This Is Just National Rule
***
While watching all the fuss die down, he pulls himself together and skims only the negative comments on purpose.
"Hmm... so it's really no big deal and everyone's just overreacting?"
The phrase "relentlessly stirring up the community" was spot on, but to be blunt...
The Tower's 1st floor is basically treated like a "newbie slaughterhouse" by hunters. For climbers like him—with traits unsuited for immediate combat—it's not unfair treatment if they're going in unprepared. Otherwise, anyone can clear it with time to spare.
Unlike the flood of hype he saw right after logging on, the reactions now feel refreshingly underwhelming.
But ironically, those responses help sharpen his mind, already cleared by an unexpectedly refreshing morning. Drawing on 20(+?) years of accumulated cyber ghost experience, he dodges pointless aggro bait and digs for the real story.
And naturally, the hot bait swirling in the community is all about his record.
While mouse-scrolling through forums with one hand, his other manipulates the Status Window. He checks the notifications that popped up while he slept.
The moment he pulls up his actual 1st floor clear record...
Total Clear Time: 45 minutes 58 seconds
Ranking: Top 80%
Detailed Breakdown...
"Yeah, it's pretty meh."
The "total clear time" everyone talks about clocks in at nearly an hour. Seeing that, the lukewarm reactions from before hit harder, leaving him a bit bummed.
But to shake off the disappointment and chase some dopamine, he checks the friendly comments in the community...
Curious, he double-checks the detailed breakdown he'd skimmed earlier...
Total Clear Time: 45 minutes 58 seconds
Detailed Breakdown
˪ Travel Time: 45 minutes 50 seconds
˪ Combat Time: 8 seconds
Final Combat Time Result: You've broken the #1 ranking record for Tower Hardcore Difficulty Floor 1!
˪ Reward sent via mail! Please claim it!
"Wait, I was on Hardcore difficulty? No wonder it felt brutally tough."
Shockingly, most of his time on floor 1 was pure evasion. The only real fight was unloading full-auto from that lucky machine gun find, turning goblins into goblin paste. That wrapped combat in a measly 8 seconds, crowning him undisputed king of the floor.
Though the Tower's weird system—dropping difficulty info after instead of before—leaves him thinking, "Status Window dude, you sure about this?"
But that's fleeting. He pulls up the rankings...
"Kya... who am I? The undisputed 'Hardcore Floor 1 King'."
Considering the previous rankers—hunters or pure climbers now all S-rank celebrities or equivalent—a former half-NEET, half-part-timer like him standing on the same starting line? That's huge.
A grin spreads across his face. And obviously, hoarding this glory alone wouldn't be cyber ghost behavior...
His fingers fly—pa-ba-ba-bat—snapping a #1 proof screenshot and posting it to the community.
But right then...
"Huh."
Suspicious replies pop up just before he hits post. Dopamine can wait—he needs intel first.
Luckily, right after that realization...
"Uh... wasn't why I did it."
To be honest, he was too chaotic back then to care about rewards or anything. But through their wild speculation, a yesterday-civilian like him learns a fascinating fact about the hunter world.
Yelling "What the hell are you on about, weebs?" at the increasingly bizarre hunter community convo, he tabs away from the browser to check his Hardcore #1 reward.
He rummages the community for info first...
"Makes sense."
No spoilers possible since it's pure random. Unlike his cyber ghost days, as a hunter/climber, the community feels useless.