I easily persuaded Henry and Kiri as they accompanied me to my building. It felt a bit weird since I just bought it 30 minutes ago. We walked inside as they marveled at it.

“Hiik!”

They gasped when they saw the building’s interior. The more quick-witted Kiri noticed something unusual.

“T-There’s nothing here…”

“Huh? Oh.”

I could understand their misunderstanding. Crimes usually took place in empty buildings like these.

“Hiyaak!”

KWANG! To make matters worse, a fierce wind shut the door.

“It’s empty because I only bought it a while ago.”

I tried to calm them, but Kiri’s legs shook uncontrollably. She hid behind Henry, who glared at me with a terrified expression.

“W-What do you want?”

“S-Save us! We’re sorry, please don’t kill us!”

“Um, kids. I’m not a bad guy…”

Their faces turned purple as I slowly approached.

“Kids?”

“W-We’ll give you the money back! Please don’t kill us!”

“Ah, aaak! Aaaak!”

“… Uh.”

Talking any more would only make the situation worse. I simply sat on the ground and took out the burner and frying pan. Then I began to cook my special marinated boar meat.

“Hic.”

“Hic.”

The brother and sister slightly sobbed, but became quieter. I placed the meat on the frying pan and glanced at them. They still had their guard up, but also sniffed the air and smacked their lips. I finally spoke again.

“Of course there’s nothing here. I just bought it. Come eat. You must be hungry.”

Most suffered from starvation in Prestige. I even wrote something about a group of cannibals. Because of this, the children naturally grew suspicious. Kiri still hid behind Henry as he stuttered.

“Re, really?”

“What would I gain from hurting you two?”

Tzzz— The marinated boar meat gave off a tempting smell.

“Come eat. It’s fine.”

“That, that’s not human meat?”

“It’s boar meat.”

“W-Where did you get it? I… I heard livestock can only be found in the inner city.”

“I showed you my ID, didn’t I?”

“Ah.”

I finally convinced them as they hesitantly approached the frying pan while drooling. Then I took out 2 plates, placed some boar meat on top, and handed it to them.

“M-Me first!”

“Ssp. Wait.”

Henry took the plates and stopped her from eating. Then he took the first bite. Nom, nom. He seemed to be checking for poison. As he chewed, his eyes became livelier and sparkled.

“O-Oppa, can I eat it too?”

“Yeah, eat.”

They finally began to eat the meat with their bare hands. I worried they would get sick from germs, so I handed them each a fork.

“Thank you!”

“Huu, huu!”

They quickly ate as I watched with a smile. Then I carefully asked.

“How old are you two?”

“I’m 13 and Kiri is 12.”

Henry’s reply surprised me since they looked like 10 years old at most. It seemed they didn’t grow properly due to malnutrition.

“Are you two living by yourselves?”

“Yes! Hehehe.”

Kiri nodded joyfully as she chewed on the boar meat. Kiri had said their father left behind the black pouch. Now, she said they lived alone. That could only mean one thing. I took out another large chunk of meat and placed it on the frying pan. After it finished cooking, I sliced it in half and put each piece on their plate.

“You can stay and eat while I fix up this place.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Thank you!”

I patted their heads before standing up.

“Hmm…”

I pondered while looking around the empty building. How should I decorate this place into a well-known shop? Of course, I already had an idea in mind.

***

It took me 30 minutes to transform the building into the best-looking shop in the outer city with brand new shelves, display cases, stands, and a counter.

“Wow, you’re so good at making things!”

“Uwoaah…”

Henry and Kiri exclaimed in shock. They sat with full bellies after eating all the boar meat.

“I’m just talented.”

“Uwoah, talented…”

“Wow….”

Anything I said impressed them. How cute.

“Alright, you don’t have to sell flowers anymore. Just work here instead.”

“Here?”

“Yeah and I’ll provide 3 meals a day with a monthly salary of 200 TP.”

“2-200?”

Their jaws dropped.

“W-What kind of work do we need to do?”

“Cleaning the shop and selling items.”

“W-We’ll do it! But um… what items?”

“Oh right, hold on.”

I could come up with plenty of items to sell. I took out 4 random dice from my inventory and rolled them while thinking, Please change into anything that can be sold. The dice transformed into 4 items, but I could only sell the Lv.3 sword and Lv.2 leather armor. It was better than nothing. I placed the sword and leather armor on a display stand and took out the other equipment I made so far: a bear leather jacket, a red crystal axe, a gorilla tendon wrist protector, etc.

“I’m opening the shop tomorrow. The sword is 1500 TP, the axe is 1000 TP, the armor is 600 TP, and the jacket and wrist protector are 300 TP each. You can sell them for higher, but don’t lower the prices.”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

Henry and Kiri nodded excitedly. I smiled and added.

“From now on, think of this place as your home. You can live here too.”

This building should have an attic considering its size. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but it probably had something to do with the dwarven knowledge I obtained from the steles.

“Here?”

“Yep, that’s okay with you, right?”

“…”

Henry and Kiri stared at each other. They looked happy at first, but their expressions soon darkened.

“N-No.”

“Our dad might come back, so we have to stay at home.”

“You can just leave a note behind.”

“Oh!”

I easily persuaded them again. Kiri tightly grabbed Henry’s hand and spoke.

“Then we’ll be back soon.”

[TIP – Players can become friends with NPCs as well.] [You may contact NPC friends through the messenger.] [You can become friends with the NPCs, Henry and Kiri.]

“Sure, but before you go…”

I became friends with Henry and Kiri. I simply had to think about it while holding their hands. Once I finished, Henry and Kiri returned home to leave a note and I began to clean up the attic. I bought a refrigerator from the player shop to furnish their room after crafting a bed, a table, a mirror, and a dressing table. I placed some boar meat and sandwiches in the fridge for them to eat since I would return to Earth for a few days. As for the bathroom, they could use the one on the first floor.

“Oh right.”

I came up with a good idea after looking at the sandwiches in the fridge. I made a new sandwich and left the shop. Then I went straight to the guard standing outside the inner wall.

“Good work.”

I greeted the guard and gave him the sandwich.

“What’s this?”

“A sandwich.”

The guard looked at the sandwich, but didn’t take it.

“Ah, you see, I just felt grateful for all your hard work as a fellow citizen. It’s lunchtime, so I brought you a sandwich.”

I emphasized my citizenship to him. Guards were some of the strongest existences in this city, so befriending one would only benefit me. Obviously, Medea was likely the only one stronger than the guards.

“Cough, thank you, citizen.”

The guard took the sandwich. He swallowed his saliva after examining it. I laughed and bowed. Ding— A system message arrived.

[Player CaptainBritain has sent you a friend request. Would you like to accept?]

I accepted it immediately.

CaptainBritain: Hajin, are you on the 3rd floor? ^_^ 」

Me: Yes, what about you?

CaptainBritain: I just arrived, but I’m in a meeting right now in my waiting room. We’re deciding whether to buy citizenship to enter the inner city. Also, thank you for the deer meat. I just ate some with my guild members and they all said it was delicious!

Rachel sounded as energetic as ever in her messages.

Me: Haha, I see. Um, you should buy the citizenship. Otherwise, you won’t be able to do much. Also, I’m returning to Earth for a bit.

CaptainBritain: Earth?

Me: Yes, I need to check up on someone.

I received a message from someone else.

Boss: Newbie, when are you coming back?

Me: I’ll be gone for about 2-4 days. Do you want to come with me?

Boss: Should I?

Me: Lol Actually, Jain and Cheok Jungyeong can’t do anything without Boss, so you should stay.

Boss: I guess you’re right lol

I was half-kidding, but it wasn’t entirely a lie. Boss always made the correct decisions when it came to battles. After ending the conversation, I left behind a message for Henry and Kiri before closing the messenger.

[I’m going away for a while, so keep the place clean. Eat lots and make sure to exercise as well. Ask the guard in front of the inner city gate for help if anything happens. Also, bring him a sandwich every day for lunch. I put a lot in the attic fridge.]

With that, I bought a return ticket and a re-entrance ticket from the player shop.

[Would you like to leave the tower using the return ticket?] [You will return to the place where you used the entrance ticket.] [Warning! Your record will be deleted from the player database if you do not have a re-entrance ticket.]

I equipped the bracelet-shaped re-entrance ticket to my wrist.

“Yes, I’ll leave now.”

[You have used the return ticket.]

A black portal opened along with the system alert.

[Lv.??? Black Pouch] Special Item — Will allow you to copy one item from the outside world and bring it into the tower. — The copied item can only be used inside the tower.

I walked through the portal with the black pouch. Then I came to the same empty space when I first walked into the black ticket’s portal.

[Here is the storage box owned by player Extra7.]

A system alert popped up along with the storage box.

[You may bring these items back to Earth or leave them inside.]

“I’ll just go. Oh, this is okay, right?”

I held up the black pouch.

[Special item has been confirmed. The black pouch can be brought outside the tower.] [An exit portal will now be created.]

Another portal opened and led to Earth. I closed my eyes and walked through.

***

“Huu.”

I opened my eyes with a sigh and found myself in the Chameleon Troupe’s hideout. Goblins busily ran around doing work.

“Auu.”

The tower’s stat restriction no longer applied. However, I felt more sore than light. I needed some time to adjust to my change in stats. Then I stretched and looked around the lobby.

“Oh? Newbie, when did you come back?”

“Ah, hello.”

I found Setryn lying on the couch. I wasn’t too familiar with the man next to her, the seat of indigo, Yoo Kyunghwan. He swung the other way and preferred handsome men like Kim Suho or Shin Jonghak. We made eye contact and he nodded.

“Hello, Yoo Kyunghwan. This is the second time we meet.”

“Yeah, I heard from Setryn that this place got better, so I came to look.”

“I see.”

I ignored them and brought the black pouch to the goblin tablet. The pouch seemed to suck something in and became full. However, the goblin tablet remained unchanged. So this was how it copied the item.

“What did you do?”

“I copied the goblin tablet.”

“Copy?”

“Yes.”

I left behind Setryn and Yoo Kyunghwan, who observed me with interest. Then I looked for Khalifa. He came out of his room and opened a portal for me.

Like that, I arrived in front of my apartment building. I ran as quickly as possible and didn’t waste any time. At first, I went to my room, but no one was there. Then I remembered that I left Evandel at Haeyeon’s place. I practically flew over to the apartment complex down the block and rang the bell.

— Who is it?

Yun Seung-Ah asked.

“It’s me, Kim Hajin.”

— Oh? You’re back?

Kiik— The door opened and Yun Seung-Ah came out looking tired and disheveled. I went inside and looked for Evandel, who sat on the couch with Haeyeon. She sat modestly like a lady, unlike when she was at home.

“Evandel.”

I called her name and she flinched. Then she slowly turned towards me and her pretty eyes widened.

“It’s been a while.”

“Ha, Hajin—!”

Evandel shouted and ran into my embrace. She buried herself in my chest and wept.

“Hajiiiiin…”

“Don’t cry. I came back safe and sound, didn’t I?”

“Hello.”

Haeyeon came over and bowed as I comforted Evandel.

“Hi, it’s been a while.”

Haeyeon had grown since the last time I saw her. She must be around 120-130 cm now. Why wasn’t Evandel growing any taller?

“How cute.”

Yun Seung-Ah murmured apathetically. I glanced at her while hugging Evandel. Yun Seung-Ah’s appearance shocked me. I didn’t notice at first, but her hair looked like a mess and she had thick dark circles under her eyes. Her lips also swelled up and I would’ve believed it if she told me she was homeless. Just what happened while I was gone? I took a few steps back.

“Where are you going?” Yun Seung-Ah coldly asked.

“H-Home. I’m going to eat with Evandel. Haeyeon, do you want to come too? Uncle will cook you steak again.”

“Yes!”

Yun Seung-Ah stared at me.

“You entered the Tower of Wish, right? Are you doing well? Or did you give up halfway?”

“Ah, I’m going back. I’m paving the road for Suho, so don’t worry.”

September would soon arrive. Kim Suho and Jin Sahyuk would finally enter the tower. I would be a lot busier when the time came. For some reason, Yun Seung-Ah tilted her head.

“For Suho? Didn’t you guys break off your friendship?”

“What? No way.”

I smiled.

“We’re just doing different things for now.”

***

The 3 Chameleon Troupe members walked through the inner city. The difference between the inner city and the outer city felt like heaven and earth. The former had cleaner air and much better structures overall.

“Look, they must be players.”

Jain pointed into the distance at a huge group that gathered around a pond lit by streetlights. However, most of them had dark expressions. Things didn’t seem to be going well judging from their serious tone. Jain guessed that they had run out of money after spending 1000 TP on citizenship.

“What’s wrong with them?”

Jain smirked at Cheok Jungyeong’s question.

“You would be there too if not for Hajin.”

“What did you say?”

“Think about it. Finding food, cooking, advising us, and even lending money. It’s all thanks to Hajin.”

“…”

Cheok Jungyeong became speechless and rubbed his chin. Indeed, his body’s condition felt great thanks to Kim Hajin. He never had to worry about food or money.

“I guess you’re right.”

“Shh, quiet.”

Boss strained her ears and eavesdropped on the players.

— Wouldn’t it be better to return to the 2nd floor? We can come back after we stock up on food.

— What if we can’t find an elevator? Plus, our citizenship becomes voided if we go back. We’ll have wasted 1000 TP!

— Then what the fuck do you want us to do? Haven’t you seen the shitty food situation we’re in? It’s better to come back with food and sell it.

— I have food. I brought some from the 2nd floor.

— What? Show us.

The group began to fight. Boss watched from the side and turned around.

“Let’s go find a base.”

“Okay.”

The Chameleon Troupe members walked through the city without a sun and looked for a hideout like Kim Hajin suggested. After about 2 hours, they found a decent building to rent for 300 TP a month.

[Player PhantomThief has rented a hideout.] [The following bonuses will apply when you’re in your hideout.] [+10% vitality recovery rate.] [+2% stat increase rate when training.]

“So a hideout also has bonuses? Like I thought, listening to newbie is never wrong.”

Jain smiled and sat on the floor. Cheok Jungyeong began to exercise the moment he saw the system alerts and Boss opened the community. Tzzzk— A mysterious screen popped up in front of them.

[Hello, players.]

“Whoa!”

“What’s that?”

They stopped what they were doing and stared at the screen. A breathtaking beauty with blonde hair and green eyes spoke.

[I am the administrator of the 3rd floor, Medea.]

“Hmm.”

Jain crossed her arms and murmured. Honestly, she envied Medea’s beauty.

[You must be surprised by Prestige’s horrible condition. I am also heartbroken regarding this. I would like to help everyone as I explain how to reach the 4th floor.]

Medea brightly smiled.

[First, you must kill at least half the demons on this floor to climb to the 4th floor. The demons and their undead army are blocking the pathway to the 4th floor, located in the four cardinal directions around Prestige.]

Medea looked somber as another screen popped up. A map showed the bases of these so-called demons.

[You may access this map from the system whenever you wish. Also…]

Medea snapped her fingers.

[I’d like to give everyone a gift, but I don’t have the resources. So I will gift the players with the highest points in each stat. Six of you will receive a gift for having the highest points in strength, vitality, speed, perception, stamina, and magic power. I hope you don’t think I’m being too cheap.]

Boop— A light suddenly shot into Cheok Jungyeong and Boss’ pockets.

“Boss? Cheok Jungyeong? What did you two get?”

“Uh… I got a gauntlet.”

Cheok Jungyeong took out a gauntlet from his inventory while Boss took out a magnifying glass.

[Heart Piercing Magnifying Glass (3 uses)] Special Item — You may see what a target player or NPC thinks about you. (Remaining time: 119 hours 29 minutes 23 seconds)

“Boss, what’s that?”

“…”

Without replying, Boss held the magnifying glass up at Jain. She didn’t mean anything by it and simply wanted to try it out. Plus, she valued the inner thoughts of comrades.

[Sister] [Comrade] [Bond] [Familiarity] [Responsibility to Look After You] [Slight Pity]

The first three seemed good. The fourth made sense, but the last two… slight pity? She pities me?

“What does it do, Boss?”

“Shut up.”

“Hm?”

Boss looked away offended. Then she used it on Cheok Jungyeong next.

“Huh? What’s up?”

The magnifying glass zoomed in on his face.

“Hehe, you want to see my handsome face?”

A series of words popped up above the grinning Cheok Jungyeong.

[Loyalty] [Master] [Desire to Return the Favor] [Gratitude for Awakening His Past Life] [Desire to Win Against You] [Thinks He Can Win Against You]

Like last time, the last two bothered her, but they still seemed better than Jain’s. She decided to use the last one on Kim Hajin and put the magnifying glass away.

“Now.”

She clapped her hands.

“Let’s eat and hunt since we’ve found ourselves a hideout.”