[5 - A MOMENT OF RESPITE]

"Tower, please open the Treasure Box."

I nearly forgot the initial reward of the quest in my state of panic.

[Player 'Erstwhile King of Ice' has opened Treasure Box x1 and received: Cryokinetic Soul x1]

At least I could trust the treasure box to always give me something useful for me. Cryokinetic Souls can refine medium grade potions into higher grade potions, I don't know how they manage to do so, but the Tower can keep its secrets.

The Cryokinetic Soul was kept in my inventory, and I chose to leave the Tower immediately after.

The scene in front of me changed from a lush, grassy plain into the bustling city square, filled with many reporters blinding me with their lights and cameras. Thankfully, Mercury seems to be handling the reporters, quickly catching their attention with his recognisable silver hair, allowing me to carry Xingxi away into a much safer location. At least seeing Mercury alive and well made me feel happier, this should be the fate he deserves for his selflessness. Not a cruel death from cruel humans inside the cruel Tower.

While I was daydreaming, two missiles hurled themselves into me.

"Ming-ge!"

I was sent crashing onto the floor by the twins. "Okay, silly children shouldn't tackle adults onto the floor outside." I patted both of their heads as Xingxi helped me get up. Shuwei looked at the homunculus, "Who's this?" "Ah, this is Xingxi. I guess you two can think of him as your nephew, or a younger brother." Shuixian's eyes widened at the mention. "Nephew!? Ming-ge, you have a wife?" "I thought Ming-ge liked boys, when did you get a wife?" Ah, the children always ask the strangest things. "I don't have a wife, I never had one. I just took Xingxi under my care. And before you ask, Shuwei, no I did not kidnap him."

"Oh."

I hope the look on Shuwei's face wasn't a look of disappointment, because if it was, I would be very concerned for him.

"Did you go to see the Tower? Did you go inside, Ming-ge?" "How about we go home first?" I changed the topic, prompting Shuixian to gasp, "Ah, I completely forgot! We snuck out instead of telling Mama and Baba-Ow!" Shuwei hit Shuixian on the head, the latter rubbing his head to soothe the pain. "You weren't supposed to tell him!" "I'm sorry!" Shuixian whined. I was going to help soothe his head when Xingxi reached his arm up and pat Shuixian instead. Ah, they're already getting along well.

The walk home was filled with laughter.

We got home quickly, and our mother had rushed outside to grip the twins in a massive bear hug, "Where were you two!? You're lucky Mingyu found you and brought you two home!" Shuixian squirmed around while Shuwei accepted his fate. After she let go, she looked towards Xingxi, who was standing behind me. It looks like even Xingxi is scared of a mother's wrath. "And who is this? Mingyu, you didn't-" "I didn't go kidnap him, Mama. And he's too old to be my biological son." She looked almost offended that I interrupted her sentence.

I stepped aside to let my mother see Xingxi. "Mama, this is Xingxi. I'm his guardian, so I guess you can call him your grandson." Her face lit up when she heard the word 'grandson.' "Ah, a grandson, honestly, after you told me you liked boys, I thought I'd never have grandchildren from you! Okay, okay, come in! Baba will make your favourites for dinner. What about Xingxi? Is he picky? What does he like to eat? Ah, it doesn't matter, I'll just tell your Baba to make a lot." She ushered us all inside for dinner, telling our father to start cooking as she doted on Xingxi.

I don't know if I should be grateful that none of my family questioned why I suddenly became the guardian of a young man that looked almost inhuman, or if I should be concerned.

Xingxi looked overwhelmed at the attention, so I asked if he was okay. In response, Xingxi gave me the brightest smile I've ever seen on him.

Ah, Xingxi's learned how to sell meng.

"My grandson is so cute! Why is he with you now? What happened to his parents?" I didn't think of an excuse for that. I panicked as I tried to explain how Xingxi came into my care when my father set down plates of food. "You can talk about that later, let Xingxi eat something first." The entire family sat down at the table, my mother shovelling as much food onto Xingxi's plate as possible. But Xingxi doesn't know how to use chopsticks, in fact, I don't know if Xingxi knows how to eat at all. I still fed him anyway.

It seems like Xingxi looked very happy when he first tasted my father's home cooking, so I concluded that Xingxi can eat.

I want to come home to this every day.

So this time, I have to make sure that I keep my family as safe and as happy as possible.

The evening fell, which meant I finally had a chance to do what I was planning to do with the Horned Rabbit meat. I opened the gateway to the Hearth of Hestia again, Xingxi walked inside and laid down on top of the leather chaise, staring at the fire with curious purple eyes. "How many people have completed the first floor within the Tower?"

[Answering Player 'Erstwhile King of Ice's question: So far the current number of Players who have completed the first floor is 452.]

By any chance, has a player called 'Resplendent Merchant' completed the first floor?

[No.]

Dang it, I should've known.

Before I was trapped in the Tower, 'Resplendent Merchant' was a completely anonymous player who held an iron fist over the Tower's shop system. Anything that they bought in the Tower's shop was instantly sold out by the next hour. If you want to become successful off selling materials found in the Tower, a simple purchase from them could mean everything about your reputation.

I've witnessed how offending them could destroy your existence.

3 years after the Tower's appearance, 'Resplendent Merchant' had their one and only scandal. A vendor had posted their private messages with 'Resplendent Merchant' confronting the latter about an invalid transaction, where they had never received the money that they had offered to pay for the items they were selling. They had made the horrible mistake of targeting the wrong person and paid the price with the downfall of their reputation. After that incident, 'Resplendent Merchant's' reputation somehow managed to skyrocket higher than their already high prestige. It's scary to offend someone like them.

But my mistake in overlooking how quickly they would finish the Tower was a major setback. My main goal is now one step further away. If I were to make money right now, I'm going to have to do it without the help of 'Resplendent Merchant'.

"Tower, please notify me when a Player titled 'Resplendent Merchant' completes the first floor."

[Understood.]

Being someone who gained the favour of the Tower had its perks.

I rolled up my sleeves, and took out the intact horns in my inventory. Even though I have no other ingredients to create items with, I can still prepare ahead of time. Using a mortar and pestle, I crushed up the horns into a consistency similar to powdered sugar. This was one of the more simple catalysts for alchemy and one of the easiest to obtain.

Once I was done, I had about 250 grams of the catalyst powder. This would last me a good while.

I packed away the catalyst powder and looked for Xingxi, who was still lying down on the chaise. "Xingxi," I called out, the homunculus turning towards me. "Let's go, it's late. Aren't you tired?" Xingxi got up from the chaise and walked towards the Hyacinthium Amber. "Wait-" Xingxi entered the jewel again, turning towards me and giving me a smile. "Are you going to rest here?" Xingxi answered my question with a nod, curling back up into a fetal position like when I first saw him.

If Xingxi wants to rest there, then I'll let him.

I left the Hearth of Hestia, flopping onto my bed and falling asleep.