CHAPTER 33

Summoning the Divine Beast (2)

A golden light blossomed in midair, splitting into eight branches, forming intricate and beautiful lines.

Inside the circle completed by two intersecting lines, six more lines swirled chaotically, engraving elaborate patterns.

Chizik— Chizizik—

As the patterns overlapped, they created an empty space where new, intricate designs began to etch themselves.

Starting from the 12 o'clock position, they extended clockwise, filling every vacant spot.

Paah!

Golden light erupted from the magic circle, summoning a golden egg about the size of a basketball.

And then—

Crack!

A fracture formed on the egg's surface before it fully split open.

Something small tumbled out from within.

"Huh?"

Instinctively, I reached out with both hands to catch it.

The tiny object that landed in my palm felt soft and warm.

It was a fluffy, black ball of downy feathers.

The little creature looked up at me with big, bright eyes.

Beep?

A cute baby bird sat in my hands.

'Eye of the Absolute.'

[Three-Legged Crow (삼족오) (Lv. 1)]

A divine three-legged crow.

Born with the power of the sun. Still in its infancy and requires protection. Needs exposure to high-quality sunlight to grow.

It looked just like a tiny, black chick.

"Hello?"

Beep!

My awkward greeting was met with an enthusiastic chirp.

"What should I call you?"

Calling it simply 'Three-Legged Crow' felt too impersonal. I wanted to give it a proper name.

"You're a tiny black crow… How about Kkami?"

Beebik! Beep!

Despite just being born, it was full of energy, flapping its tiny wings and chirping nonstop.

For some reason, I could understand what it was saying.

"You like it?"

Beep!

"That's a relief."

Understanding each other right from birth—Kkami seemed incredibly intelligent.

Beebip!

"You're hungry?"

Beep!

I wondered if I should go catch some bugs, but then I realized that wasn't what Kkami needed.

Carefully holding onto it, I walked over to the living room window.

I gently placed the little bird on the sunlit floor.

Then—

Biiii…

It sprawled out contentedly, closed its eyes, and basked in the sunlight.

"…Living the good life, huh?"

Just like that, Kkami drifted off to sleep.

Watching its tiny body rise and fall with soft breaths, I felt an unexpected sense of peace.

[The Three-Legged Crow (삼족오) has leveled up.]

[Solar Power Generator efficiency increased by 100%.]

'Huh?'

It made sense that Kkami would level up from absorbing sunlight, but why did my solar power generator suddenly become more efficient?

I quickly switched to construction mode and checked the generator's status.

"Solar Power Generator"

A facility that generates electricity using sunlight.

Produces electricity worth 800,000 to 1,000,000 KRW per day (+100%). Excess energy is reimbursed to the Absolute One's personal funds.

The power output had doubled.

'Wait a minute…'

I had recently acquired ten new buildings but hadn't installed solar generators yet.

I had used up most of my subsidy funds, and honestly, investing 130 million KRW in a facility that would only yield 30 million KRW per year didn't seem worth it.

'But this changes everything.'

If Kkami's level-ups kept increasing efficiency, the investment would be well worth it.

Of course, I couldn't be certain yet.

I had no proof that each level-up would continue boosting the generator's efficiency.

Just then, another notification appeared.

[The Three-Legged Crow (삼족오) has leveled up.]

[Solar Power Generator efficiency increased by 100%.]

The generator's efficiency had now tripled.

'That's 90 million KRW per year.'

With just a few more level-ups, not only would I recover my investment faster, but my profits would also skyrocket over time.

After confirming it, I made my choice without hesitation.

"Build solar power generators for all ten buildings."

Ding!

[Time remaining until the completion of the solar power generator facilities]

23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds

After exiting construction mode, I saw that Kami had fallen into a deep sleep.

While Kami napped under the sunlight, I had a busy day ahead of me.

First, I needed to decide where to invest my remaining skill point.

'What should I upgrade with this last one?'

Only three skills still had the [+] button available:

Absolute WarehouseAbsolute HealthInvisible Hand

'Out of these three, the warehouse seems to be the best option.'

Honestly, upgrading health didn't seem that useful.

After all, I was stuck inside my safe home territory and couldn't take a single step outside.

Even if I became healthier, would it really serve any purpose?

'The Invisible Hand is the same.'

It was certainly a powerful ability, but if I couldn't leave the house, what good would it do?

At best, it could help subdue monsters that approached my home territory.

'At least the warehouse works in combination with the Absolute Eye.'

But even if I leveled up the warehouse, would it make a significant difference?

'It'd be better to save the point and use it to upgrade the Prestige Maintenance skill or the Absolute Eye later.'

With that decision made, I immediately left the house.

First, I visited apartment 3001 next door to meet Choi Hyung-jun.

"I have a favor to ask."

"Of course, Jaehyun. Feel free to say anything."

"I'd like you to hold onto 1 billion won for me."

"…What?"

This decision came after carefully considering the tax collection skill. I had calculated that entrusting money to a trustworthy citizen and letting it sit would be profitable.

There was a 10% fee when gifting money, but after that, it would generate a steady 10% return every month.

After much thought, I chose Choi Hyung-jun as the recipient of the 1 billion won.

The reason was simple.

[Name: Choi Hyung-jun (Lv. 25) [+]]

Title: [The First Follower]

Trust: 89

Loyalty: 98

Awakening Ability: Gorilla's Strength

★ Quest Assignment Available

His trust and loyalty stats were off the charts.

Since we met often, his trust and loyalty had naturally increased to their absolute limits.

'He's reliable enough.'

Without hesitation, I assigned him a quest and transferred the 1 billion won.

[Quest cost: 100,030,000 won deducted.]

A 10% fee of 100 million won, plus a base quest fee of 30,000 won, was deducted.

"M-My god…!"

At that moment—

[Citizen Choi Hyung-jun's trust has increased.]

[Citizen Choi Hyung-jun's loyalty has increased.]

[Civilian Choi Hyung-jun's loyalty has reached 100.]

[Civilian Choi Hyung-jun is already registered as a retainer.]

[The retainer capacity limit has increased.]

Choi Hyung-jun cautiously asked,

"I-I should hold onto it without using it, right??"

Originally, that was the plan.

But to think that something this small could bring loyalty to 100.

Considering the value of the retainer capacity limit, even adding 1 billion more wouldn't be enough.

"You may use it to some extent."

"R-really?! Thank you, thank you so much!"

Next, I took Yoo Hye-rin to Kim Da-bin and introduced them. I also entrusted Kim Da-bin with full authority over public facility staff.

"Can I really hire whoever I want?"

"Yes. It doesn't matter. Da-bin, put together a team. Since you'll be the team leader, I'll double your weekly pay."

[Civilian Kim Da-bin's loyalty has increased.]

"Thank you! I'll do my best!"

While watching Kim Da-bin hand over responsibilities to Yoo Hye-rin, I took a moment to observe the public facilities. Citizens were busy moving around.

The kitchen duty staff were preparing meals, and people were standing in line to use the restroom.

'That must be inconvenient.'

Even though it was called a public facility, it was originally just an ordinary house.

Accommodating large numbers of people at once, like a public restroom, was realistically impossible.

Taking a shower was even considered a privilege among the citizens—this was a problem that needed solving.

'But I can't just give it away for free.'

That would only discourage those who had worked hard to obtain electricity, water, and gas.

'Is there another way?'

As I was pondering, an idea came to mind.

'What if I sold it in the shop?'

I tried registering an item as a test.

[One-day Electricity Usage Permit] (10,000 KRW)

'It works?'

It was possible to register intangible goods as well.

The system functioned like a kiosk—once a building number and unit number were entered, electricity would be supplied automatically.

'Let's do the same for water and gas.'

I divided them into daily, weekly, and monthly permits, pricing them at 10,000, 30,000, and 100,000 KRW, respectively.

'If people want it, they'll buy it.'

If it were me, I'd rather save up money and buy a permit than struggle with those inconvenient public facilities.

'And next…'

The next issue to resolve was firearm distribution.

I planned to select individuals with high loyalty to receive firearms.

There weren't as many people who had unlocked their loyalty by reaching 50 trust points as I had expected, so it didn't take long to sort through them.

'Everyone who qualifies is part of the combat unit.'

Perhaps because I had made a conscious effort to interact with the combat unit members, most of them had already unlocked their loyalty.

Among them, Baek Seung-yeop had a loyalty score of 57, but I wasn't planning to give him a handgun.

'With his personality, I can already see where this is going.'

If I gave Baek Seung-yeop a pistol, he would just use it to flaunt his power.

This is why first impressions matter.

'That leaves Kim Min-ho, Nam Ji-ho, and Shin Yu-ra.'

When I registered the S&W M60, all the firearms that appeared as stock had the S&W mark, and the M60 was the best choice among them.

'I'll distribute them later when I meet with them.'

Right now, all three were out hunting beyond the territory.

'Seo Ye-jin seems busy…'

She looked completely preoccupied with commanding her team.

For now, I decided to find Ha Dong-gun's party, who were waiting in Unit 2901.

♩♬―

[Floor 29.]

[The door is opening.]

Using the Absolute Eye, I confirmed that Kim Da-jung and Oh Won-joo, who were using Unit 2902, were also gathered in Unit 2901.

"That snake was level 40?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. I see…"

Oh Won-joo had a bitter expression at Ha Dong-gun's response.

She was probably recalling the quest details she had seen earlier.

Clack.

As I opened the door and stepped inside, everyone who had been resting immediately stood up to greet me.

"You all worked hard today. How's your condition?"

"We're fine~."

"I'm totally okay."

"It wasn't even that hard."

Smiling at their playful responses, I continued speaking.

"Thanks to that monster at Seomyeon Station, the surrounding area is now a monster-free zone. The subway tracks especially."

Currently, Seomyeon Station was essentially unclaimed territory.

The King Snake had been its ruler, but its death had yet to become widely known.

The monsters were likely still avoiding Seomyeon Station as usual.

"The areas near Beomnaegol and Beomil Stations are also nearly monster-free."

Seo Ye-jin's abilities had already confirmed this.

Because the King Snake had been coiled up on the Line 1 tracks, there wasn't a single monster in a two-to-three-station radius.

"This is our chance. We have to move before other monsters claim the area."

Today, when Yoo Hye-rin begged me in tears, I realized something.

The people standing before me were risking their lives to carry out my requests.

They were entrusting me with their lives.

If we hadn't scouted Seomyeon Station in advance thanks to Seo Ye-jin, things could have been incredibly dangerous.

The outside world had truly become a place where death could come at any moment.

I understood that hoping for my family's safety and wanting to save them was a selfish desire.

'Even so…'

The weight of these lives on my shoulders was heavy.

"Tomorrow, I want you all to head directly to Jagalchi Station."

But I couldn't give up.

READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920