Early in the morning, Go Byeonggap groggily opened his eyes. Today was a day he decided not to go out on a hunt. But he had other things to do, so he didn’t dawdle and moved diligently.

He took a quick shower with cold water and changed into fresh clothes. By the time he finished getting ready, it was around 7 AM.

Today, his beloved horse No. 1 would take a rest. Go Byeonggap headed to his destination by subway for the first time in ages. The place he went to was a car rental business.

“You’re the customer who called, right? The name is…”

“Go Byeonggap.”

“Ah, that’s right. Please follow me.”

Guided by the employee, he walked up to a vehicle. A clean, blue-painted 1-ton truck greeted him.

The kind commonly called a delivery truck. The cargo bed had a tarp over it, making it perfect for moving things.

“Looks like you’re moving?”

The rental employee asked with a sly grin. Go Byeonggap vaguely answered that yes, something like that. What he planned to do today had nothing to do with moving, but he didn’t need to explain the whole story.

“I’ll use it well and return it.”

“Yes. Drive safe.”

He drove the 1-ton truck out onto the road. It had been a long time since he drove stick, but he was a pretty good driver. He adapted quickly and worked the gears with skill.

The destination was a massive furniture store. He planned to buy furniture and household goods there.

He drove for a while before arriving at a colossal warehouse-style building, a rectangular monolith that looked like a giant tin of canned ham blown up a thousand times.

“Hey… why are there so many cars? I came on a weekday on purpose, but it was a waste of time.”

Go Byeonggap sighed at the sight of the mind-bogglingly vast parking lot. Even on a weekday morning, it was packed with people.

He entered the building anyway. The faint scent of wood hit his nose right from the entrance. Go Byeonggap found the aroma surprisingly pleasant.

“Whoa…”

He had never been to a store this big in his life. After all, when he needed something, he usually just ran to Daiso.

The shelves were lined with furniture in every shape and color, eye-catching and varied. Household goods were displayed in neat, clean arrangements. Everything looked pretty. In his heart, he wanted to move the entire store into Asvillam.

He took his time strolling through the vast, sprawling store, just feasting his eyes.

‘I wish Ea were here.’

Go Byeonggap clicked his tongue.

If he could, he would have brought Ea along to show her this place. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his own taste, but she was probably better at this sort of thing.

If that talkative spirit saw this place, she’d probably be grinning from ear to ear and chattering nonstop.

‘If I manage it right, couldn’t Ea pass for a human?’

If he dressed her in normal clothes and hid her eyes with sunglasses or something, she might just look like a person.

…Of course, the question was whether sunglasses big enough to cover her entire eyes even existed.

‘Doran could just pass as a foreigner if I hide her ears. But Ea… that might be hard.’

Musing on pointless thoughts like that, Go Byeonggap got down to serious shopping.

First on today’s list were kitchen supplies.

The tableware currently used in Asvillam was all recycled.

Cooking utensils, bowls, even the spoons—everything was scavenged from somewhere.

Well, a beast in black is cunning, after all.

If it were for his own use, would he have bothered picking things up from a junkyard?

‘I should have bought them these things a long time ago… I feel a bit sorry.’

Until now, he didn’t have the extra money, and just scrambling to pay off his debts kept him too busy to care. Besides, the goblins never complained.

‘Still, I can’t just keep treating them poorly forever when they follow me because they like me.’

Goblins swinging pickaxes day and night to rebuild Asvillam. Goblins following him without a single complaint, calling him the one and only Lord.

For the sake of their loyalty alone, he wanted to make proper conditions for them.

‘Let’s spend ten million won today. I’m gonna do whatever that ‘flex’ thing is!’

The wallet was heavy. Since he’d raised his target to B-rank rifts, the income had skyrocketed.

The debt he’d expected to clear by next year was suddenly well ahead of schedule. That was why he’d been pushing himself to run two dungeons a day lately. If things went well, he might have it all wrapped up by next month.

Anyway, Go Byeonggap bought up damn near everything in sight. When he casually grabbed three hundred and fifty sets of spoons, the store clerks’ eyes went wide as dinner plates.

What’s this guy, opening a restaurant?

That kind of look, more or less.

The shopping spree stretched past three hours.

Spoons, forks, bowls — the whole tableware set. Then kitchen knives, cutting boards, pots — every cooking tool he could think of.

There was so much stuff he had to make a dozen trips back and forth to the parking lot.

If he’d had his way, he’d have bought tables and chairs too. And why stop there? He wanted to set up about three hundred beds in Asvillam while he was at it.

The problem was, he had no way to haul it all. A one-ton truck didn’t stand a chance. He’d need a cargo trailer just to start thinking about it.

‘I’ll have to figure out another way.’

The shopping ended — a little regret, but nothing serious. The spending had landed right in the expected range.

“Spent about eight million won, huh.”

Go Byeonggap skimmed the receipt, then crumpled it up and tossed it. A real man doesn’t dwell on what’s already done.

He drove off to find a quiet spot.

* * *

By the time Go Byeonggap visited Asvillam, it was nearly noon.

Just as Byeonggap had said the day before, Ea had tidied everything up spotlessly right after breakfast. Which meant there was no lunch in the works.

Byeonggap passed out the bread and drinks he’d bought outside, just to tide everyone over.

«It’s a light meal, but let’s make do.»

«Hap!»

Contrary to his worries, the goblins reacted well. After all, no matter how good Ea’s cooking was, it couldn’t match processed food.

«Gobungi.»

«Ah, yes!»

«After you eat that, pick out fifty guys to work with me. You included.»

«Me included, you say? Understood! But… what are you planning to do?»

«Yeah. I’m gonna tear this whole place down. Pull up all the tents and toss out all the junk.»

«T-tear it all… down, you say?»

Gobungi’s eyes went wide.

«Th-then what about us?»

«Hey, hey. Don’t worry. It’s ‘cause I’m gonna build you guys a better place. You think I’d just randomly smash up perfectly good stuff for no reason?»

«Ah…»

«You can’t live in these crappy tents forever. You forget last time it rained? Water was leaking everywhere, it was a mess.»

«That’s right.»

About two weeks ago, the first rain had fallen over Asvillam. Even though it wasn’t a heavy downpour, raindrops had seeped through the gaps in the tents.

«I can’t keep you all sleeping in a collapsing tent forever. You remember last time it rained, right? The thing leaked like a sieve.»

«My Lord…»

Gobungi looked up at Go Byeonggap with eyes glistening, clearly moved.

Go Byeonggap let out a short laugh at the sight.

«Anyway, pick the ones who work well.»

«Yep! Understood!»

Go Byeonggap stepped closer to the tent. He gazed at the pile of canvas with a fond look.

Fragments of memory brushed past his eyes.

The memory of scouring the whole neighborhood to scavenge these. The memory of raising his first glass in pride after setting the tent up.

‘You served me well.’

Go Byeonggap said it to the tent in his mind.

It was nothing more than torn cloth, but it had once been a cozy refuge for him.

‘Feels a bit bad to just tear it all down. But it can’t be helped.’

Sentimental as it was, for future development this ground had to be overturned.

‘Even if I cross the mist, I can’t leave this place empty.’

Back then, Go Byeonggap had unconsciously thought that way.

Once past the mist, this place would be done with. A temporary stop, not worth investing crystals to develop.

But that had been a huge miscalculation.

‘There’s no guarantee there’s crystal beyond the mist either. Why did I overlook that?’

This rocky mountain provided precious crystal. Using such a bountiful site as a one-off was plain stupid.

‘I have to turn this into a full fortress. Only then can I secure a safe resource supply.’

If the mist cleared, monsters like Grugle might pour in. That would naturally disrupt the crystal supply.

A broken money stream would be trouble. So this rocky mountain had to become an impregnable fortress.

Like a main base with resources in a game.

The meal ended quickly.

Gobungi gathered fifty workers as Go Byeonggap had ordered. Those not selected headed to the cave as usual.

«My Lord. We’re ready.»

«Good! First, gather everything here and stack it neatly in the field.»

«Yep!»

The goblins moved in unison. The tent that had been their home for nearly three months lost its shape in an instant.

A few goblins cast wistful looks.

‘If I slap buildings down carelessly, cleanup will be a pain. I need to plan the layout well.’

Go Byeonggap unfolded the large drawing paper he’d brought from home. A rough sketch was already on it.

It was a map of Asvillam’s general terrain. He added buildings on top of it.

A kind of city bird’s-eye view.

By the time the composition was settling into shape, the tent dismantling was finished.

‘Good.’

Go Byeonggap unfolded a sheet of mulberry paper and rose from his seat. Then he opened the Ancient Shop.

[Ancient Shop]

-Construction

-Technology

-General Goods

-Other

[Crystals Held: 1,367,420]

The only crystals he’d spent lately were about thirty thousand for that ‘Sun-Cradling Lantern’—that was it.

Bit by bit, the hoard had crept past 1.3 million crystals.

For the first time in ages, Byeonggap entered the ‘Construction’ category.

‘I’d like to buy the best stuff, but if I only grab top-grade, the funds won’t hold out. Let’s compromise with mid-grade or high-grade.’

He scanned the displayed goods slowly. Picked out a few that seemed useful at a reasonable price.

‘Even the high-grade items come in several shapes for the same product. Now this is good.’

Even the same ‘High-Grade Brick Building’ came in L-shaped, U-shaped, straight-line, and so on—a whole variety.

First, he decided to put down the dining hall.

[High-Grade Multipurpose Hall Type I]

-Price: 18,000 crystals

-Description: A multipurpose building usable for many things. Suitable for accommodating a large number of people. Made of high-grade materials with excellent durability.

«Everyone, back off! The building’s going up!»

Byeonggap shouted that and made the goblins step back.

«Whoa…»

«Awesome.»

Soon, a blue, translucent silhouette of a building rose in the air. At its magnificent form, exclamations poured from all around.

Byeonggap placed the building on the well-cleared site.

[Install ‘High-Grade Multipurpose Hall Type I’ at this location?]

[Installation begins.]

[Estimated time: approximately 120 minutes]

‘Guess it takes a while since it’s a big building.’

«Wow. It’s really amazing! In all my life, I’ve never seen such a cool building. I mean it! So what’s this building for, anyway?»

Ea asked with stars in her eyes. Byeonggap felt an involuntary swell of pride, his back straightening.

«It’s the dining hall.»

«Huh? The dining hall? Someplace this awesome?»

«Yeah. From now on, you can cook there. I replaced all the cooking tools with new ones, so it’ll be a lot easier.»

«Waaah! Thank you!»

She was so happy she bounced up and down. For her, who handled all the cooking, it must have felt like getting her own house.

Seeing her joy, Byeonggap felt his own mood lift.

«Ea. Save the celebration for later—right now, I need your help.»

«Help? Got it. Just tell me! I’ll do my best to help! What do I need to do?»

«Help me set up the buildings. You seem to have a good eye for this stuff.»

«You’ve got a good read on me, huh? You’re right. I do have good taste. And a sharp eye, too. If I help you, I can make this place look really pretty!»

Go Byeonggap and Ea worked in tandem, laying down buildings. The crude Asvillam gradually transformed, taking on a refined appearance.