[Hunter Gallery Expert (TL Note: A forum user, implying they are knowledgeable about hunters and the Tower.)]
[Hunter Expert) My last tip post got a good reaction, so here’s Part 2!]
This post describes what happens after you’ve drawn a decent talent—rare or higher—and entered the first floor.
If you pulled a worthless talent marked “ordinary,” let me reiterate: get out of the Tower.
Even if you’re a criminal who would be immediately arrested upon leaving the Tower, wouldn’t it be better to survive and serve time in prison than to perish in some strange tower that isn’t even on Earth?
Rumor has it that the Tower is neither Earth nor the Middle-lands, so if you die there, you can’t even go to the afterlife; you become a wandering specter, eventually used as an energy source for the Tower.
If you chose the “Hard” difficulty for the first floor, you’ll be dropped into a forest.
You’ll then be given a gear draw, where there’s a 60% chance of getting the weapon you’re most proficient with.
If you fall into the 40% and get a weird weapon, reroll.
Don’t foolishly pick a useless weapon just because its rank is one grade higher; that’s a high probability of certain death.
Do you know why all hunters use bladed weapons and shields?
It’s because everyone who chose anything else died.
Bladed weapons and shields are intuitive to use, and there are many known training methods and experienced seniors to learn from.
They’re not called “Tier 0” weapons for nothing.
There’s a reason why people do certain things, and there’s a reason why they don’t.
Simply following what others do will get you halfway there.
Bows, however, are a truly important, yet famously deceptive, weapon.
Unless you’re a former archery athlete or have drawn an archery-related talent, avoid them.
If some newbie who thinks, ‘It’s a famous weapon, so it must be good,’ or ‘It’s long-range, so it must be overpowered,’ picks a bow without ever having shot one, they’re on the express train to hell.
Being the “People of Jumong” (TL Note: Jumong is a legendary archer and founder of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo, often associated with exceptional archery skills.) or the “People of Archery” means nothing here.
Just close your eyes and imagine:
Do you really think you could pick up a bow without any training and hit a target 100 meters away?
If you could, someone would have scouted you as an athlete long ago.
So, I’ll say it again: never pick a bow.
You’ll die.
The only ones who should pick a bow are those whose talent explicitly tells them to; they can choose based on that.
Once you’ve chosen your weapon, you just need to hunt down all the goblins in the forest; on Hard difficulty, there are usually ten of them.
Sometimes a hidden difficulty might pop up with fifteen, so don’t let your guard down after killing ten.
Goblins also lay traps, so watch your step on the ground.
If you’re thinking, ‘How could an ordinary person who just entered the Tower catch ten goblins?’, then don’t even go into the Tower.
Let me say it again: for such people, living a normal life is better for their mental health.
No talent, but you want to be a hunter? That’s synonymous with suicide.
The goblins on the first floor average 120 cm in height, with physical abilities akin to a lower-grade elementary school student.
However, they use bladed weapons and set traps, so if you just keep that in mind and calmly lure them one by one, it’s hard to lose.
Since everyone has different physiques, dispositions, and weapons, offering more specific advice is difficult.
But taking down ten goblins really isn’t that hard.
If you’ve decided to do it, then fight on!
Once a man draws his sword, he must see it through.
After clearing the first floor, Martial Arts Net will open, so go there and ask your questions.
Hunter Gallery is full of delusional fantasists who write novels based on imagination without ever having entered the Tower, so don’t listen to them; always ask on Martial Arts Net.
└My trust shot up because of that last line, LOL!
└How can you be sure this guy is legitimate?
└Everyone knows goblins appear on the first floor; is it really bait?
└They could be mixing lies with common knowledge to bait people.
└I’m a hunter, and there’s not a single wrong word in this post. These are truly golden tips.
└If you’re a hunter, I’m the president, lol.
└There are surprisingly many hunters here, lol. If you go to Martial Arts Net, the real pros will beat you down, so this wannabe forum is packed with boastful braggarts. There’s no need to take what those guys say seriously; they’re just pathetic, washed-up hunters who spun around the lower floors a few times, realized they had no talent, and gave up on the upper floors, lol.
└Look at this greenhorn, hasn’t even gotten to the talent draw, yet he’s acting all high and mighty, thinking he’ll get some overpowered talent, you damn idiot, you’re clearly going to draw an ordinary talent and get cut off at the entrance!
└Someone hit a nerve, LOL! Low-floor dweller!
└Why are you guys fighting and making a mess in a good tip post?
└Today, Hunter Gallery is peaceful as always.
****
Doesn’t a question like “Are you sure you want to choose this?” usually appear only once?
The Tower’s system, however, asked me five times if I was truly certain about entering the “Insanity” difficulty, emphasizing its extreme danger.
I had to agree to the terms agreeing to the terms, then agree to the terms agreeing to the terms agreeing to the terms again, and only after agreeing to the terms agreeing to the terms agreeing to the terms for a third time was I finally allowed in.
Perhaps this obsessive persistence is why it’s called “Insanity” difficulty.
Having entered the Insanity difficulty, I found myself dropped into a strange forest.
A weapon draw window then materialized before my eyes.
Upon pressing the button, a rattling sound like beads tumbling out of a box echoed through the air.
The orb that emerged glowed with an ethereal violet light.
─────────────
■[Famous Hunter’s Bow]
·Type: Gakgung (TL Note: A traditional Korean composite bow, often made from horn and wood.)
·Grade: Heroic
·Physical Attack: +14
·Special Ability: Strength +1, Accuracy +1
[Famous Hunter’s Bow: Probability 0.3%]
[Do you wish to select this equipment?]
[Select / Reroll (Remaining: 2)]
A probability of 0.3%.
For a moment, it was an incredibly tempting number.
It felt like some magnificent weapon, part of the top 0.3%, and that I was incredibly lucky.
Yet, I immediately saw through the trap.
No one had stated that it was a 0.3% chance of *luck*.
It was merely the probability of *this specific item* appearing.
The world, after all, contains countless weapons.
This was just a bow of Heroic grade; surely there were also Heroic grade spears and Heroic grade swords.
If one were to collect all items in the “Heroic” series, the total probability would easily exceed 10%.
‘Besides, shooting a bow would be awkward with my chest getting in the way.’
Imagining myself drawing a bow, I realized my ample chest would definitely interfere with my posture.
There was a reason the Amazons supposedly removed a breast.
Since I wasn’t keen on the bow as a weapon anyway, and to test my hypothesis, I simply initiated a reroll.
The same box reappeared, vigorously shuffling the orbs inside.
My heart fluttered slightly at the thought that something extraordinary might appear.
Perhaps the creator of this Tower intended to turn everyone into gambling addicts and thus bring about the world’s destruction?
[Ordinary Iron Sword: Probability 1.2%]
Just as I expected.
My hypothesis proved accurate.
The probability for an “Ordinary Iron Sword” was a mere 1.2%.
This implied that far too many weapons were in the loot table, fragmenting the probabilities into tiny pieces.
I couldn’t possibly settle for an ordinary sword after passing on a Heroic grade, so I used my final reroll.
*Thump, thump.*
The animation itself was different from before.
The box violently shaking suggested something out of the ordinary.
Before the orb emerged, a halo of light burst forth from above the box, and the orb that finally popped out glowed with an ominous crimson hue.
A powerful premonition of a jackpot!
[Yodo, the Ghost Slasher: Probability 0.002%]
[This is a unique item; no identical equipment exists.]
I immediately checked the weapon’s information.
─────────────
■[Yodo, the Ghost Slasher]
·Type: Katana
·Grade: Cursed
·Physical Attack: +81
·Special Ability: Strength +5, Senses +5, Perception -7, Willpower -7
·Curse: Cannot be unequipped
The attack power was on a completely different level compared to the previous Heroic bow.
But what was this?
The weapon was cursed?
With no rerolls left, the weapon automatically selected itself.
He then settled himself on my hip of his own accord.
“Draw me.”
He began issuing commands to me.
“Go!”
How dare a mere tool presume to be a master and give orders?
I resolved not to draw this sword.
If I had no weapon, I would simply become a martial artist.
“Draw me, I said.”
“Hey.”
“This is Insanity difficulty. Are you really going in without a weapon?”
“You’ll die.”
“I’m telling you, you’ll die!”
“No, seriously, you’ll actually die.”
I’d heard the enemies on the first floor were goblins.
But these goblins seemed rather tall.
After walking a little further, I encountered three goblins, each slightly taller than me, appearing to be nearly two meters in height.
They were quite shaggy, covered in black fur from head to toe.
Surely they were goblins, right?
“Yooorl!”
Was it my scent?
Or a sound?
Whatever it was, three goblins noticed me, let out a shriek, and began to charge.
They were wielding well-crafted iron swords and shields reinforced with iron on wood.
Was this really what popped out on the first floor?
“Whoa!”
If I had a sword, I would have met their attack head-on.
But being bare-handed, I instinctively bent my body and dodged to the side.
“Draw me.”
The persistent, obsessive entity spoke to me again.
Ignoring him, I focused on the enemies before me.
Two goblins split off, circling around my flanks.
If I didn’t deal with the one directly in front of me immediately, blades would come flying at my sides and back, turning me into a human skewer.
“If you draw me, mere monsters like these…”
I grabbed the goblin’s shield and lifted my body upwards.
I wasn’t confident that merely multiplying my arm strength by my weight would be enough to bring him down.
That’s why I lifted my entire body, not just my arms.
The goblin didn’t even waver.
This implied he possessed enough strength to effortlessly lift an adult woman.
No, even more than that.
Since I had pushed off the ground and climbed onto his shield, the impact would have been far greater than simply lifting a stationary woman.
His ability to absorb that impact so steadily was proof that the goblin before me was much stronger than I had anticipated.
However, my original goal wasn’t to knock the goblin down, so I proceeded with my plan.
I dropped my body, headfirst, onto his face.
A headbutt.
Having dodged the first sword strike, I realized I couldn’t defeat these creatures with mere arm-powered punches.
It was just an intuition.
So, instead of relying on arm strength, I put my entire body weight into it, and instead of a fist, I used my hard skull.
My body became a small battering ram, striking at the creature’s “gate”—his face.
“Kereuk!”
Targeting the eyes, a universal weak point for animals, made the goblin stagger and retreat.
My next objective was to snatch the sword from his arm.
However, a single headbutt wasn’t enough to incapacitate him, and as his comrades realized my danger and came to his aid, I found myself on the defensive.
“Draw me.”
“Are you planning to die at the hands of such lowly creatures?”
“No, you’ll suffer something far more gruesome than death.”
‘So noisy.’
‘I told you I wouldn’t draw him.’
I realized that neither arm-powered punches nor full-body headbutts were effective.
Goblins, it seemed, were much sturdier creatures than I had thought.
Or was I just weak?
My combat power was supposedly 2.5 times that of an adult male.
‘Think of the next approach.’
Running to escape, I quickly considered my next move.
Being surrounded by three goblins when I couldn’t even quickly dispatch one meant certain death.
Drawing the sword was out, and using only my body lacked sufficient offensive power.
So, what should I do?
