First Climb

The second I hit post, the community notification window went absolutely berserk.

"Money-grubber is a little harsh…."

I wanted to stay on the national team, you know…!

What was I supposed to do about catching an incurable disease?!

It was infuriating, but right now I had to sell the act that I and Do Jinwoo were completely different people.

Holding back tears, I played along with their nonsense.

Mom, I'm about to cry….

The moment I closed out of the community window, a surprisingly polished UI welcomed me.

Shop, Live, Community, Tower. Four categories, each with an adorably cute little icon.

"Nuna definitely said people stream on here, right?"

As a future broadcaster myself, sampling the community's streaming scene was basic due diligence — absolute fundamentals.

My finger drifted toward the broadcast icon of its own accord.

"Oh, this has a pretty nice vibe."

I hadn't watched much domestic streaming thanks to everything going on in real life, but I had poked around a bit before. The design had that crackling, American-broadcast feel to it, and down at the bottom you could see popular streamers currently live.

A guy watching another guy's stream felt a little unseemly, so I hopped into a freshly started female streamer — well, female Hunter — broadcast instead.

Yeah, being a woman really made a difference. Within mere seconds of going live, her viewer count had already blown past a thousand.

"Wow… aren't you supposed to research this stuff beforehand?"

I was barely about to become a Hunter myself, but this person didn't even have the basics down. Skipping pre-clear recon on a floor you planned to tackle was basically the same as walking in to die.

And then—

"When the hell are you even going to start the clear?!"

Thirty minutes had already crawled by. For a full half hour, this person had been sitting there in full armor, shooting the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠breeze with her viewers. If you wanted to call that a talent, sure, I guess it was a talent.

I would have liked to watch how other Hunters actually fought, but sticking around for that seemed like a stretch — and more importantly, a delayed food coma was hitting me hard.

"I'm just gonna sleep…. Why am I even watching this boring stream."

Her face was, well, pretty enough in a generic way. That was about it.

The moment daylight hit, I headed out for the Hunter Association.

A black mask and a black cap were inseparable from me at this point. Throw in a pair of black sunglasses and you had a complete fashion package no one could possibly recognize.

"Hoo… just grab the license and get out of there fast."

If I got caught again… that would be a real headache.

.

.

.

I managed to reach the Hunter Association without much trouble.

"What brings you in today?"

"I'm here to pick up my license."

"And your name, please?"

Without a word, I held out the ID I'd brought with me.

"Do— Do Jin—?!"

"Please keep it down…!"

"Ah— ahem… yes, sir. My apologies."

Thankfully, unlike yesterday, no one else seemed to have overheard.

"Right this way. I'll go over a few points you'll want to keep in mind."

The Association employee led me into a sealed-off room — nothing but a solitary desk and two chairs sitting there.

"Please have a seat. I'll walk you through a few important notices from here on."

"Yes, go right ahead."

The employee slid a sheet of paper across the desk, packed solid with fine print. There was so much writing it was hard to even read… just looking at it made my head throb, and the employee launched into the briefing anyway.

"The Tower is divided into three difficulties total: Easy, Normal, and Hard. Hard… I wouldn't particularly recommend it. Even for an S-Rank Hunter, Hard is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no cakewalk."

"I see."

But I was going to challenge Hard. No grand reason — I just had the revolutionary scientific weapon known as a gun. What was a little Hard difficulty going to do about that?

"I'd also recommend this: try Easy Floor 1 first. You can change the difficulty whenever you like, after all."

"Any particular reason?"

"Think of it as a tutorial."

A sampler, then. Easy Floor 1 was definitely going to be simpler than yesterday's third gate. Three D-Rank monsters… even D-Rank Hunters well above my level would struggle with that.

"Alright. I'll start with Easy Floor 1."

"Excellent. If you'd just sign this contract."

I'd thought it was just a dense page of notices — turns out it was a contract?!

I'd already half-listened to the warnings, so I signed on the spot.

"Wonderful. As of this moment, Mr. Do Jinwoo, you are a proper Hunter. We look forward to your brilliant performance."

The Association employee smiled and offered me a premium case. And inside it was the very thing I had wanted so badly.

"The license!"

Sure, E-Rank was stamped on it in big bold letters, but I wasn't embarrassed. In all of South Korea, I was the only E-Rank there was.

"You can enter the Tower online as well. Just keep in mind that after each clear, you'll need to wait one week. Ah — and your Avid is treated as a bound item by default, so you can use it inside the Tower without carrying it around."

"Yes, thank you!"

Even after leaving the Association, my eyes stayed glued to the license.

Look at this radiant beauty! Angular metal construction. My name, Do Jinwoo, engraved in golden initials across the cold metal. And right underneath it — E-Rank!

"Khh…! Absolute fire!"

Oops. I'd accidentally gone full middle-aged man for a second there.

"Mom… that guy's weird…."

"We don't learn from people like that. Come on, let's go."

Excuse me. I'm not a weird guy….

I'd been written off as a weirdo, but my mood was at an all-time high. I was grinning all the way home when—

"Hey."

Out of nowhere, casual speech. And a familiar voice.

I turned around.

"…Eun Hayoon? What are you doing here?"

Eun Hayoon was a celebrity in her own right. The mask and cap were a given.

"What do you mean, what. I came because I was worried you'd get swarmed by people again and have a miserable time! Why!"

The mask made it hard to see her face clearly, but anyone could tell what was going on here.

"You're… seriously going with that as an excuse?"

One step. Then another. I closed the distance toward Eun Hayoon at a slow, deliberate pace. Before long, only a few steps separated us. A soft lavender scent rose up to greet me.

Eun Hayoon, on the other hand, did not seem pleased.

"Wh-what is that supposed to mean…."

"What do you think it means."

"…!"

I took her by both shoulders. Then, in a voice so small only she could hear, I whispered:

"The truth is… you want it too, don't you?"

"W-want what…."

"To be a Hunter."

"What?"

I'd just said exactly what I'd seen and felt, but somehow the energy pouring off Eun Hayoon turned ominous. And that prediction did not miss.

"Ow! Why are you hitting me?!"

"Figure it out yourself."

Then Eun Hayoon kicked me square in the shin. While I clutched my leg, tears welling slightly, she opened her mouth again.

"So did you get the license?"

"Tch… yeah, just got it."

"Show me."

No sooner had she finished saying "show me" than she started patting me down.

"This is… a phone, and this is… earphones — what the hell is this? Cigarettes?! Do you have a death wish?!"

"I'll find it myself, just wait…!"

I dug the license card out of the wallet sleeping in my back pocket and had no choice but to present it to her. Eun Hayoon gave it a quick once-over, then delivered her short review.

"Pfft— hey, what's with the E-Rank? Have you got no pride?"

"I'm still the only E-Rank in the entire country…."

"So you're first from the bottom."

Ha….

Embarrassing as it was, she wasn't wrong, so I couldn't argue.

"When are you climbing the Tower?"

"Soon as I get home. Gotta try it out."

"You're not gonna die immediately, right?"

"As if."

Eun Hayoon toyed with a strand of hair, a faint smile at the corner of her lips, then spat out something strange in a trembling voice.

"What if… we try the Tower climb at my place…?"

"Why would I. My place is more comfortab— ow! Okay! Okay, fine!"

Under the merciless pinch of Eun Hayoon's fingers on my arm, I had no choice but to bow my head.

.

.

.

In the end, we arrived at Eun Hayoon's house. More accurately, it was closer to a kidnapping. I had no idea when she'd arranged it, but she stuffed me into a limousine that had been waiting in the rear and made a beeline straight for her place.

"It's been a while since I've been here. We used to hang out a lot as kids."

"Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't you come over anymore?"

"Is that even a real question? Where would you and I find the time?"

"Follow me."

It was painfully obvious what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would happen to me if I didn't, so I reluctantly trailed after her — straight into a forbidden zone that no man should ever set foot in.

"Have you lost your mind? Even so, you can't just drag a guy into your room!"

It was Eun Hayoon's room: the place where, every morning, a gorilla began her daily routine.

"I'm stronger than you, so don't worry about it. Try anything funny and I'll make sure you can't function as a man either. More importantly, hurry up and get into the Tower. I've been curious for a while — what actually happens when a Hunter goes in."

"…Fine."

I called up the community in my mind, and a translucent community window rose to greet me. Eun Hayoon found the whole display fascinating and was pressed right up against my side, watching.

"Whoa, so once you're a Hunter you can do stuff like this?"

"Yeah. They said you can stream, too."

With a flourish of my fingers I tapped the Tower icon, and another notification appeared.

"Yeah. Do me a favor."

A moment later, my body began to scatter into the air like tiny pixel fragments.

"Hey. I'll be back."

"Don't get hurt. First from the bottom."

With Eun Hayoon's concern as the last thing I heard, my vision went completely dark.