“Turning my life around, huh…”
Kangwoo recalled the life he had lived before awakening.
That was to say, before he had been stranded on the 100th floor of the Tower.
His life from those days.
When he was very young. Back when he could barely remember anything.
He had been alone since then.
Fortunately, the director of the orphanage who had cared for him was an incredibly kind and good person.
Even though the director himself was not well-off, he always did his best to take care of the children at the orphanage somehow.
Naturally, his sincerity reached the children as well, and thanks to him, they were able to grow into adults without major difficulties.
Kangwoo was one of those children.
Of course, once he reached the age to leave the orphanage, his life became difficult.
But one thing was certain.
If it hadn’t been for the director’s help, Kangwoo would have learned that there was a bottom beneath even the bottom.
“…….”
He looked around his shabby studio apartment.
Yellowed wallpaper.
Flooring that became sticky and clung to his feet whenever summer arrived.
A showerhead with a weak stream of water.
A sink that occasionally produced rusty water.
It wasn’t only his apartment that was shabby.
Even Kangwoo’s life itself had been shabby.
Even though it had been quite some time since he left the orphanage, he had never even managed to set foot inside the door of a decent workplace.
When he was a student, studying had always been pushed aside because he had to work part-time jobs to cover his living expenses.
Of course, that situation remained the same even now.
His entire day was filled with part-time work.
There was no time to study or make any kind of investment in his future.
The best he could do was tighten his belt and put away the tiny amount of money he could save.
At that rate, after saving for roughly forty years, he might be able to afford a small house.
…It was truly a bleak reality.
A cycle of poverty that he could not escape.
That had been Kangwoo’s life before awakening.
“Haha.”
In the past, thinking about such a reality would make him depressed.
But things were different now.
For the first time, he could genuinely smile with happiness.
From today onward, instead of struggling just to survive in the cold reality of life—
He could afford to live leisurely and pursue his own happiness.
“Then…”
Kangwoo smiled happily and turned his head.
What he was looking at was the food sitting on the table.
“Let’s eat the ramen first and think about it.”
It was the ramen he had been cooking before being forcibly transported to the 100th floor of the Tower.
He had been so frustrated that he hadn’t even gotten to eat a single bite.
He had tried to somehow recreate it in the Demon King’s Castle.
But perhaps because it had been created by people with master’s and doctoral degrees putting their heads together—
Even the Level 900 chefs on the 100th floor couldn’t make anything remotely similar.
“Phew. Phew.”
He carefully picked up some noodles.
Then he cautiously blew on them to cool them down before putting them straight into his mouth.
“…!”
The food he had eaten on the 100th floor had all been made to suit the tastes of demons.
Compared to those damn foods, this ramen had an incomparably rich and savory flavor!
“Wahaha!”
Kangwoo exclaimed loudly in delight as he slurped down the broth.
It was extremely hot, but Kangwoo’s Level 999 tongue was sturdy.
“Hahahaha!”
Coolness and heat.
And the spicy richness of the broth.
All of it danced across his tongue.
Laughing loudly, he devoured the ramen in an instant.
Kangwoo was happy.
Even though it was something so simple.
But this was only the beginning.
He could experience even greater happiness.
And what he needed for that happiness was clear.
“Let’s sell the items.”
Money.
That was what Kangwoo needed now.
If he wanted to, he could sweep up all the money in the world.
But Kangwoo didn’t want to go that far.
“First… let’s sell something appropriate.”
The strongest Hunters in South Korea were currently attempting to conquer the 32nd floor of the Tower.
A Tower consisting of a total of 100 floors.
And Floor 32 was still relatively early in the Tower.
Naturally, their average level was only around 250.
Even the average level of their equipment was around 200.
Most of their equipment was Epic or Unique grade.
Some of them did possess Legendary skills.
But their skill levels were still quite low.
The item those Hunters needed.
An item Kangwoo wouldn’t even bother using himself was—
[Lv 237 Faded Holy Sword]
“That’s about right.”
The item was defective right from its name.
But the standard for that defect was Kangwoo, who was Level 999.
To Hunters with an average level of 250, it would be the best weapon they could possibly obtain.
“…Should I sell some armor too?”
After thinking for a moment, Kangwoo shook his head.
Honestly, even the [Faded Holy Sword] was already overwhelmingly powerful by current standards.
If he sold armor of a similar level on top of that…
“They’d clear Floor 37 without much trouble.”
That couldn’t happen.
Kangwoo had completely emptied the warehouse of the Demon King’s Castle.
He intended to sell everything.
He needed to control the balance appropriately if he wanted to sell it all.
And it wasn’t just equipment.
There were all kinds of elixirs and consumables with special effects.
There were even secret manuals that could teach countless skills.
He couldn’t release everything at once.
He wasn’t going to ruin his future just because he was blinded by immediate profits.
“Alright. Let’s enter YongsaNet.”
YongsaNet, the Awakener-exclusive community operated by the system.
Any awakened person who had completed the tutorial could use it regardless of where they were.
[YongsaNet has been accessed.]
“…Phew.”
Kangwoo had awakened as a Demon King rather than a Hero.
He had been worried that he might not be able to access it.
Fortunately, he could.
He quickly entered the auction house.
Phrases such as complete security, anonymous transactions, and safe trading guaranteed flashed across the screen.
Then countless items appeared.
“This is 5,000? This one is 100 million? Why is this one 300 million?”
Kangwoo stared blankly at the listings and muttered.
He wondered if he was seeing them incorrectly.
Honestly, in Kangwoo’s eyes, all of these were items he wouldn’t use even if they were given to him for free.
Yet those very items were selling for tens of millions of won, easily surpassing 100 million.
He blinked several times as he checked the effects and performance of the [Faded Holy Sword] in his inventory.
Then he compared them with the effects and performance of the items listed in the auction house.
“…….”
For a moment, he considered selling an item with worse performance.
But then he remembered that South Korea had been unable to clear Floor 32 for a long time, causing dimensional rifts to appear in various places.
The [Faded Holy Sword] would probably be necessary for them to clear it without too much difficulty.
“Alright. Let’s sell it.”
Having made up his mind, Kangwoo listed the item on the auction house.
The starting price was a reasonable 100 million won.
If he set it too low, no one would pay attention to it.
He set the auction duration to a reasonable twelve hours.
That was to prevent competition from becoming too intense and driving the price too high.
He planned to list more good items in the future.
Wouldn’t he need money to buy those as well?
“I wonder how much it’ll sell for.”
Kangwoo muttered with a small smile.
Hunter Management Bureau Headquarters.
The situation room there was in complete chaos.
“Wh-what?!”
Suddenly, red warning lights began flashing.
Warning messages appeared across numerous monitors.
WEE-OOO! WEE-OOO!
An alarm blared throughout the room.
Even someone unfamiliar with the situation could tell that something serious had happened.
Team leader Seo Mincheol, who had been on duty, was dumbfounded.
He had worked in the Management Bureau’s situation room for nearly ten years.
He had practically gotten the job immediately after the Great Cataclysm.
Yet in all those years of service, he had never seen anything like this.
The veteran Seo Mincheol nearly lost his composure.
“What the hell is going on?!”
But his years of experience had not been wasted.
He quickly regained his composure and shouted.
Thanks to that, the employees who had been panicking also pulled themselves together.
They hurriedly began determining what had happened.
Some time passed.
The frantic sirens finally stopped.
The red warning lights also fell silent.
“We found it, Team Leader!”
One of the employees shouted.
But his expression was not good.
It was extremely serious.
The reason soon became clear.
“An S-rank rift…?”
After the Great Cataclysm—
Hunters and monsters were divided into ranks from F to S.
The highest-ranking Hunters currently were barely reaching B-rank.
The monsters on Floor 32 were also around B-rank.
The monsters that appeared through dimensional rifts were usually around F to C-rank.
But suddenly, an S-rank?
S-rank was a level that no Hunter had achieved yet.
People even questioned whether the standard had been set too high.
The criteria had actually been established very conservatively.
It was generally believed that it would take at least another ten years before anyone could reach S-rank.
And yet, an S-rank had appeared.
Seo Mincheol’s head began to ache.
Even if we brought in the entire vanguard team, they wouldn’t be enough to deal with an S-rank…
How on earth was he supposed to handle this situation?
He suppressed the throbbing in his head and thought.
Then—
“T-Team Leader. The rift has disappeared.”
“…What?”
Something even more absurd had happened.
There was only one way to make a dimensional rift disappear.
Kill every monster that emerged from it.
But the rift had disappeared on its own?
Seo Mincheol stared at the employee in disbelief.
“What is the exact location?”
“…The equipment couldn’t properly detect it.”
“Then what was the detection range?”
“A… radius of 30 kilometers.”
A radius of 30 kilometers.
Just how powerful had the wave been?
It was enough to drive anyone insane.
An S-rank rift that had disappeared on its own.
What on earth had emerged from it?
Could it simply have been a malfunction in the equipment?
Or was an actual S-rank monster roaming around the city?
Everything had become a mystery.
The more serious the situation, the more important it was to remain calm.
Seo Mincheol took a deep breath and gave his orders.
“…First, follow the manual. There are no S-rank Hunters yet, so gather the B-rank Hunters and contact the vanguard team. If this isn’t a machine malfunction, then this is an even more serious problem than the Floor 32 operation. Bring them back immediately.”
“Yes! Understood!”
“And don’t evacuate civilians within the detection range. An S-rank… isn’t something people can survive simply by evacuating. Deploy Hunters so they can handle the aftermath if something happens. Move!”
“Yes! Understood!”
“The most important thing is the vanguard team that will deal with the rift monster! Make sure they can arrive as quickly as possible!”
“Yes!”
They were the most textbook orders possible.
Seo Mincheol rubbed his dry face with his palm while waiting for reports from the employees.
But one of them returned far too quickly.
“U-Um, Team Leader.”
“What? Did you contact the vanguard team already? That fast?”
“Th-they… yes. They said they failed to clear Floor 32.”
“…Ah.”
It was news almost as devastating as the appearance of an S-rank rift.
In fact, this was the reason the rifts were appearing in the first place.
If the highest cleared floor was not updated for more than six months—
A rift would immediately appear and generate monsters.
South Korea had now failed to clear Floor 32 for an entire year.
As a result, dimensional rifts were appearing almost every day.
If things continued like this, South Korea’s future would become increasingly bleak.
Do we have to hope for a miracle?
Seo Mincheol thought with a grim expression.
“…What? An S-rank rift?”
“Yes, Hunter Lee Jiwoo. It’s a message from the situation room.”
“S-rank… S-rank?”
Lee Jiwoo muttered blankly.
The fact that she had been stuck on Floor 32 for an entire year.
And the fact that she had failed again this time.
That alone was enough to make her despair.
But now what?
An S-rank rift had appeared?
And she, a member of the vanguard team, was only B-rank?
“H-ha… haha.”
She laughed weakly.
That laughter contained countless emotions.
Anger, sadness, depression, and self-loathing.
Among them, the strongest was self-loathing.
Because of me… because I couldn’t clear Floor 32…
In truth, Lee Jiwoo had no reason to blame herself.
But she had an exceptionally kind nature.
And after awakening with tremendous potential, she had developed a strong sense of duty.
No one had ever placed that burden on Lee Jiwoo.
But she had willingly placed it upon her own shoulders and continued to work hard.
People are going to die again because of me…
She clenched her fists and bit her lip.
If only she had been just a little stronger.
She had felt it painfully every time she fought the Floor 32 boss.
If only I could deal enough damage…
Lee Jiwoo was too weak.
Objectively speaking, she was an extremely powerful Hunter.
But she was nowhere near strong enough to defeat the Floor 32 boss.
One of the reasons was—
[Lv 178 Dark Crimson Blood Sword]
Equipment whose performance was far too poor for her level and the floor she was challenging.
Because of the Floor 32 boss’s characteristics, she, as a melee swordswoman, needed to play a major role.
But what could she do?
High-performance equipment was incredibly rare.
Weapons were especially rare.
And there were countless types of weapons.
Swords, bows, gauntlets, maces, and so on…
Obtaining the exact equipment she needed would take far too long.
That was why she had endlessly honed her skills.
But fundamentally, her weak attack power kept holding her back.
Every time.
During every single attempt.
She was in a situation where she had to rely on luck rather than skill.
That was why Lee Jiwoo prayed every day.
Please, let me obtain a good piece of equipment.
But there was no way that prayer could—
Bzzzt!
Suddenly, her phone vibrated.
Wondering who it was, she saw that it was one of her fellow vanguard members.
She answered the call.
“Unni! The auction house! Hurry! Go look at the auction house!”
Her colleague’s urgent voice made Lee Jiwoo feel rushed as well.
With a Could it be? Could it really be? thought running through her mind, she logged into YongsaNet.
[Lv 237 Faded Holy Sword]
After an entire year—
She had finally found the weapon that was perfectly suited for her.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
