A few hours later,
Someone knocked on the door of the Director’s office at the Extraterrestrial Defense and Tower Management Bureau.
“Director, I have a report.”
Department Head Kim Gyu-sik hurriedly entered the office, tablet in hand.
“Have a seat. What is it?”
The Director offered him a seat and sat facing him.
“Please look at this. It’s the trade item registration application for today’s OnTower auction house.”
Director An Yong-geon, who had been quietly staring at the screen, furrowed his brow.
“Ten S-grade Etheriums registered...? Isn’t this just a prank?”
“It is not. When an item is registered, the item collection team is immediately dispatched to retrieve it. It’s highly unlikely that an Admitee Awakener, who would obviously know this, would pull such a prank.”
“So, did you send the collection team?”
“Yes, they’ve already returned.”
Only then did the Director pull away from the sofa and lean forward, straightening his posture.
“Was it real?”
“That’s correct. All ten S-grade Etheriums were genuine, and after verification was completed, they were listed normally for the online auction.”
“Hoo... S-grade Etheriums are extremely rare in themselves... and ten of them, at that... Wait, aren’t S-grade Etherium rewards only given from towers of at least the 90th floor or higher?”
“That’s correct.”
“Which teams have recently cleared towers above the 90th floor?”
“Director, not a single tower above the 90th floor has appeared in the last three years.”
Only then did the Director grasp the truth of the matter, his expression growing grave.
“...What in the world is this... Then, has the identity of the seller been confirmed?”
“Of course. The name is Jeong Suho, a twenty-nine-year-old young man residing in Seoul. However, his Admitee awakening registration was... today...”
“Did you say today?!”
The Director was now practically jumping up in surprise.
Half-risen from the sofa.
“What is his rank? His classification? What class did he receive?”
“Production and Support classification, S-grade. The detailed class is... ‘Item Collector’...”
“S, S-grade...? The tenth S-grade Admitee in South Korea appeared... without a single whisper...? No, why didn’t the Inspection Department report this properly?!”
“...Upon checking, it seems they didn’t take it seriously either. They thought it was a fraud that would be exposed soon... The relevant personnel are currently being reprimanded.”
“Hoo... This is unbelievable... and has the class called Item Collector ever appeared worldwide...?”
“The specialized analysis team checked thoroughly, but it has not. It is the world’s first class.”
“...I’m going crazy... Something that will turn the world upside down... and it’s happening right under my nose...”
The Director sank back into the sofa.
Pressing his temples with his index finger and thumb as if a headache were coming on, he spoke in a low voice.
“Assign agents. Top-class. Many of them.”
“Understood. Is the purpose surveillance or protection?”
“Both.”
* * *
At that moment.
The auction house was in an uproar.
It was because ten extremely rare S-grade Etheriums—items unseen in the domestic auction house for years—had been registered all at the same time.
S-grade Etherium was something you could not buy even if you had the money.
The rumors spread like wildfire, reaching overseas in an instant,
and high-ranking Awakeners, large clans, and even major corporations seeking to acquire the S-grade Etherium went to great lengths to participate in the auction through various routes.
This was because S-grade Etherium was the highest-grade energy source capable of drawing out tremendous power and efficiency when combined with weapons, armor, or any other equipment.
It was an event worthy of the world’s attention.
Director Elaine, who held the post of Chief of the US Department of Homeland Security’s Tower Security Bureau and Admitee Protection Bureau, also took a deep interest in this information.
“What do you think? How often do S-grade Etheriums appear on the global OnTower auction house?”
Deputy Director Hall Thain pushed up his glasses and answered,
“Across all auction houses worldwide, one appears roughly every month or two on average. But such a large quantity appearing all at once is undoubtedly the first time.”
“Hmm... As expected, this is no ordinary matter. Find out who the seller is. And make contact somehow. I have a hunch about this. A hunch that some big shot is connected.”
* * *
Ring, ring, ring—
Not long after the auction house’s item collection team had come and gone, a call came in for Suho. It was his youngest sister, Suji.
“Yeah, Suji.”
“H-hey, oppa, where are you? Are you home?”
“Yeah, I went out and just got back a little while ago.”
“There are a lot of weird people near our villa... so I called... I’m scared.”
Suho couldn’t help but smile at Suji contacting him like this, something she rarely did.
“You little brat, now that oppa’s awakened, are you finally feeling like you have someone to rely on?”
“S-shut up. I said it’s really weird. I’m just calling while I go inside... Oppa, you don’t have to say anything. Just let me talk.”
“What do these weird people look like? Do they look like monsters? Actually, maybe they’re not humans at all but doppelgangers from a Tower Break...? Wah!”
“Damn it! I said I’m scared, why are you like this! Anyway, that’s not it, but they’re huge, wearing suits, like some mafia... Ah, whatever. Anyway, that’s how it is.”
After ending the call with Suji, who said she was almost home, Suho felt a sense of foreboding.
It seemed like strange things were increasing around him now that such a large sum of money had appeared.
There was still some time before the auction began to sell the items at the auction house.
Once the auction ended, after the buyer’s final receipt confirmation, he would receive points, and using those points to participate in the auction again to buy protection-related equipment for his family would take too much time.
He felt he had to hurry even more to protect himself and his family.
Suho pondered for a moment, then opened the Internet again and connected to a site.
The place he connected to was a private android security firm specializing in dispatching “protection-specialized androids.”
There were several places, but he chose a major corporate firm said to have some credibility.
He thought of hiring ordinary security guards, but it was hard to trust humans who took money to protect someone.
In this world, it was not uncommon for guards, security agents, or even police officers to turn into robbers when presented with greater profit.
That was why he chose a guard android firm.
“Why are these so expensive...”
The models varied greatly depending on the grade.
To summarize the complicated explanation, the higher-grade guard androids looked more human, had greater output, were more capable in combat, and understood speech better, according to the guide.
The most expensive one cost 15 million won for a one-month rental.
Regardless, he had plenty of money.
Without hesitation, he contracted five top-grade units and paid 75 million won.
After confirming the notice that the guard androids would arrive in three hours, he closed the window.
Now he felt a little relieved.
* * *
“Ah, why, no! I’m going to take that, that male model!”
“You looked absolutely thrilled sitting next to that young female model, didn’t you? You might as well set up a separate household. That’s right.”
The evening when the rental guard androids arrived and the whole family gathered, the house became a noisy mess.
By chance, one android with a young man’s appearance and four with female appearances had arrived.
The youngest, Suji, threw a fit saying she would claim the young male android for herself,
while Mother stubbornly insisted that she wouldn’t hand over any young female model to Father.
After bickering for a while, Mother won.
In the end, the only male-looking android was assigned to Father,
and the remaining four were all assigned female-looking androids.
Suho and Mother didn’t really care either way, while Suji pouted like a duck.
Jiho couldn’t close his mouth because he was so overjoyed.
Though it was a large sum of money, once Suho explained the circumstances, everyone was convinced.
“Well done. My son, you’re right. You can never be too safe.”
“Even so, there have been a lot of thug-like guys around our neighborhood lately, so I was feeling uneasy... this is a good thing...”
Each person configured their guard android to match their schedule and style, then went to bed.
* * *
The next day.
Mother, Father, and Suji went out to look at a house to lease, while Suho went with Jiho to look at cars.
Despite being a family of five, they did not have a single car.
There was unanimous agreement to prioritize resolving the house and car, which had been the whole family’s long-cherished wish.
For now, Suho and Jiho would pick their cars, and the rest of the family would go look at cars another day.
Wasn’t it the era of one car per person?
Jiho couldn’t hide his excitement the whole way to the dealership at the thought of having his own car.
“Hyung, I feel like this is a dream. A car... my own car. Hehe.”
“Yeah, it’s reality, so pick whatever car you want.”
“Really, thanks to having a great hyung, I get to enjoy such luxury. I know a thing or two about cars. I’ll inspect hyung’s car thoroughly too. Hehe.”
Taking a driverless taxi together with the guard androids, the four of them arrived at an Electric Porsche dealership.
Electric cars from various lines showed off their styles.
Among the various features, Jiho listened with sparkling eyes, engrossed in the dealer’s explanation focusing on what convenience facilities could be enjoyed inside the car during autonomous driving.
But Suho felt no interest at all.
Rather, he listened to all the explanations perfunctorily while lost in other thoughts.
‘This is strange... No, maybe this is normal...’
Lately, his heart had been like this.
A numb state where he could feel no interest in anything, devoid of emotion.
He remembered that it had started since receiving the subspace storage.
It truly had.
Very recently, he had earnestly wished, ‘If only I had my own car, even a compact one, how nice that would be...’
No, wanting a car had been a desire held for a very long time.
For a very long time, he had wanted to have even one car.
But after being struck by a windfall,
now that he could have top-class vehicles in any type and quantity, not some compact car,
there was no emotion, trembling, excitement, or joy in his heart.
Instead, Suho looked at Jiho, who felt and radiated such diverse emotions, with envy.
Startled, he felt himself strange for envying such a thing.
This was a dangerous signal.
‘Yes, my situation isn’t simply that I have more money. It’s absolutely not just that...’
He needed to look at the situation objectively.
It wasn’t the level of suddenly having money like winning the lottery.
His life had suddenly become like an RPG game plastered with cheat keys.
Infinite money, infinite resources, everything pumped in.
No, not just an RPG using cheat keys—life itself had become a sandbox-type game.
What was the problem with that?
It was a serious problem. You wouldn’t know unless you experienced it.
The biggest drawback of playing a game with cheat keys
was that you got bored easily.
In short, a sense of futility rushed in and it stopped being fun.
With a game, you could quit if you got bored and simply exit,
but the problem was that this was his life right now.
He couldn’t turn it off just because it wasn’t fun.
Turning it off meant ending his life.
The irony of a human who felt futility once it actually happened, despite having wanted so much to become rich, despite having desperately wished to escape poverty.
The documentary saying that lottery winners were unexpectedly unhappy afterward,
and the reason why the world’s ultra-rich didn’t flex and lived frugally suddenly made sense.
He also remembered the universe administrator’s words: “Celestial currency is something an ordinary human, a finite being, cannot handle.”
Yes,
perhaps the real enemy might be inside.
Inside his heart.
*Slap—!*
Suho struck his own cheeks with both hands, making a loud sound.
Everyone in the store turned to look at him in surprise.
“Let’s come to my senses. Senses. Yes! Let’s not lose my original intention.”
If devoured by futility, he would die.
Then he wouldn’t truly be alive even if he lived.
“Yes, I’ll enjoy it. Let’s enjoy it. I’m buying a car! The one I wanted most! Right. This is something I’ve wanted so badly. That’s right. Let’s keep my original intention. Let’s come to my senses and enjoy this process. Let’s steel my heart and enjoy it!”
Damn, who knew he’d need to work to keep his grip like this.
Everyone in the store looked at Suho with their mouths agape as he shouted strange slogans.
Suho had completely forgotten that he was voicing thoughts that were supposed to stay in his head.