Chapter 10 : Ejection

When Doyoon was first invited to the Boss Monster Gallery.

The moderator named “Paper Enthusiast” guided Doyoon like this.

This place, they said, is for sharing various tips related to “ejection.”

And now.

Only after coming this far, was the truth beginning to reveal itself.

· I was going to explain it originally, but you looked so rushed that I helped you with that first oo;

ᄂ (My post) Then explain it now.

ᄂ It’s obvious to us, lol.

ᄂ So the newbie didn’t know because he lives outside the tower.

ᄂ Why are you just realizing that now?

Title: Hooee…! It’s time for the main character to step in!

Username: WineNeedsToAge*

Now that Newbie-chan has entered my tower!

As the master of the tower, I have the right to personally guide and support Newbie-chan…!

Other moderators, don’t get any ideas and just envy my privilege…!

ᄂ Paper Enthusiast*) Is that even true?

ᄂ WarMachineGod*) Beep Boop Bop!

ᄂ ShortEarKanff*) Doesn’t matter who explains, Newbie-kun has to get strong anyway~

ᄂ Look at the other mods getting angry and protesting, lol

ᄂ Did you know there’s a mod who hasn’t even gotten a turn yet?

ᄂ lmao

ᄂ The returning mods look so confused lololol

One of the gallery moderators claimed that.

And shortly after, posts started flooding in.

Title: A Beginner’s Guide to the Tower for Newbie-chan!

Username: AgedWine*

Please understand if I lose my composure a bit for Newbie-chan…!

Now then, let’s begin the explanation.

Newbie. You’ve just become a hunter.

A hunter’s aspiration and goal is to conquer the Tower.

And to do that, you must defeat the “boss monsters” residing on each stage.

ᄂ Wait. Is this really the Wine I know? What’s with the tone?

ᄂ I’m scared.

ᄂ It’s just that they were always acting cute before. This is the real Wine.

ᄂ lmao

ᄂ They suddenly adopted a weird persona and turned into a troll ;;

Up to this point, it was all information Doyoon already knew.

It was knowledge even someone newly made a hunter would be aware of.

But what he hadn’t known until now—was only just beginning.

So then, what do you think is the origin of these boss monsters?

Wine continued explaining.

Inside the tower exist monsters, and above them, boss monsters.

They are the rulers of each stage, and their strength is on another level.

But in truth, despite their great power, they are unstable beings.

“…Ah.”

There was a woman.

Her hair, like pale moonlight, was in disarray.

She rose from her throne in a daze, remembering neither who she was nor where she had come from.

“Hoo, so this boss monster is humanoid.”

“Let’s end this quickly.”

“Pretty good-looking for a boss monster. What a waste.”

“Ku ku ku.”

Facing the awakened woman were uninvited guests, their eyes full of greed.

They were hunters—challengers who had just broken through the stage and entered the boss room.

Their goal was the woman’s head.

As always, naturally.

To hunters, boss monsters were nothing but steps in the process, disposable parts to be claimed.

Instinct.

From that which touched their nature, the woman also learned.

“W-what! Why is it like this…!”

“Shit, don’t come near me! Stay back!!”

In the massive chamber, screams echoed again and again.

Of course, they weren’t the woman’s.

She stood calmly in a pool of hunter blood,

gazing blankly at the scene, freed from the system’s restrictions.

She killed. So naturally.

Even in death, the fear of her was etched into the hunters’ faces.

But she stared at them without any emotion.

Time passed.

Though not short, no one ever managed to strike her.

Her prestige rose, and eventually she became the tower’s master.

The First.

Once, a hunter shouted at the sight of her.

The term “The First” had a better ring than monster, demon, or bloodthirsty lunatic.

So the woman accepted that title and became the hunters’ fear—the First.

‘Feels familiar.’

Perhaps it was a feeling born from her forgotten past.

But the truth was, she knew nothing.

All she was allowed to do was guard the floors and repel the incoming challengers.

She spent her days in lonely waiting.

-Ding!

Her only time of freedom.

In the boss room where she was left alone, a strange light shimmered.

When she turned her head, a semi-transparent window floated in the air.

【Boss Monster Gallery】

[ Stop sending hunters, seriously]

[How many raid points does everyone have?]

[I really don’t want to be ejected, please]

[So graduation is real or not?]

[Top floor hunters’ performance today.jpg]

Thus began her connection with the Boss Monster Gallery—

she who would later be known as “Wine.”

There were many like her there.

Beings trapped on the floors, destined to fight off endless waves of hunters.

Through them, the First began to find some meaning to her existence.

For boss monsters, “ejection” meant death.

When they meet “certain conditions,” they go mad instantly.

They are expelled from the tower and begin to rampage uncontrollably.

Even their endless lives inside the tower vanish once that state hits—they die for real.

-AgedWine*) Hooee…! That’s what “ejection” means~!

Hearing Wine’s explanation made Doyoon dizzy.

“Gate Break.”

The sequence they described through ejection—no matter how he looked at it, it matched what he experienced.

his head throbbed painfully.

He hadn’t realized that such a background was tied to his troubled past.

Though his grief and longing for his family had faded due to side effects,

there were still times when a hole in his chest ached unbearably.

Regaining his composure, Doyoon wrote another post.

(My post) Title: But what’s that got to do with me?

Whether you die in the tower and revive, or get ejected,

doesn’t it have nothing to do with me, a hunter…?

ᄂ Why would it have nothing to do with you?

ᄂ Geez, smells real suspicious

ᄂ ShortEarKanff*) Hmm… Newbie-kun, you’re underestimating yourself~

Title: Newbie is broken just by existing;

Username: Paper Enthusiast*

Unlike us, stuck dealing with hunters, you can freely move in and out of the tower.

We can give you floor information.

And you can give us the “key to graduation.”

ᄂ Whoa

ᄂ Just imagining it makes me drool, lol

“Key?”

He still didn’t fully understand what they meant.

-AgedWine*) In our industry, we call it like this~!

-AgedWine*) “Hidden Piece”

A familiar term he had heard somewhere before popped up.

ᄂ Paper Enthusiast*) This is the real reason we’re helping

ᄂ Paper Enthusiast*) We’ll help you survive as a hunter

ᄂ Paper Enthusiast*) And you help us avoid ejection

The gallery’s bait—dubbed the newbie persuasion plan—

was just beginning.

Choi Geon-woo walked through the association with a blank face.

Conversations with his assigned hunters still replayed clearly in his mind.

A man possessing the skill “Supporter” and incredible adaptability.

No one understood what that meant more than a hunter liaison like him.

“Manager, this… it’s unbelievable.”

“You have to rally all support for Mr. Doyoon and match his level to ours.”

Two of Korea’s top hunters had said this.

Han Ji-hyuk and Jo Harin.

Despite barely knowing the new hunter, they had given him such high praise.

“Cleared the 1st-floor stage with ease. Shows excellent adaptability and potential in combat.”

“In comparison with other hunters, he has a truly unprecedented skill.”

In a quiet room, a middle-aged man slowly read the report aloud.

Across from him stood Manager Choi Geon-woo.

“Skills. Good. Could this be the hunter that finally brings glory to Korea?”

…If only the right environment for smooth growth is secured, the value is clear—”

South Korea lacked talent.

Not because existing hunters were incompetent,

but simply due to bad luck.

The tower that appeared in Korea had much lower difficulty and rewards than towers in other countries.

So of course the growth rate was structurally disadvantaged.

“No need to repeat what we already know.”