FLASH—!
An intense light burst from the scabbard at Cha Jun-hyeok’s waist.
And the sight that unfolded before my eyes was five goblins sprawled across the ground, their bodies completely severed.
At the same time, Status Window alerts began appearing in rapid succession.
<Gwanaksan Tower’s 1st floor has been cleared.>
<Shortest time updated. Rank will be raised.>
<You have succeeded in the first S-Rank clear of Gwanaksan Tower.>
Basic Rewards: 100 F-Rank Magic Stones, Basic Inventory (10 slots), 3 Essences of Earth.
First S-Rank Clear Rewards: 1 Time Delay Ticket, 10-slot Inventory Expansion Ticket, 3 Random Box Fragments>
Attack Power +5%, Defense +5%>
<Would you like to exit Gwanaksan Tower’s 1st floor?>
“Did the exit alert appear?”
Cha Jun-hyeok asked as he slid his sword back into its scabbard.
“Yes.”
“Cancel it.”
When I did as he said, the remaining time appeared on the Status Window.
<Exit standby time is 5 minutes and 30 seconds.>
“Just trust me and follow!”
Cha Jun-hyeok strode into the forest where the goblins had appeared. Perhaps because he was in a good mood, he was even humming.
Inside the forest, I saw five shabbily built huts.
They seemed to be the homes of the goblins from earlier.
Following the wooden fence around to the back of the huts, I saw a rickety door made of bound logs.
“This is it.”
Outside the door was just the forest.
But when we passed through the door...
Rewards will be recalculated according to causality.>
WHIRRR—!
The sound was like a bill-counting machine I had only ever heard at a bank.
110 F-Rank Magic Stones, Basic Inventory (11 slots), 1 Time Delay Ticket, 11-slot Inventory Expansion Ticket, 4 Essences of Earth, 4 Random Box Fragments>
“Did the rewards appear? I was right, was I not? I told you I opened this place. Even now, only a few ranked Hunters probably know about the back routes.”
The room-corner ghost winked and looked proud.
<Exiting Gwanaksan Tower’s 1st floor.>
With a flash of light, our bodies were moved outside the Tower. The place we emerged was at the entrance to a hiking trail on Gwanaksan.
[It was only for a moment, but it was wonderful!]
Cha Jun-hyeok, who had become a ghost again, smacked his lips.
I had expected him to savor the feeling of being human in the Tower a little longer, so it was surprising that he had finished the hunt immediately without dragging things out.
“The 1st floor’s shortest time appeared.”
[Of course! I knew it would. I am hundreds of times stronger now than I was at the beginning, you know?]
“Well done.”
[It is possible because it is me. Because it is me!]
The room-corner ghost shrugged his shoulders, then asked cautiously,
[You are going to come to the Tower again, right?]
“Of course.”
I had thought I would have to struggle a little more in the Tower, but the clear had ended far more easily than expected.
A perfect proxy clear.
If this was how clearing the Tower worked, there was no reason I could not come every day.
[Thank you! Thank you. You made the right choice! This is plenty good for you too, you know?]
Good for me too?
“Why?”
The ghost looked left and right, then lowered his voice.
As though that were not enough, he came closer to my ear and whispered.
[Shh! This is a secret, but...!]
“Stay away.”
[No! Why?!]
Because he was cold.
This was precisely why people unconsciously got goosebumps when they sensed the presence of a ghost.
When ghosts came into contact with living beings, they stole their life force without realizing it.
It happened because of the density of life force. It was a kind of convection phenomenon, similar to the reason wind blew.
In any case, at this distance, I was the only person who could understand what the ghost was saying.
There were ghosts on the roadway over there, beside the bakery building, and even at the crosswalk right next to us, but no one noticed them.
Though he grumbled, Cha Jun-hyeok took one step away from me.
[Listen carefully, homeowner.]
“Fine.”
[The Tower grants wishes.]
A completely unexpected statement suddenly came out of the ghost’s mouth.
However, his expression was still serious.
He did not seem to be lying.
“Wishes?”
[That was what the System said after I cleared the 39th floor. Other countries probably know too, but they are keeping it quiet.]
“I suppose they would.”
If information like that leaked out into the world now, when some semblance of order was being maintained, it could cause enormous chaos.
[Right now, the only countries that have cleared beyond the 40th floor are the United States at the 50th floor and China at the 43rd floor anyway, right? In any case, it said that if I cleared the 40th floor, there would be a Q&A and detailed hints too, but...]
“And then you died?”
[That is right! Because of those Association bastards!]
“The Association? Then your death was...”
[I had planned to go only once all the preparations were complete from the beginning. It was an important floor, after all. But the Association threatened me, saying I absolutely had to go alone that day. I mean, was it even acceptable to go to the highest floor, and a boss floor at that, without a party? I thought it was utter nonsense. I was so dumbfounded that at first, I just ignored them.]
“And then?”
[They rented an item. From China. So I thought it might work this time.]
China?
“What kind of item?”
[Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Warrior. A one-person special S-Rank item that can only be used once a week. And the Association bastards also bought information about the 40th floor and told me about it.]
“From China? What kind of information?”
[Information about the 40th floor and its Floor Boss. In the Tower, there is a Floor Boss every 10 floors. Those things are quite a headache, and the information said the 40th Floor Boss had the fire attribute. The boss can vary from country to country, but the method of solving the floor is roughly similar.]
A fire attribute and Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Warrior?
“Was it a defensive item?”
[That is right! When the wyvern breathed fire, I could enlarge the Terracotta Warrior and hide inside it. It is a legendary-grade item, so it is extremely famous.]
“Then why did you die?”
[It was a fake.]
“......”
As though remembering that moment, Cha Jun-hyeok’s face twisted violently.
[Those Association bastards! If I so much as see them, I will kill them on the spot!! Graaah!!!]
When Cha Jun-hyeok grew enraged, frost suddenly began pouring down around us.
“Ah! It is cold!”
“What is this? Why is there frost all of a sudden?”
When a ghost bore a grudge, it could easily cause a localized weather anomaly of this level.
All the more so if it was a grudge strong enough to involve its own death.
After about three seconds passed, the frost that had been pouring down madly stopped as abruptly as though nothing had happened.
Of course it did.
This was the power of a novice who had only just become a ghost.
This was about the limit of the influence he could exert on the real world.
[I trusted them because the guides for the 10th and 20th floors were correct, but then they stabbed me in the back like this!!!]
It seemed the Association had built up a certain degree of trust with Cha Jun-hyeok until now.
[I will take revenge! I will catch every last one of those Association bastards and tear them apart!!!]
But resolving to take revenge did not mean anything.
There was nothing Cha Jun-hyeok could do now that he had become a ghost. Perhaps it would be a different story if several hundred years passed like this.
At most, what he could do now was enter someone’s dream and frighten them a little.
But if he happened to be caught by a grim reaper while doing that, he would immediately be dragged away with a prisoner’s collar around his neck.
That was something I had heard from my maternal grandmother.
Both people and ghosts had to keep their hearts righteous, she had said.
[In any case, that was what the Tower said. If you climb to the 100th floor, it will grant anything a human can imagine. That was the condition the Tower set! It said it did not even have to be a person, as long as they cleared it. I clearly heard it while I was dying!]
It would grant even the wish of a dead person?
There was something vaguely omnipotent about the Tower.
And one more thing.
“Anything one can imagine...”
This needed to be investigated further.
If that was truly the case...
It would become an important reason for me to climb the Tower from now on.
“Understood.”
[Homeowner, I am telling you, you really made the right choice. The Tower never lies.]
Cha Jun-hyeok’s face as he smiled broadly and thumped his chest looked much brighter than it had yesterday.
Kim Cheol-ho, who had become the Commissioner of the Hunter Management Agency this time.
Kim Cheol-ho, who had remained a Grade 5 civil servant for fifteen years due to a bottleneck in promotions, had received an extraordinary personnel transfer this year.
‘As expected, life can change with a single big break!’
If things continued this way, even becoming a Minister was not an impossible lifelong dream.
The other Grade 5 colleagues disliked the idea of becoming a Minister, saying one’s neck would be on the chopping block in no time, but Kim Cheol-ho, whose desire for power was exceptional, thought differently.
Before retirement, no matter what happened, he would serve as a Minister at least once.
That was Kim Cheol-ho’s dream.
But a Minister was an appointed position.
It was a post decided by the president’s command.
In other words, it was a position where one had to back the right line.
Connections with those in high places were also important.
However, instead of becoming an aide to a National Assembly member, Kim Cheol-ho had passed the difficult Higher Civil Service Examination and entered the government as a working-level Grade 5 civil servant.
The reason was simple.
‘A capable Minister who knows how to work.’
That was Kim Cheol-ho’s ideal image of a Minister.
To become that, one first had to understand the actual work properly.
Unexpectedly, he was a principled civil servant with a strong sense of duty.
Civil servants generally fell into two categories.
One was the type that wanted a stable job.
The other was the type that worked out of a sense of duty toward public service.
Kim Cheol-ho belonged to the latter.
That same Kim Cheol-ho was now sweating profusely as he ate pork-and-rice soup.
Pork-and-rice soup was, by nature, a representative food of the common people.
The reason he was here in midsummer was to gauge public sentiment at a soup restaurant.
‘Perhaps I should have just eaten cold noodles.’
As sweat trickled down his face, Kim Cheol-ho briefly regretted his choice.
[...Because in order to manage power, an even greater power is necessary.]
The soup restaurant’s television was showing news related to the president’s address.
The Commissioner nodded.
No matter how many times he heard it, it was a correct statement.
[With the Hunter Management Agency newly established through the president’s powerful determination, the first Commissioner will be...]
Along with the news anchor’s narration, his face briefly passed across the television screen.
There was footage of reporters thrusting microphones toward him.
In front of them, he boldly pushed his way forward.
Kim Cheol-ho hunched over and brought his face closer to the steaming earthenware bowl.
He did so in case anyone recognized him.
He could not disturb the citizens’ peaceful mealtime.
“The Hunter Management Agency?”
“Did it not exist until now?”
“They said it was newly established.”
“But that person they are calling the Commissioner...”
‘Surely they have already noticed!’
Kim Cheol-ho somehow felt as though he had become a celebrity.
Only now did he understand why they were so cautious.
Even when he did not consciously pay attention, he felt glances flicking toward him.
With his body full of tension, he mechanically moved his arm and spooned the soup into his mouth.
“What? Who is the Commissioner?”
“Why ask? Would you know him if I told you?”
“He is obviously a parachute appointment.”
‘......A parachute appointment?’
Tsk.
When people did not know the internal circumstances, they tended to speak so carelessly.
It was then.
The smartwatch on his wrist vibrated.
‘What is it?’
Kim Cheol-ho, who had been dumping the remaining seasoned chives into his pork-and-rice soup, glanced at the smartwatch without thinking much of it.
<Section Officer Lee Ji-hu: Gwanaksan Tower 1st Floor - 3 seconds.>
‘Hm?’
At the same time, a Status Window appeared.
The clearer is Player Jack Rich_07.
As a privilege for the first S-Rank clear, a buff will be applied to Gwanaksan Tower for one week.
Attack Power +5%, Defense +5%.>
“What?!!!!”
SLAM—!
Kim Cheol-ho, Commissioner of the Hunter Management Agency, struck the soup restaurant’s table with great force and sprang to his feet.
As a result, the sturdy table was heroically split in half.
“Ah......”
The Commissioner bowed his head several times to the startled citizens, then went to the soup restaurant’s counter. He took out one of the business cards he had received by courier that morning and handed it over along with ten 50,000-won bills.
<Commissioner of the Hunter Management Agency, Kim Cheol-ho>
“If there are any additional costs, please charge them here.”
“Yes, yes!”
The owner, who recognized at a glance that he was an Awakened person, nodded vigorously.
“I apologize for the inconvenience.”
After bowing his head once more and leaving the soup restaurant, Kim Cheol-ho’s back gradually straightened the farther he walked.
“Ha! This man, truly.”
He had seemed unusual from the moment they first met.
That righteous and bold gaze, which somehow reminded him of his own younger days.
Even when he was standing still, his eyes exuded the uprightness unique to civil servants who worked with a sense of duty.
His name was Section Officer Lee Ji-hu.
‘Just the fact that he remained in public service even after awakening as a Hunter...’
In many ways, he resembled Kim Cheol-ho himself.
“Ha, really. Goodness, really.”
Though he sighed aloud, the corners of Kim Cheol-ho’s mouth rose higher and higher.
RING-RING-RING—!
At that moment, an emergency call came through on his smartwatch.
‘Mugunghwa No. 1!’
Kim Cheol-ho recalled the warning he had heard when he received the smartwatch from the Minister of National Defense.
If a call came in from Mugunghwa No. 1, he was to answer immediately before the second ring.
“Yes! I have answered the call!”
[Commissioner Kim Cheol-ho.]
A solemn voice flowed from the smartwatch.
Feeling that something was unusual, Kim Cheol-ho immediately put the wireless earbud connected to the smartwatch into his ear.
“Could it be...”
[That is right. It is me.]
It was a voice that was not unfamiliar.
It was the very same voice he had heard a short while ago.
The voice of the man who had delivered the address on the television news.
From the other side of the call came the voice of President Lee Yeong-su, the current commander-in-chief of the Republic of Korea’s armed forces and the head of state.
“Y-Your Excellency!”