Prey of the Hound Ranker
Near the Tower of Despair.
Crunch. Crunch.
A man who looked to be in his mid-twenties was chewing on a strip of jerky. He was a climber who had just broken through the third floor, ranking among the upper tiers in his own right. His name was Kim Jin-cheol.
Goddamn it.
He spat.
A few days earlier he had gotten lucky and managed to buy a kimchi stew set from the ★Wandering Merchant★. He had scarfed it down on the spot. The taste had been so miraculous that tears had streamed down his face as he swallowed that precious warmth. Up to that point, everything had been fine.
Then the dog started growling somewhere nearby, and the entire world went sideways.
“Grrr.”
A low, rumbling voice.
“You. Where’d you get that?”
Kim Jin-cheol’s body began to shake of its own accord. He was talented enough to have cleared the third floor; ordinary monsters rarely rattled him. The presence standing in front of him, however, was on a completely different plane.
A half-man, half-hound beast with the head of a dog. It radiated an overwhelming aura that made even the thought of fighting feel suicidal.
“Th-this, you mean?”
At those words—
Crack!
“Guh—!”
Kim Jin-cheol’s jaw snapped sideways. A palm shaped like a dog’s paw had smashed into his cheek. The taste of blood flooded his mouth.
“Answer the question, you maggot. I asked where you got it. Though I already know the answer. You bought it at the Exchange, didn’t you?”
How the hell does this monster know about the Exchange?!
Kim Jin-cheol, who had never even heard of Rankers, felt pure despair settle over him.
And why ask if you already know?
Because of that bizarre encounter, every plan, every schedule, had gone to hell. Kim Jin-cheol had no choice but to confess that he had simply bought it from someone called the Wandering Merchant at the Exchange. That was when the threats began.
“From this moment on, you will stake everything you have on finding that Wandering Merchant. Fail, and you die. Succeed, and I’ll give you ten thousand TC.”
Ten thousand TC.
An unverifiable promise that might as well have been another threat. Kim Jin-cheol’s life became a living hell. He turned into a ghost haunting the community boards, desperately searching for any trace of the merchant.
Fuck. How am I supposed to find him?
Kim Jin-cheol closed the community window and spat a curse. No climber was stupid enough to fall for his amateurish phishing attempts. Least of all the Wandering Merchant himself. He had decided to simply kill time and report that he had found nothing. He would get beaten, sure, but they wouldn’t kill him—not while he was still useful.
Night fell.
A cool shadow fell across his back.
Kim Jin-cheol did not need to turn around to know who it was. That bastard.
“Another empty-handed day?”
“……”
He could not even manage a nod. His body answered first. Instinctive terror made him tremble like a leaf in a gale.
“Useless maggot.”
Thud!
Penlark’s kick slammed precisely into Kim Jin-cheol’s gut.
“Gah—!”
His body crumpled like paper. Pain tore through him as stomach acid surged up his throat; he rolled across the ground.
“Is finding one measly maggot really so hard? Do I need to dig out those worthless eyeballs of yours before you start taking this seriously? Or should I just break your fingers?”
Thud! Thud!
The kicks never stopped. The dull sound of ribs cracking echoed through the dark. Kim Jin-cheol could not even scream. He only writhed in agony and begged for his life.
Then, suddenly—
Tap.
The foot that had been stomping him came to an abrupt halt, as if someone had flipped a switch. Kim Jin-cheol gasped for air and forced his eyes open a crack. The expression on the beast staring down at him had changed. Those golden eyes, which had been blazing with madness, were now fixed on some distant point. Its nose flared wildly.
“Hmm? This scent…?”
Joy and greed mixed into the growling voice.
“Khahaha! Found it! I’ve finally found it!”
Before the last word had even faded, Penlark’s body shot into the darkness like a black arrow and vanished.
Whoosh!
Kim Jin-cheol forced his broken body upright and stared blankly in the direction the Ranker had disappeared. Then he offered silent thanks to a wandering merchant he had never even met.
Thank you… for showing up…
“Everyone scatter!”
Hyun Si-woon shouted over his shoulder while still running. The order came from Ha-wol’s warning.
It’s a Hound-race Ranker! His nose is exceptional, but he isn’t particularly strong—among Rankers he’s near the very bottom. That doesn’t mean climbers can even dream of matching him! He must have caught the desert-fox scent clinging to your body!
Lumi’s scent!
Which meant—
He’s after me.
Si-woon assessed the situation in an instant. He was the one who had spent the most time with Lumi and handled the most of her items. That was why he had ordered everyone to scatter. Sticking together and trying to fight would have been nothing short of suicide.
The others had no idea of the real reason. They simply obeyed because Si-woon had given the order. Long experience had taught them one absolute truth: when the leader spoke, even sleeping people got free rice cakes.
Ha-wol, any way out of this?
Of course not, you brat! It’s already over! His movements are locked dead on you! No matter how brilliant Moon Spirit Swordsmanship is, a climber cannot defeat a Ranker!
Damn it.
Si-woon clenched his teeth. Even as he sprinted through pitch-black darkness, his mind spun like lightning. A head-on clash with a Ranker was impossible. The gap in power was absolute. So how was he supposed to survive this?
Ha-wol had said that reaching the Executors would solve everything, but a fair stretch of ground still remained.
Fuck.
In the end Si-woon stopped running and began to walk.
Have you lost your mind?! I told you to run! What are you trying to do? Don’t tell me you’ve given up and want to reset from after the third-floor clear?
No.
Si-woon shook his head.
He won’t kill me right away. His goal isn’t murder. He wants to use Lumi somehow to rake in TC… and Lumi can only be used by climbers. Only we know her location. That means there’s room to negotiate. Or at least room to pretend to negotiate long enough.
Then—
A black shadow fell across the path in front of him.
So that’s the Hound Ranker.
“Grrr. Found you, you little rat.”
Golden eyes glittered with pure greed. Just as Si-woon had predicted, the Ranker did not attack immediately. Instead he flared his nostrils, savoring the scent rising from Si-woon’s body.
“I’ll cut to the chase. Where is the fox?”
Si-woon deliberately put on a terrified expression and took a step back.
“W-what are you talking about…?”
“Playing dumb? The desert-fox stench pouring off you is making my nose buzz.”
“What do you want?”
Si-woon asked, walking slowly forward. Naturalness was everything.
“Oh? What I want? For a worthless maggot, you can actually hold a conversation. Simple. From this moment on, you become the loyal underling of me, Lord Penlark. Every TC you earn with that shop gets handed over to me. You procure any item I demand immediately. In return, I’ll give you massive support so you can climb the Tower more easily. And I’ll even be generous enough to let you live.”
“……”
He wants everything? This bastard’s straight-up robbing me.
Well, that was just how Rankers thought.
“Understood.”
Si-woon kept walking. Feigning complete submission, he casually angled their path toward the Tower entrance.
Naturally. As naturally as possible.
Penlark’s brow twitched.
“You’re getting on my nerves. Why the hell have you been walking around like that this whole time? Can’t you just stand still and talk? Do you want a beating?”
Si-woon flinched theatrically and hunched his shoulders.
“N-no, sir! I thought you were looking for the desert fox, so I was heading that way. It’s this direction!”
“Is that true?”
Penlark did not drop his suspicion, but he fell into step behind Si-woon. Finding Lumi was the absolute priority.
Si-woon’s heart hammered like mad. He did not want to die—not out of fear, but because dying would be a pain in the ass.
How much time passed? The massive silhouette of the Tower finally stood out in perfect clarity. Only then did Penlark sense something wrong and stop.
“Wait.”
His voice dropped into a low, rumbling snarl.
“Why are we heading toward the Tower? Don’t tell me that fox is inside?”
“No. It’s on the opposite side, in the ruined complex. This is the fastest route there.”
“The ruins? Impossible. I’ve circled the entire perimeter of this Tower. Not a single whiff of fox cub.”
Shit.
Si-woon knew in his bones that this was the last chance. Only fifty meters remained to the Tower entrance.
“Hah!”
He wrung every last scrap of training out of himself. The meager internal energy stored in his dantian exploded outward; the essence of Moon Spirit Step concentrated into the tips of his feet.
Fwoooosh!
A speed utterly different from anything before. His body sliced through the darkness like a single streak of shadow.
“You little bastard! You dare trick me?!”
Penlark roared and launched himself after him. A Ranker’s pursuit was beyond imagination. The distance closed in an instant; murderous intent sharp enough to shred skin clawed at Si-woon’s back. No—his skin actually tore. The Ranker’s claws had grazed him.
“Gah—!”
But Si-woon’s calculation had been exact. The moment his foot crossed the boundary line where order was maintained in front of the Tower entrance—
A colossal shadow appeared from nowhere and blocked Penlark’s path.
Black uniform. Blank white mask.
An Executor.
“This space is permitted only to climbers.”
A voice as empty of emotion as a machine rang out.
“Damn it…!”
Penlark had no choice but to retreat.
Si-woon’s eyes gleamed.
Even Rankers can’t casually touch the Executors.
Of course. If the Rankers lurking around the Tower could do whatever they pleased, no climbers would be left alive at all.
“You bastard! Come out right this second! If you come out now, I’ll spare your life at least!”
“……I need to climb the Tower first. We can talk again after that.”
“You insane little shit! Do you really think you can escape my nose once you come back down?! Kyaaaaah! Just wait until you step outside! I’ll tear your limbs off one by one!”
Si-woon merely shrugged. He had not the slightest intention of ever working with that creature.
Instead—
Bwooooooo!
He calmly blew the party assembly horn. The scattered teammates reappeared at his side in the blink of an eye.
“Hyung-nim!”
“What the hell just happened?!”
The members reeled the moment they arrived, voices overlapping in shock.
“Hah—look at your back! You’re bleeding a lot!”
Baek Do-hee urgently pulled out her emergency treatment kit while casting healing magic.
Right. I got scratched earlier.
He had been so tense he had not even felt the pain. But there was no time for long explanations.
“Grrrrrr.”
Far behind them, Penlark still ground his teeth and glared, the killing intent rolling off him enough to chill the spine.
Well. This just got complicated.
“Let’s get in line first. I’ll explain everything once we’re inside the Tower.”
Si-woon spoke curtly and jerked his chin toward the entrance. Any real countermeasures would have to be planned inside anyway.
Because night had deepened, the queue was thinner than it had been during the day. The Executor wordlessly guided them into the separate line reserved for fourth-floor climbers.