Ren walked through the gates of Zone Z45.
The guards didn't just look disgusted this time. A thick layer of suspicion clouded their eyes. An F-Rank summoner walking into the dead zone alone and coming out breathing twice in a row? It wasn't normal. Ren ignored them and kept walking.
At the Association market, Ren partially emptied his sack. He sold 20 F-Rank goblin cores.
Two hundred heavy gold coins settled into his pocket. A small fortune. But he held onto the remaining ten cores, and of course... the blue E-Rank core, locked safely inside his Dimensional Storage.
He bought some basic groceries and headed back to his run-down apartment.
The second he unlocked the door, Lia rushed him. She wrapped her arms tight around him. She wore her new jacket, a massive smile lighting up her tired face.
They chatted for a bit over a hot dinner. A rare luxury in this house. But the warmth didn't last.
After eating, Ren stepped into his grandfather's room. The old man's face looked paler than usual.
"Mr. Ren," the hired nurse stood up. Her voice was low but absolute. "The painkillers aren't enough anymore. The poison is spreading through his veins. He needs a 'Mana Purge' surgery immediately."
Ren's jaw locked. "How much will the surgery cost?"
"Two thousand gold coins. Minimum."
Two thousand. The number hit his chest like a boulder. The 200 coins he bled for today suddenly felt like spare change.
Ren looked at his grandfather's pale, wrinkled face. This man was the only shield he and Lia had left after their parents died. He gave up everything for them.
"Prep the surgery papers, please," Ren said. "I'll have the money in ten days. Can he hold out until then?"
The nurse blinked, stunned by his certainty. "Ten... ten days? Yes. The new painkillers will buy him that much time. I'll schedule the appointment."
Ren left the room. He shut the door to his cramped bedroom and collapsed onto his mattress.
His body screamed from pure exhaustion. His bones ached, and his muscles spasmed. But his mind kept spinning with what he had to do next.
'I need more power.'
"Status Window," he muttered into the dark.
[Name: Ren] [Class: Summoner (Rank F)] [Level: 4 (Exp: 10/300)] [Strength: 12] | [Speed: 15] | [Endurance: 14] | [Mana: 5] [Skills: Night Vision] [Trait: Cosmic Furnace] [Current Summons: 1 (Sewer Goblin)] [Daily Summons Available: 3/3] [Daily Fusion Limits: 3/3]
Physically, he was creeping up on a solid F-Rank warrior. But he was still at the absolute bottom.
'I need to increase my summons,' Ren thought hard. 'But... System, why do my summon attempts fail sometimes and succeed others?'
Ding!
That sweet female voice echoed inside his skull.
[Summon success rates and rank compatibility rely primarily on your 'Mana' stat. Higher Mana increases the chance of pulling stronger, highly compatible entities.]
"Mana..." Ren mumbled. The 'Auto-Stat Upgrade' dumped everything into Strength and Endurance to keep him breathing. It completely ignored his Mana.
He tapped the word [Mana: 5] on the glowing screen.
[To upgrade Mana by 1 point, please consume 10 F-Rank cores.]
'Ten cores for a single point? That's stupidly expensive compared to physical stats.' But he didn't hesitate. He pulled out the ten green cores he kept in his storage.
"Consume cores for upgrade."
The cores melted right in his palm. A crisp, freezing current rushed straight into his head. It felt completely different from the burning heat of physical strength.
[Upgrade Successful.] [Mana: 5 => 6]
He only had one thing left. The blue E-Rank core.
"System. Can I fuse this core with the Sewer Goblin once it heals?"
[Answering Player: No. The 'Sewer Goblin' is already a fused entity. Its current classification lacks an evolution path. It cannot absorb E-Rank energy without exploding.] [System Recommendation: You may use the core to fuse with a new base summon. Warning: If the fusion fails due to poor compatibility, the core will be permanently destroyed.]
Ren let out a bitter sigh. 'Of course there's a catch. Nothing ever comes easy.'
Risking the E-Rank core right now was pure stupidity. He needed to raise his Mana more to guarantee a compatible summon first. He swiped the windows away and let total exhaustion drag him into a deep sleep.
♢♢♢♢
The next morning.
He handed Lia his remaining 180 coins. He told her to buy daily groceries for the next ten days, and maybe something nice for herself. She was thrilled, but worry still clouded her eyes. Ren reassured her, then left the apartment and headed straight to the Quest Department.
"Hey. I need another F-Rank quest."
The receptionist looked up and smiled in surprise. "Oh, you're back already. I figured you'd take a few days off."
"Resting doesn't pay the bills," Ren replied with a dry smirk.
She sighed in sympathy. "I know. By the way, I dug into your grandfather's file. The Association refuses to cover his treatment. His old guild filed a report claiming his injury was an 'individual error' that broke raid protocol. It's disgusting, really. They're just dodging the payout."
Veins popped on Ren's neck, but his voice stayed dead calm. "I knew it. Guilds are just gangs wearing fancy suits. Thanks for looking into it, anyway."
"You're welcome." She smiled softly and sorted through the papers on her desk. "I noticed you prefer working alone. I have something perfect for you right here."
She pulled a sheet and slid it toward him.
[Quest: Collect 20 Mine Gnome Cores (Rank F)] [Location: Zone Z41] [Note: Academy Training Zone - Do not engage with students.]
Ren read the last line and narrowed his eyes.
"Academy training zone?"
"Yes," she answered. "Zone Z41 is reserved for elite academy students for safe field training. The monsters there drop high-quality F-Rank cores. The pay is good, but try not to bump into the students. They're... a bit arrogant."
"Alright. I'll try."
Ren grabbed the paper and left.
♢♢♢♢
An hour later, Ren stood before the gates of Zone Z41.
After a routine search that took longer than usual, the guards opened the heavy steel doors.
Ren stepped inside without making a sound. The forest here wasn't dead like the last one. It was a rocky woodland broken up by old mining caves.