Chapter 5
Kang Ha-min quickly opened his Status Window.
[Congratulations, Hunter Kang Ha-min, on clearing the First Floor.]
[Your level has been updated.]
[Would you like to check your current level?]
"Check it."
He had cleared a floor with such ridiculous difficulty.
How many levels had he gained?
He had heard that ordinary Hunters gained around five levels from a single floor if they cleared it with the highest possible score.
So he couldn't help feeling a little excited.
[Kang Ha-min]
● Level: 10
● Class: Gravekeeper of a Ruined World
● Rank: Mythic (神話)
■ Unique Skills: Enter Grave Mountain / Rise of the Dead (亡者起立) / NEW! Protection of the Dead / NEW! Grave King's Aura (墓王氣勢)
■ Paths: Corpse Reconstruction / Soul Binding
Huh.
"What level?"
Kang Ha-min's head creaked as he turned toward Baek Cheon-myeong.
"L, Level 10."
Normally, even an excellent result would only raise someone by around five levels.
Yet he had gained twice that amount.
"Not bad."
"That's way beyond 'not bad'! If I told anyone about this, they wouldn't even believe me! This is insane!"
He was still low level, and he had only cleared the First Floor.
Ha-min couldn't even imagine how many levels he might gain in the future!
This went beyond S Rank.
SS Rank, no.
It wouldn't even be strange to call this SSS Rank!
"Hahaha. Naturally. You are the master of this body, after all."
Baek Cheon-myeong also seemed pleased, showing a proud smile.
"More importantly, you seem rather satisfied about becoming a Hunter."
"Ah, ahem."
He really knew exactly where to poke.
Still, Ha-min couldn't stop himself from smiling.
He should simply be happy about something like this.
On top of that, he had gained two new skills.
Hunters occasionally obtained skills when they leveled up.
However, the higher their level became, the lower the chance of gaining a new skill.
That was why Hunters were obsessed with leveling up.
Skills could also sometimes be combined with each other, and there were countless other variables involved.
But one thing was certain.
The skills a Hunter gained would match their characteristics.
Kang Ha-min immediately checked his two new skills.
First was [Protection of the Dead].
[Protection of the Dead]
[Passive]
• The energy of the dead protects the body.
• Provides excellent protection against magical attacks.
A protection skill.
It was a defensive passive.
This skill is amazing!
There was hardly anything more important than protecting one's body.
For someone who lived by the principle of safety first, it was the perfect skill.
Next came the second skill.
[Grave King's Aura (墓王氣勢)]
• The aura of a king who rules over graves flows from your body.
• When combat begins, the surrounding air grows heavy, reducing the morale and mental strength of enemies.
"...Conqueror's Haki?"
"It is the Grave King."
"Ah, ahem. Sorry."
The words had slipped out before he could stop himself.
Still, this skill was simple enough to understand.
It was a morale-reducing debuff.
There didn't seem to be any special activation conditions either, so it looked useful.
"I feel like I've grown stronger without doing anything."
Was it really okay to benefit this much while doing so little?
"What are you talking about? Master, you did not do nothing."
Baek Cheon-myeong denied it.
"It was entirely your power that awakened this body. In the end, all of this was accomplished by you."
Ha-min hadn't expected him to say something like that.
Baek Cheon-myeong did whatever he pleased, but Ha-min could tell that he still valued him in his own way.
He had checked both skills.
Now came the important part.
The long-awaited reward.
Kang Ha-min took a deep breath.
After all, rewards from the Tower often included useful resources that could be exchanged for money!
So with excitement in his heart, Ha-min opened his reward.
[You have obtained a 'Tower Key' as your First Floor clear reward.]
Huh?
A key appeared before Kang Ha-min in a cluster of light.
It looked extremely expensive, with an engraved pattern carved into its center.
The sudden appearance of a key left him confused.
Why had he gotten a random key?
Could he sell this for money too?
"...Huh?"
Just as Ha-min was wondering how he might sell it,
Baek Cheon-myeong reacted as though he had seen something unbelievable.
"Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, what's wrong? Is this thing expensive?"
Ha-min's heart suddenly started racing.
He had a feeling this one item might be enough to pay off every debt he had!
But Baek Cheon-myeong merely stared at the key with a stunned expression.
After finally recovering, he slowly rubbed a hand down his face.
"...Calling that merely 'expensive' would be an insult to its value."
"What? Then..."
"Even if someone spent their entire life climbing the Tower, they might never obtain one."
"It's that rare? Then it must be ridiculously expensive!"
"Check its detailed description."
Ha-min's eyes lit up.
With this, he could take care of his father's knee treatment and solve his food problem!
Thinking that, he immediately examined the Tower Key in detail.
[Tower Key]
[Cannot Be Transferred]
A key that allows entry into hidden spaces or undisclosed floors within the Tower.
Ha-min immediately closed his mouth.
Cannot Be Transferred.
In other words,
he couldn't sell it.
"That is hardly something worth being disappointed about. Good grief. The heavens may not have given you courage or boldness, but it seems they gave you absurdly good luck instead."
"...If I were lucky, I wouldn't have only ten thousand won left in my bank account."
Still, judging from Baek Cheon-myeong's reaction, it really did seem to be an incredible item.
He probably shouldn't be too disappointed.
"So how do I use this?"
"Exactly as written. It allows you to enter a secret space within the Tower."
"What's inside?"
"There is no way to know until we enter. Every Tower is different."
So in conclusion, it wasn't a reward that would feed him today.
A bitter smile formed on his face.
Ramen again tomorrow.
"Well, should we just use it now?"
It didn't seem connected to normal Tower floors anyway.
There didn't appear to be an entry restriction either.
"...Very well."
For the first time, Baek Cheon-myeong looked tense.
Seeing that man make such a face made Ha-min nervous too.
Still, it was a reward given by the Tower.
I hope there's something good inside.
[You have used the 'Tower Key'.]
The moment Ha-min decided to use the key, a door handle appeared before him.
It had an old-fashioned, elegant appearance.
He inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it.
Click.
What could possibly be inside?
Even Baek Cheon-myeong remained silent.
Hoping there might be something inside capable of changing his life,
Ha-min opened the door.
And the moment he saw what was beyond it,
"...What is this?"
Kang Ha-min couldn't hide his disbelief.
Korea Hunter General Administration Headquarters.
The department responsible for fully managing Hunters from the moment they Awakened.
"Department Head!"
"Yes. I just received the report."
The headquarters, a place that was rarely peaceful to begin with, suddenly erupted into chaos.
The reason was simple.
[Fastest First Floor Clear Record Updated]
[South Korea / Korea]
Every Hunter could view achievements recorded by the Tower.
Because of that, the Hunter administration checked the achievement records every day.
And tonight,
a new Tower achievement had suddenly been registered.
That was what caused all this commotion.
A First Floor clear time of two seconds.
A Hunter who had achieved an unprecedented record had appeared in South Korea.
And what did that mean?
"It's definitely an S Rank Hunter."
"You think so too, right?!"
It meant South Korea's sixth S Rank Hunter had been born.
S Rank Hunters.
In the modern era, they were treated like nuclear weapons.
A country's international standing could change depending on how many S Rank Hunters it possessed.
Compared to other countries, South Korea had a relatively high number of S Rank Hunters for its population.
But that was only a matter of proportion.
In terms of the absolute number of S Rank Hunters, it still fell behind major powers.
Countries with larger populations naturally produced more Awakened Hunters.
And with more Hunters, they naturally had a higher chance of producing S Ranks.
Because of that, countries with smaller populations could only grit their teeth in frustration.
South Korea was no exception.
It had a high ratio of S Ranks, but their actual number remained small.
Worse still, not long ago, one of South Korea's S Rank Hunters had been taken away by China's outrageous lobbying.
An S Rank Hunter had left South Korea and become a Chinese citizen.
The public criticism at the time had been enormous.
Even remembering that day still made the people at Hunter Headquarters feel sick.
And now,
someone who could almost certainly be classified as a new S Rank Hunter had appeared.
Of course the headquarters had been thrown into chaos.
"Min-ji, you know what we need to do."
"Yes. Offer the best possible conditions and make sure we keep this Hunter in South Korea."
"Right. If we lose this one too, everyone in this headquarters might really have to submit their resignation letters."
"But Park Kang-jun going to China wasn't even our fault in the first place."
"What does that matter if everyone else thinks it was our fault?"
Kim Min-ji let out a deep sigh.
He was right.
If that was what the public believed, there wasn't much they could do about it.
"Stop everything you're working on right now and find this person first."
"Anyone who broke the First Floor record with a two-second clear has to be exceptional even among S Rank Hunters. This person could become a great asset to South Korea."
"Hehe, aren't you getting your hopes up too much? What if they're not as amazing as you think?"
"Only someone who's never entered the Tower would say something like that."
"You brat, do you even understand how ridiculous this clear time is?"
"Hmm, I know it's impressive. But since it's only the First Floor, weren't there a few Hunters in the past with similar clear times?"
Just as Kim Min-ji said, there had been Hunters in history with records around that range.
There had even been a Hunter who fired an overwhelmingly powerful beam the moment they entered and wiped out everything at once.
A Hunter now regarded as an American hero had actually done exactly that.
"I admit it's strange that the record suddenly changed now."
After hearing Kim Min-ji's words, Department Head Shin covered his forehead with a dumbfounded expression.
"...Min-ji, how many years have you worked here?"
"Uh, I'm almost in my fourth year now."
"And you still don't understand how achievement records are updated?"
He couldn't believe he had to explain something to a fourth-year employee that he wouldn't even bother explaining to new recruits.
Department Head Shin felt a headache coming on, but explained anyway.
"You remember that the Tower's difficulty changes depending on each Hunter's abilities, right?"
"The Tower always creates a customized difficulty level for the Hunter who enters. Of course I know that."
"Right. That's why there have been Hunters who cleared floors in extremely short times before, as long as we're only talking about the difficulty assigned specifically to them."
"...Ah!"
Only then did Min-ji understand how serious the situation was.
The condition for updating an achievement wasn't based on time alone.
The difficulty level was also taken into account.
Then what did today's newly updated achievement actually mean?
"It means this Hunter received a First Floor with a higher difficulty than any Hunter who entered before, and still cleared it in two seconds."
That was why Department Head Shin was convinced the person was an S Rank Hunter.
An unprecedented S Rank Hunter had appeared.
South Korea had essentially won something far greater than the lottery.
Ever since the strongest Hunter who once dominated South Korea achieved "Tower Ascension," the country had struggled to remain competitive in the Hunter market.
[Tower Ascension]
A term referring to Hunters who have climbed beyond the 100th Floor.
Hunters who achieve Tower Ascension no longer return to the surface.
They remain inside the Tower, existences standing far beyond ordinary Hunters.
In other words, matters on the surface were handled by Hunters who had not yet achieved Tower Ascension.
And now,
a Hunter had appeared who had completely rewritten the First Floor record.
"So what should you be doing right now?"
"F, finding them?"
"Then why are you still standing here instead of running out the door?"
"Kim Min-ji, moving out!"
Kim Min-ji sprinted out at full speed.
Department Head Shin quietly let out a breath.
The real battle was only beginning now.
The achievement update wasn't visible only in South Korea.
Every country in the world could see it.
Other nations would undoubtedly begin flooding into South Korea.
Everyone would use every means available to obtain this unprecedented S Rank Hunter.
In other words,
South Korea was about to become a battlefield.
Just imagining it made Department Head Shin dizzy.
But if they could secure this Hunter,
that person could become the strongest card South Korea possessed.
So for now,
there was only one thing they needed to do.
"...Just who the hell are you?"
First, they had to find out who this Hunter was.
