Debuted as a Bus Driver
"...Then aren't you going to help me?"
I turned around and walked away.
'Unbelievable.'
You come all the way here to help someone, and they call you a kid right off the bat?
...Sure, my body is that of a kid right now, but still, it pissed me off.
'I'll just go home, eat, shower, and sleep.'
Oh right, I also need to check what reward I got.
As I was about to head back home with a big grin, I heard the girl muttering.
"Uuu... I guess there's really no one to help me... I was going to give this too...."
'What was she going to give?'
The moment I turned around, something in her hand caught my eye.
It was a Magic Stone.
But the size and color of that Magic Stone were on a completely different level from anything I'd seen before.
It was incredibly shiny, and also the biggest among all the Magic Stones I'd seen.
'She's willing to give me that?'
If I could absorb that, just how strong could I become?
But I got rejected because I'm a kid... Ah!
I had a great idea.
**
'Uuuu, what do I do....'
She had been timid since birth.
She couldn't even talk to strangers, let alone go outside much.
But she had to climb the Tower, and she had to do it....
'How could I make such a mistake....'
She clutched the rusty sword tightly.
She needed party members, but no one would talk to her.
... At this rate, it's hopeless......
Just then.
"I am here to help you, -nim."
"R-really...?"
In front of her stood a person with a hood pulled low.
**
Magic isn't fixed.
Since it's based on the caster's imagination, magic can change through imagination alone.
'The same goes for Tracking Prevention Magic.'
By tweaking the formula just a tiny bit, it can also function as a disguise.
After all, this magic was originally designed for espionage.
'Yeah, rather than a disguise... perception alteration is more accurate.'
Simply put, the other person won't recognize me for who I am.
They'll perceive me as a completely different person.
'Honestly, I was just going to go home, but....'
Seeing the Magic Stone in her hand, I couldn't resist.
I knew because I'd only seen thousands of the lowest-grade Magic Stones.
That's not a lowest-grade Magic Stone. At the very least, it's low-grade, maybe even mid-grade.
'If I absorb that, I'll definitely become insanely strong.'
I was certain of that, so I decided to help her.
Since it would be Easy or Normal difficulty, it shouldn't be too hard.
"Th-thank you for helping me. M-my name is Han Su-bin...."
"My name is Ares."
I couldn't think of a proper alias, so I used a name from another world.
I was worried it might seem strange.
"Oh, Ares...! That's a cool name...."
She was someone who didn't think much of it, more than I expected.
Maybe she thinks I'm a foreigner.
After some ice-breaking conversation, we entered the Tower together.
"But being a bus from the 1st floor... that's pretty interesting."
"Y-yeah... the Tower is really hard...."
"Usually the 1st floor is easy—what difficulty is it?"
"It's Hard...!"
"...Huh?"
Hard?
I thought I misheard, so I asked again, but the answer was the same.
Hard?
'With that kind of gear...?'
I checked the equipment Han Su-bin was carrying.
Well, I shouldn't even call it equipment—she had nothing except the rusty sword in her hand.
It felt like looking at myself when I first climbed the Tower.
'Could it be... is she a Wizard too?'
Is that why she's attempting Hard without any equipment?
"Su-bin-ssi, can you use magic?"
"Th-there's no such thing in this world...."
Guess not.
Then why.
"Why did you choose Hard difficulty?"
I'm really curious.
But the answer she gave shocked me even more.
"By mistake...."
"By mistake? Hard?"
"Yes... that's why I haven't even properly climbed yet... I'm too scared...."
"..."
I don't know where to start criticizing.
But.
"You're lucky, Su-bin-ssi, for meeting me."
"P-please take me as a bus...!"
Han Su-bin bowed.
At the same time, a white light enveloped us, and we were transported to the 1st floor.
'The map design seems the same even on Hard.'
A round cave-type map.
Then the goblins are likely to spawn in similar positions.
In that case.
"I-I'll hold the sword and go first—"
"No, that won't be necessary."
"...Y-yes?"
"Just stay still."
Alright, let's see how much stronger I've gotten after eating five thousand Magic Stones.
I extended my index finger and cast Fireball.
As usual, mana began gathering at my fingertips.
'Oh, mana is gathering much better?'
The speed and amount of mana gathering seemed to have doubled compared to before.
How much stronger is the firepower?
'I'll know once I fire it.'
Instead of splitting the Fireball into three, I just maximized its size.
"Fire."
The fireball that left my fingertip flew toward the goblin spawn point.
-Kkeureureuk?
Ten goblins spawned at just the right timing.
The moment those guys appeared, what they must have seen was a massive sun flying toward them.
-Kwaaang!!
An explosion sound so loud I'd never heard before echoed.
No, this much?
'This feels like my firepower is even stronger than when I was in my prime....'
While I was marveling at my own growth.
"A-A-Ares-ssi??? How did you do that...?"
I turned around to see Han Su-bin sitting on the ground, her legs having given out.
She was so shocked that her stutter was worse than usual.
Hmm....
"Because I'm good at it."
I brushed it off like that.
"I-I see...! Amazing!"
Because it was Han Su-bin, I could get away with it.
Besides, I'm using Tracking Prevention Magic, so I don't have to worry about being investigated.
Just then.
-Paat!
[Measuring party contribution!]
- Ares: 100%
- Han Su-bin: 0%
[Rewards will be distributed at 9:1!]
'Oh, so that's how the system works.'
It analyzes party contribution and distributes rewards automatically.
That works for me.
"No problem with the reward distribution, right?"
"Y-yes...! Honestly, I didn't even do anything... hehe...."
I collected the Magic Stones that dropped as rewards.
Just then, another notification window appeared.
[You have achieved a new world record!]
[Clear Time: 0 days 00 hours 00 minutes 01 second]
[Your contribution is 100%!]
[Your great achievement will be broadcast to the entire world!]
What?
'So that means my name Ares will be revealed?'
I have no idea how the Tower operates.
Maybe even with Tracking Prevention Magic, my real name could be exposed.
'What do I do....'
If my name is leaked, Tracking Prevention Magic will become useless.
Just then.
[Tower climb achieved 3 times! You can now set a nickname!]
Good, that's a relief.
If I'm known by a nickname, there shouldn't be much of a problem.
"Nickname, huh...."
What should it be?
Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever really thought about aliases or nicknames before.
Just then, one word passed through my mind.
'This should work.'
I set my nickname and approached Han Su-bin.
"I cleared the 1st floor for you, so give me the reward."
"A-ah! Yes, yes! H-here you go...."
I received the thicker Magic Stone from Han Su-bin.
"U-um, could you possibly help me next time too...?"
"Hmm... I'll think about it."
First, I need to check how good this Magic Stone is.
'But asking if I'll help next time... does that mean there's a way to get more of those Magic Stones?'
...Just in case, I did get her Discord contact.
I don't know her situation, but it's good to have a rich friend.
**
After returning home, I turned on my computer first.
As expected, the Tower Minor Gallery was in chaos.
[Crazy, new world record on Tower 1st Floor]
How is a 1-second clear even possible?
Even on Easy difficulty, 3 goblins pop out—how do you clear that in 1 second?
What the hell...? Did some monster get born in Korea?
ㄴ Maybe a hundred people entered on Easy and ganged up on them?
ㄴ That doesn't work. Clearing Easy doesn't update rankings, and only Hard difficulty allows party play on floor 1.
ㄴ And even then, max party size is 4. Four people cutting down 10 goblins in 1 second? Even the world rank 1 can't do that.
ㄴ But how do you know they're Korean?
ㄴ You skimmed the notification and skipped it.
ㄴ Yeah...
ㄴ The registered name is 'Wizard'. Not 'wizard'—Wizard. It was written in Korean.
ㄴ Crazy, South Korea. But do Wizards actually exist?
ㄴ You think they exist, you fucking idiot?
ㄴ Why are you so mean.......
"Of course Wizards exist—I'm right here."
And not just any Wizard, but a great Wizard climbing the Limited Edition solo.
'Anyway, this ego-searching is fun.'
The more I refreshed, the more posts related to me flooded in.
From people guessing my identity.
[All 12 Wizards are open to everyone... To purify the vessel, I will eat dirt for 30 days....]
"What the hell is this?"
Someone had already made a weird template and was spamming it everywhere.
Eat dirt for 30 days and become a Wizard?
'If that worked, I wouldn't have gone through all that hell in the other world....'
'Ugh, I don't even want to think about it.'
I shook my head and continued browsing the gallery.
[10-Second Seat vs. 1-Second Seat: Who Wins?]
First to clear under 1 minute vs. 1-second clear
ㄴ Obviously the latter. Does a 1-second clear look like a joke to you?
ㄴ But why couldn't they clear it until now? Isn't 1-Second Seat born because 10-Second Seat existed?
ㄴ Maybe 10-Second Seat was just holding back
ㄴ Don't you know that world records keep getting updated once broken? 1-Second Seat existed because 10-Second Seat was there. Draw, go next
ㄴ Bullshit
"They're both me."
It was fun seeing a flame war pit me against myself.
But maybe I should start worrying.
"Isn't there too much mention of me?"
Did I attract too much attention?
At this rate, foreign communities must be in chaos too—FBI or CIA aren't tracking me, right?
'If I get mentioned more in the gallery, it'll be big trouble.'
I was even considering dropping a tactical nuke using Tracking Prevention Magic.
Just then.
[(Head Mod) From now on, all 1-second bait posts are getting nuked]
We get it, Korea is awesome and 1-second is awesome, but the bait is overheating.
Posts about finding the identity are also popping up, so from now on I'm purging all trending posts.
The fact that they used 'Wizard' as a nickname already means they want to hide their identity, so enough is enough.
ㄴ N-ntmh (Noona, thank you, mod hyung)
ㄴ Who do you think you are
ㄴ But it does seem a bit overheated
ㄴ Damn, head mod
ㄴ Gallery normalization is
Thankfully, the head mod of Tower Minor Gallery was a decent admin who did their job.
Today too, the head mod kept the gallery's peace.
"Phew, should I shower now...."
Just as I was stretching and debating whether to shower.
-Ttiring!
"Oh, you took less time to think than I expected?"
An email arrived from the power plant.
And it was very positive news.
**
At that moment, in Japan.
"Let's go to Korea right now."
"Y-Yuzuru-nim...?"
"Right now."
Former, no.
Former world record holder for floor 1 clear time, Kurose Yuzuru.
She had decided to go to Korea.
'My ranking has been updated twice. And both times from a single country—Korea.'
Yuzuru originally had no interest in Korea at all.
Even though it's a neighboring country, she was so ignorant of Korean culture that she knew nothing about it.
But.
'It seems that in Korea, a monster... or something beyond a monster may have been born.'
A single girl had moved Kurose Yuzuru, Japan's S-class rank 1.
And Japan wasn't the only one making a move.
**
The Presidential Office of South Korea.
Someone burst in without any manners, panting heavily.
"P-President! Emergency!"
"Sigh, what now...?"
"The United States! Contact from the world's S-class rank 2 Hunter!"
"...What?"
The world's greatest superpower, the United States, had also begun to move.