I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 212: Episode 45_SVIP (9)

Episode 212

Chapter 45: SVIP (9)

10.

Humans are creatures of adaptation.

As it turned out, that logic applied to others as well.

A day, two days, three days, a week.

A motley collection of monsters, each from a different species, gathered together. Under normal circumstances, they would have torn each other apart a hundred times over. Now, they were united in purpose, swinging their weapons at the egg in unison.

CLANG!

CLANG!

Even their timing was in sync. The massive egg rang with a perfect, rhythmic thud that seemed to echo far beyond the wide-open plains.

At the center of it all stood Kim Buja.

“Hey, go gather the supplies that just dropped.”

“Kyuuuu!”

The only reason he could communicate with monsters who didn’t even share a language was, of course, thanks to Hwangdo. Kim Buja gave the orders, and Hwangdo relayed them.

The monsters weren’t following him out of respect for the majesty of a Gold Dragon, but because he was the loyal henchman of the one providing their food. They knew all too well that it was far better to sit still and eat the different meals provided daily than to fight and kill each other just to barely fill their bellies.

Because of this, the monsters united under Kim Buja’s command, and the supplies that dropped naturally piled up before him.

’Man. If only I could carry all this out of here.’

He never imagined he’d one day have the luxury of such a blissful problem. He couldn’t help but shake his head.

Since he was monopolizing all the supply items, there was no real threat to his life. He had even picked out and equipped several pieces of armor he’d wanted, so he no longer had to worry about anyone suddenly breaking the peace.

And that’s what led to this: pointless, happy little dilemmas.

If he could just take one of these items out with him... even with limited durability, it was still a brokenly powerful item that he could easily use for several dungeons, and high-level dungeon runners would pay an absurd price for it.

No, he didn’t even need to sell it. If he just took it and used it against the Ice Lord, he might get something even more valuable in return.

“Yeah, right.”

It was a useless fantasy. He knew perfectly well it was impossible, so he let it remain a daydream. If there had been any loophole allowing him to take these items out, the system would never have provided them in the first place.

They could only be used on the 3rd floor of the Tower of Trials. That was why the system could afford to hand out items with ridiculous options as supplies, tweaking them just enough so they would break quickly.

More importantly, even if he wanted to take things out, he couldn’t afford to save or stash anything.

’There are a decent number of offensive supplies this time. Maybe today’s the day it finally breaks?’

They were already in a situation where pouring everything into breaking the egg was barely enough.

This was the fifth supply drop.

Now that one spot on the shell had cracked enough to be visible to the naked eye, he eagerly dumped the supply items onto the egg. The monsters, too, saw the hairline fractures spreading and clung to that hope, working even harder.

No matter how many low-intelligence monsters there were, they were still living beings. They wanted to live long, they had their own homes, and they had families. They might have been dragged here from who-knows-where, but none of them wanted their lives to end pounding on an egg until they died.

The supplies, carrying their desperate wishes, slammed into the egg in a brutal barrage.

And soon enough, their wish came true.

CRAAAACK!

“Oh!”

“Kyuuuu!”

“Kieeeee!”

The sound made everyone instinctively take a step back. Every gaze, brimming with anticipation, was fixed on the egg.

’Is it finally going to break?’

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

As if to prove the earlier noise hadn’t been a fluke, an even louder sound roared out, demanding attention. Bits of shell tumbled to the ground with a dry patter.

’It’s breaking.’

Kim Buja and the monsters unconsciously clasped their hands together.

’Please. Hatch.’

Maybe their wish had reached it.

The egg hatched.

After about a week and a few more days.

[‘???’ has undergone its First Hatch.]

It had hatched.

The outer shell collapsed, revealing a second shell inside.

* * *

Work came to a halt for a while.

There was no helping it. Anyone would have reacted the same way.

“What kind of insane egg is this?”

There was another egg inside the egg. This wasn’t some kind of surprise gift box. How could something like this even exist?

“This is bullshit.”

Well, it did exist.

If there was any silver lining, it was that the egg, which had been so massive that its size and height defied reason, had shed its outer layer and shrunk to about half its original size. The other was that the first hatch hadn’t ended with a simple, “Hey, I hatched once!”

[Your Level (1) has increased.]

[You have gained (5) Ability Points.]

[You have acquired 10,000 Gold.]

[All of your stats have increased by (3).]

There were some modest rewards. They weren’t bad at all. If this hadn’t been the 3rd floor of the Tower of Trials, he might have actually been happy.

’The egg hasn’t even fully hatched yet, and the first hatch alone gives rewards like this? How much will the second, third, and final hatches give?’

He might have let his optimism run wild with such thoughts.

But right now, he couldn’t. Trapped inside the Tower, his top priority was escape.

The usual Kim Buja would have squeezed every last bit of reward out of the Tower no matter how long it took, but things were a little different now.

’Ten thousand gold?’

That was it?

In over a week, with five supply drops, the number of monsters pounding on the egg had grown to nearly a thousand. Naturally, he had already spent over ten thousand gold just on their food, and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how much more it would cost going forward.

It wasn’t that he begrudged the expense. In terms of pure value, it was actually a decent deal. No matter how many tens of thousands of Gold he spent, getting free levels and stats was a reward that money couldn’t buy.

He weighed the cost-effectiveness.

His usual instinct to pinch every penny made him wince at the waste, but he fell into brief contemplation. If things continued like this, would feeding the monsters and breaking the egg to gain stats end up being a loss?

Gold was something he could always grind out again, no matter how many days it took. At this point, time was the only issue; there was nothing he couldn’t do because he lacked the skill.

More importantly, this was something he had to do anyway.

’What’s the point of sighing?’

He chided himself for getting soft.

’I need to remember what it was like eating cup ramen with a single triangle kimbap on top.’

Remembering his roots always gave him perspective. There was no need to force himself to live like he was poor again now that he was eating and living well, but the mindset that had gotten him through those times could still serve as motivation to shake off his current complacency.

He had to do it anyway, and he had to break it anyway. So he might as well stop whining and go all in. When would he ever get to experience something like this again?

’I’m definitely saving this video to Mileage.’

Once he firmed up his resolve, his energy returned.

“Hey, gather up! We’re having a company dinner today. Starting tomorrow, we’re working ourselves to death until that thing breaks!”

“Grrroooaaar!”

“Kkiiiieeeek!”

The wild roars of beasts echoed as they trampled over the broken eggshells scattered across the ground. The food he bought from the Gold Shop shifted from the cheap, belly-filling stuff they had been eating to dishes that cost a bit more Gold for actual flavor.

And behind those roars, reinforcements appeared to bolster their spirits.

“Kyuuuu!”

Kim Buja was stunned into silence.

Now, the army of monsters was so vast that even after completely surrounding the egg, countless more still stood waiting on the plains.

* * *

It was time to make a decision.

’There are way too damn many of them.’

Before the first hatch, he had begrudged the gold because he was spending it to feed a bunch of useless freeloaders just to break the egg a little faster. Now, he resented having to spend gold on the ones who weren’t even contributing.

If they were all working, he could at least tell himself he was buying levels and stats with gold, but this wasn’t even that. Since the egg had shrunk to half its size, the number of monsters that could cling to it and attack was naturally limited. He had tried making them climb up and work on the shell from above as well as from the ground, but there were still far too many monsters left over.

At this point, it almost seemed better to just cut off their food and tell them to fight it out amongst themselves. It was a cruel and dirty tactic, but Buja felt no guilt. He had no obligation to take responsibility for every last one of them.

He only wondered if that was really the smartest move.

Hmm.

He held off because he suspected it would be more profitable to find a way to use them all efficiently. Besides, with so many of them around, the number of supply drops had definitely increased.

’It doesn’t feel like I’m just imagining it.’

The only time their numbers had gone down was when he punished a few monsters that had disturbed the peace. After that, no one dared rebel against the suddenly swollen horde, so he hadn’t had another chance to test his theory. But when he saw the supply drops continue to increase, he couldn’t help but think the two were connected.

So, he didn’t choose the method where everyone attacked the egg at once. Instead, he started rotating them for efficiency.

“We’re running three shifts, eight hours each. If you’re off, rest up and go look for any supplies that might have dropped somewhere. If I catch anyone skimming, you die on the spot. I’m sacrificing myself here so we can all eat well, live well, and get out of here together. So if you get any funny ideas, you know what happens, right? Nobody makes it out alive.”

He was the very picture of an exploitative boss, but the monsters still nodded.

The second shell—the egg that had undergone its first hatch—was far tougher than the outer one had been. Ordinary attacks barely seemed to scratch it.

Supplies were crucial.

Because of that, the interval between drops had stretched to nearly a week, but every single one went straight to Kim Buja and was used on the egg, burning through their durability.

No one complained about the contribution. Some monsters could think and act with intention, but far more simply followed their instincts. Complaints about the guy who was feeding them and looking after everyone? Those were dealt with internally.

And so, as he steadily racked up contributions and steadily drained gold, a month passed.

At last, they saw the light.

And it wasn’t just any light.

CRAAAACK!

FLASH!

The familiar, welcome sound rang out again. A brilliant light burst forth, instantly shattering his resolve to raise hell if there was another shell inside.

[‘???’ has undergone its Final Hatch.]

The crimson light soon faded, revealing what Kim Buja and the countless monsters had managed to hatch through all their effort.

“What the hell is that?”

The inside of the egg was filled with blazing red flames. Suspended between those searing rays of light, which made him hesitate to even take a step for fear of touching them, was a single small egg.

When he glanced around, he saw the monsters had all backed far away and were watching him.

They all knew. Even with the egg broken, it was ingrained in them who had priority here.

Kim Buja approached cautiously. Strictly speaking, it was an egg inside an egg, and then another egg inside that. It was so small it felt wrong to even call it an egg; a tiny red shell, no bigger than his thumb, which he carefully picked up.

CRACK!

The egg shattered, and something dropped into his palm.

[You have cleared the 3rd Floor of the Tower of Trials.]

The long, supposedly restful floor had finally come to an end.

* * *