Chapter 18
“Uncle, is he famous?”
“Ah… My uncle is ranked 11th among Korean players. He’s 3rd among warriors.”
“I see. I didn’t know because I just awakened recently.”
Because of sleep, Lee Kanghan had very little time to use each day.
Before his awakening, he spent a lot of time investigating Tower Syndrome.
So, he didn’t know much about Korean players.
“But if he’s that great, why is he here…?”
“He’s a bit overprotective of me… so he took a day off and followed me here.”
Shin Yuri smiled awkwardly.
Shin Dongseok glared at Lee Kanghan with sharp eyes.
“Hey, you know your older brother, right?”
“Older brother?”
“I mean Director Shin Kyungcheol.”
“I know him, he’s very famous.”
“Hah. Okay… not a total fool.”
This man —
it turned out he was Director Shin Kyungcheol’s younger brother.
‘Then he must be Shin Yuri’s real uncle.’
While Lee Kanghan was figuring out this family relationship,
Footsteps. Footsteps.
Shin Dongseok turned around and sat at the long table in the main office.
“Hey, enough. Let’s see how strong the 10+ players are.”
“Test our strength?”
“Yeah, peacefully.”
Swish.
Rolling up his sleeves, Shin Dongseok said,
“How about an arm wrestling match?”
He suggested an arm wrestling match to Lee Kanghan.
‘Arm wrestling between two with strength 10+.’
Stat 10 means a national-level athlete.
If there’s a plus sign, Shin Dongseok’s strength must be huge.
Seeing his arm muscles twitching like they might burst when he rolled up his sleeves,
he definitely looked very strong.
“Uncle! Why arm wrestling all of a sudden…!”
“No, it’ll be fun. Let’s do it.”
Before Shin Yuri could stop him,
Lee Kanghan sat on the chair across from Shin Dongseok.
“Hmph. I like that you don’t back down.”
“I’m curious how strong someone with 10+ really is.”
“That matches my thoughts too.”
Swish.
When Lee Kanghan shook hands with Shin Dongseok,
the two looked very different.
Shin Dongseok was like a bear with thick arms the size of a normal person’s thighs,
while Lee Kanghan was slimmer, even though they were similar in height.
In a strength fight, anyone would expect Lee Kanghan to lose. But—
“Then… let’s start!”
Shin Dongseok’s face turned bright red as he started to use full strength.
‘What?’
Expecting the power of 10+, Lee Kanghan was instantly disappointed.
‘Why is he so weak?’
Snorting with a red face, Shin Dongseok tried his best,
but Lee Kanghan’s hand didn’t move at all.
Is this guy really 10+ strength?
“Try harder.”
“What? What?”
“Or is this all you’ve got?”
Calm Lee Kanghan said.
“Ugh…!”
Shin Dongseok gritted his teeth and used all his strength,
but Lee Kanghan’s hand still didn’t budge.
‘Is the 15% effect of Cheonma Shin Gong this big?’
Well, even with the same 10+,
someone could be 11, or someone could be 20.
Lee Kanghan felt no need to continue the strength match.
With a swift move,
he slammed his hand down.
Snap!
Shin Dongseok’s hand bent instantly.
Crack…!
The table cracked.
“Ugh… oww!”
Shin Dongseok groaned in pain, clutching his bent right hand.
“As expected of Cheonma-nim… You have strength worthy of humanity’s strongest!”
Shin Yuri approached with sparkling eyes.
“The desk cracked. Should we pay for it?”
“No, no. Don’t worry about that. Are your hands okay?”
“I’m fine, but…”
When Lee Kanghan looked at him,
Shin Dongseok grimaced heavily.
“Hey, the nephew broke his uncle’s wrist and you don’t even care?”
“Uncle was the one who suggested it first.”
“Tch…”
Crack. Crack.
Shin Dongseok twisted his bent wrist back.
He shook his head at Lee Kanghan.
“Sigh… I don’t get it. How is your grade E? Won’t your trait disappear tomorrow?”
“Uncle! Don’t say bad things, seriously.”
“Wow, really… How long have you known this guy to be on his side?”
“Cheonma-nim is my only hope right now, of course I’ll support him! And stop calling him ‘hey’ or ‘you’. When did you last see him to talk like that?”
Shin Dongseok gave a dumbfounded look at his nephew’s scolding,
scratched his head.
“Alright. Can I call you Cheonma then? Or is that too much?”
“Just call me by my name. Just talk normally… Using honorifics feels awkward.”
“Oh, this guy knows a thing or two. Hey, Kanghan, are you really going to take donations from your nephew?”
Donations.
Like sending 500 million won before selling stocks?
‘I wish it was really free.’
Where’s anything really free?
Receiving money from the director’s daughter and a big agent’s boss is stressful,
especially if the trait letters don’t show at all.
‘And I’m not in a hurry for money now.’
Cheonma’s power already earned him a huge amount of money in Iron.
If he keeps this up, no need to worry about money.
No reason to accept burdensome donations here.
“I’m fine.”
“Eh? Why? Is it because the amount is too small?”
“Just… a bit uncomfortable.”
“I really am fine. It’s not a big amount…!”
Five hundred million isn’t a big amount?
What kind of scale does this boss have?
As Lee Kanghan waved his hands saying he was okay,
“Then, how about a 3-month contract with us?”
“Contract?”
“Yeah. If you sign a 3-month contract and get a contract fee, it’s not a free donation, right? It’s give and take.”
Shin Dongseok suggested signing a 3-month contract.
‘The contract proposal before didn’t have a contract period…’
The agent contract could be canceled anytime at will.
Now, he’s suggesting a 3-month binding contract with a contract fee.
“Isn’t that better for you? You get the contract fee with no burden.”
“Hmm.”
“Even if your Cheonma trait disappears tomorrow, you get some money and retire. Seems reasonable.”
“Uncle! I said it won’t disappear!”
“…Fine, if it’s a contract fee.”
Free stuff is the problem.
Being tied for 3 months and getting a big contract fee is a fair deal.
If the Cheonma trait really disappears the next day, maybe not.
But if it lasts 3 months, Agent GLASS will profit from the contract.
When Lee Kanghan decided that,
“I wanted to just get donations instead of a contract… but if Cheonma-nim wants this, then it can’t be helped.”
Shin Yuri immediately printed out a revised contract.
Same conditions as before, but with a 3-month binding period.
The contract fee was the donation of 500 million won Shin Yuri proposed earlier.
The contract was finalized quickly.
The contract fee was immediately transferred to the account Lee Kanghan provided.
“Ah… This time, the letters stayed the same.”
Even after the contract went through,
Shin Yuri’s trait window didn’t change.
“Is that so? Too bad.”
“Maybe the amount was still too small? Should’ve added more zeros…”
“No. Seems supporting through the system works better than direct transfers. The amount is much bigger than the TP exchanged earlier.”
Since the system probably doesn’t track individual bank transfers,
Shin Dongseok’s point made sense.
“Ah… Then it only applies when Cheonma-nim exchanges TP he earned directly.”
“Yeah. So stop the bank transfers.”
When Shin Dongseok scolded his nephew,
Lee Kanghan looked at his fuller account and suddenly wondered:
‘Can I buy TP with this 500 million and resell it?’
If he bought TP with 500 million,
and Shin Yuri bought it back at 120%, she’d meet the ‘support’ condition and it’d be good.
Curious if reselling was possible, Lee Kanghan asked Shin Yuri, but
“Oh. Reselling is impossible. Only TP earned directly can be converted in the TP trading window.
Actually, buying TP is easy anytime on TowerTube.”
“Oh, that’s where the player support comes from.”
“Yeah. Incentives given through the TP trading window only apply to TP players earn by climbing the tower directly.
Supported TP doesn’t get incentives.”
“I see.”
If reselling was possible, the incentive system wouldn’t work.
Buying on TowerTube and selling to the guild would always make a profit.
‘So the TP I was supported with was used to upgrade the Goblin Base, since all 33,000 TP were exchanged.’
The 10,000 TP CH111 gave him to reveal his status window
was likely used first for upgrading the Goblin village.
‘Looks like I’ll have to buy TP when upgrading the Manma Hall in the future.’
TP earned in the tower are sold at high prices through agents.
But for Manma Hall upgrades, buying TP on TowerTube is better.
If he’d known this,
maybe he would’ve delayed the Goblin upgrade?
‘No, I can just earn more again.’
Who knew such a high exchange rate opportunity would come so soon?
And with 500 million just deposited in his account,
he didn’t feel it was a big loss.
With the contract finished,
“I’ll take you home again! Should I drop you off at the address on the contract?”
“Yes, please do.”
The three got in the car again.
“Right now, your trait is E, so advertisers won’t come, but after a month, people will start getting interested.
Then I’ll match you with the best offers.”
“A month? Will that trait last for a month?”
“Oh uncle, seriously. Don’t jinx it.”
They talked about advertising contracts, one of the agent’s jobs.
“Iron is a good time. Even if I do well alone, I can rise quickly.”
“Is the upper level different?”
“Maybe you don’t watch the Diamond broadcasts much? The higher you go, you can’t succeed just by doing well yourself.”
While chatting about climbing the tower,
they soon arrived at the house.
“Cheonma-nim, I’m always ready to come exchange whenever you call! Even daily!
Ah, the best rate would be 130%, 140%, that’d be better…”
“Daily is too much, I’ll exchange when I have enough TP.”
“Okay, I’ll wait!”
After seeing Lee Kanghan off, Shin Yuri got back in the car.
“Yuri.”
“…?”
“So, did the letters appear?”
Shin Dongseok asked her.
“Letters?”
“You said the letters opened after meeting that guy. They must be different from before.”
“Oh, that.”
Shin Yuri chuckled.
“‘Support’ now has ‘the more you do it’ attached after it.”
“…the more you do it?”
“Yes.”
“No way, are you kidding?”
Shin Dongseok was even more upset, puffing.
After all the wait for the letters to appear,
the best he got was it changed from ‘Support***’ to ‘Support the more you do it.’
But still—
“It’s better than nothing.”
Maybe because he saw hope from Lee Kanghan,
Shin Yuri was very positive.
“Hey, why are you so carefree? You spent 500 million to get ‘the more you do it’ added to your trait!”
“No, why would I throw away 500 million?”
“Huh?”
“It’s not like I gave it all away. I signed a contract with Cheonma-nim.”
“Hah. But you signed with a grade E trait that will soon disappear!”
“Ah, really. I told you it won’t disappear!”
Lee Kanghan and his uncle argued about whether the trait would disappear or not.
Around the time they returned to Seoul,
‘Almost time to sleep.’
The promised 8 o’clock was coming for Lee Kanghan too.
Though today, after clearing Tower 777 this morning,
he didn’t collapse right at 8.
‘Still, this tower ended quickly, so I’ll probably crash soon. Better get ready to record a video and sleep.’
After finishing his setup, Lee Kanghan lay down.
Will he be pulled to the red portal again tomorrow, waking hurt?
Falling asleep like that,
“…What’s this?”
The next day,
he woke up to find a bloodstained scrap of paper in his hand.
At the top, kindly written in Korean,
was a paper titled:
[How to Upgrade Cheonma Trait]
‘Looking closely, this is my handwriting.’
What is this?
Frowning, Lee Kanghan thought,
‘Let me take a look.’
He examined the writing below the scrap.
