021
Morning.
When I opened my eyes, I shuffled out into the living room.
“Noona. What’s for breakfast to—?”
The moment I started to ask the usual morning-menu question, I froze in place.
Because someone I’d never expected to see was sitting at the table.
“Hyejissi? Why are you at our house this early in the morning?”
It was none other than my porter, Na Hyeji, SS-rank edition.
With a haggard look on her face, she barked back, “Thanks to someone not waking me up yesterday, I slept straight through!”
“Don’t tell me you slept on the living room floor all night?”
“Yes. Was that really so terrible? You just disappeared into your room and went to sleep by yourself. So I ended up sleeping on the hard floor, okay? My arms and legs are sore now, and my neck feels awful...”
“Ohhh.”
Hyejissi had sprawled out in the living room and slept like the dead. From the looks of it, she’d just kept sleeping there until morning, when Noona found her.
I listened to her whining with one ear and let it go in the other as I sat down at the table.
Today’s breakfast was doenjang jjigae, soybean paste stew.
Rich, savory, and piping hot. Absolutely divine.
Then Noona brought over the side dishes and said, “You two are loud first thing in the morning. Why are you fighting already?”
“Jiye. Your little brother’s weird.”
“...Yeah, I know that much. Anyway, Hyeji, you said you’d be staying here until tonight?”
“Yeah. I got wrecked yesterday, so I can barely move and my whole body feels heavy... I’m just going to rest at your place, then head to the Tower after that and go home.”
“Sure, then. Go rest in my room.”
“Thanks. That was a good meal. I’m gonna sleep some more, then.”
With a clatter, Na Hyeji finished her food in a flash, jumped to her feet, and went into Noona’s room.
She was probably planning to catch up on the sleep she’d missed.
I sat there and kept eating.
While I was spooning rice into my soybean soup, Noona said quietly, “You two seem a lot closer now.”
“...?”
What kind of random comment was that?
Noona went on, “Hyeji’s pretty shy, so she doesn’t usually raise her voice like that. She only acts like that around people she’s really close to.”
I thought back on Na Hyeji’s first impression.
Sure enough, that was exactly right.
Her first impression had been a timid, frightened, introverted person.
Someone who wore glasses she didn’t even need because she was embarrassed, hiding her face behind them.
But now she complained at the drop of a hat, threw little fits, and screamed her head off.
She was completely different from how she’d started out.
“If you’ve gotten this close... I guess you’ve been treating each other well. I was worried you might not get along because your personalities were so different. I’m glad you’ve adapted well.”
“Did I really treat her that well?”
I thought carefully about everything I’d done for Hyejissi so far.
Come on. Hurry up and collect the spoils.
It feels a little weird, right? You’ll get used to it if you keep at it. Don’t worry.
Cheer up, cheer up! Hyejissi can do it! Don’t lose to the spoils and loot!
Once a porter, always a porter! Bravo, porter! La-la-la, cha-cha-cha! Hey, pa-pa-ri-pa!
Through hardship and joy, let us love our porter!
By any chance, do you know the toy called slime? I mean liquid monster goo.
Hmm. Yeah, I had treated her well.
Every time she hesitated in front of a corpse, I’d forcefully pump her up at my side.
I’d generously shown her all sorts of magical eye candy every day too—goblin talent shows, specifically.
And I was even giving her a free express ride all the way up to Floor 20.
That was definitely good treatment.
But honestly, it doesn’t seem like she’s gotten closer so much as her personality has just gone rotten.
Hunters naturally had ugly tempers.
When you stared at blood every day, your personality got rough without even trying.
And Hyejissi was an SS-rank porter digging spoils out of goblin paste. Even if she was naturally introverted, there was no way her temper wouldn’t sharpen.
Noona, not knowing any of that, seemed to think Hyejissi’s whining meant they’d gotten really close.
I shrugged and changed the subject. “Well, we’re people who do rough work together. But have you already sold off all the spoils that were in the living room? I don’t see them.”
“Oh. I switched dealers recently, and they’re insanely efficient. The second I call, they come right over and pick everything up, you know? And they don’t do any pointless haggling either—they pay the full price right away, so—”
“Must be rough being a manager, Noona.”
And so.
It was a little noisier than usual that morning.
* * *
[Transferred 1667 points to Republic of Korea.]
“Hunter Baek Jiho. I’ve confirmed receipt of 1667 points. I’ll deposit 16.67 million won into the designated account. The Republic of Korea will remember your devotion!”
“Yep. Take care.”
After checking in at the climber management office.
And after coming back home.
I opened HunterNet right away.
It was about the comment I’d left yesterday.
I muttered to myself, “So the invite finally came from HunterNet.”
HunterNet.
An exclusive, locked-down community that only active hunters—specifically the real ones who’d cleared Floor 5 or higher—could enter.
By “real hunters,” I meant not low-floor parking-lot rice-eaters or those pathetic unemployed hunters.
I meant people who were genuinely trying to climb the Tower.
There was a wealth of high-level information here.
Trading, auctions, party recruitment—it was useful in all kinds of ways.
HunterNet had sent me an invitation.
Of course I was going to join.
Honestly, the whole reason I even started posting on HunterGall was to get a HunterNet invitation in the first place.
If you had hunter connections, you could just get an invite code and join with no trouble.
But I had no hunter connections whatsoever.
So all I could do was keep posting on HunterGall and reveal which floors I’d cleared in the process.
Somehow that had gotten me labeled an obnoxious concept-obsessed attention freak...
Ridiculous.
I’d only ever told the truth.
But because my power went so far beyond existing common sense, I’d ended up branded a lying fraud and a toxic poseur.
No one believed in the power of the great Extreme Lunatic Hell Hunter.
Still, honestly, it was fun.
Every time I posted a brag, people would lose their minds and foam at the mouth. How was I supposed to resist that?
Anyway.
“I thought they were ignoring me completely since they kept not sending the invite. Guess they finally sent it, even if it was late. Now let’s see... the signup process...”
HunterNet.
As expected of an insanely exclusive hunter-only community, the registration process was complicated.
-Click!
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 8)]
[0 points]
[Republic of Korea Hunter Registration Card]
[Baek Jiho][Low Floors (1-10)]
I entered the invite code I’d received by private message.
Then I had to attach a screenshot of my status window and hunter registration card to complete the verification.
The whole thing practically screamed, We absolutely do not accept civilians or rice-eaters.
Well, that made sense.
HunterNet had separated from HunterGall because HunterGall had become nothing but a swarm of civilians and rice-eaters.
They probably wanted to admit only hunters who truly deserved the name.
Come to think of it, Hyejissi hit Floor 8 too, so she should be able to join.
Since I’d gotten the invite code, it seemed like a good idea for her to sign up too.
“Hyejissi!”
“What?”
She swung my door open and appeared, wearing a simple T-shirt—probably one of Noona’s, stolen for the occasion.
I told her the invite code.
“I got a HunterNet invite code. You should join too, Hyejissi.”
“Wow... They actually sent an invite because of that insane concept post? HunterNet’s screwed.”
“Ahem. Don’t insult HunterNet now that it’s finally opened its eyes, even if belatedly. Anyway, join. It’s good for getting high-level info.”
“Sure, whatever.”
Hyejissi also verified her status window and hunter ID, then joined HunterNet.
At last, she had access to the community of established hunters.
I began browsing HunterNet with interest.
...
After roughly skimming through the posts on HunterNet, my impression was simple.
What an insanely boring site for serious people.
Though, that was only natural.
HunterNet was a real-name-only site.
[Author: Kim Manho (9)]
[Author: Choi Yoonmi (6)]
[Author: Park Youngchan (8)]
[Author: Lee Jinsu (14)]
[Author: Kim Taeyun (11)]...
Not only your real name, but the floor you were currently climbing was displayed too.
It was nowhere near as freewheeling as HunterGall.
Of course, that meant the information here was more trustworthy...
Honestly, there’s enough info about the low floors on HunterGall already. No real need to be active here right now.
I’d probably end up using it more often once I reached the middle floors of the Tower.
And I can’t even stir things up here. Too dangerous.
HunterNet showed both real names and floor numbers.
If I acted out here and got on the wrong side of a high-floor hunter, my life could get seriously miserable.
To be honest, with my abilities right now, I probably could smack around even middle-floor hunters with ease...
But whether my power would work on a high-floor hunter was another matter.
That made it look a little too risky to start trouble here right away.
Of course, that was only for now.
It’d be fun to hit the high floors and start throwing my weight around on HunterNet.
Once I reached around Floor 40, I’d probably be able to cause chaos openly and nobody would be able to say a thing.
While I was scrolling through the posts with these thoughts in mind, I happened to spot a familiar name.
I opened the post.
[Post title: My climbing has stalled because I injured my hand...]
[Author: Gwak Hyeokjun (8)]
I injured my hand.
Because of the Hunter Mobilization Order, I still had to make points.
So I’ve been going to the low floors, killing one or two goblins, and paying only the bare minimum amount of points.
In the end, the hunter team I was leading has effectively dissolved.
It’s a very frustrating situation...
I need to get to Japan as soon as possible...
Please, everyone, be careful.
The name Gwak Hyeokjun.
An 8th-floor hunter. Leader of a hunter team. Injured hand.
Using memories from more than a week ago, I finally dredged it back up and remembered.
“This bastard... he’s that piece of trash who was creeping on Noona, isn’t he?!”
I remembered.
It was the day I’d gone through the tutorial.
He’d shown up all the way at our house, hit on Noona, and then run off after I beat the crap out of him.
Looking back on that, fury surged up inside me.
I forced the anger down and left a comment.
The moment I posted the comment.
A little later...
The post had been deleted.
Looks like he’d checked my comment and panicked and bailed in a hurry.
I clenched my fist.
“I should’ve beaten him more thoroughly back then...”
“Why are you huffing and puffing by yourself?”
“It’s nothing. I just found someone disgusting on HunterNet.”
Anyway, I’d joined HunterNet.
But my true home in my heart was still HunterGall.
I closed HunterNet and went back to HunterGall.
* * *
Floor 8.
Also known as the hunting grounds.
It was the floor we were going to clear today.
It’s a floor hunters like for all kinds of reasons.
A floor that was relatively safe if you didn’t get greedy, and one where you could steadily make a lot of money.
It was where hunters who’d given up on the middle-floor challenge in the latter half of the low floors settled down.
That was why Floor 8 had another name: the “second rice-eating floor.”
Click.
I searched HunterGall for Floor 8 on the computer.
[Guys, how long does it take to clear Floor 8?]
[You gotta play it safe around the starting area]
[Ah... I think this is as far as I go. I can’t even imagine clearing Floor 9, so I’m just gonna make my rice money on Floor 8]
[How the hell am I supposed to save up 1000 points]
[Is it true hard mode can clear Floor 8 in three days? Whoa]
Floor 8 was the floor where you had to collect 1000 points per person.
There was a return portal and a small stone tower at the starting point.
Once each person collected a thousand points, the tower’s door would open, revealing the escape portal inside and clearing the floor.
I read through some of the more noticeable posts.
[Post title: Guys, how long does it take to clear Floor 8?]
You have to kill 1,000 goblins each, right?
You have to kill a ton of them.
How long does it take to clear this?
...
As you could see, the orthodox strategy for Floor 8 was to “camp the starting area.”
The farther you moved away from the starting point, the more advanced monsters like goblin archers and warriors would appear.
And because their numbers increased exponentially, easy-mode hunters had to hole up at the starting point, kill 50 goblins a day, and return to reality twenty times over.
Like they were commuting to work.
Day one: kill fifty goblins, return to reality, regroup.
Day two: kill fifty goblins, return to reality, regroup.
Day three: kill fifty goblins, return to reality, regroup...
You had to repeat this nonsense a full twenty times!
Which meant the average clear time for an easy-mode hunter on Floor 8 was a whopping 20 days.
An absurdly long time.
“To burn twenty whole days on a single floor. Do they have time to rot in the sun or something? Tch. Typical small fries...”
“Wow, you’re so annoying.”
The SS-rank porter next to me sniped at me, but I ignored her.
How dare Hyeji’s support tool throw shade at this noble top-laner?
Answering would only spoil the tool. Can’t have that.
Anyway.
Average clear time for Floor 8: easy 20 days, normal 10 days, hard 3 days... or so they said.
Floor 8 was designed so that the more risk you took, the faster you could clear it.
If you only messed around near the starting point, it took as long as twenty days.
But if you moved a little north and hunted there, it dropped to 10 days.
Go deeper still, and you could collect the 1000 points in just 3 days.
1000 points.
For easy, normal, and hard mode, that was an enormous amount of points.
But to me, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Hunter, it was a pitiful amount.
Just yesterday alone, I’d earned 1677 points.
With Na Hyeji’s share included, making 2000 points would be child’s play.
I nodded and held out my hand.
“Let’s get going, Hyejissi.”
“Sigh... It’s going to be a brutal day again.”
I lit up at the thought of slaughtering goblins.
Na Hyeji lamented the hard labor ahead.
And we took each other’s hands.
“Enter the Tower.”
⊳ Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 8)
⊳ Na Hyeji (Republic of Korea: Floor 8)
Choose the floor you wish to enter.
“Floor 8.”
[Entering Floor 8 of the Tower.]
Faaat-!
The Floor 8 strategy run had begun.
—