Chapter 4
And so, Soul Synchronization began.
To give the conclusion first, just as Baek Cheon-myeong had said, synchronizing their souls wasn't difficult.
The Gravekeeper already formed a soul contract with every corpse he raised.
Every corpse awakened by the Gravekeeper placed its master's commands above everything else.
That was a rule shared by all of them.
"...My commands come first?"
"This body has never once refused Master's command."
That was...
Now that he thought about it, he was right.
Baek Cheon-myeong had always prioritized Kang Ha-min's orders.
Stopping the bus.
Taking Kang Ha-min away from the scene.
Even entering the Tower.
He had always put Ha-min's opinion first.
If Kang Ha-min had refused to enter the Tower until the very end and ordered him to stop suggesting it, Baek Cheon-myeong probably would have remained silent.
That was how powerful the contract between the two of them was.
"Just what exactly is the Gravekeeper?"
A Mythic Rank ability.
Even Kang Ha-min, who had worked in a Hunter-related department and knew more about Hunters than ordinary people, found the ability absurd.
"This body does not know exactly either. It was simply part of the contract with the Tower."
There were many mysteries surrounding Baek Cheon-myeong as well, but now wasn't the time to ask about them.
"So, can you see properly?"
"Ah, yes."
Soul Synchronization.
Through it, Kang Ha-min became able to share Baek Cheon-myeong's vision.
As a result, if he focused a little, he could see what Baek Cheon-myeong was seeing.
He still wasn't used to it, so for now, he had to close his own eyes to see clearly.
But once he became more accustomed to it, he felt like he might be able to use both sets of vision at the same time.
As long as it didn't make him horribly motion sick.
For now, he was still adjusting, so he decided to sit quietly.
"You know how to enter the Tower, correct?"
Of course he did.
He just never imagined there would come a day when he would actually say the words himself.
Ha-min cleared his throat for no real reason and tried to set the mood.
Then he spoke.
"Hunter Kang Ha-min, I will enter the Tower."
Thud.
The moment he declared it, a translucent door descended before them.
Once a person Awakened as a Hunter, they could enter the Tower from anywhere.
Because of that, there were even Hunters who committed crimes and escaped into the Tower afterward.
Ha-min took a light breath.
His first step as a Hunter.
Why am I nervous for no reason?
In reality, he was just planning to rely entirely on Baek Cheon-myeong!
His actual body wasn't even entering the Tower!
I'm still allowed to be nervous!
Sitting around wouldn't solve anything.
If nothing else, he had to earn enough money to eat.
"Let's go."
Baek Cheon-myeong opened the Tower's door and confidently stepped inside.
[Abnormal entry detected.]
Huh.
"Hmm. Have we been caught?"
Hey, old man.
Don't say that so casually.
[The Sky Tower is discussing how to handle the situation.]
"..."
[A decision has been made.]
[Due to abnormal entry, a penalty will be applied.]
[Rewards will increase according to the increase in difficulty.]
System windows appeared one after another.
As Kang Ha-min stared at them, his entire body trembled.
He didn't know exactly what was happening!
But one thought immediately came to mind.
They were screwed!
BOOOOM!
At that moment, Baek Cheon-myeong's body suddenly rose into the air.
The ground had been struck by something carrying an unimaginable amount of weight, and the impact had launched him upward.
His vision spun in an instant.
Am I flying?
Kang Ha-min felt as though he himself were flying through the sky.
Through Baek Cheon-myeong's shared vision,
he saw something writhing across the ground in countless colors.
At first, Ha-min thought it was part of the terrain.
But they weren't rocks.
They weren't mountain ranges either.
Everything covering the world below was a monster.
The surface of the earth couldn't even be seen anymore.
The land had been completely, thoroughly covered by the bodies of monsters.
From one end of the horizon to the other.
It looked as though monsters had conquered the entire world.
Ha-min had never heard of the First Floor being anywhere near this difficult.
Thousands, no, tens of thousands of monsters roared.
The land shook.
The air trembled.
[The Gods of the Tower have detected an abnormal difficulty level.]
[They are observing you.]
[The Gods of the Tower have detected an abnormal difficulty level.]
[Volcano, the One Who Governs Fire, shows interest.]
[Gaia, Mother of Earth and Mercy, shows interest.]
[Luna, Daughter of the Moon, expresses curiosity.]
[Kyle, Ruler of the Sky, shows interest.]
[...]
All kinds of gods dwelling within the Tower began gathering.
As they appeared, bell-like sounds rang repeatedly inside Ha-min's head.
Ah.
Kang Ha-min's face turned completely pale.
They were screwed.
They were definitely screwed.
But unlike Kang Ha-min,
the corners of Baek Cheon-myeong's lips rose.
At the same time, he pulled his wooden sword back through the air.
Even under the gaze of countless gods, he didn't feel the slightest pressure.
Instead, a terrifying light flashed within his eyes.
Before the endless wave of monsters,
the area around Baek Cheon-myeong alone was strangely silent.
"Good."
At that moment, dark crimson light began leaking from the wooden sword.
It resembled an abyss that swallowed every bit of surrounding light.
High above,
the crimson star watching only him began to roar violently.
[The fate of the Heavenly Slaughter Star begins to move once again.]
[Stella, the One Who Embraces the Stars, expresses surprise and joy.]
At that single moment, Baek Cheon-myeong's inner world swallowed the entire space.
Thud.
The air seemed to sink under invisible pressure.
The monsters' roars suddenly stopped.
It was merely killing intent flowing from the body of a single man.
Yet that killing intent overwhelmed every monster in this place.
Within the frozen world,
before Baek Cheon-myeong had even landed,
the sword moved.
"At least this much is needed for a warm-up."
And with that, something happened.
A dark crimson line appeared along the path of his sword, stretching all the way to the end of the horizon.
Crack.
A moment later, the endless horde of monsters covering the earth split apart.
Their massive bodies, piled up like mountains, slid apart into upper and lower halves.
Thousands of monsters revealed perfectly severed cross-sections at the same time.
The army of monsters that had formed the horizon collapsed all at once, like a field of wheat being cut down by a sickle.
Kang Ha-min sucked in a breath.
He didn't even have time to understand what had happened.
Only moments ago, the land had been an ocean of monsters.
Now,
only a single endless slash mark remained across the ground.
[Congratulations on clearing the First Floor!]
[You have cleared the First Floor in the fastest time in the world.]
[Clear Time: 2 Seconds]
[Achievement registered: Fastest First Floor Clear Record Holder.]
[First Floor clear rewards will now be distributed.]
[Hunter Kang Ha-min's level has increased.]
Kang Ha-min's first entry into the Tower.
The First Floor ended just like that.
[Congratulations on clearing the First Floor!]
[Hunter Kang Ha-min.]
[You may challenge the Tower again after 24 hours.]
[23:59:59]
Cheerful level-up sounds and congratulatory notifications continued ringing.
In front of Ha-min floated the waiting time.
[23:59:59]
[Solar, God of the Sun, is astonished by your achievement.]
[Okea, Ruler of the Sea, admires an achievement that should have been impossible.]
[Thor, God Who Brings Lightning, sounds the thunder.]
[...]
The praise of the gods continued without end.
If even one god showed interest in a Hunter while they climbed the Tower, that Hunter could already be considered successful.
But right now, so many gods were reacting that Ha-min couldn't even count them.
Was this really okay?
The Tower had technically accepted what they had done, but they had still cheated the entry system.
Ha-min couldn't help worrying about whether drawing this much attention from the gods was a good idea.
"I'm back."
Ha-min lifted his head.
Before he realized it, Baek Cheon-myeong had already returned to the room.
"Uh, uh..."
Kang Ha-min could do nothing but open and close his mouth.
Of course he couldn't.
Everything had ended in an instant.
"...That's it?"
"It is over. Is there something else I was supposed to do?"
"It definitely said the difficulty increased like crazy, and all kinds of messages kept appearing..."
He never expected it to end this quickly.
Ha-min felt completely stunned.
But Baek Cheon-myeong simply dropped into a corner of the room as though nothing special had happened.
"It was merely the First Floor. No matter how much the difficulty increases, it cannot become a threat to this body, Baek Cheon-myeong."
Was that really how it worked?
Then again, Baek Cheon-myeong clearly seemed to have climbed a Tower before.
Ha-min didn't know how far he had climbed, but maybe other high-ranking Hunters could also do something like...
...Could they?
Kang Ha-min's expression became complicated.
He had already realized that Baek Cheon-myeong was strong.
The aura coming from his body alone was completely different.
But this level of strength was clearly beyond normal standards.
That single strike had split the entire horizon.
With just one swing, he had killed an unimaginable number of monsters.
If his strength were measured by Hunter Rank, what Rank would he be?
Hunters possessed another ranking system separate from the Rank of the Class they received when they first Awakened.
From F Rank to S Rank.
An S Rank Hunter possessed enough power to destroy a city alone.
They were essentially human nuclear weapons.
Even governments placed them under special management.
Hunter Rank is basically an indicator of a Hunter's talent.
Talent was important for Hunters.
No.
Among every profession in existence, Hunters were probably the ones most influenced by natural talent.
The difference between an athlete and an ordinary person wasn't even comparable.
Among Hunters, differences in talent could be overwhelming.
You can see it just from the Class someone is born with.
A Class was granted immediately after Awakening.
What kind of first Class someone received could completely change their future.
Kang Ha-min had received the Mythic Rank Class, [Gravekeeper of a Ruined World].
Meanwhile, other people might receive ordinary Classes such as [Swordsman], [Archer], or [Ranger].
And even among Hunters, growth differed depending on how they climbed the Tower.
The Tower gave scores depending on how quickly,
and how perfectly,
a floor was cleared.
And that score becomes the experience needed to level up.
The Tower's difficulty also changed dramatically depending on the abilities of each Hunter.
For example, a Hunter with water-related skills might be sent into a battlefield filled with flames.
Like that, the Tower always created floors specifically suited to challenge each Hunter.
That was also why naturally gifted S Rank Hunters showed such exceptional growth.
This is also why low-Rank Hunters stay on the lower floors for so long.
Hunters could rechallenge floors they had already cleared.
By obtaining a higher score than before, they could gain additional experience.
Many Hunters repeatedly challenged old floors for that reason.
Among Hunters, this was commonly called "building a solid foundation."
In one sense, the Tower's system was fair.
But that's also why progress through the Sky Tower is so slow.
In the end, the more talented someone was, the harder the Tower became.
That was why even S Rank Hunters couldn't simply reach overwhelmingly higher floors than everyone else.
Then the reason the difficulty increased this much...
It wasn't only because they had used a loophole.
The existence of Kang Ha-min and Baek Cheon-myeong themselves was probably the biggest reason.
A corpse summoned through a Mythic Rank Class.
From the Tower's perspective, there was no reason not to raise the difficulty as high as possible.
"...Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, are you really going to be okay?"
The higher they climbed, the more difficult the Tower would become.
Kang Ha-min asked out of genuine concern.
Baek Cheon-myeong merely snorted.
"The Tower has always been like this. There is no reason to ask such a question now. No matter what happens, this body will climb the Tower."
He certainly sounded reliable.
But as an ordinary little citizen, Kang Ha-min was still filled with worry.
"More importantly, Master, shouldn't you check your level and rewards first?"
"Ah, right."
The Tower's ridiculous difficulty had made him completely forget.
