Chapter 17

Chapter 17

At Woo-jin’s words, Blackie shouted from beside him.

“Friends? What are you talking about, nyah?!”

“Why?”

“Th-the Doppelganger is the boss monster of the 98th Floor, nyah!”

“So?”

It was absurd.

“Common sense says adventurers and monsters becoming friends makes no sense, nyah!”

“Hey. If you put it that way, being friends with an administrator doesn’t make sense either.”

“Th-that is…….”

“How lonely do you think it is, living alone in this huge Tower? We’re all lonely friends here. You were, and so was I.”

Now that I hear it, he has a point.

Blackie stroked his chin with his front paw.

Then he accepted it right away.

“Fine, nyah! Doppelganger, you will become friends with us, nyah!”

If the Doppelganger refused, then there was nothing he could do.

If it disliked the idea, it disliked it.

But he planned to keep persuading it.

Because.

‘Hehehe. If I coax this guy over to our side, we can farm together, right?’

They could talk together and farm together.

Originally, farming was hard work to do alone.

For now, he was only planting a few varieties, and the field’s area was not that wide, so he was handling it all by himself easily enough. But once he started planting all sorts of things in earnest, he might have to spend the entire day clinging to the fields.

That was why Woo-jin needed the Doppelganger’s strength.

And.

(…….) Nod.

[The King of Shadows, the Doppelganger, recognizes you as its master.]

[Achievement - ‘Master of Shadows’ achieved.]

[Reward: You have acquired the skill ‘Concealment Lv. Max’.]

“Wh-whaaat?!”

An achievement had suddenly appeared.

And a skill had been given as a reward.

Woo-jin, who had been staring blankly, wondering what this was, confirmed that the skill level was ‘Max’ and nearly screamed on the spot.

[Concealment Lv. Max]

- Description: Fully assimilates you into the surrounding environment, concealing your appearance, including scent and shadow.

“Why are you suddenly shouting, nyah?! You startled me, nyah!”

“I think I got an insanely good skill!”

“What are you talking about, nyah?”

“Can’t you see my Status Window?”

Blackie rummaged around and pulled something out.

It was a magnifying glass.

“...C-Concealment? And Level Max too! What happened, nyah?!”

“I suddenly achieved an achievement and got it. This is a good skill, right?”

“Good or bad, this is completely broken, nyah!”

A broken skill officially certified by an administrator.

Okay.

I’ll be happy about that.

“Hehehe. Let’s try using it.”

Woo-jin immediately tried using the Concealment skill right where he stood.

‘What? Nothing’s changed?’

He could still see his hands and feet, and he could still see his body.

Woo-jin felt disappointed that it had not hidden his appearance at all, unlike what was written in the skill description, but soon realized the skill was working properly.

“Woo-jin disappeared, nyah!”

“What? I’m right here.”

“I-I can’t see you, nyah?”

In Blackie’s eyes, Woo-jin was nowhere to be seen.

‘Ah. I can see myself, but other people can’t. This is actually better.’

If even he could not see himself, it could have caused serious confusion in his sense of direction and balance. But if his own body remained visible to him, that was much better.

Sss.

He deactivated Concealment.

“Very nice.”

“Did you use the Concealment skill, nyah?!”

“Yeah. Looks like you can’t see me at all. The performance is definitely solid.”

“Of course, nyah! The Concealment skill itself is incredibly good, but its skill level is Max? There’s no cheat as ridiculous as this, nyah! It’s a cheat key, nyah!”

Come to think of it, as far as Woo-jin knew, a Max skill level did not exist.

There were several extremely successful adventurers in Hard difficulty, and he remembered that the highest level of the skills they possessed was 5.

That meant skill level 5 was already incredibly high.

He could not even guess how broken Max was.

“What level does a skill have to reach to become Max?”

FLIP, FLIP!

Blackie took out the book that administrators read and checked the contents. Woo-jin, who was secretly peeking from beside him, widened his eyes.

“It’s 20, nyah!”

“Huh.”

A smile appeared on Woo-jin’s lips.

“Doppelganger! It’s all thanks to you. Thank…….”

Where did it go?

Woo-jin looked around, but the Doppelganger was nowhere to be seen. And soon he found out why.

Skills: Soil Tilling Lv. 4, Seed Planting Lv. 4, Harvest Lv. 3, Cold Resistance Lv. 1, Cooking Lv. 2, Stealthy Footsteps Lv. 1, Fire Resistance Lv. 1, Dark Adaptation Lv. 1, Summon Doppelganger, Concealment Lv. Max

The Doppelganger had become a skill.

Woo-jin blinked.

[Summon Doppelganger]

- Description: Summons the Doppelganger. The summoned Doppelganger copies the abilities and skills of a designated target, and consumes Magic Power depending on its activity.

“Hmm. Summon Doppelganger?”

Sss.

The Doppelganger appeared.

It told him to designate a target, so Woo-jin designated himself.

Then the Doppelganger’s stats and skills were set to match Woo-jin’s exactly.

“Oh. Hello!”

The Doppelganger was a taciturn friend.

It showed no response at all.

He wondered if he had to command it one thing at a time, telling it to do this and that, but that did not seem to be the case.

When Woo-jin offered a handshake, it accepted on its own with a neat motion.

“Ahem. Let’s get along.”

(…….) Nod.

He had made a new friend.

---

A problem occurred.

Naturally, he had planned to take the Doppelganger to the 99th Floor through the Administrator Passage, but the Doppelganger could not enter the Administrator Passage.

Of course, that problem was easily solved.

All he had to do was unsummon the Doppelganger for a moment, then summon it again on the 99th Floor.

“Welcome to my hideout!”

Woo-jin welcomed his new companion, the Doppelganger.

In truth, strictly speaking, this was the Dragon Lord’s house, and Woo-jin was an extra mouth being allowed to live in one tiny room of that house.

Still, since the landlord had said he could live here, this place had officially been recognized as Woo-jin’s hideout.

Growl.

The sound came from Woo-jin’s stomach.

Now that he thought about it, it was about time for dinner.

[Requesting a chat with Anonymous 3861.]

[Anonymous 3861 has accepted the chat.]

- Me: Hey, hey, hey.

- Me: Could I possibly get kimchi stew right now?!

- Anonymous 3861: OK.

- Me: Please make it three servings!

- Anonymous 3861: You must eat a lot.

- Me: That too, but there are three mouths to feed.

- Anonymous 3861: ?

Since it would be better not to tell him about Blackie or the Doppelganger, Woo-jin glossed over it vaguely.

- Me: I mean I eat as much as if I had three mouths!

- Anonymous 3861: OK.

The kindhearted Anonymous 3861 said he would prepare the kimchi stew immediately.

Had about thirty minutes passed?

[Anonymous 3861 has requested a Personal Trade with you.]

[Anonymous 3861 has registered ‘Kimchi Stew, 3 Servings’.]

[The trade has been completed.]

- Anonymous 3861: Enjoy dinner.

- Me: Thank you!!

It did not seem like Anonymous 3861 had made it himself.

Well, of course he had expected him to prepare it through delivery or takeout.

He had been looking forward to that too.

“Hehehe.”

It was a sight Woo-jin had seen many times while living in Korea.

Inside the plastic bag were disposable plastic containers packed full.

There were even plastic spoons and wooden chopsticks.

Judging by the receipt attached to the plastic bag, it seemed to have been ordered through a delivery app.

[Review Event: Steamed Egg]

So he had even secured the complimentary steamed egg.

Did he take the photo for the review event?

“Woo-jin. What is all this, nyah?”

“This? It’s kimchi stew.”

He tore the lid off the large plastic container.

“Whoa!”

Kimchi stew, with hot steam rising in wisps.

A bright-red kimchi stew that looked packed full of MSG to survive South Korea’s oversaturated self-employment market revealed itself in all its glory.

“Khhh. That’s the smell.”

The fragrance of kimchi stew stimulated his appetite.

He opened all the remaining plastic container lids too.

The menu was as follows.

White rice.

Kimchi stew.

Complimentary steamed egg.

Packaged roasted seaweed.

“Hiyah.”

The rice was piled high in bowls.

And there were three of them!

Insane. This is insane!

“W-Woo-jin! It smells incredibly delicious, nyah!”

“Hehehe. What do you think? Pretty great, right?”

“Can I eat it too, nyah?”

“Of course. I asked for three servings so the three of us could share. The way you eat this is…….”

First, Woo-jin scooped up a large spoonful of fluffy white rice.

He picked up one solid piece of aged kimchi and placed it neatly on top of the white rice.

The kimchi stew broth clinging to the piece of aged kimchi soaked into the white rice.

That was not the end. He also placed a thick piece of pork on top of the aged kimchi.

Rice + aged kimchi + pork.

Perfect.

This, in one bite.

“Chooomp.”

Munch, munch…….

Gulp.

“It’s delicious!”

He clapped.

People said familiar flavors were the most dangerous, and this was exactly a familiar flavor.

“Now. You saw me eat it, right? You can eat it like this. Or you can mix a little rice into the broth and slurp it down. It’s good if you wrap the rice in seaweed too, and having it with steamed egg is nice because it settles your stomach.”

(…….) Nod.

“Blackie, you can’t use chopsticks or spoons, right?”

“What do you take this body for, nyah? Of course I can use them, nyah!”

It was true.

Well, he was not just an ordinary cat, so perhaps it was obvious.

His chopstick skills looked a little clumsy, though.

Just as Woo-jin had done, Blackie placed aged kimchi and pork on top of rice and ate it all at once. Blackie’s eyes grew enormously wide.

“Woo-jin! This is incredibly delicious, nyah!”

(…….) Nod, nod!

The Doppelganger also nodded vigorously, as though it felt the same.

Woo-jin had not cooked it himself, but he still felt happy, as if the menu he had chosen had been acknowledged by his companions.

Sharing delicious food together made it taste even better.

“It would’ve been nice if the Dragon Lord could’ve eaten with us too.”

He had enjoyed the Yukgaejang cup noodles, small size, last time too, so kimchi stew would surely suit his taste as well.

‘We can eat it together next time.’

Promising himself there would be another chance.

Woo-jin began focusing on the kimchi stew in front of him.

“Khaa. It’s spicy~!”

The sharp, stimulating kimchi stew broth rode down his esophagus and seemed to awaken the soul of a Korean.

“It’s spicy, nyah!”

Day 13 since entering the Tower.

For dinner, they ate delivered kimchi stew together.