012
After my sister finished her phone call, I told her about the problem I’d been chewing on.
“So... you need a trustworthy porter? Someone with a tight mouth and a reliable record? And that’s why you’re considering my friend Hyeji?”
“Exactly. If I already know her, I can trust her to some extent, right? And you’re not exactly bad at reading people, either.”
“Hmm... Hyeji as a porter...”
“So? What do you think? Would she work as my porter?”
My sister thought about it for a moment, then answered with a complicated look on her face.
“It’s... hard to say.”
“Hard to say? Why? Is there something wrong with her personality or abilities?”
“No. She’s a good person. Kind, diligent, and she works hard... And she’s smart too. Back when she was in school, she was at the top of the class and had a full scholarship.”
“Was she at the same school as you?”
“Yeah. We went to college together. We were pretty close.”
“Oh...”
For reference, my sister had graduated from Korea University’s economics department.
In other words, she was an elite from one of the most prestigious universities in the country.
It wasn’t like she’d spent all those years working at a big company for nothing.
If Hyeji had been her classmate, then she must be another Korea University alum.
And not just that—she’d even graduated at the top of her class.
A textbook model student, basically.
In other words, she was the sort of person who ranked among the most diligent and high-performing people in the country.
If she’d been diligent with her studies, there was a good chance she’d be diligent about everything else too, right?
And since she’d be working with a friend’s family, building trust shouldn’t be a problem either.
My sister continued.
“She’s pretty tight-lipped, too. As far as I know, she’s never bad-mouthed anyone or blabbed anyone’s secrets. She hates drama or trouble in general and just quietly does her job without making a fuss.”
On top of that, she didn’t go around spilling other people’s secrets.
From the standpoint of someone like me, for whom confidentiality came first, that was a huge plus.
“And as a hunter, she’s only cleared up to Floor 4. If she accepts the porter offer, we could form a party right away.”
“When did she become a hunter?”
“About five years ago, right after graduating from college. She cleared Floors 1 through 4 somehow, but she said Floors 5 and up were out of the question, so she quit and took a normal job. She was working in finance... and then the Hunter Mobilization Order dragged her right back in.”
“Floor 4 is basically the perfect farming floor. Why would she go work at a company?”
“Because finance pays well. If you’re good at your job, you can make way more than a Floor 4 hunter.”
“Whoa...”
Right. Elite Korea University valedictorian.
She must’ve been one of those monsters who could pull a seven-figure salary without doing some grim, dangerous hunter work.
Anyway, she was already cleared up to Floor 4, so she could join immediately.
Given how badly I needed to climb the Tower as fast as possible, not having to wait was a huge advantage.
I was Korean, after all. Patience wasn’t exactly my specialty.
Wasn’t this the land of ppalli-ppalli?
In the end, this was the picture I got of Hyeji from my sister’s explanation: kind, diligent, smart, tight-lipped, available immediately, and already personally connected to us.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
“But why is that hard to say?”
By all accounts, she sounded like the ideal porter candidate.
At my question, my sister hesitated before opening her mouth.
“Well... I feel weird saying this as her friend, but... her personality is a little strange.”
“Strange? You just said she was kind and diligent.”
“It’s more like... that weird vibe she has. No, that’s not something I can really explain in words. You’ll understand once you actually meet and talk to her. She’s definitely not a bad person, though...”
What a way to make me uneasy.
Still, I decided to mark her as my porter candidate.
I’d ask my sister to contact her later.
Oh, right.
“Come to think of it, I forgot the most important question.”
“The most important question? What is it?”
I couldn’t exactly skip this one.
I asked with a serious face.
“Is she pretty?”
“...”
My sister looked at me like I was pathetic.
The next morning, I rode my sister’s car to the Hunter branch office again.
I placed my hand on the familiar crystal orb and checked in.
Please specify the amount of points to transfer to South Korea.
“All of it.”
121 points will be transferred to South Korea.
“Hunter Baek Jiho. 121 points confirmed. 1.21 million won will be deposited into the designated account. South Korea will remember your devotion.”
After I handed over the points, the familiar farewell from the civil servant I knew so well reached my ears.
I turned to him and asked, “Excuse me. I’ve got a question.”
“Yes, Hunter.”
“I’m trying to form a party with a retired hunter who’s currently under detention. What do I need to do in a case like that?”
My sister’s friend, Na Hyeji.
My porter candidate, and also a hunter taking a forced break.
Since the Hunter Mobilization Order had been issued, she was currently under compulsion to climb.
If I wanted to party up with her and bring her on as my porter, I’d have to get the government’s detention order lifted first.
In response to my question, the civil servant handed me a stack of forms.
“Please fill out these documents.”
“What are they?”
“A declaration that you will take responsibility for the party member’s point-earning activities.”
“Can you explain that more simply?”
“In short... if the purpose is party climbing, the detention order will be temporarily lifted. However, if any attempt to run away or slack off is discovered, then all party members—including the applicant—will be placed under forced detention.”
“...”
So they would release her if it was for climbing.
But if we dragged her in and then didn’t actually climb, they’d catch every member of the party and force us all up the Tower.
Basically, guilt by association.
They’re thorough in this regard, I’ll give them that.
Still, I guess if you’re going to drag someone off under the pretense of forming a party, you’d better have some way of making sure they actually climb.
They needed a hostage, if nothing else.
“Give me the papers.”
“Here you are. If you fill them out and submit them, the detention order should be lifted within twenty-four hours.”
I took the forms and left the branch office.
Then I handed the documents to my sister, who was waiting in the car.
“Sis. Take this.”
“What’s this? A temporary release application for a retired hunter...? A guarantee for point-earning obligations...?”
“If I pull your friend out to make a party and then she doesn’t climb, they’ll detain me too.”
“Hmm... do we really need to go this far just to find a porter? Hyeji isn’t that irresponsible, but still, you never know. Wouldn’t it be better to climb without a porter...?”
Climbing without a porter.
That was possible.
Honestly, even without one, as long as I brought back the high-value loot, the money would still be pretty substantial.
The higher the floor, the better the loot, so even if I climbed alone, my earnings would keep going up.
But.
“That would be such a waste. If we clear a floor but can’t carry everything out because we don’t have enough hands, do you know how much we’d lose?”
“If you make enough money, you can just buy a Subspace Pocket. From what I’ve seen, all the famous hunters wear one anyway.”
“Those cost at least ten billion won.”
“...A Subspace Pocket costs that much?”
“I checked Hunter Gallery, and even the lowest-grade Subspace Pocket goes for around ten billion won. Depending on the auction, it can reach twenty billion.”
There was such a thing as a Subspace Pocket.
But because it was an artifact only occasionally found in the upper floors of the Tower, the price had gone completely insane.
The lowest-grade Subspace Pocket cost around ten billion won.
The large-capacity ones used by high-floor hunters reportedly went for tens of billions, even up to the trillions.
There was no way I had anywhere near that kind of money.
Which meant the answer was simple: a porter.
Only a porter’s big, beautiful backpack could make loot harvesting truly efficient!
And make my life easier too!
Yes, I wanted a porter not only because of the loot problem.
More than anything, I wanted to protect my own delicate sensibilities.
I’m done rummaging through corpses for loot...!
If I could just wipe out monsters with a quick magic snap of my fingers and automate item collection, I’d keep my conscience clean and increase the amount of loot I brought back. Total win, right?
There’s a reason item-picking pets are mandatory in games.
“Anyway, I need a porter no matter what. Sis, when you have time, call your friend and ask if she’d be interested in working as one.”
“Sigh... fine. If you’re that set on it, I don’t have a choice. As your manager, I can only go along with it.”
“Oh, right. You’re my manager, aren’t you?”
“...You. Who did you think has been handling the loot you bring back in mountains every single day? Who do you think’s been dealing with the taxes?”
We chatted like that as we headed home.
Honestly.
I really hoped I’d get a porter soon.
Once I got home, I prepared for my climb.
The floor I was going to today was Floor 4.
It was a floor with a pretty strong reputation, in several senses.
I searched Hunter Gallery for “Floor 4.”
Floor 4.
The so-called farming floor. Or the parking floor.
It was the stage where most easy hunters finally sat down and stopped climbing.
Going up to Floor 5 is too dangerous, and the income on Floor 4 is pretty satisfying anyway... most easy hunters just stay here.
Floor 4 was a goblin village map.
Inside a massive cave, there was a goblin settlement, and if you crossed through the village and reached the escape portal beyond it, the floor was cleared.
There was a standard route, so it was very easy to clear.
And it was a stable source of income.
I’d heard that if you just entered Floor 4 every day, you were guaranteed at least ten million won a month after tax.
That worked out to 120 million won a year.
For about an hour of work a day, that was absurd money.
If that’s 120 million after tax, it’s a crazy high income... no wonder most people are satisfied with that.
Wasn’t that the law of diminishing marginal utility?
Money was always better in larger amounts, but after a certain point, each additional bit brought less and less satisfaction.
At that stage, you just didn’t want to risk your life chasing more.
And Floor 5 spawned goblin warriors.
The difficulty jumped sharply.
So rather than risk your neck on Floor 5, there were plenty of hunters who just kept grinding the safe, steady Floor 4.
And we called them farming bastards.
I dug through old notice posts on Hunter Gallery and read a Floor 4 strategy guide.
[Title: (Notice) Floor 4 Guide]
Nice work, everyone, making it to Floor 4.
Up till now you’ve probably been risking your life to make a few bucks a day, maybe a hundred thousand won on a good day, right?
On Floor 3, you probably didn’t make a single cent.
Those hard times are over now lol.
Floor 4 is the classic low-risk, high-efficiency farming heaven, so from now on you’ll actually make some real money.
Here’s the strategy.
When you start, you’ll be in a huge cavern. Straight ahead, you’ll see the goblin village.
You know, the one with the crude fences, watchtowers, and a cluster of huts made from grass and hide.
There’s an escape portal beyond that village, and that’s where you need to go.
So here’s the question:
How do you get through the goblin village?
Can you just rush straight through like you did on Floor 3?
Nope. You’ll die instantly.
The second the goblins on the watchtowers spot you, they’ll start ringing the bell like crazy, and hundreds of goblins will pour out from every direction.
They even have archers, and they’ll rain arrows down on you. You’ll literally have no choice but to die.
Do not go straight in.
Then how do you get to the escape portal?
The answer is to detour.
First, make a big loop to the left while making sure the goblins on the watchtowers don’t spot you.
There are traps scattered around, so if it’s your first time, be careful...
After you’ve gone through a few times, you’ll memorize the trap locations and get used to them, but the first time you might get caught by one, so watch your feet.
By the way, the goblin bastards are vicious—they smeared poison and shit all over the traps. Filthy little scum.
Anyway, if you keep going left like that, you’ll eventually find a narrow side path tucked away in a dark corner.
Go through there.
If you follow the side path inward, you’ll find a small storage shack on the outskirts.
There are four goblins guarding the place.
Kill all four as fast as possible and loot the storage, go go go.
Inside the shack, there are about 10 kilograms of hide.
At current market price, that’s worth about a million won.
Once you’ve grabbed it all, stick to the left wall again and keep moving forward, and eventually you’ll hit a section where getting spotted by the goblin watchtower is unavoidable.
The bell will start ringing.
When that happens, you just run like hell.
By the time you’re spotted, the escape portal is already close enough that if you had the legwork to get through Floor 3, you can get out with room to spare, easy.
To summarize:
1. Don’t go straight in. Take the left side path instead. Be careful of traps.
2. Kill the goblins in front of the storage shack and loot it.
3. Sneak out, and when the bell rings, sprint like your life depends on it.
If you do a hide-run like this once a day, you can make thirty million a month without even trying.
So either farm and enjoy the easy money, or save up, improve your specs, and head to Floor 5 lol.
└ If you kill four goblins and take the hide, does that duplicate into a million won each time? That’s insane.
└└ The price of hide has dropped to around 700,000 for 10 kilograms lately, and taxes went up a lot, so it’s not quite that good anymore.
└└ But back in the early days of the Tower, it was a total gold mine. There were no taxes then and hide was expensive, so people were making 30 million a month...
└└ Nowadays half of it goes to tax and the hide price has crashed, so you barely make ten million a month. Man, I miss the old days.
└ Come to think of it, isn’t Floor 4 basically just applying all the strategies from Floors 1 through 3? On Floor 1, you have to sneak around quietly; on Floor 2, you need route-finding, trap recognition, and one-versus-many combat; and then at the end, like Floor 3, you sprint like mad... It feels like the map was designed on purpose.
└└ Yeah, it feels like a final review of all the old strategies in the last solo zone. It’s probably there to make you ready to pull your weight in party floors like Floor 5. But who cares? Farming hide is too sweet—I’m parking here forever. Floor 5 never, lol.
└ What happens if you don’t go toward the side path and just head into the village?
└└ Death.
└└ There are 300 goblins in the village... 50 of them are archers, and it’s just a slaughterhouse. Don’t even look in that direction.
└└ A high-floor hunter went into the Floor 4 village and tore through it, but the only loot worth mentioning was some crude metal ingots. It’s not worth going there, and it’s insanely dangerous, so seriously, don’t.
...
The comments went on and on.
Every last one of them said not to go to the village.
That made sense, since the official route was to find the side path and bypass the village as much as possible.
Normally, a hunter would never head toward the village side.
But.
“A total beta male move. Being scared of goblins and going around searching for a side path like some wimp.”
I had no intention of following the standard strategy.
“Extreme Lunatic Hell alpha male move. Wiping out hundreds of goblins and charging straight through with your head held high.”
If I could rip and crush everything from the front, there was no reason to sneak around from the back.
I muttered under my breath.
“Tower entry.”
⊳ Please select the floor you wish to enter.
“Floor 4.”
Today, I was going to destroy the goblin village with overwhelming firepower.