Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Climbers’ Plaza
“But son… do they usually give 1kg of magic stones for clearing just one floor? I heard someone in the neighboring territory only earns about 10g…”
My mother’s question broke the happy atmosphere.
Father and Ireni also looked puzzled.
“Ah, that’s…”
I hadn’t thought about how to explain difficulty levels in my excitement.
Even on hard difficulty, earning 1kg from a single floor isn’t common.
Especially not on Floor 1.
The difficulty I’m climbing is Hell.
Higher than the Hard difficulty even heroes climb.
Which means—
to others, it would look like I’m throwing myself into danger.
Like saying:
“Mother! I’ll go work on a tuna fishing boat to support the family!”
“Who told you to do that?! This is all my fault…”
That kind of situation.
Of course, I cleared it easily thanks to my Gunman trait.
But there was no need to worry them right now.
This is the burden of being the head of the household.
“I actually awakened a while ago. I just saved up the magic stones before telling you. I climbed a few floors on normal difficulty.”
Easy was too low, so I said normal.
My family nodded, accepting it.
“Even normal difficulty isn’t completely safe… were you okay?”
“Of course. I’m not injured at all, right? I got a good trait.”
“Sniff… my son…”
They started crying again.
Still, everything worked out.
We enjoyed a proper meal for the first time in a long while.
“Ahh, I’m full.”
After eating as much meat as I wanted, I felt satisfied.
With the remaining money, I could hire a few servants and pay for Ireni’s tuition.
The estate had been in terrible condition without servants.
And tomorrow, I’d enter the tower again and earn more magic stones.
[Climbers’ Plaza nickname not registered.]
[Register a nickname to be listed on rankings.]
[Please set your nickname.]
A message appeared.
I remembered seeing something like this earlier, but I hadn’t paid attention.
“Climbers’ Plaza? I’ve heard of rankings…”
I knew each floor had rankings based on score.
But what was this plaza?
Maybe it was unlocked when I awakened.
“Let’s check.”
I pressed the button in my status window.
A new screen appeared.
【Climbers’ Plaza】
[Why the 72nd floor clear in Velium Kingdom makes no sense]
[How long until Madiba Holy Nation’s tower collapses?]
[Brillord Empire climbing party (commoners not allowed) (Hard difficulty)]
[Is this the correct strategy for Floor 43 Hard?]
[Warrior trait meetup (all ranks welcome)]
[Buying healing scrolls]
[Archers are honestly trash…]
“…?”
This felt familiar.
A list of posts.
Click one—
there’s content and comments.
“A forum?”
The Climbers’ Plaza was a community exclusively for climbers.
Just like internet forums from my past life.
Similar—
yet different.
Everyone here was a climber.
Posts were full of strategies, trades, and meetups.
“These climbers were enjoying this by themselves?”
Information about towers was somewhat public.
But this community—
completely unknown.
Maybe due to the class system.
Different world, different culture.
Even communities function differently.
[Anyone want to see a sexy female mage in a bikini?]
“…Oh?”
One post caught my eye.
I clicked it instantly.
[Title: Anyone want to see a sexy female mage in a bikini?]
Author: Anonymous
(Extremely disgusting image)
Gotcha lol
“AGHH—!”
I suffered critical damage.
Fell for bait like this…
Meeting something like modern internet again—
I let my guard down.
No—
people are the same everywhere.
“I need to stay sharp.”
The instincts from my past life returned.
This place wasn’t safe either.
[Climbers above Hard difficulty can register nicknames.]
[Nickname links to tower rankings.]
[Cannot be changed after registration.]
“So that’s how it works.”
Hard and above—
fixed nicknames.
Easy and Normal—
anonymous.
Meaning—
only higher-tier climbers are identifiable.
“Different from modern forums.”
In my past life, anonymity was standard.
Here—
ranking ties identity.
Top climbers—
like heroes—
are already public figures.
So using the same nickname in rankings and the plaza—
basically removes anonymity.
A forced “famous user” system.
“Anyway… my nickname.”
I just ranked #1 on Floor 1.
Once I set a nickname—
it’ll appear on the leaderboard.
“I can’t reveal my identity.”
If people find out—
it’s trouble.
Especially my family.
If they knew I was climbing Hell difficulty—
they’d panic.
Mother would cry about risking my life.
Ireni would refuse to attend the academy using “blood money.”
“Better to hide it.”
They’ve sacrificed enough.
They deserve peace.
“And forums are best when anonymous.”
That was the real reason.
I didn’t want my identity exposed.
“‘Anonymous’ isn’t allowed…”
Apparently, that wasn’t valid.
“Something clever… but safe.”
I thought for hours.
More than when choosing Hell difficulty.
Finally—
“I got it.”
[KimHunter]
[Confirm nickname? (O/X)]
Kim Hunter.
No deep meaning.
Kim was common in my past life.
Hunter—because I climb towers.
I considered “KimClimber,” but it sounded awkward.
This was better.
Simple names are easiest to use.
[Nickname registered.]
[Registering Floor 1 ranking.]
[Congratulations! New record set!]
[Floor 1 Rankings]
1st: KimHunter – 15,398
2nd: Hero – 10,000
2nd: KillThePope – 10,000
2nd: EmpirePrettyBoy – 10,000
2nd: PeakMage – 10,000
…
“…Why are there so many second places?”
Everyone below me—
had the same score.
10,000.
After searching—
I found the reason.
“They’re monsters.”
This world already had powerful individuals.
Heroes. Emperors. Archmages.
For them—
Floor 1 was trivial.
10,000 was the cap for Hard difficulty.
And no one had exceeded it—
until me.
On higher floors, scores begin to differ.
The hero held 10,000 the longest.
Meanwhile—
I had 15,398.
Not because I was stronger—
but because Hell difficulty had more enemies.
Still—
the gap was huge.
“…This might attract attention.”
And it did.
The latest posts—
were all about me.
[Did you see the new Floor 1 ranking?]
[Is it even possible to exceed 10,000?]
[15,398 makes no sense—bug?]
[Looking for info on ‘KimHunter’]
[Why are you hunting Kim?]
[New Hard climbers, comment here]