Kang Min sat cross-legged on the carpet in his apartment living room.
In front of him, several translucent windows flickered, casting a blue glow over his sharp features.
He had 50 unassigned attribute points from his tutorial evaluation.
[SYSTEM: ATTRIBUTE DISTRIBUTION]
「Current Points Available: 50」
「Current Level Cap: 20 (MAX)」
Min tapped the '+' icon next to his Strength stat, intending to dump all fifty points into it.
[!]: 「FAILED TO ASSIGN POINTS.」
[!]: 「REASON: PLAYER HAS REACHED THE MAXIMUM ATTRIBUTE LEVEL FOR THE 'ROOKIE' BRACKET.」
"Even after all that it's still capped at 20?"
Min frowned.
He tapped the system query icon.
"How do I unlock the thirties? What's the requirement to break the cap?"
The system began to swirl, a loading icon spinning as it tried to process the request.
Then, a blood-red window popped up, flickering with static.
『ERROR: SYSTEM INCOMPATIBILITY』
「You are a story that is incompatible with this world. Information access denied.」
"Ugh... this shit again."
Kang Min leaned back, his hair messy.
"Incompatible? I still have no idea what that means...I'm still a player even now, aren't I?"
"Hmmm... Is that because I'm from the 'Old World' version of the Tower?"
He let out a frustrated sigh and swiped the window away.
He then opened his Streamer Status tab.
He noticed a small red bubble over the mailbox icon.
『MAILBOX: (1) NEW MESSAGE』
「Sender: Pink_hee」
「Subject: Collab Settlement」
「Content: Hey! Here is your cut from yesterday's stream. We really blew up! See you at the Guild!」
「Attachment: 15,300 Coins」
Min clicked the attachment.
His total coin balance rippled and changed.
[CURRENT BALANCE]: 「20,300 Coins」
He stared at the number.
He was sitting in a modern apartment in Seoul, but he was still thinking like a man who lived in the Tower's dirt.
"What is the current exchange rate?
1 Coin to South Korean Won?"
『CURRENCY CONVERSION』
「1 Tower Coin = 100 ₩」
Min's eyes widened.
He did the math in his head instantly.
"20,300 coins... that's... around 2 million won?"
"I made enough to live comfortably for a month or two in 4 minutes."
Suddenly, another window flashed.
This one was golden, pulsing with the rhythmic beat of a heart.
[CONSTELLATION STREAM: MILESTONE REACHED]
「Channel [Singularity] has surpassed 500 Subscribers!」
「Enacting: THE LAW OF POPULARITY」
「Effect: As the world recognizes your presence, the limits of your vessel expand.」
『NOTIFICATION』
「MAX attribute cap for the 'Rookie' bracket has been removed. Player can now raise stats past Lv.20.」
"Sweet!"
Kang Min said, a smirk finally touching his face.
"I gained my first 500 subs... it's low considering the performance I showed yesterday, but I guess people are used to flashy clearings.
But 500 is enough to break the chains.
If I'm going to grow...the upper floors are much better and guarantee more."
"Should I enter floor 1 right now?"
"Ugghh...but my coins."
Kang Min opened his messages app on his phone.
[White Stars] /
[Manager Han (WS)] /
They were all empty.
"The sooner I get a job to do as a porter...the better.
I will be able to clear hidden trials to accumulate more coins to the point I won't be worried about them depleting when I go solo."
"I have to think of the next killer content fast if I'm going to grow my subscribers."
"Ugghh...but what."
He looked at his points.
He had 50 to spend.
"For now let's increase my stats.
The quicker I can I regain my original power and abilities...the quicker I can climb the tower without worrying about restraints and coins."
"If I'm going to grow, I need to regain my 'Center' first."
He began to assign the points with surgical precision.
[RE-ALLOCATED STATS]
「Strength: 20 → 30 (+10)」
「Agility: 20 → 35 (+15)」
「Stamina: 20 → 30 (+10)」
「Perception: 20 → 30 (+10)」
「Mana: 20 → 25 (+5)」
"I'll prioritize Agility first."
Min reasoned, watching the numbers settle.
"In the higher floors, it doesn't matter how hard you hit if you can't reach the target or dodge a conceptual attack.
Stamina and Strength need to be balanced to maintain my muscle density.
I'll keep Mana at 25 for now...my [Focus] skill is efficient, and my true mana is still sealed, so dumping points there is like pouring water into a cracked vase."
He felt a sudden surge of heat through his veins.
His muscles tightened, and his vision became slightly sharper.
"That's solid."
He stood up, stretching his limbs.
His joints popped with the sound of small firecrackers.
"The quicker I regain my original power, the quicker I can climb without worrying about these petty restraints."
His stomach let out a thunderous growl.
"Let's celebrate by getting something to eat.
I should probably get some house supplies too... shampoo, soap... maybe some actual clothes."
Min walked into a local 24-hour convenience store near his apartment.
"Wow...the real estate agent was right about a close by convenience store."
The air-conditioned air was a relief against the afternoon heated air.
He grabbed a basket and began wandering the aisles.
He picked up a bottle of Kerasys shampoo, some Pepero, and a large bag of Honey Butter Chips.
He added a few bottles of Pocari Sweat and some Saewookkang (Shrimp Crackers).
As he was reaching for a cup of instant ramen, he overheard two teenagers in school uniforms whispered nearby.
"Did you see that stream on Bnet yesterday?
The masked guy in the Tutorial?"
One asked, eyes glued to his phone.
"The one with PinkHee? Yeah! Dude was insane.
He cleared the golems with his bare hands.
The timer was like, four minutes?
That's a world record for the Seoul sector."
"My brother says it was probably a fake.
Like, he upping the difficulty with a mod or something.
But the system recognized it as an S-Rank clear."
"Man, imagine if he did a Floor 1 stream today. I'd sub instantly."
Min smiled under his hoodie, hiding his face. He walked to the counter and placed his four bags of supplies down.
"That will be ₩48,500, please," the cashier said, not even looking up.
Min reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
He looked at the screen, then at the cashier.
He realized he had plenty of Coins in his Tower account, but his actual bank accoun was almost empty.
"I don't have the cash on me."
"I thought I would recieve the money by now."
The cashier sighed, finally looking up.
"Sir, if you're a player, just use TowerPay.
We accept coin transfers.
It converts to won at the point of sale anyway."
There was a long, painful silence.
"TowerPay?"
Min asked blankly.
"Yeah.
The app? It's on every player's interface."
Min stared at his phone.
He started frantically swiping through his system menus.
"Where... is it in 'Settings' or 'Financials'?"
"God, are you a boomer?"
The cashier muttered.
"Hit the 'Exchange' icon, then sync your bio-metric ID to the store's terminal.
No, not that one.
Left! Swipe left!"
After three minutes of awkward bickering and Min nearly accidentally activating a gravity well in the store out of frustration, the payment finally went through.
"Thank you... have a nice day..."
The cashier said, sounding exhausted.
Min hurried out, clutching his bags.
He felt more embarrassed by that interaction than he ever had.
He arrived back at his apartment door.
He stopped for a moment at the door after opening it and looked down, his hair covering his eyes.
He felt the weight of the grocery bags in his hands as he grippes tightly.
"If only you were still around..."
"Look... I even got my own apartment. It has hot water and everything."
The silence of the hallway was his only answer.
He shook the feeling off, entered, and locked the door.
He spent the next few minutes stocking his bathroom and kitchen.
Once the "adulting" was done, he flopped onto the couch and opened a bag of Honey Butter Chips.
He began scrolling through the headlines on Bnet.
「NEW ROOKIE 'SINGULARITY' BREAKS TUTORIAL RECORD!」
「Is the Masked Player really a Rookie or a Guild Plant?」
「PinkHee's Viewer Count Hits All-Time High Thanks to Mysterious Collab.」
He clicked on a popular forum post.
[User: TowerFanatic]: It's a shame we can't rewatch the full stream. The streamer [Singularity] doesn't have VODs enabled. I wanted to study his footwork.
[User: CritKing]: Yeah, he's gonna lose so much growth. If people could make clips of that stre, he'd be trending worldwide by tonight. He's such a rookie.
[User: ProLurker]: Someone tell him to turn on the settings if he ever goes live again. He's leaving money on the table.
Min's hand paused halfway to his mouth, a chip frozen in the air.
"I forgot the VOD settings?!"
He felt a surge of genuine anger at himself.
Everyone knew that was an important thing...even back then when be was a gaming streamer.
"How could I have forgotten something so basic?"
"I'm losing potential subs every second potential clips aren't circulating."
He immediately opened his channel settings.
『CHANNEL SETTINGS: SINGULARITY』
「Allow Past Rewatch/VODs?」: [YES]
「Allow 3rd Party Clipping/Highlights?」: [YES]
「Enable Automatic VOD Archiving?」: [YES]
The system flashed a confirmation.
『NOTICE』: 「Settings updated. Previous broadcasts are now being processed for public viewing.」
"That should do it."
Min muttered, stuffing a handful of chips into his mouth.
"I'm already trending as it is.
It's best to keep that momentum.
I can't let my growth stall because of a menu toggle."
He leaned back, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.
The ceiling of a 9th floor apartment...but his mind was already looking through it, toward the higher floors of the tower where the the stakes were real.
"Ugh... I'm already hungry again.
These chips are like air."
He tossed the empty bag aside and stood up.
"I should just go cook."