So, What Exactly Are Towers, Dungeons, and Hunters? (1)
But the envy and awe from other hunters over setting the fastest record on the 6th floor didn't last long.
Right after waking up feeling refreshed, as he poured hot water from the freshly boiled coffee pot into a paper cup with leftover mix coffee from before and sipped his cheerful morning coffee—
"...Wait a sec, is it really okay for me to just keep killing time like this?"
How should he put it? Maybe it was the awakening effect from the sugar and caffeine flooding his brain along with the crisp morning air, clearing the fuzzy haze. Suddenly, thoughts about the future surged in: 'So, what now?'
And honestly, it made sense. He'd awakened his Status Window, snagged an EX-grade trait, gotten his official B-rank hunter certification, and steadily climbed the tower without a hitch.
It felt like he was living up to the prestige of being an "EX trait-owning B-rank certified hunter." But when he examined the details closely, it was kinda...
"Tower-climbing dude."
To put it bluntly, he'd just gotten hyped about becoming a hunter, yelled "Let's goooo!" and climbed without thinking. When he realized he knew jack shit about the tower itself—or even himself as a climber (hunter)—it felt like he was just an empty shell.
Anyway, after breaking through the 6th floor yesterday, there was no need to rush back in for more fun gunplay right now. He decided to preemptively gather info on towers and hunters—stuff civilians couldn't access—and even dungeons he'd eventually enter, to avoid fumbling around cluelessly later.
Naturally, the place to resolve these questions was his trusty all-purpose hunter community.
With the plan to rest fully today, he dove back into the archives like old internet ghost-hunting, digging for info. About 30 minutes in...
"...Hmm."
It was helpful info, sure, but seeing ExplainerFreak's post—99% useless backstory and 1% gold—made him question if this was right. His mood turned a bit iffy.
But stopping here would be like shitting halfway. "Sigh, if I can't handle this, how am I gonna hunter?" He steeled himself and focused on gathering info.
After skimming ExplainerFreak's crap—99% ancient history, 1% sweet info—for about three hours, hunger hit. He microwaved some frozen food, ate while checking the community, and finally felt like he grasped the tower basics.
To sum it up, he reviewed the notes he'd jotted in a notepad on one side of the monitor from ExplainerFreak's walls of text.
1. To enter the tower, you need "climber qualification."
2. Climber qualification comes from randomly receiving an invitation upon awakening, borrowing from another hunter, or getting it transferred.
3. If you "die" in the tower for any reason, even if you revive immediately via item, you lose climber qualification and get teleported out forcibly.
(Exception: Self-revival via "trait" or "ability," like magic or superpowers, doesn't count.)
4. Trying to enter without qualification spikes difficulty insanely from floor 1—even tens of thousands of soldiers including hunters get overwhelmed.
5. Bosses appear roughly every 10 floors, shifting the "meta."
(Not all towers are identical; criteria can change sometimes.)
6. As far as known, tower floors are endless.
(*Highest climbed: New York Tower, USA - 1,034th floor)
7. Difficulty doesn't just ramp up with floors; every-10-floor meta shifts often demand non-combat solutions from hunters.
(But always solvable within the climber's capabilities.)
"Hmmm, if the meta shifts every 10 floors, wonder what hitting 1,000 feels like."
Explainer Uncle was wordy as hell, but he'd packed in solid info. Saeron felt quietly grateful for learning these civilian-inaccessible secrets.
Plus, something new clicked from point 7. No truly impossible bullshit metas—like banning all metal/gear—since it was tailored to the climber. He nodded, satisfied that no unbeatable crap would hit him.
Of course, "possible" meant with effort, luck, and brainpower...
"Ha, not easy."
Seeing high-nick FlameMage's old post on bullshit meta criteria while digging the community made it clear: Don't assume it's always doable for you.
