I Became an Almighty All-Master with EX-Rank Spirits - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 24
24
A lavish fifty-pyeong apartment in Gangnam, Seoul.
Geum Chan, sprawled across the sofa, could no longer contain his joy and began leaping about like a madman.
“Woo-hoo! Yahoo! Yes!”
The dust rising from the cushions barely registered.
What did a little dust matter?
He’d caught both rabbits yesterday!
“Not only did I succeed with Trait Enhancement on my own, but I made an incredible connection too! Yes! Geum Chan, you made the right call going solo!”
The memory of nearly dying had long since vanished from his mind.
Yet that scene from yesterday still played vividly in his thoughts.
The enraged Upper-Grade Dark Spirit—a being whose mere existence commanded respect.
And a skill of overwhelming power at that.
‘Definitely a Hidden Expert.’
Every country had them, though rarely.
Those who lived in carefully hidden identities, wanting nothing to do with public attention.
Simply meeting one would be tremendous fortune, and he’d even exchanged contact information.
How could he not be overjoyed?
He’d gained a powerful backer.
‘They must live somewhere even fancier than this. A penthouse? No, maybe a sprawling mansion?’
He was still chuckling to himself when it happened.
“Is opening a door really that difficult?”
At the sight of a woman laden with shopping bags walking in, he jumped up from the sofa in surprise.
It wasn’t the woman’s sudden arrival that startled him.
The fact that she’d made it inside the apartment meant she’d broken the door.
As he’d expected.
“Ugh! Now I have to get it fixed again!”
“Then you should move faster when the doorbell rings. It’s your fault.”
“I gave you the password for exactly this reason! You gorilla!”
“What? You’re calling your sister a gorilla?”
Her eyes flashed dangerously.
Under that overwhelming gaze—the kind that made B-rank hunters feel small—Geum Chan instinctively shrank back.
‘So what if she’s a Trials Tower Ranker.’
On top of that, she was the master of the Tiger Guild, an organization rapidly rising in prominence across South Korea.
Saying anything more would be asking for a beating, so he held his tongue.
Geum Chae-a. Since she hadn’t come to fight, he decided to drop the matter.
“Didn’t I tell you to visit home at least once a month? Do you want me to run errands for you in person?”
“Sorry, sorry. I was at the Ghost House yesterday because of the Trait Enhancement, and I was actually going to ask if you know someone I met there. Lucky timing.”
“You went to the Ghost House alone? Have you lost your mind wanting to die?”
“There was a time limit on it, so I had no choice. But anyway, do you know anyone named Lee Chan-yeong?”
“Lee Chan-yeong?”
“This incredibly powerful person I met there, and basically…….”
Geum Chae-a’s eyes widened as she listened to the account of what had transpired at the Ghost House.
Lee Chan-yeong. Even she, the Tiger Guild Master, knew that name.
The person suspected of being behind the consecutive New Records being set at the Trials Tower through overwhelming Gate clears.
But so far, it had only been speculation.
The youngest daughter of the Ain Group was planning something, but the details remained unclear.
‘Just that alone wouldn’t have been enough to confirm it. But this changes everything.’
Hearing about the suppression of an Upper-Grade Dark Spirit and a Hidden Monster made it all but certain.
This wasn’t the time to waste.
“Put the side dishes in the fridge yourself! And please go home!”
“Huh? Where are you going? You need to fix the door first!”
“I’m busy! I’ll give you money—you fix it!”
“Hey, wait—okay, fine. Sweet deal. Wait, don’t hit on my savior!”
She scoffed.
Hit on, he said.
He clearly didn’t understand who this woman was.
Just how much of a monster she was.
‘Now I understand why she was so thorough in her preparations.’
She had no interest in recruiting him into her guild anyway.
I had to at least try to stay on good terms with her.
I rushed to the Tiger Guild in a hurry.
* * *
The detailed information that popped up before my eyes made my jaw drop.
When they said the furniture had increased, I assumed it would amount to something like a bed and a pleasant diffuser effect at best.
But something far beyond what I’d imagined had appeared.
“You can enhance Mana Stones?”
-As you can see, Human. By enhancing a Mana Stone, you can fill Fire’s hunger far more. However, please understand that if you fail, it cannot be undone.
“Failure is par for the course for anyone who’s tried enhancement before.”
The materials weren’t particularly complicated either.
The kind of things you could craft without difficulty by just bringing them to a blacksmith.
The thought that I could handle it tomorrow while looking at homes was fleeting.
I noticed something next to the name.
Where the set effect used to be, it now read “Research Stage 2 Unlocked (×)”.
Then, could it be?
“Looks like you can only use it after unlocking Research Stage 2.”
-Oh! That’s correct, Human. You’re becoming a bit smarter.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Stage 1 Research consisted of four projects in total.
Among these, the one reducing continuous hunger by 1.1 times was already complete.
To break through Stage 2 Research, I had to complete the remaining three.
“Looks like I’ll have to go gather materials again. And some of them I don’t even have.”
-Chirp? Chirp!
[Fire asks why you’re worried when he’s confident!]
[Fire says let’s gather materials right away!]
“Yes, yes. But first finish chewing what’s in your mouth before you talk—we don’t want you dropping food all over the floor, Your Majesty of Fire Spirits.”
Fair point.
Same goes for the Research.
Compared to sea lava, it was far easier to obtain.
I was just being lazy about it.
“Oh, and while I’m at it, I need to use Spirit Stone Detection too. The cooldown should be reset by now.”
-Chirp.
[Fire says how quickly time passes!]
“It’s only been ten days since we met.”
-Chirp!
[Fire understands and responds!]
I cleaned up the traces of Fire’s meal and checked which Research to do first.
……Burning Stone Tree (0/150), Strong Stone (0/100), Lowest-Grade Mana Stone (F) (0/1,000)—upon acquisition, permanently increases continuous hunger by 1.1 times.
“I’ll start with this one.”
Fortunately, I had materials to complete one of the Research projects.
[Burning Stone Tree: (150/150)]
[Strong Stone (100/100)]
[Lowest-Grade Mana Stone (F): (1,000/1,000)]
[Conditions met successfully!]
[Research on permanently increasing continuous hunger by 1.1 times will now begin!]
[00 : 59 : 59]
I’d handle the remaining two Research projects by gathering materials.
Most Gates, including F-rank ones, had what I needed.
Enter the Gate and gather materials—that’s all there was to it.
“I’m going to be busy for a while. Spirit Stone Detection, moving to a new house, gathering materials in Gates, plus clearing the Trials Tower. Can’t do all that in a single day, though. Oh, and there’s also the random treasure chest coming up soon.”
Busy, so busy.
The Research could wait a bit.
It wasn’t urgent anyway.
When there’s a lot to do, you handle the urgent things first.
Spirit Stone Detection and the house, then.
Technically, Spirit Stone Detection was still possible today.
I wanted to resolve it right away if I could.
“But I’m already home. And today was exhausting. Let’s just rest for now.”
There had to be days like this too.
How could I operate at peak efficiency every single time?
Besides, the spirit stone’s effects still lingered.
There was no rush—I could take my time.
I decided to put off the work until tomorrow’s me.
By then, Fire had already polished off all the tteokbokki.
“Is it that delicious?”
-Squeak! Squeak!
[Fire (EX) gives a thumbs-up, declaring it a taste of heaven!]
[Fire (EX) says the combination of blood sausage and liver is the best flavor of all!]
Maybe because he’s still young, his palate matches his age.
He keeps growing as he levels up, though.
‘When should I tell him about speaking?’
He’d probably need to level up dozens more.
After cleaning everything up and finishing the housework, it was already late night.
I confirmed the research had gone well, then threw myself into the Spirit Shelter to wake up early tomorrow.
* * *
Early the next morning.
I woke early again and entered the Trials Tower in a half-awake state.
Floor 10. More monster waves. In contrast, the siege weapons and fortifications grew thinner.
But it didn’t matter.
With Fire around, there was nothing we couldn’t handle.
[Fire (EX)’s skill, Hellfire (EX), activates!]
[Fire (EX)’s skill, Meteor (EX), activates!]
…….
…….
Using these two skills back-to-back made short work of it.
[Trials Tower, Floor 10 cleared!]
[Monster Waves: 12/12]
[Castle: 100/100]
[You have perfectly defended against the Trials Tower, Floor 10 monster waves!]
[A new record has been achieved!]
[Trials Tower, Floor 10 world ranking 1st place is updated!]
[Clear time: 2 minutes 3 seconds]
[You have dominantly cleared Trials Tower, Floor 10!]
[Goblin’s Worn Equipment × 3,956 has been awarded!]
[Orc’s Elite Equipment × 1,799 has been awarded!]
[Kobold’s Exceptional High-Grade Equipment × 1,571 has been awarded!]
[Slime’s Healing Slime × 2,457 has been awarded!]
[Lowest-Grade Mana Stone (F) × 1,199 acquired!]
[Low-Grade Mana Stone (E) × 799 acquired!]
[Mid-Low-Grade Mana Stone (D) × 599 acquired!]
[Mid-Grade Mana Stone (C) × 404 acquired!]
[Mid-High-Grade Mana Stone (B) × 303 acquired!]
[High-Grade Mana Stone (A) × 23 acquired!]
[Highest-Grade Mana Stone (S) × 7 acquired!]
The waves had more than doubled, yet the clear time hadn’t even doubled.
Easy enough.
-Squeak!
[Fire (EX) says he’s done and wants his breakfast now!]
There’s no automatic feeder here.
Three meals a day had become the fixed routine.
Unfortunately, breakfast would have to wait a bit today.
“Let’s just do Spirit Stone Detection first, then eat. It won’t take long anyway.”
-……Squeak!
[Fire (EX) considers it, then nods in agreement.]
With permission granted, detection initiated.
Worrying that I wouldn’t find anything in a 10-kilometer radius was pointless.
[Found a gate containing 6 Lower-Grade Fire Spirit Stones!]
[Spirit Stone Detection (C+) can be used again in 168 hours.]
“Yahoo! Lower-Grade Fire Spirit Stones! I won’t need to buy any for a while!”
Gradually, I was buying fewer spirit stones.
That meant I wouldn’t need to reinvest the profits from today’s Trials Tower haul.
My bank account was steadily fattening.
Enough marveling.
I had a house to see and food to eat, so I moved quickly.
Using Shadow Seep, I arrived in an instant at the mouth of the shabby alley that led to the one-room studio.
Fortunately, no one was around.
The Gate was ranked C-class.
[Annihilate the Elite Lizard Settlement.]
[Elite Lizard Settlement: 0/1]
The objective was simple enough.
Since the marshland made Hellfire weak, I cleared them all with Meteor.
[Elite Lizard Settlement annihilated!]
[Elite Lizard Settlement: 1/1]
[Elite Lizard Hide × 543 acquired!]
[Elite Lizard Sturdy Helmet × 755 acquired!]
[Elite Lizard Sturdy Trident × 878 acquired!]
[Elite Lizard Chieftain’s Eye × 3 acquired!]
[Elite Lizard Chieftain Command Baton × 1 acquired!]
[Lower-Grade Fire Spirit Stone (B) × 6 obtained!]
[The Gate will disappear in 8 hours!]
[If you do not exit before it disappears, you will disappear along with it!]
I wouldn’t need to worry about Spirit Stones for a while.
-Mew?
[Fire (EX) asks when he can eat a Higher-Grade Fire Spirit Stone!]
“Once the Spirit Stone effect wears off, I’ll give you one. Let’s go eat.”
-Mew!
[Fire (EX) dashes urgently toward the house!]
The little thing was in a frenzy.
He only got like this when we found the Micro-dimensional Subspace in Ghost House the day before yesterday.
Instead of using Shadow Seep, I called the real estate agent I’d contacted yesterday.
And the landlord.
My heart soared even higher at the thought of finally moving out of this one-room studio than it had during my awakening.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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