Floor 1
Internet news opened a refreshing morning, packing my smartphone full of sensational headlines.
Except… every single one of them was about me.
“S-class Hunter, huh…. Still doesn’t feel real.”
I watched Meonji rolling around beside me.
Roll, roll, roll.
I rolled after Meonji across the bed, sorting my thoughts as I went.
“But why is it so quiet?”
My name had already gone public the moment I became an S-class Hunter. If the reporters wanted my address, it should have been easier than stealing candy from a baby….
Yet the rusted door that connected the semi-basement to the outside world made no sound at all.
“Guess I’ll go get my ID reissued.”
If nobody was charging at me, that was only more convenient.
When I stepped outside, people were hiding nearby. Just hiding, though—so careful they seemed afraid even to snap a photo.
That was when something clicked.
I’d almost forgotten. It had been quite a while ago….
Lee Du, Korea’s sixth Hunter. A mountain of a man whose name suited the bulging biceps he proudly displayed.
The instant a new S-class Hunter appeared, the reporters had thrown privacy to the dogs and stormed his house. Until then, Hunters had mostly acted like public figures, so they never pushed back hard even when the press got rough. A little complaint from a Hunter was already headline gold, which only made the reporters bolder. In the end Lee Du snapped and used his skill on them.
His face and body were a map of scars, and his sheer physique was already overwhelming. The skill itself was Charm (S).
And Lee Du preferred men.
The male reporters had been helpless under the S-rank skill and walked straight into his house. The women couldn’t approach that physique so easily; the one who mustered the courage to shout insults was choked out cold on the spot. Three hours later the male reporters staggered out clutching their rear ends.
After that day, everyone started treating Awakeners with a lot more caution.
And the fact that news of me being S-class had spread meant everyone already knew what skill I carried.
Is it because of Self-Destruct?
Meonji’s skill, Self-Destruct. Maybe the sheer violence packed into that name was why they only watched me from a distance.
Well, it was comfortable, so I didn’t mind.
My steps felt light.
If I ever met Lee Du, I’d have to thank him~
When I walked into the Hunter Association Seoul Mapo Branch, the staff were waiting for me in ridiculous glasses. Curly, multicolored wigs sat on their heads, and a gaudy banner hung overhead.
“Congratulations on becoming an S-class Hunter!!! Congrats~~~!!!!!” the branch manager bellowed at the top of his lungs.
“Huh?”
The staff set off little party poppers beside him. Their eyes were dead with fatigue.
“Uh… what’s this…?”
My awkward reaction made the manager’s face stiffen.
“D-does it… not please you…?”
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Uh…. No. It’s not that…. You really didn’t have to….”
At those words the manager and every staff member clutched their chests in relief and began hastily gathering up the wigs, poppers, and glasses.
“A while back the parents of a five-year-old who awakened as A-class kept filing complaints, asking why we weren’t sincerely celebrating their child’s awakening…. Haha…. And they threatened to emigrate if we didn’t do it properly…. Ever since then the Association has had a directive: when an A-class or higher Awakener appears, we celebrate like this….”
The branch manager spoke with his head bowed low.
Office workers really have it rough….
Maybe a joke would lighten the mood?
“Should I just blow up the Hunter Association? Once it’s gone, you won’t have to celebrate anymore. Haha.”
I smiled and said it lightly.
Every person present, starting with the manager, froze solid. Their clothes darkened with fresh sweat. Then, as if they’d rehearsed it, they all scrambled to put the wigs and glasses back on.
“…Congratulations on your awakening~ Congratulations on your awakening~ Our beloved~ Han Doa.”
They began singing with the soul of a people who had just lost their country.
“Ah.”
Apparently the joke hadn’t landed. Their reaction made it clear they’d heard something closer to “You don’t feel like celebrating? Then go ahead and explode, yeah.”
“I’m sorry…. It was a joke.”
I had to keep apologizing until they finally calmed down. Only then did the gloomy congratulatory song at the Mapo Branch of the Hunter Association come to an end.
Once the whole commotion settled, the manager led me into the VIP room and briefly explained the laws an S-class Hunter needed to be careful about.
“So… what do you plan to do from now on?”
He asked me in a low voice.
“Mmm. First I’m going to climb the Tower a bit and make money with Magic Stones.”
Becoming S-class meant I already had more than enough power to climb. The manager brightened at that and pulled something from a drawer.
“There is a way to make a lot of money….”
He held out a thick stack of documents. Names, Hunter ranks, and skills filled the pages.
“Magic Stones are certainly high-value resources, but as the number of Hunters has increased, so has the supply of low-grade stones. Low-grade Magic Stones won’t bring in much.”
He was right. Mid-grade stones only started dropping from monsters on the 40th floor and higher. And once you left the Tower you were so mentally drained you needed at least a full day of rest.
“But! A person’s value is higher than a low-grade Magic Stone.”
The manager stressed the point.
“You want me to rescue these people?”
Scanning the list while listening made everything click. You couldn’t leave a floor until you cleared it, and you couldn’t go back down either. There were two ways to clear: solo or party. The rewards were the same—solo meant you kept everything; party meant it was split exactly n ways.
“Exactly. Since you are an S-class Hunter… your ability is more than sufficient. The government will pay a reward for every person you bring out of the Tower. Some of them have even offered additional personal compensation on top of the government payout.”
His words were sweet. I wanted out of the semi-basement, and for that I needed money.
But I couldn’t just roll over.
In business, money had to be locked down.
“And the reward is… how much?”
I trailed off as I asked. The manager smiled.
“The government will purchase low-grade Magic Stones at ten times the market rate.”
It was a pretty tempting offer.
“Hmm…. Fine! But I’ll only work as much as I feel like. If you change the terms later, I’ll just blow everything up.”
I slipped in another of my signature jokes.
“Y-yes! Of course! Please do exactly as you wish, Miss Doa!”
The manager’s pupils trembled.
I’d meant “blow everything up” as a joke.
I took the stack of documents and headed home. The road back was peaceful. Once I arrived I flopped onto the bed and read through the papers. Meonji tickled my navel.
“Eek!”
Looking at Meonji, I could tell it was bored.
“Then should we just go right now, Meonji?”
Scanning the documents showed the lowest floor anyone was stuck on was the 20th. Plenty of people had to be trapped below that, but the Association apparently didn’t feel S-class help was necessary for those cases.
“Once I make money, first thing I’m buying is clothes!”
I was about to get more and more famous. Appearances mattered. I couldn’t keep wearing the same short-sleeved shirt reeking of ramen broth forever….
I took the bus, transferred to the subway, and arrived at the Tower. I pressed my hand to it and silently called,
Enter.
Light wrapped around me. When I opened my eyes, a vast grassland greeted me.
“Whoa.”
The wide-open scenery felt refreshing.
At this rate the Tower’s nicer than my house.
A slightly bitter feeling mixed with the thought as I looked around. It was quieter than I’d expected.
“Is this the rest area?”
Every floor of the Tower consisted of two zones: a rest area completely free of monsters, and a combat area where monsters appeared and you could leave the Tower after clearing them. Once you entered the combat area you could return to the rest area exactly once. The people stuck in the Tower were those who couldn’t challenge again and simply remained in the rest area.
Meonji floated around me, rising and sinking happily in the air.
“Feels good taking a walk, huh?”
Meonji’s joy made me happy too. We walked the grassland together. After a while an unnatural little door appeared.
“Oh? That must be it.”
You entered the combat area through a door. The moment I opened it I felt myself being sucked in.
“Uwaaah—”
It felt exactly like being flushed down a toilet. After that long suction I arrived in a cave. And what appeared next was the eternal friend of every beginner, familiar beyond familiarity: goblins.
-Karrrragak!
The goblins seemed to welcome the birth of a new newbie; they raised their clubs and shouted at me.
“Meonji, look—they’re happy to see us.”
Meonji rubbed its fur against my cheek in delight.
Three goblins total. Two held clubs, one held a torch. White lines were drawn across their foreheads. The torch-bearer had three sticks; the other two had two each.
“Ah!”
Knowledge flashed through my mind. I’d never gone to the army, but thanks to internet education I was basically an honorary veteran.
I was the brand-new recruit who had just entered the Tower. And the three goblins in front of me were, in a sense, the Tower’s seniors: one corporal and two privates!
So I performed the absolute number-one thing a new recruit must do upon entering the barracks—throw the laundry bag and shout at the top of your lungs.
I hurled the fluffy Meonji at the goblins and bellowed,
“Receive the new recruit~!”
-BOOOOOOM!!!!
A massive explosion lit the cave bright. The senior goblins, apparently satisfied by the new recruit’s spirited action, burst apart. Green rain pitter-pattered through the cave. Scorch marks from the blast mixed with goblin blood until the floor became a digital camouflage pattern.