After arriving at the café and talking with Kim Beom-gu, I learned something.
Kim Beom-gu—or rather, the White Tiger Guild—did not know that I had divorced my ex-wife because she had an affair with a member of the White Tiger Guild.
More precisely, they probably had never cared in the first place.
On my way here, I had entertained a faint possibility.
What if the White Tiger Guild acknowledged the mistake it had made in the past and was finally trying to make things right?
But that was not the case.
Far from trying to correct the past, the White Tiger Guild did not even remember what had happened between us in the first place.
That was probably why they could contact me directly with such shameless expressions and make an offer like this.
The best treatment in the industry?
What a ridiculous thing to say.
I remembered.
I remembered how Kim Chang-su, who had committed adultery with my ex-wife, had brazenly barged into my home with his shoes on and, as though mocking me, had instead tried to intimidate me.
I had felt wronged.
I had been furious.
So I had tried appealing to the White Tiger Guild, but naturally, it had accomplished nothing.
An appeal from an F-Rank Hunter.
To the White Tiger Guild, it had meant absolutely nothing, and my voice had simply vanished into the air.
‘How amusing.’
The White Tiger Guild, which had mocked and ignored me back then, was now searching for me.
Without even remembering how they had treated me.
There was an expression called false hope.
It referred to a situation in which a person suffered even more because of a hope that had little chance of ever coming true.
I intended to show the White Tiger Guild exactly what false hope was.
Starting now, and for a very long time.
“Then shall we sign the contract right away?”
Kim Beom-gu urged me to finalize the contract.
But that was out of the question.
There was no possibility that I would sign a contract merely to receive treatment befitting a D-Rank Hunter.
Especially not with the White Tiger Guild.
“Ah, I would like to review the contract first. I will contact you separately afterward.”
“Ah, of course. Naturally, you should.”
Kim Beom-gu held out a business card to me.
“If you have any questions or anything else you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact me at any time. Here is my business card.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Then I will be going.”
I accepted the business card and rose from my seat.
There was nothing more I needed to discuss with Kim Beom-gu.
‘A good opportunity has presented itself.’
Of course, it would probably prove to be a rather unpleasant opportunity for the White Tiger Guild and certain others.
***
After his meeting with Choi Kang Hyuk ended, Kim Beom-gu left the café and checked his smartphone.
He had switched it to silent mode during his conversation with Choi Kang Hyuk in case it would be rude, so he wanted to check the messages he had missed.
[Today at 16:31, Hunter Strongest broke the SSS-Rank record for Tower Floor 16.]
“…4:31?”
The current time was 5:38 p.m.
He had met Choi Kang Hyuk at around 4:50 p.m.
If Choi Kang Hyuk truly was Strongest, the SSS-Rank record holder, that meant he had cleared the Tower’s 16th floor immediately before coming to meet him.
‘Is that even possible?’
Choi Kang Hyuk had looked far too immaculate when Kim Beom-gu met him.
Even if he had merely gone for a stroll around the neighborhood instead of entering the Tower, he probably would have shown more signs of exertion than that.
The Tower’s 16th floor in particular was different from the preceding floors. It was not a place one could easily break through simply by being strong.
A Hunter had to navigate maze-like passages while dealing with the threat of monsters and find the correct route.
Strictly speaking, with information about the Tower now readily available throughout the world, finding the way might not matter very much anymore.
But the important question was whether even a Hunter could make it through such a maze and still look completely fresh, without showing the slightest hint of fatigue.
‘Could he have a recovery-type Trait or Skill? If so, then it would certainly be possible…….’
Hunters of A-Rank or higher were fine because the overwhelming level of their Vitality granted them tremendous natural recovery.
But no matter how extraordinary Strongest was, strictly speaking, he was still only a newcomer who had just cleared the 16th floor.
Kim Beom-gu was beginning to doubt whether Choi Kang Hyuk truly was Strongest.
Before meeting him in person, he had been almost certain.
Yet after actually meeting him, something simply did not seem right.
“Hmm…….”
Kim Beom-gu had no idea how he was supposed to report this to the guild master.
The contract negotiations with Choi Kang Hyuk seemed likely to go well, but he had doubts about whether Choi Kang Hyuk was actually Strongest?
If he said something like that in front of the guild master, there was no guarantee he would leave alive.
In South Korea, the guild masters of the Four Great Guilds possessed enough power to make a few people disappear and still escape any consequences.
More importantly, Kim Beom-gu clearly remembered how people who had incurred Baek Dae-hwan’s wrath had one day vanished without a trace.
Official investigations had classified them as missing persons, but was that really all there was to it?
Kim Beom-gu was all but convinced that Baek Dae-hwan had been behind every one of those disappearances.
‘I should watch him a little longer for now.’
In any case, the contract he had offered Choi Kang Hyuk merely contained fairly generous terms for a D-Rank Hunter. It was still well within the limits of Kim Beom-gu’s authority.
In other words, even if Choi Kang Hyuk was not Strongest, the SSS-Rank record holder, the guild would not suffer any loss by recruiting him.
If Kim Beom-gu had been certain that Choi Kang Hyuk was Strongest, the SSS-Rank record holder, he would have presented him with an entirely different contract.
But that was beyond the scope of his current authority.
At least, unless Choi Kang Hyuk revealed that he was Strongest himself and demanded different contractual terms.
‘…In the worst-case scenario, I will have no choice but to go to the guild master.’
But he could not wait too long.
If his report was delayed for no good reason, he might truly lose his head.
Not metaphorically.
His actual head.
***
Kim Ja-young woke early in the morning and prepared breakfast.
She had barely prepared breakfast a handful of times for her former husband during their marriage, but how could Kim Chang-su possibly be compared to someone like her ex-husband?
Today was finally the day of Kim Chang-su’s B-Rank Promotion Exam.
Strictly speaking, it was an exam for B-minus Rank, but B-Rank was still B-Rank, was it not?
‘He will rise further soon enough anyway!’
Kim Ja-young did not know much about Hunters.
But according to the people around her, B-Rank Hunters were supposedly as common as stones lying along the roadside.
If that was the case, then being promoted to B-Rank could not be all that difficult either, could it?
“…What is all this so early in the morning?”
As she busily prepared breakfast, Kim Chang-su eventually woke up.
“You are awake? Go wash up and have breakfast. I made it.”
“No need. I will eat something light before I leave. Just get me some oatmeal and milk.”
“But I already made all this, so you might as well eat breakfast…….”
“Ja-young.”
Kim Chang-su’s cold gaze settled on Kim Ja-young.
“Today is an important day for me. So let us not make an issue out of this, all right? My condition is important.”
Before the oppressive presence of a C-Rank Hunter, Kim Ja-young could only become like a mouse before a cat.
“…A-All right. I am sorry. I did not think it through.”
In truth, whether a Hunter was C-Rank or F-Rank, an ordinary person would have difficulty enduring it if the Hunter deliberately unleashed their presence.
Kim Ja-young, however, did not know that.
Her former husband, who had been an F-Rank Hunter, had never once directed his presence at her, not even until the very moment of their divorce.
“Thank you for understanding. I am going to take a shower.”
“Mm…….”
Watching Kim Chang-su enter the bathroom, Kim Ja-young took several deep breaths.
‘He is only sensitive because today is important.’
That was what Kim Ja-young told herself.
Once today was over, everything would be fine.
***
When I returned home after meeting Kim Beom-gu, the first thing I saw was the clone assigned to the egg gently stroking it.
“…….”
Seeing someone with exactly the same face as mine doing something like that gave me an exceedingly strange feeling, but I forced myself to endure it.
If something extraordinary emerged from that egg, nothing could be better.
“How is it?”
“No change.”
“Really?”
When I examined the egg, it was exactly as the clone had said. Aside from twitching that first time, it had remained completely motionless.
‘Can this thing really be hatched this way?’
While I was wondering about that, I lightly touched the egg.
TWITCH—
“Hm?”
Did that just move?
“It moved, did it not?”
“Yes. I saw it.”
The clone confirmed it clearly as well.
Just in case, I touched it again.
SHIVER.
The egg trembled slightly.
Wait.
Could this possibly mean…….
“…Do I have to carry it around myself?”
I thought I could simply leave the troublesome work to the clone. I had not expected there to be a restriction like this…….
“…What a nuisance.”
Apparently, whenever I was at home from now on, I would have to keep the egg close to me.
At least it was not particularly large, so carrying it around in a pocket or something similar should not be too bothersome…….
“Ugh.”
I had no idea what was going to emerge from it, but it had better not be something insignificant.
“If possible, build some muscle in there before you come out. Be as strong and sturdy as you can. Understood?”
SHIVER—
The egg answered with its body.
***
The next day.
I prepared to climb the Tower again.
Climbing the Tower had always been part of my daily routine.
Even now, after so many things had changed, that remained largely the same.
‘Besides, the higher I climb the Tower, the more anxious the White Tiger Guild will become.’
That was why, starting today, I intended to stop doing repeat clears and simply advance by one floor each day.
The fact that the White Tiger Guild had discovered information about me meant it would not be long before all sorts of guilds began searching for me as well.
‘Of course, even if someone decides to come after me, it is not as though I lack confidence…….’
There were countless Hunters in the world.
No matter how confident I was in myself, I had no way of knowing what Traits and Skills they possessed.
There was nothing wrong with being careful.
Some people might call me timid for thinking this way, but a person had to have the habit of testing even a stone bridge before crossing it if they wanted to survive as a Hunter for twenty-five years.
The Tower and the Hunter world were both places where a single careless moment could send someone across a river from which there was no return.
Of course, being cautious did not mean I intended to live in fear.
As long as I possessed strength, I had no intention of abandoning my confidence.
‘Then shall I go?’
After studying the strategy and memorizing the route for the 17th floor, I immediately declared my entry into the Tower.
“Enter the Tower.”
[Entering <Tower Floor 17>.]
[17th Floor Mission Overview]
-Defeat 8 Vampiric Mummies.
-Defeat 1 King’s Sentry.
-Proceed to the next floor toward the place where the king sleeps.
-Completion Condition: Defeat all Vampiric Mummies and the King’s Sentry
-Completion Condition: Reach the next floor
-Failure Condition: Death
The 17th floor began at the passage through which I had ascended from the 16th floor.
-GRAAAAGH……!
I dealt with the Vampiric Mummy that lunged at me almost as soon as I started moving.
‘Right, left, then right again…….’
I followed the route I had seen in the strategy guide, eliminated the King’s Sentry guarding the passage, and continued along the correct path.
That was all there was to it.
[You have cleared <Tower Floor 17>.]
[All Stats are ‘17’ 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 17> has been updated.]
[Leaving the Tower.]