Chapter 39

“Over there, jogging pants aren’t allowed. Come back with proper attire.”

“Huh? No way, uncle? Jogging pants? They are so popular these days…”

“Next.”

“No, Uncle! I am here right now!”

”…Right now?”

“Uh, no, that is…I’m sorry. There’s no need to get angry…”

As always, I was managing the quality of customers. Sometimes, I pressured or chased away those causing trouble while sending drunk people home via taxis contracted by the club. After working for some time, Changsik approached me. He wore black pants and a long-sleeved white shirt, complemented by a slightly tight black vest, showcasing his style as a waiter at Star Gate.

“Wah, Jae-yeon hyung. Aren’t you too sharp today? The kids can’t handle it.”

I drank the fruit drink given to me by Changsik and returned the cup. He put a cigarette between his lips while whispering next to me,

“Um… What is that on your neck? It definitely wasn’t there yesterday.”

There was now a huge scar across half of my neck. It couldn’t be helped. No matter how much I used the recovery chakra or borrowed the power of Songpyeon, it was impossible for such a fatal wound to heal without leaving any trace.

“Training.”

“No…what kind of training leaves such a scar? Were you trying to survive under a guillotine or something?”

His response was ridiculous, but I couldn’t give him an honest answer. Could I tell him that I almost got my head cut off by a sword master from another world?

“I always thought it looked quite dangerous, but still… Hyung isn’t involved with some criminal organization?”

I couldn’t help laughing at Changsik’s words.

“What proper crime organizations exist on Earth? They are just corporate squabbles or child’s play.”

“Ooh. Child’s play. Ooh… That is cool, hyung.”

Maybe due to his waiter job, Changsik had strange illusions about the underworld. I brushed aside his words and pondered:

‘It will be difficult to log in for a short period of time…’

Although I was standing fine during my duty, I hadn’t fully recovered from my injuries yet. I lost too much blood, and the attack damaged my throat so that every breath caused pain.

Above all, the biggest problem was that the Songpyeon buff had ended.

‘It really is over.’

The buffs lasted for a certain amount of time rather than by date, so spending time in reality meant it expired. My recovery ability had greatly decreased. Despite being disappointed with my tank class change, only my health increased and not my recovery rate, making it difficult for my body to improve quickly.

“Uh, hello.”

As I prepared to finish work, a customer approached me. She had impressive long hair tied up high, her bangs falling forward, stylishly covering her slender figure with a hooded t-shirt. It was the moment when I started chakra training—the club DJ Scarlet.

“What’s wrong?”

“I-I’m sorry about before! Wasn’t I too rude?”

Contrary to her usual energetic image, she was extremely deferential towards me, making me realize that there must be some misunderstanding.

‘Does she know about the open Astronomy?’

It was such an abnormal situation, and above all, I was confident that she couldn’t detect the transcendent realm. Transcendence wasn’t an easy concept. On Earth-34, its significance had diminished due to the presence of the three gods and the Game Master. However, on most planets, a Transcendent being meant ruling over the planet as a deity-like figure.

Most likely, what she detected was simply the highest level of chakra within my reach.

“Please relax; you’re making me uncomfortable. There seems to be a misunderstanding—I’m not an Elder.”

“Elder…you’re not?”

‘Indeed, that’s what I suspected.’

Otherwise, there would be no reason for her to bow so deeply. Revealing the identity of an Elder voluntarily living in seclusion was considered taboo.

“It’s not like that.”

“Then how old are you? Oh! My apologies for being late with introductions! I am Kim Hye-young, the great-granddaughter of Elder Kim Hee-jung from Cheongan.”

“I’m Han Jaeyeon, 23 years old, and my grandfather is an immigrant.”

“Ugh. Did I make another mistake? B-but it doesn’t make sense. How can you be an Elder at just 23…?”

Seeing her flustered, I shook my head gently.

“No worries. Anyway, if our business here is concluded, I should leave first. I have to prepare for work tomorrow.”

“Oh, u-um, right. Here… Please take this!” She quickly offered me a bottle slightly larger than her palm.

As she spoke, she handed me a bottle of alcohol that looked slightly larger than my palm.

“It is from the ‘Drunkard Series’, Comfortable Night. I’m sorry about everything. It was just to try and get closer with you…”

“Yes. Let’s consider this issue resolved.”

I roughly grabbed the bottle and waved goodbye. Scarlet saw me off with a haunted expression on her face.

‘What did she think of my status for her to act like this? Even after the misunderstanding was cleared up…’

However, I didn’t want to take advantage of the misunderstanding. This behavior was basically fraud, and I didn’t want to reveal my abilities yet.

“More importantly, Khan Slasher is a problem.”

At the convenience store counter, I tapped Cheddar’s belly. The character was diligently picking Songpyeon.

“There isn’t even time to eat Songpyeon…”

Now that the Songpyeon buff had ended, I wouldn’t be able to withstand fatal injuries like before and would die. Of course, I specialized in recovery chakra but… fundamentally, sword energy has a force that hinders healing. While minor cuts didn’t matter, I couldn’t survive if an artery was cut or bones were broken.

“Ardenia. Receiving Gate. Open.”

I concentrated my mind and opened the gate. I felt a huge world unfolding within me. Inside it, I recognized the inventory and took out an item.

“Summon. Bean Songpyeon.”

Pop!

A plate of songpyeon appeared in my hand. In no time at all, I ate 17 pieces of songpyeon.

[You have consumed Bean Songpyeon (General)! For four hours, your recovery speed and mana recovery will increase by 50 points!]

It was disappointing but at least my general buff got refreshed. It was a small buff but much better than nothing.

“Sigh… If I could just open the Great Door somehow, I might be able to obtain rare Songpyeon.”

As I lamented, suddenly there was pain in my neck.

“Huh?”

I realized something strange.

“Wait a minute… Didn’t I open the Great Door when my head was cut off?”

At that time, the situation was urgent so I didn’t notice it, but looking back now, it didn’t make sense. How could a mere first-floor trainee open the Great Door? Normally, it should’ve been possible to cultivate but not manifest psychic energy.

“Ardenia. Great Door (巨門). Open.”

I immediately confirmed it.

“Summon. Rainbow Songpyeon.”

Pop!

A plate of Songpyeon appeared. For a moment, I stared at them.

“No… Why suddenly?”

Not long ago, I couldn’t even summon high-level equipment, and now suddenly, it was possible to summon rare items. Of course, growth is good but shouldn’t there be some reason for this?

Crunch crunch.

Despite my doubts, I first chewed on the rare Songpyeon. It was because I was worried that it might disappear after some time passed.

[You have consumed Rare Multi-colored Songpyeon! For four hours, your recovery power and mana recovery will increase by 200 points! Special resource recovery has tripled!]

Goo-ooh…

It felt like an explosion inside my body. The force of the rare Songpyeon circulated throughout my body, blowing away the minor buff from regular Songpyeon. With the buff, my Recovery exceeded 300 points, making my regeneration ability outstanding. My recovery speed was such that if a finger flew off, it would grow back in about 20 hours!

In just 30 minutes, my body recovered from the dizziness due to low blood and the pain in my neck disappeared completely. The power of sword energy hindered recovery, preventing the scar on my neck from disappearing entirely, but at least it changed color from red to a flesh tone characteristic of old scars.

“Wow…this is amazing.”

50 points. 100 points. 200 points. Each time the rarity increased, the performance of Songpyeon doubled, but this doubling wasn’t absolute. The effect of stats became more pronounced as they went higher. Moreover, starting with rare Songpyeon, additional buffs were added.

“Special resource recovery tripled.”

The special resources varied depending on each class. For me, as a warrior, it was based on stamina; for mages, it was mental strength; for elementalists, it was elemental power.

Unlike Recovery or Mana Recovery, where the impact scaled significantly, the percentage increase here didn’t have the same dramatic effect. However, I was grateful for the added buff since it hadn’t existed before.

With this buff, the time I spent worrying about stamina would decrease.

“Good. First of all, let’s take a breath. But I need to know why…” I went outside the convenience store and looked around.

It was 4 a.m. There wasn’t a single person on the road.

“Okay, this is enough… It should be okay to sleep for a moment.”

I returned to the counter and regulated my breathing. Standing straight, I entered meditation mode.

Kuuang!

In my mind, I imagined ‘Floor’. This was different from entering Ardenia. Entering Ardenia meant accessing a truly existing world, while this process visualized my spirit and psychic energy. Once I successfully sank deep into meditation, I found myself on the first floor.

“For now… nothing has changed.”

On the first floor existed only the body. I learned about attributes and weapons from Sohyang but didn’t properly materialize them to open the door.

‘If too many essences are opened, my capabilities will be weakened. It must be chosen carefully over time.’

I concentrated my mind to perceive the Unbounded Strata more clearly. However, there was no change at all.

“No, what is this? Still on the entrance of the first floor?”

I expected some growth but it seemed not to be the case.

“Then how did you open the Great Door?”

A rank 1 mage used a rank 3 spell. Of course, chakras were more flexible than magic when it came to ranking, but this applied to people who had completed the first floor to some extent. For me, still at the beginning of the first floor, it was strange that someone like me, barely an initiate, could surpass such rankings.

”…Wait a minute.”

At that moment, I saw a pillar of light resembling a needle embedded on one side of the giant Go board outside the window.

“That is…”

One point on the Go board was shining brightly. There was no need to explain its location.

“The Red Spire Goblin Fortress.”

It was the castle I had captured through siege warfare.

Goo-ooh…

The moment I saw it, I realized that I was ‘connected’ to it.

“Oh my god.”

If Eight Gates of Divination involved choosing an Essence and penetrating the inner world, then Unbounded Strata involved using oneself as an antenna to communicate with the outer world. While I could cultivate the Eight Gates of Divination, my fate was forever destined to stagnate in the Unbounded Strata. My spiritual sensitivity was so low that I wouldn’t notice even if an evil spirit attacked or a curse struck me.

This insane spiritual sense converging towards zero… With this, channeling was impossible. It wasn’t a problem that could be solved with effort. It was like trying to fly without wings.

However, at this moment…

My nameplate connected with me and provided strength.

“How is this possible…”

It was amazing but still weak. I had only acquired one castle, which was at a very low level, not even reaching flower point status.

“What if…”

What would happen if I continued eating castles? If I ate higher-level starting points, gradually consumed flower points, and finally seized the Center Point in the middle of the Go board?

“Perhaps…”