Chapter 1: Awakening

My name is Baek Tae-jun, and I am twenty-eight years old.

As for my profession… I don’t really have one.

That doesn’t mean I don’t work; I make a living by occasionally working as a porter in the Gates to survive.

Of course, this is only possible because I have the house my late parents left me, and the daily pay for a porter isn’t low since we risk our lives.

I’m not sure how many years I’ve been shut away in my room like this.

My only hobby was the monitor screen.

Outside, things are running more or less smoothly thanks to the activities of hunters, but that peace has recently come under threat.

The Tower.

It has been two years since that colossal structure appeared in the world.

People seemed to be reclaiming their daily lives while cheering for the hunters, but the situation has shifted recently.

The condition for the Tower starting its countdown to destruction and spewing out monsters used to be just one.

The vanguard of each nation had to conquer a specific floor within a certain timeframe.

“Our country isn’t at the very top, but we were doing well enough in the upper ranks.”

The problem arose when the United States, the world leader, reached the 25th floor.

That triggered the second condition.

An additional requirement stating that a specific percentage of all hunters in each country must reach a certain floor.

Until now, thanks to a few talented hunters, the first condition had been met successfully, though not without difficulty.

But this new condition was a group project.

And a life-or-death group project at that—how could it possibly go well?

— Currently, there are approximately 100,000 hunters in South Korea. The second condition imposed by the Tower is that 50% of them, or 50,000 people, must clear the 5th floor by the end of this month. However, with about a month remaining, the number of successful clearers is still around 40,000, meaning an additional 10,000 must clear it within the remaining time.

This new condition threw the entire world into a state of emergency.

Whether it’s solo or team-based, achieving either condition means fewer monsters appear, but the fact that monsters show up in this world at all remains the same.

And it was obvious that the damage would be concentrated on the majority of ordinary people like me.

The government and the Hunter Association offered various incentives to encourage hunters to climb, but progress was sluggish.

I have no desire to curse them.

What use are wealth and fame if you lose your life?

However, as the countdown to destruction drew closer by the day, the reactions from communities and the public were a chorus of outcries.

— If things keep going like this, isn’t it only a matter of time before we’re destroyed like North Korea?

— What the hell are the hunters doing that they haven’t even cleared half?
ㄴ Getting to the 5th floor is the hurdle.
ㄴ Try doing it yourself. You can catch a bus for the boss floors, but before that, you have to face the monsters in the Tower alone. After several brushes with death, you lose the nerve. It’s better to go into a rift where you can be with party members.

— If they don’t do it, the whole country will be ruined, damn it.
ㄴ Even so, challenging it recklessly is just a dog’s death. We can’t draft criminals like Russia does, and we don’t have plea bargaining like the US.
ㄴ Can’t we just open up plea deals for hunter criminals? For real, the country is going to ruin.
ㄴ There’s an issue of fairness. Still, since the fire is under our feet now, they say the National Assembly is discussing it.
ㄴ Those crazy bastards, there’s less than a month left. Only now?

— Is there no other realistic way?
ㄴ It’s tough. If it just wasn’t for having to enter alone, it might have been doable.
ㄴ ㄴ ㄴ I don’t even hope for that. If only the system shop could be used inside, there wouldn’t be any worries about potions or food.
ㄴ For real, the inventory is too small.
ㄴ ㄴ They call it a tower, but the interior is ridiculously wide. You have to camp out, and sometimes you have to give up because you run out of food. If you leave and come back, the progress resets and monsters respawn, it’s so frustrating, damn it.
ㄴ For real. That’s why securing an escape route is always the top priority when challenging it. If you run out of potions or food, you have to give up and run.

Coincidentally, on the news, the anchor threw the same question as the community to a panel of experts.

— Is there no way to break through this situation?

— The government and the Hunter Association are encouraging it by providing incentives, but after all, it is a matter of life and death.

As the anchor hung their head at the unproductive, principled answer, they said:

— Can’t anyone help the hunters who are climbing?

I unconsciously had the same thought.

“Right. They say hunter abilities are so diverse. Is there not a single person in the world’s population who has awakened an ability to support such a situation?”

It was at that moment.

A transparent blue window floated before my eyes.

[Congratulations! You have awakened the ability: Rocket Delivery (EX)!]

“Whoa! What’s this?”

For a moment, I doubted my eyes.

The system message felt like someone was speaking directly into my head, just as people said.

I finally shouted those words out loud like everyone else.

“Status window!”

[Baek Tae-jun]

Level: 0

[Stats]

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Stamina: 10

Mana: 10

Mental Strength: 10

Remaining Points: 0

Unique Trait: Rocket Delivery (EX)

Owned Skill: Rocket Store (LV1)

I couldn’t believe it even as I read the status window.

EX rank.

Was there a rank above S-rank?

Was the dream about pigs I had last week for this, not the lottery?

“But what kind of ability is this, exactly?”

The name itself was intuitive, so I had a sense of what it felt like.

The problem was that this was my hunter ability.

“I can’t see the connection between hunter abilities and Rocket Delivery.”

Does it mean I have the ability to fire rockets at monsters?

I decided to check the ability in detail by clicking the button.

[Rocket Delivery (EX): No matter where the purchaser is, the desired item is delivered immediately upon dispatch.]

“….?”

I held my breath for a moment.

I remembered the complaint of a hunter in the community just now.

ㄴ If only the system shop could be used inside, there wouldn’t be any worries about potions or food.

My ability was one that completely ignored such constraints.

Immediate delivery, no matter the location.

However, as I looked closely at the system window, I noticed small text written in the corner like a terms of service agreement.

[Penalty: You cannot leave your house until someone clears the 100th floor of the Tower.]

“What… kind of… bullshit is this!”

While it’s true I’m a shut-in, not being able to leave the house at all was on a completely different level.

I quickly turned my head and looked out the window.

The window, which had been reflecting the outside scenery until just moments ago, now only reflected my image like a magic mirror in an interrogation room.

“Crazy! This is crazy!”

I ran over and hurriedly grabbed the front door handle, turning it.

The door was firmly locked.

No matter how much strength I applied, it wouldn’t open.

“They said you become superhumanly strong when you awaken! I can’t even open a door!”

I ran back toward the window.

The window was the same.

“Please.”

I hurriedly picked up my smartphone that was rolling around by the bed.

Even when I pressed the emergency call button, the signal wouldn’t go through, stating it was out of the service area.

“Huh? Wi-Fi? The internet is still alive!”

I frantically wrote an anonymous post on the community asking for help, but it wouldn’t register.

It was the same for comments; they wouldn’t post.

“I’m screwed!”

I collapsed in the middle of the living room in despair.

It was impossible to even request help from someone.

To be trapped in my room like this and watch the world go to ruin.

Just then, a system message popped up again.

[Support other hunters in their climb; the movement restriction will disappear once someone clears the 100th floor of the Tower.]

My frustration at being trapped was briefly replaced by intense irritation at this taunting message.

Even the US and China, who were the fastest in the world at conquering the Tower, were only at the 25th floor.

And the 100th floor?

“Who are you kidding?”

Anger surged, and I punched the bed.

Because my body is precious.

But doing something was better than dying while trapped like this.

I let out a deep sigh of resignation.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

Then, a system message titled Tutorial appeared before my eyes.

[Tutorial: How to Use Your Ability]

[First, you have been granted 100 coins. You must open the System Shop, purchase one lower-grade potion, and access the Rocket Store to restock the item’s inventory.]

[You have acquired 100 coins.]

I obediently followed the instructions, opened the System Shop, bought a lower-grade potion, and summoned the Rocket Store in the skill window.

When the store window opened, I saw a slot where I could register inventory.

[Lower-grade Health Potion]

“I’m doing it because you told me to, but since it’s a store, is a single lower-grade potion the only thing in the inventory?”

A sense of disappointment washed over me.

At that moment, a new message flashed like a bolt of lightning in the store window.

[A suitable target has been discovered!]

[Crisis situation occurring in the Black Tower’s Korea Branch, 3rd Floor, ‘Forest of Red Fangs.’ Target: Hunter Kim Hyeon-su (F)]

[Should an automatic invitation to use the service be sent?]

I hesitated for a moment.

I didn’t even know what I was doing right now.

But I couldn’t stay trapped in this room forever.

As if possessed, I spoke with strength.

“Fine!”

***

F-rank hunter Kim Hyeon-su panted heavily deep within the Forest of Red Fangs on the 3rd floor.

His body was already covered in wounds, and he had no potions left.

He cursed his own complacency.

“I didn’t know the difference between a party and solo play would be this much!”

The 1st and 2nd floors hadn’t been difficult.

In fact, they were so easy that they bred overconfidence.

To the point where he thought, Is this why people aren’t even climbing to the 5th floor?

However, the difficulty of the Tower escalated in earnest from the 3rd floor.

“People warned me so much.”

They were monsters he had faced a few times in rifts.

Beasts he usually neutralized easily with his teammates.

However, the general floors of the Tower had to be challenged alone.

There was no tanker who always stood reliably as a shield by his side, nor an archer who fired arrows at the perfect moment.

He hadn’t realized the absence of party members would feel this desperate.

And then there were the potions.

“To think I only packed three potions just to save a few pennies…”

Kim Hyeon-su clutched his head.

On boss floors, you could climb without worrying about supplies since you challenged them as a team, but the general floors were different.

Money was one thing, but the inventory was far too small to pack many items, and it felt like a waste to buy a ton of potions.

“My life is worth much more than a few measly potions.”

But it was too late for regrets.

The sound of growling grew closer from behind him.

A Wolf Pack had discovered him and was approaching.

There was no longer anywhere to run.

Kim Hyeon-su grit his teeth and prepared for his final struggle.

“Am I really going to die such a meaningless death?”

It was when his despair reached its peak.

[A trade proposal has arrived from the Rocket Store.]

[Lower-grade Health Potion (300 coins each)]

[Accept / Reject]

“What… what is this?”

Kim Hyeon-su was flustered by the sudden window.

Rocket Store? He had never heard of such a thing.

Besides, what was with the price?

Lower-grade potions were something you could get as much of as you wanted outside as long as you had the money.

Even though the System Shop nominally sold them for 100 coins, he hadn’t even spared them a glance because they felt like a waste of coins—and now they were 300?

“There’s a limit to price gouging!”

Normally, it was a rip-off he wouldn’t even consider.

However, the growling could still be heard from behind him.

“Dammit… This isn’t the time to worry about it being expensive!”

There was no time to hesitate.

Paying a bit of a premium was much better than dying like this.

“Fine, let’s just think of it as the price for my life!”

Kim Hyeon-su grit his teeth and pressed the accept button.

As soon as he pressed the button, a small, round rocket appeared above his head with a Swoosh!

“Wait, how am I supposed to catch that!”

The current Kim Hyeon-su didn’t have the strength left to leap that high into the air.

But with a Pop! sound, a tiny parachute opened on the rocket as it descended rapidly.

Kim Hyeon-su instinctively snatched the potion with all his might.

Then, the rocket vanished like smoke before his eyes.

“Huh?”

He was amazed by the bizarre situation, but that wasn’t what was important right now.

Without a moment to catch his breath, Kim Hyeon-su gulped down half the potion and poured the other half over his wounds.

He felt his physical fatigue vanish through the effect of the potion, and the wounds he had received from the beasts were healed.

“It worked!”

And more than that, his psychological state, which had been desperate, quickly regained stability.

The potion he just drank wasn’t a simple lower-grade potion.

It was a single ray of hope received at the threshold of death, like a sweet rain during a drought.

Kim Hyeon-su, having recovered his energy, turned around and pointed his sword toward the Wolf Pack.

“You bastards are dead now!”