[Would you like to enter? Y/N]
[Would you like to enter? Y/N]
'Clunk.'
I didn't see that it was labeled [Fixed Door] and just pushed the door, causing a noise from the door's lock mechanism.
"Oh dear..."
I went back out through the opposite door.
"Now what do I do..."
I muttered to myself and pulled out a card that had been annoying me in my pocket. It was something I had just been issued at the Korea Hunter Association building in Seoul.
[Hunter Registration Card]
[Cheon Hye-ryeong]
[Hunter Grade : C]
The Hunter Registration Card, an item also called a Hunter License, a kind of ID issued by the Korea Hunter Association under the International Hunter Association that grants permission to legally enter the Tower. Put differently, if you have this registration card, it means you are no longer an ordinary person but an existence under constant surveillance by the state.
"Of course, only if you become an A-rank or higher would that even be a concern..."
Hunters of A-rank and above are treated as strategic weapons. In appearance, they are human, but in terms of ability, they are something that surpasses humans, no, surpasses living beings. Naturally, it seemed obvious they would be persecuted or discriminated against,
But they too were human, and because they are human, they can set foot in this place called society.
"No, who would try to light the fuse of a walking nuclear bomb, right, Unni?"
I pictured my sister in my mind. A sense of gloom came along with it.
My sister, wearing a shabby t-shirt, defenseless, drinking beer or soju with me,
'Hey, hey! Look at this, isn't this outfit super cute?'
That sister who jumped for joy when she first got the Magical Girl class, saying it was pretty,
'Leave earning a living to me from now on,'
That sister who proudly showed me her bank account, saying it was money she had earned,
'Does this outfit never change? It's ridiculous to be called a "Magical Girl" at this age,'
That sister who, after getting somewhat older, said being a Magical Girl was embarrassing,
'Click, click.'
She puts a cigarette in her mouth and diligently rolls the lighter's flint wheel. Soon, a flame catches,
'Snap—'
She pops the capsule in the cigarette filter. A mellow grape flavor spreads in her mouth.
"Ssuuup—"
Harsh yet sweet cigarette smoke fills my lungs, then,
"Pah..."
It leaves with my exhaled breath. The cigarette smoke that formed in front of my face slowly disappears. Simultaneously, a slightly dulled sensation comes over me.
'Pazuzu—'
A feeling of the surroundings quieting down, and only the sound of the cigarette burning could be heard.
"I miss Unni."
That thought came to me.
It wasn't a thought that came just for a moment. It was a thought that came every month, every week, every day, always.
"Ugh,"
While having that thought, the cigarette I had been mindlessly puffing on finally burned all the way down. When the ember reached the filter, it sent out foul smoke. After flicking the cigarette to the ground, I step on it with my foot to put out the flame.
After my sister's absence, cigarettes, which I started with the thought, 'If I can forget the sadness even briefly with this,' have now, under the pretext of emptying out the gloom and clearing my head, ultimately become a habit to the point of finishing a pack every day.
"Now what do I do..."
I turn on my phone and enter the banking app. The money my sister had earned up until now and the money received from the state upon her death—an amount that seemed enough to fill the screen, sufficient to live a life of leisure—seemed to overflow.
But I couldn't use that money. Because it felt like committing a sin.
I looked at another account. An account containing only my own pure money,
[35,000 won]
Only enough money for one meal remained. It was because of the rising prices since the Towers appeared. In the old days, this much would have gotten me four meals, but now, not even at a convenience store, but at a restaurant...
"...I guess I should just enter the Tower."
Having come to Seoul, I decided to enter the Tower located in Seoul.
Due to the Tower's characteristic of appearing in places with a certain population or more, in our country, they inevitably appeared mainly in the capital, metropolitan cities, and special cities.
Entering the Tower... if I die... well, that would be fine in its own way. What if I live? Hmm, I guess that would just be that kind of fate.
On my phone, I search to find out what's needed to enter the Tower.
[Search Tower preparations]
[Equipment Setup Guide for Hunters Entering the Tower for the First Time-Hunter Gallery]
[Preparations for Newbies-Hunter Gallery]
[First Equipment Recommendations for Hunter Noobs-Hunter Channel]
...
...
Various posts scrolled up, but I just clicked and entered the one that appeared at the very top.
[★Equipment Setup Guide for Hunters Entering the Tower for the First Time]
IAmOmnipotent (g.)
Whether you have a Hunter Registration Card or not, if you're entering the Tower for the first time, you'll obviously need equipment. But where would a newbie entering for the first time have equipment?
That's why there are equipment rental shops. They're next to the Tower. They lend out pretty shitty equipment, but it's still way better than using a kitchen knife or something.
If your class uses a sword or a bow, you can rent that kind of equipment. If you're a mage, you need to rent a wand or staff, but these need to have magic power infused, so the rental fee is a bit expensive. Still, it's better than using one without magic and getting zero efficiency, so definitely rent one.
People renting swords, you need to be careful. You absolutely must choose one that feels light in your hand. If it's too heavy, you'll get tired swinging it. Well... but if your class uses swords, your strength stat should be high, so you probably won't find the stuff at the rental shop heavy.
And absolutely (three stars) armor (five stars) is a must. Even leather armor blocks ordinary cold weapons from goblins and such.
On Normal difficulty, the tutorial spawns 1 Goblin Chieftain and 2 goblins, so you should be able to manage just fine.
(You can climb the Tower too.png)
And
Don't die.
(124 comments)
└ Upvote
└ There are people who don't even know such basics?
└└ The fact that they came here to see this means they're not a ping-pong freeloader,
"...It doesn't tell me what a Magic Swordsman should rent. Well, there are only 2 in the whole world... no, 3 now, including me."
I just started walking aimlessly towards the Tower, which was about a 30-minute walk away. Since awakening, I don't get tired from walking, let alone running, so I just walked aimlessly.
Walking without any thoughts, I wouldn't mind walking for 2 hours, let alone 30 minutes. It would be different if bad thoughts came, though...
And so, I arrived in front of the Tower. Looking at the Tower's main entrance, I glanced to the right and a building with 'National Hunter Equipment Rental Shop' written on it came into view.
'Jing-a-ling—'
Opening the door with its bell and entering, the interior felt like looking at an old community service center. In the center and on both sides, blades, wands, and staffs were lined up.
Relatively small daggers and wands were inside the central glass showcase, while on both sides, mainly long knives, swords, and staffs were hanging. Some armor pieces were also visible here and there.
"Welcome. Is there something you're looking for?"
Whether they were a hunter, employee, or civil servant, they treated me as if I were a bother. Probably because they knew that even if they worked hard, the pay was peanuts. Ignoring the employee who found me bothersome, I looked for my own weapon.
"This one... seems too small,"
I muttered softly while looking at the daggers in the glass showcase. I turned my gaze towards the wall.
"That one's too big, though,"
I muttered softly again after looking at the sword hanging highest on the wall.
Especially that huge sword...
It was far too big to be called a sword. Incredibly large, thick, heavy, and crude. It was literally a mace.
I turned my gaze again and looked for a sword of appropriate length.
"This one seems about right..."
A longsword. It matched the swordsmanship I had learned, had an appropriate length... I picked it up slightly. It felt appropriately weighty yet light, which I liked. The weight balance wasn't bad either, and the edge was well-maintained without being overly sharpened.
I took it directly to the employee.
"I'd like to rent this."
"Your Hunter License, please."
At the employee's request, I held out my Hunter License.
'Tap tap tap—'
The employee, who seemed to be checking something by inputting my hunter number into the computer, said,
"Yes, that's 34,000 won."
They informed me of the rental fee while looking at me as if I were a bother. Subtracting the rental fee from my total assets of 35,000 won would leave me with only 1,000 won.
"Here you go."
I first held out my card to request payment.
"...Aren't you going to rent any armor?"
Seeing me, clearly dressed for going out, renting only a sword, the employee asked with a slightly changed look in their eyes.
"Yes, please rent me just this one."
"...Yes, understood. If you bring it back, we'll refund 60%."
Was it only me who felt it was a slightly pitiful, sympathetic look? Was the final sympathetic remark also like that? Just like that, I took the longsword and headed towards the Tower.
The Tower's entrance, which looked like a black void; on the left and right, two soldiers guarding the Tower entrance were visible. In front of them, there was one more soldier looking at a laptop on a folding plastic desk. They seemed to be of a higher rank than the two soldiers guarding the Tower entrance.
I casually walked up to the soldier looking at the laptop.
"Your Hunter License, please."
They requested the Hunter License in a dry, monotonous tone.
"Here."
I also held out my Hunter License in a dry, monotonous tone.
"3704..."
The soldier's expression, who had been looking back and forth between the photo on the Hunter License and me, briefly contorted. It was the same sympathetic look as the employee from before.
Probably because of my deeply sunken dark circles and slumped expression, I figured. They were probably thinking of the so-called Tower suicide method trending online these days, where hunters who get low grades enter the Tower and die without anyone knowing.
...Since it probably wasn't too different from what I was currently thinking, I didn't say anything to the soldier.
"...Yes, confirmed."
The soldier returned my Hunter License to me and spoke. I received my Hunter License back and headed for the Tower entrance.
Placing my hand on the Tower's entrance,
[Would you like to enter? Y/N]
A notification window appeared.
I pressed Y.
My vision went dark.
[Please select a difficulty.]
[「Easy」 「Normal」 「Hard」 「Chaos」 「Impossible」]
Five difficulties appeared before my eyes. I came with the mindset of, 'If I die, I die; if I live, I live.'
[You have selected 「Impossible」.]
[Entering the Tutorial.]
The notification window disappeared.
It was already dark, but I felt another darkening sensation. I felt my body floating.
And then my vision brightened.
A Gothic brick corridor; torches lined both side walls. The humidity felt high enough to be damp.
Since they said on Normal difficulty, one chieftain and two regular ones appear, even on Impossible, it should appear similarly, right?
"Kreek,"
A goblin's cry was heard from a distance shrouded in shadow.
"Kreek Keerek"
It also sounded like they were conversing. That meant at least two or more. I bent my knees, lowered my hands, lowered my center of gravity, brought the sword tip close to the ground, and slowly moved forward.
From the end of the shadowy corridor, a light resembling a torch became visible. Sure enough, two of them.
"Kreek!"
Whether the goblin had spotted me or not, it let out an unknown cry. And it quickly approached me. It was holding a club. The other one seemed to be nocking an arrow on a bowstring.
As the distance closed, at the perfect timing for distance control, I quickly thrust the sword tip, which had been pointing at the ground, towards the goblin's chest.
"Gurgle...!"
A scream mixed with bloody foam leaked from the goblin's mouth. Seeing that, the other startled goblin shot an arrow at me.
I used the goblin impaled on my longsword as a shield to block the arrow and quickly closed the distance to the goblin holding the bow. I strongly struck the side of the bow-holding goblin with the part where the other goblin was impaled. The goblin flew from the strong force, hit the corridor wall, and fell.
"Krug?!"
A scream came out, mixed with the fact that I had attacked using its impaled kin and with pain. I lowered the sword tip to the ground, planted it, and pulled out the impaled goblin.
"If you can't kill me, you die."
I said as I drove the sword tip into the neck of the fallen goblin.
"The clear message isn't appearing... Hmm... Scouts... A scouting party, maybe...?"
As expected of the Impossible difficulty, as if it wouldn't end with just this, the clear notification window didn't appear. I wiped the green blood off my longsword with the rags the goblin was wearing, stuffed the thing called a Magic Stone into my pocket, and continued walking down the corridor.
On the way, I encountered scouting parties twice more, two each time, but I dealt with them similarly to before and reached the end of the corridor.
The end of the corridor. A huge, thick wooden door filling the wall at the corridor's end came into view.
"Do I just open it?"
Applying a little force, I pushed the door.
'Rumble,'
The door made a loud noise but didn't open.
"...Is it locked?"
I put power into my waist, lowered my center of gravity, and then, just like that—
'Bang!'
I aimed a kick with the sole of my foot at one side of the door. The door screamed as its hinges shattered and it toppled over.
"Thought it might work, and it really did."
Looking inside, it seemed like I had arrived at a place like an audience hall from a fantasy anime, filled with all sorts of armed goblins, some even wearing armor. Above all, that guy sitting high in the center, wearing a golden crown and bigger than a regular goblin, sent chills down my spine the more I looked at him.
'Screeeak...'
The undamaged door on the opposite side opens towards me. It was a pull-open door.
"Oh dear."