Chapter 27

Chapter 27. Tower - Slime Summoner (4)

Lee Soo-young’s combat style was simple.

Basically, when she found Goblins, she hid in the bushes while sending the slime that could fire Water Orb Bullets alone in the opposite direction.

Then, once the slime fired a Water Orb Bullet and killed one Goblin, she also shot an arrow and dealt with one Goblin.

If there was one more, she either fired another arrow, or while she stalled for time with her shield, the slime fired another Water Orb Bullet and dealt with the Goblin.

She was a typical ranged DPS.

The cooldown for Water Orb Bullet, at its current level, was about one minute when firing one at a time, and about three minutes when firing two in succession.

“Where’s your shield?”

“Well, when I was being chased by the Goblins, it was heavy, so I threw it away. That’s why I’m planning to buy another shield when we get to the Association.”

A shield was indeed quite heavy.

It weighed more than one kilogram, so it could not even go into Inventory.

Before meeting me, Lee Soo-young had already hunted about three groups of Goblins, so she had ten ears and magic stones.

As for me, among the twenty Goblins chasing Lee Soo-young, I had taken down eighteen, collected them in my bag, and then killed additional Goblins on the way back to the city.

For now, we decided to split the distribution fifty-fifty.

“By the way, do you like the military, oppa? Your bag is the kind soldiers use.”

“No. I got dragged into the Tower on my discharge day. Yesterday was my discharge day.”

At my answer, Lee Soo-young looked at me with pity.

However, unlike that gaze, I felt calm.

To my sense of time, discharge day had been three or four years ago.

Well, I had not experienced freedom as a college student, but I had enjoyed baby life where Si-woo took care of everything for me from one to ten.

I know I shouldn’t be like this, but it’s really comfortable when someone takes care of me.

Waaah, I’m baby Ji-woo. Somebody take care of me.

I don’t want to get older, and I want to become a working adult even less.

“You don’t have to look at me like that. Rather, this is when my body is the healthiest in my life, so it’s a good thing I came now. Imagine if I came when I was an older office worker who didn’t exercise.”

Lee Soo-young agreed with my words.

“Puhahaha! That’s true. You can leave the Tower whenever you want, too.”

If I had been in worse shape, I probably would have thought it was even more of a waste, since once I left, I would never be able to come back.

No, even if I had been in worse shape than now, would it not have made much difference if I considered the power of Multidimensional Avatar?

I let my thoughts wander for a moment, then asked Lee Soo-young,

“By the way, that slime. Can’t it fire several smaller Water Orb Bullets?”

Its accuracy was perfect, so even if the power was a little lower, if it hit vital spots like the eyes, solar plexus, or groin, it seemed like it would deal enough damage.

“Ah... I tried a few times, but it seems impossible for now. Still, I think I’ll be able to do it once I level up! At Level 1, it could only fire one Water Orb Bullet at a time!”

I could not say for certain because I did not know the growth mechanism of summoning-type abilities, but judging by Lee Soo-young’s mana absorption, it seemed she would be able to level up quickly.

Lee Soo-young introduced her slimes.

“This blue slime is ‘Water Balloon,’ and the yellow slime is ‘Light Balloon.’ I call them Mulpung and Bitpung.”

She named it Water Balloon because the slime looked like a water balloon?

Absurdly direct.

“I summoned Mulpung on the 1st floor, and I summoned Bitpung after coming to the 10th floor. Their abilities are everything you saw.”

The blue slime was the slime that used Water Orb Bullet, and the yellow slime was the slime that emitted light.

Just like how I had received “Reincarnation” and “Third-Person Avatar” when I reached Level 10, in addition to Slot 2, she must have received other support abilities too, but Lee Soo-young did not go out of her way to mention them.

Rather, since we had not formed a formal party yet, if she had revealed all her hidden cards, I would have been disappointed and nagged her, asking if she trusted people so easily.

You should only reveal your hidden cards after a certain degree of trust has been built.

No matter how talented someone was, I did not want to form a party with them if they were loose-lipped.

If someone’s mouth was loose, how would I know whether they would go around lightly spilling my information somewhere?

In that regard, the fact that she did not reveal her important information and only told me what was necessary was actually worthy of extra points.

“What’s your ability, oppa?”

“Me? My ability is martial arts. Swordsmanship on the 1st floor, then a cultivation method and a footwork method on the 10th floor.”

Naturally, I had no intention of showing all my cards either.

Honestly, even if I revealed my hand, it would only reveal that I could not use any special superpower.

Others breathed fire and summoned monsters, while inside the Tower, all I had was the ability to come back to life after the cooldown even if I died.

Of course, that was a fairly broken ability in its own way, but since my body was no different from an ordinary person mixed among superhumans, it was a little awkward to say.

“Wow! So that’s why you handled a sword so well! If it’s a cultivation method, can you use internal energy and stuff like in martial arts novels? Can you use Air-Stepping or Water Surface Flight too?”

So this high school girl knows martial arts novels.

Ah, right. These days, there were works that added a spoonful of martial arts to female-oriented romance too.

“In martial arts novels, things like Air-Stepping and Water Surface Flight can only be used once your realm is high.”

As we chatted about this and that, we arrived at the city before we knew it.

Once we returned to the city, Lee Soo-young immediately guided me to the Climber Association.

The Association building looked like a tavern with a wide hall, and it seemed they actually sold alcohol and food too.

Lee Soo-young went to the place where a young man sat in the center.

I asked Lee Soo-young,

“Is this person one of the Tower’s enforcers or something?”

“Yes? No, I heard he’s just a native resident. They said he’s a full-time employee. He got married last year, and his baby was born two months ago.”

Aha, so unlike the old librarian and the old woman who expanded my Inventory, he was just an employee.

But why does she know things like that?

Lee Soo-young smiled and chatted with the Association employee as if she had known him for a long time.

With this level of friendliness, wasn’t she basically a human quokka?

While chatting, Lee Soo-young touched the crystal placed on the counter and took out a sack containing Goblin ears.

“Here.”

“Yes, Goblin ears received. Seventeen. Here are 1,700 Credits and 17 merit points in total.”

The Association employee gave her 1,700 Credits, along with something like an identification tag about two finger joints long with 10 points written on it, and something like an identification tag about one finger joint long with 1 point written on it.

“Oppa, these are merit points. You can get discounts with these at the Association.”

“Ah, is this your first time here, Climber? Would you like me to explain?”

The employee kindly explained the Association.

The Association was a Climber support organization operated by the Tower, and it was a place that mediated requests from native residents or the Tower for Climbers.

Simply put, one could view it as a mercenary referral agency.

When one completed a request, one could receive compensation and merit points through the Association, and as Lee Soo-young said, merit points could be used to receive discounts at the Association or stores partnered with the Association.

The maximum amount one could receive as a discount differed by store, but generally, each merit point gave a discount of either one percent or around 10 Credits.

Goblin ear collection was part of a welfare and hunting encouragement policy for Climbers who had just reached the 10th floor.

It also existed to teach them that if they hunted monsters and brought useful byproducts, the Association would purchase them.

However, they did not accept byproducts from every monster.

A thick book introducing monster ecology and the parts that would be purchased cost 1,000 Credits.

Even if one did not buy the booklet, it was placed in the library, and if one brought in the entire corpse, the Association would disassemble and purchase it after taking a fee.

I glanced through it once and decided to buy it.

It was fascinating. I liked this sort of thing.

The book mainly contained information about monsters that appeared in the 10th-floor range, so it was said to be fairly popular.

“How do I register?”

“Ah, any Climber can register. Please place your hand on this crystal orb.”

When I placed my hand on the crystal orb, it glowed slightly, and I was told that registration was complete.

What kind of structure does this have?

“Registration complete. Would you like me to mediate a request for you?”

“No. I’ll exchange Goblin ears as well.”

I went to the place where the Goblins I had hunted before meeting Lee Soo-young were and added the ears I had retrieved there, then placed a bag containing twenty-eight ears on the counter.

After taking out the ears, the employee returned the bag with 2,800 Credits and 28 merit points.

“By the way, can native residents not use this?”

When I tapped the crystal orb, the employee nodded.

“Yes. Unfortunately, native residents can only commission requests. They cannot register. Personally, I think that is fortunate. It would be sad if hot-blooded children recklessly went outside the city and got seriously injured or killed.”

“That’s true.”

At that moment, Lee Soo-young said,

“You can also register a party through the Association. They say if you register, you won’t be separated when climbing the Tower and can go together.”

From what I had seen on the Tower Community, each person’s 10th-floor range experience differed, so even if it was the same 11th floor, it seemed people were dropped in different locations or even different worlds.

However, it seemed a party was not just about hunting together in words, but something that allowed people to climb the Tower together.

At Lee Soo-young’s words, the employee added,

“That is correct. And it is said that when a party hunts together, Shop Points are divided evenly among them.”

Certainly, when we killed Goblins, the mana was absorbed evenly, but only the person who dealt the finishing blow received Shop Points.

My last-hit rate was a little higher because Lee Soo-young’s slime had a fairly long attack cooldown.

“What if we hunt separately?”

“As far as I know, only the people who participated in the hunt receive Shop Points. I am not a Climber, so I do not know the details.”

In that case, since we had decided to form a party for now, we decided to form a party bond.

They said a party bond was completed when two people placed their hands on the crystal orb.

“To release the party bond, you must come to the Association, even if it is inconvenient. If someone is added to the party, all party members must come, but if someone is leaving, only the person leaving needs to come. Please note that it is impossible for one individual to come alone and expel someone or disband the party.”

Apparently, a party disbanded when every member left the party.

“Is there no party capacity?”

“As far as I know, on the lower floors, it is possible up to a maximum of six people. I do not know about the middle floors.”

I nodded to show I understood and checked the time. It was already a little past noon.

“It’s lunchtime now. What do you want to do after lunch? Do you want to hunt more outside the city? Do you want to handle business in the city? Or should we challenge the 11th floor?”

If I had been alone, I probably would have challenged the 11th floor, but since we had formed a party, I should hear Lee Soo-young’s opinion too.

I did not mind which option she chose.

If we hunted, I had no talent, so I would not grow much, but Lee Soo-young would grow.

Since we had formed a party, if a party member grew, it benefited me too.

We would also earn Shop Points and money.

If we handled business in the city, I was thinking of visiting the Mage Tower branch the old librarian had mentioned.

If I said the old librarian had recommended I go there, I might be able to learn some suitable magic.

Even if not, I had an interest in magic.

Challenging the 11th floor was not bad either.

I did not know what would appear on the 11th floor, but judging from what I had experienced outside the city, it seemed worth challenging.

“I....”

After thinking it over, Lee Soo-young decided.