The Dungeon-Born Sherpa

I was born in the Tower. More precisely, inside a dungeon.

My mother had gone into labor two weeks ahead of schedule. While the ambulance was rushing toward the maternity clinic, the Tower—and its dungeons—suddenly burst into existence.

Awakening? Awakeners? Nobody had the faintest clue what those words meant back then. No one knew what to make of the monolithic spire piercing the heavens, nor the dungeon gates sprouting like bamboo shoots in its shadow.

It happened twenty-eight years ago. I can only imagine the sheer pandemonium of that day—the day the paradigm of the entire world flipped upside down.

A Tower that bestowed supernatural power upon humans. Dungeons mirroring the structure of every single floor of that Tower. Humans known as Awakeners climbing the spire, clearing quests, raiding dungeons, hunting monsters, fighting, and falling in love... That was the kind of world it had become.

By now, none of it felt novel. So much time had passed that being hailed as "the first human born in a dungeon" or "the boy who awakened at birth" had long faded into mere trivia. If a paramedic hadn't scooped me up and sprinted for his life, I would have been slaughtered by monsters just like my parents. And if that had happened, my little record wouldn't even exist.

Did it make me sad? Well, mourning a tragedy I had no memory of always felt like an unearned luxury.

Regardless, during those chaotic times when heaven and earth were being rewritten, one particular enterprise boomed, whether by stroke of luck or misfortune: orphanages.

That was where I met the love of my life. She was far too good for a guy like me.

Eight years ago... Damn it all. If only Ye-rin had never awakened.

"Just marry me already. You trust me, right?"

"Isn't that usually my line? That's what I'm supposed to say to you, Ye-rin."

"What does tradition matter between two people in love? Besides, what are you going to do with that ability of yours?"

"What's wrong with my ability? Want me to show you? Hmph...!"

"...Pfft! What on earth are you doing?! You've tried activating it thousands of times, and nothing ever happens. What exactly are you going to do with Transmit(X) when you can't even transmit a single text message?"

"Tsk. Well, my feelings were transmitted loud and clear, weren't they? Hehehe."

"Ugh, gross! Stop being so cheesy. Anyway, once I climb the Tower, I'll make enough to support you, so don't worry about a thing."

"...No, don't go. It's too dangerous. We can make a decent living with what I earn guiding dungeons."

"You're the one in danger! I awakened, so isn't this perfect? There's nothing to worry about anymore."

That was our last conversation.

If only my awakened ability, Transmit(X), had amounted to anything. If only my feelings really had been transmitted, even just as a cruel joke.

What was the point of awakening the moment I was born? A blessing for being the first child born in a dungeon? With a useless ability like this? I told her so many times not to go...

No, I shouldn't dwell on it. It's not a story anyone wants to hear.

Ye-rin wasn't the only person I met back then. I also met a clumsy yet deeply dependable older brother: Park Hyun-gu. We grew up side by side and launched a business together.

In the beginning, we were just simple dungeon porters. We graduated to gophers running menial errands, and eventually climbed the ranks to become professional guides. A lot happened along the way.

Memorizing paths, monster attack patterns, traps, and floor gimmicks was the absolute bare minimum. Ultimately, we had to prepare for every conceivable variable just to ensure our clients walked out of the gate in one piece.

Eventually, people began calling us by a specific title: Dungeon Sherpas.

In the old days, sherpas were guides hired to scale treacherous mountain peaks. But hardly anyone climbs mountains anymore. Not when the Tower exists. The Tower is a place of thrills, glory, authority, and unimaginable wealth—a crucible that allows humans to transcend their physical limits. Inside the Tower, every Awakener has the potential to grow.

The catch? You cannot run away. You cannot retreat. It is a battlefield with no exit. Failure means immediate death.

That is why climbers visit dungeons first—places that mirror the Tower's exact environments. They enter to practice for the climb and to harvest artifacts. And that is precisely why Dungeon Sherpas are indispensable.

Someone who knows the dungeon like the back of their hand. Someone who oversees every protocol, manages client safety, and serves them hand and foot from the moment they cross the gate to the moment they leave.

I have been doing this work for thirteen years.

While others scale the Tower and grow stronger, I earn my living showing people around dungeons. A guy born in a dungeon making a living off dungeons... Calling it destiny feels too grandiose, and calling it an aptitude sounds downright pitiful. But what choice do I have? You stick to what you're good at.

In truth, life as a dungeon sherpa isn't half bad. Of course, it isn't always sunshine and rainbows either. Especially on days like today, when the client happens to be a filthy-rich third-generation chaebol heir who thinks it's perfectly fine to show up forty minutes late.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...

Mu-saeng sat on a plastic chair outside the convenience store, rhythmically drumming the heel of his boot against the asphalt. Four burly men in tailored black suits shot him irritated glares, but Mu-saeng paid them no mind.

"He is actually coming, right?" Mu-saeng asked, tilting his head back slightly.

One of the suited men answered curtly, "He's almost here. Just wait."

"Look, I don't mind waiting," Mu-saeng grumbled, tapping his wristwatch. "But you specifically demanded we wrap up by six o'clock sharp. If our start time gets pushed back this much, things are going to get awfully uncomfortable for me inside, don't you think?"

The guard smirked. "Is there anything an ace sherpa can't handle? Guaranteeing client safety while strictly adhering to the target clear time—I thought that was Sherpa Kim Mu-saeng's claim to fame."

Kim Mu-saeng was a sherpa so exceptionally competent that people called him the 'Ace.' He merely shrugged.

"I'm not saying it's impossible. But how should I put it? If I have to sweat twice as hard, maybe a little hazard pay... Come on, do I really have to spell it out? If you give me a generous verbal guarantee, I can wait with a much lighter heart."

Mu-saeng flashed a shameless grin. The guard shook his head and nodded in mild amusement.

"Don't worry. The Managing Director will take good care of you. More importantly, all four of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠us are 30th-floor climbers. Aside from protecting the Managing Director, if time runs short, we can step in and—"

"Whoa, hold on right there. That's out of the question," Mu-saeng interrupted smoothly. "This is practice for the young master's—excuse me, the Managing Director's—official climb. What's the point if his bodyguards do all the heavy lifting? As a professional dungeon sherpa, I will carry out my duties to perfection. So please, leave it to me and the Managing Director—"

Vroooom...

Right on cue, a sleek black limousine pulled up in front of the convenience store. The four suited men snapped into formation, standing at rigid attention. Mu-saeng sprang from his plastic chair and bowed deeply the moment the limousine door glided open.

"Welcome, valued client! I'm twenty-nine-year-old Kim Mu-saeng, your guide for today's—"

"Everything ready? Let's go. We're wasting time."

Lee Eunwoo, the eighteen-year-old grandson of the chairman of Korea One Way Group, stepped out without sparing Mu-saeng so much as a glance.

An apology for keeping everyone waiting? A hint of remorse for cutting someone off mid-sentence? Neither existed in the young chaebol's vocabulary.

Did Mu-saeng let his annoyance show?

"Right away, sir! Let's get moving!"

Not a chance. Plastering on his brightest customer-service smile, Mu-saeng took the lead and plunged straight into the gate, where thick, viscous black fluid oozed endlessly from the rift.

Ever since dungeons were discovered to mirror the precise layout and ecology of the Tower's floors, people began designating each gate by its corresponding floor number. Dungeon 15, which matched the scorching desert terrain of Floor 15, was naturally a sea of endless sand.

"Ugh, it's roasting," Lee Eunwoo complained, fanning himself with one hand.

Mu-saeng immediately handed him a portable electric fan and an electrolyte drink. "That's actually a blessing in disguise, sir. The 15th-floor boss ceases all activity once the sun dips below the horizon. When you climb the actual 15th floor, if night falls, don't waste your stamina—set up camp immediately. And of course, you'll need plenty of thermal gear to survive the desert cold."

Without pausing, Mu-saeng marched steadily into the dunes. One of the suited bodyguards trailing behind asked, "Aren't you going to use a mana compass?"

"No need," Mu-saeng replied briskly. "A mana compass always routes you through high-density monster habitats. It's fine if you only care about general direction, but when we have a strict deadline to meet like today, taking that detour will just slow us down."

Mu-saeng never broke stride. His confident pace was enough to leave even veteran climbers of the 30s bewildered.

"Wait, then how are you navigating?" the guard pressed. "You're supposed to wipe out the monsters first to clear the mana interference before—"

"Don't worry about it! The ripples in the sand, the angle of the sun, and the direction of the wind give me all the information I need."

The guard's bewilderment quickly curdled into utter disbelief. The ripples in the sand? The angle of the sun? The wind? You can navigate a shifting desert dungeon with just that?

While the bodyguards exchanged stunned glances, Lee Eunwoo followed comfortably behind Mu-saeng.

"You know your stuff," Eunwoo remarked idly. "Not bad for someone who can't even climb the Tower."

"Why, thank you, sir! I may be hopeless when it comes to climbing the Tower, but I've walked through these dungeons a time or two."

Someone who can't climb? Mu-saeng kept his smile firmly pinned in place to swallow his irritation.

"What was your awakened ability again? Transmit? Grade X, right?" Eunwoo asked casually.

Mu-saeng's stride faltered for a fraction of a second. "Yes, sir. That's the one."

An innate ability granted upon Awakening. Under the international evaluation system, ratings ranged from Grade F up to Grade SSR.

"I saw a post about it online the other day. Funniest shit I've ever read," Eunwoo chuckled smugly. "The first person ever born in a dungeon gets stuck with an absurd Grade X. Isn't that just total garbage? Heard you're the only person in the entire world with that grade."

Grade X did not officially exist. Even after rigorous testing by the World Awakened Association, no function could be verified. It was an anomaly—a meaningless classification unique to him.

"Haha, well, my ability still manages to transmit my boundless loyalty to my valued client!"

It had no offensive utility. No defensive application. No buffs, no debuffs. It offered zero capability to climb the Tower alone. He couldn't pull his own weight, so naturally, no party would ever accept him. He never had a chance to climb.

Then how had Mu-saeng gone from a simple porter to an elite sherpa?

"Pfft! So you really hit a wall on the 3rd Floor?" Eunwoo sneered. "Then how the hell are you handling the mana pressure here in Dungeon 15?"

Mu-saeng possessed a peculiar knack: he could endure the suffocating mana pressure that grew exponentially harsher on higher floors.

"Pure physical conditioning, sir! Who needs skills when you've got a sound body and an iron mind?" Mu-saeng playfully struck a bodybuilder pose.

"Bwahaha! Damn, you're hilarious!" Eunwoo burst out laughing.

The bodyguards, however, weren't laughing at all.

Park Dohyun, the guard squad leader with a confirmed clear record up to the 37th Floor, narrowed his eyes. He hasn't taken a single sip of a Mana Pressure Resistance Potion. How is this possible? His climbing record can't be fabricated.

A climber capped at the 3rd Floor withstanding the ambient mana pressure of the 15th Floor through pure bodily grit? Mana pressure didn't work like that. It ruptured blood vessels and crushed lungs from the inside out.

Yet his record shows one hundred and thirty-seven clears in Dungeon 15 with zero casualties... Could the rumors about him guiding expeditions into the 50th-floor dungeons actually be true...?

The moniker 'Ace Sherpa' clearly wasn't empty hype. But unlike Dohyun, who was growing increasingly tense, Eunwoo was thoroughly amused.

"Isn't he a riot, Section Chief Park?" Eunwoo said, grinning. "Hiring him was definitely worth it. You said he was an ace sherpa, but you brought me a comedian."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Park Dohyun answered submissively.

Watching the exchange, Mu-saeng made a quiet mental note. One Way Group... their internal culture is even more thuggish than I thought.

In the past, power was defined by wealth and political influence. Might was merely a processed byproduct of money and authority. But now? Power meant literal strength—raw, unvarnished, physical violence. Lee Eunwoo, grandson of the chairman of Korea One Way Group, understood that reality better than anyone.

"You got any more drinks?" Eunwoo demanded.

"The one you finished earlier was the last one, sir."

"Dammit. What kind of sherpa comes unprepared?"

To grow inside the Tower, one had to climb under their own power. Forming a raid party increased both the difficulty and the rewards, but the spoils were distributed strictly according to contribution—a metric calculated solely by the Tower's inscrutable system. Wealthy families despised uncertainty. Their philosophy was to conquer floors through solo play, breaking physical limits cleanly.

Of course, they didn't dive in recklessly. They hoarded high-tier consumables and luxury equipment first, and then ran simulations in dungeons to hone their skills and adapt to the environment. That was why they needed a sherpa.

"I still have fresh water. Would you like some?"

Someone who had the dungeon layout memorized down to the grain of sand. Someone who handled pathfinding, danger management, pacing, and all menial chores.

"Tsk, idiot. If you had water, you should've handed it over immediately," Eunwoo snapped. "Isn't anticipating what I need before I ask the whole point of a sherpa?"

Eunwoo snatched one of Mu-saeng's two spare canteens, guzzled it down in greedy gulps, and tossed the empty container into the sand without a second thought.

Mu-saeng's brow twitched, but his polite smile remained firmly intact.

"Just a little further, sir," Mu-saeng said evenly. "With your skills, the boss will drop in a single hit. We should wrap this up within an hour and a half—"

"Whoa, what's that?"

Cutting Mu-saeng off once again, Eunwoo pointed toward the horizon. Standing some distance away from their designated route was a towering stone structure.

This time, Mu-saeng's brow furrowed for real. "...I've never seen that before."

It was a massive stone edifice. A temple? Mu-saeng turned to look at the escort squad. Park Dohyun and the other three bodyguards shook their heads.

"There's no record of this in any Floor 15 exploration logs," Dohyun said, frowning.

"I never encountered anything like this when I cleared the floor either, Managing Director."

Hearing their words, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Eunwoo's eyes lit up with excitement. "No one knows about it? Then we definitely have to check it out! What if there's a hidden artifact inside?!"

An uncharted ruin meant undiscovered treasure. It was a dangerously simplistic line of thought, and Mu-saeng ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠intervened immediately.

"No, sir. It's too dangerous."

"How do you know whether it's dangerous or not?" Eunwoo snapped defensively.

Mu-saeng answered in a calm, measured voice. "I started working as a porter at sixteen, and I've entered Dungeon 15 well over a hundred times. And in all those years, Managing Director, I have never once seen this building."

He emphasized his extensive experience to underline just how abnormal—and perilous—this anomaly truly was. But Eunwoo had no intention of listening.

"Which is exactly why we need to go! Don't you agree, Section Chief Park? We have four climbers past the 30th Floor right here. Whatever happens, it can't be worse than what's normal for the 15th Floor, right?"

Flanked by four high-tier bodyguards, Eunwoo felt entirely invincible. Mu-saeng swallowed a sigh and issued a firm warning.

"My cardinal rule is never to approach unverified structures. If you insist on proceeding, you must assume full responsibility from this point on—"

"Ugh, read the room, will you? Hey, I'll pay you extra, so just shut your mouth and guide us. A lowlife sherpa scraping by on pocket change has no right to—"

Swish.

Mu-saeng shifted his footing, stepping directly into Eunwoo's path.

"Wh-What the hell?! You want a piece of me?!" Startled, Eunwoo drew his weapon.

Mu-saeng looked him dead in the eye and said quietly, "Do not move."

"...What?"

"There's a monster nearby that detects vibrations in the sand. Five paces ahead and slightly to your left. Step there, and it will burst out immediately."

The quiet authority in Mu-saeng's voice instantly chilled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the heated atmosphere. Eunwoo, Park Dohyun, and the rest of the squad froze, glancing downward.

Mu-saeng pointed toward the sand. "Look closely. The surface appears undisturbed, but the ripple pattern is subtly irregular. If you spot that kind of anomaly in the actual Tower, you must halt your advance immediately."

"...R-Right. Got it," Eunwoo stammered, swallowed by the sudden shift in momentum.

Having brought the situation under control, Mu-saeng turned to Park Dohyun and the bodyguards. "As for that temple... It goes against my standard operating procedure, but I will guide you to the best of my ability."

Because your boss ordered it.

Park Dohyun had no choice but to nod in silent agreement.

"A-All right then, let's hurry up!" Eunwoo shouted, already jogging ahead.

The structure took the form of an ancient temple, its stone entrance flanked by towering bas-reliefs of coiled serpents.

Step, step, step...

A cool, unnerving silence swallowed the six men, starkly contrasting the blistering heat of the desert outside.

"Section Chief Park! Shine your flashlight over there. Over there!"

"Right away, sir."

Even in this unknown ruin, Eunwoo acted as if he were on a school picnic. He ordered his subordinates to illuminate the path while filming footage with his smartphone.

"Even chaebol heirs need strong social media presence these days, you know? I'm not the Head of PR & Marketing for nothing," Eunwoo remarked, justifying his antics as legitimate business.

"Yes, of course, sir," Park Dohyun humored him.

Even as they ventured deeper into the darkness, the guards maintained a tight, vigilant defensive perimeter. Mu-saeng did the same. Yet all the vigilance in the world could not prepare them for what they could not comprehend.

Slither...

"Huh?! D-Did you see that? The snake carving on the wall just moved! How can a stone carving—"

"Don't touch it!" Mu-saeng yelled.

The warning came a fraction of a second too late. Eunwoo's outstretched fingers grazed the carved serpent.

RUUUUUUMBLE──────!

With a deafening crash, the massive stone entrance slammed shut behind them. Every trace of natural light vanished in an instant.

And at that very moment—

The identical holographic window flared into existence before the eyes of all six men.