Stuck in The Tower

Episode 657: Those who deal with the system

After leaving the black hook, I wandered around the city.

I was wondering what kind of place it was called a city, but this was a real city.

In terms of experience, it is slightly smaller than Seoul?

Seoul is also quite dense, but compared to here, it is at least better.

This is the level of all agricultural and industrial complexes combined.

“Why are there so many factories?”

Thanks to this, not only was the air stale, but it was also not good to drink tap water.

Although it is resistant to poison and has fire extinguishing skills, it is not very pleasant to drink rusty water that has come down through an old drain pipe.

If you want to drink clean water, you have to buy it separately.

Is that all? As there were so many people, there were all kinds of strange people gathered together, and it was not uncommon to see scams and rip-offs of basic things.

The cost of living was also unusual, so living a certain standard of living here required significant costs.

“Ugh. “You worked hard today too, brother.”

“It would be better to live in a house in a junkyard. “No matter when I see it, I can’t get used to it.”

The village where you go up after working at the factory.

It was a slum where buildings were built haphazardly carved from the bottom of the mountain, and it was a place where poor workers and criminals gathered.

If you were just a commoner or lower, you lived in places like this.

Or they slept together in a single room provided by the factory.

I thought I had done a lot of pretty rough work, but this was the first time I had seen 8 people sleeping in a place about 5 pyeong.

Compared to there, this place was better.

“I hope it doesn’t rain. “It was too loud last time.”

The thin walls could not block the wind, and the roof made of thin iron plates made a loud noise when it rained.

If it’s an iron plate, it won’t leak even if it rains.

“You guys rest first. “I’m going to take a walk and then sleep.”

“Your physical strength is also good. “Go to sleep first.”

“The night breeze is cool, brother. “Please come on time.”

I put Paul and Victon in the shack and went out.

I rested my butt on the wall that looked like it had been made and took out a notebook.

What I have experienced and seen so far.

I wrote down various questions and ideas.

I have a lot to say, but my impressions are from living in the city.

‘If you live here, you will become increasingly poorer.’

It’s ironic.

Why is it that the places with the most work and factories are filled with the poor?

I went to a wealthy village to sell my items, but I couldn’t enter unless I was verified.

Even if the purpose was business, an admission fee was required.

‘After paying taxes, I didn’t even have anything left over.’

Crazy guys.

Why do you need to pay 10,000 lian to enter?

In Korean terms, this means asking for 1 million won.

It was not easy to get into that neighborhood itself, perhaps because there was a clear difference depending on wealth.

Even if you try to sneak in, you will definitely be caught because there is a dome-shaped magic circle.

In the end, it meant that I had no choice but to do something here, and the only place I could go was the human resources center.

So the place I chose was an underground shopping mall with a soybean store.

Not only because they had a relationship, but because he was someone who Garti said would be helpful.

I needed work to make a living right away.

‘We also need to check how the blood is weighed.’

There is clearly a reason why Garti introduced it.

While working at the factory, I checked from time to time.

I also plan to check the place where I handed over the Black Hook members.

Since it happened right before paying taxes, it was highly likely that it happened somewhere nearby.

“Wednesday is the day when the guard is the most relaxed. “The day the factory materials arrive.”

Two days left.

Until then, I plan to organize things about the 95th floor.

While I was in the city, I noticed a few strange things.

first.

‘The scale of the 95th floor is too big.’

It is not a scale that an individual ruler can handle.

Of course, as the floors rise, the level of the beings that dominate this place must have risen.

The range that can be handled will increase accordingly, but this was too much.

Even the 94th floor, where the ancient dragon Merrymule was the ruler, was not this size.

Second question.

‘Where do all the items made like this go?’

The factory alone is enormous.

This is the case here in the city, but if you go out to the outskirts, everything from raw materials to agriculture and fishing are active.

The reason why so many people can make a living.

If this hadn’t been done, wouldn’t everyone have starved to death now that the store window is sealed?

The problem is that, despite this, there is always a shortage of food.

This is the reason for the crazy prices in the city.

There is no supply, but there is a lot of demand.

A whopping 70% of the weekly salary goes to food expenses.

So, you’re going into Daldong’s house without an owner.

‘There are more than a few strange things besides this.’

The reason why there are so many workers and primary producers here.

If your job involves producing something, taxes are low.

Luxury or service-related work is relatively expensive in taxes.

Is it my illusion that I feel like I’m constantly being forced to create something?

Isn’t it the system’s job to collect taxes in the first place?

Why is this happening on the 95th floor, where there is a separate ruler?

The only place that is similar is Framberg.

“Products with a certain level of technology come from Framberg. “There doesn’t seem to be anything like that here.”

Does it mean that the items handled are different?

It would be convenient to contact Framberg, but since the store window is blocked, you can’t ask questions through individual stores.

I thought about using seagulls.

“…I gave you food for no reason.”

All I heard was that the seagull in charge of me had food poisoning.

I should have looked into Deokchun from the beginning.

Still, there were some achievements.

-Fairy Club Rookie Group. Located on the 95th floor.

-Fairy Club is a wealthy area.

-Rookie group cannot be confirmed.

There was information I heard through the community.

Some members of the two top groups settled here.

I expected that we would meet someday.

The 90th floor has multiple sections on each floor, and the number decreases as you go up.

At some point, they encounter each other.

And at this point, I heard some good news.

-Tiring.

I turned on the community while hearing the notification sound.

[Mean Meow Punch]: Gongdu! Public contribution! Where are you!

[Petit Gongdue]: I’m here! Is that so!

[Mean Meow Punch]: Ahem! Hurry and treat this body with the utmost care!

In terms of commerce, Nyangfun, the most capable of the members, reached the 95th floor.

Perhaps I was unlucky or the timing wasn’t right, but I hadn’t met him before and ended up here.

The reason I came out after finishing work was to make contact with Nyangfun.

[Petit Gongdu]: I will wait for you at the City☆Gye☆Tower!

[Mean Meow Punch]:

I quickly headed to the clock tower.

There are not many places with lights on, as everyone has fallen asleep after hard work.

The only places with lights on are factories where the night shift works and entertainment districts.

It was a place where people gathered to enjoy their short holiday or to rest because they were exhausted.

It’s time for the guards to wander around yawning.

-Dang. Dang.

I heard the bell ringing, signaling 2 o’clock in the morning.

“I have come!”

Nyangpun, still dressed in sparkling gold, spread her arms wide.

I somehow ended up like that.

The wandering beggars, pickpockets, and other miscellaneous criminals would not have stayed still.

Well, I guess I handled it well.

“How is Gongblei doing? “You became a beggar, right?”

“Beggar is a harsh word.”

There is no smell because there is a shower and clean skill.

Is it because of the stains and holes here and there?

I did roughly sew it. I also do laundry.

At this level, you are dressed neatly.

When I see other guys, they don’t even care if something gets on their clothes or not.

I’m barely even dressed, and

it seems like I’m the only one who thinks that way.

“Sobbing. Beggar child. A beggar. “Patchy.”

“No….”

Nyangfun pretends to wipe his eyes.

Then he casts a salty look at me and taps his palm.

“Grain. Nudeok, let’s eat! Gulp Gulp. “Woojjujju!”

“Wow! “Wow!”

“That’s right! “You’re good at it!”

I gently stroked the boy’s head.

The one that has an excellent grip is about 0.9 reelka.

I hit him on the forearm, so when I let him go, he sat down, covering his head.

“I came here to help. “You are ungrateful.”

“Uh huh. We live by helping each other. You must have a hard time here too. “Because the store windows and everything are blocked.”

Even if you sell something, you have to have it, and even if you have something to sell, it has to be something that people here can buy.

In that sense, the potions and elixir weapons I had were too expensive for ordinary people to buy.

There was no use for weapons in the first place.

I thought there were only practical things, but they are useless here.

This is also why I have a dimensional store in mind.

“to? “What does it matter?”

Nyangfun tilts his head with bright eyes.

[The golden carriage of the country of flowers and birds shines slightly!]

-Tuk.

A magic circle created out of thin air.

A piece of bread fell beyond it.

“Is it okay to do this?”

ah.

I was speechless for a moment.

This guy was a real merchant, not a salty merchant like me.

A real merchant who doesn’t even need a store window in the first place.

Isn’t it literally like a cheat key for the 95th floor?

-Wow.

I opened my arms wide.

“What?”

The guy steps back in surprise.

“Let’s hug each other just once!”

“Aaaah! go away! “Nyaaaang!”

As I hugged him with both arms, Nyangfun let out a scream.

Fists and legs striking at the same time at the speed of light.

-Pfft! Sigh! Bah!

The brief commotion in the early morning ended with two blows to the head and a soccer kick to the shin.

A guy with a red face and a fuss.

My fist is small, but it hurts a lot.

If you look closely, you can see that he is holding a small gold bar in his hand.

It’s clear that the strangely distorted thing was taken down with that.

How dare you hit your head with a gold bar.

“Oh, it hurts.”

“My toes hurt more! “It looks like you put something in your pants.”

I rubbed the toe of my shoe against the lump on my head.

What did you put in there? It has strong legs.

I think this is enough for a happy greeting.

“Let’s go first.”

No matter what you do, it’s late now.

There is still work left for tomorrow.

“Where to sleep?”

“excuse me.”

He pointed behind him with his thumb.

Nyangfun stuck his head out to check out Daldongne, wanting to know something.

Come on.

Nyangpun’s face crumpled.

* * *

Nyangfun stretches as if he is in pain.

It might be natural since I slept in a shack that was no different from an abandoned house.

Normally, I would use high-quality camping items even if I was sleeping outdoors, but here I slept with just a blanket.

This was a choice I made because I was worried that people who came in through the window or other places might see the items and attack them.

“Ugh. “You can’t believe I let this body sleep in a place like this.”

“Isn’t this the cleanest place?”

I couldn’t take him to where Paul and Victon were, so I went to the house I had prepared in advance.

Time passed and early morning.

Normally I would have eaten breakfast, but today I don’t have much time.

Although I have roughly summarized the contents of the 95th floor, it is for reference only.

Nyangfun says he will have his own perspective and interpretation, so he plans to go around and check it out for himself.

Needless to say, the destination is a wealthy village.

Although I failed, I thought that Nyangfen, who had the title of Golden Carriage of the Flower and Bird Kingdom, might be able to get inside.

“Are you going to the factory?”

“That’s right. “First of all, you have to save up the next tax payment and you have to keep working so it’s easy to get into where the soybean dealers are hiding.”

It’s tomorrow.

At that time, the guard was relaxed, so I thought of going to the direction where the people sacrificed to measure the weight of blood disappeared.

“What are you going to do? First of all, you need to have capital. “Can you introduce me to a job?”

“Aning. I’m going straight to the rich village. “For something like this, you have to start high.”

In short, the higher the starting point, the greater the subsequent increase.

That’s true.

It’s similar to the fact that when you get a job, the higher your starting salary is, the higher your salary will be later on.

I knew that too, so I targeted wealthy areas.

“If you go inside, you will find the fairy club. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to go there. “You’re familiar with the fairy club.”

“Hehehe! That’s a shame. This is a place where you can’t survive simply through favors and affection! “If you want something, you have to have something to trade for!”

Nyangpun, who has made his own judgment about how long it has been since he came, nods his head with a proud expression.

“It means that growing what I have comes first. “If everything goes well, I will hire you specifically.”

“Yeh. “I am devastated.”

“Ahem!”

They mingled appropriately and dispersed.

Inside Daldongne, Paul and Victon, who are already ready for work, are waiting for me.

“You didn’t come in at all last night. Are you okay?”

“Well, just. “I have some work to do.”

“You’re not going to have to work the night shift, are you? I know you have a strong body, but if you work like that, you won’t last long. “There are more than a few people who were sold to the system.”

Paul sighs softly and taps his arm.

The system works.

It’s not just Paul.

This is something you hear often while working here.

At first glance, it seems like it’s talking about people who can’t pay taxes losing their sense of self and becoming complete NPCs.

‘Sometimes the nuance was ambiguous.’

What should I say?

If you are sacrificed, you have been sacrificed. There is no need to say that you have been sold.

The feeling I get is not that of mourning death, but rather that of seeing something I couldn’t see.

I quietly spoke to Paul.

“Being sold on that system. Are you talking about dying? Or are you talking about losing one’s self altogether?”

“What do you really not know? I guess it hasn’t been long since I became an NPC. “The general information is put into your head when it comes in.”

“I have a high confusion level. “The system is not fully operational.”

I responded appropriately to Paul’s question.

It’s not a lie.

In reality, the level of chaos is high and the influence of the system is somewhat outside the scope.

The guy also waved his hand as if he understood something.

“iced coffee. Were you there? I thought it was somehow unusual. Then you might not know.”

That one?

I think there is a separate term for those with high levels of confusion like me.

Let’s check this later.

“That’s literally it. Those who are sold into the system. “Don’t you know that measuring the weight of blood?”

The guy’s face crumples, perhaps because he almost got hit too.

“It also has several forms. It would be better if I died because I couldn’t pay my taxes and became a complete NPC. If you are really sold, your body and soul will be separated and used as weapon material. Of course, the things that person owns will be forcibly disposed of.”

The guy who twirls his fingers shrugs his shoulders.

“Why are there ego swords and other weapons released in the tower, like soul stones? The system wants variety and needs materials, so I’m asking for them. Give me the materials.”

There is no need to say what the ingredients are.

NPC. Because it speaks for itself.

If I were to interpret his words differently.

In this place.

‘There is someone who deals with the system.’

For some reason, I felt like I knew its identity.