Chapter 120. Playful Kyuu
★━━━【Vending Machine for The Assisted One】━━━★
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 『Ticket Purchase』 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
➤ Dimensional Altar Installation Ticket <Unlocked!> ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 9,999 coins
◇ Available tickets: 3
※ You can install one altar in a world where there is no assistant.
※ You can receive support items from the residents of that world through the altar. If you don’t like the items you received, you can exchange them for coins. In that case, the corresponding value of the items will be given in coins.
※ The altar will disappear if an assistant is born in that world.
※ This ticket can be transferred to a monster tamed by the explorer and used on their behalf.
➤ Intermediate Invitation Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 900 coins
◇ Available tickets: 2
※ This is an invitation ticket to request intermediate support. You can designate one person who has been in contact with you or a monster you tamed within the last five days and request support. You can personally write the support request message.
➤ Brilliant Evolution Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 4,999,900 coins
◇ Available tickets: 1
※ Evolves a tamed monster into a higher species.
➤ Dispatch Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 1 coin
◇ Available tickets: 45
※ Sends one tamed monster to another dimension for 24 hours. The regular dispatch ticket sends the monster to a random dimension.
➤ Designated Dispatch Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 3 coins
◇ Available tickets: 30
※ Sends one tamed monster to another dimension for 24 hours. You can designate a dimension connected to the explorer for the dispatch.
➤ Transferable Return Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 1 coin
◇ Available tickets: 50
※ A return ticket that can be transferred to a drifter.
➤ Reverse Support Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 1 coin
◇ Available tickets: 300
※ You can send items owned by the explorer to the assistant. Reverse support is only possible for assistants of GOLD rank or higher.
➤ Return Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 1,000 coins
◇ Available tickets: 1
※ You give up your qualification as an explorer and return to the world where you once lived. However, if you use this ticket, every living being connected to you across all dimensions will disappear. Souls from other dimensions will be absorbed by the Ancient Labyrinth, and the monsters you tamed will also meet their death.
※ There is no need to feel guilty. Once you return, you will lose all memories of your experiences in the Ancient Labyrinth.
║ ⚠ Please check your coin balance before purchase ⚠ ║
⏳ Time until vending machine disappears: 05:32:29
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At the top of the list.
A ticket I had never seen before caught my eye.
Its name was the Dimensional Altar Installation Ticket.
After reading the description, I had a rough understanding of what the ticket did.
‘So it’s a ticket that works in conjunction with the Dispatch Ticket.’
A different world without an assistant.
By installing an altar there, I could receive support from the residents of that world. That’s what the ticket was for.
‘It seems the installation of the altar can be left to the monster I dispatch.’
Now, I finally understood the purpose of the regular Dispatch Ticket.
I always wondered what the point of sending a monster to a random world was, but it was obviously designed to be used together with the Dimensional Altar Installation Ticket.
And this was a ticket that had been unlocked due to the birth of a Trinity-rank assistant.
In other words.
Until the Trinity assistant was born, the regular Dispatch Ticket had been practically useless.
Except for the fact that it was possible to find an assistant in that world.
‘This ticket feels different from inviting an assistant.’
In a way.
Those who offer items to the altar are in a lower position than assistants.
To make it easier to understand, I’ll use church hierarchy as an analogy.
Assistants are like the pope or cardinals.
The people who offer items to the altar are like regular believers.
That’s probably the best way to describe it.
While the people offering support through the altar can only make offerings and pray like ordinary believers, assistants can watch my broadcast in real time, support me directly, and even meet me in person if they reach the highest rank.
Of course.
This doesn’t mean I’m a god—it’s just a metaphor, as I mentioned earlier.
‘If handled well, installing an altar might bring more support than creating a few assistants in a different world.’
The question was how to request support from the residents of that world.
While thinking for a moment.
A thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Salvation… that should work the best, right?’
Descending as a supreme being, performing miracles, or solving the hardships that world faces.
Bestowing grace upon the otherworldly beings.
Claiming to be a god, installing an altar, and inducing them to offer regular tributes.
Like this.
Pretending to be a god and requesting support under the pretext of protecting the world was probably the easiest of all the options.
‘It feels a bit burdensome to do something like that… but since it’s ultimately helping others and not deceiving them, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.’
This method was a trade where neither side suffered losses.
As long as I didn’t die.
If I installed an altar in another world and placed it under my protection, I could help that world whenever it faced danger.
Assuming I had enough Designated Dispatch Tickets in reserve.
‘Let’s put off finding assistants in other worlds for now and focus on installing altars to request support. I’ll think about the specific method later.’
And with that.
I now had a clear reason to use the regular Dispatch Ticket.
Oh, by the way.
I had originally planned to use the regular Dispatch Ticket once.
There was something I wanted to test.
If I used several Dispatch Tickets at once, would the monsters go to the same world, or would they each go to a different one?
Personally.
I hoped the monsters would be dispatched to the same world if I used the tickets consecutively without any breaks.
I wanted to send one strong monster along with Iris, who could reflect that world back to me.
I still didn’t know if I could see another world through Iris.
That was also something I needed to test.
I could have found out immediately by using the Designated Dispatch Ticket, but wasting it on such an experiment felt like a waste, so I had held off.
‘I should have sent Iris instead of Dochi back then…’
Anyway.
I’d experiment with all of this soon enough.
‘…Alright, let’s check the next ticket.’
I lowered my gaze and slowly examined the other tickets.
Intermediate Invitation Ticket.
There were two of these tickets, just as I had hoped.
I decided to use them on Hwang Mir, the chaebol third-generation heir, and Sage Lunaris.
They were helpful to me.
And since I didn’t know how to become the Dominant One yet, I had decided to increase the number of assistants as much as possible.
Though I didn’t plan to recruit assistants in other dimensions where I could secure large coin supplies, both of these candidates lived in worlds where assistants already existed.
After that.
I moved on from the Intermediate Invitation Ticket and looked further down.
There was no Lower Invitation Ticket.
The Brilliant Evolution Ticket was more expensive than before, so I passed on it without hesitation.
And the Dispatch Ticket…
‘What’s this, why are the tickets so cheap from here on?’
For a moment, I thought I had read it wrong.
Dispatch Ticket, 1 coin.
Designated Dispatch Ticket, 3 coins.
Transferable Return Ticket, 1 coin.
Reverse Support Ticket, 1 coin.
This was practically free.
Compared to the prices before, that is.
‘…As expected, since there are vending machines that sell expensive tickets, there must also be ones that sell them this cheaply.’
Even though I had to invest a lot.
The burden of buying three Dimensional Altar Installation Tickets was lessened because the other tickets were so cheap.
Finally.
I skimmed through the Return Ticket.
I figured it was cheap for a reason, and sure enough, it had some strange conditions attached to it.
It wasn’t even worth considering.
After purchasing all the available tickets, I expressed my thanks again to Solorb, who had guided me to the vending machine.
“Solorb, thanks again. Thanks to you, I got the tickets cheaply. I even got some useful new ones.”
[…It seems there happened to be items that were useful to you in the place where I cast my light.]
Solorb, pretending not to know anything until the end.
It had an odd yet strangely cute personality.
***
Day 64 in the Labyrinth.
After briefly inspecting the construction of the desert village.
I returned to my hideout and began selecting the monsters to send out on a dispatch.
I wasn’t using the regular Dispatch Ticket yet.
I planned to use that tomorrow.
Today, I intended to use a Designated Dispatch Ticket to Earth to invite two new assistants.
In order to use the Intermediate Invitation Ticket, the target had to have been in contact with me or a tamed monster within the last five days.
【Pururu】─Send Choco! Choco!!!
【Mysticism】─Send Dochi! 😃
【Yumi】─Please send Melody Fox, the fluffy cutie!!!
【Bubble Bubble】─Send Jafan.
【Pururu】─Who are you? You little sh**
.
【Mysticism】─Don’t butt in if you’re not an Earthling. 😠
I wanted to send Iris.
I wanted to take this opportunity to see if I could share my vision even if Iris went to another world.
It wasn’t like I was wasting a Designated Dispatch Ticket.
I had to send one monster today anyway.
However, it seemed that the experiment would have to be done with the regular Dispatch Ticket.
【Pururu】─Not Iris.
【Yumi】─She’s too scary-looking.
【Mysticism】─😨 I’m not fond of Iris either…
Since the Earth assistants didn’t seem to want Iris.
Well, if they didn’t want her, what could I do?
So, I decided to postpone Iris’s ability test for the regular Dispatch Ticket and removed her from the candidate list.
“Didn’t everyone say they liked Iris’s eyes before?”
【Yumi】─Her eyes are pretty, but the rest of her is creepy.
【Pururu】─I don’t need Choco, just don’t send Iris.
【Mysticism】─Send Dochi! Dochi looks like a regular animal, so I can even take her outside!
【Yumi】─Melody Fox looks like a regular fox too.
Two monsters that looked similar to regular animals were mentioned as candidates.
Hedgehog Summoner.
Melody Fox.
The final choice between the two was Melody Fox.
There wasn’t a special reason for it.
Hedgehog had already been dispatched once before.
【Pururu】─Haha, Dochi got eliminated because of the trouble she caused last time.
【Mysticism】─😭
【Yumi】─When Melody Fox comes, I’m going to pet her like crazy. Hahaha.
First, I showed Melody Fox the assistant encyclopedia.
I wanted her to familiarize herself with the faces of the assistants in advance.
Although the monsters I tamed could instinctively recognize assistants, it was better for her to remember their faces for sure.
Once everything was ready.
“I’ll send her near you, Dan-bi.”
【Pururu】─Okay, got it.
【Yumi】─We’re all gathered here anyway. Mir and Sage are here with us too.
Using the Designated Dispatch Ticket, I sent Melody Fox to Earth.
***
In a quiet park.
Five women were sitting on a bench.
Three of them were Kang Geon’s assistants: Seo Dan-bi, Shin Somang, and Ha Yumi.
The other two were the candidate assistants, Hwang Mir and Sage Lunaris.
They were currently waiting for Melody Fox, who was being dispatched from the Ancient Labyrinth.
“When will she arrive?”
Seo Dan-bi muttered as she glanced around.
At that moment.
A massive shadow suddenly fell over them.
“Huh, huh?! Everyone, over there…!”
“What is that?!”
Ha Yumi pointed to the sky with a trembling hand.
Hwang Mir, looking up at the sky, stepped back in shock.
Before their eyes, a giant fox large enough to cover the city stood towering.
[Kyuu.]