HLABS 14

Chapter 14

Living Alone but Too Strong
This Is Crazy

Players climbing up and down the Tower of the World Tree in South Korea…

No, players from all over the world were completely shocked that day.

Why?

[Kalipago12]: Wait, they actually cleared the 3rd floor in less than 6 hours?
└ [Sahyeokmanse]: Speak properly. It’s not just the 3rd floor—they cleared the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors combined in 8 hours.
└ [Localman]: What kind of insane people are they?

In South Korea, there were barely ten players with S-class, overpowered talent.

Even they would take at least 10 days to clear the 3rd floor, no matter how skilled.

And even that was possible only because their abilities worked favorably with the scenario, plus support from guilds and the government.

But the two mysterious individuals who appeared a few hours ago cleared it in the blink of an eye.

And… even while countless players were trying to trap them.

[Kalipago12]: No way, this can’t be real. Does that make sense? Logically?
└ [Sahyeokmanse]: The Tower’s stats system says so. What are you denying? And there are a ton of eyewitnesses.
└ [Risingdon]: Must be an error, right? Didn’t people say the same when the 1st floor was broken?

At first, many found it hard to believe…

[Doksasimsang]: It’s from the Doksasimsang guild. They were waiting on-site. They’re real players, and they witnessed the moment those freaks killed Alkras.
└ [Kiritago]: Really? Crazy… how strong were they?
└ [Doksasimsang]: Feels like it took less than 10 seconds to clear Alkras.
└ [kog91]: That… can’t be real.
└ [iii1i1ii1]: A member of Doksasimsang confirmed it with their name. That’s as factual as it gets. Posts are popping up in other communities too.
└ [kog91]: What kind of talent do they even have to make this possible?

Eyewitness accounts from players waiting on the 3rd floor poured in, giving credibility to these claims.

Even more shocking was…

[Bobby102]: I ran into the Deungjeonghoe guild members… they all got wrecked. All of them had climbed past the 25th floor.
└ [doqp44]: That means a level gap of over 200… is that even possible? Is there something we don’t know?
└ [FakeDuo]: This is insane… everything we thought we knew is shattered.
└ [Belicasaranghae]: Are they using some kind of cheat key or something? What the heck…

Even the strongest guild in Korea, ‘Deungjeonghoe,’ reportedly had one of its squads utterly destroyed by the two.

Every part of the situation made no sense at all.

<<Today at 1 PM, another fastest-clear player emerged in the Tower of the World Tree. Many players witnessed this process…>>
<<The authorities said they are trying to track down the player as quickly as possible…>>

The news was flooded with reports about this mysterious player.

[Carrid]: If a player has that insane talent, shouldn’t they be able to clear the 30th floor too?
[Roold]: Yeah. The Player Association and the government have to find them before another Monster Fall occurs.

Even civilians were buzzing about these two players.

The final 30th floor of the 3rd-tier Abyssrium, unbeaten for nearly two years, had already caused three Monster Falls because it hadn’t been stopped.

The astronomical losses and casualties each time… no one wanted a repeat. That’s why everyone was so excited by the emergence of these genius players.

And what were these genius players doing?

“Messiah? What the hell are people even saying?”

Minho sighed deeply while checking the news on his smartphone.

Then, Venti asked, with rice stuck on their face:

“If people like them, isn’t that good? Why are you trying to hide your identity, Minho?”

With the effect of the solo-living room about to end, they had 30 minutes left before returning.

Surrounded by convenience store food, they were enjoying a final meal.

Minho scratched his forehead and replied:

“It’s not that I’m strong. Venti is strong, so we cleared it. If we’re found out, it’ll just cause a lot of hassle. Then I won’t even be able to eat leisurely with Venti like this.”

“Won’t be able to eat?”

Venti, holding a triangle kimbap in both hands, shrugged their shoulders. Minho looked at their blinking, round eyes and continued:

“Exactly. We’d have a hard time going outside, and we’d get busier too.”

“Then that can’t happen. Absolutely not! Minho, don’t get caught up in trouble.”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”

From the start, Minho had no intention of acting as a savior.

Instead, he focused on what he could do now. For example…

“This instant jjambbong is actually tasty!”
“Yeah, try mixing it with spaghetti noodles.”
“Oh! That tastes different!”
“You can even put triangle kimbap on top.”
“Even better!”

Before Venti returned, they were showing the pinnacle of convenience store cooking.

After a while…

“Ugh, I’m going to burst.”

Venti, like always, patted their protruding stomach and lay back on the beanbag.

Minho smiled and patted their head:

“Good job.”

Today was especially exhausting. Unlike the previous two visits, where they climbed floor by floor, this time they had rushed straight to the boss room via the shortest route.

Why choose that?

First, he wanted to climb the tower quickly to improve the solo-living room.

Second…

‘Before things get too noisy, it’s better to go up as fast as possible.’

The day confirmed one thing: no matter how careful you are or how much you try to avoid being noticed, climbing the Tower inevitably exposes you to others.

Better to go up a floor before more players appear.

Then Venti said:

“Minho, I need to tell you something today.”
“Go ahead.”
“I won’t be able to come here for a while. In my world, I’ll be busy.”

Minho widened his eyes slightly, then nodded and smiled:

“Even for Venti, it’s tough, huh?”
“Yes, very tough! So I won’t be able to come for at least a month.”

Even though Venti smiled, Minho could read the subtle emotion behind it.

• Don’t worry, I’ve got this. Leave it to me.

• I’ll handle it, so stay out of it.

A calm voice, but filled with determination.

Minho had sensed that same feeling when Venti was at the shelter and later while working in their world.

‘I see.’

Venti was also a player climbing a tower in their own world. If the Tower hadn’t collapsed there, they must have urgent matters to deal with.

So it was impossible for them to visit Minho’s solo-living room frequently.

Minho checked Venti’s remaining time in the status window—less than three minutes.

“Then, I guess I’ll give a gift.”

Minho got up and handed a paper bag in the corner of the room to Venti.

“What’s this?”
“A gift. You worked hard today, so I prepared it.”
“Wow!”

Venti peeked inside the bag, filled with all kinds of candies, including sweet and sour ones.

While not completely certain, Minho had filled it with things Venti would like.

Venti couldn’t resist and popped a candy into their mouth, smiling:

“Thanks, Minho. I’ll enjoy it!”
“Yeah. Stay healthy.”
“Oh, and I also have a return gift.”
“Return gift?”

Venti rummaged through their belt and pulled something out.

[Venti-Style Martial Arts]

A strangely written book, automatically translated for players, in the Tower’s common language.

Inside were details on handling various weapons and movement in combat, with both text and illustrations.

Venti crossed their arms and proudly said:

“This book compiles my combat techniques! Read it and train hard—it’ll definitely help you climb the Tower!”
“Thanks. This is really valuable.”

Minho smiled, giving a thumbs-up.

Then…

“Alright, take care, Mino!”

[Guest ‘Venti’ has ended their stay!]

With the message, Venti’s body glowed and disappeared.

‘It’s Minho, not Mino.’

The room, which had been noisy just a moment ago, fell into silence.

“…At least a month.”

A little disappointing. Minho scratched his head, sighed, and sat at the table.

Had he grown attached after seeing them so many times?

‘Well, I’ll just focus on my own work.’

It wasn’t that he couldn’t see them again; a month later, he could. He just hoped nothing dangerous happened.

Minho pushed the book aside and turned on the TV with the remote, filling the room with sound, and opened the ledger he had pushed to the side of the table.

‘If I sell the magic stones we got from the boss… it’ll be around 3 million won.’

He calculated roughly based on the stones collected, and recorded the income in the ledger.

3 million won—considerable, but relatively small compared to clearing three floors in one day.

This time, he aimed to climb the Tower while killing as few monsters as possible.

But the biggest achievement of this raid wasn’t monetary…

‘Solo-living room management.’

Minho opened the status window:

───────
[Solo-Living Room Management]
Solo-living room points: 3pt
(Earn 1 point per floor climbed in the Tower.)
───────

The points he had longed for were finally three.

And Minho already knew how to use them.

‘First, I’ll use 1 point to expand the solo-living room.’

[The Infinite Solo-Living Room has been expanded!]

The room trembled as if from an earthquake, then the space expanded sideways.

After the expansion…

‘Now, I’ll purchase the customization system.’

[Spent 2 points to purchase ‘Solo-Living Room Customization System’!]
[New menu ‘Customization’ is now available!]

Minho immediately entered the menu.

A blueprint-like image appeared, as if viewing the room from above.

‘Hmm, I can adjust the layout by moving this around.’

Minho moved various buttons. Changing the entrance location, the door glowed and disappeared, then reappeared in the new spot.

It felt like magic.

But…

‘This is overwhelmingly convenient.’

In the real world, changing the door’s location would require a tedious process. Doing it with a single finger was satisfying.

Though that wasn’t the main reason he got this system.

He optimized the room layout:

‘Bathroom far from the entrance. The other door isn’t used often, so move it to the corner.’

After roughly arranging it, Minho did the final task:

‘I’ll put up a wall to make a bedroom.’

Placing a wall on one side of the blueprint, a wall with a door rose in the studio.

Opening the door revealed an empty room on the other side.

“Perfect. This will be my private bedroom from now on.”

A satisfied smile spread across Minho’s face.