Suffocating terror.
A body that would no longer move.
A monster.
“Huff…… huff…….”
No voice came out.
The creature was approaching.
The blue window floating in the air flickered as though mocking him.
“Uuugh……!”
All he had to do was move a single finger.
All he had to do was say that he wanted to leave.
Either one would allow him to escape this hellish place.
Yet he could do neither.
He could no longer feel his arms or legs.
His throat had nearly been torn away, leaving him unable to speak.
THUD, THUD.
Soon, the creature would trample him.
Or perhaps it would put him into its mouth first.
Either fate was equally horrific.
He closed his eyes.
Memories of the past surfaced—
of all the monsters he had killed without a second thought.
Why had he always taken it for granted?
Those creatures must have been desperately trying to kill the humans before them every single time.
Who in this world would willingly become food for a monster?
No one wanted that.
They simply failed to realize it.
They were blinded by the wealth, fame, and countless other rewards laid before them.
Despite fighting for their lives every single day—
they always believed that they were the ones doing the hunting.
They reveled in it as though they had stepped inside a game.
After all, they could return to reality whenever they pleased, just as easily as turning off a computer.
It was hardly strange for them to fall under that illusion.
But once that illusion shattered—
they never wanted to return there again.
THUD, THUD, THUD.
His body trembled along with the ground.
When he cautiously opened his eyes—
he saw enormous teeth slowly approaching.
And then—
[Time Remaining: 00:00:00]
“Hmm…….”
Baek Yulheon groaned as he rubbed the aching scar on his throat.
“……Did I doze off for a moment?”
He had dreamed.
A dream of the past.
Of the days when he had still been trapped in that illusion.
Was it because he had spoken about the Tower again after so long?
Memories he had forgotten for years resurfaced, sending a chill down the back of his neck.
“……Did I give him the wrong advice?”
Only after waking did regret begin to set in.
His memories of earlier that day remained vivid.
He had advised—
if it could even be called advice—
someone who had once challenged the Tower and been broken by it to return there again.
Whether Sohyeok entered the Tower was entirely his own choice.
But that did not change the fact that Baek Yulheon had pushed him from behind.
If Sohyeok ended up experiencing the same thing he once had because of that—
“……No.”
He needed to stop projecting himself onto Sohyeok.
Sohyeok was different.
His potential.
His talent.
If he could overcome the memories of his past and enter the Tower one more time—
that alone would prove he possessed enough qualification.
There were some things a person could understand only after being broken once.
“……It’s been a while.”
A dark cave.
Damp humidity pressed against my entire body.
Drops of water falling from the stalactites overhead landed on my shoulder.
‘I actually came back.’
You lunatic.
What kind of person lay in bed without making a single preparation—
then suddenly entered the Tower?
“Haa…….”
My trauma came rushing back.
Soon, monsters would swarm me.
They would crawl out from every corner of this dark cave and come for my life.
‘Should I just leave?’
All I had to do was say a single phrase right now—
and I could return to my comfortable bed.
I could forget about the Tower and return to a stable life.
The failure penalty would prevent me from entering the Tower for another month—
but if I abandoned the 1st Floor twice, I doubted I would ever find the courage to enter again anyway.
“…….”
One phrase.
All I had to do was say one phrase and I could go back.
“……I can leave whenever I want anyway.”
I would just try until I could not anymore.
That was what I decided.
At that moment—
[You have entered the 1st Floor.]
[Name: Jeong Sohyeok]
[Affiliation: Republic of Korea]
[Level: 1LV]
[Ability: Blessing of the World Tree]
[Exclusive Skills: Blessing of the World Tree, Retainer of the World Tree]
[General Skills: None]
[Currently Active Buffs: Blessing of the World Tree]
“……Status Window.”
The moment I decided to move forward, the Status Window appeared before me.
Then—
[1st Floor Mission: Defeat the Giant Ant (Giant Ant).]
[Time Limit: 1 hour]
[Condition: Giant Ant (Giant Ant) 0/3]
[Failure: Death, Abandoning the Mission]
The mission appeared.
“Ah…… I remember now.”
Giant Ant.
Exactly what the name implied.
A gigantic ant.
According to everyone else, it was unquestionably the weakest creature in the Tower.
After all, it was supposedly nothing more than an ordinary ant enlarged to monstrous size.
But—
“Urgh……!”
Kiiiik, kieeek.
There were numerous holes scattered across the walls and near the ceiling.
Cries of living creatures came from beyond them.
Familiar sounds.
The kind that made goosebumps rise across my hands and feet.
Then—
―KIEEEEK!!
“I-It’s here……!”
It did not emerge from the hole ahead of me, where I had been focusing.
Instead—
an ant charged from behind.
‘It still looks horrifying……!’
Back when I first challenged the 1st Floor—
an ant had dropped onto my head, nearly making me faint.
It was not exactly a pleasant memory to revisit.
Either way—
the point was that these things looked absolutely revolting.
Its hard-looking shell.
Its razor-sharp mandibles.
Everything about it felt threatening.
This was supposed to be the weakest creature in the Tower?
Then what did that make me, someone who had lost to the weakest creature?
The ant approached while snapping its mandibles together.
If I stuck my arm between them, it would obviously be torn apart.
That was exactly what had happened back then.
I had desperately held off an ant trying to bite through my head—
until my strength finally gave out and I shouted that I was abandoning the mission.
But this time—
things were a little different.
“Borrow!”
WHOOSH―!
Wind surged around me.
The droplets hanging from the stalactites were blown away all at once.
The ant that had been charging toward me with terrifying momentum abruptly stopped.
Even with the naked eye—
I could tell it had become tense.
THUD!
One step.
Unlike the old me, who had frozen in fear and waited for the creature to attack—
I stepped forward first.
I stomped hard enough to crack the ground.
As threateningly as possible.
As though warning it—
I’m going to tear you to pieces.
The situation had reversed.
I was no longer the one who was afraid.
I approached until one punch would be enough to reach its head.
Only then did the creature attack.
―KIEEEEK!!
It opened its mandibles wide—
then snapped them shut in an attempt to separate my upper body from my lower body.
I quietly exhaled.
The ant’s movements looked slow.
It attacked while exposing every one of its vital points.
For an instant—
I almost felt as though our eyes met.
Then I threw a punch.
―Kii……!
BOOM!!
SPLAAASH―!
Compressed wind exploded outward in every direction.
The entire cave seemed to shake.
Several stalactites broke loose and crashed nearby.
I checked the creature.
My fist had struck it squarely in the head.
The result was exactly what I had expected.
Its corpse lay in a pool of green blood.
Its head was so thoroughly destroyed that I could no longer even recognize its original shape.
“Haa…… haa…….”
I killed it.
I actually killed it.
That easily.
“H-Haha!”
Relief.
Release.
It felt as though a gentle breeze brushed across the top of my head.
A knot that had been festering inside me for years melted away.
A knot so tightly tangled that I had thought it would remain there for the rest of my life—
had come undone in an instant.
The corners of my mouth rose.
My courage swelled.
“Next.”
My strange surge of confidence made me say something embarrassingly dramatic.
I looked around.
Part of the cave had collapsed.
There was no sign of another ant.
I focused on the sound.
On their cries.
“…….”
Nothing.
Just as I began to find that strange—
“……Status Window.”
[1st Floor Mission: Defeat the Giant Ant (Giant Ant).]
[Time Limit: 1 hour]
[Condition: Giant Ant (Giant Ant) 3/3]
[Failure: Death, Abandoning the Mission]
[Congratulations! You have cleared the 1st Floor.]
“???”
An unexpected message floated before me.
‘Cleared?’
3/3.
The number should clearly have been 1/3.
Why was it already completely filled?
‘Why are all three dead?’
I turned around and checked the ant’s corpse.
One.
One ruined head.
One thorax.
One abdomen.
Six legs.
I had clearly killed only one ant.
There were no other corpses nearby.
And from the very beginning—
the cries I had heard had belonged to more than one creature.
“Where the hell did the others die……?”
Drip.
The sound of something falling.
I looked toward the collapsed section of the cave wall.
The holes—
the ones that had been scattered between the wall and ceiling—
were completely blocked by piles of rock.
Drip.
Another drop fell.
It was not water.
It was their green blood.
It was slowly seeping through the gaps between the rocks.
‘When the cave collapsed, the holes were blocked…… and they were crushed to death?’
“H-Hahaha…….”
The monsters that had instilled fear of the Tower in me for years—
had been wiped out merely because the cave shook a little.
How could I not laugh?
“Cleared…….”
I clenched my fist.
Only then did it truly sink in.
The 1st Floor.
The starting line.
I had finally stepped onto it.
I closed my eyes.
I savored the moment.
My body was damp, and my clothes were stained with green blood—
yet I did not feel uncomfortable in the slightest.
I only felt relieved.
Perhaps three seconds passed.
“Ah…….”
Sensing that something had changed, I opened my eyes.
Before I knew it—
I was back in my familiar rooftop room.
―Riiing, riiing.
“……Hmm?”
Baek Yulheon was still at the guild, finishing up some leftover work.
“There shouldn’t be anyone calling me at this hour.”
Without thinking much of it, he picked up the phone.
A pen and stamp were still in his hands.
“Hel—”
―Guild Master!
Tap, roll.
The stamp slipped from his hand and rolled away.
A sharp ringing filled his ears.
“……What happened?”
―E-Emergency! This is an emergency!
“Emergency?”
Baek Yulheon’s slightly irritated expression immediately became serious.
An employee who should already have gone home was calling him personally.
What could possibly have happened?
―Can you check the Leaderboard right now?
“……The Leaderboard?”
It had been a long time since he heard that word.
Even during his active years, he had never paid it much attention.
The board displaying the rankings of Awakened.
“Why? Did the world number one change? Or did a new name appear in the Top 10?”
―No! Not the overall ranking. I mean the 1st Floor-specific Leaderboard!
“……The 1st Floor?”
A floor-specific Leaderboard—
would rank whoever cleared that particular floor the fastest.
“Are you sure you mean the 1st Floor? Not the 10th?”
―Yes, the 1st Floor. And prepare yourself before you look.
“……What’s so special about the 1st Floor?”
Baek Yulheon opened the Leaderboard.
Names that had remained unchanged for years immediately appeared.
He passed names so famous that he had heard them countless times—
and switched to the floor-specific Leaderboard.
Then he selected the 1st Floor.
‘The 1st Floor changes names all the time. What’s everyone making such a fuss about?’
The strategy for clearing the 1st Floor was so widely known that there had once even been a craze called Speedrunning—
newly Awakened people were taught the exact strategy in advance and then competed to clear the 1st Floor as quickly as possible.
The first-place record had never been broken—
but the names in the Top 10 changed fairly often.
‘Did a new number two appear?’
Thinking that—
Baek Yulheon looked at the Leaderboard.
“……?”
[1. Undecided: ―00:00:23―]
[2. Maverick (maverick): ―00:00:24―]
[3. Vasilisa (Василиса): ―00:01:12―]
[4. Hanlin (瀚霖): ―00:01:13―]
[…]
[…]
“Unde……?”
He could not continue speaking.
Maverick.
The greatest Awakened in the world.
A record that had stood leagues above even second place—
‘……was broken?’
A floor that had already been cleared could never be challenged again.
That meant everyone was equal on the 1st Floor.
Their abilities differed, of course—
but excluding Buff-Type Awakened, Level 1 Awakened could not possess any skills.
They had to fight using nothing but their enhanced bodies.
Every name on the Leaderboard aside from Maverick belonged to a Buff-Type Awakened.
That was why, once most skills were unlocked after the 10th Floor—
their names could no longer be found on the Leaderboard.
Then why had Maverick, who was not Buff-Type, held such an overwhelming record?
Because Maverick had undergone a Second Awakening.
Maverick had started from the 1st Floor with a combat-oriented skill already available.
Who could possibly compete with that record?
For that reason—
it had been accepted as common knowledge that no one would ever surpass the first-place record on the 1st Floor.
―……Master! Guild Master!
“H-Huh?”
Lost in thought, Baek Yulheon came back to his senses.
Right.
He was still on the phone.
―Did you see it?
“……Yeah.”
―Then you saw the name too.”
“……The name?”
Undecided.
Not yet decided.
A name frequently chosen by beginner Awakened—
because it was one of the only names they could change later.
“It isn’t listed.”
―No. Look carefully, Guild Master.
“?”
―There’s nothing in parentheses beside it.
‘……Parentheses?’
The parentheses beside a name displayed its original spelling according to the Awakened’s country.
Maverick, an American, had an English rendering.
Vasilisa, a Russian, had a Russian rendering.
Then—
if there was nothing in parentheses……
“!”
CRASH!
Baek Yulheon shot out of his seat.
“A…… Korean?”