Handing over the Armory Key meant surrendering the entire armory.

Not only the Royal Heirloom Saber but every other critical item would fall into Seo Kangrim’s hands as well.

Consequently, a steely resolve underscored Gongju’s tone.

“Not this key. Choose something from inside the room.”

“Didn’t you clearly say I could take anything from inside the room, Team Leader?”

“That’s…….”

He had indeed said so, but he couldn’t accept it.

He couldn’t just sit back and watch all his weapons get snatched away right before his eyes.

There was the option of handing over the key and then removing all the weapons afterward, but that would also result in significant loss.

This subspace armory was itself one of his most precious items.

He couldn’t abandon the armory on account of Seo Kangrim.

Just as he was about to swallow his pride and change the terms, Seo Kangrim spoke up.

“If I could freely use the weapons here, wouldn’t that benefit you as well, Team Leader Gongju?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Doesn’t Zone 2 need to outperform Zone 1?”

At those words, a faint glimmer flashed through Gongju’s eyes amid his bewilderment.

Seo Kangrim held his gaze and continued.

“For you to contact me personally during the Room of Tread and even offer assistance…… You must be expecting results from us, Team Leader Gongju.”

The fact that he had reached out to a mere trainee meant that Team Leader Gongju was quite anxious.

And there was no one more desperate than an anxious man.

Seo Kangrim continued quietly.

“When we fought Zone 1, I felt that our weapons put us at a disadvantage more than any difference in individual skill. We barely won this time, but if we could borrow the weapons from here…….”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but Gongju could understand what Seo Kangrim was getting at.

Indeed, even excluding the Royal Heirloom Saber, there were many useful weapons here.

If Zone 2’s members used them, they would certainly pull ahead of Zone 1, but…….

‘To think I’d have to hand over my collection.’

These were weapons he had gathered using his own personal funds.

He couldn’t just give them away so easily.

As Gongju hesitated, Seo Kangrim spoke.

“I have no intention of taking all of this. You don’t need to give them to me outright—I’d be satisfied just being able to borrow them.”

At that, Gongju bit his lip and maintained his silence.

Calculations were running rapidly through his mind.

After a brief silence in the armory, the sound of Gongju’s sigh reached them.

“Very well. But I’ll attach a few conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“I still need the key myself, so I can’t give it to you as is. I’ll provide a copy. Its function is identical.”

Since what Seo Kangrim wanted was the armory itself, not the key, he readily nodded.

Gongju furrowed his brow and continued explaining.

“Additionally, when removing items from the armory, the limit is two items per person per day. A record will be logged upon checkout.”

“Understood.”

“And if any items are lost or damaged, I’ll hold you accountable for three times their value.”

Seo Kangrim nodded at this as well.

Team Leader Gongju scrutinized him intently.

Lending them temporarily in exchange for beating Zone 1 wasn’t a bad deal.

“Fine. I’ll have a copy of the armory key made and sent to you. It’ll take about three days.”

“Understood.”

“Death Messenger Ahn Nabi, please escort him back to the Education Facility.”

Ahn Nabi received the order and nodded.

Soon, Seo Kangrim and Ahn Nabi exited the office.

Left alone, Gongju sank deep into his office chair.

“Haa…….”

He had nearly been robbed of his entire armory, but it ended with merely lending out the weapons.

That was still an enormous special privilege, but since it would ultimately benefit him, he decided to be generous about it.

Gongju soon called for Joo Sungtae.

[Joo Sungtae. My office.]

Before long, Joo Sungtae entered hesitantly.

He studied Gongju’s face and asked.

“Team Leader. Did you call for me?”

“Yeah. Go make a copy of this.”

When Gongju tossed him the armory key, Joo Sungtae caught it, somewhat bewildered.

He wanted to ask why a copy was needed, but Gongju’s expression wasn’t good.

Pocketing the key, he asked cautiously.

“You said you called Seo Kangrim in today, right? Does he have precognitive abilities?”

“I don’t know.”

Whether he had requested the armory key through his own quick wit and resourcefulness, or through precognitive abilities—for now, there was no way to distinguish.

“But one thing is certain…….”

Gongju’s eyes flashed.

“We must bring Seo Kangrim into our team, no matter what.”

* * *

“Ung! Ungung!”

“Go on, eat more.”

When he set down a tray full of Wild Ginseng Jeonggwa, the kirin trotted over, chong-chong, and began eating.

Seo Kangrim sat nearby, quietly watching.

‘This is the last of the Wild Ginseng Jeonggwa……’

The kirin had been eating three packs of Wild Ginseng Jeonggwa per day.

That made four days now.

The Wild Ginseng Jeonggwa was running out.

“Eat plenty. Starting tomorrow, I’ll give you regular food.”

“Ung!”

Whether it understood the words or not, the kirin happily chewed away at the Wild Ginseng Jeonggwa, ugeok-ugeok.

Watching it devour 3,000 Spirit Jade worth per day stung a bit, but on the other hand, he was satisfied with the growth rate.

‘It gained another ability, so at this level, it’s earning its keep.’

═══════════════

[Special Ability] Magnet Horn

[Rank] First Ghost Grade

[Description] Can draw metal-attribute attacks toward itself or alter the trajectory of attacks.

═══════════════

The newly acquired ability was also quite decent.

As Seo Kangrim stared at the Fortune Window, pondering how to utilize this—

a notification popped up before his eyes.

[‘Kirin’ has grown to ‘First Ghost Grade’.]

He had worried it might stop at Second Ghost Grade, but fortunately, it had reached First Ghost Grade.

In the case of Spirit Beasts, they could raise their grade through training, but such opportunities were not afforded to humans.

As if saying that one’s innate destiny could not be changed.

‘But my fate rank…… is changing.’

He who had been Third Insect Grade had now risen to Third Human Grade.

A marginal difference, but it was rising at a growing pace.

Seo Kangrim checked his stats.

═══════════════

[Strength] Level 25

[Stamina] Level 20

[Agility] Level 25

[Senses] Level 26

[Magic Power] Level 21

═══════════════

‘At least they’ve all entered the Level 20 tier.’

Strength and Agility hadn’t grown for a long time, but that couldn’t be helped.

Insect Grade and Human Grade had the slowest growth rates.

Reaching Level 25 within this period was itself an astonishing figure.

‘If I pour Merit Points into it, I could grow more, but……’

From here on, he needed to be cautious.

Both Merit Points and Spirit Jade had many uses, so he needed to spend them at the right place and time.

‘First, I need to avoid relying too much on stats.’

Being strong and having good reflexes brought various advantages, but that wasn’t everything.

Just as an Insect Grade could defeat a Ghost Grade depending on how they utilized their abilities.

The moment he let his guard down because of high stats, he could end up falling victim to someone else.

‘I should focus more on studying how to use the cards I hold.’

He was looking at the kirin with somewhat calculating eyes.

At that moment, a message arrived.

[‘Gongju’ has sent the ‘Armory Key (Copy)’.]

Seo Kangrim had been waiting without entering the sixth room.

There were two reasons.

One was to grow the kirin.

And the other was waiting for the armory key to arrive.

‘Now that both are ready, there’s no need to wait any longer.’

Seo Kangrim scooped up the kirin, which was rolling around with a full belly, with one arm.

Carrying the kirin under his arm, he came down to the lobby and spotted several people.

Shin Sooa, Yoon Bom, Yoon Gyeoul, Father Yohan, and even Dokgo Jun were sitting together in the same spot.

Yoon Bom jumped up from her seat, delighted to see him.

“Ah, Master! You’re finally out! Everyone’s been waiting.”

At the mention that they had been waiting for him, Seo Kangrim looked puzzled.

Then Yoon Bom noticed the kirin.

“Master, you’re here! Oh, who’s this? So cute……!”

“It’s a kirin. My Spirit Beast.”

“Can I pet it?”

When Seo Kangrim glanced at the kirin, it approached Yoon Bom first and rubbed its head against her.

Yoon Bom laughed with joy and carefully stroked the kirin.

“Where did you find it?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Then what’s its name?”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t given the kirin a name yet.

He fell into thought for a moment, then spoke.

“Kirin.”

“Why Kirin?”

“Because its species is kirin.”

“……You wouldn’t like it if the kirin called you ‘Human,’ would you?”

He didn’t particularly mind being called “Human.”

But since he planned to keep it around, giving it a name didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“Alright. How about Rin.”

“……Isn’t that a bit half-hearted?”

“Then Rini.”

Before long, the others had gathered around Rini as well.

It seemed they were fascinated by the Spirit Beast they were seeing for the first time.

Dokgo Jun’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.

“You were gone for a few days, and you were preparing something like this. Good thing I waited.”

“……You waited too?”

In his past life, Dokgo Jun would have entered the Demon Realm immediately after the next stage door opened.

Dokgo Jun smiled brightly and said.

“You hadn’t gone in yet. So I was waiting.”

To anyone else, it would look like the two of them were close friends.

Seo Kangrim glanced at the people standing around.

‘I want to keep a reasonable distance, but somehow everyone seems to be following me more and more.’

Not just Dokgo Jun, but the others also seemed fully intent on accompanying Seo Kangrim.

He gave up trying to dissuade them and stepped into the Demon Realm.

The people who followed him in looked around at their surroundings.

“Wow, what is this place? A lake……?”

Yoon Bom said, looking around.

The sixth Demon Realm was nothing but water in every direction.

Over the water—whether a lake or a sea was unclear—countless wooden bridges stretched in rows.

The door was placed on one of those bridges.

As the people gathered in the middle of the bridge surveyed their surroundings—

Father Yohan, standing at the very back, looked at the notification and spoke with puzzlement.

“Um, but…… the objective for this room is a bit strange?”