“…!”

Jin Sahyuk’s eyes shot open and she began to hyperventilate like someone who almost drowned. She breathed, but felt like she couldn’t from an overwhelming pressure.

“Huu… huu…”

Only after taking a few more breaths did she snap out of her daze and touch her forehead, which dripped with sweat. She finally realized that she had died.

“…”

Jin Sahyuk pulled her hair back and looked around. The floor and walls consisted of wooden boards and the ceiling was white. She had returned to her waiting room and a system alert popped up.

[You have died. You must stay inside your waiting room until the next tutorial.] [The next tutorial will begin next month on November 1st.]

She became speechless at the damned system and boiled with rage. Unbearable hatred and killing intent filled her until her arms, legs, and the rest of her body trembled. See you later. His final words echoed in her ears.

However, her rage soon died down. After experiencing death, a powerful listlessness and exhaustion struck her. Her rage subsided like a receding tide as her body felt increasingly enervated and her mind cleared. Emotions she normally wouldn’t feel rose within her.

“Haa…”

She closed her eyes and deeply sighed. She had lost without any room for excuses. No, she could make plenty of excuses thinking back on it. Her stats had been restricted and the opponent had a 2 month head start. However, she ceased such thoughts since she had already died and simply sat in a daze.

I lost again. Does that make it twice now? Did I really lose to the same guy twice?

She felt her strength leave her body like her bones had liquified and laughed at herself.

Is this it? Will you be able to fulfill your life-long wish like this?

She opened her eyes, which swirled with doubt. The white ceiling seemed to shine brighter than usual.

“Is there anything I can do before starting over?”

She asked the empty air.

“Something to kill time.”

[Time is a concept. Therefore it cannot be killed. I recommend studying to grow smarter.]

The system seemed happy that she died.

“Are you fucking with me?”

[I recommend reading.]

“Hm, reading…”

She had never read a book since coming to Earth. The last time she read a book was in her hometown due to compulsory education.

“Then give me something to read.”

[History of Losers]

A comic book instantly appeared in the air. Jin Sahyuk frowned at the cover.

“You piece of shit! Give me something else!”

[How to Overcome Illiteracy]

A proper book appeared this time, but the title didn’t sound appealing at all.

“Fucker, give me a proper book.”

[How to Overcome Anger-Management Issues] [How to Talk Positively] [Friendly Way of Talking]

Several books fell from the sky.

[Anne of Green Gables] [100 Facts Every Idiot Should Know] [How to Maintain One’s Composure]

“Are you messing me, you piece of— aak!”

A book fell and struck her head. The particularly heavy book hit her with its edge. Jin Sahyuk clutched her head and groaned.

“Uuu, you son of a bitch…”

However, the attack (?) wasn’t over. Tudududu— Countless books continued to fall from above like hail.

[The Bird That Drinks Tears] [The Little Prince] [The Prince] [Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty] [On the Origin of Species] [Anatomy]…

Soon, Jin Sahyuk found herself buried under. She clenched her teeth inside this tomb of books and mumbled.

“If only it had a body.”

Jin Sahyuk felt a strong urge to beat up the system, but knew it had no form. She shook off her frustration with a sigh and looked through the books. One in particular caught her attention.

[The Prince] by Niccolò Machiavelli.

“Hm.”

Jin Sahyuk smiled. Something about the title and author attracted her. She saw herself as someone who would one day become a ruler, so she picked up the book without hesitation.

***

[You have won a duel against a target!] [Target Kim Hajin has acquired the following victory reward!] [All stats have increased by 1 since the target is a sworn enemy. (Only 35% will be applied in the tower)] [You have obtained 2 Special Consolidation Tickets.] [You have stolen 1479 TP from player StrongestWill.]

“…”

I sat on the ground and stared at the system alert. I looked through the entire system log, but couldn’t recall anything about it. Then I looked at my laptop’s system log with my smartwatch and went back 3 years: 2029, 2028, 2027… Finally, I found my answer.

[A magic power of rage and obsession has formed a spell in a distant place. You have been selected as a target.] [However, a miraculous luck strikes!] [A mysterious power has reversed the spell!] [An unknown person’s gift, Targeting, has been changed to benefit Kim Hajin!] [Narrow Escape from Death (4/9) – A special stat, accumulation of luck, has partly unlocked.]

“Hmm.”

Using this log, I tried to figure out exactly what happened. First, Jin Sahyuk selected me as a target. My luck ended up reversing her spell and she became the target instead. Then I gained the above rewards from killing the target today.

This Targeting seemed like Jin Sahyuk’s second gift. How complicated. I checked the reward.

[Special Consolidation Ticket] A consolidation ticket formed from a special gift. You may strengthen a gift, equipment, physique, or art with this ticket.

“Oh?”

This amazing item didn’t exist in the original story. Of course, I would have to use it to know how much it strengthened something. Should I use one on Master Sharpshooter? A series of alerts popped up as I considered my options.

[A merit conference will be held in Prestige’s [Lv.11 Medea’s Castle] in 2 days at 8 P.M.] [You must participate in this event as an influential candidate.] [If you don’t, you will earn the ill-will of Medea and will not receive any rewards.]

There should be a few special skill books and a trait recovery coupon as rewards. I should be able to recover another trait with first place.

“Hmm.”

I got up since I could think about what trait to choose later.

“Ah, I should pick up Jin Sahyuk’s mana crystals.”

[Lv.1 Jin Sahyuk’s Mana Crystal x 22] [Lv.2 Jin Sahyuk’s Mana Crystal x 4]

I wasn’t sure what to do with them, but it should come in handy since Jin Sahyuk’s magic power was high rank.

I checked the current time after placing the crystals in my inventory: 3 P.M. I should hunt some more and take care of djinns who would become problematic in the future. Who would’ve thought I would become a newbie hunter?

I climbed up another tree and expanded my vision across the horizon. I found someone on my hit list among those traversing the 2nd floor’s harsh conditions.

— It’s so hot. Fan me properly.

Cecilia, a djinn with a succubus’ ability. She had enslaved some men and currently ordered them around. I transformed the Desert Eagle into an assault rifle since using a sniper rifle bullet would be a waste. The assault rifle would be enough for anyone other than Jin Sahyuk.

Of course, I had to shorten the distance to increase its power. I jumped from tree to tree until I came within 400 meters. I could see Cecilia with my naked eyes and aimed. Then I pulled the trigger.

Shooong—

The bullet shot through the air and pierced her forehead. She immediately scattered into particles of light.

[You have stolen 3568 TP from the player CharmCharmCharm.]

— W-What?

— Huh?

The men looked around in a daze as the succubus’ enchantment wore off.

***

In 24 hours, I killed 7 djinns and procured enough food to feed 100 people for 3 days. I also found another dwarven stele. I thought about going back when I suddenly grew curious about Kim Suho. I returned to an elevator after finding and observing him for a while. As expected, Suho did just fine on his own.

“…?”

Something in my pocket suddenly vibrated when I prepared to board the elevator I found using the Book of Truth. It came from Muninn’s egg, which sat in my robe’s large pocket.

I quickly took the egg out as cracks formed on its surface. The cracks grew bigger as the egg continued to shake.

“Oooh.”

This slightly surprised me. The descendant of Odin’s beloved pet was being born now. What was I supposed to do? For now, I unleashed stigma’s magic power and comfortably wrapped the egg. It stopped shaking inside the soft membrane of magic power. Soon, the eggshell broke and a small bird peeked its head out. Its feathers looked wet and it couldn’t open its eyes yet. It looked incredibly ordinary for a descendant of the bird loved by a god. However, the information displayed was far from ordinary.

[Lv.5 Descendant of Muninn] [Strength 0.2] [Bite 0.2] [Stamina 0.2] [Speed 0.2] [Perception 6] [Vitality 0.2] [Magic Power 6]

A Lv.5 newborn with perception and magic power stats at 6 points. My jaws dropped and I held the newborn in my arms. It must’ve felt my warmth and slowly opened its adorable eyes to look up at me.

“Hi.”

I didn’t know whether it could understand human language, but I smiled and greeted it anyway. Then it tilted its head to the side as birds often did to get a better look at me.

— Chirp.

A system alert popped up as it cried.

[Lv.5 Descendant of Muninn has recognized you as its master.] [Please name the Lv.5 Descendant of Muninn!]

“A name…”

I never thought about what to name this sacred bird. After a moment, I came up with one.

“Ah! How about Pomi?”

Pomi frowned.

— Chirp, chirp chirp!

It didn’t sound happy at all. Did that sound bad?

“Then how about Phoenix?”

Phoenix pouted. Wasn’t it a cool name?

“Hmm… Then how about Lionel Ronaldo.”

— Chirp!

“Son Heungmin?”

— Chirp!

“Vermillion Bird?”

I suggested every name I could think of, but Muninn’s descendant wasn’t easily pleased. After about 30 minutes…

“Is this really okay?”

— Chirp chirp.

The little bird finally smiled and its eyes formed cute crescents. I didn’t understand why, but the name just now sounded good to it.

“Alright then. From now on, you’re Mr. Spartan Keyser Söze Macbeth Junior.”

— Chirp, chirp!

[Muninn’s descendant loves the name you gave it.] [The naming ceremony has been completed.] [Mr. Spartan Keyser Söze Macbeth Junior has activated its first trait, Ring of Perception.] [From now on, you may share your vision and thoughts with Mr. Spartan Keyser Söze Macbeth Junior!]

“Hmm?”

[Second Trait – Information and Shop] [Mr. Spartan Keyser Söze Macbeth Junior will allow you to use the tower re-entrance ticket and earth return ticket for free.] [Furthermore, it will gift you 2-3 items per day.] [Mr. Spartan Keyser Söze Macbeth Junior will awaken more traits as it grows.]

A newly born chick had this much potential? Investing 20000 TP was undoubtedly the correct choice. As expected of a divine bird’s descendant, Spartan was already amazing.

“Alright, Spartan. Let’s go up.”

— Chirp.

I placed Spartan (short for Mr. Spartan Keyser Söze Macbeth Junior) on the ground. He waddled into the elevator as I followed. I decided it was a he since I gave Spartan a male name.

[Going up.]

I pressed the 3rd floor button. The door closed and the elevator began to fly up. Meanwhile, Spartan continued to chirp as he explored the elevator. I opened the messenger to kill some time.

Nayunjajangman: Hyung, you don’t happen to have a curse antidote, do you?

Nayunjajangman: Ah, not that I was inflicted with a curse, haha. It’s actually my friend.

Nayunjajangman: It looks like the curse is growing stronger as time goes by. I think it’s still bearable, but I can pay up to 2000 TP if you have one.

A message that I received 2 days ago caught my attention.

“A curse?”

The only curse that one could receive on the 3rd floor was the banshee’s curse. The ingredients were quite expensive, but I knew the recipe for making the counteragent. I still had several random dice in case I needed them too. However, I felt afraid to meet Nayunjajangman. I feared whether he or she was Chae Nayun.

“Mmm…”

However, I also couldn’t let Nayunjajangman’s friend die. I leaned against the elevator in thought.

— Chirp, chirp!

I glanced over after hearing Spartan’s loud chirp.

— Chirp! Chirp!

Spartan flapped its wings. Was he already trying to fly? He was only just born 30 minutes ago!

— Chirp…

Spartan’s eyes remained closed as he focused his strength into his wings.

— Chirp! Chirp!

Unfortunately, he couldn’t fly just yet. He seemed dissatisfied as he opened his eyes and glared at his wings.

— Chirp, chirp!

He retracted them after a disgruntled cry. I couldn’t help but smile at his cuteness.

***

Boss returned to the Chameleon Troupe’s hideout on Earth. She felt a bit sore as the tower’s stat restriction lifted. However, she didn’t waste any time stretching and headed straight to the hideout’s lobby.

“Boss, you’re back.”

Setryn discovered her first and ran over to hug her, but Boss pushed her away with light magic power.

“Meanie. Why can’t you love me as much as newbie?”

“Where’s Droon.”

“Droon?” Setryn tilted her head and pointed at Droon’s playroom.

“He’s been inside his room recently. What do you need him for?”

“…”

Boss didn’t say anything and walked over to Droon’s room. Knock, knock— The door opened and Boss’ gaze fell downward.

“Droon.”

“Boss?”

A small child who only came up to her chest looked up at her and blinked in surprise.

“Why’d you call me?”

“Tell me where Yoo Jinhyuk is hiding.”

“Eh? S-So suddenly?”

“Didn’t I tell you to investigate his whereabouts? That was a long time ago too.”

Droon flinched at Boss’ unusual attitude. He hadn’t seen this side of her for a long time thanks to Hajin hyung. Did something happen inside the tower?

“I, I found out where he lives. B-But why are you looking for him?”

“I want to ask him something. I don’t think he’ll respond to my messages on Violet Banquet, so I’ll find him myself.”

Boss felt certain Yoo Jinhyuk would know something. Droon swallowed his saliva at her determination.