Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Difficulty Selection Zone
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I recalled the comment from BeetleBro on the Mage Gallery.
[BeetleBro: With that level of talent and power, you'd chew through the Tower's tutorial no problem. Swing by the Tower when you get the chance.]
I had to go there anyway, even without those words.
That's exactly why I'd spent thirty days shoveling dirt into my mouth and endured the agony of changing genders.
A lifestyle where night and day had flipped completely, like a total NEET.
I woke up when midnight was approaching, the time when everyone else was wrapping up their day.
As soon as I got up, I turned on my computer and checked the Gallery posts.
A few hours burned away like that, and dawn had arrived before I knew it.
The sky outside the window was still a deep blue without the sun risen, but it was the most familiar time for me to start my activities.
I threw on some clothes haphazardly and headed out.
The chilly dawn air seeped through the ill-fitting T-shirt, brushing against my skin.
The body that had been covered in thick muscles and fat just a few days ago was gone.
Moving these slender, fragile limbs felt utterly foreign.
"I should buy some clothes online later. Underwear too...."
There was no way I had the guts to go into a store and shop in person.
Honestly, it had been the same even when I was a guy.
'Why do clothing store clerks get so desperate to chat you up? It's intimidating as hell.'
The dawn air was refreshing.
My destination was the black tower standing in the heart of Daejeon.
Unlike in Seoul, the tower here had no strict security or controls.
A massive black tower piercing through the city's buildings.
The area around it was completely empty.
No one came to the tower at this hour, and there were no civil servants or hunters guarding it in sight.
Without any interference, I strolled right up to the tower's entrance as casually as if I were taking a walk in the neighborhood park.
Tower.
Five years ago, these mysterious structures suddenly appeared in major cities around the world—Seoul, New York, Tokyo, London, and more.
No one knows why they showed up.
All sorts of speculation flew around—God's gift, invasion from another world, you name it.
But one thing was certain: if you left a tower alone, a horrific disaster would follow.
The regime up north had proven that fact crystal clear.
Towers collapse if not cleared on a regular cycle.
And it's a literal collapse.
Anyone could imagine what would happen if a building in the middle of downtown crumbled.
On top of that, a portal spawns amid the rubble.
A portal spewing all kinds of monsters.
No method to close a spawned portal has been discovered yet.
Even now, hunters serving in the military were desperately holding back the monsters pouring down from the north near the 38th parallel.
Posts I'd seen on the Mage Gallery flashed through my mind.
[BeetleBro: Once you register as a hunter, you're national strategic asset, so they drag you into all sorts of dirty work.
A-ranks at least have the power to push back a bit. B and C-ranks get conscripted without mercy.
So register as late as possible. Wait until you're absolutely sure you're a solid A-rank.]
[Anon: What about before that?]
[BeetleBro: Live as an unregistered illegal hunter. Duh.]
BeetleBro's advice was perfectly rational.
I'd decided to follow it, which is why I was at this empty tower.
"The inside isn't visible at all...."
Opening the tower door revealed pitch-black darkness within.
I'd heard that once an Awakened enters, they get sent to a floor matching their level.
I swallowed once more and stepped inside.
The moment I did, a sensation like being sucked into a giant vacuum enveloped my whole body.
I screamed, squeezing my eyes shut tight, then opened them—and I was in an entirely different space.
A perfect cube room surrounded by seamless, smooth white walls.
And a blue holographic system window floating in front of my eyes.
[You have entered the Tutorial Field.]
[Please select a difficulty.]
[EASY] [NORMAL] [HARD]
Just as expected. The first hurdle was difficulty selection.
Easy, Normal, Hard. Three choices.
But I didn't need to agonize over it.
I'd already gotten a clear answer on the Mage Gallery.
[Title: What difficulty should I pick for the tutorial?]
When I asked, the mages answered in perfect unison, as if they'd rehearsed it.
ㄴ BeetleBro: Hard, obviously.
ㄴ MagicIsFirepower: Hard. Anything less is an insult to mages.
ㄴ PewPew: Hard, no question.
I'd been inwardly anxious and followed up.
Anon: But what if it's too hard and I die?
ㄴ Fridge: Then that's a shame.
ㄴ BeetleBro: But with your talent, no way you'll die. Look at us—we all survived fine and are posting on the Gallery, right?
ㄴ PewPew: You broke my super-genius record, so of course it's possible.
ㄴ MagicIsFirepower: Why pick higher difficulty? Rewards. The Tower doesn't betray effort and risk.
Growth speed is incomparable too. Honestly, no point being a mage if you're not running Hard.
ㄴ Fridge: Well, your choice. If you want to play it safe like a salaryman, Easy isn't bad.
Sure, you'll never dream of A-rank hunter status, but still.
ㄴ PewPew: High risk, high return! Chicken out here and you're third-rate forever!
"They said it so emphatically—gotta go Hard."
Recalling their words, I reached for the [HARD] button without hesitation.
I'd endured a month of eating dirt; I couldn't chicken out at a mere tutorial difficulty.
Right then.
Just as my finger was about to touch the button, the system window flashed with a new message.
[System: The user's total mana exceeds the threshold by a vast margin.]
[Hidden difficulty, EXTREME, has been unlocked.]
Along with the new message, a ominous red button appeared next to the original three.
[EASY] [NORMAL] [HARD] [EXTREME]
"Huh?"
My finger froze mid-air.
Extreme? I'd never heard of that.
Not just the Mage Gallery.
Hunter Gallery, news, even Nutube—no one mentioned an Extreme difficulty.
I fell into deep thought for a moment.
Is this okay?
Even Hard was implied to be doable only for damage dealers, and this was higher.
"Should I go back out and ask BeetleBro...?"
But I quickly realized I couldn't.
Once inside, you couldn't leave until the tutorial was done.
Looking around, there was no door or exit in sight.
A complete sealed room.
"...."
I stared piercingly at the [EXTREME] button glowing blood-red.
High risk, high return.
Their words echoed in my ears.
If it was higher than Hard, the rewards must be insanely better too.
'But if I die, that's it.'
My rational side warned.
But immediately, from deep within, the soul of a Gallery addict countered reason.
'Dude, this is straight-up clickbait material. "Did you know there's something after Hard?" Title alone would be a hit post. How could I resist?'
Yeah, that bait works.
Not just Hunter Gallery.
Mage Gallery would explode too.
"Screw it, let's do it."
In the end, the Gallery addict in me crushed cold reason.
I swallowed hard and firmly pressed the Extreme button.
[You have selected EXTREME difficulty.]
[Teleporting to the location in 60 seconds.]
'Okay, what's coming now.'
Amid the tension, I immediately began combat prep.
First, I held out my palm. But this room was coated in some unknown material.
Not a single grain of dirt or sand to pull from the surroundings.
'Oh shit.'
But I didn't panic. A mage's body adapts to their element.
Apparently, it's like becoming a spirit bit by bit?
I was still inexperienced, but I could transform parts of my body.
I focused my mind on the pinky of my right hand.
The sensation of flesh and bone dulled, and a bizarre feeling spread as my fingertip crumbled into fine sand.
No pain. Just the alien sense of part of my body converting to another substance.
I placed the small amount of sand produced onto my right palm.
Then I visualized: hard, fast, spinning, piercing everything—a lethal bullet.
The sand clumped together per my imagination, soon forming a small bullet.
I spun the completed sand bullet on my palm, waiting for the monster to appear.
Easy: one unarmed goblin.
Normal: one goblin with a dagger.
Hard: two of those goblins.
"So for me, three goblins?"
Taking out three at once would still be tough.
I didn't know how long it'd take to make the next bullet after firing one.
And with this frail body, dodging well was questionable.
During the remaining wait time, I tested if I could make a sand bullet with my other hand.
This time, sacrificing my left pinky for sand, practicing control.
At first, using both hands simultaneously felt awkward.
The sand kept scattering as my focus wavered.
But on the fourth try, I succeeded in making an identical sand bullet on my left palm.
"For now, this is the limit.... Fine."
Now one bullet per hand.
Hit two at once, create distance, then deal with the last one.
Perfect plan.
[Teleportation complete.]
Finally, the countdown ended, and the space in front of me warped.
The surroundings were a cave.
Ugly green-skinned monsters stood before my eyes.
Crude-weapon-wielding goblins.
Before I could even count them precisely, instinct took over—I fired the bullets from both hands.
Shoo-!
Boom! Boom!
The two shots struck the heads of the frontmost goblins without a millimeter's error.
Their heads burst like watermelons in a gruesome spectacle.
Blood and brains splattered everywhere.
"Ew, gross.... Anyway, one left now?"
I was about to sacrifice another finger to make the next bullet leisurely.
Kieeeek-!
Keruk! Keruk!
Ear-piercing goblin shrieks filled the cave, erupting from all directions.
And the goblins emerging from the darkness one by one—definitely not just one.
One, two, three... four, five, six, seven, eight.
"Fuck, what the hell. Why are there so many?"
I'd just killed two, so total of ten summoned?
Hard was only two.
This was ten. Simple math: five times more.
But in combat, facing two instead of one isn't twice as hard—it's three or four times.
Factoring that, ten was way beyond five times harder.
Extreme difficulty.
Hell mode confirmed.
"Time to bail."
I started running at full speed.