'...!?'
Haegyeom's brain froze. To accept the current situation, he was far too rational.
'Chased by a monster in a gate... an egg... hatching... KABOOM?'
He barely pieced together the disconnected keywords. And connected them to the result right before his eyes.
"..."
A result that left him speechless. A Giant Mantis, something even a 10th-floor hunter would struggle against. And it had been slain in a single attack. That wasn't all.
"The entrance... it's wider?"
That attack had even partially destroyed the terrain. For Haegyeom, who had experienced all sorts of things as a hunter manager, this was utterly unbelievable.
"What is this, Dragon Breath or something... Hold on."
His brain slowly began to function again.
"...Dragon?"
There had definitely been a system message. The 'Mysterious Egg' had hatched. A 'Red Dragon Hatchling' had been born. And that hatchling wanted to make his 'Inventory' its lair.
"And I permitted it..."
There had even been a message saying the hatchling was grateful to him.
"Let me sum this up."
Haegyeom locked eyes with the creature settled in the first slot of his inventory. Red scales, yellow eyes, two small horns on its forehead. A pair of wings so tiny he doubted they could function. Overall, it resembled a lizard, but somehow looked like a cross between a reptile and a mammal. It reminded him of, naturally—
"It's a dragon!"
—the staple of fantasy genres, a dragon.
"Plus, the system called it a 'dragon' too. Confirmed."
This Red Dragon Hatchling had made Haegyeom's own inventory its home, and felt gratitude toward him for permitting it.
"...That must be why it actively helped when I was in danger."
Ppeyyak?
The creature in his inventory tilted its head.
"Cute... No, that's not the important thing right now."
Even fresh from hatching, this thing was strong. Insanely so. It had one-shotted a Giant Mantis that he couldn't even dream of fighting! And such a being... was now living in his inventory.
Maybe...
"I could become a hunter...?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The moment the situation settled, Haegyeom escaped the gate. There was no reason to stay in this dangerous place any longer.
"I thought about using the dragon to explore more gates at first..."
But that was impossible. The creature in his inventory had already curled up and fallen fast asleep. Maybe it had used up a lot of energy, or perhaps...
"It's still just a hatchling."
It might be in its infancy. Either way, avoiding combat for now was the smart move. With that, he quickly headed for the exit rift. Along the way, he retrieved the backpack he'd abandoned and collected the mana stones inside.
[Mana Stone 1.3kg]
Exchanging itu would net him at least 1.3 million won. Adding what he'd grabbed earlier made it 1.5 million. He'd nearly died, but this side income wasn't bad at all. With that, Haegyeom returned to the company.
And...
"Haegyeom Yi, you crazy bastard! You were supposed to talk Hyeontae down!!!!"
He faced the president's explosive rage.
"I did."
"You should've done it better!"
"..."
There was nothing to say. He knew it, and so did the president. That An Hyeontae wouldn't listen to him. So this was just a punching bag session.
"How are you gonna take responsibility? Huh? Where the hell am I supposed to find another 16th-floor hunter!!!!!"
An Hyeontae, a 16th-floor hunter who was top-tier even for the Exploitative Guild. The president was furious at losing such manpower. And he vented it at the most convenient target: Haegyeom. That was all there was to it.
"Fuck! So you went out alone like that?"
"Yes."
"You went in as a porter, right?"
"Yes."
"Then you must've brought something out at least!"
"If you check Hunter An Hyeontae's Tower Stream footage after he died, you'll see the situation wasn't that simple. I barely escaped after ditching the backpack."
"...Shut up!"
"Yes."
Haegyeom replied with a calm expression. The president had no idea he'd awakened anyway. Of course he didn't know about the inventory either.
'And even if he did, it wouldn't matter.'
A man set on quitting had nothing to fear. At that moment, the president spoke.
"Ha... Hey, Haegyeom Yi."
"Yes."
"Do you know how serious this is? Huh?"
"..."
"A hunter manager fucked up and got a 16th-floor hunter killed. Fuck. Your career's over, over! Got it!?"
—No, he was threatening him. It felt like the usual gaslighting routine. Haegyeom gave an appropriate response.
"I see."
"Normally, you'd be fired. Fired!"
"..."
"But hey, you think I don't know your situation? I'll let it slide with a pay cut. I'll even make up for it with hazard pay. Ha... You really should be grateful you met seseorang like me. Got it?"
It was absurd. In short: shove him into riskier places for cheaper. Given Haegyeom's massive debts and his history of compliance. The president figured this was plenty to keep exploiting him.
But.
"Fired... Understood."
"What?"
"You said normally it'd be firing, right? I accept the punishment."
Today's Haegyeom was already leaning toward quitting.
'This seals it. No reason to stay here anymore.'
Until now, he'd weighed the risks against the pay and deemed it worthwhile. No longer.
"No... Hey!!!!!"
The president yelled in panic, but Haegyeom simply bowed his head and left the company.
"Please deposit my severance within 14 days."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Haegyeom returned home. A semi-basement rental in an area once devastated by a monster wave.
"...Hoo."
Here, he let out a deep breath. Not a sigh of despair.
"I might be able to climb the tower now too."
A hot exhale laced with anticipation and longing. Until now, despite awakening, he was a loser who couldn't bahkan clear the 1st floor.
[Status: Unique Ability: Inventory Master. Your inventory is large and clean.]
His unique ability was utter garbage that offered no help in combat. He'd tried countless times, but concluded he simply couldn't clear the 1st floor with it. But now was different.
"...I'm counting on you."
His inventory now housed a bona fide 'Red Dragon Hatchling'! One that was insanely strong and insanely cute...!
"Ah."
...Though cuteness wasn't really the point. Anyway.
"Salvation Tower, enter."
Haegyeom entered the 1st floor of the tower.
[Korea's Salvation Tower, Floor 1 (Tutorial)]
[Mission: Defeat the Goblin Triplets]
His vision flipped. A safe zone line appeared around him, and straight ahead, three goblins stood frozen as if time had stopped.
"..."
The moment his body or an attack crossed that line, combat would begin. And until now, Haegyeom had...
"...been too busy running away."
He'd never cleared it even once. What could he do? Taking down three goblins without a decent skill was brutally hard. But.
"Inventory."
Haegyeom locked eyes with the small red creature inside.
Ppiya?
It had woken up at some point and was staring right at him.
"Hatchling, huh..." Ppe!
if this thing repeated its previous performance, three measly goblins would be a breeze.
"Hey..."
As Haegyeom started to ask, then—
[Tower Stream activated due to Salvation Tower entry.]
"Ah."
Tower Stream. The streaming system everyone got upon awakening. It had been 'forcibly' activated.
"...Right."
Tower Streams were always on inside the 'Salvation Tower'. Haegyeom wasn't thrilled about it. All he'd done here was fail, fail, fail. No desire to broadcast that. But whatever.
[Subscribers: 1] [Live Viewers: 0]
No one would watch his stream anyway—
[Live Viewers: 1]
[Comments]
— ANONYMOUS: Oh. Still not dead?
"..."
There was satu. The toxic viewer from before, mocking his past failures here.
— ANONYMOUS: Thought you'd quit since you disappeared for a while. Why come back?
— ANONYMOUS: Tch tch. Just give up if you know you suck.
— ANONYMOUS: Guess I'll watch you shit yourself again today ffs.
— Anonymous: Anyway if you don't wanna die, leave nicely and find another job lololol
The toxic chats flooded in like crazy. Not welcome at all. Instead of responding, Haegyeom did what he had to.
"Can you help me out?"
Ppii-?
"Those guys over there... could you take them out? Like last time."
Communicating with the hatchling in his inventory. With the tower clear hinging on it today, this was essential.
— ANONYMOUS: What're you doing?
— ANONYMOUS: Finally lost it? Lolololol
Ignoring the toxic chats, Haegyeom met the hatchling's yellow eyes. And soon, Ppip! It nodded. Great!
"Then, like before, when I step aside..."
Shake shake.
"Huh?"
Tap tap.
The hatchling tapped at the inventory side.
"You want... to come out?"
Nod.
Haegyeom carefully took the hatchling out of his inventory.
Flap flap—
The hatchling flapped its tiny wings and slipped from his hand.
"Whoa? W-Wait—"
Thud.
Ppiieeeee...!
It faceplanted headfirst into the ground.
"...You okay?"
Ppiik, ppiik...!
Tears welled up in its eyes.
Hm.
Definitely cu—
— ANONYMOUS: Crazycrazycrazycrazy.
— Anonymous: Hey what the hell is that? That lil guy's super cute!!!
— ANONYMOUS: Summon? Nah? You had trash-tier ability with no summons???
"..."
He'd momentarily forgotten about the toxic viewer.
'Might as well forget permanently.'
Haegyeom stroking and soothed the hatchling's head. The soft, warm feel was quite pleasant.
Ppip-
Sniff.
The hatchling stood on all fours, eyes still teary.
"You good?"
Ppeyyak-!
A attitude like leave it to me.
"Alright. I'm counting on you."
Haegyeom nodded too. The hatchling turned toward the Goblin Triplets.
Inhale—
It took a short breath.
— ANONYMOUS: Hey hey hey hey.
— Anonymous: Answer us you bastard.
— ANONYMOUS: What is that thing! But seriously, making something itu cute fight?
— ANONYMOUS: You got no conscience?
And opened its mouth toward the goblins.
KWAAAAAAA───!!!
[You have cleared the 1st floor of the Salvation Tower. Attempts: 189. Clear Time: 0.1 seconds. Overall Clear Grade: SSS+.]
[Rewards granted. Unique ability enhanced due to tutorial clear.]
[Korea-wide Announcement: Haegyeom Yi has cleared the 1st floor of Korea's Salvation Tower with SSS+ grade!]
— ANONYMOUS: What the fuck.
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