The sky looked clear and blue outside grand duchess Ah Hae-In’s residence in Paris, France.

“Thank you once again for your partnership with Essence of the Strait. We will do our best to not disappoint.”

Yoo Yeonha successfully completed her contract with Ah Hae-In, the 8 star magician on the verge of becoming a 9 star. Ah Hae-In sat in front of Yoo Yeonha and faintly smiled.

“I could say the same to you. I heard my nephew joined Essence of the Strait.”

Yoo Yeonha returned a smile.

“Yes. Baire Moren is actively taking part in the guild.”

More than 4 years ago, Baire Moren competed against Kim Hajin in archery at the Cube Festival and lost even with Ah Hae-In’s help. Essence of the Strait had recruited him to win her favor.

“Then will my nephew enter the Tower of Wish this time?”

Yoo Yeonha couldn’t confidently reply. “We aren’t certain yet. The individual’s decision is most important… I don’t see why not if Moren wants to.”

“Haha. You don’t have to try so hard. I know my nephew’s strength. He’ll only be prey for others if he enters the tower now. I want to see him around for a long time. It’s not like I expect him to become a great hero.”

Ah Hae-In gave a meaningful smile.

“Still, wouldn’t my nephew's looks guarantee him success in the entertainment industry?”

Yoo Yeonha wanted that as well. She smiled assuringly. “Of course.”

“Good. I look forward to working with you.”

Her meeting with Ah Hae-In went smoothly from beginning to end. Yoo Yeonha clenched her fists with joy. The news of Ah Hae-In joining hands with Essence of the Strait would surprise their foes and encourage their friends. How would the public and their rivals react? Yoo Yeonha looked forward to it.

“Oh, by the way, what’s that guy Fenrir up to nowadays?”

Ah Hae-In suddenly asked a rather strange question. Yoo Yeonha widened her eyes at the unexpected name.

“Were you interested in mercenaries as well?”

“It’s not that. He just left a deep impression on me. It’s already been 4 years, but I still remember him.”

“Ah, you mean the archery competition?”

Yoo Yeonha recalled what happened 4 years ago. Kim Hajin showed off a mystical curve shot against Baire Moren during Cube’s class competitions. He gained many admirers and attracted several guilds with just one arrow.

“Yes. It seems like a waste for a master archer to be using guns.”

“Still, he’s broadened our horizons as the one and only gunner. He’s already considered a god-like figure in the field.”

Ah Hae-In smiled with her eyes. She had no wrinkles despite her age.

“Is that so? I heard Fenrir is on good terms with Essence of the Strait. Does that mean I’ll get to meet him sooner or later?”

“He’s currently inside the tower, so I can’t be certain. Surely he won’t hesitate to meet the grand duchess.”

“Hahaha. Really?”

Their friendly exchange continued as Yoo Yeonha carefully ended the conversation.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

“Oh, look at the time. Farewell. Spending time with a beauty made me feel young again.”

Ah Hae-In didn’t stand up and simply stretched her hand. Yoo Yeonha shook it with a bright smile. The grand duchess hated getting up since she might be shorter than the other party even with heels on. Yoo Yeonha even wore flat shoes today for that very reason.

“You may stay the night if you’d like. It’s already quite late. The guest rooms are better than most 5 star hotels.”

Ah Hae-In kindly offered since she enjoyed today’s meeting.

“I appreciate it, but just one night might not be enough if I stayed. I’d be filled with regrets after leaving such a beautiful place,” Yoo Yeonha gracefully declined.

“Is that so? Well, you must be busy.”

Ah Hae-In understood. Honestly, Yoo Yeonha had nothing left on her schedule after their meeting. Tomorrow would also be her rest day, a special day she set aside for herself once every 6 months.

“Rest well. I apologize for taking up so much of your time.”

“No, no. It’s nothing.”

Yoo Yeonha planned on returning home right away. It’s not that she didn’t like Ah Hae-In or the mansion. Ah Hae-In was a hospitable French lady who learned Korean from historical dramas and her mansion felt much cozier than Yoo Yeonha’s place.

However, Yoo Yeonha couldn’t sleep anywhere else when she had such a lovely bed at home. Before she realized it, the bed Kim Hajin gave her became her most precious treasure.

I’ll go home and sleep for the rest of the day.

Yoo Yeonha left Ah Hae-In’s mansion and happily skipped towards her limousine. The car smoothly drove away to the portal station.

“…?”

Yoo Yeonha looked out the window in delight when she saw a surprising scene.

“Hold on, driver. Slow down.”

The limousine slowed and Yoo Yeonha spotted the two people walking down the street. A tall woman held hands with a child. Both stood out from afar. The tall woman wore sunglasses, but anyone could tell she was Yun Seung-Ah.

— Evandel, isn’t traveling abroad fun?

— Yeah. It’s fun!

— I don’t know why Haeyeon doesn’t like it.

Yun Seung-Ah must be in France for a vacation, but the child next to her stood out. She had blonde hair and an adorable eye smile. Yoo Yeonha stared at the child with a serious look.

“I… I’ve seen her before…”

She had seen the child somewhere in the past. It must’ve been 3-4 years ago. She couldn’t quite recall, but she had definitely seen that child. She felt confident that girl had been with Kim Hajin. Back then, they seemed to be heading somewhere hand in hand just like with Yun Seung-Ah right now…

“But why…?”

Why was that girl with Yun Seung-Ah? Just who was she?

“Could it be?”

Her mind turned blank. Ding— A bell rang in her head. Ding— All her thoughts disappeared. Ding— Strange speculations filled the empty space. If that was the case… Did that child dye her hair just to hide their relationship?

“Uh…”

Yoo Yeonha leaned against her seat. No, no. Such a natural color couldn’t be from a dye. It must be a coincidence.

“Wait a minute.”

A thought suddenly crossed her mind. She resented herself for being so smart and quickly turned on her smartwatch to look up a conversation log.

[I’m a little short on money. Lend me some so I can buy a house. Selling my stocks seems like a waste.]

[Huh? What house?]

[Here. <Address>. It’s worth 20 billion won. I have 18 billion on me, so just lend me 2 billion.]

[You’ll need 2 more billion to cover taxes. Anyways, I’ll wire you the money soon.]

Yoo Yeonha had lent Kim Hajin 4 billion won. She looked up the registration certificate for Seocho Apartment. It belonged to Kim Hajin, but someone else rented it. The tenant was Yun Jiho, Yun Seung-Ah’s brother and the CEO of an entertainment company.

“Things are getting stranger by the minute.”

Yoo Yeonha unknowingly put her hands on her head.

“Nah… No way, no way…”

Her hair stood on ends despite her denial. The old habit returned whenever she had bizarre thoughts.

***

[Tower of Wish, 3F Prestige]

“…”

I observed the new Chameleon Troupe member, Kaita, the seat of silver. He just arrived and chewed on gum as he watched Medea’s quest.

[We will need 100 kg of dark ores, 1111 pyrogen grassroots, 1 shamrock plant, and the sun’s essence from the 5th floor’s Castle No.5 to install an artificial sun in Prestige.]

The Sunlight quest sounded rather simple. We just had to gather materials for an artificial sun and deliver them to Medea. However, the last ingredient could only be found after conquering a castle.

“Yaawn. A quest? Hey, archer, can I get anything good out of this?”

Kaita asked. He looked like one of those Russian skinheads the more I looked at him.

“The rewards will be announced in the video soon.”

“Ah, really?”

Medea began to recite the rewards.

[For the rewards, you will receive 1000 TP per 1 kg of dark ores, 100 TP per pyrogen grassroots, and 3000 TP plus a special gift for the shamrock plant. The team that brings me the sun’s essence will receive 10000 TP and 5 special rewards.]

I already had the dark ore and one shamrock, but what Medea offered for the dark ore seemed too cheap. A fair price would be 2000 TP per 1 kg.

Kim Suho and the Chameleon Troupe would collide during this quest. Kaita would team up with Zurahan, the Ordinary People Alliance’s representative. Then he would act rashly before getting killed by Kim Suho. Afterward, Kaita held a grudge against Kim Suho and chased after him in the real world, which eventually led to his real death.

I didn’t intend on stopping him. This guy acted the craziest out of all the Chameleon Troupe members. He considered murder, mutilation, and other unspeakable crimes as mere hobbies. Left alone, he would definitely betray Boss one day. I would do it myself if Kim Suho didn’t kill him.

“Hey, newbie. By the way…”

Jin Yohan looked through the community and spoke up.

“What’s this castle attack that everyone is talking about? They’re saying there’s a castle attack today.”

I took a look at the post.

[We will begin the attack on Castle No.1 at 6 P.M. today. Ordinary players should stay away from the 5th floor’s area 3.]

“Oh, it’s exactly what it sounds like. They’re going to destroy a castle.”

“Really?”

“These bugs sure do all kinds of weird things.”

Kaita sarcastically commented as Boss limped out of her room. As expected, she already recovered most of her stamina.

“Boss, are you all better now?”

“Uh, uh. B-Boss. H-Hi.”

Jin Yohan greeted Boss with a smile, but Kaita seemed visibly shaken by her appearance. Sure enough, this guy feared her. Well, I would be scared too if she beat me to the verge of death.

“Kaita, you’re here too.”

Boss welcomed him differently from how she treated me. Her eyes coldly flickered with magic power.

“Y-Yeah. Oh, but I didn’t do anything o-on the way. Really.”

Despite Kaita’s meek standing, he had been one of the original Chameleon Troupe members and was 4 years older than Boss.

“You.”

“N-No! I’m telling the truth! Plus, don’t people revive even if you kill them? Still, I didn’t do anything!”

I watched Kaita protest for a while before getting up. “Boss, I’m heading out.”

“Mm? Where are you going this time?” Boss retracted her threatening aura.

“To my shop. I probably won’t return today since I have something to do.”

“Is that so?” She looked a bit sullen.

“I’m leaving.”

“…”

I nodded and went outside. Boss’ eyes fixed on me through the door crack. I knew that look. She wanted me to cook for her.

I decided to ignore her today with my busy schedule.

I quickly arrived at Kedrick’s workshop. It had a lot of people inside, including most of the NPCs I saved from the prison camps.

“Ah, it’s master!”

“Oh!”

The muscular men greeted me. I smiled bitterly and approached Kedrick.

“How are things going?”

“Good. Very good. Rice is good and so is the corn. Hahaha.”

“That’s a relief. Ah, and these.”

I took out a bunch of items in front of the plump Kedrick.

[Steel Ingot] [Frozentium Ore] [Building Stone] [Casted Steel]…

I bought most of these miscellaneous ores from player auctions.

“Use these as materials. I’d also like to borrow the workshop for a while.”

“Of course. You there! Move these!”

“Yeah!”

I stood in front of the furnace as the NPCs carried the ores. Ssss— I turned the furnace on with stigma’s magic power. Then I melted the dark ore ingots and used Young Dwarf’s Dexterity and stigma’s magic power to make the [Dark Ore Arrows]. The whole process took 3 hours. I could’ve finished sooner, but it took time for the ore to melt and cool.

[Lv.5 Dark Ore Arrow x 15]

“Aya, you turned all those expensive ingots into arrows.”

An NPC sounded worried, but I simply smiled. Using [Lv.3 Synthesis], I fused the 15 [Lv.5 Dark Ore Arrows] with 5 [Lv.7 Dark Ore Arrows].

[Warning! The items’ high level will reduce the chance of success.] [Synthesis has succeeded!] [Warning! The items’ high level will reduce the chance of success.] [Synthesis has succeeded!] [Warning! The items’ high level will reduce the chance of success.] [Synthesis has succeeded!]

I only succeeded 12 out of 15 times even with my absurd luck. My dark ore arrows remained at level 7, but their destructive power and piercing increased by a level.

[Lv.7 Dark Ore Arrow] Lv.6 Destructive Power, Lv.6 Piercing, Lv.6 Dark Trajectory, Lv.5 Magic Destruction, Lv.1 Remote Control

All five had the same description.

“Ah, master. Henry and Kiri said the shop needs more shelves.”

Kedrick informed me after I finished synthesizing my arrows.

“Yeah, I already received their message. I have everything planned.”

I would perform a major renovation on the shop. I wanted to hire more staff and divide the store into different sections with potions, weapons, and armor. The shop would continue to grow until it became a Prestige landmark.

Young Dwarf's Dexterity combined with aether’s aesthetic eye should come up with a beautiful design.

“Where will you go now?” Kedrick asked as I prepared to leave.

“Huh? Oh…” I replied after a brief pause.

“I’m off to climb the tower.”

***

[Tower of Wish, 5F Materialized Demon Realm]

I went up to the 5th floor after upgrading my arrows and intended to reach the 6th floor. How would that be possible without completing the 5th floor? A hidden path existed like in many games.

“Let’s see…”

I took out the Book of Truth and asked the following question.

“Where is the Fairy Lake?”

Kim Suho would use this pathway in the future, but the order didn’t matter. The first person to reach the 6th floor received a reward, but it wasn’t anything great and wouldn’t affect Kim Suho.

[The Fairy Lake has been located.]

The location appeared on the Book of Truth’s GPS. I drove the dwarven supercar as I glanced through the public forum.

[How’s the castle attack going?]

— Looks like they’re still going at it?

— Why is the Royal Court Guild with Essence of the Strait and Frost Sanctuary? Are they the decoy?

— Their vice leader is an elementalist. Elementalists are extremely versatile and useful for attacking fortified strongholds.

— Oh, I see.

— Wouldn't a single elementalist be better than hundreds of you?

— What was that for? Wanna PK?

“Hmm…”

Everyone talked about the current castle attack.

Pzzt—! Pzzt—! Mana surged into the sky from not too far away.

I could see Castle No.1 and stopped to take a look. My thousand-mile eyes penetrated through every obstacle.

— Aim for the magicians above the wall!

It seemed like a tough fight. I noticed 3 familiar faces: Rachel from the Royal Court guild and Chae Nayun and Yi Jiyoon from Essence of the Strait.

— West gate, attack the west gate! Earth! Give me an earthquake! Fire!

— Rachel, I need to get up the wall! I need your elemental’s help!

Rachel and Chae Nayun performed exceptionally well together. However, the situation didn’t look good because they only had a few magicians while the demons had many. In fantasy novels, magicians played the most important role in castle attacks.

“Hmm…”

Maybe I could freeload off of them. The system gave out the rewards, so I could probably obtain some too by secretly helping out. Plus, I couldn’t ignore Rachel and Chae Nayun struggling.

“I’ll help them deal with the magicians just once.”

I climbed a nearby tree and peered at the castle far away.

“…”

I sat on a sturdy branch, took out my bow, and nocked 5 arrows. Then I aimed for the ones casting spells. Two per arrow. I decided to kill just 10 magicians. Of course, the enemies would notice and set up defensive magic, but 5th floor magicians shouldn’t be able to stop the [Lv.7 Dark Ore Arrows]. Dark ore specifically counteracted magicians in the first place.

I sat about a kilometer away, but fired without hesitation.

Chwaaaa—

The arrows traveled in the darkness. Their trajectories couldn’t be seen, but the targets detected the overwhelming wind pressure. They put up their defensive magic along with other barriers. Of course, their attempts failed.

Krrrrrk—

The arrows destroyed all their magic and pierced through the magicians’ necks. Five of the 13 magicians instantly died without a sound.

The arrows should’ve rammed into the ground, but began to move again and drew an impossible trajectory. Chweeek— Lights flashed from the corner of my eyes as the 5 arrows killed 5 more enemies.

“Hmm.”

Only 10 demons died, but the magicians accounted for a large part of the castle’s strength. The tides of battle soon shifted. The players on the battlefield couldn’t afford to be interested in who shot the arrows. They only focused in front of them.

“Return.”

I got back on the dwarven supercar after collecting my arrows. Then I drove away without looking back.

I arrived at the Fairy Lake about 30 minutes later in a remote area that most would glance over. Only mud and dirt filled the lake despite its name. The lake seemed like it contained monsters, but nothing lived inside. A pathway on the bottom led to the 6th floor.

“Phew.”

A nasty smell filled the air. I mentally prepared myself and held my nose as I took off all my armor. I warmed up with exercises just in case and took a few deep breaths.

Plop!

I jumped into the lake. Ueeeek—! And threw up as soon as I entered. Vomit clung to my face inside the water. Ueeeek—! I threw up again in disgust. Kim Suho’s sincerity purified the lake, but I couldn’t do that. I endured the filth for 5 minutes while shivering. The system message finally popped up.

[You are the first to reach the 6th floor!] [News of your advancement will be announced to all players in 3 hours.]