Kang Ha-min hurriedly called up his Status Window.
Congratulations to Hunter Kang Ha-min on clearing Floor 1.
Your level has been updated.
Would you like to check your current level?
“I’ll check.”
He had cleared a floor with that much difficulty.
How many levels had he gained?
They said Hunters who cleared a floor with the highest possible score usually gained around five levels.
This was worth looking forward to.
[Kang Ha-min]
-Level: 10
-Class: Gravekeeper of a Ruined World
-Grade: Mythic
-Unique Skills: Enter Grave Mountain / Rise of the Dead / NEW! Protection of the Dead / NEW! Tomb King’s Aura
-Type: Corpse Reconstruction / Soul Binding
Uh.
“What level is it?”
Kang Ha-min’s head slowly creaked around.
“I-It’s Level 10?”
At a stage where gaining five levels would already have been exceptional.
He had doubled that.
“Not bad.”
“This is far beyond not bad! No one would believe it if I told them! This is amazing!”
His level was still low, but he had only cleared Floor 1.
He could not imagine how much higher his level would rise from here!
This was beyond S Grade. SS Grade, no.
Even SSS Grade would not be strange!
“Haha, naturally. You are this body’s master.”
Baek Cheon-myeong wore a proud smile, apparently not displeased either.
“More importantly, you seem quite satisfied with becoming a Hunter.”
“Ah, ahem.”
He always struck where it hurt.
Still, there was no helping the smile that came to his face.
He should honestly be happy about something like this.
Besides, he had gained two skills.
Hunters occasionally gained skills while leveling up.
However, the higher their level became, the lower the chance of gaining a skill.
That was why Hunters devoted their lives to leveling up.
Skills could even be fused with one another, and there were countless other variables, but...
One thing was certain: skills suited to the individual’s traits appeared.
Kang Ha-min immediately checked the two new skills.
First, [Protection of the Dead].
【Protection of the Dead】
[Passive]
— The energy of the dead protects the body.
— Particularly effective against magical attacks.
A protection skill.
It was a defensive passive.
‘This is an incredibly satisfying skill!’
Nothing was more important than protecting his body.
For someone who pursued safety above all and safety first, it was the perfect skill.
Now for the next skill.
【Tomb King’s Aura】
— The aura of the king who rules over graves emanates from the body.
— When battle begins, the surrounding air grows heavy, reducing enemies’ morale and mental strength.
“......Conqueror’s Will?”
“It is Tomb King, though.”
“Ah, ahem, I apologize.”
The words slipped out without him thinking.
Still, this skill’s explanation was simple.
It was a morale-reduction debuff.
There did not seem to be any particular condition, so this one seemed useful as well.
“I feel like I’ve grown without doing anything.”
Was it really all right to have things this easy?
“What are you talking about? Master, you did not do nothing.”
But Baek Cheon-myeong denied it.
“It was entirely your power that raised this body. In the end, all of this is something you accomplished.”
He had not expected Baek Cheon-myeong to say that.
Baek Cheon-myeong might be willful, but Kang Ha-min knew that he cherished him in his own way.
He had checked both skills.
Now, the important matter was the long-awaited reward.
Kang Ha-min took a deep breath.
Rewards from the Tower were useful resources that could be exchanged for money!
With an excited heart, Kang Ha-min opened the reward.
As a Floor 1 clear reward,
you have obtained the ‘Tower Key.’
Huh?
Along with a glow, a key appeared before Kang Ha-min’s eyes.
It was an expensive-looking key with an engraved design at its center.
Kang Ha-min looked confused at the sudden appearance of a key.
Why had such a random key appeared?
Could he make money by selling this too?
“......Huh?”
Just as he began wondering how he should sell it.
Baek Cheon-myeong gave an astonishing reaction upon seeing it.
“Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, what is it? Is this expensive?”
His heart suddenly began to race.
It felt as though this one item might be enough to pay off all his debts!
But Baek Cheon-myeong was staring blankly at the key.
After coming to his senses, he slowly rubbed his face.
“......This is not something that can be described as merely expensive.”
“What? Then?”
“It is an item you may not obtain even if you climb the Tower for your entire life.”
“It’s that valuable? Then it must be unbelievably expensive!”
“Check its detailed description.”
His eyes lit up.
He would solve his father’s knee problem and his food expenses with this!
With those thoughts, he examined the Tower Key in detail.
【Tower Key】
[Non-transferable]
A key that allows entry into hidden spaces or non-public floors within the Tower.
He fell silent.
Non-transferable.
It meant he could not sell it.
“It is not something to be this disappointed about. Good grief. Heaven may not have given you courage or boldness, but it seems it gave you remarkably good luck.”
“......If I had good luck, I would not have only ten thousand won left in my bank account.”
Still, judging from Baek Cheon-myeong’s reaction, it seemed to be an extraordinarily good item.
He should not be too disappointed.
“So, how do I use this?”
“As it says. It allows you to enter a secret space within the Tower.”
“What is inside?”
“There is no guarantee of what will be inside before entering. Every Tower is different.”
So the conclusion was that it was not a reward that would feed him right away.
A bitter smile formed on his lips.
Ramen again tomorrow.
“Then, shall we use it now?”
It did not seem related to the Tower’s floors.
There did not seem to be an entry limit either.
“......Let us.”
For the first time, Baek Cheon-myeong wore a tense expression.
Seeing that man make such a face made Kang Ha-min nervous for no reason.
Still, it was a reward the Tower had given him.
‘It would be nice if there were something good inside.’
You have used the ‘Tower Key.’
The moment he decided to use the key, a doorknob appeared.
A doorknob with an old-fashioned air.
He fitted the key into the keyhole and turned it.
Click—
What could be inside?
Even Baek Cheon-myeong was silent now.
Hoping there would be an opportunity to turn his life around, he opened the door.
And the moment he looked inside.
“......What is this?”
Kang Ha-min could not hide his bewilderment.
***
Korea Hunter General Administration Headquarters.
The department that took full charge of Hunters immediately after their awakening.
“Director!”
“Yes, the report just came in.”
In a place that was never close to peaceful, an unexpected commotion had broken out.
The reason for the commotion was simple.
Floor 1 Fastest Record Holder Updated
[Korea]
The Tower’s achievements could be viewed by any Hunter.
That was why the Hunter Department checked achievement records every day.
Then, tonight.
A Tower achievement had been newly updated, causing this uproar.
A Hunter who had set an unprecedented record had appeared in Korea.
Floor 1 clear time: two seconds.
What did that mean?
“They must be an S Grade Hunter.”
“That’s what I thought too!”
It meant that Korea’s sixth S Grade Hunter had been born.
S Grade Hunters.
In the modern era, they were treated like nuclear weapons.
It was an age in which a nation’s standing changed according to how many of them it possessed.
Compared to other countries, Korea had a relatively high number of S Grade Hunters for its population.
But that was only a ratio.
Its absolute number of S Grade Hunters was still lacking compared to major powers.
The greater a country’s population, the more Hunters awakened.
Naturally, more S Grade Hunters were born among them as well.
That was why countries with relatively small populations all swallowed tears of blood.
Korea was no exception.
Its ratio might be high, but it possessed only a small number of S Grade Hunters in absolute terms.
Moreover, not long ago, one of its S Grade Hunters had been taken by China’s eye-watering lobbying.
An S Grade Hunter had left Korea and naturalized in China.
How fiercely the citizens had criticized them then.
Even now, whenever Hunter Headquarters thought of that day, their insides still burned.
And now, someone had appeared who could be confirmed as a new S Grade Hunter.
Naturally, Headquarters could not help but erupt into chaos.
“Min-ji, you know what to do.”
“Yes. We need to offer the best conditions possible and keep them in Korea no matter what.”
“Right. If we lose another one this time, everyone at this headquarters might really have to resign.”
“But it was not our fault that Park Kang-jun went to China in the first place.”
“What does it matter if it was not our fault? Everyone around us thinks it was.”
Kim Min-ji let out a deep sigh.
He was right. As long as people thought that way, there was nothing they could do.
“Stop all ongoing work and find this person first.
If they renewed the Floor 1 record with two seconds, then even among S Grade Hunters, they are surely unprecedented. They are certainly the benefactor who will save Korea.”
“Heh heh, come on. What if you get too excited and they are not actually that impressive?”
“You only say that because you have never entered the Tower.
You punk, do you not realize how absurd this record time is?”
“Umm, it is impressive, but were there not several Hunters who cleared Floor 1 around this time?”
As Kim Min-ji said, there had been Hunters with times in this range in the past.
Some Hunters had entered and immediately blasted everything away with powerful beams.
A Hunter regarded as an American hero had done exactly that.
“Honestly, it is strange that the record was suddenly updated.”
At Kim Min-ji’s words, Director Shin covered his forehead with an incredulous expression.
“......Min-ji, how many years have you worked here?”
“Uh, I’m entering my fourth year now.”
“And you still do not know how achievements are updated?”
He had to explain something he would not even explain to new employees to someone in her fourth year.
Even as a headache came on, Director Shin explained it to her.
“You remember that the Tower’s difficulty varies according to a Hunter’s abilities, right?”
“The Tower always gives difficulty tailored to the Hunter who enters. Of course I know that.”
“Right. So there have been Hunters who cleared the Tower in the shortest times. But only at their own difficulty.”
“......Ah!”
Only then did Min-ji grasp the seriousness of the situation.
Time was not the only condition for updating an achievement.
Difficulty was factored into the time as well.
Then what did today’s achievement update mean?
“A first floor with difficulty higher than any Hunter had ever faced appeared, and it was cleared in two seconds.”
That was why Director Shin was certain it was an S Grade Hunter.
The emergence of an unprecedented, historic S Grade Hunter.
In effect, Korea had won something better than the lottery.
Korea had been struggling in the Hunter market ever since the strongest Hunter who once ruled Korea had achieved Tower Ascension.
Tower Ascension
It referred to Hunters who had climbed beyond Floor 100.
Hunters who achieved Tower Ascension no longer descended to Earth.
They remained only inside the Tower, beings beyond the heavens.
In other words, the surface world belonged to Hunters who had not yet achieved Tower Ascension.
And now, a Hunter who had shattered the Floor 1 record had appeared.
“So, what do we have to do?”
“F-Find them?”
“Then what are you doing? Why are you not running out there right now?”
“Kim Min-ji, moving out!”
As Kim Min-ji ran out like mad, Director Shin quietly let out a breath.
The real war began now.
Achievement updates could be seen not only in Korea, but in every country around the world.
Other countries would surely rush into Korea like mad.
To obtain an unprecedented S Grade Hunter, they would stop at nothing.
In effect, Korea was about to become a battlefield.
The thought made his head spin.
But if they could only secure this person, they would become the strongest card imaginable.
So, first.
“......Who in the world are they?”
They had to find out who it was.