·[Episode 06] Construction (3)
As I began supplying arrows in real time, Kim Ga-young shot arrows without pause.
Now, she could fire indiscriminately at optimal moments, even when support wasn't strictly necessary.
This was all thanks to the new features that emerged as the Absolute's Eye skill leveled up.
〔Multitasking〕
You can use other skills in the area you are observing with the Eyes of the Absolute.
Kim Ga-young's influence has doubled since she can now supply arrows in real time through the store.
[You have hunted an Orc (Lv. 19).] [You have gained experience points.] [2,100,338 won has been deposited into the wallet of the Absolute in the Corner.] [You have hunted an Orc (Lv. 19).]
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Notifications of hunting orcs poured in rapidly.
All of these were Kim Ga-young's achievements.
The number of orcs she hunted far exceeded the number Ha Dong-geon had taken down.
'...I didn't expect it to be this much.'
[Citizens Kim Ga-young, Ha Dong-geon, Kang Deok-su, Moon Byeong-ho, Yoo Hye-rin, and Kim Geon completed the quest.] [Quest cost is 2,332,580 won.]
The quest to hunt 100 orcs, which I had just assigned, was completed in an instant.
'Kim Ga-young is ranked first in contribution.'
When a party quest is given, the order in which the names appear reflects their contribution to the quest.
This meant Kim Ga-young had caught more orcs than Ha Dong-geon.
'The dynamic changes so much just by supplying arrows.'
The higher your contribution, the greater the quest rewards.
The reward for hunting 100 orcs was 'a large amount of experience points.'
[Citizen Kim Ga-young's level has increased.]
'Oh. Level up.'
In the case of Gasin, there were two main ways to level up.
One method was to use money to level up characters directly. The process was simple: press the [+] button next to the level of your vassals.
This method wasn't commonly used, but Kim Ga-young invested 5 million won specifically to raise her level to 25.
This was because her hunting efficiency was exceptionally good, considering she had only awakened a C-rank ability.
Of course, this method wouldn't be used much in the future.
I had found a more efficient way.
'You can also level up by increasing stats or gaining experience points as quest rewards.'
Increasing levels through quest rewards was far more efficient.
This was how I discovered it.
A few days ago, after realizing that the daily quest bonus rewards were quite substantial, I began assigning three daily quests to all my vassals and had them complete them.
But on the second day, or more precisely, when Choi Hyeong-jun completed his fifth strength quest,
This notification suddenly appeared:
[Citizen Choi Hyeong-jun's level has increased.]
I checked and found that Choi Hyeong-jun's level had indeed increased to 21.
'If you level up with raw money, it costs 1 million won, but if you use quest assignments, you can level up in just five or six attempts.'
If you increase abilities through quest rewards, the actual cost is around 100,000 won.
Here, the cost decreases depending on the quest difficulty or content.
In the end, I was able to level up Choi Hyeong-jun for less than 300,000 won through quests.
1 million won was reduced to 300,000 won.
Of course, it gets tougher from level 25.
From level 25 to level 30, it costs a staggering 10 million won to level up, so even if you level up through quest rewards, it usually takes a long time.
To collect 10 million won worth of items, you'd need to complete the quest at least 100 times.
However, through various experiments, I found a way to shorten the time.
The method was straightforward.
'You can give better quest rewards.'
Just like this party quest, you can assign 'a large amount' of experience points as a quest reward.
Then, although it costs some money, you can see immediate results, as is happening now.
'And it only cost 2 million won.'
This time, the Ha Dong-geon party earned about 250 million won by hunting 100 orcs.
Honestly, I didn't regret investing 2 million won at all.
Because it was producing efficiency several times greater than the money invested.
"Give me a party quest with the same content. Hunt 100 orcs."
I would have been willing to invest more, but unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
'This is the best we can do for now.'
I experimented with modifiers like enormous, many, and tremendous, but all of these were converted to the modifier 'large amount.'
So, for now, 'a large amount of experience' is the best option.
Setting quest rewards to 'experience points' also had another advantage: the increased stats varied depending on who gained the experience points.
In Kim Ga-young's case, her body vision and agility increased, while Ha Dong-geon's muscle strength and stamina improved rapidly.
Even without specifying each stat individually, the most necessary stats for each person tended to increase.
So now, unless there's a special reason, experience points are used as quest rewards.
'It's a bit disappointing that the only skills usable for multitasking are shops and warehouses.'
If I could use my Invisible Hand, I would have sent the Ha Dong-geon party toward Nambumin-dong immediately.
It was a power that easily subdued a level 28 enemy.
Most monsters could probably be subdued by the Invisible Hand alone.
However, I couldn't use the Invisible Hand because it was a skill that grew out of my body and took root.
'Still, there's a glimmer of hope.'
The distance from here to my hometown is only about 10 km.
It was a distance that could easily be covered in about three hours on foot.
However, the reason I couldn't give them the quest to save their parents was simple.
Scrub
After supplying Kim Ga-young with a generous amount of arrows, I moved the Absolute's point of view to the rooftop.
'...'
The top of a high-rise apartment building built on a mountainside.
From this height, I could see quite far.
Thanks to this, the entire city was visible at a glance.
Seomyeon, one of Busan's representative downtown areas, lived up to its reputation with its vibrant nighttime lights, tall buildings, and gatherings of young people.
But now.
'This is miserable.'
That place was filled with death, far from vitality.
Even the word "hell" wasn't enough to describe it.
The roads, usually filled with cars, were now teeming with strange creatures, and black smoke rose from buildings here and there.
Shattered glass windows.
A building with a sunken side.
Even the tall buildings lay on their sides, charred black as if they had exploded.
Even if war had broken out, I thought things would be better than this.
Ugh
I knew it too.
In this damned world, the chances of my family surviving were close to zero.
'We have to hurry.'
But I still couldn't give up hope, because if I didn't hold onto something like this, if I didn't believe my parents were alive...
'There's no time.'
Because it felt like I might collapse at any moment.
'Should I at least send Ha Dong-geon's party?'
Three days ago, Kim Geon succeeded in making all of Ha Dong-geon's party members vassals by meeting the registration requirements.
『Name: Kim Geon (Lv. 22) [+]
Title: [The Seventh Bell]
Trust: 59 Loyalty: 33
Awakening Ability: Raven Ministry
★Quest Granting』
In addition, the skill Kim Geon acquired was a C-rank skill that allowed him to command a crow, which he used for reconnaissance.
Kim Geon also played a significant role in sending reconnaissance missions outside the apartment to investigate Ha Dong-geon's party.
'No. I have to send them after completing the combination.'
The combination I wanted was to add the powerful bruiser, Owen Ju, and the healer, Kim Da-jeong, to Ha Dong-geon's party.
But unfortunately, I hadn't yet won Owen's loyalty.
『Name: Owen Ju (Lv. 33)
Trust: 51 Loyalty: 12
Awakening Ability: Werebear
Experience distribution rate: 70%
Settlement distribution rate: 30%
★Quest Granting Exit』
In Owen's case, loyalty hadn't increased at all.
'Kim Da-jeong has already completed her registration.'
Kim Da-jeong, whose trustworthiness grew quickly from our first meeting, quickly opened her loyalty, and from the start, her loyalty had already exceeded 30.
Thanks to that, I was able to register her immediately, and the results were good.
『Name: Kim Da-jeong (Lv. 30) [+]
Title: [Eighth Bell] [Knight] [Priest]
Trust: 70 Loyalty: 63
Awakening Abilities: Heal, Bless, Magic Armor
Experience distribution rate: 100%
★Quest Granting』
Blessing (A grade)
Consumes mental power to temporarily increase the target's physical abilities by 70%.
Magic Armor (B Grade)
Creates a magical armor that protects the target by consuming mental power.
Two additional skills had been awakened.
That's why I wanted to bring Kim Da-jeong on board.
If I just gave Ha Dong-geon a blessing and magic armor, he would be able to overwhelm most monsters.
'It's clear that the efficiency of people with awakening abilities from the start is overwhelmingly better.'
That was the reason I tried to make Owen Ju my vassal by any means necessary.
Owen Ju was a person with an A-class awakening ability.
It was clear that registering her would bring excellent results.
If Oh Eun-ju, who had become a vassal, joined Ha Dong-geon's party, reaching my family home, which was about 10 km away, would have been a piece of cake.
'Isn't there any way to increase Owen's loyalty?'
The reason I was so obsessed with registration was to prepare for any eventuality.
If all the party members being dispatched were vassals, then even if something happened, I could simply use vassal summoning, and that would be it.
I didn't want anyone to die.
'Is that really the only way to increase Owen's loyalty?'
That was when.
[Citizen Owen Ju completed the quest.]
It was the notification I had been waiting for.
She had completed the quest to hunt 100 goblins.
This was already the second quest, meaning she had hunted 200 today.
Her obsession with goblins persisted.
'The last quest for today is...'
Even without that, Ha Dong-geon's wallet had grown quite thick thanks to his party's activities.
A whopping 370 million won had piled up in his wallet.
The amount was still increasing in real time.
I hadn't expected it to be possible.
'Quest reward: son's resurrection.'
The content was set to rescue my parents in Nambumin-dong.
However.
[You do not have enough cash to pay (Quest Reward: Resurrection).] [Please increase your cash and try again.]
A notification appeared immediately, as if out of nowhere.
'...Hmm.'
This much was already expected.
'Let's increase the quest difficulty to the maximum.'
The important thing was to show Owen Ju the possibility of resurrection.
'Quest content: Hunt monsters above level 40.'
I had never hunted a monster above level 30 before.
If it's level 40, it's obviously incredibly powerful, and the rewards are equally substantial.
The quest difficulty was already at an abyss because the condition was to hunt such a monster.
In addition to that.
'Time limit: 24 hours.'
Just finding a level 40 monster was a difficult task.
But it would be even more challenging to discover such a monster in just one day.
'The penalty is...'
I was a little hesitant to set this up.
Even though I could cancel the quest midway at will, the content itself was already unsettling enough.
If I made a mistake, the trust I had worked so hard to build could collapse.
Still.
'The first step is to show her the possibility.'
That way, I could increase Owen's loyalty.
'The penalty is death.'
This was the most extreme quest content I could think of at this point.
Tiring!
[You do not have enough cash to pay (Quest Reward: Resurrection).] [Please increase your cash and try again.]
But nothing changed.
'Are you saying 400 million won is insufficient?'
It was somewhat expected.
Because a human life wasn't something that could be restored with just a few hundred million won.
This was a pretty important issue for me as well.
The moment I saw the resurrection function, I assumed that, in the worst-case scenario, it could save my family's lives.
"...Phew."
That was when.
[You have hunted an Orc (Lv. 18).] [You have gained experience points.] [2,788,221 won has been deposited into the wallet of the Absolute in the Corner.]
Even now, Ha Dong-geon's party continued to hunt orcs.
Suddenly, I remembered the party quest I had given them.
And.
"Ah...?"
I realized something important.
'If it's this!'
I applied it immediately.
'Quest Reward: Son's Resurrection Day!'
And.
Tiring!
"Quest Granting"
Quest Content: Hunt monsters above level 40 (0/1)
Time limit: 24 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds
Reward: Son's resurrection day.
Failure penalty: death.
[Do you want to grant the quest as is?] [Yes / No]
It worked.
This meant that if I limited the resurrection time to one day, it could be resolved within the range of 400 million won.
'Is Owen Ju really worth investing 400 million won in?'
There was no need to think long.
Because the value of A-rank skills was clear.
Even if you register as an Awakened One, the efficiency triples.
'And assuming you're hunting monsters above level 40...'
Right now, monsters that aren't even level 30 are yielding close to 100 million won.
If it's a higher-level monster, it'll definitely give more settlement money.
'First, I'll get Owen Ju on my side.'
Barely, it showed only hope.
You could call it selfish.
You could call me a devil.
Because saving my family was more important to me than those things.
"Give me the quest."
And a few minutes later.
Toodoodoodoo―
I felt something moving aggressively up the stairs.
It ran up to our front door and knocked.
Kuung―!
It was more like slamming into the door than knocking.
Owen's urgent voice could be heard from beyond the front door.
"Excuse me! Open the door! Open the door! Jaehyun!"
Crash
As the door opened, she hurriedly came inside.
"Ugh, ugh."
Owen Ju looked straight at me, who was waiting at the entrance, and asked.
"This is, this is...!"
"Yes, it's possible, although there's a time limit."
"Sob―! Thank you. I'd be happy with just one day. If only I could see my son..."
Owen Ju collapsed to the ground as if she were falling apart.
[Citizen Owen's loyalty has exceeded 30.]
[Citizen Owen has met the conditions for registration as a new member.]