Thus began Soul Synchronization.
To give the conclusion first, as Baek Cheon-myeong had said, synchronization was not difficult.
A Gravekeeper was already bound by a soul contract with the corpses they had raised.
All corpses raised by a Gravekeeper placed their master’s command above all else.
That was a rule shared by every corpse.
“......They prioritize commands above all else?”
“This body has never refused the master’s command.”
That was...
Come to think of it, he was right.
Baek Cheon-myeong had always placed Kang Ha-min’s commands first.
Stopping the bus, carrying Kang Ha-min out of there.
Even entering the Tower, he had prioritized Kang Ha-min’s wishes.
If Kang Ha-min had adamantly refused to climb the Tower and told him not to make the suggestion again, Baek Cheon-myeong would have kept his mouth shut.
Their contract acted that strongly between them.
“What exactly is a Gravekeeper?”
A Mythic Grade ability.
Even for Kang Ha-min, who knew more about Hunters than ordinary people from working in the Hunter Department, it was an absurd ability.
“This body does not know precisely either. It was merely a contract with the Tower.”
There were many questions surrounding Baek Cheon-myeong’s existence as well, but now was not the time to ask them.
“So, can you see properly?”
“Ah, yes.”
Soul Synchronization.
Through it, he was able to share Baek Cheon-myeong’s vision.
As a result, if he focused just a little, he could see through Baek Cheon-myeong’s eyes.
For now, it was still difficult to adapt, so he had to close his own eyes to see it.
But once he grew used to it, he might be able to see through both sets of eyes at once.
Aside from the fact that it seemed likely to make him motion sick.
For now, since this was the adjustment phase, he should sit quietly.
“You know how to enter the Tower, do you not?”
Of course he did.
He never thought the day would come when he said these words himself.
After clearing his throat to set the mood, he opened his mouth.
“Hunter Kang Ha-min will enter the Tower.”
THUD—
At his declaration, a translucent door descended.
Once Hunters awakened, they could enter the Tower from anywhere.
That was why some Hunters committed crimes, then fled into the Tower.
He took a light breath.
His first step as a Hunter.
‘For no reason, I’m nervous.’
In reality, he was only planning to cling to Baek Cheon-myeong!
His own body was not even climbing the Tower!
‘But I can still be nervous!’
Staying still would not produce an answer.
If nothing else, he had to earn enough to eat.
“Let’s go.”
Baek Cheon-myeong opened the Tower’s door and strode inside.
Abnormal entry detected.
Uh.
“Hmm, did we get caught?”
Oh, come on, sir.
Sky Tower is deliberating on its response.
......
A decision has been reached.
A penalty will be imposed for abnormal entry.
Rewards will increase with the increased difficulty.
Countless Status Windows appeared.
As he stared at them, Kang Ha-min’s body trembled.
He did not know what any of it meant!
But all he could think was that they were fucked!
BOOM!
At that moment, Baek Cheon-myeong’s body floated lightly upward.
Something of enormous weight had reached the ground, sending vibrations surging through it.
His vision spun in an instant.
‘I-I’m flying?’
Kang Ha-min felt as though he himself were flying through the air.
Before the vision flowing in from Baek Cheon-myeong’s eyes, something covered in every color writhed upon the ground.
At first, he mistook it for terrain.
But they were neither rocks nor mountain ranges.
Everything covering the world was a monster.
The earth’s surface could no longer be seen.
The land was completely, thoroughly covered by the bodies of monsters.
From one end of the horizon to the other.
It looked as though the world had been conquered by monsters.
He had never even heard of the first floor’s difficulty being this high.
Thousands, tens of thousands of monsters roared, making the land rumble and the air tremble.
The gods of the Tower detect the abnormal difficulty.
They are watching you.
The gods of the Tower detect the abnormal difficulty.
‘Volcano,’ Ruler of Fire, finds this interesting.
‘Gaia,’ Mother of Earth and Benevolence, shows interest.
‘Luna,’ Daughter of the Moon, reveals doubt.
‘Kyle,’ Ruler of the Firmament, shows interest.
......
Every god that existed within the Tower came rushing over.
With their appearances, the ringing of bells resounded through his mind one after another.
‘Ah.’
Kang Ha-min’s face went pale.
He was fucked.
Completely fucked.
But unlike Kang Ha-min.
Baek Cheon-myeong raised the corner of his lips and drew his wooden sword in midair.
Even beneath the gazes of countless gods, he did not feel the slightest pressure.
Instead, a fierce aura flashed in his eyes.
Before the vast tide of monsters.
Only the area around Baek Cheon-myeong was unnaturally quiet.
“Good.”
At that moment, dark crimson light seeped from the wooden sword.
It took on a form closer to an abyss that devoured every light around it.
High in the sky.
A red star that watched only him howled violently.
The destiny of the ‘Heaven-Slaying Star’ moves once more.
‘Stella, the One Who Embraces Stars, reveals surprise and delight.
In that moment, Baek Cheon-myeong’s spiritual presence swallowed the space whole.
THUD—
The air sank as though pressed down, and the monsters’ roars ceased in an instant.
Killing intent flowing from the body of merely one man.
It swallowed every monster in this space.
Within the frozen space.
Before Baek Cheon-myeong had even landed.
The sword moved.
“This much is needed for a warm-up.”
With that, something happened.
A dark crimson line was drawn from where the sword passed all the way to the end of the horizon.
CRACK—
The horde of monsters that had filled the ground split apart a beat later.
The enormous bodies that had piled up like mountains split apart, upper and lower halves sliding away from each other.
Thousands of monsters revealed their severed cross-sections at once.
The army of monsters that had formed the horizon collapsed all at once, like a wheat field cut by a scythe.
Kang Ha-min drew in a breath.
He did not even have time to comprehend what had happened.
Upon the ground that had been a sea of monsters just moments before.
Only a single endless cut remained.
Congratulations on clearing Floor 1!
You have cleared Floor 1 in the shortest time in the world.
[Record Time: 2 seconds]
The ‘Floor 1 Fastest Record Holder’ achievement has been registered.
Floor 1 clear rewards will be issued.
Hunter ‘Kang Ha-min’ has leveled up.
Kang Ha-min’s first entry into the Tower.
Floor 1 ended with that.
***
Congratulations on clearing Floor 1!
Hunter Kang Ha-min.
You may challenge it again after 24 hours.
[23:59:59]
The cheerful level-up sound and congratulatory notification.
The countdown reading ‘23:59:59’ floating before his eyes.
‘Solar,’ God of the Sun, is astonished by your achievement.
‘Okea,’ Ruler of the Sea, marvels at an achievement that should be impossible.
‘Thor,’ God Who Brings Down Lightning, rumbles thunder.
......
The gods’ praise continued without end.
For a Hunter, gaining the attention of even a single god while climbing the Tower was considered a success.
But now, too many gods to count were lined up in an uproar.
Was this really all right?
The Tower had accepted it, but this was still a case of cheating.
He could not help worrying whether it was all right to draw the gods’ attention like this.
“I’m back.”
When he looked up, Baek Cheon-myeong had already returned to the room.
“Uh, uhh.”
Kang Ha-min could do nothing but move his lips.
It had really ended in an instant.
“......Is that it?”
“That is it, but is there something else I should do?”
“It said the difficulty had risen tremendously, and a lot of things kept appearing.”
He had not expected it to end so quickly.
He felt completely dazed.
But Baek Cheon-myeong merely sat down in a corner of the room as though nothing special had happened.
“It is only the first floor. No matter how high its difficulty rises, it cannot threaten this body, Baek Cheon-myeong.”
Was that so?
Then again, Baek Cheon-myeong had clearly climbed the Tower before.
He did not know how far Baek Cheon-myeong had climbed, but could even other top Hunters do this much...?
Kang Ha-min’s expression became uncertain.
He had noticed long ago that Baek Cheon-myeong was strong.
The aura flowing from his body was different from the start.
But this strength was clearly beyond all normal limits.
That strike which had split the entire horizon.
With only a single swing, he had killed that many monsters.
‘If measured by rank, what rank would he be?’
Hunters had ranks separate from the class grade granted to them at first.
From F Grade to S Grade.
S Grade Hunters were nuclear-bomb-class forces capable of overturning a city by themselves.
Even nations treated them as specially managed subjects.
‘Rank is also like an indicator that reveals a Hunter’s talent.’
Talent mattered to Hunters as well.
No, of all professions, Hunters were the ones most greatly affected by talent.
The difference between an athlete and an ordinary person.
Compared to that, the difference in talent among Hunters was overwhelmingly greater.
‘Just look at innate classes.’
The class granted immediately after awakening.
Depending on what that first class was, the difference could be as vast as heaven and earth.
Just as Kang Ha-min had received the Mythic Grade [Gravekeeper of a Ruined World].
Some people were granted ordinary classes such as [Swordsman], [Archer], or [Ranger].
Furthermore, even among Hunters, the extent of their growth differed according to how they climbed the Tower.
The Tower awarded points based on how quickly and perfectly they cleared a floor.
‘And those points are the experience used to level up.’
Depending on a Hunter’s abilities, the Tower’s difficulty also varied greatly.
For example, someone with water skills might be given a battlefield of flames.
In this way, the Tower always revealed floors uniquely suited to each Hunter.
That was also why innate S Grade Hunters had such extraordinary growth potential.
‘This was why lower-ranked Hunters stayed on the lower floors for so long too.’
The Tower allowed previous floors to be challenged again.
By earning a higher score on a floor they had already cleared, Hunters could gain experience.
Many Hunters repeatedly challenged previous floors.
Among Hunters, this was known as building one’s foundation.
In a sense, the Tower was rational.
‘But conversely, that is also why Sky Tower cannot be conquered quickly.’
Ultimately, greater talent meant a more difficult Tower.
That was why even S Grade Hunters could not reach overwhelmingly high floors.
‘So the Tower’s difficulty rising...’
Before even considering the loophole, Kang Ha-min and Baek Cheon-myeong’s existence had been the greater cause.
A corpse summoned through a Mythic Grade class.
The Tower had no reason not to raise the difficulty to its highest possible level.
“......Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, will you really be all right?”
The higher he went, the greater the difficulty would become.
When Kang Ha-min asked honestly out of concern, Baek Cheon-myeong snorted.
“The Tower has always been like this. There is nothing to ask now. Whatever happens, this body will climb the Tower.”
It was reassuring, but Kang Ha-min, an ordinary man, was filled with worry.
“Rather, Master, should we not confirm your level and rewards first?”
“Ah, right.”
The Tower’s difficulty had been so shocking that he had forgotten.