Chapter 12
A red-haired woman sat at her desk.
Hwasan Guild Master, S-Rank Hunter Kwon Dohwa.
“….”
She looked over the directive recently sent down by the Central Government.
Ordinarily, the local guilds in each region were left to manage things, but every so often the government issued directives of its own.
Even so, until now, the directives had all been reasonable.
‘This one’s strange.’
She looked down at the document’s cover.
[Measures for Inspecting Tower Entrants to Eradicate Unregistered Awakened.]
It instructed them to inspect everyone entering a Tower and record their details one by one.
Up to that point, it was understandable.
[All information recorded during inspections must be submitted to the Central Government on the fifth of every month.]
[The Central Government may dispatch ‘administrators’ to facilitate inspections by local guilds.]
Dispatching administrators.
‘That part really bothers me.’
There was only one reason the government was doing this.
Genius Sword Maiden.
They wanted to monitor her entering the Tower and persuade her to join them.
‘…What a headache.’
She shoved the directive aside.
There probably wasn’t even a Sword Maiden in Hwaseong City. It was just irritating that they were making things a hassle for her, too.
‘I should get back to work.’
She began reading through various reports.
The most eye-catching one was about a Lesser Griffin killed on the outskirts of the city.
“…How?”
It was puzzling.
An A-Rank monster like a Lesser Griffin had died with its entire head blown off.
‘Even most A-Rank Hunters couldn’t do that.’
Could there be an S-Rank among the unregistered Hunters?
‘…Let’s set that aside for now.’
She decided to investigate it in more detail later and moved on to the next report.
It concerned the number of points earned in the Tower.
[We have confirmed that the number of points earned in the Tower has risen abnormally in recent days.]
[The number of points earned is equivalent to what we would expect if an A-Rank Hunter or higher had joined the climb, so it cannot simply be dismissed as the work of an unregistered Awakened.]
[Further investigation required.]
Points.
They were why Hunters had to keep climbing the Tower, and the reason South Korea was now half-collapsed.
A certain number of points were deducted from the Tower every month, and if there weren’t enough, the Tower collapsed and all kinds of disasters occurred.
That was why guilds tried to recruit high-ranking Hunters by any means necessary.
But…
‘So a high-ranking Hunter is secretly climbing the Tower?’
There was no way an ordinary Hunter would do something like that.
They could live like kings if they joined one of the major guilds.
There had to be some special reason.
‘But…’
For some reason, the Lesser Griffin’s death came to mind.
What if one person was behind both incidents?
‘…Let’s look into it.’
The increase in points had started roughly two weeks ago.
‘That’s when the Sword Maiden appeared.’
Until now, she’d thought it was nothing worth worrying about and moved on.
But now it was starting to bother her.
‘Maybe I should check the CCTV.’
She examined all the CCTV footage near where the Lesser Griffin had died.
Hoping to find something, she painstakingly reviewed the footage for several hours, until…
‘A girl?’
She found footage of a hooded girl running in the opposite direction from the shelter.
Of course, if that were all, she could easily dismiss it.
People often got into danger while retrieving something important.
But…
‘She has a sword at her waist.’
And not just any sword. It was a scabbard for a Mithril Sword, a type she knew very well.
“…!”
At that moment, a memory from two weeks ago flashed through her mind.
She hadn’t realized it at the time, but the person who’d traded an A-Rank weapon for a Mithril Sword had been the Sword Maiden.
By the time she realized it and tried messaging her, the transaction had already closed, so she couldn’t get in touch.
‘That settles it.’
Now that she had a general idea of her identity, it didn’t matter.
However…
‘If I approach her carelessly, she might leave.’
Acting rashly could backfire.
She couldn’t let the girl grow wary and leave Hwaseong City.
‘I need to find out why she’s in this city.’
She needed to know what the Sword Maiden wanted before she could even begin to negotiate.
And so, she arrived at this conclusion.
‘Is she trying to lie low until she gets stronger?’
As an S-Rank Hunter herself, she knew.
If your identity was discovered before you gained overwhelming strength, you’d inevitably get dragged into troublesome affairs.
The Sword Maiden was probably wary of that.
In that case…
‘…This is my chance to approach her.’
The Sword Maiden wouldn’t welcome the Central Government’s Tower inspections.
Her identity was sure to be exposed.
But what if she, the guild master of this region, had the Sword Maiden’s back?
‘We might be able to build a good relationship.’
Thinking that, Dohwa began tracking the Sword Maiden.
Securing the Sword Maiden would be the key to Hwaseong City’s survival.
***
The S-Rank Hunter who’d suddenly shown up at my house, Kwon Dohwa, spoke to me in a friendly tone.
“I’m here to help you, Sword Maiden.”
In Swordsmanship Gallery lingo, you could translate that as ‘I’m a scammer here to rip you off.’
Wasn’t she way too suspicious?
‘Looks like she’s definitely figured out I’m the Sword Maiden.’
I dropped the weird act and got serious.
“I don’t need any help.”
First, I’d try to play hard to get.
There was no way I could resist an S-Rank Hunter, but I could at least express my own wishes, right?
‘Surely she won’t just kill me on the spot?’
I waited for her answer, a little nervous.
“…I can hide your identity, Sword Maiden.”
She held out a document.
[Measures for Inspecting Tower Entrants to Eradicate Unregistered Awakened.]
“You’re an unregistered Hunter, aren’t you, Sword Maiden?”
“….”
“I’m Kwon Dohwa, the Hwasan Guild Master. I don’t know exactly how the inspections will be conducted yet, but… I can help you keep your identity hidden.”
She spoke as if she’d read my mind.
‘So that’s why she’s Hwaseong City’s hero.’
You really did have to be that sharp to run an entire city.
Anyway.
‘Honestly, it’s not a bad offer.’
Kwon Dohwa, an S-Rank Hunter and one of the two strongest Hunters in Korea, offering to have my back?
That was an incredibly tempting offer.
However…
“What do you want from me?”
If you get something, you have to give something in return.
I was worried about what Kwon Dohwa would ask of me.
I was seriously afraid she’d pull out a twenty-year exclusive Hunter contract with the Hwasan Guild.
“Nothing.”
“…Pardon?”
“If I had to say, I’d like to make a good impression on you, Sword Maiden. That’s about it.”
She gave a faint laugh and held out her hand.
‘She’s suspicious, but…’
Either way, refusing would only hurt me, and it didn’t seem like a bad choice.
But there was one last hurdle.
“…But I don’t have an identity. Is that okay?”
“An identity?”
How was I supposed to put this?
If I suddenly said I’d changed genders, she’d just think I was crazy…
“I’m an illegal immigrant.”
I explained as directly as I could.
“Oh, that should be fine.”
“It is?”
The law in Korea was incredibly strict on illegal immigrants. How could she shield me from that?
I was wondering what kind of heinous crime she’d have to commit to fix it when…
“That’s easy. You just have to become my daughter, Sword Maiden.”
…Huh?
***
Time passed.
A lot happened in the meantime, but to summarize it roughly…
1. I was adopted by Kwon Dohwa.
2. We even started living together.
3. I climbed the Tower (not very important).
The first and second points were absolutely crucial.
Not only had I gotten a legal identity, but I was living with the greatest GOAT Hunter in the history of the primates of the Korean Peninsula?
That was an achievement that would go down in the annals of my life.
‘Damn, I have to worship her.’
Unfortunately, though, my loyalty had already been pledged to ‘Genius Sword Maiden.’
So I decided to leave my loyalty to Kwon Dohwa in someone else’s hands.
“Hup.”
I started my day by getting out of an insanely luxurious bed.
‘So peaceful.’
I could sleep without waking up with back pain?
There were no bugs?
I couldn’t hear monsters howling?!
“Hell yeah.”
This was the life.
***
A few more days passed.
My daily routine was consistent during that time.
I climbed the Tower when the administrator sent by the government wasn’t paying close attention.
When I got home, I practiced controlling my aura for a bit.
When I got tired, I browsed the gallery and played ranked games on the Rift.
‘This computer’s performance is no joke.’
Kwon Dohwa had asked if I needed anything, so half-jokingly, I requested a high-end computer worth seven million won.
Kwon Dohwa had looked bewildered, and I’d wondered if I’d gone too far.
But when I woke up the next day, the computer had been perfectly set up in my room.
‘At this rate, I could hit Diamond soon.’
After working hard for the past few days, I’d already made it to my promotion series.
There was still a little time before I needed to climb the Tower. Maybe I’d play one game first.
I finished that one game, and…
[You have been promoted to Bronze IV!]
In the end, I’d managed to climb into Bronze.
“Wakyaaa!”
I’d been stuck in Iron for so long, but suddenly I’d climbed all the way to Bronze.
‘So I wasn’t the problem after all.’
The real problem had definitely been my teammates and my computer.
Anyway, at this rate, I’d reach Diamond before long.
“Uuugh…!”
I turned off the computer and stretched.
‘Time to head to the Tower.’
As usual, I gathered my equipment and headed for the Tower.
Today was my turn to climb Floor 15.
‘I’m looking forward to this.’
A special event occurred every five floors in the Tower.
Floors 10, 20, 30, and so on… Bosses appeared on floors ending in zero.
On floors like 15 and 25, the monsters were more like minibosses—fairly powerful.
‘I heard the monster is different for everyone.’
I wondered what monster I’d get.
I just hoped I wouldn’t have to kill another High Orc in six seconds like I had on Floor 10.
While I was lost in thought, I soon arrived at the Tower.
[You have entered Floor 15.]
[Objective: Kill five Black Dire Wolves.]
A dark cave where I couldn’t see even an inch ahead stretched out before me.
‘Aura.’
I hurriedly reinforced my eyes and looked around.
Pitch-black Dire Wolves, each around two meters tall, surrounded me.
‘This is tricky.’
They were even stronger than the Red Dire Wolf I’d killed last time.
Black Dire Wolves were physically superior, and more importantly, they could hide in the darkness.
‘I can’t tell exactly where they are.’
If I fought them with just my sword, I’d have to endure a fair amount of blood loss.
But I had plenty of ways to attack besides my sword.
-Whooom…!
I condensed my aura, then pushed the black mist into it.
The aura gained mass, and I felt as if it were crushing space itself.
“Phew…”
I condensed my aura into a sphere.
That was all the preparation I needed.
‘Telekinetic swordsmanship, here we go.’
I wasn’t sure if it really counted as swordsmanship, but I’d decided to call it that for now.
I swept the aura, condensed with overwhelming mass, in every direction.
-Puhbububuk!
Several sounds rang out, as though something was being crushed.
“Grrr!”
One of the Dire Wolves charged at me, apparently sensing that something was wrong, but…
I already had my hand on my sword.
-Thrust!
“Grr, rrgh…!”
The blue-black blade pierced its throat.
[Objective complete: All Black Dire Wolves have been slain.]
[Floor 15 cleared!]
[Final score: 50,000 points]
[The world record for the Floor 15 rankings has been updated from ‘29,830 points’ to ‘50,000’ points!]
[A blessing will be bestowed upon the region with the top-ranked climber on Floor 15!]
[Mana Stones and points earned on Floor 15 of the Tower in South Korea +10%]
“Hmm.”
I’d taken first place again, but I felt kind of strange.
‘It feels like my Tower is especially hard.’
According to the Hunter Gallery, the most you’d usually get on Floor 15 was one Black Dire Wolf.
They said you could get as many as three if you were an S-Rank Hunter.
‘But I got five.’
Did that mean the Tower thought highly of me?
As I waited for my reward, feeling conflicted…
[The Tower is impressed by your achievement.]
[The system grants you a temporary ‘Divine Rank.’]
A familiar system window appeared before my eyes.
‘Divine Rank?’
I’d seen the same message on Floor 10.
Next, it would definitely…
[The Hidden Stage has temporarily opened due to your Divine Rank.]
[Would you like to enter the Hidden Stage—‘The Ilaiya Empire, Imperial Capital Batium’?]
*Warning! Your Divine Rank will disappear if you leave the Tower.
A Hidden Stage had appeared.
‘Hmm.’
If there was one difference, it was that the description seemed more detailed than last time.
At least the Divine Rank seemed to disappear no matter what I did, just like last time.
‘Is the Divine Rank basically a key to the Hidden Stage?’
I wasn’t sure.
‘I should ask the gallery first.’
If not for GreatswordFan last time, I might’ve been trapped forever.
This could be similar, so it made sense to ask for their opinions.
[Title: A Hidden Stage just opened]
Author: WokeUpAsATSGirl
Unlike last time, it’s not some “forest with no exit” bullshit
It says Ilaiya Empire, Imperial Capital Batium<<anyone know what that is?
-Holy shit, the Ilaiya Empire?
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) You know anything?
└Nope, I don’t know either.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Got fooled again, fuck.
When I checked their username, it seemed pretty familiar.
‘Oh, it’s that user.’
Whenever you asked them something after they acted like they knew everything, they’d answer, ‘I don’t know either?’ What a wonderful bastard.
I wasn’t the only victim, either.
‘You’re going on my list.’
I vowed not to fall for their tricks again and checked the other comments.
-PureAndLovely*) If it’s an empire, wouldn’t it be relatively safe? Last time it said there was no exit, but you went in there like you were trying to kill yourself.
└For real lol. The name alone sounds dangerous as hell, and you still went?
-GeniusSwordMaiden) I don’t think you should go.
└GeniusSwordMaiden) Newbie, you’ll get incredibly strong just by continuing to train your swordsmanship. I don’t think there’s any need to take a risk.
└Logical Reasoning is the Sword Emperor.
└DaggerTechniquePro) I agree with the Sword Maiden, too.
-UsedToBeAHero) Tsk, tsk, tsk…
└UsedToBeAHero) Kids these days…! They never grow because they won’t take on even the slightest danger!
└Ah, so that’s why you got killed by the Demon King.
└UsedToBeAHero) You fucking bitch.
The gallery users were slandering each other and trading all kinds of personal insults in a wonderfully healthy debate.
‘But they’re not reaching a conclusion.’
There was no time limit, but I was starting to get bored.
‘It could be dangerous, after all.’
The quest could turn out impossible, and if I couldn’t cheese my way through it like I had with the ‘Forest Without an Exit,’ I’d be in trouble.
What if the Ilaiya Empire was some nightmarish hellscape like Seoul?
‘Let’s not go this time.’
Just as I was about to refuse entry…
-GreatswordFan) Huh? The Ilaiya Empire is the country I used to live in.
└?
└PureAndLovely*) Huh?
GreatswordFan had just said something astonishing.