Hidden Difficulty

"It works...!"

The words came out. The true names were displaying properly, too.

Divine Eye and All-Things Resonance.

Without either one of them, none of this would have been possible. Maybe God had known all of this from the start. There was no other explanation for being handed two abilities that locked together this perfectly.

As of today, I was no longer an atheist. Kamisama, I'm sorry for ever doubting you.

"I could just head to the Tower today, couldn't I?"

I'd originally planned to train a little more first. But now that I'd confirmed the ability fired without a hitch, there was nothing left to be afraid of.

"Might as well finish watching this first."

No reason to skip a walkthrough when one was sitting right there.

The man in the video was a C-rank Hunter. He looked like a thief-type, darting around with a single dagger in hand. True to Easy difficulty, the goblins were armed with nothing but crude clubs.

He flicked shuriken from inside his coat — some went wide, others sank into goblin torsos and legs. The goblins shrieked in pain and charged; he slipped their swings with practiced ease and drove the dagger home.

Clear time: about five minutes.

"What the hell. That looks ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠insanely easy."

At this rate I could probably clear it without even calling true names. Then again, maybe it just looked that way because other people's work always does.

"Let's check out Hard while I'm at it."

Honestly, there was no point watching Easy anymore. One click and the monsters would drop like autumn leaves anyway. If I was going in, I might as well go for Hard, where the rewards were far better.

First-floor clears were so widely documented that finding a guide video took no effort at all.

"Oh, it's Hunter Shin Yura."

Known by the epithet Flame Emperor — one of only seven S-rank Hunters in all of South Korea. Her fame spoke for itself: of every clear video on the list, hers had the most views.

"I used to think she was insanely pretty. So why do I feel like I'm prettier now...?"

Slap! Slap!

I smacked both cheeks, hard. Was it the estrogen pouring off me? I was comparing faces in a way I never would have before.

Not that Shin Yura had anything to be ashamed of. She was stunning by any standard — long crimson hair, amber eyes, a voluptuous figure with a sultry air that made her a favorite among a great many men.

I hit play. Fire erupted from Shin Yura's fists, and goblin heads burst one after another.

One punch. One head.

All ten goblins died instantly.

"S-rank Hunters really are on another level."

There were far more of them than in the C-rank video, and this time the goblins weren't uniformly armed, either. One had a sword, one a bow, one a shield — each filling a role. None of it mattered. In the face of an S-rank Hunter's overwhelming force, their formations were worthless.

"Yeah, I'm not even going to pretend I can copy that."

There was a reason they sat in the top 0.1 percent of all Hunters. The video was a showcase of what S-rank prestige actually looked like.

The comment section wasn't far off from my own reaction.

A few of the comments made me grimace, but that was YouTube for you.

I'd confirmed everything I needed from the guides. Time to start getting ready for the Tower —

"Ah. Clothes."

It occurred to me that I didn't own a single thing that actually fit. Heading into a fight in clothes that kept sliding off me felt like a bad idea.

I'll go tomorrow.

I'd trained today. I'd gathered intel. That felt like a full enough day. Putting off the climb by one day wasn't going to end the world.

I browsed women's clothes online.

"If I'm buying anyway, might as well get Hunter gear."

Safer was better, so I started looking at Hunter-exclusive outfits with built-in functions.

"You've got to be kidding. Why is this so expensive?"

The pricey ones ran well over twenty thousand dollars, and even the cheapest was five hundred — for a top. If I bought the bottoms too...

"A thousand bucks?! That's insane. How am I supposed to afford this?"

I gave up and turned my attention to ordinary tracksuits. I ordered a black set with the classic white three-stripe design, and then —

"I should... probably get underwear too, right?"

Walking around in men's underwear in this body felt wrong. And I'd heard that if a woman's chest wasn't properly supported, it sagged later. Maybe I wouldn't have cared with the old body. I didn't want to ruin this one.

"Hmm. These look decent."

A matching set, black with white stripes. A sports bra with no hooks, so it'd be easy to move in. They were running a buy-one-get-one, the price was reasonable, and the design was simple. I didn't want to spend a lot of time shopping for underwear, so I bought two sets on the spot.

"Done. Now, how about a game?"

This was absolutely not slacking off. This was all part of ability training, I'll have you know. Ah, look at me — able to rest, and still striving without pause. Truly admirable. That must be why God had given abilities like these to someone who worked so hard.

"Let's gooo~ let's gooo~"

The next morning, I put on the underwear and tracksuit that had arrived by express delivery and stepped outside. Self-conscious about my eyes, I slipped on a pair of sunglasses I'd bought for next to nothing in Southeast Asia years ago.

There were three Towers standing in Korea, located in Songpa District in Seoul, Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, and Wonju in Gangwon Province. Their exteriors were black, their height absurd enough to punch through the clouds, and the atmosphere they gave off was enough to crush a person where they stood.

When the Towers first appeared, the entire world had lost its mind. Gates were already a headache — and then these structures had erupted out of nowhere. People had trembled with fear. Fortunately, the Towers turned out not to be particularly dangerous. If anything, they were a boon to humanity.

Entry was forbidden to anyone but the Awakened, and like some kind of training ground for the human race, the Towers rewarded you and made you stronger every time you cleared a floor.

Some corners of the internet spun conspiracy theories — that a greater catastrophe was coming, and the Towers were just buying humanity time to grow. Most people ignored them. After more than twenty years, the Towers hadn't harmed humanity at all. They'd only made life richer. Say that kind of thing these days and you'd get treated like someone arguing the earth was flat.

I sat at the bus stop and waited, passing the time with a web novel on my phone. An old woman arrived at the stop, took one look at my face, and her eyes went round.

"Oh my goodness, how did you get to be this pretty? Are you a celebrity?! And that skin, white as snow."

"Ah... haha, thank you. I'm not a celebrity."

My ears went red. It was the first time in my life anyone had praised my looks with that kind of genuine warmth. And she'd said it even with the sunglasses on — was the face underneath just that impossible to hide?

"Is that so? You were so pretty I figured you had to be on TV. Wearing sunglasses in broad daylight, too. Anyway, I think you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen in my life. Makes me want to give you some pocket money. Now where's my cash..."

She started rummaging through her handbag. I stopped her as firmly as I could.

"It's okay! Grandma! You don't have to! Uh... my bus is here, I should get going!"

The bus I'd been waiting for pulled up at that exact moment, and I scrambled aboard.

Hah... so this is the kind of thing that happens when you're actually pretty.

I never imagined a complete stranger would try to press money into my hands. Looking young probably had something to do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with it, but before the body swap, this would have been unthinkable.

Beep!

I tapped my bus card and took a seat in the back. A few stops later, the bus hissed to a halt near the Tower, and I got off and started walking.

I could feel people looking as I went. Thankfully, they only stared. Nobody came up to me, which was a mercy.

"Ugh. I just got here and I already feel drained."

It wasn't even that far — this was Tower-adjacent, after all. Maybe it was all the attention I'd been tracking the whole way.

Step by short step, I found myself at the foot of the black Tower. It hadn't looked like much from a distance, but up close the solemn, crushing atmosphere was anything but ordinary.

At least I only have to do this annoying trip once.

After your first entry, you could come back anytime through the status window. Meaning from now on, I wouldn't have to bother with the bus. One click from home and I'd be here.

There's a lot of people, though.

The Tower had calcified into something like a tourist attraction by now, and the area around it was surprisingly crowded.

"Alright. Let's do this."

I'd studied the walkthroughs thoroughly. I'd adapted to the ability, at least somewhat. Even if ten goblins came bursting out, I at least wouldn't throw up.

I passed through the entrance and stepped inside the Tower.

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

"Hard it is."

I had an instant-kill cheat. There was nothing to be scared of. Just read the true names in a hurry and tell them all to die.

I reached for the HARD button without a second thought.

And then —

"What? Why isn't anything happening?"

I mashed it. I held it down. Nothing.

A glitch? I've never heard of the Tower glitching, though.

Was I about to be stuck in here with no way out? Cold sweat slid down my spine —

The status window erupted in blood-red static, and every line of text on it vanished like a mirage.

"Huh? What's going on?"

In the empty space, new letters bloomed — dark crimson.

"What?"

A hidden difficulty? That was a thing?

...No, it wasn't. If something like this existed, people would have found out about it a long time ago.

"Wait, wait, my Hard difficulty—!"

Easy through Hard had all been wiped out. The only option left on the selection window was Nightmare.

Is this... okay?

That dark crimson flicker looked ominous as hell — the color of death, no two ways about it. I had the instant-kill cheat, but I was still afraid, and there was no helping that. Humans feared the unknown. That was just how we were built.

But there was no other choice. Sitting here would only mean being trapped.

"Hah... I even looked up the walkthroughs, and now they're all useless."

It was still the first floor, though, so goblins would come out... right? They had to. Orcs or trolls popping up out of nowhere would be cheating.

"Not like I have a choice. Let's go."

At worst, there'd just be more of them. Easy had three, Normal had five, Hard had ten — so maybe around fifteen? Calling every name might be a little much, but I probably wouldn't die. Worst case, I'd just order them to kill each other.

I pressed the NIGHTMARE button hanging in the air.

"Wait, wait! What the hell is a Goblin Rider?!"

I'd never heard of that monster. It sounded like a goblin riding something, but the point was — these weren't the goblins I knew!

"Ah, shit, seriously! Why does everything keep going off-script?!"

I didn't even have time to be angry. Blue light shimmered around my body, and I felt myself slowly lifting off the ground.

The ten seconds ran out. What unfolded around me wasn't the dark cave from the videos. It was a stretch of blue-green forest.

And in the distance, five goblins mounted on raptors were charging straight at me at a dead run. Unlike anything I'd seen in the videos, they gripped spears and shields in either hand.

"The weapons are different too — that's basically twenty of them!"

The raptors were monsters as well. Calling the goblins' true names alone wasn't going to solve this.

Kill them. Fast.

I activated Divine Eye at once and read their true names.

"Grahuel. Die."

Shunk—!

The moment I spoke the true name and gave the command, the goblin I'd named lifted its own spear and drove it through its chest.

"Keruk—?"

"Kerruk—?"

Their comrade had just killed itself out of nowhere. The remaining goblins stared, baffled. I didn't waste their confusion. I rattled off the names of the ones beside it in a rapid chain.

"Tsuark. Die. Hruasha. Die."

Shnk—!

Shunk—!

Comrades dropping themselves one after another. Fear started to gather in the eyes of the ones still standing. I was about to spit the next name when —

"Huh?"

Far off, I could see Goblin Riders holding staves.

Fwoosh—!

Wait, wait, what the hell is that?

Five blazing fireballs hung in the air, and they looked like they would ruin my entire day if they connected. I used Foresight. In a few seconds, those fireballs were going to be coming straight at me.

Screw this up and I was about to die the most painful death there was: burning alive. This was not the time for "Die." I needed to turn them on each other, right now.

Talk while I run.

First things first, I executed the thirty-sixth stratagem: run like hell.