Chapter 7
So, as for where I am right now.
I just came to a gukbap shop near the Association.
‘I did think about ordering something expensive, since Sera was here and I had her card too...’
I was too hungry.
Besides, the Tower entrance is right next to the Association branch anyway.
“You’re not eating?”
“…I already ate.”
Sera stared blankly at me while wolfing down gukbap and even suyuk.
And soju, too.
Sera.
My precious wallet... no, my training camp buddy.
I never made it as a hunter, but this one has become an A-rank hunter and is soaring ahead.
So what’s the point of being old comrades? It’s getting free meals, of course.
“Puh-heh... nice.”
After emptying both the stone bowl and every dish, I looked up at Sera.
She smiled lightly.
“You passed, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you get an ability?”
“Seems like it.”
“…Aren’t you going to explain it to me?”
After going to another world and only seeing colorful hair, seeing her face was strangely reassuring.
I gazed at her intently.
Her thin ponytail, tied high with not much volume, and bangs that fell right to her eyes were cute.
Around her neck was a choker with a bow tie, and below that a loose-fitting shirt, a short suspender skirt, a garter belt, and white stockings.
On top of that, she had the voluptuous figure and perfect proportions I didn't have.
She was a famous hunter who still drew attention because people recognized her, but even if you didn't know her, she was reason enough to look back.
If I was going to become a woman anyway, I wanted a body like that.
Her distinctive black eyes looked steadily at me.
As if telling me to quickly give her an explanation.
‘What are you, a nagging wife or something...’
But if I married her, she'd probably give me plenty of pocket money, right?
I envy her future husband.
“It’s a long story if I explain it.”
“Then give me the long version.”
“I’d rather give you the short version.”
I gave her a rough explanation.
I thought it was too disjointed, but Sera seemed to get the gist.
“…A gate?”
“Yeah. Want to try it too? They just let me in.”
“If what you said is true, I feel like I’d fail. It’s a magic school, right? Don’t they only take people with talent?”
“You really don’t have a clue.”
Sera was an A-rank hunter, but she had relied on my help when it came to mana.
I suddenly wondered how strong someone like Karanov or Isabel would be if they came to this world.
The mana inside them was far denser and more concentrated than Sera’s.
At the very least, wouldn’t they be guaranteed A-rank?
“Is it dangerous?”
“Not at all.”
I was wary at first, but even Karanov didn't show any hostility.
It really felt like I was a student at that school.
Aris, on the other hand, was harmless through and through.
“How about just climbing the Tower here?”
I had thought about that too.
But...
“I like magic better.”
When I learned magic from Isabel and Karanov and finally understood it.
That thrilling feeling that ran up my spine.
The fun of learning and understanding something new.
“Even basic attack magic alone is this strong, and I’m still not very skilled. Then what about the rest?”
A power that people usually only get one of.
I could have as many of those as I wanted.
“But the problem is, I'm a commoner there.”
“A commoner?”
“Something like that.”
Those filthy nobles.
If not for that, it would really be worth going.
Still, I should pack a lot when I go in this time.
But before that.
“I’m going into the Tower first.”
“Right now?”
“There’s no point dragging it out.”
I didn't know what punishment was, but I knew getting it wouldn't be good.
***
We had arrived at the Tower entrance.
The Tower entrance was similar to the knothole I used when I crossed over to Reinhardt.
Its surface rippled ominously.
And Woo Soohyun had been dragged along too, wearing a face like they’d chewed on something disgusting.
The guide.
They must have been happy that they wouldn’t have to see me today, but no such luck.
“No, if it’s just guidance, there’s an A-rank hunter right here...”
“Sera, an A-rank hunter. And Woo Soohyun here is shamelessly trying to dump this on an A-rank hunter. That’s a capital offense, isn’t it?”
“That’s not it! I don’t know much about the Tower either! I got stuck on Normal Floor 7!!”
Woo Soohyun shouted, looking on the verge of tears.
Ah, this is fun.
Is this the taste of power?
Feels like being a fox causing trouble behind a tiger's back?
This rules.
What if I actually became a tiger?
If I become an A-rank hunter later, or even just a B-rank hunter, I’ll go there every day and make a fuss.
“Sigh. I’ll just explain it myself.”
“Sera, it’s really not because I don’t want to work...”
“I know. I’m better at this than you are, so I said I’d explain. Anyway... put your hand here first.”
[Would you like to enter the Tower?]
[Yes/No]
Then a window-like screen appeared before me.
I pressed Yes.
“If this is your first time entering the Tower, the difficulty selection window should appear now.”
Difficulty.
It’s the difficulty level the Tower uses to gauge and calculate an Awakened's talent.
And you can choose the difficulty.
Usually, the three choices are Easy/Normal/Hard.
They said Very Hard or Hell don't show up often.
“But what kind of guy picks Easy or Normal? Obviously Hard, no question.”
Woo Soohyun's expression turned strange.
Ah, Woo Soohyun had picked Normal.
“But I'm a woman right now, so I should pick Normal.”
Woo Soohyun fell into confusion.
Sera already knew, so she didn't seem to think much of it.
It took a while for the notification windows to move on.
[Checking your information.]
[Difficulty is being calculated…]
[Analyzing Awakened. Reviewing climbing potential.]
“It’s best to choose the highest difficulty.”
“Why?”
“Because the rewards are the best. You can just grab the early rewards and run.”
Really?
Then I should keep my finger on the far right.
Tap tap tap tap tap.
I kept poking the far right side of the screen with my finger.
Sera said she'd buy dinner too.
She said she'd take me somewhere nice to celebrate my awakening.
I’d better finish quickly and go eat an expensive meal.
[Hard/Very Hard/Hell]
[Is this the correct difficulty? [Hell]]
[Y/N]
My reflexes caught the notification window instantly, and I pressed Y right away.
[Hell difficulty confirmed!]
“Oh.”
“What? What popped up?”
“Hell difficulty.”
“When I awakened as a hunter, my heightened senses were hard to control at first.”
“Huh? Then why bring that up?”
“I was just wondering if that’s still lingering now. Like hallucinations or hearing voices.”
“I didn’t mishear that.”
“…What?”
“Hell difficulty.”
“H-Hell difficulty!? The Hell difficulty that only a handful of people across the entire world have ever entered!?”
Woo Soohyun's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open.
“What? Why?”
Sera looked surprised too.
“Well... since you have so many traits, I’m not that surprised, but you picked the hardest one right away? Without even thinking?”
“You told me to choose, didn’t you?”
Sera was Very Hard too.
Wouldn't one level above that be manageable?
I looked at Sera.
Sera stared at me in disbelief, then let out a small laugh and spoke.
“…I don’t know. If it’s you, you’ll probably manage somehow. Just form a party.”
[Sera has requested to form a party. Accept?]
[Y/N]
I formed a party with Sera.
Woo Soohyun seemed even more shocked after seeing Sera's calm response.
I also formed a party with the stunned Woo Soohyun.
“Still, you can run away right away if things get dangerous, so don’t push it.”
“Okay.”
I loosened up my body a bit.
Then I opened the potion and drank it.
Blue light swirled around my body, and I could clearly feel my mana increase.
I wouldn’t know until I fired, but it seemed like about twenty small shots or two big ones would be no problem.
“What’s that?”
“The professor at school gave it to me.”
“They even give out potions? That precious stuff?”
Come to think of it, mana recovery potions were extremely rare.
Even Sera, an A-rank hunter, would have to scour auctions and empty her pockets to find one.
But there was no helping it now.
I needed to increase the mana I had.
Sera looked a little reluctant too.
“The professor said you can't use magic with just the mana in the air.”
Karanov's stern face flashed through my mind for a moment.
Of course, I didn’t just take his word for it—I tried it, and it didn’t work.
I held out my hand to Sera.
“Lend me a sword.”
“You’re asking an A-rank hunter to lend you a sword?”
“Come on, just lend it to me once. You want me to go into the Tower without a weapon?”
“Sigh, fine.”
Then she reached into thin air.
A scimitar with a pure-white blade appeared in my hand.
But what surprised me was something else.
“Weapon inventory!? When did you get that...?”
That's an SR trait!
Tower-granted traits have fixed ranks, and that was one of the traits I had wanted.
It was such a shame it didn't show up among my initial traits.
“It’s not that great.”
“What’s not great about it...?”
If I wanted to use a weapon, I was so small I’d have to drag it around.
Or somehow strap it to my waist.
Sera avoided my glaring gaze and said,
“If I want to store it in subspace, I have to put it in and take it out at the exact angle, and if it isn’t recognized as a weapon, I can’t even store it. The cooldown is long too, so it’s more inconvenient than you’d think.”
Sera cleared her throat and handed me the weapon.
But it wasn't the one I knew.
“What? Where's Muramasa?”
“I sent that in for repairs.”
“Broke it again, did you....”
This jerk used to break weapons all the time at the training camp, and he still hadn’t fixed that habit.
“A scimitar, Jeongil (正日). It’s a C-rank artifact, but it’s a named one. It’ll be usable enough.”
“Tch.”
Well, this would have to do.
I stepped into the rippling space.
[Would you like to enter the Tower?]
[Y/N]
I pressed Y right away.
My body was transported somewhere.
***
“Are you sure? Hell difficulty, for even most A-rank hunters in the early stages before their traits or abilities have grown...”
As an examiner, Woo Soohyun had seen many hunters climbing the Tower.
And at the same time, there had been quite a few who never appeared again.
Especially Hell difficulty.
That difficulty where anyone who entered came out either a corpse or a monster.
If someone went too deep and bad news came out, it made for a restless night.
It was even worse for Yumia, who had seen it for longer.
“I’m fine.”
“…You don’t seem very worried.”
“Do you know why that bastard was top of the class when I was here?”
Come to think of it, Woo Soohyun had been curious about that for a long time.
An A-rank hunter is a top-tier result even from the hunter training camp.
It made no sense that an A-rank hunter would be beaten by someone that crazy.
Normally, the more mana you possess, the stronger your physical abilities become.
Even if the training camp was aimed at hunters who hadn’t even climbed past the first floor.
If they were A-rank, they would have had quite a bit of mana even right after awakening.
Now it's a different level, of course, but even then their physical abilities must have been two or three times that of an ordinary person.
“Didn't they have some kind of lucky break?”
“There was some trickery and some luck involved, but...”
Sera broke off.
An old memory came to mind.
“…No one could beat them one-on-one. Not a single trainee from the same batch.”
***
I walked into the Tower at an easy pace.
This was actually my first time facing monsters.
But I hadn’t forgotten what I learned.
Well, it'll work out somehow.
[First Floor, Lion's Floor: Entering the First Room!]
[A difficulty buff - Veil of Darkness - has appeared in the first room!]
“…Huh?”
Pitch-black darkness enveloped me.