Chapter 8
The next morning, I headed to the Climber Management Branch with my sister.
“Since the Hunter Mobilization Order’s been issued, you’ve got to come to the Climber Branch every day and pay points from now on.”
“Every day?”
“Yeah. Every day. It’s basically an attendance check. You have to go once a day and hand over your points. If you don’t, you’re in big trouble.”
The Hunter Mobilization Order had gone out.
Every single hunter, without exception, had to enter the Tower and earn points.
And because there was always the chance that some hunters might slack off and keep working outside without ever setting foot inside the Tower, the government was forcing them to cough up points every day as a kind of attendance check.
When we arrived that early in the morning, the Climber Management Agency branch was already packed wall to wall.
All because hunters had flooded in under the mobilization order.
I took a number and waited.
“Hunter number 21!”
“Yes.”
I stood and headed to the point exchange counter.
Then I placed my hand on the familiar crystal sphere.
[Please designate the amount of points to transfer to South Korea.]
“All of it.”
[Transferring 34 points to South Korea.]
I handed over the points.
The civil servant beside me looked at the crystal sphere and said, “Hunter Baek Jiho, 34 points confirmed. We’ll deposit 340,000 won into the designated account.”
“Right. But do I really have to come here every day? Can’t I just save them up and send them all at once?”
“It’s the Hunter Mobilization Order. We need to confirm that hunters are entering the Tower every day. So you’ll need to come to the branch and pay your points every day... or at least once every two days, if possible.”
“What happens if I don’t show up?”
“If you ignore the summons for more than three days, you’ll be forcibly detained. And just like the other reserve hunters, you’ll be made to carry out climbing activities while confined.”
“...”
That was downright brutal.
Disappear for a bit and you got kidnapped, locked up, and milked for points. At that rate, there was no choice but to punch in every single day like a model employee.
“Ah, but you won’t be thrown into some prison-like environment. We’ll house hunters in places like university dormitories or training centers and simply encourage climbing activity. We’ll do our best to make you comfortable, too. So if coming to the branch every day is difficult, then perhaps you’d prefer the accommodations we provide—”
“No, no, it’s fine, really, I’m totally fine, home is better for me.”
“Please let us know if you need anything.”
I bolted from my seat like I was escaping a haunted house.
What the hell was that? Why would I leave my comfortable home to go to jail?
No matter that it was a half-basement apartment, home was always the best.
“Sister. Let’s go home.”
“Nothing else you need?”
“Let’s stop by the mart on the way back and grab some pork belly. I’m craving grilled pork belly for dinner.”
We left the Climber Branch and headed home.
Then, as usual, I opened Hunter Gallery.
I think I’m getting addicted to Hunter Gallery lately.
With the whole country in an uproar and all kinds of posts flying around, I kept finding myself checking it.
Was this what community addiction felt like?
I quickly browsed the latest posts.
[These soldiers are fucking terrifying]
[Dorms: not bad?]
[Starting today, they’re forcing in all the hunters who’ve been lazing around, right?]
[Please bring back the points. I don’t want to die]
[Hunter Mobilization Order’s out, so what stock should I buy?]
Unlike yesterday, when the gallery had been blazing hot, things had calmed down somewhat.
I read a few posts that stood out.
[Post title: These soldiers are fucking terrifying]
Are these bastards insane or what?
They’re rolling around in armored vehicles and wandering around the university with rifles in their hands.
The atmosphere is fucking insane. It feels like a war’s broken out...
But why are the military even here?
Is there some kind of military event near the university?
└ Didn’t you see the news? They’re seizing university dorms and using them as housing for hunters.
└ It would be scary enough with no shooting. This is basically a wartime state lol
└ But what are you even doing on campus? Aren’t universities completely shut down right now?
└└ (Author) I’m a grad student, so I was still staying at school.
└└ Grad student = slave... Hang in there. Guess you didn’t even have time to watch the news.
[Post title: Dorms: not bad?]
(Photo of a sparse room interior)
I thought I was being dragged off by soldiers and thrown into some military prison, but they took me to a university dorm.
They say I have to live here, climb the Tower every day, and pay points.
Ah... I’m scared to go to the Tower.
└ Then don’t go.
└└ (Author) I can’t not go. They locked us up and the soldiers are pointing guns at us. How am I supposed to not go?
└└ So it wasn’t knives they were threatening you with, it was guns? lol
└ Didn’t they take your phone away? How are you managing meals?
└└ (Author) They didn’t take my phone, and they deliver lunch boxes three times a day. If you ask for clothes or toiletries, they bring those too. But you can’t leave the dorm building, and soldiers with guns are guarding it.
└└ Still, they’re treating you decently enough lol. I figured they’d lock you up and work you like a dog, China-style.
└└ (Author) Decently my ass. We can’t even go outside, and we’re being forced into the Tower. This is fucking awful...
└ This reminds me of COVID. Back then they also housed confirmed cases in university dorms and training centers.
└└ The difference is that during COVID, doctors monitored the patients. Right now, soldiers are monitoring hunters...
└└ Anyway, most universities are on indefinite suspension and the dorms are empty, so they’ve got plenty of room.
└└ Game over. Lock them all up. Damn slackers.
“So the civil servant wasn’t lying when he said they weren’t being dragged to prison.”
The hunters who’d been rounded up under the Hunter Mobilization Order.
From the looks of it, they were being collectively housed in places like university dorms and sent climbing the Tower every day.
Surprisingly, it was... actually a somewhat humane measure.
If this had been China or Russia, they would’ve stuffed everyone in prison and ruthlessly worked them to death, using torture or executions if they failed to produce enough results.
Here, they were saying all you had to do was go to the Tower and bring back even a little bit of points.
How soft was that?
No, wait. Is it China and Russia that are crazy?
It felt like the whole concept of ordinary ethics had been shattered after the Tower era began.
Confinement and forced labor?
In the Korea of before, that would’ve caused an uproar.
But this was the morality of the Tower age.
There were too many lives at stake to worry about human rights and all that.
Anyway.
Time to go.
“Enter the Tower.”
[Baek Jiho (South Korea: 2nd Floor)]
[Please select the floor you wish to enter.]
“2nd Floor.”
[Entering Tower 2nd Floor.]
Flash—!
A blinding wash of light wrapped around me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When the light faded, I slowly looked around.
A dark, cramped underground space.
The ceiling, walls, and floor were all made of stone bricks, and torches hung at intervals, casting a weak, wavering light.
If I looked behind me, there was the portal leading back to reality.
If I looked ahead, there was a narrow, gloomy passage.
I muttered to myself.
“The 2nd Floor of the Tower is an underground maze, huh.”
The 2nd Floor of the Tower of Trials was a maze-shaped space.
You pushed forward by breaking through the complicated labyrinth, and cleared the floor by finding the escape portal at the end.
But it wasn’t just a simple maze.
There are traps hidden all over the place, and goblins patrol each region in pairs.
The maze on the 2nd Floor was a space where all kinds of threats coexisted.
First, there was the maze itself.
The structure was so complicated that it was easy to get lost.
That was why you had to draw maps periodically to keep from losing your way.
Since the maze was so enormous, completing a proper map and finding the correct path could take days.
And since there was no food or water to be found inside, you had to keep returning to reality through the return portal every so often just to restock.
On top of that, there were the traps.
All over the maze, various traps were cleverly hidden.
There were floor traps that shot out spikes when stepped on.
Ceiling traps that launched blades from above, traps that sprayed acidic liquid, and poisoned arrow traps coated in deadly venom...
Because they were so cleverly concealed and the place was dimly lit, they were difficult to spot and therefore extremely dangerous.
Last, there were the goblins.
Unlike the 1st Floor, the goblins here patrolled in pairs.
In other words, you were always forced into a two-on-one fight.
Hunters from easy-mode origins weren’t used to fighting multiple enemies at once, so they struggled badly here.
As a result, clearing the 2nd Floor usually took at least five days, and sometimes as long as a week.
First, it took a long time just to complete the map.
Then, because you couldn’t obtain food or water, you had to periodically return to reality through the return portal and regroup.
And when you came back, all the monsters you’d already killed would have respawned.
It was a floor where you had to keep repeating endless cycles of return, reentry, and combat while drawing your map.
And that was before even worrying about the traps.
No wonder it felt brutally difficult.
But for me, it was far too easy a space.
Because I was a mage.
I closed my eyes and focused.
I can feel the space itself.
Like drawing a 3D map, the whole area unfolded in my mind.
And I was able to identify a lot of things.
A spike trap set ten steps ahead on the floor.
A blade trap installed fifteen steps ahead in the ceiling.
The left path at the fork twenty meters ahead was a dead end.
A pair of goblins patrolling thirty meters away.
I let out a hollow laugh.
This is broken as hell.
With tens of meters around me laid bare as though I were looking at the palm of my hand, there was no way the maze could seem intimidating.
The 2nd Floor was going to be a breeze too.
I started walking with light, easy steps.
First, dismantle the traps.
I looked down at the floor.
Between the stone bricks, I could make out a faint line.
It was a trap that would sink the tile the moment it was stepped on, sending spikes shooting up to pierce the top of your foot.
The way to dismantle it was simple.
Fireball.
Flash.
A tiny Fireball flew out.
-Boom!
The spike trap, hidden so cunningly beneath the floor, was blown apart along with its mechanism.
I picked up the springs, spikes, gears, and other bits that had burst out and stuffed them into my bag.
These are all metal, so I can sell them. What was it, around ten thousand won per 100 grams?
After tax, that came out to 5,000 won per 100 grams, which was about the same as pork belly prices these days.
I was basically picking up pork belly right now.
Once I cleared this floor, I’d go home and tell my sister to grill some for me.
Man, prices really had gone crazy lately.
How did pork belly cost 30,000 won per geun now...
The common economy had been getting worse by the day ever since the Tower appeared.
Anyway.
I strode ahead and cut through the maze without hesitation.
Twenty meters forward on the right path, then left. Ten meters more, then left again. Then right at the fork.
I moved while drawing the map in my head.
-Boom! Crack!
-Boom! Crack!
As I went, I smashed the traps I encountered with tiny Fireballs and collected the parts.
Most of them were mechanical traps like spike traps or ceiling blade traps.
For other people, they were terrifying devices that could threaten their lives at any moment, anywhere.
For me, they were nothing more than loot.
-Ker-r-r-rk!
-Kiaaah!
Now and then, I ran into goblin patrols.
Of course, they weren’t much of a threat.
-Boom! Boom!
As long as I put tiny Fireballs right into their heads, they were done for.
The goblins crumpled weakly as their skulls burst apart.
I picked up their daggers and dropped them into my bag.
After dealing with countless traps and goblins, my bag was soon completely full.
“At this point, it’s probably around 30 kg? No, maybe closer to 40?”
Everything in it was made of metal, so it was pretty heavy.
But it didn’t slow me down at all.
That was because my physical abilities had risen when I became a hunter.
Even the weight of forty kilos felt as light as a feather.
It was oddly moving.
Feels like just yesterday I was huffing and puffing with a military pack on my back...
And now I could shoulder that kind of weight and not even blink.
I’d been using magic all day and never really had much reason to notice the change, but my body had definitely gotten stronger.
With that, I quickly cut through the maze.
“There’s the escape portal.”
At the end of the maze, I came face to face with the escape portal.
This time too, I’d cleared the Tower without so much as a scratch.
But I didn’t run straight toward the portal.
“Wow, that trap placement is vicious. Another trap right in front of the escape portal? That’s some real overflowing malice right there.”
Right near the escape portal.
I had discovered a trap cleverly hidden on the wall.
If I’d been so excited about escaping that I dashed forward in a hurry, I would’ve had an arrow buried in my side on the spot.
And that’s a poisoned-arrow trap, too.
Poisoned-arrow traps were infamous for being the most damnably annoying traps in the entire 2nd Floor.
They were much more subtly hidden than any other trap, and they were lethal because the arrows were coated in poison.
Up until now, I hadn’t seen a single poisoned-arrow trap, so I’d thought I might not spot one at all.
Who would’ve guessed it was hidden in the very last place?
“Let’s take care of it and get out.”
Whoosh—!
I was about to gather a Fireball and fire it off at once.
Once I dealt with that final trap, I could clear the 2nd Floor and head straight out.
There was no reason to hesitate.
But then...
...Wait. That trap.
I froze.
I stopped the Fireball I was just about to launch.
“Why are the Blue Dots gathered over there?”
In the poisoned-arrow trap that had been aiming stealthily at my side, I could see an arrangement of Blue Dots.
Could this thing have something magical to it?
I slowly approached and carefully extended my one-handed sword.
Then—
-Psssh!
A poisoned arrow shot out from a tiny hole in the wall.
Clang!
The arrow struck my one-handed sword and bounced off harmlessly.
In that instant, I saw it.
Inside the poisoned-arrow trap, the arrangement of Blue Dots flared all at once, activating some kind of magic.
An arrangement of continuously overlapping circles.
I read the pattern.
And soon I understood its structure.
“This... could it be magic that fires compressed air?”
The structure of the poisoned-arrow trap was to compress air with magic and launch the loaded arrow.
In other words, the Blue Dot arrangement I could see there was a pattern for “compressing and firing air.”
My heart thumped.
A new spell. I can learn this!
If I copied that pattern.
I’d be able to wield the same magic too.
But what I’d imagined wasn’t merely some magic that launched compressed air.
“Wind Cutter, get ready!”
If I compressed the air into the shape of a blade and fired it out...
Wouldn’t that be Wind Cutter?
I hurriedly began tracing the pattern in front of me.