[Episode 01] The Absolute in the Corner of the House (5)
The notification window contained four photos attached.
A couple in their 30s with two children.
They were all pictures of the people next door.
After thinking for a moment, I asked a question to the system window.
“What happens if you don’t grant citizenship?”
[Individuals who are not granted citizenship are expelled from the house.]
[Are you sure you won’t grant me citizenship?]
‘As expected.’
I wasn’t just asking.
The system understood what I was saying.
Or maybe you could read my thoughts.
‘If not, it would have been impossible to store only the ramen in the bowl or to store only the oil in the canola oil container.’
The absolute corner skill.
Although I don’t know what this power is, I guess it allows for some degree of two-way communication.
Of course, the explanation of the system was not in a friendly manner.
Because I don’t teach you everything.
‘Being kicked out of the corner of the house…’
I couldn’t figure out how they would get kicked out, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be a very safe method.
“Grant citizenship to all four.”
[Citizenship is granted to Choi Hyeong-jun, Park Hye-won, Choi Na-yeon, and Choi Seo-yeon.]
After granting citizenship to the family next door, I immediately opened the skill window.
Because I thought that skills related to citizenship would be newly awakened.
however.
“Huh? Something else?”
The newly awakened skill was not a skill for managing citizens.
Eyes of the Absolute in the Corner Lv.1
-Nothing in the corner of the house can escape the eyes of the Absolute.
I could immediately tell that the strange phenomenon I had just experienced was the result of using the Eyes of the Absolute.
‘Where’s the citizen-related stuff? Ah, I found it.’
Surprisingly, things related to citizens were included in the corner declaration skill.
Declaration of Cornerstone (Passive) Lv. 6
-No one can invade the corner of the house without the permission of the Absolute.
Citizen Management
A new button called Citizen Management was added to the Home Corner Declaration skill.
When I pressed it, there were pictures of the four people I had seen earlier along with brief numbers written on them.
□Choi Hyeong-jun (Trust: 24) (Lv. 9)
□Park Hye-won (Trust: 18) (Lv. 5)
□Choi Na-yeon (Trust: 33) (Lv. 3)
□Choi Seo-yeon (Trust: 42) (Lv. 2)
Current population (4/600 people)
“600 people?”
The number written at the end is probably the number of citizens who can accept it. I was sure of it because there was a number 4 written in front of it.
But the number was too big.
‘That means we can accept 596 more people in the future. Isn’t that a bit too large?’
I instinctively realized that this function played a very important role.
“Choi Hyeong-jun.”
When the name of one of the four citizens was called, detailed information about the citizen came to mind.
『Name: Choi Hyeong-jun (Lv. 9)
Reliability: 24
Awakening Ability: None
Experience distribution rate: 0%
Settlement distribution rate: 0%
★Quest Granting Exit』
Experience distribution rate and settlement distribution rate.
What this meant was that the experience points and settlement money that the citizens hunted would eventually come to me.
That also meant that I could control the distribution rate at will.
‘Could this be?’
Isn’t this a feature that was there from the beginning rather than a new feature that was added as the level went up?
Could it be that we were unable to grant citizenship simply because there was no one in our house?
‘I thought something was strange.’
At first, I thought that the skills I had were extremely abnormal.
It’s great that I can create a perfect safe zone within my home, but I actually had to be locked in a corner of the house.
‘But if citizenship had been granted from the beginning, the story would have been different.’
If there was someone living with you from the beginning, you could have just granted citizenship to that person.
Because the experience points that the citizens gain from hunting will all come back to me.
‘Is that how you grew up?’
One thing that had just become clear from my fight with Kellykan was that my abilities were considerably more fraudulent than I had thought.
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I’m not sure exactly how powerful level 27 is, but I think it’ll be enough to block most monsters’ attacks.
‘If only I had stayed at home from the beginning instead of here, all of this would have been resolved.’
My parents were taking care of my grandparents in a two-story house, and if they had awakened there, everything would have been different.
First of all, I would be able to keep my family safe, and I would also be able to develop my abilities without any problems.
‘No need to worry about hunting.’
When I think about the way I hunted Kellicans, I could have hunted them without even having to go outside.
Just open the front door and attack the monsters inside the house.
If I think about it, the reason I became so isolated was because I awakened my abilities in a 30-story high-rise apartment.
If it was the first floor, I could have grown up by stabbing goblins outside the living room window.
‘If I hadn’t been lucky, I would have died without being able to accomplish anything.’
Originally, it was an ability that should have been developed by commanding citizens from the beginning, but I was only now able to command citizens.
‘I guess I should say that it’s fortunate.’
Because in the end, everything worked out well.
‘But what is this?’
There was one item that particularly caught my eye in Choi Hyeong-jun’s citizen information window.
“Quest granted.”
Tiring!
The quest granting window was divided into quest content, time limit, success reward, and failure penalty items.
I filled in each item as a test.
“Hunting one goblin, the duration is a generous week, no reward, and no failure penalty.”
Tiring!
《Quest Granting》
Quest Content: Goblin Hunt (0/1)
Time limit: 168 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds
Reward: A small amount of experience points.
Failure Penalty: None.
[Do you want to grant the quest as is?]
[Yes / No]
A quest window appeared that reflected my opinion exactly.
The strange thing was the reward. Even though I clearly chose none, a small amount of experience points was offered as a reward.
‘So there is a basic reward? Then… how far can the failure penalty go?’
It’s not malicious.
I just wanted to experiment to see how far it was possible.
Because I confirmed that the quest isn’t granted right away.
“Quest failure penalty fixed, death.”
Tiring!
《Quest Granting》
Quest Content: Goblin Hunt (0/1)
Time limit: 168 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds
Reward: A small amount of experience points.
Failure penalty: death.
[Do you want to grant the quest as is?]
[Yes / No]
“······no.”
[Cancel quest granting.]
···I knew this would happen.
Even though I can control the quest content and time limit as I wish, there is no limit to the failure penalty.
The implications were clear.
‘I can kill civilians whenever I want.’
That I hold the power over the lives and deaths of my citizens.
It wasn’t difficult.
Even if it was just a quest to catch a single goblin, setting the time limit to 1 second would have been tantamount to an immediate death sentence.
“crazy.”
When I saw the true performance of the skill, I got goosebumps all over my body.
When I thought that the lives of one person, or rather, four people I accepted as citizens, were in my hands, I felt a weight on my shoulders.
For the first time, I was afraid of my own abilities.
‘This is the absolute skill of the corner of the house···.’
As the name suggests, my skill is one that allows me to exercise absolute influence only within the confines of my home.
‘···What should I do?’
There were many ways to exploit the citizens.
In extreme cases, it was possible to use it as a long-term piece by taking advantage of quest assignments.
If you make the penalty death like you just did, you’ll have to go hunting even if it means risking your life.
This means that if you put your mind to it, you can exploit citizens as much as you want.
‘You can also ask them to rescue their mom and dad as a quest.’
but.
‘Does that mean citizens will actively try to complete quests? No, before that, will they have the ability to complete quests?’
The guy next door, Choi Hyeong-jun, was only level 9.
You should be able to catch goblins without any problem. Their level is only 6 or 7.
But the outside world was now a dangerous place, with monsters like the level 27 Kellikan roaming around.
‘Even if that weren’t the case, if dozens of goblins rushed at me right away, I’d die in no time.’
So it was meaningless.
‘You need to raise them to a level where they can overwhelm a group of goblins. Or at least form a team that can do that. Only then will you have a chance of rescuing Mom and Dad.’
The method was simple.
Looking at the experience distribution rate, it seems that citizens can also grow by hunting monsters.
If so, you can continue to give monster hunting quests.
It would have been perfectly possible to force them to do the quest, but I didn’t want to do that.
Not only is it inhumane, but it will definitely make me feel antipathetic.
And that would just act as a negative variable in saving my parents.
‘In the worst case scenario, both mom and dad could be in danger.’
What I wanted wasn’t a long-term horse that would just do whatever it was told.
I really needed someone who would move for me.
‘You can’t get it by forcing yourself to do a quest.’
In order to win a person, you must first win his heart.
‘Going with a win-win strategy.’
After coming to a conclusion, I decided to head straight to my neighbor’s house.
Then, I stopped walking after seeing myself reflected in the full-length mirror in the hallway.
His unkempt beard and comfortable tracksuit were the typical look of a jobless person.
In addition, his whole body was drenched in sweat from the battle with Kellykan that had just occurred.
‘Let’s wash up first.’
I know how important first impressions are in relationships with people.
Swaaaah
While checking the skill window while getting splashed with warm water, I was able to confirm something I hadn’t noticed before.
“uh?”
Corner Absolute Shop Lv. 1 [+]
-You can purchase items registered in the store at the regular price.
[Skill Points Available: 3]
Maintaining the Dignity of the Absolute in the Corner (Passive) Lv. 1 [+]
-Restores normal functions of all corners of the house to maintain dignity.
[Skill Points Available: 3]
The Absolute’s Warehouse in the Corner Lv. 1 [+]
– It is a sub-space where you can store items.
[Skill Points Available: 3]
There was a plus next to the skill level.
‘You can level up your skills!’
Finally, it was possible to list new items in the store.
‘The corner declaration skill… is it possible to not raise it with skill points?’
The only skills that showed a plus sign were the shop, dignity maintenance, and warehouse skills.
The wallet skill was at max level, so it was obvious that it couldn’t be raised any further, and the absolute’s eye skill I had just obtained was displayed as level 1, but the plus button didn’t appear.
‘Do you have any skills?’
It didn’t matter anyway.
Because the skills to level up were set from the beginning.
[Do you really want to level up the Shop skill of the Absolute in the Corner?]
“okay.”
At that moment, the skill window flashed with a golden light.
Woof!
[The shop skill of the absolute master of the corner of the house has been raised to Lv. 2.]
[The number of items that can be registered has increased to 20.]
[All products are discounted by 10%.]
“oh?”
It was expected that the limit for product registration would increase.
And on top of that, they even gave me a discount on the price.
“Are you okay?”
There are now 2 points left.
I checked the shop skills just in case, but this time there was no + button.
‘It seems like there’s some kind of condition for each level up.’
There was one thing I had a guess about.
‘If I fill all twenty of the item registration limit, won’t I be able to go to the next level?’
Anyway, I had already thought about the items I was going to register.
The first priority to register is new, never-used items.
These were things like shower items and toilet paper.
‘Let’s give it a try.’
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