The Automatic Rooting Range Is Too Wide - Chapter 64

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

Auto Looting Range Too Wide Episode 64

 

Episode 64: Treasure Hunt (1)

 

* * *

 

The day after clearing the second Quest of the Memory Stones.

 

Mincheol decided to visit Cheonghe Sushi Restaurant.

 

With difficult Quests pouring in one after another lately, both his body and mind were exhausted.

 

It was a small reward he was giving himself.

 

“It’s been a while since you visited.”

 

Even though this was only his third visit, the Owner immediately recognized Mincheol’s face.

 

“I’ve been so busy lately that I couldn’t come often.”

 

“I’m glad to see you’re doing well. Your face looks bright, so it seems you’re climbing smoothly.”

 

Mincheol made an embarrassed expression and sat at the bar table.

 

‘What should I order today.’

 

Cheonghe was a sushi restaurant with quite expensive prices. So during his unemployed days, he could hardly dare to look at it.

 

Now, thanks to climbing the Tower, he was earning tremendous income, so there was no burden.

 

‘Should I try the 100,000 won set? I was really curious about this. No, no matter what, spending 100,000 won on one meal is a bit…’

 

The problem was Mincheol’s still common citizen mindset.

 

Since his economic sense was still stuck in his unemployed days, he was reluctant to spend 100,000 won carelessly.

 

“I’ll have the Set C meal, please.”

 

“Yes, understood.”

 

In the end, Mincheol chose the 90,000 won set instead of the 100,000 won one.

 

‘Next time I’ll definitely eat the 100,000 won one.’

 

Mincheol made a firm resolution and watched the Owner prepare the food.

 

As soon as the Owner received the order, he took out fish and began slicing sashimi.

 

It wasn’t flashy, but his technique was extremely precise and clean.

 

“Kkwaak.”

 

At that moment, Kkwaekkwi sitting on his head made a cry.

 

Even though a strange cry was heard, the Owner showed no reaction.

 

It was thanks to the stealth skill that Kkwaekkwi used.

 

Other people couldn’t see Kkwaekkwi or hear its cries.

 

Mincheol rolled his eyes upward.

 

Then he could see Kkwaekkwi’s head looking somewhere.

 

‘What is it looking at?’

 

When he turned his gaze, he saw a TV mounted on the wall.

 

True to being a YouTube addict, it seemed to naturally focus on videos even in unfamiliar places.

 

-Wow! This is Gakdeungjeong’s headquarters! It’s really amazing!

 

On the TV, an unfamiliar Female Celebrity was exclaiming in admiration in a building lobby.

 

‘Gakdeungjeong? The Standard of Awakened Climbing?’

 

Though it was a strange name, it was a Large Guild that held the 3rd place position in the industry.

 

With the appearance of a Large Guild, Mincheol’s attention naturally focused on the TV.

 

Meanwhile, the Female Celebrity began conversing with some sturdy young man.

 

-This is Awakened Park Jeong-sik who will guide us through the headquarters! Hello!

 

-Haha, this is my first time doing something like this, so I’m embarrassed. I’m Park Jeong-sik.

 

-I didn’t expect someone as famous as Park Jeong-sik to come out and meet me personally!

 

The Female Celebrity was making a big fuss, but Mincheol was indifferent.

 

‘Who was Park Jeong-sik again.’

 

Unlike 1st place Seol-aeng and 2nd place Goseong, 3rd place Gakdeungjeong was a guild with minimal presence.

 

It wasn’t that they had no achievements. But they tended to be overshadowed by 1st and 2nd place.

 

-Shall we go then. There are many places to show you today.

 

Park Jeong-sik began touring the headquarters with the Female Celebrity.

 

-This is the In-house Cafe that our employees love to use…

 

-This is the Restaurant. A famous chef we specially invited personally…

 

-Here we gather and analyze various information about the Tower…

 

Befitting a 3rd place Large Guild, all facilities boasted tremendous scale.

 

But the truly surprising part was yet to come.

 

-This is the Training Room that we at Gakdeungjeong are proud of.

 

Befitting a training room for Awakened, all the equipment installed was enormous.

 

However, Mincheol couldn’t help but feel puzzled by the existence of a training room.

 

-Wow, it’s really big and spacious. But I heard that Awakened don’t gain stat increases even if they train.

 

The Female Celebrity asked Kim Jeong-sik. Mincheol was curious about that point too.

 

From the moment of awakening, Awakened couldn’t improve their physical abilities through training.

 

-If you keep your body moving through regular training, it helps a lot in real combat.

 

-Ah, I’ve heard of that. It’s called muscle memory, right?

 

-And if you train in this training ground, your physical abilities actually increase.

 

Mincheol’s eyes widened.

 

Stats were like the foundation of an Awakened.

 

Only when stats increased could skill power rise and high-grade items be handled.

 

Therefore, methods to increase stats were very limited.

 

Leveling up, clearing Quests, or consuming elixirs.

 

All were difficult methods. But stats could increase just by receiving training?

 

-Is that possible?

 

-I can’t go into detail, but there’s an item installed in this training room. It has the effect of increasing stats when you train within the item’s range.

 

-That’s really amazing!

 

-However, the efficiency isn’t excellent. From a certain level, you can’t receive the effect.

 

-Still, it would be tremendously helpful for novice Awakened! If you increase stats early on, it would be easier to climb the Tower, right?

 

-That’s right. That’s why our Gakdeungjeong Awakened have the lowest mortality rate in the industry.

 

The two people moved somewhere again.

 

This time they took an elevator and went Underground.

 

-From here is a classified area. This is the first time we’re revealing this place.

 

True to those words, the elevator descended for a very long time.

 

Ding.

 

The elevator stopped and the two people came out.

 

Outside was flooded with light so bright it was hard to believe it was Underground.

 

Under that artificial light source, a single old tree stretched up high.

 

The old tree was withered and dry as if it would break at any moment.

 

And in the center of its trunk, there was an Old Man’s face.

 

-It’s a Human-faced Tree. We grew it from a seed found in the Tower.

 

-It, it looks terrifyingly scary.

 

-It’s actually scary. If you get close, it pierces people with branches and kills them.

 

The Female Celebrity was terrified. Kim Jeong-sik laughed heartily and added.

 

-You don’t need to worry. We’ve set up a barrier around it so it can’t extend branches outside.

 

-Why are you growing such a dangerous tree?

 

-If you consume the fruit that grows on the Human-faced Tree, your stamina stat increases by 20.

 

Mincheol unconsciously gaped his mouth open.

 

Following the training ground where stats increased just by training, now a tree that continuously produced elixirs?

 

‘The Awakened affiliated there must really have it easy.’

 

While others struggled to climb the Tower with low stats, Gakdeungjeong’s affiliated Awakened would safely climb the Tower based on high stats.

 

“Oh, Gakdeungjeong made that public.”

 

The Owner spoke up while cooking.

 

Even so, his hands didn’t stop. His speed didn’t slow down either. It was impressive skill.

 

“That’s really amazing. I didn’t even know such things existed. But is it okay to just reveal facilities like that?”

 

“It probably won’t be good. Originally, treasures are supposed to be thoroughly hidden.”

 

“That’s what I thought too.”

 

“However, thinking differently, maybe that level doesn’t even count as treasure?”

 

Mincheol was slightly shocked. He hadn’t thought of it that way.

 

But it made sense.

 

Unless Gakdeungjeong were fools, they wouldn’t reveal real treasures to the outside.

 

“As you know, sir, the Tower’s history is incredibly deep. During all those long years, countless items have been discovered. But most of them remain shrouded in mystery.”

 

The Owner said while placing the completed sushi on a plate.

 

“No one knows how many items the Large Guilds are hiding. That’s what makes Large Guilds scary.”

 

The Owner’s words made Mincheol feel slightly chilled.

 

‘If even the 3rd ranked guild is like this… how amazing are the items that Seol-aeng and Goseong are hiding?’

 

And what about Helios, the world’s number one?

 

What about the Qiuchuan Alliance that China is developing with national resources?

 

What about Crusade, formed by the European Union?

 

‘This is why Awakeners from Large Guilds are revered.’

 

If Large Guilds mobilized all their accumulated treasures to raise an Awakener?

 

He couldn’t even imagine what kind of monster would be born.

 

‘The world really is vast.’

 

Mincheol realized anew how deep and wide the Awakener industry was.

 

‘I shouldn’t get arrogant.’

 

Of course, Mincheol had monopolized EX-grade rewards and even cleared Hidden Quests.

 

But broadly speaking, he was still a novice Awakener who hadn’t even reached the 20th Floor.

 

‘I definitely need to get a job at a Large Guild.’

 

On the other hand, he was fired up with motivation again.

 

It was thanks to indirectly realizing how amazing Large Guilds were.

 

Ding.

 

Just then, the shop door opened with the sound of a bell.

 

“Wow, I really almost lost my head.”

 

“I told you last time too. Fix that impatient personality of yours.”

 

The conversation content was somehow familiar.

 

Even their faces were familiar. Both were attractive enough to be called handsome man and beautiful woman.

 

‘Wait, aren’t they the siblings I saw before?’

 

Just as Mincheol recognized the two people.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Huh?”

 

The two people also recognized Mincheol.

 

“Mincheol! You’re alive?”

 

The younger brother, Yoo Cheon-hee, greeted him warmly and sat next to Mincheol.

 

The older sister, Yeonhui, sighed and sat next to her brother.

 

“We were worried you might have died on the 11th Floor since we hadn’t seen you! I’m really glad to meet you again looking so well!”

 

It was a rude comment, but strangely it didn’t feel bad.

 

It seemed to be because of his genuinely happy attitude.

 

“The information you gave me back then was very helpful.”

 

At Mincheol’s words, Yoo Cheon-hee smiled even brighter.

 

“I’m glad it helped! The 11th Floor was really a terrible place. I got weak in the knees when those armored goblins came charging at me.”

 

“Ah, they were really troublesome. Especially the Goblin Warriors would charge while using their armor to block attacks.”

 

“Right. I always ran away whenever I encountered them.”

 

Of course, Mincheol had only fought Goblin Elite Soldiers while performing Hidden Quests after the 11th Floor.

 

So he had no choice but to recall his memories of the 11th Floor as much as possible to continue the conversation.

 

“…Were Goblin Warriors the most troublesome for you?”

 

Suddenly Yeonhui asked Mincheol.

 

Mincheol thought for a moment and said.

 

“That’s how it felt at first. But as I fought, the coordinated attacks were more troublesome.”

 

“Coordinated attacks?”

 

“When Axe Soldiers charged, Spearmen would target the openings, and Archers would provide support, attacking like one body. Just thinking about it still gives me chills.”

 

At Mincheol’s answer, surprise appeared in Yeonhui’s eyes.

 

When Yeonhui became quiet, this time Yoo Cheon-hee spoke up.

 

“So what floor are you on now?”

 

“13th Floor. I’m planning to challenge the 14th Floor tomorrow.”

 

“Wow! I just cleared the 14th Floor. You don’t need to worry about anything! Well, you should be careful. The difficulty is similar to the 13th Floor.”

 

It was quite good information.

 

Mincheol was planning to challenge the regular 14th Floor instead of the special 14th Floor this time anyway.

 

‘I can’t challenge another Hidden Quest when the Count might appear.’

 

Even the Goblin Knight had been a formidable opponent.

 

The Count was three times stronger than such a Knight.

 

Mincheol had absolutely no intention of challenging the special 14th Floor.

 

‘…Honestly, I am curious though.’

 

Actually, it wasn’t absolutely never. Deep down, he was very curious about the Count’s abilities.

 

Especially since the Goblin Knight had fallen short of expectations, he felt this way even more.

 

He had thought it would be at least on the level of a careless Kang Ung-hyeok. But it had fallen far short of that.

 

He was dying of thirst but had only taken one sip. That’s how it felt.

 

Rather than being satisfied, his desire had become even stronger.

 

‘Whoa, that’s a dangerous thought.’

 

Mincheol shook his head.

 

To challenge a dangerous place like the Tower out of simple curiosity and desire. That was truly insane.

 

‘Someone gentle and cautious like me should absolutely never do such a thing.’

 

Just as he was taking a sip of cold water to calm his emotions.

 

“Then you’ll need to prepare for the 15th Floor now.”

 

Yeonhui spoke up again.

 

Then Yoo Cheon-hee looked at his sister as if it was strange.

 

“It’s the first time Older Sister asked first…”

 

“You be quiet for a bit.”

 

Yeonhui covered her brother’s mouth and asked Mincheol.

 

“Do you know what kind of floor the 15th Floor is?”

 

“No, I don’t know much. I was going to research it from now on.”

 

“The 15th Floor is a PVP floor.”

 

Mincheol had expected this much.

 

He had heard that the Tower held competitions between Awakeners every 5 floors.

 

Of course, it wasn’t an absolute rule. There were floors that weren’t like this, and there were floors with PVP even when it wasn’t the 5th floor.

 

“I remember the 5th Floor was balloon popping. Do you have to perform a Quest on the 15th Floor?”

 

“It’s treasure hunting.”

 

Mincheol’s expression became strange upon hearing the answer.

 

‘This is perfect?’

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