A Hunter's Mindset

A dead, ash-gray sky.

Rustle.

The grass brushing against my ankles welcomed me, withered and black.

A week.

Exactly the amount of time I had spent building up my foundation on the outside.

Diligent youths. Or rather, maidens.

Maybe it was because they were on Normal difficulty, but their proactive attitude was on a whole different level.

Unlike me, who was dragged here by force, wasn't Karrmia's side completely voluntary?

One by one, the users were starting to show interest in me.

"Is it different from last time?"

However, the atmosphere of the community felt somewhat different from what I remembered.

I saw a few unfamiliar registered users, and the overall vibe felt much sharper, more on edge.

A community where actual active hunters hang out?

It's going to be toxic as hell.

The picture painted itself all too easily.

Throwing away all the fresh innocence of clueless newbies.

A hellscape where people competed even more fiercely, fueled by envy and jealousy.

"...Sounds fun."

But then again, isn't that exactly why people browse forums?

After playing around with that incredibly toxic user for a bit, I shifted my gaze to another post.

"....?"

Paid under the table, my foot.

I had shared it simply so everyone could benefit, with absolutely no other intentions.

Another welcome name had appeared.

Was she climbing at the same time again?

It'd be fun to run into her again and chat.

Excluding Earth, those two were my only acquaintances inside the Tower, so I was starving for connections.

After all, everything in the Tower eventually came down to sharing the same 'theme'.

After teasing Lisha with my usual vibe, I looked around to begin the raid in earnest.

"I know that much."

Clack!

The given conditions.

The moment I pondered what that meant, I sensed a presence nearby.

Turning my head, I saw piles of bones stumbling toward me.

Skeletons.

The undead, creatures I had only ever seen in games, were marching toward me, clutching their respective weapons.

"This is only the first floor. Is this for real?"

They were skeletons, all right, but their numbers were no joke.

At a glance, there had to be at least thirty of them.

Did this place develop a hobby of trying to overwhelm me with numbers?

It felt incredibly unfair, but it wasn't like I could back down.

Not that I even had the option to.

The system lady was kind enough to display the exact number of enemies I had to defeat.

"If I have to do it, I'll do it."

Whoosh...

I lightly bounced in place to check my condition.

"Creak, rattle."

"Clack!"

Hearing the eerie clattering of bones echoing around me—

"Whew...!"

Dash.

With my domain activated, I lunged straight into the center of the approaching skeletons.

Swoosh...!

I saw what looked like black rain falling from the sky.

Just like the goblin ranged units, the archer skeletons had fired a volley of arrows.

Might as well use it since I have it.

Watching the arrows fall, I immediately activated the domain I had copied from Han Sae-ah.

Hum...!

A flow of mana began to swirl around the area, forming a protective barrier around my body.

Whoosh!

The arrows, which had flown right up to my face, slowed down as if swimming through molasses inside the domain, as if time itself had stopped—

Thud.

And then, losing all momentum, they fell limply to the ground.

"Definitely worth copying."

Though I had acquired this skill to defend against magic attacks, I was more than satisfied with this level of performance.

"...."

Realizing their ranged attacks were useless—

Clatter.

The undead horde advanced toward me, their hollow jaws clacking.

"Right, right. Real men fight in close quarters."

Before clashing with them directly—

I took a moment to assess the situation.

The undead squad was scattered haphazardly all over the place, suggesting a chaotic melee if I just charged in.

This is messy.

Even with my domain, it would be a hassle to run around to all the different spots, so an idea struck me.

"I really want to mob-farm them."

In that case, the best way to maximize the range of my domain was...

Naturally, to gather the scattered skeletons into one place.

"Everyone, please gather over here!"

Clack!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

As I shouted with my domain active, the excited undead began to clatter and swarm toward me.

Well, this is convenient.

True to their nature as monsters, they gathered on their own to kill me even if I just stood still.

Hummmm...!

The activated Erosion Barrier slowed down the advance of the approaching monsters in real-time.

The already slow creatures, upon entering the domain—

"...."

"Time stop."

As if time had literally frozen, they stood locked in their advancing postures, doing nothing but glaring at me.

Creak...!

They strained with all their might to move, but the only result was their own bones cracking under the pressure.

Crack.

I casually punched the jaw of the skeleton at the very front, and thanks to my stats, its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head exploded instantly.

"Now this is what I'm talking about."

Feeling refreshed, I looked around and saw that the scattered undead had mostly gathered.

Shall we begin?

It was as if a massive dome of bones had formed with me at the center.

Purple malice seeped from their hollow eye sockets.

If this domain were to deactivate even for a split second, I would be hacked to pieces by the swarming skeletons in an instant.

"I'm truly touched by such a warm welcome."

The Tower definitely loved me.

First, it dropped me into the notoriously difficult Apocalyptic level as a greeting—

And now that I was back after a while, it was welcoming me with another bizarrely difficult gift.

And so...

I raised my finger toward one of the active modes of my domain.

Finally, I stared into the murderous faces of the gathered undead, one by one.

"You should at least feed these guys before putting them to work... don't you think?"

Just what kind of malicious contract did they sign to be working this hard even after death?

With a heavy heart, I shifted the properties of my domain.

Let's clean this up in one go.

I loaded the Goblin Champion's strike, packed with maximum power.

Whoosh...!

The skeletons, whose bodies had just begun to move as the restraint wore off, were swept away helplessly by the colossal force.

CRASH!!

Half of their bodies shattered with the first strike.

By the second strike, the skeletons in front of me crumbled into dust in midair before they could even touch the ground.

Feeling the massive shockwaves of the domain rippling through the air, I just stood there quietly.

I simply watched the numbers decrease in real-time.

Crumble...

Even as the undead were being ground to dust, I kept a watchful eye out for any blind spots.

No magic users, right?

Seeing as nothing else happened, it seemed they were only giving me a small taste for now.

"...Themes."

According to the information I had gathered from the forums and the outside world.

This bizarre Tower followed a specific theme for each set of floors.

So, just like in the tutorial.

Since 'undead' had appeared here.

I would be facing these hideous creatures continuously from now on.

Ring!

"That's it."

I had missed this feeling.

Since I cleared the stage, and cleared this godforsaken difficulty all by myself—

The sound of leveling up along with the bonus rewards rang in my ears.

I was glad I had approached them warmly first to build a connection.

It made extracting high-quality information like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this so much easier down the line.

"Gimmicks?"

Ring!

Pushing aside the system window that was urging me to move on, I continued reading the post.

Was it the same story as the tutorial?

Back then, once I beat the head honcho of the goblins, I was able to move to the Waiting Room.

"You can't kill it?"

What kind of nonsense was this?

Isn't a hunter's job to slaughter every single monster?

Right at that moment.

Shhh...

"...!"

Suddenly, accompanied by a spine-chilling sensation, a system window popped up in front of my eyes.