A few hours later,
A knock sounded at the door to the Director’s office at the Extraterrestrial Defense and Tower Management Administration.
“Director, I have something to report.”
Bureau Chief Gim Gyusik hurriedly entered the Director’s office, tablet in hand.
“Have a seat. What is it?”
Offering him a seat, the Director sat facing the bureau chief.
“Please take a look. It’s a listing application for the OnTower Auction House filed today.”
An Yonggeon, the Director, quietly studied the screen and frowned.
“Ten S-rank Etheriums registered...? Isn’t this just a prank?”
“No. When an item is registered, the Item Retrieval Team is immediately dispatched to collect the goods. An Admitti Awakened who knows that full well is unlikely to play such a prank.”
“So, did you send the retrieval team?”
“Yes, they’ve already returned.”
Only then did the Director pull himself off the sofa and lean forward intently.
“Was it real?”
“Yes. All of the S-rank Etheriums were genuine. Verification is complete, and they’ve been posted for the online auction normally.”
“Hoo... S-rank Etherium is extremely rare in itself... and ten of them at that... Wait, aren’t S-rank Etherium rewards only given out by Towers of at least the 90th floor?”
“That’s correct.”
“Which teams have cleared Towers of the 90th floor or higher recently?”
“Director, there hasn’t been a single Tower of the 90th floor or higher that appeared in the last three years.”
Only then did the Director realize the truth of the matter, and his expression turned grave.
“...What is going on... Then, has the identity of the seller been confirmed?”
“Of course. His name is Jeong Suho, a twenty-nine-year-old young man residing in Seoul. However, his Admitti Awakening registration... was today.”
“Today?!”
By now, the Director was so shocked he was nearly jumping out of his seat.
He was halfway risen from the sofa.
“What rank? What type? What class did he receive?”
“Production and Support type, S-rank. His detailed class is... ‘Item Collector’...”
“S, S-rank...? The tenth S-rank Admitti in the Republic of Korea has appeared... without so much as a whisper...? Why on earth didn’t the Examination Division report this properly?!”
“...It appears they didn’t take it seriously on their end either. They treated it as a fraud that would soon be exposed. The responsible personnel are currently being reprimanded.”
“Hoo... This is astounding... And has a class called Item Collector ever appeared anywhere in the world...?”
“The specialized analysis team checked thoroughly. It hasn’t. It is the world’s first class.”
“...This is insane... 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 thumb and index finger against his brow as if a headache were coming on, the Director spoke in a low voice.
“Assign agents. Top-class. Lots of them.”
“Understood. Is the objective surveillance or protection?”
“Both.”
* * *
At that same moment,
The auction house was in an uproar.
It was because ten extremely rare S-rank Etheriums—items that had not been seen at domestic auction houses for years—had been registered all at once at the same hour on the same day.
S-rank Etherium was something that could not be bought even with money.
Rumors sprouted wings and spread overseas in an instant,
And high-rank Awakened, large clans, and even major corporations strained to participate in the auction through various routes to get their hands on S-rank Etherium.
Because S-rank Etherium was the ultimate energy source, capable of drawing out tremendous power and efficiency the moment it was fused with weapons, armor, or any other equipment.
It was an event worthy of the world’s attention.
Bureau Chief Elaine, who had served as the Director of the Tower Security Bureau and the Admitti Protection Bureau of the US Department of Homeland Security, also took a deep interest in this information.
“What do you think? How often do S-rank Etheriums appear on the global OnTower Auction House?”
Deputy Bureau Chief Hol Tein replied, pushing his glasses up.
“Across all auction houses worldwide, they average about once every month or two. But this is undeniably the first time such a large quantity has appeared all at once.”
“Hmm... As expected, this is no small matter. Find out who the seller is. And make contact however you can. I have a hunch about this. A hunch that a major figure is connected to this.”
* * *
Ring, ring—
Not long after the auction house item retrieval team had come and gone, Suho received a phone call. It was Suji, the youngest.
“Yeah, Suji.”
“O-Oppa, where are you? Are you at home?”
“Yeah, I went out and only just got back.”
“I called because there are a lot of strange people near our villa... I’m scared.”
Suho smiled for no reason at Suji calling him when she usually never did.
“Brat, guess you feel like you can depend on your big brother now that I’ve Awakened, huh?”
“S-Shut up. I’m telling you it’s really weird. I’m just gonna go inside while on the phone... You don’t have to say anything, Oppa. Just let me talk.”
“What do these strange people look like? Do they look like monsters? Actually, maybe they aren’t human but doppelgangers from a Tower Break...? Wah!”
“Damn it! I told you I’m scared, why are you like this! Anyway, that’s not it, but they’re really big and wearing suits, like some kind of mafia... Ah, forget it. Anyway, that’s how it is.”
After ending the call with Suji, who said she was almost home, Suho felt an ominous pang.
It seemed like strange things were increasing around him ever since he came into big money.
There was still some time before the auction started to sell his items at the auction house.
Once the auction ended, he would only receive the points after the buyer’s final confirmation of receipt. If he then used those points to participate in another auction to buy protective equipment for his family, it would take far too long.
He felt he needed to hurry even more with protecting himself and his family.
After some thought, Suho opened the Internet again and connected to a site.
The place he connected to was a private android security firm that dispatched “security specialist androids.”
There were several such firms, and he chose a major corporate one that was said to have some credibility.
He had considered hiring ordinary security guards, but it was difficult to trust humans who were paid to protect someone.
In this world, it was not uncommon for guards, security agents, or even police officers to turn into robbers when faced with greater profit.
That was why he chose a guard android firm.
“Why is this so expensive...”
The models varied greatly depending on the grade.
To summarize the complicated explanation, roughly speaking, the higher-grade guard androids looked more human, had stronger output, were more capable in combat, and understood speech better, according to the guide.
The most expensive unit cost 15 million won for a one-month rental contract.
Regardless, he had plenty of money.
Without hesitation, he contracted five top-grade units and paid 75 million won.
After confirming the notification that the guard androids would arrive in three hours, he closed the window.
Now he felt slightly more at ease.
* * *
“Ah, no way! I, I’m gonna take that male model!”
“You looked so pleased sitting next to that young female model. Why don’t you just set up a separate household? Go ahead.”
The evening the rental guard androids arrived and the whole family gathered, the house was thrown into an uproar.
Because, as luck would have it, one android with a young man’s appearance and four with women’s appearances had arrived.
The youngest, Suji, threw a fit saying she would claim the young male android for herself,
And their mother adamantly refused to hand any young female model over to their father.
After scrapping for a good while, their mother won.
In the end, the only male-appearance android was assigned to their father,
And the remaining four family members were all assigned female-appearance androids.
Suho and their mother did not particularly care either way. Suji pouted like a duck.
Jiho couldn’t close his mouth, grinning from ear to ear.
It was a large sum of money, but once Suho explained the circumstances, everyone was convinced.
“You did well. Our son, you’re right. You can never be too safe.”
“There have been so many more thug-like guys around our neighborhood today that I was feeling uneasy anyway, so this is a relief...”
Each person configured the security settings on their androids to match their schedules and styles, then went to bed.
* * *
The next day,
Their mother, father, and Suji went out to look at a house to lease, while Suho and Jiho went to look at cars.
A family of five, yet not a single car in the household.
There was unanimous agreement to prioritize resolving the house and car, which had been the whole family’s wish.
For now, Suho and Jiho would pick their cars, and the rest of the family would go see cars another day.
Wasn’t it the era of one car per person?
Jiho couldn’t hide his excitement at the thought of having his own car the entire way to the dealership.
“Hyung, I feel like this is a dream. A car... my own car. Eheheh.”
“Yeah, it’s reality, so pick whatever model you want to your heart’s content.”
“Really, thanks to having a great hyung like you, I get to enjoy such luxury. I know a thing or two about cars. I’ll look yours over carefully too. Hehe.”
They caught a driverless taxi, and together with their android guards, the four of them arrived at an Electric Porsche dealership.
Electric cars from various lines showed off their forms.
Among the various features, Jiho listened with shining eyes, completely absorbed by the dealer’s explanation focusing on what convenience facilities could be enjoyed inside the car during autonomous driving.
But Suho wasn’t the least bit interested.
Rather, he listened to all the explanations half-heartedly and fell into other thoughts.
‘This is strange... No, maybe this is normal...’
His heart had been like this recently.
A listless state, unable to feel interest in anything, devoid of any excitement.
He remembered that it had been like this ever since receiving the subspace warehouse.
That was really it.
He even had a very recent memory of wishing earnestly, “If only I had a car, even a compact car, how wonderful that would be...”
No, wanting a car had been from long ago.
For a very long time, he had wanted a car.
But after being struck by a windfall,
Now he could have as many luxury cars as he wanted, of all types, rather than some compact car,
Yet his heart held no emotion, no trembling, no excitement, no joy.
Rather, Suho looked at Jiho, who felt and radiated such diverse emotions, with something like envy.
Startled, he felt alien to himself for envying such a thing.
This was a dangerous sign.
‘Yes, my situation isn’t just about having a lot of money. Absolutely not...’
He needed to look at the situation objectively.
This wasn’t on the level of having a lot of money like winning the lottery.
Suddenly, his life had become like an RPG game riddled with cheat keys.
Infinite money, infinite resources—everything maxed out.
No, it wasn’t even like a cheat-key RPG anymore. Life itself had become a sandbox game of sorts.
What was the problem with that, you ask?
This 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 quickly and easily.
In short, a sense of futility swept over you, and it stopped being fun.
With a game, if you got bored, you could just stop and quit.
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.
Despite having wanted so badly to become rich, despite earnestly wanting to escape poverty,
It was the irony of humanity that once it actually happened, one felt only futility.
The documentary about how lottery winners were unexpectedly unhappy afterward,
And the reason the world’s wealthiest didn’t obsess over flexing and lived frugally, suddenly made sense.
He also remembered the universe administrator’s words: “Cheonyangwon is not something an ordinary human, a finite being, can handle.”
Yes,
Perhaps the real enemy was 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.
“Get a grip. Focus. That’s right! Let’s not lose our original intention.”
If devoured by futility, you die.
Then you are not truly alive even if you live.
“Yes, enjoy. Let’s enjoy. I’m buying a car! The one I wanted most! That’s right. This is something I’ve wanted so badly. That’s right. Let’s hold on to our original intention. Get a grip and enjoy this process. Steel your heart and enjoy!”
Damn, who knew he’d need to steel himself over something like this.
Everyone in the store turned to look at Suho, mouths agape, as he shouted strange slogans.
Suho had completely forgotten that he was speaking aloud thoughts meant to stay in his head.