One of my clones had been assigned exclusively to the egg.
I could not take the egg into the Tower with me, so from now on, I would have the clone take care of it full-time.
Magic Power was one thing I had in abundance, so it was not much of a burden for me, but still…….
‘…Is this really right?’
To be honest, I still had my doubts.
It was not as though this were some ordinary chicken egg. I had no idea whether doing this would actually make it hatch, but I had no other option.
“…I have no idea.”
Maintaining a single clone did not place any real burden on me anyway, so I decided to leave it like that for now.
Who knew?
Something incredibly useful might awaken from inside that egg.
‘Right. It was a special reward from a three-stage enhancement. There is no way it could be an ordinary egg, is there?’
I tried to think as positively as possible.
Otherwise, I did not think I could endure looking at the countless posts on the Hunter community showing off the special rewards people had received from the 15th floor.
‘More importantly… why is nothing happening?’
After clearing the 15th floor, the number of Medals of Transcendence I possessed had reached five.
That meant it was time to level up Experience Sale.
For some reason, however, my Inventory remained completely quiet.
Previously, when I had collected five Medals of Transcendence, the medals in my Inventory had begun to glow and become active.
This time, however, even though I had gathered five of them, there was no change whatsoever.
‘What is going on?’
Just in case, I tried using them directly.
[Cannot be used.]
[Insufficient ‘Medals of Transcendence’.]
‘Insufficient?’
It had taken five Medals of Transcendence to raise Experience Sale from Level 1 to Level 2.
Apparently, raising Experience Sale to Level 3 required even more Medals of Transcendence.
‘Hmm… I suppose it cannot be helped.’
It was a little disappointing, but naturally, the price one had to pay increased when obtaining greater power.
***
The next day arrived.
I had a quick meal of instant noodles for breakfast and lunch, then spent the afternoon browsing the Hunter community.
I wanted information about the Tower’s 16th floor, which I planned to challenge today.
However…….
[Unauthorized access.]
[Information posts concerning the ‘16th floor’ and above require a rank of ‘D-Rank’ or higher.]
“Ah.”
My current rank on the Hunter community was F-Rank.
My Hunter rank had been promoted to D-Rank not long ago, but because I had never separately applied to update my community rank, it was still F-Rank.
The application process was somewhat tedious, but not particularly difficult.
All I had to do was submit an actual photograph of a Hunter ID showing a rank of D or higher.
[Rank upgrade application has been submitted.]
Since a community administrator apparently had to verify the authenticity of the Hunter ID personally, it was inevitable that the rank upgrade would take some time.
I had nothing else to do until then, so I continued browsing the community.
-If you think Strongest is going to set another SSS-Rank today, give this an upvote.
-Looking purely at the ranking criteria, is the 16th floor not easier to set a record on than the 15th? It is basically just a place where you grind monsters.
-I do not know about clearing it, but in terms of pure ranking difficulty, the 15th floor is definitely harder than the 16th.
On the general board, Strongest was currently the hottest topic of discussion.
I had already been vaguely aware of it, but seeing it firsthand made me realize once again just how much attention the world was paying to me.
-At this rate, is Strongest going to break the record on the 46th floor too?
-That might actually be better than hiring mercenaries halfheartedly. I heard that once you start relying on mercenaries, you practically become a vassal state.
-Would that not actually be better? Surely there are no fools still investing in Korean stocks.
-All the Korean guilds should go under. They are all bastards.
-There are a lot of lunatics here. You are not seriously saying that, are you?
Among the topics currently drawing attention was Strongest’s future course of action.
-Which guild is Strongest going to join?
-But if someone is as strong as Strongest, does he even need to join a guild? I feel like he could just make his own and immediately become number one in the industry.
-He might already belong to the Awakened Management Agency.
-What if he emigrates? Korea seems hopeless, frankly.
-That is exactly why staying in Korea would be hugely advantageous. If he becomes the record holder for the highest floor, he will practically become the country’s savior.
-Agreed. Do you not know how much Flying Sword makes a year?
Seeing other people discussing my future reminded me of the White Tiger Guild, whose representatives I was supposed to meet today.
‘Should I look them up?’
[Search: White Tiger Guild]
-The White Tiger Guild, a symbol of trust, ranks first in guild member satisfaction survey.
-The White Tiger Guild’s growth shows no signs of slowing! Performance rises for three consecutive months.
-The White Tiger Guild’s friendly senior members continue to receive praise for their new-member training program.
Perhaps it was because I had searched for the guild by name, but the first results were articles about the White Tiger Guild.
At a glance, they looked like unreliable promotional pieces that had clearly been commissioned by the White Tiger Guild itself.
-The White Tiger Guild is doing incredibly well lately.
-[Information] The prestige of the White Tiger Guild is incredible.
-Praise the White Tiger Guild.
The community posts were not much different.
‘This is not going to work.’
I decided to try searching another way.
[Search: WT]
I tried the abbreviation on a whim, and countless posts immediately appeared.
-The atmosphere at WT has been terrifying lately... I seriously want to quit everything.
-WT, you bastard. How the hell are we supposed to find S?
-I cannot take this anymore... Should I just leave WT?
Compared to searching for the White Tiger Guild directly, these posts certainly contained much more candid information.
Of course, given the nature of an online community, I could not assume all of it was true, but it was still worth looking through.
-Is WT’s GM really that awful? He always looked like a decent person.
-Yes. That guy at WT is only easygoing when he is in a good mood. His temper is terrible.
-Seriously, do not join WT... I regret joining just because it was a major guild...
After roughly going through the posts, I was able to determine a few things.
First, the White Tiger Guild was looking for Strongest.
Second, the atmosphere inside the White Tiger Guild was currently quite poor.
And third, there was reason to believe that, one way or another, all of it was related to me.
“…Hmm.”
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
Perhaps I could use this to my advantage.
***
By the time I finished browsing the Hunter community, quite a bit of time had passed.
[Rank upgrade application has been approved.]
Now that my Hunter community rank upgrade had been completed, I immediately searched for information about the Tower’s 16th floor.
After familiarizing myself with the general strategy, I prepared to enter the Tower.
I could have met with the people from the White Tiger Guild first and entered the Tower afterward, but that would delay my entry time accordingly, so I intended to clear it before heading out.
The Tower could be entered once every twenty-four hours.
If I carelessly let the time slip back by an hour or two each day, I would inevitably lose time in my Tower-clearing cycle.
Having lived as a Scavenger for twenty-five years, I could not help being especially sensitive about the Tower’s entry cycle.
“Enter the Tower.”
[Entering <Tower Floor 16>.]
As soon as I entered the Tower, I found myself facing a deep, dark passageway unlike anything I had encountered thus far.
The stale air gradually seemed to grow heavier, tightening around my throat and making it difficult to breathe.
At last, I had entered the King’s Tomb that the gravekeeper had been guarding.
[16th Floor Mission Overview]
-Defeat 5 Vampiric Mummies.
-Proceed to the next floor toward the place where the king sleeps.
-Completion Condition: Defeat all Vampiric Mummies
-Completion Condition: Reach the next floor
-Failure Condition: Death
If the journey from the 11th to the 15th floor had been about reaching the tomb where the king slept, then the journey from the 16th to the 20th floor took place inside the tomb itself.
Accordingly, even the conditions for clearing the Tower were different from before.
It was no longer enough simply to defeat every monster that appeared. I also had to make my way through the interior of the pyramid, which was tangled together like a maze.
Of course, there was no real need to worry.
I had already checked the route through the 16th floor beforehand.
‘Go straight, turn right once, then turn left. They said a Vampiric Mummy would appear there.’
Following the strategy I had thoroughly memorized, I stepped into the deep, dark passageway.
Then—
-GRAAAAGH!
A dry, hoarse shriek echoed through the narrow passage.
A Vampiric Mummy had appeared.
“Hmm.”
There was no need to draw my Magic Sword. I simply swung my fist.
The blast of air generated by the punch blew the mummy apart in front of me.
BANG!
[You have defeated a Vampiric Mummy.]
[You have acquired Experience Points.]
“That was nothing.”
I immediately continued down the passage.
Vampiric Mummies appeared from time to time as I made my way upward, but frankly, there was no possibility of them posing any threat to me.
‘Is it over there?’
[You have defeated a Vampiric Mummy.]
[You have acquired Experience Points.]
One, two, three…….
After defeating the final Vampiric Mummy and continuing onward, I soon found the passage leading to the next floor.
‘There it is.’
The moment I stepped toward the passage—
[You have cleared <Tower Floor 16>.]
A notification announcing that I had cleared the 16th floor appeared before my eyes.
[All Stats are ‘16’ or higher. You will receive additional Experience Points instead of a Stats increase.]
[You have achieved SSS-Rank.]
[A special reward for achieving the rank has been granted.]
[The clear record for <Tower Floor 16> has been updated.]
[Leaving the Tower.]
Clearing the Tower’s 16th floor had been a little more troublesome than usual, but by my standards, it had not been particularly difficult.
It might have been another matter if I had not known the strategy for the 16th floor, but since I already knew the route, finding the passage to the next floor had not been difficult at all.
‘Then I suppose I should start getting ready.’
It was time to meet the White Tiger Guild.
***
Kim Beom-gu, the manager in charge of recruitment for the White Tiger Guild, could not hide his nervousness.
Today was the day he was finally going to meet Hunter Choi Kang Hyuk.
‘I have to succeed in recruiting him…….’
Hunters tended to consider themselves special, and many of them consequently lacked social skills, so Kim Beom-gu had deliberately arrived an hour early to wait.
Today was a day on which he could not afford even the slightest mistake.
‘I really hope he is Strongest…….’
He had spoken confidently in front of the guild master, but truthfully, the chances that Choi Kang Hyuk was actually Strongest were extremely low.
An F-Rank Hunter with twenty-five years of experience.
Put another way, it meant that he had remained nothing more than F-Rank for a full twenty-five years.
“Ah!”
After what felt like a long wait, Choi Kang Hyuk appeared at the café.
He had arrived ten minutes before the agreed time.
“Over here, Hunter Choi Kang Hyuk.”
“Ah, are you the person who contacted me?”
“Yes, that is correct. I am Kim Beom-gu, the recruitment manager from the White Tiger Guild who contacted you. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“I am Choi Kang Hyuk.”
“I heard you were forty-five, but you look much younger than I expected.”
“That is not particularly unusual among Hunters.”
“Ha ha, that is true. Please, have a seat.”
Kim Beom-gu spoke again.
“What would you like to drink?”
“I will have an Americano.”
“Of course. Please wait a moment. I will place the order and be right back.”
Kim Beom-gu hurriedly returned with the drinks and took a seat across from Choi Kang Hyuk.
“Why did you ask to meet me?”
“Ah, I will get straight to the point. As I mentioned when I first contacted you, the White Tiger Guild would like to recruit you, Hunter Choi Kang Hyuk.”
“Really?”
“Of course. This is the contract we are offering. Please take a look.”
Rather than adding unnecessary words, it was better to present concrete terms first.
That was a lesson Kim Beom-gu had learned through years of headhunting.
And sure enough—
“You are really offering me all of this?”
Choi Kang Hyuk’s eyes widened after he read the terms written in the contract.
“Ha ha, of course. The White Tiger Guild is renowned for offering some of the best compensation in the industry. Someone like you, Hunter Choi Kang Hyuk, naturally deserves terms of this caliber.”
“Oh…….”
Seeing Choi Kang Hyuk apparently being won over more easily than expected, Kim Beom-gu felt a wave of relief.
At the same time, however, another question began to rise in his mind.
‘…He is giving in this easily?’
An SSS-Rank record holder?
If he had been a Hunter for twenty-five years, there was no way he could be ignorant of how this industry worked.
And so Kim Beom-gu reached a conclusion.
‘…Could it be that he is not Strongest?’
Suspicion began to grow in Kim Beom-gu’s heart.