Savior (1)
After a brief reunion, Grandfather went up to the rooftop, saying he had work to do.
The rooftop was filled with more diverse plants than before, but the most striking sight was the massive trunk of the World Tree that wrapped around the entire house.
It was almost unbelievable that sunlight could even reach the rooftop.
"How have you been?"
"How do you think?"
Wooong—
"I've been doing well."
Grandfather spread a green glow of life in all directions.
It seemed that since the water supply had been cut off, he was providing life force instead.
I spoke to him.
"Grandpa, do you want to see something cool?"
"Hmm?"
I reached toward one of the small vegetable gardens he had cultivated.
There was a hose that usually supplied water to the garden, but it had dried up completely from disuse.
Then, suddenly, water began to gush out of it.
"What do you think, Grandpa?"
Grandfather frowned as he watched.
"Are you using the water from the tank? Stop that. We barely have enough for the bathroom as it is."
Our old family home still had a water tank on the rooftop.
Checking it, I saw that it was nearly empty.
The gas supply wasn't city gas but LPG canisters, and those had already run out a long time ago.
"No, Grandpa," I said.
I created water in the air, letting it gather in my open palm.
"I'm making it myself."
Grandfather stared intently at the floating water and asked,
"Is this real?"
"Yes. I've already filled the water tank. Same with the gas. Electricity will be back on soon too."
"That's all part of your abilities, Je-hyeo?"
"Yes. From now on, we can live like we used to. No more monsters barging in either."
"What do you mean by that?"
I briefly explained my abilities to Grandfather.
At the same time, I transferred all authority over the people staying with him.
"If you raise their trust levels, loyalty unlocks. Once you raise loyalty to 30, you can register them as retainers. Since you're an ichon, you can register up to three people."
"Hmm…"
Judging by his expression, it seemed that he didn't understand the system.
It was probably a difficult concept for Grandpa. He had never played computer games before, and he still wasn't very familiar with using a smartphone.
'If I teach him slowly, he'll get used to it!'
At the very least, I wanted to make sure he fully understood the registration system.
Grandpa silently went about his work.
Watching him pick persimmons and harvest lettuce, I spoke.
"I'm going to head down now."
"Alright."
I could have walked down myself, but I decided to test out my newly acquired skill. I activated the Absolute Eye.
Then, looking towards the master bedroom on the first floor—
'Teleport.'
Swoosh—
In an instant, I was transported to where Mom and Grandma were.
Aside from a slight dizziness right after moving, there were no other issues.
'So this is how it works!'
I realized that teleportation was possible even through the Absolute Eye's field of vision.
'This could be really useful!'
The skill Absolute Gate had a limitation—it required an actual door to exist. But teleportation had no such restrictions. The only drawback was that the farther the distance, the more mental energy it consumed.
Thanks to my efforts in strengthening my mental power, a single teleport didn't feel too burdensome.
"Mom."
"Jaehyun? Weren't you up on the rooftop? What about Grandpa?"
"He's still working up there. How's Grandma doing?"
"She looks like she's just sleeping. Luckily, her complexion is good, and she doesn't seem to have any health issues."
Since Mom had worked at a nursing hospital for a long time, she could at least tell whether someone's condition was serious or not. Thanks to Grandpa's regular life force supply, Grandma seemed perfectly fine.
"That's a relief."
As I watched Mom tending to Grandma with a worried expression, I thought to myself—
'I inherited Mom's ability.'
The Bonded Contract.
With Mom's trust level at 100, I had gained the power to awaken 100 individuals.
Potential candidates for immediate awakening flashed through my mind.
"People with high loyalty, those who were proactive in hunting."
Among them, I could select those with excellent abilities as my retainers.
"Generally, those with higher-ranked abilities gained even better skills and higher levels when they became retainers."
As I was reviewing my skill window and planning my next steps, I noticed a faintly glowing entry.
Summon Spirit Beast (1/10)
'What is this?'
I checked it out.
'Huh?'
[Summon Spirit Beast] (10,000,000,000 KRW) (Activated)
A 10-billion-won summon button was activated.
Summoning a spirit beast…
There was no need to hesitate, not after witnessing the abilities of the Three-Legged Crow firsthand.
It was an investment well worth the 10 billion.
"Summon Spirit Beast."
[10,000,000,000 KRW will be consumed for the summoning.]
Immediately after—
Wooooong
A gentle green light spread in elegant curves.
As the intricate magic circle filled with dazzling patterns completed itself—
Fwoosh!
A green-colored egg appeared.
It looked as if it were wrapped in fresh, verdant leaves.
Soon, the leaves began to unfurl, revealing something inside.
Dressed in a pink bud-like outfit with delicate wings—it was a fairy.
「Fairy (Lv. 1)」
The tiny creature smiled brightly with its small lips and flapped its wings.
Each time the fairy fluttered, shimmering dust scattered in all directions.
After a few tries, it successfully took flight.
It hovered around me before settling on my shoulder, spreading its arms and nuzzling its face against me.
'Cute.'
At that moment—
Ahem.
The door opened, and my grandfather appeared.
He had come down after finishing his work on the rooftop.
The first thing he did was check on my grandmother's condition.
Wooooong
Green life energy spread evenly across her body.
Then—
Flap!
The fairy swiftly flew over and absorbed the green energy my grandfather emitted.
"Huh? What's this?"
[Fairy's level has increased.]
[Natural recovery rate within the area has increased by 100%.]
Just as my grandfather's expression was about to turn serious—
Shimmer…
The fairy fluttered above my grandmother, scattering sparkling dust.
And then, as if by magic, my grandmother opened her eyes.
"!!!"
She drowsily glanced at my grandfather's dirt-stained hands and muttered—
"How many times do I have to tell you to wash your hands after coming back from the rooftop…?"
Then—
"Why am I so sleepy…"
She covered her mouth, yawned, and drifted back to sleep.
A beat later—
"Dear! Hey, wake up!"
My grandfather shook her, but she simply breathed steadily, her face at peace.
Then, he turned to the fairy.
"Was that you? You did that?"
He sent another surge of green life energy toward the fairy.
"One more time. Just once more!"
But the fairy, looking exhausted, stretched out its tiny arms and flopped onto its side, falling asleep.
"I'm telling you, do it again!"
"Grandpa."
"Huh?"
"Calm down."
Facing him, I noticed the glimmer of tears in his eyes.
He quickly wiped them away, and I pretended not to notice as I continued.
"Regularly supply this little one with life energy. The fairy's level will increase, and the time Grandma stays awake will gradually extend."
Eventually, she would fully awaken.
"Is that true?"
"Of course."
It seemed that summoning a spirit beast wasn't purely random.
'This is connected to the World Tree.'
Which meant that other spirit beast summons must also have their own unique conditions.
Just then—
[Citizen Sim Kyung-taek has died.]
A few citizen death notifications had been appearing intermittently.
They were likely people from the newly built annex.
The rescue teams patrolled the apartment complex, treating the injured, but this area was different.
'Hundreds more will die.'
I wanted to bring them here, but the rescue teams were busy saving those outside the domain.
Death was everywhere.
But depending on where people were, their fate was either survival or demise.
'And it's not just here.'
Right now, people were dying all over the country—and the world.
Some were killed by monsters.
Some starved, trapped inside their homes.
Some fought and lost their lives.
Countless people were dying.
'Why is this happening?'
A question that had haunted me all this time.
Why did monsters appear?
Why did so many people have to die?
But the world never gave me an answer.
'At least I achieved my first goal.'
Saving my family.
I had been incredibly lucky.
Because all of my family members were Awakened, we had managed to survive this world.
Now, all that was left was for Grandma to wake up.
'The second goal…'
Alongside my questions about the world, another thought lingered.
Why was I given such immense power?
Ha Dong-geon, Oh Won-joo, Kim Da-jeong, Seo Ye-jin…
Compared to ordinary Awakened people, my abilities were overwhelmingly superior.
The only comparable person was my grandfather.
But even he was slightly lacking in comparison.
Maybe we were given these powers because we were family.
If so, why was I granted such enormous strength?
I kept asking, but again, the world remained silent.
I had to answer it myself.
"With great power comes great responsibility."
A famous line from an old movie.
The fact that it still stuck with me probably meant it resonated with me deeply.
'My second goal… though it's a bit embarrassing to say—'
To save my country.
I wasn't sure about the entire world.
But if I continued leveling up and used my earnings to build annexes, I felt confident that I could at least protect Korea.
'At the very least, I'll do as much as I can.'
Right now, I could grant citizenship to 220,000 people in total.
I had only filled 10,000 of those spots.
'Oh, right. When I surpassed 10,000, jobs became available, didn't they?'
Citizens could now acquire jobs, but there were no changes in the citizen management window.
'Do I need to construct a job research facility first? Construction mode.'
A newly added construction option appeared.
Job Research Facility (2,500,000,000 KRW)
"Job Research Facility" (Lv. 1)
A research center dedicated to studying professions.
Once a job is researched, citizens can acquire it independently.
Currently available job research:
Hunter: Gains additional materials from hunted creatures.
It seemed the job research facility required a large plot of land.
Fortunately, there was a flat area that the Cyclops had trampled down.
I envisioned a research center being built there.
"Construct Job Research Facility."
[This facility requires 30 citizens for a 7-day construction period.]
[Each worker will receive 200,000 KRW per day.]
[Would you like to proceed?]
[Yes / No]
I would need to ask Kim Da-bin to recruit 30 construction workers.
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