Chapter 6 : Entering the Tower (2)

Entering the Tower

Inside the vehicle heading towards the Tower.

Noticing their outfits looked more comfortable than expected, Do Yoon voiced his curiosity.

“Aren’t you packing any separate equipment?”

“Equipment? Ah. We use that inside the Tower.”

Han Ji Hyuk explained.

He said that the skill systems, equipment, and inventory systems Hunters typically use are concepts that only apply inside the Tower.

He hadn’t known.

If all this was like a game happening inside the Tower, why did terrifying incidents like Gate Breaks occur?

He wanted to ask more, but didn’t feel the need to.

Do Yoon quietly surrendered his body to the ride’s comfort.

“Mr. Do Yoon.”

“Yes?”

This time, a voice came from behind.

Turning his head, he saw Jo Ha Rin’s face up close.

“How much do you know about the Tower?”

“Uh… That you experience something like a burden when you go inside.”

“Yes. To put it simply, if you stay in the Tower too long… people go mad.”

Go mad.

It probably meant exactly that.

“The longer that period gets, the greater the burden on the challenger becomes. And if it gets severe-“

“You end up going mad like that.”

“That’s right.”

According to the additional information he heard, the measure of time one could endure varied from person to person.

And, there were racial differences too.

“Inside the Tower, it’s not just us; there are also Hunters made up of different races from entirely different worlds.”

“Ah…”

“Yes. The kind… no, things you see in fantasy worlds.”

Elves, for example.

He heard that countless other races were active, striving to clear the Tower.

It was the first time in his life he would meet other races, so Do Yoon’s heart pounded.

‘Are elves really pretty?’

There was one in the gallery too.

Although she was a boss mob.
“Don’t get your hopes up too high.”

Han Ji Hyuk, who had been listening quietly, threw in a comment.

“Huh? Why?”

“Other races don’t really like humans.”

This time, the woman next to him spoke.

Cha Yoon Ha.

With her wavy hair, she continued the explanation.

“You can do anything inside the Tower. It’s a lawless zone. And among the races, we’re on the slower side when it comes to growth speed.”

“Which means…”

“We’re easy prey, basically.”

He instantly understood why there were so few Hunters in the Republic of Korea.

“So when you enter the Tower, you absolutely must stick together. Even if we’re going to the 1st floor, the tutorial zone.”

“Understood loud and clear.”

He swallowed hard involuntarily.

In the drives of Do Yoon’s brain, the perception of other races dropped two levels.

‘Other races are bad guys.’

He decided to operate based on that premise for now.

“Also, Mr. Do Yoon, you probably don’t know much about the types of Towers yet, right?”

“There are types of Towers?”

“Yes. This is something handled separately in the industry. But now Mr. Do Yoon is part of our team too.”

Did that mean it was information ordinary people wouldn’t know?

“Currently, there are six Towers standing across the world.”

“Ah, I know that.”

“Yes. But they aren’t all the same Tower; there are differentiating factors, like attributes.”

It was the first time he’d heard this in his life.

‘Six?’

Could this also be related to the gallery mods?

Do Yoon, still just a complete newbie, had so much to learn.

“It’s your first time, so don’t worry too much; we’ll teach you step by step.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“It’s embarrassing compared to Hunters of other nationalities, but we’re veterans despite appearances.”

Cha Yoon Ha said with a faint smile.

-Screech…

Soon, the vehicle stopped, signaling their arrival somewhere.

Naturally opening the door and stepping out, he immediately faced a huge Tower.

“…Whoa.”

“First time seeing it this close, right?”

Han Ji Hyuk approached and asked.

Of course.

The vicinity of the Tower was blocked off by guards, a scary zone where monsters might pop out.

Perhaps the fact that such a Tower had sprung up near the capital area was the crisis for the Republic of Korea.

“It’s amazing.”

“No pictures. The government manages it strictly. It could get troublesome.”

“Yep.”

He hadn’t planned on taking any pictures anyway.

What was the point of photographing such a hideous structure to boast about?

“Are you Hunters?”

A man in military uniform walked over from afar.

“Yes.”

Han Ji Hyuk, with a familiar gesture, presented the card hanging around his neck.

-Beep!

“Identity confirmed. Are you entering immediately?”

“Yes. Objective is clearing the 1st floor.”

“Yes, understood.”

The soldier readily stepped back, clearing the way.

“Shall we go?”

Cha Yoon Ha asked from the side.

Nodding in response, he finally began the real work of a Hunter.

“It might be a bit dizzying the first time.”

As he pushed his body into the pitch-black entrance, Han Ji Hyuk’s voice was the last thing he heard—

Do Yoon’s consciousness completely cut off.

“Hut.”

When he came to his senses again, a completely different world unfolded before him.

The clear chirping of birds came from somewhere.

-Rustle.

Feeling the sound of grass brushing against his shoes, he looked around.

“You’re not feeling anything?”

“Awesome! How can there be no side effects at all?!”

“You saw him during the simulation room yesterday. I told you he’d handle this much easily.”

In order, Cha Yoon Ha, Jung Ah Hyun, and Jo Ha Rin looked at Do Yoon with curious eyes, offering brief comments.

“This place is.”

“It’s a place to take a short break before properly entering the stage.”

Jo Ha Rin said.

“Mr. Do Yoon.”

“Yes?”

“Could you perhaps try thinking ‘Settings Window’ or ‘Status Window’ in your mind?”

Following her words and calling forth the status window, a message window popped up before his eyes.

[Welcome to the 【Forgotten Banquet Tower】.]

[Subjugate the Tower’s master, the ‘True Ancestor’, and pass the trial!]

“Oh.”

“Doesn’t the Tower name and stuff like that appear?”

“Yes, it just popped up.”

“That’s the name of the Tower we’re in now, and its theme.”

Theme.

It meant it was related to the ‘six Towers’ he heard about earlier.

[Confirmed challenger ‘Kim Do Yoon’s information.]

[Name: Kim Do Yoon
Lv.1

HP: 13 STR: 14 AGI: 7 MP: 10]

Following that were his physical stats, just like settings in a game.

“Mr. Do Yoon is completely new, so Level 1 should be correct.”

“That’s right. It shows up exactly like that.”

“Next, what are the other stats?”

Do Yoon recited the numbers after each stat in order.

The Hunters’ reactions to the figures varied.

“He was probably a civilian until recently… His HP stat is quite good? Did you do strenuous work?”

“Strength is decent too! Feels like he wouldn’t struggle on the front line!”

“Magic Power? How can he already have a Magic Power stat?”

“Huh? Right?”

Their gazes, which had been discussing amongst themselves, fixed on Do Yoon again.

“Is this also because of that unique skill, ‘Ally’…”

“Still can’t figure out what kind of ability it is…”

“Well, we can figure it out step by step.”

Only Do Yoon felt a prickle of guilt and kept his mouth firmly shut.

‘Skill.’

Come to think of it, there was one more element that shouldn’t be missed.

[View acquired skills?]

‘Yeah.’

Responding to the question window that conveniently popped up, a new window was immediately created.

[Kim Do Yoon’s Skills

▶Boss Mob Gallery(???)
▶Magic Resistance(C)]

‘What the.’

The letter after the skill was obviously the rarity grade, and unsettlingly, the rarity for Boss Mob Gallery wasn’t even listed.

What surprised Do Yoon was the skill listed below it.

Magic Resistance? When did he get this?

One thing came to mind.

He had browsed the gallery until he was sick of it and achieved good results in the simulation room.

It seemed likely this skill had greatly helped in that process.

‘Nice.’

At first, he wondered if this was right, but if it went so far as to grant him a skill outright—

It seemed he could indeed trust and follow them.

“Skills… You still only have one, right?”

“No. Besides Ally, there’s also ‘Magic Resistance’.”

“…That’s, already there?”

“No. You must have passed the test because you had it in the first place!”

Jung Ah Hyun nudged the flustered Han Ji Hyuk meaningfully.

“Yes. I think that’s right.”

“See!”

“Anyway, this is a very good situation for us.”

Do other people come here without magic resistance?

Or perhaps they reach a state of magic adaptation through separate training at the Association, semi-forcibly.

“The place we’re in now is, as mentioned earlier, the 1st floor of the Tower… It’s also easy enough that you wouldn’t have difficulty operating alone.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Still, other Hunters might be around, so we should stick together.”

Just what kind of state were Hunters from other worlds in to warrant this level of caution?

A genuine question arose, but he didn’t dwell on it deeply.

“Since you’re Level 1 for now…”

Jo Ha Rin said that, closed her eyes for a moment, then thrust her hand into the empty air.

“Oh.”

“It’s an inventory. You don’t have one yet, Do Yoon, but you can get it after clearing a certain number of floors.”

It was becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the boundary between reality and game.

The thought that occurred to him was that the privilege looked incredibly convenient.

‘By the way.’

Regarding the Tower’s name, it seemed right to ask the gallery again.

“Mr. Do Yoon.”

Jo Ha Rin, having taken something out of her inventory, handed it to Do Yoon.

A crude one-handed shield and a sword.

Along with the hefty weight, he felt considerable stability.

“There are better ones, but you probably don’t have the authority to use them because your level isn’t high enough.”

“Ah.”

“For now, let’s try clearing the 1st floor with that equipment.”

“Want to warm up for a bit?”

Cha Yoon Ha approached and suggested.

Gallery time arrived at a good moment.

Do Yoon immediately nodded, equipped the gear, and opened the gallery.

(My Post) Title: Newbie entered the Tower

• Is this the Tower? My heart is seriously swelling..

• Air is nice, weather is nice. Should I just live here?

ㄴ Newbie entered the Tower 
ㄴ Welcome!!!
ㄴ TowerNameReallyQuicklyUrgentI’veBeenWaitingForThisSoBadlyICouldntEvenPeeAndAlmostBecameAPuddleButLuckilyYouCameThankGo

odnessTheNewbieCameReally
ㄴ Uh oh, what’s wrong with this guy?
ㄴ Went crazy waiting for the newbie kekekeke
ㄴ PaperLover*) Did you find out the Tower name by any chance?
ㄴ My Post) Yeah
ㄴ Oh, what is it?
ㄴ My Post) Forgotten Banquet Tower.

At that moment.

As if time in the gallery had stopped, replies didn’t appear for a long while.

ㄴ AgedWine*) Hoe…?
ㄴ My Post) ?? Why did you all freeze?
ㄴ Emergency
ㄴ My Post) ?
ㄴ Suuupeeeer Emergeeeeency!!!!!!
ㄴ Sht, we’re fcked.
ㄴ Entered Wine-jaw’s Tower 
ㄴ I’m scared

ㄴ kekeke Of all the many Towers, why Wine-jaw’s Tower?

He was momentarily stunned.

Not losing to the momentum, Do Yoon immediately moved his fingers.

• (My Post) Title: Sh*t why am I the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on

• Tell me too!!!

• What’s so f*cked up?

ㄴ AgedWine*) Hoe, Hoehee…! Newbie-jaaaang…!
ㄴ PaperLover*) That’s the Tower Wine manages.
ㄴ First off, the Tower Lord isn’t normal.
ㄴ AgedWine*) This one is perfectly normal, daeyo! Newbie-chan! I’m coming down to meet you now, daeyo!
ㄴ Crazy b*tch, where do you think you’re going down?
ㄴ Uh oh, if the Tower Lord goes down, that path leads to a Gate Break.
ㄴ My Post) Yes?

Suddenly, his mind started to spin.

This was the Tower managed by Wine-jaw?

The master of the Tower, at that?

Did that mean he had already gotten acquainted with the final boss?

ㄴ My Post) No sh*t wait a minute, sirs. The pace is too fast.
ㄴ Don’t understand. If you understand, you die.
ㄴ If you gaze into the abyss…
ㄴ My Post) I’m a newbie who hasn’t even licked the 1st floor yet!!!

Title: Ah wait, controlling posts.
Nickname: PaperLover*

• Stop spouting weird stuff.

• Newbie. It’s not that f*cked up yet.

• Anyway, even if it’s someone else’s Tower, we know how everything works lol

• You’re on the 1st floor now?

ㄴ My Post) Yeah;
ㄴ The mod is showing favoritism to the newbie again!!!
ㄴ ShortEaredElf*) Hmmm… What a pity. I wanted to cherish him.
ㄴ Noonaaaa, I’m always ready.
ㄴ You get lost;

ㄴ PaperLover*) Anyway, the equipment is probably the low-level basic set.
ㄴ PaperLover*) If clearing is the goal, it’s not that big of a crisis.
ㄴ The 1st floor is just too shabby;
ㄴ Nothing we can help with?
ㄴ Who was the 1st floor boss mob again?

Title: That guy has no personality itself, so he’s not here lol

• Think it was the Great King Slime or something.

• Isn’t that a boss mob shared by other Towers too?

• He’s not even a gallery user, just go beat him up lol

ㄴ Seriously, it’s super easy.
ㄴ How to eat slime, easy for anyone.
ㄴ How to eat out  (TL:  can mean ‘to eat’ or ‘to f*ck’)
ㄴ Hey hey hey hey hey
ㄴ My Post) Weakness! Tell me the weakness then!
ㄴ Newbie looks desperate kekekeke

ㄴ PaperLover*) Weakness? Aim for the core. The core.
ㄴ Ah, and that guy stops moving for a bit when it eats something and digests, so if you attack then, it’s just instant fried chicken lol;
ㄴ Seriously keke
ㄴ Talking about it makes me want chicken.
ㄴ Can’t eat it though.
ㄴ How can a boss mob eat outside food? keke

“…Is that so.”

King Slime. And the core.

He seemed to have grasped the gist of it. The gallery was indeed useful.

‘However.’

One piece of information still uncomfortably lingered in his mind.

Why did they react so violently to it being Wine-jaw’s Tower?

He hadn’t received a clear answer about that yet.

‘I’ll have to ask again when I get out.’

Deciding to put out the immediate fire first, Do Yoon stood up and headed towards the waiting group of Hunters.