The Climber Association (Part 1)

Countless message alerts made my phone vibrate nonstop. The buzzing traveled across the bed and spread through my entire body. Was this the influence of the Heavenly Martial Body? Every vibration passing through the mattress, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the tiny disturbances it created in the air, felt so vivid I could almost reach out and grab them.

The vibration carried through the bed and into my bones. A strange sensation crawled across my skin, and before I knew it, a soft moan slipped out.

"Hng..."

But there was no time to savor the odd feeling. The contents of those messages were simply too absurd to believe.

"Obsidian Guild...?"

It was a small but influential guild in Korea that only accepted climbers who had received a B-class or higher evaluation from the Hunter Association. If you lined up every guild in the country, it would easily sit in the top ten. My eyes, however, quickly slid down to the next message.

Ares Guild.

"...Huk."

I swallowed hard.

"Why is the strongest guild contacting me?"

Ares was the undisputed number one guild leading the conquest of the Tower's floors in Korea right now. Obviously not just anyone could join. But if you did get in, the pay was insane. The rumor that senior guild members earned as much as a conglomerate executive in a single month had already spread throughout the industry. If I played my cards right, I could live without working for the rest of my life.

Still... something felt off.

"...Why are there two or three messages from the same guilds?"

Three from Obsidian. Two from Cheonhwa. Four from Hwarang. Thirteen from Ares.

"..."

The more I scrolled, the more ridiculous it became.

"There are seriously this many people desperate to get my contact info..."

It was my fault for getting my hopes up even a little. Logically speaking, there was no way real guilds would immediately try to recruit a newbie who had just cleared the tutorial with one good skill. If they said they wanted to use me as a promotional model or mascot because I was pretty, maybe I'd believe it...

But every single one of these messages seemed to want me as a combatant. In other words, these were the dirty gallery bastards trying to sniff out my number.

"Haa..."

What should I do? I pressed a hand to my forehead and shook my head. This was all because I was too outstanding.

I activated the mass reply function in my inbox.

That single short line flew back to everyone who had sent me a message.

White vapor flowed from my mouth as I stared down at my phone. Along with it came a bewildered voice that scattered into the air.

"...She was a woman?"

I wiped my runny nose with the tissue I'd prepared in advance and thought to myself.

...How interesting. She got so angry at the military talk that I naturally assumed she was a man. Honestly, it was hard to imagine a woman running wild in a community with that kind of tone.

"Beautiful girls should be elegant."

A beautiful girl must never get excited easily or lose her temper. She must not allow just anyone to approach her and should stand gracefully all by herself. That was what it meant to be a member of the beautiful girl race.

Therefore... that woman called Cheon Hwaryen was not a beautiful girl.

"Beautiful girl candidacy revoked. Ajumma candidacy accepted."

Crunch. Small footprints were left in the piled snow.

Whooooosh—! A wind laced with cold air dug into the thin white short-sleeve shirt. The winter blade sliced mercilessly at my delicate skin that wasn't even wearing underwear. My body trembled involuntarily.

"Ugh, it's cold."

If someone asked why I was wearing short sleeves in this weather, there was only one answer. It was because this was the only piece of women's clothing left in the house. My ex-girlfriend had left behind her underwear, this white short-sleeve shirt, and black dolphin shorts when she threw them off in my one-room apartment. The bra didn't fit my current size, so I couldn't wear it. My current measurements were overwhelmingly larger than hers back then. If I hadn't had a coat, I wouldn't have even considered stepping outside.

"I told her to take them since I'd washed them..."

That girl said she didn't want to see my face and told me to deal with them myself.

"I... need to buy clothes."

Of course, I didn't even have money for rice right now. First, I had to register at the Climber Association, then sell the byproducts I'd obtained from the Tower through them. Only after making some money could I eat delicious food and buy pretty clothes.

After walking along the snow-covered road while having those trivial ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thoughts, a tall, massive building eventually appeared in my vision—one that made my neck hurt just to look up at it. The map on my phone told me this was the headquarters of the Climber Association. Without hesitation, I walked inside.

The Climber Association. Just from the name, it sounded like an organization players who climbed the Tower had created themselves to protect their rights. In reality, it was a public institution established by the Korean government to keep the ever-growing players and guilds in check. Every employee working there was a civil servant. The players belonging to the association and even the guards patrolling the building were the same.

Since the nation guaranteed their identity and position, it might seem like a good thing. However... among players, the perception of association-affiliated players was "slaves of the state."

"Ah, I don't want to live anymore."

Song Hyunwoo, leader of the association's HR team and an A-class player, roughly loosened the tie around his neck as he stared at the mountain of documents piled in front of him.

"This damn life..."

"I told you to come to the Cheonhwa Guild? At your level, we can treat you pretty well."

The woman sitting across from Song Hyunwoo was the guild leader of Cheonhwa Guild. Cheon Hwaryen wore equipment that revealed far too much skin for the middle of winter. She shrugged her shoulders while looking at him.

"...I still can't. You know that. I have someone I need to find."

"Sigh..."

A brief silence pressed down on the office. Cheon Hwaryen was the one who broke it.

"So, did you find the person I asked about?"

"I can't accept that kind of request."

"Why not? It's something you could easily do."

"I'm a public servant. You want a civil servant to dig up a citizen's personal information for personal reasons? All from a single floating IP in the gallery?"

"..."

"I can't help you. I already said so."

Song Hyunwoo slid the envelope resting on his pile of documents toward Cheon Hwaryen. She stared back and forth between the envelope and him for a moment before letting out a sigh and standing up.

"...Fine, I got it. I'll find her myself."

"...Only use legal methods. Please."

"Anyone would think you were the head of the investigation team. Just do your own job properly."

"Hey, take this..."

The next moment, she left a silver afterimage behind and opened the office door in the blink of an eye before vanishing.

Bang—!

The sound of the door slamming violently echoed through the office a beat too late. Song Hyunwoo sighed as he looked at the envelope Cheon Hwaryen had left behind on his documents.

"Haa... What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Why on earth does she even use the gallery? What post did she see to make her act like this?

He turned on his computer, immediately accessed the Climber Gallery, and the first thing that caught his eye was a concept post marked with a blue star beside it.

"..."

Song Hyunwoo closed the computer. He didn't want to see any more. He stood up and walked over to the transparent glass wall that covered one entire side of the room. As the head of the HR team, his office allowed him to look down over the entire association through the clear windows.

His eyes caught a white-haired girl standing in a corner of the first-floor lobby. She was wearing a hat, a mask, and sunglasses to hide her face while frantically typing on her phone. As an A-class player, he could see her clearly—even the screen of the phone she was holding.

"..."

Song Hyunwoo was at a complete loss for words.