Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: My Childhood Friend is a Ranker Tomboy!
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Before setting out, I recalled what a self-proclaimed hunter expert professor had said on TV.
A colossal, unprecedented natural disaster that suddenly engulfed humanity one day.
A ravaged land, crumbling skies, surging seas.
And then, to save humanity from all that, towers appeared out of nowhere.
Brass, Silver, and Golden...
Each one in sequence had its own difficulty level, and the rewards scaled accordingly.
For instance, some country used skills obtained from conquering a tower to repair the damage from the disaster. Another nation gained something from its rewards that propelled it far beyond its previous generations. Even barren land had been made fertile by a single hero.
Humanity awakened to aura and began climbing the towers, receiving skills from godlike beings called constellations.
Those who commune with gods through the towers and save the world are called hunters.
...It sounded just like an intro from some blockbuster movie.
In reality, though, it was a 3D job laced with a bit of romance.
A towering, weathered spire came into view.
-The Brass Tower.
The very place that TV said Song Seong-yeon, the Saint, had conquered.
Compared to the other two towers, its danger level was lower, but clearing up to the 100th floor was an undisputed feat.
Even for a Brass Tower, the rewards obtained mid-climb were nothing to sneeze at, and that Saint character ended up performing some kind of [global volunteer service] with whatever power she got, earning her current epithet in the process.
...An amazing person. A true legend.
'Thanks to that legend, this tower's finally meeting its end too. It's lasted a good long while.'
The first floor of the tower was a whole other world where hunters lived, and the streets were overflowing with riffraff joyously toasting from midday onward, thrilled about Chomok Guild's tower conquest.
Some danced with aura, others streamed live on HuntTube via their phones, drunks picked fights only for others to break them up, and merchants or street vendors hawked cheap gear at 80% off to clear inventory.
After all, one of their own had pulled off something huge. They had every reason to celebrate.
But it wasn't all fun and games—that was the dark side of this line of work, wasn't it?
-Lost my job.
-What do we do now? Maan and Bronze Shield already cleared the Silver Tower.
-What about the Golden Tower?
-Things are tense there. Even our own aren't sharing info.
-Entry restrictions?
-The six major guilds are locking it down.
-What the hell are those bastards thinking?
-Trying to monopolize it again?
A closer look revealed plenty of folks like me slinking glumly toward the tower.
'Well, yeah. A tower being conquered means it loses its main function. For bottom-feeders like me living paycheck to paycheck, that's brutal news.'
Once a tower's conquered, they'll start proper zone cleanup. Major guilds will claim certain floors, others will be sealed off under the guise of tech transfers to nations, monster respawns will dwindle, and for the local hunters, it's basically a "pack it in" order.
'The lower floors were a goldmine for me, and now I'm broke overnight.'
I had some savings, but not much.
The tower hadn't fully shut down yet, so I'd come for one last score, but judging by the crowds, I wasn't the only one with that idea.
Sure enough, some of the locals milling about headed toward the fading tower too, and our eyes met.
-Hey, check it out. That speckled freak over there.
-A Scavenger.
-Who's that?
-D-rank with an epithet. The weirdo I mentioned last time?
-Oh, the one picking up corpses lately?
-Crazy bastard...
I dug in my ear.
Familiar abuse.
Being a D-rank with an epithet made me stick out way too much.
With skills like mine and a nickname that wasn't remotely normal, my life was a total shitshow.
"Next! Confirmed. Keep it moving, line's backed up!!"
No point tangling with those types. I ignored them and stepped up to the tower entrance. Since the conqueror was Chomok Guild's Guild Master, maybe they were flexing already—the gatekeeper had their guild mark, resembling a massive tree, tattooed on his shoulder as he checked my ID.
It took less than five seconds for his busy face to twist into a scowl. Talk about bad luck.
"Scavenger epithet and that speckled hide... You a hyena or what?"
"If even gatekeepers know me, my rep must be in the toilet."
"Duh. Word is you're some weirdo who doesn't climb the tower and just scavenges corpses."
"Gotta be a drag dying here. Least their remains should go back to their parents."
"Heard you're scamming off the bodies too."
"What do you take me for? I just take fair compensation."
"Freak... Whatever, talking to you might give me corpse rot. Get in already."
"Thanks~."
"Tch."
This would be my last taste of the honey flowing from this place.
The gatekeeper clicked his tongue, but he'd forget me in under a week anyway. I shrugged it off and entered the tower.
"[Teleport]."
Placing my hand on the entrance and uttering the word sucked my body into the otherworld.
A sensation I'd never get used to in a lifetime.
*
[Brass Tower, Floor 35]
A vast plain that was hard to believe was inside a tower greeted me.
"Whew."
The sudden return of gravity from zero-G made my head spin, but thankfully I didn't fall.
Floor 35—a pretty high one for a D-rank hunter to step into, but for the Brass Tower, the enemies weren't that tough.
Top hunters online said Brass got real at 50, Silver at 30, Golden at 15?
No idea if it was true, but the Brass Tower at least fit the bill.
"Man, the scenery here's killer. Always wanted to camp out once, such a shame."
A windmill village was visible in the distance.
Sagging windmills, endless golden wheat fields, fertile land where no one lived but food was never an issue.
-A scene straight out of another world.
That was why this tower was dubbed the [Tower of the Plains]. I stuck to this area, but the other floors were mostly the same vibe. You could tell exactly what Chomok's Guild Master got for humanity by conquering it—the theme was obvious.
Crunch.
"Mm. Sweet."
Apples and wild strawberries right nearby were safe to eat raw—the resources were that abundant. Animals were plentiful too, so no meat shortages. Rumor had it from floor 50 up, even the leaves tasted like meat. What kind of alien world was that?
'Saved me from needing breakfast, but that's ending soon too.'
I scanned around, but no mobs.
When the tower was fresh, a couple would crawl out even here, but now it was a lazy farmstead.
So peaceful a white critter was napping belly-up right in front of me, snoring away.
'A rabbit sleeping siesta in front of a human.'
You wouldn't see one normally around here. For the locals, maybe great. For a day laborer like me? Nightmare.
'Tch. No helping it. Gotta hunt manually.'
I really, really hated it.
REALLY hated it!
But with no choice, I set down the wooden box on my back and moved a bit away.
So its contents wouldn't "come near me."
"Come out."
I pulled the string, opening the box.
And the writhing, boiling mass of bugs inside gave me goosebumps.
「「「「………….」」」」
"...Ugh."
Cockroaches.
Countless ones—all staring right at me in unison.
They didn't approach, but the creepy revulsion made me glance at my feet.
Worried one might crawl up my body or something.
"If you hear me, go find prey in the woods. Now."
──Rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle.
"Fuck..."
The swarm scattered instantly.
The black shapes vanished, but the sound alone boiled my disgust to the point I wanted to die.
Why I command cockroaches of all things? I'll explain later... Right now, earning my daily bread came first.
"How'd my life end up like this."
No clue.
I'd avoid this crap if I could, but it was my karma—no escaping it.
The crawling disgust on my skin stung like a burn.
Thankfully, whatever value justified enduring that pain, the cockroaches I'd scattered soon milled around me, gesturing they'd found prey.
"Where?"
「───」
"This way?"
I followed a few acting as my compass, sticking to within about five meters as they led me deeper into the woods.
Familiar terrain etched in my memory. I'd been here often—my footprints were even still there. Problem was, these weren't mine this time.
'Ogre turf. Still respawning here?'
Big, numerous, best left alone. But with the tower fading, probably thinned out. Sure enough, at the end loomed a familiar cave.
"Here, huh."
The cockroaches stopped. I set down the box, and they rustled back with that gross sound.
Not wanting to touch the box for a bit, I left it and scouted the cave entrance. Bloodstains trailed vividly from the mouth—someone'd been here.
'Fellow hunter? But then why'd these bugs drag me here?'
I scratched my head. From my cheap item pouch bought to scrape by, I pulled a torch and headed in. The cave wasn't huge, so I quickly spotted the ogre corpses, some gold drops on the floor, and the source of the commotion.
A body.
Not an ogre—a young man.
"…………."
'Died here, huh.'
No reply, obviously. One shoulder caved in—ogre attack, I figured. Right beside him, several ogre bodies that must've fought him. Stabbed a couple times maybe, but mangled. Conversely, that's why he died too.
'Couldn't one-shot 'em. Thought he could win, but lost the stamina war.'
Ogres had freakishly tenacious life force.
A classic newbie mistake in the Brass Tower.
Looked winnable, but overestimated himself and went down together.
"Gold first. Gear next time..."
I rummaged the body and flinched.
"Well, I'll be."
The opposite shoulder—untorn—bore a massive tree emblem.
Chomok Guild.
On this floor...
"One of their recruits they were training? Or ditched his team to come solo?"
No idea why. I stopped short of touching the gear.
Better not. Could spark a dispute.
Instead, I'd recover the body itself.
'Right after their Guild Master conquered the Brass Tower, they probably still have a base here. Not far—might as well drop him off.'
Dunno about a reward, but getting face time with one of the hottest guilds couldn't hurt.
No telling how they'd see it, but the ones receiving bodies usually appreciated it.
At least family would be grateful.
"Time for the stretcher."
I pulled the stretcher from my item pouch and hoisted the body in my well-practiced pose.
The picture-perfect Scavenger.
Normally I'd skip unprofitable stiffs, but for some reason today I just "had to do this."