Tower of Trials #2661
Ten years ago, the Earth underwent a complete upheaval. Mysterious monsters began appearing all over the world, attacking people, and at the same time, enigmatic towers started sprouting up everywhere. The towers themselves were shocking enough, but the flood of monsters posed a threat humanity couldn't handle.
Even elephants, the strongest animals on land, seemed laughable compared to these things. With hundreds or thousands pouring out, there was no way to cope. Of course, humanity's firepower from guns and artillery could easily take down your average monster. But the real problem was the not-so-average ones. Monsters immune to gunfire, ones with bizarre abilities, and just plain filthy huge, insanely strong bastards.
Cities across the world were destroyed, countless casualties mounted, and humanity was steadily losing ground. Then one day, people with superhuman strength began overpowering the monsters. They were called Awakeners back then—or Hunters now. The towers that had grown everywhere were the source, spitting out these beings. They were the ones who accepted invitations from the Tower of Trials and cleared it at the risk of their lives to become Hunters.
Of course, that's all ancient history now. The first-generation Hunters made the world pretty safe, and the periodic invitations kidnapping people became a golden chance for losers like me to turn our lives around. In the early days, the Tower of Trials was a deadly gamble where you had to risk everything, but now that strategies for each floor are established, it's not so bad. Plus, there are so-called Rankers who stick around long-term for more power, letting newbies ride their Bus safely up to the 100th floor.
That's why a total NEET like me jumped into the Tower of Trials without hesitation. No need to risk my neck—hop on a Ranker Bus, clear it on easy mode, and boom, low-rank Hunter status. Even picking off weak monsters sporadically pays decently, and with Hunter-level physical abilities, any grunt work pays big. Hit a hidden element by luck, and it's real life-reversal time. Why pass up a high-odds, safe bet?
But what the fuck is this?
Chat channel for this Tower of Trials instance.
This blue interface is the chat channel attached to each Tower of Trials. People who get invitations are sent to the nearest tower based on country and residence. That 2661 is the unique ID—like an address—for the one I got sent to. So what's the (1/1) next to it? It means the number of people connected to the chat: one connected, total one.
In other words, I'm alone in Tower of Trials #2661. No Ranker to Bus me, no comrades to fight with... completely solo.
At first, I couldn't believe it. I fiddled with the interface, including the chat, for ages looking for others. Nothing. Even asking in the open community shared by all Tower challengers turned up zilch on Tower #2661 challengers. Just me, solo in the tower those first-gen Hunters bled for.
My life was fucked.
The Tower of Trials isn't just a tower—it's more like a massive otherworld. Each floor is its own world, 100 floors total means 100 worlds, complete with multiple dungeons and villages per floor. Challengers roam dungeons and hunting grounds, kill monsters, level up, gain skills and stats, and get stronger. Straightforward RPG setup.
Obviously, I've got the classic Status Window too.
"Status Window."
No need to say it out loud, but with no one around, I muttered it anyway as I summoned it.
Seo Jin-hyeok, Lv.1 (Jobless). All stats at the bare minimum—no extras. Every challenger starts like this. No matter how strong you were before entering, Strength is 1. Even if you're a genius, Intelligence is 1. Doesn't mean I'm dumb; this stat has fuck-all to do with real smarts.
The (Jobless) next to level isn't because I'm an unemployed bum—everyone's Jobless until they class up. Raise Strength, get stronger; Agility, faster; Durability, tougher. All stats gained here stack directly onto your base abilities. Even at 1 now, I'm 1 point stronger and more agile than pre-Tower me. No real feel yet, but that's what other challengers say.
I knew this from open community info and rumors, but I checked anyway, hoping for some special perk since I'm solo. "Fuck, even an Epic Class would've been nice." Nope. Nothing. Gotta clear this tower solo with my Lv.1 trash body.
My grand plan to become a Hunter and treat my hardworking mom? Fucked already. Born a dirt-poor loser, still a dirt-poor loser as a Hunter. Why is my life so consistently fucked?
But hey, you never know till you try. Maybe I've got some hidden genius talent and can solo the whole thing. Or a personal hidden piece waiting somewhere. Life can't be that fucked, right? So I left the village for the hunting grounds. Catch any monster and see.
"Uh... that gotta be a Horned Rabbit, yeah."
I gripped the wooden sword in my right hand, eyeing the big white rabbit hopping around the field map. The Tower's open community has solid newbie guides: Skip the Labyrinth at Lv.1, hunt Horned Rabbits in the field to hit Lv.3 safely. Below 3, even Bus-riding with Rankers risks a dumb slip-up killing you.
Boing-boing.
Horned Rabbits look like rabbits with horns. But dog-sized. Not creepy like those giant Aussie ones—just cute, but stupidly huge. And their jumps match: over my head height.
Boing-boing.
Even just watching them hop looks threatening, but they're the weakest mobs for Lv.1... so I can take 'em, right? I approached slowly with my starter wooden sword. Non-aggressive type—won't attack unless hit. First strike's free.
"Hyaah!"
I smashed the wooden sword down on the hopping rabbit's forehead. Strength 1 helped somehow—it swung harder than expected.
Squeak!
Hit on the noggin, it let out a cute yelp and tumbled. I closed in on the downed rabbit and swung again.
Thud, thud, thud!
Should make a bigger smack, but the fur muffles it like whacking a pillow. Still, damage lands fine. It couldn't resist much, taking a solid beating.
Squeeee...
After a few more whacks, it cried differently, turned to light, and vanished.
No level-up from one rabbit, even at Lv.1. But way easier than expected. Killing a beast that size with a wooden sword? Stats must compensate. Didn't even get winded after tons of swings—probably stamina buffs too.
At this rate, I got this.
After that, I took down eight more. Non-aggressive, so pin one and whale on it—no counterattacks. Leveled up too. Now Lv.2, all stats +1 to 2. Didn't notice much at all-1, but all-2 feels noticeably stronger. That growth satisfaction? Never felt it rolling around as an unemployed job-seeker.
"Okay, one more to make ten, then back to town..."
Motivated, I targeted another white Horned Rabbit hopping by.
"Hyaah!"
With a solid kiai, I bashed its head. Wooden sword needs about eleven hits to finish.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeeee...!
I kept pounding the pitifully squealing thing. Almost done—then a weird noise from the sword.
Crack.
Durability hit zero. Right as I swung the final blow. Crack—rabbit down, loot in, sword shattered.
"Breaks after exactly ten, huh."
I stowed the broken sword in inventory, clicked my tongue, and headed to town. That's when I spotted something weird far off. Another Horned Rabbit, identical to the one I just killed... but black-furred.
Wait, aren't all Horned Rabbits white? Boing-boing-boing!
The black one moved faster than the whites—not jumping, sprinting. I opened the community guide—did it mention this?—but it closed in quick.
No, not just closing in. It was charging me.
"What the fuck."
The moment I realized, it bridged the gap and launched its whole body at me.
"Gah!"