Chapter 2. The First Floor: Golden Treasure Vault
The saying “Life is like a horse of misfortune” means that misfortune can lead to fortune, and fortune can lead to misfortune.
But this saying has one contradiction.
What if a small stroke of luck is followed by a massive misfortune?
What if after a huge misfortune, you’re thrown a tiny piece of luck?
Just like how each person’s life is different and unfair, luck and misfortune are never the same.
And for me, misfortune always overwhelmingly outweighed any luck.
I was born into the good fortune of having parents who were praised as heroes and immensely popular.
But before I even turned five, my parents disappeared in the Abyss. All of their wealth was confiscated under the label of ‘traitors,’ and I suffered the misfortune of being thrown into an orphanage with my three-year-old sibling.
As I barely endured under a violent and oppressive orphanage director, my only family, my sibling, was struck by an unknown and incurable disease.
By a stroke of heavenly luck, I was able to awaken.
But my joy was short-lived. As a hunter, my abilities were miserable. My life consisted of catching goblins without any major incidents, barely making enough to get by day to day.
And in the end, my streak of luck concluded with my death—another misfortune.
.
.
.
.
‘It’s so peaceful…’
As I felt a warm, comforting sensation, as though I was inside a massive egg, my consciousness gradually became clearer.
Before long, my eyelids, which I thought would never open again, lifted.
“Haah! Haaah! Cough! Cough!”
I shot up, gasping for air, breathing deeply.
“Wh-where am I?”
It was a place so familiar to me, it was almost ingrained in my memory. A small rooftop room, just big enough for one person to lie down, where I had lived right before I awakened.
“How… how am I here?”
No, how am I even alive in the first place?
Those injuries should have been fatal. The kind of injuries that only a miracle-worker, a saint, could heal, and no such saint could have reached me in this tutorial zone.
“So, did I… go back in time?”
This was definitely the same rooftop room from my past.
There was no mistake. This was the exact place I moved into right after admitting my sibling to the hospital and finding the cheapest place to live.
“Could I have really gone back in time?”
I pulled out my phone and checked the date. I had gone back 10 whole years.
And as soon as I realized I had returned to the past, a system message appeared as if it had been waiting for me to notice.
〚Special privilege: You have completed your return!〛
〚You have awakened!〛
〚Your unique ability, which was previously hidden for unknown reasons, is now revealed!〛
『Status Window
Name: Shin Ju-ha
Title: X
LV 0 (0%)
Status
Ill Fortune (Legendary) F- (1/100)
Remaining Points: 0
Authority
[Golden Tower LV1]
Unique Ability
[Curse of Misfortune [Legendary] LV1(MAX)]
Skills
X』
My status window had changed. My previously unknown unique ability was now visible, and a new section called “Authority” had appeared.
“Authority—Golden Tower?”
Wasn’t this…!
Wasn’t this the same name as the hidden stage I heard about just before I lost consciousness?
〚Authority: The Golden Tower has created an inventory system!〛
〚First Floor: The Golden Treasure Vault has opened!〛
〚Current ownership of the Golden Tower: 0.01%.〛
“What is this?”
I stared at the inventory screen that appeared with the message and couldn’t help but gasp.
Inside, there was literally an overflowing treasure trove filled with gold and jewels.
《First Floor: Golden Treasure Vault
→Purple Coins ×9,999,999……
→Navy Coins ×9,999,999……(Locked)
.
.
→Common-Rank F-grade Magic Stone ×9,999,999……
→Common-Rank F-grade Magic Stone ×9,999,999……
.
.
→Pure Gold Ingots ×9,999,999……
→ Brilliant Nectar ×3
→ Primordial Spring ×1
On the first floor, the Golden Treasure Vault was filled with countless consumables, starting from infinite wealth and potions, up to elixirs.
Gulp!
I swallowed, rubbed my eyes, and checked reality.
“This is insane.”
All of this is mine?
After reviewing the message log again, I burst into a mixture of disbelief and joy.
“Kill 9,999 of them? Even golden goblins?”
A single golden goblin is known to be worth enough to support three generations.
Even in the Abyss, a realm of countless monsters, golden goblins are considered legendary or mythical and are rarer than constellations.
“In other words, I invaded the house where they were hiding, detonated bombs, and seized their home?”
On top of that, I plundered all the countless treasures the golden goblins had amassed over a ridiculously long period.
But that’s not a problem. After all, monsters and humans are in a constant cycle of killing each other.
So, it makes sense that even the system recognizes my ownership of the Golden Tower in the form of this authority.
“With this amount of coins and magic stones…!!”
I quickly reached into my inventory to pull out the immense wealth inside.
But the world wasn’t that simple.
[Current ownership of the Golden Tower: 0.01%.]
[You can only take out one item!]
[Do you wish to take out one purple coin?]
Items above the purple coin, and F-rank magic stones, were locked and could not be taken out at all.
All other high-rank items were not selectable either, so I naturally assumed that I could at least take out the lowest-ranked coin and magic stone.
“Only one item?”
The excitement that had surged to my head instantly deflated, and rough words escaped my mouth.
“Of course, I expected too much for someone like me.”
So, what’s the way to gain more ownership?
At that moment, I decided to check the status window for more details.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The iron door of the rooftop room began to make loud noises as if it were about to break. The voice that never left my head filled the rooftop.
“Shin Juha! You little shit, I know you’re in there, so open the door quickly! Before we smash everything and get in!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the iron door, kicked with force, bent slightly, my face contorted.
“Damn it! To think I’d see that guy’s face again.”
The vile connection and the friend from high school who was responsible for 10% of my misfortunes—an *usurer.
*a person who lends money at unreasonably high rates of interest.
“Open up quickly!”
I stood up from my seat and faced the door, recalling the memories.
Those guys were the ones who tormented me with unreasonable interest, as if I were a fish caught on a hook, when I was forced to take out loans to pay for my younger sibling’s hospital bills.
“Come to think of it, it’s today.”
The moment I became a loyal slave to those guys.
Before my regression, I had successfully awakened my powers like a birthday gift and, overflowing with confidence, confronted those usurers.
The result was, of course, my defeat, and it was a crushing blow.
No matter how they were unawakened, they were fighters, while I was no different from before awakening, lacking any stats or abilities.
As a result, it was revealed that I had awakened, and they made me work as a slave for over five years under the pretext of forgiving my debt.
If their usurer organization hadn’t coincidentally targeted a B-rank hunter’s family and gone bankrupt, I would have lived as their slave until just before death.
Clench!
Just thinking about that time makes my teeth grind and my anger rise.
“But… I’ll endure!”
This time, I won’t fall victim like before. I reminded myself of patience while opening the door that seemed ready to break from the kicking.
With a crash! Thud!
As the door opened, a foot flew into my abdomen, and I collapsed immediately.
“Cough!”
Without having eaten anything, I vomited bile and gasped for air, as the usurers looked down at me as if it suited me.
“Ugh~ What a stench! Clean yourself up and live a bit!”
Thud!
As if to relieve their accumulated stress, the kicks continued, and I closed my eyes and endured the pain.
“Endure, I must endure!”
Although I have regressed, I still lack power. I could take down those thugs here, but I couldn’t handle the aftermath.
The usurers are not all there is. In a sense, they are just lackeys, nothing more or less.
So endure. I cannot live as their dog and wallow in the depths of despair again!
I will grit my teeth and hold on until I can create a blade that can end them all in one stroke.
“Today, you’re enduring a lot, Shin Juha. So, did you bring the interest or not?”
Kim Mu-sik, the leader of the usurers, my high school classmate, and the delinquent who dragged me into the debt pit, crouched in front of me, meeting my gaze.
“Clench! Do you think it’s reasonable for the interest to be ten times the principal!”
It is, of course, illegal. I know it, Kim Mu-sik knows it, and all the usurers know it.
But it can’t be helped. They have power and authority that I lack.
Clink!
Kim Moo-sik’s rough palm struck my cheek with a sharp slap.
But I could endure it. I’ve experienced and tolerated enough of such insults and pain.
“So, to save your little brother, you need to pay us the interest. Ah… I’ve wanted to have a taste of your brother for a while. How about this? Sell your brother to us, and we’ll clear all your debt. Just give us permission; we know exactly where your brother is and his condition.”
“You son of a bitch!”
As if he had been waiting for my rage, or perhaps he had wanted to see me like this, he stood up with a filthy smile.
“Permission, you say? Fine, the boss also said to settle this case since there’s nothing more to squeeze out. So, I’ll deal with you and take good care of your remaining brother. We are friends, after all. How about that? Thank you! Friend.”
Clunk!
Something in my mind snaps.
I can endure the pain directed at me, the slanders thrown at me, and the disregard I face.
But the one thing I cannot endure is the insult to my only blood relative, my everything.
“……Inventory.”
“You bastard!”
I reached out and grabbed Kim Moo-sik’s foot as he came at me. The pain was almost unbearable, but the burning rage swallowed the pain. I used my strength to throw him aside and stood up.
“Choice, Fountain of Origin.”
Kim Moo-sik, who had fallen to the floor, got up with a red face and glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.
But I wasn’t afraid. The hobgoblin that tried to kill me was scarier, and the pain my brother was enduring now was greater than the pain I had received from him.
I opened the small vial that had appeared in my hand and poured its contents into my mouth.
A rare and valuable item, located at the bottom of the Golden Treasure Vault, not locked, and one of the few unknown consumables.
【You have absorbed the purest elixir created in the beginning!】
【Due to the curse of ??? – <Unique Ability: Curse of Misfortune>, the possibility that should have been extinguished has blossomed more brilliantly!】
【Authority: Heavenly Fortune is generated!】
【Stats: Heavenly Fortune (Mythical) is awakened!】
A torrent of heavenly fortune pours down, enough to counter the immense misfortune that had oppressed me throughout my life.
【The immense luck that had been suppressed pours out!】
【The heavenly fortune stat temporarily rises to EX+ rank!】
【Remaining time 1:00】
With every action and will of mine, unparalleled fortune follows.
“You bastard! Die!”
As I thought about dodging his incoming fist, a small gap in the floorboard caught his foot, making him fall.
Ouch!
At the same time, my ordinary punch landed precisely on his weak spot as he fell, knocking him out.
“Wh… what the fuck!? Ah… lucky, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s just luck. You damn bastard.”
Was he shocked by my changed appearance?
Or was he frightened by how completely I overpowered my enemy?
The momentum was on my side. The tide of battle had completely turned in my favor.
According to my will, every attack from the enemy missed me, and all my attacks hit their weak spots.
After just five punches, I was the only one standing.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
I continued to stomp on the unconscious Kim Moo-sik. With the intent that he should break something and live with a disability for the rest of his life.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
And the fortune granted by the heavens fulfilled my will, allowing me to finally catch my breath and stop my attack.
“Damn it!”
I had to endure it. Now that it’s done, regret is flooding in.
This won’t end just by knocking down these five. The boss’s subordinates will come to capture me once they find out that I’ve taken them down.
And they will beat me until I sign a slave contract before I die.
“No, it won’t be like that this time.”
Spit!
I spat and turned away.
【Overwhelming fortune turns into a handful of dust and disappears!】
【Experiencing transcendent fortune increases the Heavenly Fortune stat by 30!】
【In response to the transcendent fortune, the Misfortune stat increases by 31!】
【Misfortune rises due to the transcendent fortune!】
【Beware! Misfortune is coming soon!】
As the luck that had protected me vanished, a warning of impending misfortune appeared.
【As you grow, ownership of the Golden Tower increases by 0.99%!】
【Ownership of the Golden Treasure Vault has reached 1%!】
【Special privilege! You can now extract some items (Purple Coin, F-grade Magic Stones, etc.) without limitations!】
【Current items you can take out: 3】
A path that would make me stronger revealed itself.
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