Chapter 25 : Theme Stage (2)

Theme Stage.

Someone’s memory, implemented as a real, yet false reality.

Everything there is said to be false, and one must never believe it.

Especially when it comes to the residents who seem to be living and breathing there, one must be even more careful.

That was the last lesson Do Yoon received before entering the Theme Stage.

“Do Yoon, don’t forget.”

“NPCs are NPCs.”

“Don’t get too attached to them.”

That particular phrase kept unsettling his heart.

[“Entering the ‘Waiting Room’.”]

“Oh.”

A straightforward push from the 1st floor to the 4th.

What greeted him after that was a strange sense of floating, and at the same time, a sight that filled his vision.

It was the scenery of a village he had never seen before.

Instead of a nature-friendly scene with overgrown grass on a dirt floor, a well-maintained walkway caught his eye.

Lifting his head to look into the distance, a wooden nameplate clearly indicated where this place was.

[“This is a village where challengers from various worlds rest briefly before entering the stratum.”]

“Hmm.”

He moved his feet while looking at the status window that belatedly appeared.

As he headed towards the village entrance, soldiers in armor blocked Do Yoon.

“Halt!”

‘Guards.’

Do Yoon knew them.

And about their role as well.

‘Guards will block you before you enter the Theme Stage.’

‘They just roughly check your identity, so tell them you’re a challenger.’

‘They’ll understand then.’

According to Han Ji Hyuk’s explanation, they had such a role.

“Identify yourself.”

“Challenger.”

“I’ve come to pass the trial.”

“Hmm, so you were the last one to challenge the trial.”

-Clank.

The guards’ vigilance momentarily loosened.

An attitude as if they had lived here for a very long time and were very familiar with the existence of challengers like Do Yoon.

“Identification tag?”

“Don’t have one.”

“This brat, speaking informally since a while ago…”

The guard with an impressive mustache spat out, seemingly annoyed by Do Yoon’s attitude.

“Haa… forget it.”

“It’s not like this is the first or second time.”

“Can I go in?”

“Yes.”

“But if you show even the slightest suspicious movement, you will be arrested immediately, so keep that in mind.”

Do Yoon nodded at the guard’s words and passed him.

“A-are we really letting him go just like this?”

However, the naive-looking guard next to him unnecessarily glared at Do Yoon and urged his superior.

“Hey, you punk, it’s not the first or second time… Ah, you’re new.”

“Forget it, just let him go.”

“If we don’t, the problem will get bigger.”

“B-but.”

“Just let him go.”

Only after the final warning did the naive rookie guard open the way.

Do Yoon and the rookie’s gazes met for a moment.

But the rookie, startled on his own, hastily avoided eye contact.

“Hey.”

“Are you trying to cause trouble already?”

“Stop doing strange things and go quickly.”

‘I didn’t do anything, though?’

The other side had unilaterally felt something; Do Yoon was genuinely wronged.

As Do Yoon completely left and entered the village, the senior guard smacked the rookie on the head.

-Thwack!

“This brat, why are you trying to cause trouble.”

“B-but I got a very strange feeling from the guy who just passed…!”

“What do you mean, strange?”

“Haven’t we inspected many challengers together, Senior?”

“But he was particularly strange among them!”

Beastkin, Dwarves, Elves, and beyond.

They had passed challengers from numerous races.

But he had never felt such an alien aura as from the man who just passed.

“Enough, just do your job properly.”

“…Hah.”

“Seriously.”

Regardless of what had already transpired, Do Yoon continued into the village.

The streets had a more peaceful atmosphere than he had expected.

It looked as if a medieval fantasy setting had been transplanted as is.

Artifacts, seemingly far removed from the modern era Do Yoon had lived in, continuously piqued his curiosity.

[“Waiting Room →”]

But for now, he decided to head to the Waiting Room where other challengers would be gathered.

Following the arrow imprinted on the ground, he soon found a building.

‘This is it.’

The place where other challengers were gathered, the Waiting Room.

One could say that the foundation for conquering the 5th floor would begin here.

With a heart half-filled with anticipation and half with anxiety, he reached for the doorknob and was about to turn it slightly.

“WHEN!

That was, until he heard a deafening roar echoing from inside.

“When is the last challenger arrivingggg!!!!!”

‘Should I just turn back?’

It was obvious they were very angry.

Thinking about it a bit differently, were hunters from other worlds really necessary?

Users from the Gallery had also stressed to be careful of hunters, drilling it into his head, and Do Yoon too always maintained a wary heart.

Since he felt that way, wouldn’t it be okay to choose a method of not encountering hunters at all?

‘Ah Hyun.’

Suddenly, he recalled the senior hunter who had greeted him with the warmest smile in the world.

“Sniff, sniff.”

“Wait a moment.”

As he stood there pondering for a long time, someone sensed his presence from beyond the door first.

“I smell something unfamiliar.”

“A scent I’ve never smelled before.”

“He’s here.”

“The newcomer.”

With those dry words, Do Yoon could feel rough footsteps heading towards him.

‘Too late.’

As he thought that, the door burst open violently.

Do Yoon met the gaze of the being beyond the door.

Taller than him by a head, a symbol of machismo, all muscle.

The person before him exuded such an intimidating aura that it naturally reminded him of his senior, Ji Hyuk, working out in the training room.

“You?”

“Hello.”

“Are you the challenger who just reached the 5th floor?”

“Yes… I think so.”

A gaze filled with a strange yearning blatantly scanned Do Yoon.

Eyes that didn’t see him as a person, but as if looking at a tool.

Do Yoon had experienced such gazes before in his life.

“Finally…”

“That’s enough of the staring contest.”

Before the atmosphere could drift in an unknown direction, someone else restrained the hunter who was in front of Do Yoon.

“Come in for now.”

This time, it was a man with a similar build to Do Yoon.

However, the peculiar thing was that fox ears protruded from the top of his head.

‘How curious.’

As Do Yoon looked at him with pure curiosity, the fox ears twitched, sensing his gaze.

“What is it.”

“First time seeing a Beastkin?”

“Yes.”

“Is that so.”

“It doesn’t really matter.”

“Come in for now.”

Guided by the man, Do Yoon finally entered the Waiting Room.

Upon entering, he felt the gazes of numerous hunters.

One, two, three…

A total of thirteen hunters were looking at Do Yoon.

“Is that him.”

“The last challenger has arrived.”

“Now we don’t have to endlessly repeat the stage.”

“When’s the conquest date?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Everyone, calm down.”

“We haven’t even prepared properly yet, have we?”

The Beastkin man who had spoken to Do Yoon earlier, the center of the hunter group, took control of the murmuring crowd.

“D*mn it!”

“We’ve been stuck here for a month already, a whole month!”

“In other towers, they’re already conquering the next stratum…”

“We’re not unaware of that either.”

“That’s why we’re ‘requesting’ cooperation for a more proper conquest, aren’t we?”

To a hunter bursting with resentment, the Beastkin hunter looked at him and politely requested.

Politeness.

For hunters who would go through fire and water for their own benefit, it was the minimum line and ethic.

‘Why is the atmosphere like this?’

Do Yoon, caught between them, could only watch the situation dumbfounded.

However, he couldn’t afford to mess things up because of it.

Do Yoon, harboring thoughts about the stratum conquest, opened his mouth with an expectant voice.

“So, when are we going to do the conquest?”

“Hey, newbie.”

“You just got here, so it seems you can’t quite grasp the situation.”

“Just listen to what the adults say and stay quiet here.”

‘Adults, what a load of sh*t.’

When you thought about it, weren’t they also rookie hunters like himself?

Having just finished the 4th-floor conquest and now stuck here, it felt pathetic that they were already trying to establish ranks.

‘Ugh, nice thoughts.’

However, Do Yoon, whose thoughts had reached that point, immediately began to self-reflect.

It was clear that he had been somewhat influenced by the Gallery’s view of hunters.

That’s why he had been sending them negative looks from the very first meeting, wasn’t it?

“Sirs.”

So, undeterred, he decided to appeal to them once more with ‘politeness’.

“Before I conquered the 3rd floor, I met a very strong hunter wearing a mask.”

“He said that the rookie hunters who need to conquer the 5th floor are unnecessarily tied up here.”

“A hunter wearing a mask, you say…”

“That’s my master.”

At those words, Do Yoon’s gaze sought the owner of the voice.

He saw a hunter with a slender build wearing a mask, just like the masked man he had seen before.

‘That one looks strong too.’

This was just a hunch.

But if he learned from that hunter who exuded such a powerful aura, wouldn’t he actually be strong?

Do Yoon thought so.

“My master said.”

“That a new challenger would arrive soon, and that challenger would be among the strong ones even among us.”

“Hah, ridiculous!”

Hearing those words, Do Yoon felt troubled.

‘Why would he say something like that again?’

What Do Yoon wanted was to conquer the stratum, not to show off among the hunters.

“So, how are we going to do the conquest?”

“Right away tomorrow?”

“…Aren’t you afraid of the Tower and the stratum?”

“Uh… still, what needs to be done, must be done.”

The Beastkin man felt a strange sense of unease at Do Yoon’s consistently brazen attitude.

The very last challenger to arrive, and a hunter none of them had seen before.

His confident demeanor, showing no signs of nervousness and solely pursuing his own goal, stood out.

‘From Earth.’

The Beastkin hunter knew how lowly and weak his origin was.

In reality, this was because Earth-born hunters had a very weak standing in the Hunter Association.

However.

‘What on earth is he?’

Wasn’t the man before him observing the situation as if such internal circumstances were none of his concern?

“Not a frustrating fellow, I see!”

“I like it!”

“If he wants to conquer, shouldn’t we just deploy him immediately?!”

“Hey, still, there’s a procedure…”

“No.”

“I agree too.”

“Pressure is starting to come from our world as well.”

“We must prioritize the Tower conquest.”

“Regardless of what happens, isn’t everyone responsible for taking care of themselves?”

Again, one by one.

Otherworld hunters, thirsty for results, began to show delight at Do Yoon’s intention and express their opinions.

At that, the Beastkin man could no longer restrain them.

“…You.”

The Beastkin man looked at Do Yoon.

“Yes?”

“Are you really okay with this?”

“Being deployed for the conquest immediately, without any adaptation or information gathering…”

“It’s fine.”

He had already heard more than enough about it outside the Tower.

Moreover, since he even had information directly from the field, it was clear he possessed better quality information than those who had only

received education within the Hunter circle.

“Hoo… I really don’t get it.”

“What on earth are you?”

“Conquest is good.”

Do Yoon expressed his firm resolve, caressing the hilt of his curved sword.

The Beastkin man looked at him, then, feeling a deep fatigue, decided to dismiss the gathering.

“Then, today’s meeting ends here.”

“From tomorrow, we’ll begin full-scale preparations for the conquest.”

‘So they were in a meeting.’

No wonder they were all gathered in this small space.

It seemed the last challenger for the stratum had arrived at an incredible timing.

Following the hunters who were leaving with beaming faces, Do Yoon also intended to start looking around the Waiting Room properly.

However, before him, a presence emerged.

“You.”

A beauty with impressive black hair.

A woman, slightly shorter than Do Yoon, had approached him at some point.

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you from weakling Earth?”

“You’re quite confident.”

“What do you mean by that.”

“I can’t stand to see a weakling acting confident.”

“I will teach you the correct truth.”

A sudden provocation, at a completely unexpected moment.

Do Yoon’s thoughts froze at the sudden situation.

In his mind, the concerns of the Gallery users, which had been stuck there like a mold, once again made their presence known.

[–Don’t get attached to those creatures called hunters, and don’t even talk to them.]

[–It’s easier if you just think of them as beasts that look similar to you.]

“Come at me.”

“Weakling Earth-born male.”

A wild hunter provoked Do Yoon.