A Hunter Grows Stronger

Even if it was the first confession of my life…

No matter how hard I tried to make sense of it, nothing about this added up.

Average face. Personality on the timid side compared to other guys. The only thing I was ever good at was shooting a gun—and even that was gone now thanks to an incurable disease.

There was absolutely no reason for a rich young lady to like someone like me.

"So… your answer?"

And Eun Hayoon was even pushing me for it.

"What do you even like about me…? Honestly, I'm lacking compared to other guys."

"I like how you always try harder than everyone else. I like how kind you are to everyone. I just… like you for being you."

Mm… right.

I should respect that.

But there was one massive problem.

I liked Hayoon as a friend—I just didn't like her that way.

As someone who believed a relationship only worked when two people were drawn to each other, the odds of me and Hayoon working out were pretty low.

I felt bad for her, but turning her down here was the right call.

For my sake, and for hers.

Scratching my cheek, I told her what I was thinking.

"Thanks for liking me. But I've always just thought of you as a good friend. I'm sorry…"

Hayoon looked like she might burst into tears at any second, her voice trembling.

"Am I… not enough as a woman?"

That much, at least, I could answer with absolute certainty.

Of course not.

Exotic looks, a figure that could rival any idol, a voice so captivating it could melt your ears on the spot.

If anything, she was close to my ideal type.

"Of course you're not."

"Then why are you saying no?"

"Hayoon."

I sat up and looked her straight in the eyes.

A dangerous distance—close enough that our lips could brush if either of us leaned in.

"I can't date you. I've never thought of you that way."

"I'll treat you well. I'll try to be a good girlfriend. So just once… please rethink it……"

"That would be one-sided love. It'd be hard on you and hard on me."

I eased Hayoon—who'd been straddling me—down onto the bed and stood up.

"I'm heading out."

"W-wait a second…!"

Hayoon grabbed my sleeve.

Tears running down her face, she looked up at me.

"Can we… still be friends?"

I gave her a faint smile and roughly ruffled her silver hair.

"When were we ever not friends? I'm really going now."

With that, I slipped out of Hayoon's room.

That night, sleep refused to come no matter how hard I tried.

Named streamers broadcast every single day.

Even though they could only climb the Tower once a week.

I was curious what on earth they filled their streams with, so I decided to check out that female streamer I'd watched before.

Then a donation hit.

Parararam—!

After watching her stream every day, one thing had become crystal clear.

This woman was a master manipulator.

She'd ask the viewers to decide, then end up running whatever topic brought in the biggest donation.

A truly terrifying woman.

Curious what those donated Coins even were, I'd looked it up—turns out they were a currency exclusive to Hunters.

The exchange rate: 1 Coin to 100 won.

In short, Coins equaled money.

Adding up everything I'd earned last time, including donations, I'd made 111,000 Coins.

In Korean won, that was over ten million.

You could call it small if you wanted—but there was one thing to keep in mind.

I'd earned all of that in three minutes flat.

Now I finally understood why streamers broadcast every single day.

The money was on another level!

And there was exactly one reason community streamers made such insane cash.

Everyone watching was a Hunter.

People whose job was clearing the Tower and pocketing every kind of reward.

And the way Hunters earned Coins was simple.

They re-cleared floors they'd already beaten.

The rewards weren't as good as a first clear, but money was still money.

Farming relatively safe floors until their mana ran dry let Hunters walk away with a pretty decent haul.

"Ah, thinking about it makes me want to go back in."

Re-entry didn't even have a limit.

What people commonly called ricing was fully possible.

"Yeah, please."

Once I was fully inside the Tower, I called out to start the clear.

The moment a single Goblin spawned—

Bang—!

—I blasted it with my Avid and kept the ricing rolling.

Easy difficulty, Floor 1 no less—the re-clear reward was pitiful.

"I'll re-clear."

For some reason, a Tower you'd already cleared once didn't send you home when you finished it again.

And the second you said you wanted to re-clear, the monsters respawned on the spot.

For me, clearing Easy Floor 1 took exactly one second.

In hourly terms that worked out to 3.6 million won—except my mana pool was so tiny I could only clear about thirty times ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a day.

Three days into the ricing grind, after my ninth clear of the day, a system window popped up.

"Mana Return…? And what's this about my Avid getting stronger?"

I'd never heard of an Avid getting stronger.

A brand-new skill after I'd already finished awakening?

That was a first for me too.

Heart pounding, I tapped the new skill.

"This is completely broken?!"

Short description. Devastating effect.

Simply put, it meant I could now kill fifteen monsters with the mana that used to only cover ten.

Which meant it was directly tied to profit.

"I have to check this right now! I'll re-clear!"

The Goblin that spawned got a bullet stuffed into it on the spot.

Bang—!

Every time I used my Avid, something drained out of me.

That was mana. People with big reserves could supposedly control the amount instinctively, but that was way beyond me.

"Gyaaaagh…"

The Goblin went down from a single shot.

"O-oh…!"

It was coming back! It was coming back!!

"My mana's flowing back in…!"

I felt strangely more energetic than a moment ago—the mana was definitely returning.

For someone stuck with pathetic mana like me, there was no better news in the world.

"Time to put in the work today too!"

That day, I managed to take down a total of forty-five Goblins.

Today marked exactly one week since my first Tower clear.

Whether it was Normal or Hard, nobody cared what difficulty you climbed on anymore.

Before challenging Hard Floor 1, I stopped by a shop that specialized in masks.

I couldn't keep showing up in a cap and black face mask forever.

"Welcome~"

"Could I take a look at some masks?"

"Of course. Right this way."

The back of the shop had countless masks displayed across the walls.

Everything from traditional Korean masks to carnival styles.

I could have just grabbed anything, but thinking about the future, I couldn't afford to be careless.

I pointed at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the one that gave off the most mysterious vibe.

"That one looks good. How much?"

"You've got a good eye. Here's the price."

The clerk held out a calculator.

The number on the display was exactly the equivalent of five large bills.

"Is this price… correct?"

It was vicious.

Five million won for a single mask, no matter how you sliced it.

Even for a named shop, wasn't this a total rip-off?

When I protested, the clerk gave me an unpleasant little smile.

"Sir, this isn't just any mask. This is a mask that came out of the Tower."

Everything that dropped from the Tower counted as an item—even junk-tier gear raised your stats somehow.

If this really was a Tower item, the price might actually make sense…

"What's the effect?"

"We don't know either."

"Excuse me?"

The clerk shrugged and explained why.

"Regular people like us can't see item effects. You can get it appraised, but that costs a fortune too."

Apparently you never knew an item's effect until you equipped it.

And if you put it on just to check, it bound to you on the spot.

"Come on, you can't seriously ask for five million when you don't even know what it does."

"I heard it dropped while someone was running Hard difficulty~"

"……!"

Item drop grades were determined by Tower difficulty.

Honestly it sounded like a sales pitch—but it could also be real.

I'd already exchanged my Coins, so my wallet was ready to burst.

Figuring the worst case was just breaking even, I held out my card.

"I'll take it."

An item from Hard difficulty for only five million?

That was actually a bargain.

"Payment complete~ Go ahead and try it on~"

A simple black mask with delicate gold floral embroidery worked into the base.

I swallowed dryly and put it on.

Then—

The effect was ridiculous.

Even without nightfall the stats were solid—and once night fell, those bonuses multiplied by five.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah. The effect's pretty good."

"Could you tell me what it does?"

If I told the truth they might demand more money, so I lowballed it.

"Agility +5, Mana +10."

"My, congratulations! You really scored!"

Scored, my ass…

Stats like that would be worth three million at most if you were generous.

I put on the most natural smile I could manage and stepped out of the shop.

"Take care~"

"Yes! Please put in a good word for us~"

I'd bought a broken-tier mask. Now all that was left was waiting for evening.

Time to take on Hard difficulty for real.