The Tower Has Risen
The tower had risen in the Tutorial Stage. The world painted it in grim, ominous terms—God’s wrath, the beginning of the apocalypse, all that heavy stuff. But to me? It was just a damn good cash cow and a generous patron. Why? Because a couple of short-term gigs tied to the tower were enough to keep me afloat for a full month.
Who says only the hunters climbing the tower get to make money? “Hell no.”
All the side effects it spawned had opened up a brand-new arena of opportunity. Even ordinary schlubs like me could eat thanks to it.
(Urgent Short-Term Recruitment) Seoul Station Magic Leak Zone Debris Cleanup Team
“Oh, jackpot.”
Just sitting around waiting on my phone was enough—the day’s work would shoot straight in as a notification.
“Hey, punk! You’re here again?!”
I found myself staring at Chief Choi, who was glaring at me with a deep scowl.
“Hello.”
His face looked like that, but he was softer inside than anyone. Ever since my rookie days he’d grumble and spoon-feed me all the best tips. A secretly caring, genuinely thankful guy.
“Woojin, you idiot! Instead of coming to a shithole like this, at your age you should be going to the Hunter Academy—”
“Aigoo, boss. That place is for rich kids with connections from the start, you know?”
Our Chief Choi was great in every way, but it was a shame he still didn’t fully get the meta sometimes. Did he really think I was showing up at magic leak sites without a single thought in my head, just hunting daily part-time gigs?
“Still…”
Chief Choi trailed off like he wanted to leave some room, but I didn’t miss the chance to land the finishing blow.
“You saw it yourself last time, boss. Those Hunter Academy seniors who just graduated—were any of them my age?”
“…Fine, fine, you little shit. Shut up and finish moving this.”
Eventually a sulky Chief Choi glared at me and headed off to another cleanup spot. Only then did the eyes that had been glued to me start to scatter.
The people working here had one big problem: they cared too much. To folks who were already old enough to know better, a guy who’d just crossed into his mid-twenties like me probably looked like a bundle of potential—a real ‘talent.’
‘Yeah, right.’
But the world wasn’t that kind. First of all, kids born after the tower rose were born with mana in their veins. And the ones carefully selected from those mana-rich children were sent to the place called the Hunter Academy.
Children born with monstrous talent, then forged through hellish competition and training. That’s what today’s hunters were. It wasn’t a field someone like me could casually step into.
‘Unless I awaken, I guess.’
Awakening was the literal equivalent of winning the lottery. Hit it and you’re set for life; miss and you’re still nothing. But unlike natural talent, awakening was a fair chance given equally to everyone.
—Ding!
They said that when you awaken, a clear, refreshing notification sound suddenly rings out of nowhere.
“Yeah, it goes exactly like—”
?
My gaze snapped toward the direction the sound had come from.
“Hey! You there! I told you to be careful with that!”
“What the hell! How long have I been telling you and you’re still screwing around?!”
“The hell you say?! Come here, you—!”
“....”
It was just the usual lively noise of the worksite. In an environment like this, hearing a clear system alert was pretty much impossible.
Congratulations! You have received the blessing of mana and have Awakened.
“Huh?”
While I was still dazed and spacing out, a semi-transparent window popped up right in front of my eyes as confirmation.
“Wha—?”
A single realization flashed through my mind. The clear notification sound. The information flowing in through the window. I waved my arm in front of the translucent window like I’d seen a ghost.
—Flick.
The window blurred for a second with the motion of my arm, then sharpened again. So it wasn’t a hallucination or a dream.
“Woojin! Why are you spacing out over there…”
Chief Choi’s voice grew farther and farther away. Inside my gradually darkening vision, a new window appeared.
Entering the Tutorial Zone.
Current tower difficulty: [Apocalypse].
“Aw, shit…”
The extremely familiar phrasing and difficulty level made a curse slip out automatically. After those last words—
—Flick.
My consciousness was completely swallowed by darkness.
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#
—Rustle…
The ticklish sensation brushing my cheek woke me up.
“Ah.”
In that instant, an impact like lightning struck my head. The moment I sat up from where I’d been lying, the worksite I’d been cleaning vanished. Instead—
—Whoooosh…
A peaceful green plain greeted me like something out of a damn tourism ad.
Clear the Tutorial Zone and claim your rewards.
“Is this for real?”
I had awakened. Along with the notification, I’d been kidnapped to this peaceful yet shitty place. It was getting hard to deny it any longer.
“I was a normal civilian until literally a minute ago?”
The huge hunter boom had created tons of jobs, which was nice, but I’d never once thought, Yeah, I wanna be a hunter. Why? Because being a hunter was a dangerous job where you could drop dead at any moment. It was on a completely different level from cleaning up trash at magic leak sites.
“....”
Nervous saliva slid down my throat on its own.
“Phone. Phone.”
Wait, could I even get a signal here? Even if I sent a rescue request to the Hunter Association, it was pointless if I couldn’t clear the trials the tower threw at me.
“Or… is this actually a good thing?”
While I was blankly staring at the phone’s signal bars, one thought crossed my mind. If I succeeded, the path to becoming a hunter would open up. A ridiculous amount of money, support, and a permanent goodbye to my miserable day-laborer life. Thinking just a little further ahead instantly put me in a better mood.
—Ding!
Status Window authority has been unlocked.
“…Status window.”
What I wanted wasn’t this. ‘Something I can use right now.’
Skill window. I scrolled down a little more and finally found the tab I wanted.
Predator's Domain (Lv.1)
“Oh.”
I immediately tapped the skill tab.
Creates an area around the caster that deals continuous damage per second within a certain range.
The created domain shares the caster’s attack methods and stats.
“Oho…”
A grandiose name and a pretty impressive-looking description greeted me. Since I was already in the mood, I decided to give it a try.
—Shaaaaa…
Predator's Domain
The grass brushing my feet let out a scream.
“...?”
When I looked down, I saw something strange rippling in real time inside an area about the width of my outstretched arms.
‘What the hell is this?’
So according to the description, anything that comes into this domain takes continuous damage per second? I already knew how great skills could be. Hunters were only able to raid the tower thanks to these things. But the problem was—
“…Why isn’t anything happening?”
I could see some kind of energy rippling within a certain radius, but after that, absolutely nothing. I stayed still like that for a while.
“Kerek!”
“Oh, shit.”
From far away, a sound that should never have been heard started approaching. I turned my head.
“Keruk!”
“Kehehek!”
Three goblins came into view, drooling sticky saliva and giving off a disgusting stench. They were one of the representative low-grade monsters in charge of the tower’s beginner difficulty—creatures that could have a decent fight with slimes. The real problem was that I still hadn’t figured out how to properly use my one and only skill.
“…Want to talk it out?”
“Kihihik!”
“Fuck.”
The goblins seemed even more excited by my polite tone. They pulled out their weapons and charged at me— a rusty shield, a crude club, and a small blade.
“....”
When my life was suddenly on the line, my thoughts actually slowed down. Above the sensation of my blood running cold, the movements of the charging goblins slowly came into focus.
Was I just going to die like a dog? After going through all this bullshit?
“Why the hell should I?”
All of this was because of the tower. The reason I became an orphan, the reason I rolled around in that shitty cleanup site every day—it was all because of the tower.
“You sons of bitches!”
The moment that thought hit me, my heart started pounding and the feeling in my arms and legs sharpened.
“Kerek!”
Of the three goblins running at me with their tongues hanging out like dogs, the one in front was the shield-bearer. He was charging at me first.
‘So he’s the tank, huh.’
While the shield guy drew my attention, the other two were planning to pounce from behind. But maybe because their intelligence was low, their formation was ridiculously sloppy.
‘If my attention gets pulled, I die.’
The club was one thing, but if I let the guy with the blade hit me, I’d be in serious danger. Even a passing goblin could figure that out.
So—
‘Can I take it?’
I decided to make full use of the fact that the goblin’s physique was much smaller than mine.
—Grab!
“Kek?”
“Give it.”
Ending with the disgusting eyes of the goblin that looked back at me in stupid confusion, I moved before he could shake off the shield.
—Thud!
“Keeek!”
The moment the shield meant to block attacks was in my hand, I kicked him straight in his defenseless stomach. The guy who flew from my kick rolled across the ground, twitched, and lost consciousness.
“Lucky me.”
I looked down at the old shield now in my grip. It was ridiculously small for protecting my whole body, but it was the perfect tool to block incoming attacks for now.
Predator's Domain has recognized your attack.
And then—
—Thud!
“Keek!”
One of the goblins that had come within range was sent flying by an invisible force. Both me and the one holding the blade froze at the same time.
“Ke, keeek!”
The goblin, whose thinking relied on instinct, figured out the situation faster. The moment he swung the crude blade in his hand—
—Thud!
“Kek!”
The guy who got hit by the invisible force again rolled across the grass, twitched, and passed out.
“…Oh.”
Only then did I finally understand the skill’s mechanism. Attack recognition and execution.
“So it works like this?”
Since I had just set the attack pattern with that well-practiced(?) kick, the same attack would now activate inside the domain I had cast.
Currently usable domain effects: 1
▶ Low-grade Normal Strike ▶ Empty
“Not bad.”
“Kek, kerek…”
I walked up to the goblins who were starting to come to their senses, hit them with the domain effect once more, then carefully slit each of their throats with the blade the last one had been holding.
Predator's Domain has recognized your attack.
▶ Low-grade Normal Strike ▶ Low-grade Normal Slash
Earlier it had been a strike; this time the blade attack was recognized and added as a slash effect.
—Slice…!
The moment I approached them with the newly applied effect, the goblins who were getting cut all over their bodies met their end.
“Oh.”
Killing them without lifting a finger. The skill’s effect was better than I’d expected.
Congratulations! You have cleared the stage.
Acquiring stage clear rewards.
“Clear reward.”
It was a concept I already knew. Stronger rewards, stronger power! The core driving force behind climbing the tower. Even though I was anxious, my dopamine-soaked heart started pounding on its own.
Solo Clear Bonus!
Experience acquired.
Level Up!
Current Level: 3
My level had shot up two stages in one go. My stats must have risen too, which meant the attack power of my domain had increased even more.
“Not bad at all.”
Community function has been activated.
You can now share information with other challengers.
News that I could exchange information with the other veterans.
“Alright, let’s go.”
I immediately opened the community tab.
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Your current difficulty is Apocalypse.
Please set your nickname.
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Current Nickname: AoE Spammer
“Big fan.”
Remaining Stages: 1/5