The First to Conquer Nightmare Difficulty
“Kyaa!”
The shock hit my body the instant the new puppet shattered. My vision spun dizzily, and my legs nearly buckled. So this is the kind of feedback I get when a puppet I'm linked to breaks. I hadn't expected it to hit so hard—I almost collapsed without thinking, but I managed to hold on.
“Wh-what happened?!”
While the Princess asked in a panicked voice, I spat out the bile rising in my throat and slowly lifted my head. My forehead throbbed with pain, but my gaze pierced straight to the sky.
“……Something’s coming.”
The new puppet hadn't even noticed it before it was destroyed. Whatever it was, it was approaching at an insane speed—that much was clear.
“Run! Don’t stop!”
If the new puppet got taken out that easily, it had to be a monster. And obviously, that monster was gunning for me and the Princess. She must have sensed the danger too, because she bolted alongside me.
Kiririk-kiririk—
A sharper sound than usual came from the spider puppet. It was starting to feel the threat as well. Just then, a chilling sensation swept over me from head to toe.
The spider puppet's legs lifted with a whoosh, scooping me and the Princess up into its embrace.
“Hik!”
“Kyaa!”
Kwaaaaaang!
In that moment, something crashed down right where we'd been standing. Through the smoke, a head rose up.
It was bird-like in form. But its wings weren't made of normal feathers.
Kkigigik—
Instead, tattered membranes fluttered at the tips, scraping the air around them. The sound was grotesque, like nails raking someone's throat.
Its head resembled a crow's, but the proportions were all wrong—utterly monstrous. The beak was unnaturally long, and the liquid dripping from its tip corroded the ground like acid.
Monstrous Bird. The name fit perfectly.
Locking eyes with it revealed swirling, mad pupils. A shiver ran through me the second our gazes met. There was no way a first-floor hunter could take this thing on.
This was the kind of boss that showed up in tutorials—something players couldn't possibly hunt. An unfair nightmare.
“Spider!”
The spider puppet instantly lashed out with its legs. But the monstrous bird took to the air before they could connect, soaring skyward. Even the heat rays that followed missed completely as it dodged from above.
Fast. Too fast. Even with enough firepower, we couldn't shoot it down.
The spider puppet's a bad matchup from the start.
There was only one option left.
“Run!”
We sprinted full-tilt, the Princess and I. My pathetic stamina had never felt more like a curse, but I pushed with everything I had. The uneven, ruined stone path—nothing like modern roads—made my ankles ache, but there was no choice.
The spider puppet kept the monstrous bird at bay, but the enemy was already learning its patterns. Maybe it decided the spider wasn't much of a threat, because its movements grew bolder.
“Th-this is bad. It’s because of this girl.”
The Princess gasped, her face pale as she blamed herself for drawing the monster to me.
“Hoo, haa, it’s n-not your fault, P-Princess. Th-that bird’s after b-both of us!”
“No, that’s not it.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, half-sobbing.
“The kingdom—this country where this girl lived—it fell because of our royal family’s sins.”
Royal family’s sins? Between that and the Tower’s story earlier, none of it made sense.
“In the end, we royals were greedy, and so the world……”
“Princess!”
We could lament later—after we escaped. Sorry, but I wasn’t from her country, and I had no reason to accept her apology.
“Focus on running right now. You can apologize after we get out. Besides……”
Though my breath was ragged, I forced a smile to reassure her.
“You said it yourself: as long as you survive, the kingdom can be rebuilt.”
Did that give her a little strength? “Y-yes, that’s right. This girl will definitely rebuild the kingdom.”
She clenched her fists, reigniting her resolve.
“I’ll reward you properly too. Let’s survive together!”
Reward, huh. I hoped the Tower’s payout would be worth it.
Assuming we make it out alive.
I knew the exit route. Even without the new puppet, I remembered the path. Alleys branched off the whole way, with buildings for cover. Even that bird couldn’t risk charging narrow spots where the spider could blast it down.
So it held back.
But the final stretch……
The plaza leading to the castle walls—an open field with zero cover. That’s where it would strike.
“Out of the castle.”
The Princess shouted then, exhaling raggedly.
“If we just get outside the castle, this girl can handle it somehow!”
She had a plan? Then……
“No matter what, don’t stop running!”
Get her out of the castle.
The Princess and I pounded across the plaza at the same time.
Piyuuuuuuu—!
The monstrous bird’s screech echoed from the sky. As she ran ahead, my feet stopped.
Instead, the spider puppet raced after her.
In that split second, she realized what was happening and started to turn back.
“Don’t look back—keep running!”
My voice boomed out. I could feel her shock radiating through her whole body.
But it was fine.
Piyuuuuuuuung—
The bird dove. The Princess, guarded by the spider puppet. Me, standing alone with nothing.
Its target was obvious.
The bird veered toward me. The killing intent pouring down made my legs tremble with pins and needles, but it was fine. If I was going to flinch at this, I never would have made the choice in the first place.
“Your name!”
The Princess cried out desperately then.
“At least tell me your name!”
Like she had to remember her savior’s name no matter what.
A name. What good would it do her, living inside the Tower? But seeing her tears scatter into the air……
Screw the Tower.
“Ha Yuna.”
I smiled faintly—though she couldn’t see it—and raised my hand lightly.
“I’m Ha Yuna.”
Her feet crossed beyond the shattered gates. Golden hair spilled out from her hood, fluttering brilliantly.
Beautiful hair. Even if it was just a Tower encounter, I hoped that little girl would survive.
That was it—the bird’s shadow engulfed me.
Ding!
Time expired.
The world snapped back to reality amid all the alerts. Just in case, I’d flattened myself on the ground. Brushing off my clothes in embarrassment as I stood, the spider puppet returned, chirping kirik-kirrik like it was proud of a job well done.
The space around me was pitch black. The Princess was gone, of course.
I wondered if she’d made it out safely. No way to know. The Tower’s visions might be real or just fabricated—who could say?
More importantly……
I’d cleared Nightmare Difficulty. No wonder everyone said it was tougher than Hard. It sure as hell wasn’t easy.
Time to check the important stuff.
“Rewards!”
I worked my ass off—time to get paid. If they stiffed me now, I’d cry like a kid.
Floor 1 Nightmare Difficulty challenge rewards granted.
Aw yeah! I pumped my fists in excitement.
The reward appearing before my eyes—what could it be? My heart raced.
Clunk—
A sound from above, like something opening, and then weight on my head. I looked up slowly.
There, out of nowhere, was a key.
“Uh, wha?”
An old-fashioned key etched with intricate engravings. As I stared in confusion, the scenery around me started to blur.
Oh, right—this was the Tower kicking me out.
“W-wait a sec! Is this it? This is all?”
I protested to the Tower, but it ignored me.
“No way, I cleared Nightmare! Shouldn’t that get me more?!”
Like it had seen enough of me, it shoved me out without mercy.
Back in the park in a blink. Me and the spider puppet, wearing a dumbfounded look. The key in my hand.
And……
23:59:59 until next Tower challenge.
The Tower, basically telling me I was done for the day.
“……Sniff.”
What the hell is this?
Tower-awakened hunters and natural-awakened hunters.
Maybe because their starting points were so different from the get-go, relations between the two groups had always been rocky.
Natural awakeners called Tower hunters “inferior self-awakeners who couldn’t even awaken on their own.”
Tower hunters shot back, calling natural awakeners “primitive awakeners not even chosen by the Tower.”
Tensions like that had always simmered between the factions.
And naturally, the nation was well aware of these hunter divides.
But for the country, it didn’t matter if they were natural or Tower awakened. What mattered was that both were powerful armed groups.
A major clash between them would be a national disaster.
So government agencies always walked a tightrope between the factions.
One such agency was the Hunter Management Association.
A specialist organization dedicated to soothing these ticking time bomb-like hunter groups.
And today, an alert hit the Association.
“……What did you say?”
“Floor 1 record broken and a Nightmare Difficulty clear at the same time.”
It hadn’t even been long since the youngest S-rank natural awakener, Yoo Chaerin, had appeared. They’d barely stopped the Tower faction from making a big move over the power balance.
That mess had just settled.
And now this—something to rile up the factions again.
Floor 1 record update and the first-ever Nightmare clear.
What did that mean? Essentially, a figure on par with—no, surpassing—the S-rank natural hunter Yoo Chaerin had emerged.
Why did Tower awakeners get called inferior to naturals?
Because when they first awakened, they weren’t that strong.
Tower hunters grew by climbing the Tower. Meaning first-floor challengers were inherently weak.
And now……
A record-breaker and new difficulty pioneer on Floor 1.
Translation: the highest-potential, off-the-charts Tower hunter yet had appeared.
This was bigger than Yoo Chaerin’s debut.
“That…… that’s really one of ours? From our country?”
“……Yes.”
The Tower updated and displayed records daily for all hunters to view.
So every hunter could check them.
Meaning the others would know soon too.
No—probably already did.
Not just Korea—the whole world.
Jang Seungcheol, deputy director of the Hunter Management Association.
The moment he heard the report, he slowly covered his face.
The birth of a powerful hunter was undoubtedly a national boon.
But that was for the country—not the Association.
They’d just calmed the Tower faction.
Now the naturals would kick up a storm.
And the Tower side would seize the chance to poke at the naturals.
It could spark a full-on faction war shaking the whole nation.
“……Find them.”
Only one way to handle it.
“Track down that awakener now!”
To save the country, they had to locate the Tower hunter and manage them somehow.