NOVPUB
Chapter 50: Finally The Celestial Domain
It was early in the morning. Well, if 10 AM could still be called early—especially considering Daniel had slept on the rooftop the night before.
With half-open eyes, the first thing he did was check his phone.
When he saw the deposit notification had finally arrived, he gave a satisfied smile.
"Finally." He let out a relaxed sigh and stood up, stretching a bit to warm up his body.
Then he glanced at his bank account again.
The numbers on the screen showed an amount he had only dreamed of until a few weeks ago. With peace of mind, he headed downstairs. The house was quiet—Liana and Alice were still asleep.
He quickly made himself a sandwich—something between eggs and whatever was left in the fridge.
"Mom, Alice. I’ll be busy for a while. Take care of yourselves. Oh, and I transferred some money to your account. Spend it, yell at me, whatever—doesn’t matter."
Before leaving, he left a note on the table.
A few taps on his phone, a few zeros moved around, and now Liana and Alice had a well-filled account.
Daniel left the house. He needed to head to the Awakened Association to buy the gear he wanted. Sure, he could’ve bought everything online, but that would’ve taken time, and he didn’t want to waste any.
His plan was to spend today training and head to the Celestial Domain the day after tomorrow. But the training room he’d requested from August wasn’t ready yet.
He grabbed a taxi and realized on the way that once he got back from the Celestial Domain, he should probably buy a car. They only had one car and his mom usually used it—so he was basically without one.
He arrived at the Association, paid the cab fare, and went inside, scanning the boards to find the store. For a second, he wondered if the store was closed like half the city.
Today was a public holiday, which was why his mom and sister were still comfortably asleep.
But luckily, the lights were on and the "OPEN" sign blinked like a little lifesaver. He sighed in relief and stepped in.
Behind the counter stood a man around forty, graying hair, tired face. But as soon as he saw Daniel, he smiled.
"Well, well, the Closseum Dungeon hero has arrived in person! What an honor, kid."
"Hi, sir. I’m looking for a few items," Daniel chuckled. Ever since he’d shown up on the news yesterday, he’d expected reactions like this.
He even remembered how the cab driver had been giving him weird looks—now he realized why.
"All depends on what your wallet can handle. What do you need?" The man raised an eyebrow.
"A few support items: strong healing potions, a few mana charges, two or three small explosive traps, a good sword—preferably light and sharp. And finally, a set of magic leather armor." Daniel explained patiently.
Last night, besides researching the power system, he’d also done some digging into the Celestial Domain—and based on that, these were the items he needed most right now.
The man nodded and walked over to the shelves. He brought out the sword first; a shining blade with a simple but elegant design. The price tag was enough to make anyone wince.
"Rank C. Enchanted for lightweight use. Won’t tire your body out, but it’s expensive. No better options, kid."
Daniel looked at the blade and gave a half-smile. "Hope I can find something better over there..."
It was a decent sword, but C-rank was a bit low.
Then again, he knew he couldn’t expect more. Stores didn’t sell anything above C-rank anyway.
Next, the man brought out the leather armor—sleek, with fine magical engravings.
"This one’s light and sturdy. Not metal, but it’s been enchanted with protection spells."
Daniel picked up both. He gathered the support items as well and stored them all in his system inventory.
All together, it cost around 270,000 Zen. Normally, that would’ve been cheaper, but the C-rank sword was overpriced.
After paying and saying goodbye, he left the store and got into another taxi. This time, the destination was the tower.
The cab drove through the quiet morning streets with the steady hum of the engine.
Daniel, hands in his pockets, leaned his head against the window and watched the lifeless city pass by.
"Excuse me, sir... are you... Daniel Noir?"
The driver, a middle-aged man with sunglasses and a thick mustache, broke the silence after a few minutes.
"Depends. If you’re about to stop the car and ask for a selfie, then no—I’m not who you think I am." Daniel smiled without turning his head.
"No, I swear! I just wanted to say... if you really are him, I’m telling my grandkids I drove Daniel Noir today!" The driver laughed heartily.
"It’s kinda weird. I just cleared a regular dungeon—why so much attention?"
"Haha, don’t think of it that way, sir. That dungeon hasn’t been cleared in over ten years. Even geniuses from the capital came to challenge it." The driver said with a chuckle.
"The result? They all failed. But someone from our city managed to clear it solo. I don’t know how famous you are in the rest of the country, but around here? You matter a lot."
Daniel nodded, starting to understand.
It was just like how people in his previous world loved their city’s football teams—or even their national teams.
They both laughed.
Daniel tried to pay the fare, but the driver refused. Even after Daniel insisted, the man wouldn’t take the money. In the end, Daniel just gave him an autograph.
The driver waved him off with a huge grin all the way down the street.
"Well, fame can be good sometimes I guess?" Daniel chuckled, then took a deep breath and walked toward the tower entrance.
Because of the holiday, the tower was unusually empty. No long lines or noisy Awakened.
He stepped into the massive building. And suddenly, everything went dark.
The world around him turned pitch black. A heavy silence swallowed everything.
Daniel blinked slowly.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself once again under that starry sky.
A strange weightlessness surrounded him—as if he were floating between dream and reality.
In front of him, several blue holographic screens appeared:
[Analyzing data...]
[Data confirmed.]
[Welcome to the Tower, Player Daniel Noir.]
[Would you like to challenge the second floor?]
"No. I’m not here for the second floor today. I want to enter the Celestial Domain." Daniel answered without hesitation.
A brief silence, then a new message appeared:
[Request confirmed.]
[Transfer to Celestial Domain will begin in 10 seconds.]
Those ten seconds passed like a blink. The world around him rippled, stars twisted together, and the images in front of his eyes dissolved.
And when he opened his eyes...
He found himself in a dense forest.
Sunlight filtered through the branches overhead, and thick mist covered the ground.
The sounds of unfamiliar birds and the rustling of leaves filled the air.
"So this is the Celestial Domain, huh?"
