How long had I been running?
I gasped, my legs finally giving out as I halted my desperate sprint.
“Running away won’t solve anything.”
Leaning my back against the cave wall, I desperately tried to catch my breath.
My stamina had reached its absolute limit.
I had to face reality.
“This female body is just too weak…”
Of course, it was merely an excuse.
Even in my original body, the situation wouldn’t have been much different.
My life had consisted of little more than hunching over a keyboard in my room all day.
I would have been just as out of shape.
A guttural chorus of “Kee-reek! Kee-reek!”
The unpleasant sounds of goblins closing in, tightening their encirclement, echoed through the cave.
It seemed they knew I was exhausted.
If things continued like this, I would surely die.
‘No, goblins mean defilement. Perhaps there’s an end even more horrific than death itself…’
The realization chilled my mind, paradoxically bringing a sense of clarity.
I raised both hands.
To create a single bullet, I had sacrificed one pinky finger.
Eight fingers remained.
Theoretically, I could create eight more bullets.
The challenge, however, was whether I could do so simultaneously.
Even for one, it required my complete focus.
But several at once? Could I truly manage it?
‘No, I have to.’
There was no other choice.
Closing my eyes, I concentrated my entire consciousness on my fingertips.
I felt all eight fingers simultaneously transforming into sand.
I envisioned the deity within me.
The deity’s form shifted, molding into the shape of bullets.
Into each separate clump of sand, I poured mana, compressing and spinning them.
My brain felt as if it would explode.
It was like playing eight different games all at once.
A trickle. Blood streamed from my nose.
My mind sent a warning: any further concentration would be perilous.
“Even so, I barely managed it.”
My hands were now devoid of fingers.
Instead, eight black sand bullets floated above my palms, slowly revolving.
“Die, all of you.”
With my fingerless hands, I swept through the air as if fanning.
Following my will, the eight bullets scattered like buckshot in every direction.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I hadn’t aimed precisely.
The confined cave was packed with goblins, rendering precise aiming unnecessary.
Screams merged with the sound of flesh exploding, shaking the cave.
A moment later, a sickening stench of blood filled the air, followed by an eerie silence.
Before my eyes lay only the mangled remains of goblins, their limbs torn asunder.
It was only then that a blue window appeared before me.
[Congratulations on clearing Floor 1, EXTREME difficulty.]
“Damn it, this is hell…”
I collapsed right there, all strength draining from my body.
As the tension receded, I finally registered the unsettling absence of my fingers.
Since they had merely transformed into sand, I presumed they could regenerate.
Sure enough, approaching a goblin and manipulating my mana caused the sand bullets I had used to rejoin my body.
After my fingers were restored, I sat on the floor for a long while, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Then, a crucial realization struck me.
“Oh, I need to take a verification photo.”
I had to capture this gruesome scene: a photo of me standing amidst the pile of goblin corpses, flashing a victorious V-sign.
A single shot like that would instantly become a top post not just on the Hunter Gallery but on every community forum.
“Wait, what if they ban me for gross content? I should probably think this through.”
Before I could even retrieve my phone, the surrounding scenery began to warp once more.
Blinking, I found myself back in the initial location: a cube-shaped room, its walls, floor, and ceiling seamless and stark white.
Before me, a colossal scoreboard floated like a hologram.
[Tutorial Clear Record]
[Challenger: Unregistered]
[Selected Difficulty: EXTREME]
[Clear Time: 16 minutes 17 seconds]
[Score Obtained: 14,729 points]
[World Ranking Updated! (Previous 1st place: 4,593 points)]
[Achieved World Ranking 1st Place!]
[Please enter a name for the ranking.]
[Name: ]
“I’m number one?”
For a moment, I doubted my own eyes.
My surprise was fleeting, however, as the instincts of a gallery addict quickly overrode my rational mind.
I fumbled for my phone and hurriedly snapped photos of the scoreboard before me.
I carefully considered which photo would garner the most attention when I inevitably boasted about it on the Hunter Gallery.
“Alright, got my proof shots…”
Only after finishing the photo session did I turn my attention to the name input field.
World Ranking 1st Place. A name that would be etched into eternity.
There was only one nickname I could possibly use here.
There was no need for deliberation.
No other nickname would be worthy, for this one had been with me for half my life.
‘The nickname has to be ‘ㅇㅇ’, of course.’
I was a guy who never used a fixed ID (TL Note: A ‘fixed ID’ or ‘gojeongnik’ refers to a persistent username on online forums, as opposed to a temporary, anonymous ID.).
Familiar with the process, I typed ‘ㅇㅇ’ into the keyboard.
[Name successfully registered.]
[Floor 1 Ranking]
[1st: ㅇㅇ 14,729 points]
[2nd: DemiGoD 4,594 points]
[3rd: Team_China08 3,123 points]
The moment I entered the name, the scoreboard vanished, and a new window appeared before me.
Three books floated side by side.
All of them were a dull brown.
“Ah, these must be the skill books you get when you level up.”
I had heard about them.
As you ascended the tower and accumulated experience, your level increased, granting opportunities to acquire skills at certain thresholds.
Typically, people said you’d clear about three floors before getting your first skill.
Then again, I had taken down ten goblins, so I probably earned several times more experience than others.
“Well, that’s that. My luck is absolutely terrible.”
I frowned. All of them were ‘poop-colored,’ meaning Bronze grade.
According to posts on the gallery, usually at least one Silver-grade book would appear.
It seemed that those destined for success would find it no matter what, while those destined for failure would find it regardless of their efforts.
Just then.
[First Clearer of EXTREME Difficulty!]
[First Clear Bonus Applied!]
With a flash of light, the skill book in the center turned silver.
“Oh…?”
A gasp of admiration escaped me.
But the surprise didn’t end there.
[Ranking 1st Place Bonus Applied!]
The system window flashed once more.
“I never thought I’d actually say something like this…”
This time, the skill book that had just turned silver now emitted a dazzling golden light.
Laughter spontaneously bubbled up from within me.
“What excellent luck.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, I reached out for the golden skill book, which now shone with a brilliant golden hue.
The instant my fingers touched the book, it dissolved into particles of light and was absorbed into my body.
Simultaneously, the surrounding white space began to swirl and crumble.
****
When I regained my senses, I was standing before the entrance of the tower.
I quickly returned home before facing anyone.
****
Meanwhile, at the northernmost point of South Korea, near the 38th parallel, a tense atmosphere hung over a certain location as an operation was about to commence.
At the heart of a building, where dozens of monitors flickered, sat a man.
The man, with a short, sporty haircut and dressed in a tracksuit, looked entirely out of place among the surrounding soldiers, engrossed only in his phone.
His name was Kim Suho.
He was South Korea’s sole S-rank Hunter and a wind-attribute mage.
Even A-rank Hunters rarely moved for minor tasks.
They were currently in a power struggle with the government.
However, S-rank Hunter Kim Suho was an exception.
He was the only high-ranking Hunter who diligently participated in government requests.
But today, his mind was preoccupied elsewhere.
“Why aren’t they back yet…?”
He was waiting for the new mage he had met on the gallery a few days ago.
A strange, naive individual who had apparently awakened their powers by faithfully following his comments.
He had urged them on, saying they had the talent to easily conquer Hard difficulty, but the lack of news slowly fueled his anxiety.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-!
Just then, a blaring alarm echoed throughout the entire bunker.
“Large monster detected! Descending from the northern airspace!”
“Size: 12 meters! Code Red issued!”
The commander’s urgent shouts rattled the bunker.
A large monster exceeding 10 meters was a catastrophe in itself.
Conventional weaponry couldn’t even scratch it, and even most A-rank Hunters would have to risk their lives against such a foe.
Yet, among them, no one showed any fear of death.
Kim Suho was by their side.
“Mr. Kim Suho! We’re counting on you!”
All eyes turned to Kim Suho.
He let out a deep sigh and rose from his seat, turning off his phone screen and slipping it into his pocket.
Despite his lingering concern, there was nothing he could do.
‘This is my duty.’
He was the only one in South Korea who could stop this.
Kim Suho stepped out of the bunker.
A colossal shadow already loomed overhead.
It was a wyvern, notorious for being incredibly difficult to eliminate due to its flight and high intelligence.
However, Kim Suho simply raised his hand lightly.
“Skybreaker.”
An invisible blade of wind instantly engulfed the sky.
Crrrack-!
The wyvern couldn’t even let out a single scream.
Its massive body was instantly shredded as if it had been thrown into a blender, scattering into a crimson mist.
Normally, a rain of blood would have followed.
Kim Suho manipulated the wind, sweeping even the scent of blood away into the distant sea.
The entire situation concluded in less than ten seconds.
The commander, rushing out of the bunker, was about to shower him with sycophantic praise, but Kim Suho ignored him and re-entered the bunker.
“Doesn’t Mr. Kim Suho seem rather displeased today?”
“Indeed, he usually takes jokes well… I wonder what’s bothering him?”
People murmured amongst themselves.
It was impossible not to be concerned.
Mr. Kim Suho, who was always relaxed and kind, seemed unusually irritable today.
And an S-rank’s mood was, to them, a matter of paramount importance.
Regardless, Kim Suho, now alone, sat back down and turned on his phone.
Out of habit, he accessed the Hunter Gallery and painstakingly typed out dozens of identical comments, each beginning with ‘Magic is open to everyone.’
Then, he entered his true playground, the Mage Gallery.
As expected, other mages were also waiting for the new recruit, just like him.
[Title: They’re dead, aren’t they?]
Author: Pikachu
It shouldn’t take this long. If they died in the tutorial, that’s legendary.
– Refrigerator: Don’t say such inauspicious things.
– Magic is Firepower: No matter what, a mage wouldn’t die to goblins.
– Pikachu: Still, this delay is strange. There’s no other explanation.
Worried posts, filled with bickering, continued to appear.
Just as Kim Suho was about to post a comment, a new post notification appeared.
At the very top of the gallery list, a fresh post had just been uploaded.
The new recruit had returned.
[Title: Verified) Cleared Extreme Difficulty.]
Bringing news that no one had anticipated.
