When the Tower first appeared, it wasn't the government that moved first, but the corporations. To be precise, it was the wealthy.
“I don't care how much it costs, we have to figure this out. If we don't, we might all be screwed! How did I even get this far! I can't die like this!”
The rich, with so much to lose, mobilized all their resources and began to investigate the Tower. They lured the Awakened with money and sent them into the Tower. In the process, the corporations learned that the Tower was not only an incredibly terrifying place but also one that held value capable of surpassing human civilization.
“The Tower will become the greatest business item of the future. The government will bet everything on conquering the Tower, and they won't spare any expense in providing immense rewards and full support to those who know how to conquer it. If we can just conquer the Tower well, we could build thousands of 100-story apartments on the land we bought in the greenbelt!”
In other words, they smelled money. Those who caught the scent quickly began to form groups to conquer the Tower. At first, there were many names.
Guild, Clan, Family, Crew… - Newbie question here. Why does everyone call a group of Hunters a Guild? Was there some kind of agreement? ㄴ At first, Clan was the dominant term. ㄴ Clan? ㄴ Yeah, most countries were like, what is this stupid mess, let's just unify it!
So they were going to go with Clan. ㄴ Then why did it suddenly change to Guild? ㄴ Because America used Guild. ㄴ America? Why does that matter? ㄴ The most powerful nation that still stubbornly uses yards and pounds and causes problems started using Guild. We've all experienced what happens when they get stubborn about something, right?
You just have to go along with it. After that, everyone began to use the term Guild. In any case, the emergence of these Guilds sent a positive signal to the world.
“I heard you can make a lot of money if you join a Guild?”
Conquering the Tower means money! That fact drew the interest of far more people than expected.
“Hey, you can die if you enter the Tower, so who cares about money? Even if you have ten billion in your bank account, you’re a beggar in the afterlife! You have to mine for afterlife currency separately!”
Of course, it was a dangerous job.
Extremely.
The survival rate for those who became Hunters and attempted to conquer the Tower more than ten times was a mere 86 percent. Even this figure was based on Hunters from advanced countries where they were somewhat managed.
In regions like Africa or the Middle East, where all sorts of lawlessness and illegal activities were rampant, the situation was so catastrophic that even mentioning survival rates was meaningless. Despite this, there were many challengers.
“Apartments built by big corporations collapse, bridges built by big corporations collapse, factories built by big corporations collapse, and people die during simple repair work on the state-run subway. In a world like this, is dying really a big deal? Besides, if you die in the Tower, the compensation is insane, isn't it? The condolence money from the government starts at two billion won, I heard.”
The world was already dangerous enough. Anyway, with the advent of Guilds, the Tower began to be conquered in a more systematic way, and naturally, wealthy corporations began to actively intervene in the operation of Guilds. In the case of South Korea, all of the top ten conglomerates in the business world owned a Guild.
“Who’s the number one Guild in Korea?”
“Who do you think? Is there anyone other than Comet Group?”
And the best among these Korean Guilds was the Comet Guild, under the umbrella of South Korea's number one conglomerate, Comet Group. Naturally, all Hunters in Korea, and even Hunters around the world, wanted to belong to the Comet Guild. So, the Comet Guild held a test for the Hunters who wished to join.
This was quite a remarkable thing.
“An entrance test? Does that make sense? Hunters are coming on their own to work with you.”
In an age where Hunters were more precious than ever, an age where you had to pay a premium and get on your knees, begging, please, work with us, to be able to say, you want to join? Take a test. Don’t like it?
Get lost!
In other words, the Comet Guild's position was that unrivaled, and the pride and arrogance of the Hunters belonging to the Comet Guild were as high as the Tower itself. Lee Ji-soo, a Hunter of the Comet Guild, was no different.
She was only level 10, a level that could only conquer the 1st floor, but no one in the Comet Guild treated her as a mere level 10 Hunter. Her role was none other than Supervisor, the highest position in managing the Hunters who wished to join the Comet Guild.
Even within the Comet Guild, she held a position that was, if not in the top ten, still quite high. She also had pride in that position. A pride that the Hunters she chose didn't cause trouble elsewhere, and that they were noble individuals who risked their lives for the country to conquer the Tower.
“You want me to bring a serial killer to the Comet Guild entrance test? Are you kidding me right now?”
The moment she heard about Park Jin-soo, she reacted fiercely for that very reason.
“Are you insane? That man is a serial killer, a murderer who killed dozens of people at his own whim even before the Tower appeared! The worst murderer in Korean history! It’s absurd enough that he was taken out of prison just because he Awakened, but an entrance test?”
It was a reasonable reaction.
“I know your situation, Ji-soo, but please, just this once.”
“Request or not, I can't accept this. This crazy act. Even letting him enter the test under my name.”
“It’s the work of Chief Secretary Kim Jeong-bin.”
“Who?”
However, the moment that name was mentioned, Lee Ji-soo’s expression couldn't help but change.
“The First Chief Secretary?”
It wasn't widely known to the world, but those who had been with the Comet Guild for a long time and held important positions knew. If it weren't for Chief Secretary Kim Jeong-bin, the Comet Guild might not have even been born.
Above all, Chief Secretary Kim Jeong-bin was not a man who was in that position simply for personal gain. Some Hunters said it. If that old man ran for president, they would dance behind him in support.
“Is he insane?”
Of course, even so, it was clear that this was a ridiculous situation.
“What am I supposed to do if that crazy psychopath villain does something insane during the test?”
The place called the Tower was where any kind of accident could happen without being strange, and there was no way for the outside world to know what happened inside.
“It's fine, that man only kills criminals, right? How hard do we work on background checks? There are no criminals in our Guild.”
“Are you saying that as if it’s supposed to be a comfort?”
“Lee Ji-soo, please. Do you think I'm asking this favor because I like criminals? But it's Kim Jeong-bin, it's that old man's doing, right? And in the Tower, level is everything, and items are the jackpot, right? If anything happens, the Supervisor can step in and handle it. No matter how good that serial killer is at killing people, that's just a story about ordinary people, right? Inside the Tower, Hunters are on a different level.”
At that explanation, Lee Ji-soo didn't say any more useless words.
“Fine. But I’ll decide the content of the test as I please.”
“As you please? How?”
“My way.”
“Hello, I am Supervisor Lee Ji-soo, and I will be testing you today. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The nine challengers who wanted to take the Comet Guild entrance test stared blankly at the beautiful woman in her late twenties with short hair, smiling brightly before them. It wasn't because they were captivated by her looks.
‘Lee Ji-soo? That Lee Ji-soo?’
‘The person in charge of all applicants trying to join the Comet Guild?’
The person in front of them wasn't just a simple Supervisor, but a celebrity who oversaw all those who wished to join the Comet Guild.
‘She’s testing us herself? By entering the Tower with us?’
It went without saying, but cases where Lee Ji-soo directly observed and selected applicants were almost nonexistent. Most of the time, Hunters who were level 10 but had given up on climbing the Tower for various reasons acted as field supervisors. Even if Lee Ji-soo did step in, it was only for cases with very special applicants.
But the people gathered here knew.
‘We’re just regular applicants, aren’t we?’
They knew they weren't special applicants, like those on a special track.
‘We’re screwed.’
Putting all that aside, having Lee Ji-soo as the Supervisor was, from the test-takers' perspective, like being in the army for a physical fitness test and hearing, ‘Hello, the regimental commander will be observing the test himself today. You can all do well, right?’ Of course, one person was different.
Park Jin-soo paid little attention to Lee Ji-soo. He really had no interest.
“Excuse me, Supervisor, I have a question.”
There was only one thing he was interested in.
“Go ahead.”
“Once we enter the Tower, no one else can come in, correct? And we all enter together, correct?”
“Yes.”
“By any chance, are there any criminals among the people here?”
At that question, Lee Ji-soo wore a look of disbelief.
“Why do you ask?”
“Ah, when I see a criminal, I get a little… It's hard to explain, but something bad happens. If that's the case, I would like to forfeit this test.”
At the ensuing explanation, the others clicked their tongues briefly.
‘What a coward.’
‘He’s afraid of criminals? How did a coward like him get this far?’
No matter what, you had to risk your life to slaughter monsters, but you're scared of criminals? Of course, Lee Ji-soo was different.
‘Crazy bastard.’
From her perspective, knowing Park Jin-soo's identity, she knew what the intention behind those words was. Meanwhile, Park Jin-soo was being somewhat sincere.
‘I can’t let my anger get the best of me because of some criminal and ruin things.’
He liked this opportunity. He was fated to rot in a solitary cell for the rest of his life, but he was out of prison for now, and if he played his cards right from here on, he could run wild as he pleased within a certain limited freedom.
‘Killing monsters is fun, too.’
Also, killing goblins was, for Park Jin-soo, more refreshing than he had thought. Though not as much as smashing the skulls of criminal bastards.
‘So I can't cause trouble here.’
It went without saying, but Park Jin-soo had no intention of letting such a good opportunity slip away because of his mild anger-control disorder.
‘He even bought me chicken.’
Kim Jeong-bin had even treated Park Jin-soo to chicken. Not from every chicken joint in the country, but he had ordered chicken from twelve different places and promised that later, he would gather the drumsticks from every chicken place in the nation, just as he wished.
From Park Jin-soo's perspective, having been treated so well, it was only right to show a minimum of courtesy. In any case, at Park Jin-soo's words, Lee Ji-soo gave a disbelieving smile and said.
“Don’t worry about criminals. I’ll rip apart and kill any bastard who tries to pull any tricks inside the Tower.”
The challengers shivered at her chilling words. And Park Jin-soo smiled.
“Yes! Thank you! I will do my best!”
Lee Ji-soo sent a chilling gaze at Park Jin-soo’s form.
“Any more questions?”
In front of that gaze, no one was about to ask something like, hey, I have a question too, do you happen to have a boyfriend?
“Alright, then I’ll tell you the details of the test.”
In the silence, Lee Ji-soo spoke.
“When you enter the Tower, you will hunt goblins there. The time limit is 24 hours. Kill two hundred goblins within 24 hours. I don’t care how you do it, whether you party up or play solo. You just need to kill two hundred per person. The number of goblins killed will be determined by the number of ears. Only the right ear is valid.”
“If a problem arises, I will provide you with one Flame Gem. If you crush it, I will come and help you. However, the moment you crush the Flame Gem, you are disqualified.”
“Now, you will choose your items. Choose a Red Grade item. Items you brought personally will not be permitted. If you are caught using one, you will be disqualified.”
Calmly.
“Then we will enter in one hour.”
And one hour later, everyone gathered again, and on the spot, everyone tapped their left chest. Then, the Inventory appeared, and after taking out a Ticket from the Inventory, in front of everyone, all of them, including Lee Ji-soo, were about to tear the Ticket at the same time. It was at that moment.
“Um.”
Park Jin-soo, he suddenly spoke up.
“I’m really sorry, but may I ask just one more question?”
At his words, Lee Ji-soo gave him a cold look, and at that look, Park Jin-soo shook his head and said.
“My apologies.”
“What is it?”
To Park Jin-soo, who she now compelled to ask his question, he said.
“Um, how many goblins are in the Tower?”
At that question, Lee Ji-soo let out a hollow laugh. That was, in fact, the most basic of basics. For anyone who dreamed of being a Hunter, and among them, one who wished to enter the Comet Guild, it was basic knowledge they should naturally know!
That was because the current record for the most goblins hunted on the 1st floor of the Tower was 8,732, and the one who set that record was none other than the pinnacle of the Comet Guild and one of South Korea's three great Hunters, Tyrant Kim Seol-ah.
In other words, the fact that there were at least 8,732 goblins on the 1st floor of the Tower was information that no one could not know if they knew even a little about the Comet Guild.
“Let’s pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
Therefore, Lee Ji-soo did not answer, and Park Jin-soo nodded his head.
“Everyone, get your Tickets ready then.”
At last, at Lee Ji-soo's words, everyone tore the Tickets they had taken out. Then, a notification sounded in their ears.
[You have entered the 1st floor of the Tower!]