40
Baek Woojin, who was carrying Jang Hyena on his back, gently pushed the door open with his foot.
As the closed door split in half again, the revealed scenery was not the gathering place of the challengers, but an unknown space filled entirely with pure white.
‘Do I get assigned a fairy in charge if I go in here?’
When one successfully conquers the tower for the first time, a fairy in charge is assigned to convert detailed factors, such as how perfectly it was cleared, into points and deliver the rewards.
“But is it okay to enter while unconscious?”
“It’s not her first time, so the fairy in charge will figure it out. Or they’ll wait until she wakes up.”
“That’s a bit…”
He was slowly getting hungry, and he wanted to take a warm shower and quickly lie down on a soft bed.
“Then I’ll see you later.”
“Make sure you come visit. Don’t forget.”
Since they would reunite soon anyway, he briefly said his goodbyes and stepped inside.
“Is this what it feels like to be possessed by a ghost-type monster?”
As soon as he crossed the door, the weight of Jang Hyena on his back vanished without a trace. It seemed this pure white space was a unique personal space given to individuals.
He looked back just in case, but as expected, the door he had entered through was gone, and only the pure white space stretched out.
He only knew the information that a fairy in charge would be assigned, but there was no specific mention of how long the process would take, so Baek Woojin spent his time swinging his halberd until the fairy appeared.
[ Just as I was appearing, hyiek?! ]
“……?”
Baek Woojin, who was swinging his halberd against an imaginary enemy he had created in his mind, stopped his movement and opened his eyes at the cute scream.
[ What are you doing so dangerously?! ]
“…….”
A tiny fairy, slightly larger than a fist, furiously threw a tantrum while raising her cute little hands above her head, but from a human’s perspective, she only looked adorable. It was truly a regrettable thing for fairies.
“Reward.”
[ Y-You have to apologize first! ]
As if emphasizing how angry she was, the corners of her sparkling light green eyes rose fiercely. Of course, even that was just trivially cute.
“If there’s a rule saying you can’t swing weapons here, I’ll apologize.”
[ Huh? Oh, th-there’s no such rule… ]
The fiercely raised corners of her eyes slowly crept down, and the fairy fidgeted with her cute hands.
“Then it seems I should be the one receiving an apology from you.”
[ What? Why? I’m the victim here? ]
“That’s your fault for appearing without checking. And if you couldn’t dodge, I would have almost committed the sin of killing a fairy against my will.”
[ Uh…? ]
Since she hadn’t introduced herself yet, the tiny head of the unnamed fairy in charge tilted sideways.
‘If I brought her home, Madam Jang would adore her.’
He had pretended to be nonchalant in front of Hong Yeonha, but in reality, he hadn’t felt very good.
The sensation of digging into flesh wasn’t much different whether it was a monster or a human. However, thinking that he had killed a fellow human left a bitter aftertaste.
Yet, just by exchanging a few words with the unnamed fairy in charge who appeared before him, the unpleasantness that had clung to him without being brushed away washed away like a lie.
Truly a mysterious race.
So he decided to stop teasing here.
Even if it wasn’t intended, it was true that he had been healed.
If nothing else, making sure to repay favors was his motto.
“What’s your name?”
[ It’s Bibi, but…? ]
Even her name is cute.
“Bibi, I’m also at fault to some extent for swinging my weapon instead of calmly waiting, so let’s just pretend this never happened. How about it?”
[ Huh? Oh! Y-Yeah! Uh-huh!! ]
The fairy, who had energetically appeared only to instantly become deflated, quickly regained her spirits as if it had never happened, restoring her vitality.
“I’m Baek Woojin.”
[ I know! Because I’m your fairy in charge!! ]
Since he had unintentionally stolen Bibi’s moment, he lowered his halberd and calmly waited so she could fully show off this time.
[ I’m Bibi! The fairy who will deliver your rewards every time you successfully conquer the tower. ]
“We probably won’t see each other often, but I look forward to working with you.”
[ Aw… ]
He slightly held out his index finger as a sign to shake hands, but for some reason, Bibi suddenly became depressed on her own.
“What’s wrong?”
[ I got sad thinking we wouldn’t see each other often… ]
He had thought fairies were kind to challengers because it was a trait of their race. However, seeing her so downcast, it seemed there was another hidden reason.
‘There’s no harm in being kind to a being of the tower.’
Especially if that being was the one in charge of delivering rewards.
“Bibi. What do you guys do when the tower is closed?”
[ When the tower closes, we maintain it for the next time. And in our remaining time, we sleep. ]
“When it opens?”
[ We draw lots. And only the friends who win get the chance to converse with you. ]
He roughly understood why fairies were so kind to challengers and full of energy whenever they met.
“Are fairies in charge also chosen by drawing lots?”
[ Hehe~! No way! The fairy in charge position is given to elite fairies who have served the tower for a long time and were selected as outstanding fairies after accumulating good evaluations one by one when given the lucky chance to meet humans~!! ]
“Then Bibi must be a very outstanding fairy. Amazing.”
[ Ahehem~!! ]
He wasn’t sure about her being an elite, but he could clearly tell that she had been trapped in the tower for a long time, so for the sake of Bibi, who would spend another half-year alone once he left, he decided to accommodate the little fairy at least for this moment.
“Once I receive the reward, will I be sent straight outside?”
[ Not necessarily. If you want, you can stay here until the tower closes. ]
“You too?”
[ Yeah. Because I’m your fairy in charge! While you stay here, I’ll be here too! ]
“Alright. Then I’ll stay here after receiving the reward, so shall we talk about the reward first?”
[ Really? You’ll really stay here even after receiving the reward? ]
“Yeah. Until the tower… well, until the tower closes, I’ll stay.”
The time from the tower opening to closing was at most a day.
If he could win the favor of the fairy in charge with just a day on the outside, wouldn’t that be incredibly cheap?
[ Wait just a moment!! ]
Bibi pressed both her temples with her cute little hands and concentrated.
‘Is she receiving information?’
Bibi concentrated for quite a long time, but her tiny, cute appearance floating in the air with sparkling, pretty wings had the power to keep one from feeling bored just by looking at her.
[ Wah! Waaa!! Amazing! Amazing!! ]
Bibi, who had been concentrating, raised both hands that were pressing her temples and flew right up to his face, her light green eyes sparkling.
[ 1st stage 10 points! 2nd stage 10 points! And the final 3rd stage 10 points! Perfect score! A perfect score!! ]
30 out of 30 points.
Since no one had posted detailed information regarding the rewards, he couldn’t really grasp how difficult it was to achieve this score of 30.
[ Just! Wait! A! Sec! ]
Bibi raised both hands above her head as if gathering energy, and strangely enough, a soft halo of light began to form over her cute little hands.
[ Hwaaaaaah!! ]
As she let out a spirited shout with a pleasant voice, the halo of light on Bibi’s hands flashed! and burst, and a box about the size of her body took its place.
‘Contrary to her appearance, she seems to be quite strong.’
Seeing Bibi flying while casually lifting the box, he reproached himself for thinking the fairy race would be weak just because their appearance and actions were cute.
Pop~! Bang~!!
Firecracker effects appeared around Bibi, and soon, a small message floated above the box.
【 Special Achievement: ‘It was filthy being with you, let’s never meet again.’ Accomplished! 】
When he gently touched the message, the conditions for achieving it appeared below.
Condition 1. A challenger visiting the tower for the first time.
Condition 2. The 3rd stage trial must be a boss subjugation trial.
Condition 3. Form a party of at least 4 people.
Condition 4. Achieve a contribution of 99% or higher.
‘Hah.’
After reading all the conditions, an empty laugh escaped him.
Even if one had the ability to fulfill all the conditions, if luck didn’t favor them and the boss subjugation didn’t appear in the 3rd stage trial, it was an achievement that could absolutely never be cleared unless one regressed.
[ It’s the achievement reward! ]
As he took the box Bibi offered and opened the lid, a single black ring lay inside.
[ It’s a ring that only qualified people can wear. After wearing it, if it gets separated beyond a certain distance, it has a function that automatically returns it to the finger it was first worn on. ]
Listening to Bibi’s explanation, Baek Woojin slipped the black ring onto his left index finger.
With this, he now wore one ring on each hand.
[ Now shout, Item Box! ]
“Item Box.”
As he repeated Bibi’s words, a square box with 10 vertical slots appeared in the air.
[ No weight limit! No quantity limit! As long as the type matches, you can store an unlimited amount of whatever you want in a single slot! ]
“…….”
Baek Woojin pushed the halberd he was holding into the first slot. Then, the first slot flickered and swallowed the halberd whole.
In the previously empty slot, the outer shape of the halberd was engraved in a pixelated form.
‘It doesn’t show the name like in a game.’
[ When you want to close it, just touch the ring once. And the Item Box is only visible to the eyes of qualified people, so it’s safe to use even in crowded places!! ]
“Thanks.”
[ Ahem! ]
He knew that it was a rightful reward given to the one who achieved the feat, and that it was a reward given by the tower, not Bibi.
‘It’s not like a few words of praise are difficult.’
Thanks to being able to store the halberd in the Item Box, Baek Woojin’s hands were now free, and he carefully reached out and gently brought his left hand under Bibi’s legs as she floated in the air.
[ I-Is it okay? ]
“I’m not sure what you mean by okay, but with this much weight, it seems fine if you ride on me.”
[ Gasp?! T-Then there’s something I’ve really wanted to try for a long time! ]
“Before that.”
Baek Woojin brought his face slightly closer to Bibi, who had climbed onto his palm, and said.
“Besides the achievement reward, you have to give me the real reward too.”
[ Ah! S-Sorry! I forgot! ]
Bibi flapped her wings, which seemed transparent yet radiated a mystical light, and flew up again.
[ I’ll raise the limit of all your stats by one stage. ]
As Bibi gathered her cute little hands in front of her chest and closed her eyes, a soft light gathered just like before.
The difference was that the light didn’t burst and turn into an object, but instead flew straight over and seeped into his body.
[ Yes. With this, you should now be able to grow all your stats up to D-rank. ]
“……?”
[ Hehe, then let’s-, guek?! ]
Bibi, who was about to jump onto his head with an excited face, was roughly caught by Baek Woojin’s hand, the smile having vanished from his face.