[Episode 16] The Calm Before the Storm (2)
He spoke to Moon Ji-hoon, who was blankly staring at the frozen wall.
[Mr. Moon Ji-hoon, gather your party members and come up to the 30th floor.]
[Mr. Moon Ji-hoon?]
“Oh, yes, yes! What, what did you say?”
[Please gather your party members and come up to the 30th floor. It will only take a moment.]
“Oh, I understand!”
After calling Moon Ji-hoon, we finished our meal.
“I ate well.”
“Was it delicious?”
“Yeah. A lot.”
“lol.”
I put the used dishes in the dishwasher, turned it on, and then sat on the sofa.
Then Kami took over my lap, and I petted her carefully.
Beep
Seo Ye-jin sat down next to me as I smiled faintly at the sight of Kami stretching out her arms as if she was in a good mood.
“Kami seems to be feeling a bit weak these days. Is it because the days are getting shorter?”
I answered with a snicker.
“He’s been like this from the beginning.”
Most of the times I remember Kami lying down in the sun, sunbathing with a listless expression.
“Honey, do you want to watch a movie?”
“movie?”
“Yeah. It’s an old movie called The Notebook.”
“Where did you get it?”
“I don’t know. They’re selling it? Ta-da!”
Seo Ye-jin proudly took out the USB and hummed a tune.
“Wait a minute, brother!”
“okay.”
Seo Ye-jin ran into the kitchen and started preparing something while rustling things around.
‘There are a lot of things like that these days.’
It wasn’t just movies.
Dramas, YouTube videos, novels, comics, music, etc.
A variety of contents were being traded among citizens.
Of course, most of them will be illegally downloaded files.
Even if the content was purchased legally, sharing it with others for compensation was illegal.
but.
‘What does it matter now that the world is ruined?’
Rather, it could be said that illegal downloaders have preserved humanity’s diverse content heritage.
Anyway, there were quite a few people among the citizens who exchanged videos or sold them directly for money.
What is surprising is that most of the small transactions between citizens are done in ‘cash’. It is possible for citizens to trade the money in their wallets.
But, just like when I give money to citizens, there is a ‘fee’ involved.
To save on fees as high as 10%, most transactions between individuals were done in cash.
Because of this, about two weeks ago, there were even citizens who went around smashing ATMs and searching for empty houses to get cash. They called themselves ‘treasure hunters’.
‘It was quite helpful.’
First of all, it was a welcome development that a new profession called Treasure Hunter was created.
This is because economically active population skills and monster hunting alone have their limitations.
In addition, thanks to the cash they had saved, various transactions began to take place actively as cash transactions became active.
The cash they brought in exponentially expanded the number of ways people could make money.
Used car dealers who found good cars abandoned on the side of the road and resold them began to appear, and people selling various foods began to appear. Also, people selling content, like the movie Seo Ye-jin bought, also appeared.
Each of them started making money in their own way.
Cash transactions were so active that some people who made a living by hunting monsters would buy items at the store and then resell them for cash, or they would even take a 10% commission and buy them in cash.
This is because there were products that could not be traded at all without cash.
‘Well, I guess you could say I was a treasure hunter in a way.’
Of course, I was on a slightly different scale from ordinary people.
While they were struggling to break down ATMs or crack open empty doors to get their hands on cash, I was robbing bank vaults.
Using the Absolute’s eyes and the Absolute’s warehouse, he emptied the bank of all its cash.
Thanks to that, the small room in our house was still filled with cash.
It was at that time that I was lost in thought for a while.
Thud thud!
There was a sound like something popping in the kitchen, and the scent of popcorn filled the house.
“Popcorn?”
“Yeah. It must be delicious, right?”
“The smell is passable”
After mumbling for a while, Seo Ye-jin brought out a bucket full of popcorn.
“Ta-da!”
I took a bite and it was salty and delicious.
“Well made.”
“This is basic organization!”
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He said while ruffling Seo Ye-jin’s hair.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
She smiled bashfully and plugged the USB into the living room TV.
After turning off the lights, the perfect movie room was created.
I could hear the dishwasher running, but it wasn’t loud enough to be bothersome.
As the movie started, Kami’s face brightened and she started watching the TV.
Seo Ye-jin said, carefully stroking Kami’s cheek with the back of her hand.
“It’ll be fun. Right, Kamiya?”
Bam!
It was one of the few times when Kami became overflowing with energy.
‘The Eyes of the Absolute’
When I checked with the eyes of the Absolute Being, I saw that Moon Ji-hoon, Moon Sang-hoon, and Baek Seung-yeop had gathered and were coming up here.
[Mr. Moon Ji-hoon. Excuse me, but can you come early tomorrow morning?]
“Huh?”
[I have something urgent to do.]
“Oh, I understand. I will come see you early tomorrow morning.”
As I looked to the side, I noticed Seo Ye-jin and Kami, who were engrossed in a movie.
‘It’s peaceful.’
I looked at the scene for a moment, then turned my head and watched the movie.
While watching the movie, I started to use the eyes of the absolute being to look around the entire area.
First of all, the well-maintained roads caught my eye.
There were a few cars running, though not as many as before the world changed, and there were no broken or abandoned vehicles. Also, traffic facilities such as traffic lights were operating normally.
‘It’s all thanks to the recovery skill’
The corner repair skill of the corner absolute master was a skill that was not used very often.
There were so many places to spend money that there was no need to spend money on fixing broken windows or the house.
It was a skill that was rarely used, except when repairing the window that Kami had shattered while transforming in the past and when fixing the door that had been broken in room 2902 where Kim Da-jeong lived.
In places destroyed by Cyclops, we used construction functions to build solar power plants and gyms.
Then there would be no need to fix small pieces of trash or collapsed buildings.
However, as the use of roads increased, there were more cases where damaged roads needed to be repaired.
Immediately after realizing that this was a skill I would be using for a long time, I invested one of my two remaining skill points into a repair skill.
‘Then it was a huge success’
When the corner repair skill reached level 2, a new function called ‘Creating Clay’ was created, and it was a huge hit.
At that moment, the Absolute One’s eyes caught sight of a road that was undergoing restoration work.
‘You’re working hard’
It was a place where there was a large footprint made by a Cyclops, and clay figurines were moving busily there.
Kugugugu
When the clay figurines reached out to the shattered concrete, it slowly began to heal and regain its former appearance.
‘It’s definitely worth the price!’
A whopping 300 million per head.
But I liked the performance so much that I filled all 30 of them, which is the maximum.
Although it cost a huge amount of money, 10 billion, it would have cost several times that amount if the restoration skills had been used on the roads that the Toyongs had restored over the past month.
‘I’m glad I leveled up my recovery skill!’
I once again experienced the infinite possibilities of skill leveling, but I was having trouble using my last skill point.
There were many places to use skill points.
I also liked the fact that it maintained its dignity by adding attractive features every time, and I also wanted to increase the limit of the warehouse, which has a limit of 200 kg.
I was also drawn to the Absolute’s Eye, a skill I use almost every day, as well as the invisible hand, health, and the Absolute’s Gate.
Every skill was worth leveling up.
‘but….’
There was a reason why I hadn’t used my last skill point in a month.
‘Still level 25’
I haven’t leveled up once since I killed a high-level vampire and reached level 25 a month ago.
‘I feel like the required experience points have increased drastically!’
Although I wasn’t able to hunt high-level monsters like high-level vampires, I was proud to say that I had caught enough monsters.
As the Hadonggun party successfully cleared the dungeon, steady hunting continued in the goblin dungeon where the limit on the number of dungeons increased to 30, and when the number of dungeons reached its limit, a new dungeon was immediately created.
‘Is that still not enough?’
You had to reach level 30 to get new skill points.
But, if it’s this hard to get to level 26, getting to level 30 will be even harder.
Of course, it would take longer than it does now.
‘The number of monsters around has also decreased significantly.’
Thanks to the efforts of numerous hunting teams, including the Hadonggun Party, the monsters in this area have dried up.
Now, hunting monsters requires going quite a distance, so traveling by car has become the norm.
‘We need to create a hunting point somewhere else’
I was thinking of finding an area rich in monsters and setting up an outpost there.
‘Once the outpost is built, passage through the Absolute’s Gate skill becomes possible.’
Additionally, there was a high possibility that high-level monsters would be located in other areas.
‘If there were just a few that were at the level of high-level vampires, I would have reached level 30 in no time.’
But I didn’t have high expectations.
Because I thought there was no way such high-level monsters could exist in such large numbers.
Until now, that is.
“Ugh”
A man floating in the air with his neck held in one hand struggled to survive.
He scratched at the thick hand wrapped around his neck with sharp nails, but it was no use.
“Hey. What did you say your name was?”
“Uuuugh! Kwaak!”
“I see. I can’t talk in this condition.”
As he released the strength in his fingers, the man fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
“Huh! Whoosh, whoosh”
The man slowly looked up, panting.
The monster that was strangling him was enormous. It must have been over 2 meters tall, and its entire body was covered in hard muscles like rocks.
Looking at the body alone, it looked closer to an orc than a human.
The monster opened its mouth.
“What did you say your name was?”
“..This is Kim Jun-ho. Phew.”
Contrary to his somewhat rebellious gaze, Kim Jun-ho spoke in a calm manner.
“Yeah. You know Jeong Yeong-hun, right?”
“!!”
The monster spoke calmly, watching Kim Jun-ho’s reaction.
“Yeah, yeah. That fu*king idiot who likes to show off.”
Kim Jun-ho revealed his hostility towards the guy by revealing his teeth.
—
“Did that kid send you?”
“what?”
The monster said with a hardened expression.
“Do I look like that idiot?”
The monster muttered, his expression thick with displeasure.
“Tch. If you don’t even know that kid is dead, then you probably don’t know where he went to die.”
“Oh, Lord, he’s dead?! That bastard?”
The monster’s face lost interest and he waved his hand without responding.
Plop!
In an instant, Kim Jun-ho’s head flew away.
The headless corpse slowly fell forward. The monster reached out its hand toward Kim Jun-ho’s corpse.
Sobbing sobbing
A lump of blood containing all of Kim Jun-ho’s life force slowly rose into the air.
Then, as the creature slowly opened its mouth, sharp fangs briefly appeared in the darkness.
Choaaaak!
The life-giving blood was sucked into the creature’s mouth, and the large man, having finished his meal, slowly walked out of the office.
There was hell unfolding there.
The corpses of dozens of vampires were strewn about the place.
Among them, there were some that were still wriggling and maintaining life.
He walked slowly towards them, and extended his hand just like he had to Kim Jun-ho.
Sobbing sobbing
A sphere of blood filled with life rose up and then disappeared into his mouth again.
“hmm.”
The large man, who had been licking his lips for a moment, grumbled with a distorted expression.
“Where the hell are you going to eat?”
[Episode 16] The Calm Before the Storm (2) > End
