"...!"

This was the first time I'd watched another Hunter get promoted.

I've even beaten a High-Rank NCO, but this still makes me nervous.

He hadn't noticed me.

His back was turned as he killed another Goblin.

Should I run?

Meeting someone like that probably wouldn't end well.

But...

[Current Contribution Points: 290,002]

[Total Contribution Points: 1,475,352]

[Current Rank: Third-Class Officer]

[Next Rank: Second-Class Officer]

At this rate, becoming a General will take forever.

I estimated Second-Class Officer required 2.5 million total points.

First-Class Officer probably five million.

General will likely be ten million.

There was no way I could earn 8.5 million points from Goblins.

...I have to try fighting.

I tightened my grip on Shadow Dagger.

PvP revives you.

If things went badly, I'd wake up at home.

In a way, that's safer than fighting monsters.

That made me feel a little better.

I heard you lose points when you die.

I quickly checked the shop.

One ring and one earring.

Both cost 125,000.

[Because you own the Tower Knights Squad Leader Ring and Earring, you may purchase the Knight Team Leader Ring and Earring at a 20% discount.]

Even better.

[Contribution Points x200,000 consumed.]

[Tower Knights Knight Team Leader Ring acquired.]

[Tower Knights Knight Team Leader Earring acquired.]

Equipment that only I, a Third-Class Officer, could buy.

Just thinking about that increased my confidence.

I inhaled.

Then carefully approached from behind.

I deliberately didn't use a skill.

I wanted to see Shadow Dagger's raw power.

Slice!

"Ugh...!"

The High-Rank Soldier tried to turn.

Too late.

He collapsed before our eyes even met.

[Low-Rank NCO defeated.]

[Contribution Points x1,200 acquired.]

"...Huh?"

It ended so easily that I felt empty.

That's it?

Much easier than Yoo Seorin.

Well, of course.

That fight had been chaotic, and I'd won partly through luck.

This time, I'd attacked first.

This is more manageable than I thought.

I smiled and walked deeper into the forest.

I should PvP.

Sure enough...

"Aaagh!"

"Ugh!"

"Gah!"

Human screams started appearing everywhere.

Floor 50 gives Contribution Points from monsters.

More and more Hunters were gathering here.

They're probably confident in their strength.

At least B-rank.

Probably A-rank and above.

The Low-Rank NCO I'd just killed was probably one of them.

Perfect. This is a chance to measure my real strength.

I had also thought of a way to exploit the system.

I need to make full use of my ability.

After all...

I had more than enough Gate Tickets.