The Climber's Plaza

"But son, do they really give out 1kg of Magic Stones just for clearing one floor of the tower? I heard someone from the neighboring territory only earned 10g or so..."

My mother's words cut through the happy atmosphere. Father and Ireni looked puzzled too.

"Ah, that's..."

I'd been so thrilled about awakening as a Climber that I hadn't thought about how to explain the difficulty. Even on Hard mode, 1kg of Magic Stones per floor wasn't common. Earning 1kg on the 1st floor was beyond normal.

The difficulty I climbed was Hell. Higher than the Hard mode that the world's heroes tackled. To others, it would look like I was jumping into danger.

'Mom! I'll board a tuna boat to feed the family!'

'Who told you to do that! It's all because I'm not enough...'

From my parents' perspective, it'd be something like that. Of course, I'd cleared it easily with my Gunslinger trait. But no need to worry them right away.

The weight of being the family's breadwinner. That's how it was.

I fought scary hobgoblins on Hell mode, but I'm fine, Mom. I can handle this much for our family! And I wanna eat some meat too! It wasn't hard at all!

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

"Actually, I've been awakened for a bit. I gathered some Magic Stones before telling you. I climbed a few floors on Normal."

Easy was too low, so Normal it was. The family nodded as if it made sense.

"Normal still has risks, though. You okay?"

"Don't worry. You can tell I didn't get hurt, right? Got a good trait, so no problem."

"Sob... My son...!"

Our family burst into tears again. Anyway, all's well that ends well.

We enjoyed a luxurious meal for the first time in ages.

"Aigoo, I'm stuffed."

Eating my fill of meat after so long felt great. With the remaining money, I could hire a few servants and pay Ireni's academy tuition for a semester. The state of our house was pitiful without even money for servants.

And tomorrow, back to the tower for more Magic Stones.

A message popped up in front of me. Come to think of it, one like this appeared after the clear too. I'd been too busy with the rewards to check properly.

"Climber's Plaza? I've heard of rankings, but..."

Hard to tell from the text alone. I knew the tower ranked each floor by clear score. But what was Climber's Plaza? I vaguely recalled something about accessing it upon awakening.

"Guess I should check it out."

I decided to look. There was a Climber's Plaza button in the corner of my status window. Tapping it brought up a new screen.

"...?"

The screen felt oddly familiar. A list of posts scrolling down. Click one, and there's the body with comments below from other users.

"It's a community?"

Climber's Plaza was a community just for Climbers. No different from the internet forums I'd frequented in my past life.

The vibe was similar yet different from my previous world's communities. Probably because the users were isekai folks, all Climbers. Lots of climbing info and meetup posts.

"So Climbers have been hogging this fun thing among themselves?"

Tower info was somewhat public knowledge. But I'd never heard of this Climber community. Maybe the class system kept it exclusive. Privilege making them gatekeep.

This world's society and culture differed from Earth's in many ways, so community use was unique too.

[Anyone Wanna See Sexy Female Mage in a Bikini?]

"Oh, pics...!"

One post caught my eye. I clicked it on reflex.

"Arrrgh—"

I took serious mental damage the moment I saw it. Falling for such obvious bait. Modern civilization vibes clouded my judgment.

Scratch that about it being different from Earth. Humans are the same everywhere.

"Gotta stay sharp."

My old community senses kicked in late. Not exactly like modern ones, but no room for complacency.

"Ah, so that's it."

Hard and above got fixed nicknames. Easy and Normal Climbers showed as ㅇㅇ—anonymous.

So low-difficulty Climbers stayed unidentifiable here. But Hard revealed you.

"Different from modern ones."

The system existed on Earth too. But here, linking nicknames to rankings changed everything. Top Climbers like the Hero were already public figures, world-famous.

Registering meant rankings could hint at your identity. High-rankers were practically non-anonymous. A forced "named" status.

This mix made Climber's Plaza diverse. I'd figure the vibe out eventually.

"Right now, my nickname matters."

Clearing Hell put me at 1st on the 1st floor. Setting one would list it there. Climbing Hell more would likely top other floors too.

Needed to choose carefully...

"Can't get caught right away."

1st place update would draw massive attention. World buzz later. Family reaction first priority.

They knew even Normal couldn't hit 1st. Revealing Hell would worry them. Mom would freak about not wanting me risking my life for food. Tsundere sis would say no academy on blood money.

"Gotta hide it from family."

No need to stress them. They'd sacrificed enough for the family. Time for them to relax. I could still see them banging heads against the empire walls.

"And communities are best anonymous. Heh heh."

Truth was, I just didn't want my identity leaked here. Past life memories of loving anonymous trolling.

Revealing myself? Unthinkable.

"ㅇㅇ won't work."

Tried plain ㅇㅇ for fixed nick, but no dice. Had to distinguish from floaters—er, Easy/Normal Climbers.

Medieval communities lacked modern flair.

"Something cool that hides me."

I pondered long and hard. Tougher than picking Hell mode.

It dragged into dawn.

"Decided."

My choice: Kim Hunter. No deep meaning. Kim's common from my past life, and tower climbing's like hunting.

Almost went KimClimber since they call it that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠here, but Hunter felt right. Nicknames don't need fancy anyway. Casual ones work best.

With nick set, delayed ranking registered.

Nickname set, rankings visible. But something off with the board.

"Why so many 2nds?"

Dozens, hundreds at 2nd below me. All exactly 10,000 points.

Digging through Plaza explained it.

"Monsters from the start, huh."

Unlike modern Earth, this world had powerhouses galore. Heroes, emperors, mage tower lords, beastkin, etc. 1st floor was a breeze for them.

Already strong, they maxed 10,000 on floor 1. No one had topped it before. Hard mode's cap maybe? From floor 2, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they diverged by 1-2 points.

Hero held 10k longest. Me? 15,398. Not because I'm stronger than Hard Climbers. Hell had more monsters. Hard maxed at 10k.

They'd score high on Hell too. If they could access it. Only me there.

"But the gap's huge..."

More worrying. All those at 10k, me towering alone. No one'd guess Kim Hunter's a fallen baron's kid. Still, massive gap meant attention.

Sure enough, latest posts all about me.