Chapter 35: The First Magic Tower Built in Korea

Korea Hunter Association Affiliated Hospital.

Hunter Rehabilitation Center.

Hunters who had participated in the Red Dungeon were now entering full-fledged rehabilitation training.

Everyone was gripping the exercise equipment and moving diligently.

“One more set. Come on, come on. Give me strength. Strength!”

“Keep running. A bit faster. Faster.”

“Let’s stretch out. Yes, good. Now, breathe slowly in that position.”

The rehabilitation center was filled with the sweat of Hunters.

Everyone was giving their all to get their bodies in shape and prepare for entry into the Red Dungeon.

Except for one person.

……..

Yoo Seolha watched the hard-working Hunters with envy.

She wanted to move like them, too.

But the wound etched into her chest hadn’t fully healed yet, and the side effects of the Thunder Dragon Elixir made her physical recovery slow.

Even the highest-grade potions had little effect.

• At this rate, I might have to give up my Hunter life.
• If I push myself any further, my body won’t hold up.

The words of the doctor she had heard today made her heart even more troubled.

She didn’t want to give up yet.

She wanted to be someone who saved people, like her father.

But her body wouldn’t keep up with her heart.

“Alright, everyone’s warmed up, so let’s move on to sparring.”

“Hunter Kang Chanseok, Hunter Lee Gi-seong. Please get ready.”

Her gaze naturally lifted, and Yoo Seolha’s eyes caught sight of the sword Kang Chanseok was holding.

“…Ugh.”

Her head spun, and her body felt hot.

Her chest stung as if it were on fire.

She wanted to move, but her body wouldn’t obey. It was too heavy.

She couldn’t even turn her head.

Cold sweat soaked her back.

• If it weren’t for you, I’d have been the Swordmaster’s Disciple!

Along with that hallucination echoing in her ears, her eyes snapped open.

She was standing on a puddle made of blood.

Han Na-ri approached, laughing wildly like a madwoman.

Filled with madness, Han Na-ri held a sword and slowly advanced.

• Die.

She vividly felt the sharpness of the steel piercing deep into her chest.

“…Ugh!”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Seolha, are you okay?”

With a familiar voice, her eyes opened on their own.

The suffocating sensation vanished.

Her mother’s face appeared before her eyes.

“Mom.”

“Why did you come all the way out here? Let’s go back quickly.”

Yoo Seolha returned to the hospital room with her mother.

Afterward, she went into the bathroom, turned on cold water, and sighed deeply.

It wasn’t just her body that was the problem.

Her mind was troubled, too.

The Sword Pavilion’s Swordmaster had become a body unable to hold a sword.

She was undergoing counseling therapy to resolve her trauma, but no significant change had come.

Yoo Seolha’s hand brushed over the scar on her chest.

The wound from where the sword had pierced.

It had fully healed but left a visible mark.

As she looked at the scar, her thoughts drifted to her father, and she cried for a long time.

“Sniffle…….”

If her father were still alive, what would he say at a time like this?

She cried for a long time, letting out the anguish inside her.

“Hoo.”

She turned off the water and wiped off the moisture.

Changing into a patient’s gown, she came outside.

She sat on the sofa and approached her mother, who was laying out some snacks, and opened her arms for a hug.

Pat.

Pat.

She felt warmth from her mother’s gentle pats.

“Here. Eat this.”

“Okay.”

She put an orange slice in her mouth.

The refreshing yet sweet taste.

Something entering her mouth seemed to lift her spirits a little.

“Oh, right. Seolha, do you remember the kid who used to live next door?”

“Next door?”

“The boy your dad saved. He was three years older than you.”

“There was such a person?”

Yoo Seolha shook her head while putting grapes into her mouth.

“I don’t remember…”

Slowly, as her speech grew slower, a boy’s image came to her mind.

• I’ll become a Hunter like the uncle.
• No. Dad is mine. I’ll be a Hunter like Dad.
• Then you do it, and I do it, too.

No, I don’t want that.

The memory returned.

The older boy who lived next door.

“His name was something like Yongje?”

“You remember? I talked to Yongin Dungeon Break’s Yongje’s mother a few days ago…”

Along with that, another memory surfaced.

The voice of the benefactor who saved her from Han Na-ri in the Red Dungeon, wearing a hood pulled low.

‘…You left…the uncle…and watched.’

Similar.

The voice was similar.

“…Are you listening to me?”

“Mom.”

“Hmm?”

“Can you give me Yongje oppa’s number?”

“Wait a moment. I’ll ask.”

Just as her mother took out her phone to make the call, an emergency alarm blared from the phone.

BEEEEEEEP!

Not only that, but the ground shook violently.

Kugugugugung!

Startled by the sudden earthquake, Yoo Seolha grabbed her mother and ducked under the bed.

“Mom, it’s okay. I’m here, so don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

After the shaking finally stopped, a new message appeared before Yoo Seolha’s eyes.

[The Golden Tower has been constructed in Korea.]
[Hunters affiliated with Korea can climb the Golden Tower.]
[Check your hidden talents.]

Yoo Seolha got out from under the bed and looked out the window.

A gigantic golden tower stood where the Association was located.

She stared at it as if spellbound.

She didn’t hear any sound, but it felt like the tower was calling her.

Everything.

“…Mom, I’ll just go out for a bit.”

Yoo Seolha grabbed her coat and ran outside the hospital.

Her body was still weak, so she was slow.

But she pushed herself, running as fast as she could, and arrived in front of the Golden Tower.

A large crowd had gathered.

Some people were already coming out, discussing what they had seen inside.

“Wow. This is so hard. Is there anyone who can get through this?”

“What is it? What’s inside?”

“I don’t know. They said to feel something, but I didn’t feel a thing.”

“Everyone, please step back.”

Staff from the Association pushed the Hunters back to prevent them from approaching the Golden Tower.

“We will control access until information about the Golden Tower is fully released.”

Taking advantage of the confusion, Yoo Seolha slipped past and stepped into the Golden Tower.

When she placed her hand on the wall, a message appeared.

[Do you want to enter the Golden Tower?]

“Yes.”

Swoosh!

A golden light flashed, and the scenery around her changed.

A vast chamber.

Countless candles illuminated the room, and the walls were covered with doors painted with dragons.

At least dozens of them.

Yoo Seolha swallowed hard and focused on the message before her eyes.

[Floor 1: Feel the mana.]

It was something her master always said.

Feel the mana.

Not the mana sensed through the system, but the real mana you have to feel.

Among the Swordmaster’s Disciples, only one person had truly practiced her words.

‘Familiar.’

Closing her eyes, Yoo Seolha concentrated, recalling the training she had done with her master to awaken her senses.

The power of nature.

Mana.

Through her wide-open senses, she felt a tingling energy—warm and cold at the same time, yet comforting. Indescribable.

Slowly opening her eyes, Yoo Seolha followed the mana and moved forward.

Before her stood a door.

Click.

Without hesitation, Yoo Seolha opened the door.

Another space appeared.

A small room, just big enough for one person to lie down, with a single book resting inside.

As Yoo Seolha stepped forward, a message appeared.

[You have cleared Floor 1 of the Golden Tower.]
[Floor 2: Create a circle.]

Circle?

Yoo Seolha’s eyes shifted to the book, and after carefully reading its contents, she fully understood what a circle was.

Although it was something new to her, she grasped it immediately.

“Hoo.”

Exhaling, she closed her eyes again.

Her master had told her to gather mana in her dantian, but Yoo Seolha could only feel the mana and couldn’t collect it there.

It was like trying to wear clothes that didn’t fit.

Vwoooom!

Using the method she understood in her mind, Yoo Seolha manipulated the mana.

She drew the surrounding mana and created a loop around her heart.

Everything.

As naturally as breathing.

[You have cleared Floor 2 of the Golden Tower.]

When she opened her eyes, a door had appeared.

‘Interesting.’

Feeling the loop around her heart, Yoo Seolha stepped forward once again.

The tower was a place for cultivating magic-type Guardians.

That was why she had assumed it would be built in a Dragon Lair.

“…I really never imagined this.”

She looked up at the real Golden Tower soaring high above the Association.

Information about the tower flooded before her eyes.

[Yoo Seolha has cleared Floor 7 of the Golden Tower.]
[Points acquired.]
[Additional points acquired due to Archmage Talent.]
[Yoo Seolha has cleared Floor 8 of the Golden Tower.]
[Points acquired.]
[Additional points acquired due to Archmage Talent.]
[The first First Circle Magician has been born.]
[Points acquired.]
[Additional points acquired due to Archmage Talent.]

Yoo Seolha was surging through the tower with overwhelming talent.

‘So her SSS Rank Talent was magic after all.’

Her talent was in magic, but she had been wielding a sword, so she couldn’t express her abilities.

On the other hand, her tenacity to reach B-rank without talent was impressive in its own right.

[The Golden Tower’s capacity is full.]
[To cultivate more magicians, the tower’s level must be raised.]
[Entry to the Golden Tower is now restricted.]

Currently, only 10 magicians could be cultivated.

As 10 people cleared the first floor, the Golden Tower closed its entrance.

‘To level it up…’

Those magicians had to engage in activities, accumulate achievements, or raid dungeons to offer the dungeon loot to the Sanctuary.

Information about that would be provided inside the tower.

[Yoo Seolha has cleared Floor 9 of the Golden Tower.]
[Points acquired.]
[Additional points acquired due to Archmage Talent.]

With Yoo Seolha’s talent, it wouldn’t take long to reach level 5.

Since there wasn’t much for her to do personally, she turned her attention elsewhere.

‘Points.’

It was just like a game.

[Magic Level 1]

• Increases magic power. 0/10

She invested all her points to max out Level 1, and Level 2 unlocked.

[Magic Level 2]

• Increases casting speed. 0/10
• Increases mana recovery speed. 0/10
• Increases attribute affinity. 0/10

Since she didn’t need to save points, she poured everything in.

[Magic Level 3]

• Increases fire attribute magic power. 0/10
• Increases water attribute magic power. 0/10
• Increases earth attribute magic power. 0/10
• Increases wind attribute magic power. 0/10
• Increases light attribute magic power. 0/10

Normally, leveling up to Level 3 would take about a week, but Yoo Seolha, with her SSS Rank Talent, managed it in a single day.

Even while investing points, Yoo Seolha and other magicians climbing the tower continued to accumulate points.

[Magic Level 4 investment requires Tower Level 2.]

Eventually, she couldn’t invest points anymore due to insufficient tower level.

“…This is crazy.”

It was beyond admiration, verging on shock.

‘Is this the power of SSS Rank Talent?’

In games, S rank was the highest grade, so she had never experienced such a rush.

As if to cool her heated mind, a warning message appeared.

[Apostles of the Dragon God are watching the Golden Tower.]
[Be cautious of attacks from the Apostles of the Dragon God.]

“…Hoo.”

There was no doubt that with a tower like this appearing, the Apostles of the Dragon God couldn’t be unaware of her existence.

‘I have to get stronger, too.’

It was time to speed up her previously slow growth again.

“Fly.”

Using flying magic, she arrived at the location of the A-Rank Red Dungeon.

[Do you want to enter the Red Dungeon?]

“Yes.”

In the dark space, figures cloaked in black hoods gathered.

“Gold built the tower.”

“The growth speed is faster than expected. Are you sure the plan isn’t disrupted?”

“Should we invade Korea now?”

“Don’t worry.”

Amid the worried voices, a figure wearing a blue hood appeared.

“We will catch Gold on the 21st floor as planned.”

“I don’t think we can catch him alone.”

To someone’s question, the Blue Hood replied.

“Don’t worry. It’s not the first time we’re hunting Gold.”