The area before Garam’s main gate was crowded with people.
It was the day when the hunters scouted by Garam after being recognized for their promising talent would finally challenge the Tower climb.
The limousine bus rented by Garam arrived, and the raid members stood in formation while the senior hunters looked at them with various expressions.
“Relax, you punk.”
“Do not think you can just do what you have always done. Do your best. Otherwise, you really will die.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Stop scaring them so much. That was only in the early days. How many deaths even happen up to the 10th floor these days?”
“Well, that may be true. But the Tower is still the Tower. Do you not know that if I die, the death rate for me is one hundred percent?”
That was when it happened.
“The guild master is coming.”
The atmosphere that had been excited just moments earlier sank at once.
The new recruits lined up with tense expressions. The same was true for the hunters who already had some experience.
“Did you all sleep well last night?”
“Yes!”
“The day of battle has come. Recall the time you have spent until now.”
The expressions of the members twisted for a moment.
Garam’s training was exceedingly harsh. They had to thoroughly raise their individual abilities, and at the same time, they had to receive education on how to respond to each type of group raid training. It had been days like hell.
“Do not forget. Those memories will certainly help you.”
The hunters wore armor provided by Garam and were heavily armed with other supplies they had purchased at their own expense.
They climbed the Tower as a group, but in the end, it was also an individual battle.
The day the 1st floor opened was fixed, and as long as one did not die, one could challenge it alone as many times as one wanted afterward.
In other words, the opening of the Tower was a stage where rookies entered all at once, and the value of each promising talent was proven by who reached higher and faster.
“I wish you good fortune in battle. Depart on time.”
At Jeong Cheol’s words, the recruits began boarding the bus.
The last one to board was Jeong Hyeon-a.
“…Where is Hyeon-su?”
“Well, the young master said he would run there as a warm-up.”
In a way, it might have seemed excessive, but Jeong Cheol was merely pleased by the change in his son.
Though he did not show it outwardly.
***
The enormous Tower stood tall at the center of Seoul.
Composed of 100 floors, the Tower was like a curse. If it was not cleared within the appointed time, the nation in question would collapse. To hunters, it was a thing like destiny.
Rather than simply bringing about the world’s destruction, the byproducts that came from the Tower allowed humanity to enjoy quite a few benefits.
Monster byproducts, including Mana Stones, presented new possibilities, while artifacts and skills obtained from the Tower made hunters even stronger.
Such equipment and skills could also be obtained from Gates derived from the Tower, and hunters were growing stronger and challenging the Tower.
The public saw those hunters as hope, cheered for them, and granted them many social benefits.
‘Finally…….’
Jeong Hyeon-a clenched her fist as she looked at the Tower that had created such a reality.
The reason she had been born as a direct descendant of Garam Guild and had run forward while looking only ahead was to display her true worth in this Tower.
“Oh, Sister!”
Before the entrance leading to the Tower, Jeong Hyeon-a met a familiar face she was glad to see.
“Hyeon-a! Have you been well?”
It was Hanul Guild, one of the Ten Great Guilds like Garam. And this was Ji Min-jeong, the only daughter and sole child of Hanul Guild’s master.
“It has been so hard to see your face lately. I feel so hurt!”
“You are one to talk. You turned off your phone and trained with your teeth clenched, saying you were going to become the youngest.”
“Hehe. Let us do well.”
The sight of Jeong Hyeon-a and Ji Min-jeong standing together was like a painting.
Jeong Hyeon-a had a catlike look, while Ji Min-jeong seemed to have transferred the three words “pure and innocent” directly onto her face.
Even though they were about to face the challenge of a lifetime, several hunters lost focus and stole glances at the two of them.
“It has been a while, everyone.”
Someone approached the two of them.
“Ah, Brother Mu-hyeon. Hello.”
It was Chae Mu-hyeon, the youngest brother of Songgwang Guild master Chae Mu-sik.
If one dug into the family hierarchy, he was Ji Min-jeong’s elder, but their age difference was not large, so they had compromised with a suitable form of address.
“Hello.”
“Ah, yes……”
At Chae Mu-hyeon’s greeting, Jeong Hyeon-a lowered her head with a sour expression.
Because her bad memories of Songgwang remained strong.
“I apologize for what happened with Seung-jin. I should have educated my nephew properly.”
“No. Well, we also cannot say our side did not go too far……”
Chae Mu-hyeon’s eyebrows curved into an arc.
“If he did wrong, he deserved to be beaten. A hunter must never let his guard down under any circumstances.”
Even so, Chae Mu-hyeon neatly summarized the defeat of Chae Seung-jin, who had been Songgwang’s heir, as something that had resulted from carelessness.
Of course, from Jeong Hyeon-a’s perspective, it was absurd.
‘Carelessness, my foot.’
Jeong Hyeon-a had seen it.
Chae Seung-jin might indeed have been careless at first, but afterward, he had attacked with all his strength.
And her blood relative had trampled that Chae Seung-jin miserably.
‘More importantly, where in the world is that man?’
It was nearly time for the Tower’s gate to open, yet Jeong Hyeon-su had not shown even the tip of his nose. Jeong Hyeon-a looked around to find him.
“Oh, hello, everyone.”
“It has been a while. Have you all been well?”
Two men approached the area where the direct descendants of Garam, Songgwang, and Hanul stood.
“Oh, Kim Min-gi! Jo Seung-hyeok! How long has it been?”
“Haha. Brother Mu-hyeon. Have you been well?”
“Min-gi. Myeonggeuk’s results lately have been no joke. Did you strike it big?”
“Come on, would it compare to Songgwang? You gained ownership of a Gate that includes a Mana Stone mine.”
“Hey, I am dying because it has only increased our work.”
“Come on, do not exaggerate. We all know those are screams of joy.”
“When it comes to Mana Stone mines, who does not know Sodam? Seung-hyeok, let us take it easy. Lend us your Bloodline Inheritance sometimes. No, wait. Just hold back, all right?”
They were Kim Min-gi of Myeonggeuk and Jo Seung-hyeok of Sodam, both among the other Ten Great Guilds.
Myeonggeuk achieved outstanding results in the field of Gate clearing and specialized in it.
Sodam owned a large number of Gates rich in Mana Stones based on the bloodline abilities innate to its direct descendants.
They were laughing pleasantly with one another, but once the Tower opened, they would become competitors. Socially as well, they were complicatedly intertwined, repeating cooperation and competition.
Through that crowd, one person was trudging over.
“Ah.”
Jeong Hyeon-a unknowingly clutched her head.
“That blasted enemy of mine, seriously…….”
The sight of Jeong Hyeon-su walking over from the other side was something to behold.
Everyone else had prepared as much as possible, starting with armor, saying it was the first climb of their lives. Yet he had shown up in nothing but a tracksuit.
The sight of Jeong Hyeon-su trudging along like that was truly……
“Wow.”
“I heard he beat Chae Seung-jin, but well… he really has changed.”
“Even so, is that not too much confidence, Hyeon-su? What is that, coming without even a weapon? Haha.”
Seeing Jo Seung-hyeok of Sodam recognize him and approach, Jeong Hyeon-su stopped walking.
“What are you doing? Are you not preparing for the raid?”
“What?”
“It will open soon. Get ready.”
Jeong Hyeon-su’s gaze fell only on Jeong Hyeon-a and Garam’s new recruits.
“Ah……”
His eyes briefly brushed past Ji Min-jeong, who stood beside Jeong Hyeon-a, but Jeong Hyeon-su headed toward the Tower entrance without saying anything.
“Jeong Hyeon-su has gotten awfully stiff-necked. That bastard used to be unable to even look at us properly.”
At Jo Seung-hyeok’s words, Kim Min-gi nodded as if agreeing.
“He will need to be educated, then.”
Chae Mu-hyeon, who had been listening to the two speak from behind, smiled inwardly.
“Come now, surely not. He must just be nervous because he is climbing the Tower.”
“Nervous? Does being nervous mean he does not have to show basic manners?”
“You really are generous, Brother.”
“What choice is there? In the end, the incident has already happened, so cleaning it up comes first. Let us all prepare for now. And you should not look down on Hyeon-su. He may be hiding something.”
At an age when blood ran hot, being told not to do something often made one want to do it even more.
“You should worry about yourself, Brother.”
Jo Seung-hyeok and Kim Min-gi were even looking down on Chae Mu-hyeon.
They believed he was an abandoned direct descendant of Songgwang who had not even climbed the Tower despite already being in his mid-twenties, and Chae Mu-hyeon merely smiled.
***
[The Tower will open soon.]
As the system notification appeared, Jeong Hyeon-su spoke to Jeong Hyeon-a beside him.
“You must not forget the theme of the 1st floor.”
“Ah, what are you saying? Worry about yourself.”
Several decades had passed since the Tower had risen, and by now the strategies for the lower floors were already widely known.
“And if anything happens, run west no matter what. The way to find west is simple. It is to the left of the engraved name.”
“Why are you suddenly nagging me like this?”
“I received a report.”
“A report?”
“It seems a dangerous man has appeared from the underworld.”
Jeong Hyeon-a frowned.
“Dangerous?”
“He is at least a C-Rank expert.”
C-Rank hunters usually operated between the 20th and 30th floors.
Someone of that grade had not climbed the Tower until now and was only now making his debut?
“…What kind of nonsense is that?”
High rank meant money. For wanted criminals of the underworld, rank was especially necessary.
Everyone in the world knew that one could become stronger faster by climbing the Tower, so he had simply endured in the underworld until becoming C-Rank?
“He is a man with a goal.”
That goal was none other than the Overlord’s Seed.
“Do not scatter. Move together as a group.”
“We have already learned that plenty, so you should worry about yourself. What in the world are those three-stripe slippers?”
There was a clear reason Jeong Hyeon-su had come dressed so carelessly.
A perfect strategy for the 1st to 10th floors.
In order to properly clear them based not on ordinary hunters’ climbing methods, but on what would later become known, and to obtain even the Overlord’s Seed, Jeong Hyeon-su had come without wearing a weapon.
That was because he had to clear the conditions desired by the Tower in a perfectly unarmed state that the System would recognize in order to obtain the Overlord’s Seed.
And the clue was the C-Rank rookie from the underworld who would infiltrate along with the rookies this time.
In the future, a vicious fiend with the qualities of a black-warrant criminal, who would be called the Tyrant Force Ghost, had obtained it. This time, Jeong Hyeon-su intended to acquire it instead of that Tyrant Force Ghost.
[The Tower will open soon.]
[Challengers, finish your preparations and line up at the entrance.]
[From the moment you enter the Tower, each of your times will be measured individually, so there is no need to enter first.]
[The Tower will open when the countdown ends.]
Huge numbers embroidered the air.
[10, 9, 8, 7…….]
And as always, the Tower was a liar.
In the middle of the countdown, Jeong Hyeon-su walked into the Tower entrance.
“Hey, Jeong Hyeon-su! You insane…!”
Jeong Hyeon-a’s voice cut off midway.
FWOOOOOSH!
Jeong Hyeon-su faced a blazing sea of hot fire.
It had truly been a long time.
[The first stage is the Flames of Oblivion Section.]
The flames wrapped around Jeong Hyeon-su.
[Challenger who climbs the Tower. What is your name?]
The 1st floor, the Gate of Oblivion. From here to the 10th floor began the stage called the Battlefield of the Self, where one protected one’s name.