Chapter: 02
Hunter Management Agency
Inside the presidential office shown on the screen, the reporters’ hands were busy.
The sound of laptop keyboards filled the briefing room.
[South Korea is currently facing a national emergency due to the absence of top-tier Hunters.]
“An emergency…!”
“No way.”
But that “no way” turned out to be true.
A calm yet firm voice flowed from the President’s mouth.
[Until the situation stabilizes, we will temporarily declare a state of national emergency and establish an emergency organization in accordance with the Emergency Preparedness Resource Management Act.]
“Ah, right! We had that!”
“It really is an emergency.”
Perhaps because everyone gathered in the auditorium was a public official, the general atmosphere was one of agreement with the President’s statement.
[We will establish the Hunter Management Agency under the Ministry of National Defense. After a trial period, it will eventually be promoted to an official government agency through the proper administrative procedures.]
“We did need something like that.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised it’s only being created now.”
The President continued speaking in a somewhat brighter voice, lightening the atmosphere.
[The Hunter Management Agency will grow into the representative Hunter management organization of the Republic of Korea. Accordingly, the Hunter Management Agency intends to recruit talented individuals from various fields.]
“That’s about Officer Lee.”
The team leader sitting beside me gave my arm a light tap, smiling proudly.
[Administration, taxation, science, research, industry, combat… It does not matter what field you specialize in. However, for the time being, recruitment will be limited to Awakened individuals, so we ask for your understanding.]
“That’s a shame!”
“I really want to do something, anything.”
“Officer Lee, you must be happy.”
Without meaning to, I became the object of envy among the employees in the auditorium.
[The purpose behind establishing the Hunter Management Agency is as follows.]
After pausing briefly, the President spoke again in a serious voice.
[We will strengthen Korea’s self-reliance and build a nation that does not depend on foreign powers. We will also protect the lives and safety of our citizens and prevent the collapse of Towers.]
People reacted to the words “collapse of Towers.”
Everyone had their own trauma because of it.
The first Tower in South Korea.
It appeared on an uninhabited island near Baengnyeong Island.
On an island untouched by humans, the Tower was used as a nesting ground by birds.
A year passed like that.
No one paid any attention to the one-story-high Tower that had already become a paradise for birds.
It wasn’t particularly noticeable, either.
After all, a Tower’s number of floors did not increase until someone attempted to conquer it.
Then, at some point…
The Tower turned red.
The Tower swelled as though it were about to burst, and then it collapsed.
At the same time, a Gate exploded open.
Distance was no obstacle to the monsters pouring out of the Gate.
They occupied Ganghwa Island in an instant.
Less than an hour later, every resident of Ganghwa Island had been slaughtered.
The monsters continued pushing toward the west coast, and the government barely managed to stop them by mobilizing Hunters from across the country.
After that, Hunters began periodically conquering not only Dungeons but Towers as well.
[With the fifteenth anniversary of the Ganghwa Island disaster approaching in just two weeks, the government feels a greater sense of responsibility than ever. When a nation fails to function as a nation, such a tragedy can happen again at any time.]
“Ah… Has it really been that long already?”
“That’s depressing.”
“Haah, seriously, what are we supposed to do?”
“They’re creating a new Hunter Management Agency, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
“I hope it works out.”
[The government fully understands the anxiety and unrest you, our citizens, are experiencing after losing the Hunters who stood on the front lines. However, my beloved citizens, the state still exists as your shield. We will never retreat, regardless of the circumstances.]
A brief silence followed before the President continued.
[As part of that effort, the government promises that we will provide unwavering support to the Hunter Management Agency, which will stand at the forefront of our nation from now on.]
I could feel eyes turning toward me from all over the room.
[Because managing power requires even greater power.]
Those were the President’s final words.
“Officer Lee, you’ve got a bright future ahead of you now.”
“I’m jealous!”
“I want to Awaken toooo!”
The team leader added his own comment.
“We’re probably not going to see much of you from now on. Your position transfer might come through as early as tomorrow.”
“No way it could happen that quickly.”
But that “no way” actually happened.
The speed of this personnel transfer was unprecedented in the civil service.
It meant that the President was pushing this matter extremely hard.
“Hello. I’m Lee Jihoo.”
My first day reporting to the Hunter Management Agency.
There were only two people in the entire ten-story building, which didn’t even have a sign yet.
A man who looked to be in his early forties asked me a question.
“What grade?”
“Grade 7.”
“Oh, you’re Grade 5 starting today.”
It was a shocking promotion.
But somehow, I felt bewildered.
‘Is this job tougher than I thought?’
Things were already looking unusual from the beginning.
I had vaguely assumed that the main job here would involve handling administrative paperwork related to Hunters.
“Basically, yes. But how about we see what you’re capable of?”
“What I’m capable of…?”
“Report to a Tower tomorrow.”
As he said that, the man handed me a watch.
It was a black smartwatch with the President’s signature engraved on the part that touched the wrist.
“It’ll automatically record the floors you clear, so wear this.”
“……”
“And this.”
“This is…?”
The man handed me a black stone engraved with an unfamiliar pattern.
“A Tower Escape Ticket. It costs about 200 million won… Anyway, if things look like they’re going south, use it and get out immediately. You can use it anywhere in the Tower except the highest floor.”
It seemed like a safety precaution.
But ultimately, I still had to conquer Towers?
If so, there wasn’t much difference between me and a Hunter.
“By the way, what’s your class?”
“…Necromancer.”
That’s right.
I had Awakened as a Necromancer.
That was why ghosts had started becoming visible to me again.
Just like when I was young.
When I was a child, I saw more ghosts than living people.
When I began confusing the living with the dead, my mother moved out of my maternal grandmother’s house with me.
In a way, it was only natural.
The blood of a shaman ran through my veins.
And not just any shaman’s blood.
It was the blood of Kim Hee-kyung, once regarded as the greatest shaman in Korea.
She was my maternal grandmother.
My mother was her only daughter.
My mother had rejected the divine calling and lived her entire life as an ordinary person.
Because of that, her life had never been easy.
The gods tormented her so much that she couldn’t even dream of holding a regular job, forcing her to scrape by doing unstable day labor for her entire life.
That was why, ever since I entered high school, I had always worked part-time jobs.
The money was little, but I did it to help with the household expenses.
My mother spent her entire life suffering like that before eventually passing away.
And the anniversary of her death happened to fall on the day the results of my civil service examination were announced.
“My Jihoo, you’ve worked so hard!”
On our way home after eating out, I saw red flames behind my mother as she happily held my hand.
Then came the sound of sirens and an air-raid warning.
<This is a real emergency! This is a real emergency!>
<A new Gate has appeared near Nakseongdae Station!>
<Access to Nakseongdae Station and the surrounding areas is being restricted!>
<Citizens are requested to evacuate immediately!>
It happened in an instant.
A monster appeared right beside us.
My mother shoved me away with superhuman strength.
And then—
Crack─!
My mother’s arm was torn off like a sheet of paper and sent flying through the air.
Bang! Bang─!
At that moment, bullets fired from somewhere struck the monster, causing it to hesitate for a moment.
I couldn’t let that opportunity go to waste.
I hoisted my mother onto my back and began running like mad.
I don’t know how long I ran like that.
Then I heard the voices of the rescue team inside Nakseongdae Station.
“This way!”
Just when I thought we were finally safe—
“You need to prepare yourself mentally.”
A doctor in the shelter spoke after examining my mother’s condition.
“She’s lost too much blood.”
That was the first time I learned that a person’s complexion could become so pale.
“I… protected you.”
“Mom…”
The smile on her face during the final moment of that difficult life held many meanings.
My mother really had saved my life.
But her final words weren’t referring only to my physical life.
There was a reason my mother had refused to accept the divine calling until the very end.
It was because she had fiercely wanted to prevent me from inheriting the life she had lived.
…And yet, I had thought that meant the bloodline had been diluted.
“A Necromancer. Anyway, Officer Lee.”
In just one day, my title had changed from Junior Officer to Officer.
“From now on, you can call me Director.”
“……”
A hollow wind blew through the empty ten-story building.
The Hunter Management Agency consisted of only two people, yet it already had both a Director and an Officer.
“Yes, understood, Director.”
He looked pleased with the title and folded his arms.
“Oh, and there’s a 200% performance bonus for climbing Towers.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“From the first to the fifth floor, it’s 200% per floor. From the fifth to the tenth, it’s 400%. From the tenth to the fifteenth, it’s 600%… You get the idea by now, right?”
“……!”
My choice had been the right one.
As expected, the early days of anything were when you could reap the greatest benefits. Who knew what would happen once more people joined later?
After all, government salaries had always had a way of stirring up public sentiment.
The optimal time to introduce performance bonuses without provoking complaints about throwing a party with taxpayers’ money was right now.
“Climb the Tower, Officer Lee.”
The Director looked quite serious.
And I felt the same way.
“Understood. I’ll prove myself through my results.”
As I put on the smartwatch bearing the President’s signature, I reminded myself once again of my duty as a civil servant.
‘Protect the lives and safety of the citizens.’
That was why I would climb the Tower.
The one who welcomed this news most enthusiastically was the ghost in my house.
[Let’s leave right now!]
“Tomorrow.”
[Why? Why!!!]
Why?
Because I had already finished work for today.
I’d enter the Tower tomorrow, exactly at my regular reporting time.
[Either way, you made the right decision!]
The ghost looked several times happier than I was now that he didn’t have to worry about being kicked out of the house.
[Let’s do our best from now on!]
“Sure.”
Since I’d decided to climb the Tower anyway, I had no intention of refusing the help of a ghost who had once been ranked number one among Hunters.
More importantly, I was a Necromancer.
Ah, but before that.
“Are you perhaps a bound spirit?”
[What’s that?]
“I mean, are you stuck here and unable to go anywhere else?”
[…??]
His face was completely innocent.
Apparently, he didn’t know either.
“We’ll find out tomorrow. If you’re a bound spirit…”
[Then what happens?]
“I’ll send you somewhere nice. Through exorcism.”
The corner-of-the-room ghost looked somewhat different after watching the video in the auditorium, but if he couldn’t even enter the Tower, then things would be very different.
His entire reason for existing would disappear.
And naturally, for a ghost, going to the afterlife to prepare for the next life was a better option than wandering around this world.
That was the small repayment I could give Cha Junhyuk for protecting us all this time.
It was only right that I repay his kindness.
If a soul wandered around the living world for no particular reason, there was always the possibility that a grim reaper would grab it by the collar and drag it away.
[What?!]
The ghost looked genuinely shocked.
Perhaps he was frightened, because he stuck himself to the ceiling and had no intention of coming down.
[A bound spirit? Exorcism? What’s that? Is it some kind of ritual? Actually, I’m kind of bad at occult stuff and Chinese characters. Haha!]
“……”
Ignorance was a sin, as they say.
The pure-brained corner-of-the-room ghost, who didn’t even realize it himself, was going to cross the boundary between life and death tomorrow.
There were currently three Towers in Korea.
One in Gangwon Province, one on Jeju Island, and one in Gwanak-gu, Seoul.
No one knew when or where a Tower would appear.
As a result, the first person to discover one was given various benefits.
First of all, discovering a Tower guaranteed Awakening.
There were no exceptions to this anywhere in the world.
The next benefit was a buff granted when entering the Tower one had discovered.
It was a buff exclusive to the first discoverer and lasted for one week.
Those were the benefits provided by the System.
Each country also separately provided enormous rewards comparable to lottery winnings, as well as pensions.
After all, if a Tower collapsed, a national disaster would follow.
This even led to the creation of a profession dedicated to checking satellite maps of the entire world every single day.
Once discovered, a Tower was registered in the System.
Afterward, anyone could freely enter the Tower from anywhere in the country through their status window.
As long as they were Hunters belonging to that country.
The same applied even when they were overseas.
Dungeons, however, were different from Towers.
To enter a Dungeon, Hunters had to physically travel all the way to its entrance.
Anyway, now that I had Awakened, I could use the System too.
- Hwansungul Tower (40 floors, 91 days 05:31:05)
- Gwanaksan Tower (36 floors, 101 days 20:54:17)
- Seopjikoji Tower (26 floors, 153 days 07:22:34)
“Hwansungul, Gwanaksan, Seopjikoji.”
I hesitated for a moment as I looked at the choices.
[Go to Gwanaksan!]
“Why?”
[It’s close.]
“……”
In any case, entering a Tower was as simple as selecting it through the status window.
So did distance really matter?
“But why?”
[There’s a back route when you come out.]
“A back route?”
That was the first I’d heard of it.
But when I thought about it, it made sense.
If you could enter and exit only through the System window, then there would be no reason for the Tower to physically exist in the first place.
“What about when entering? Does it give you some kind of buff?”
[Nothing like that. But when you come out…]
“When you come out?”
[The rewards are different!]
Then that changed things.
[If you pass through the back route, you come out directly outside the Gwanaksan Tower.]
So I would be transported outside in the same state I was in?
Preparing for my return, I grabbed my wallet, put on my shoes at the entrance, and spoke.
“Select Gwanaksan Tower.”
<Affiliated nation: Korea.
You are the first registered player.
Please enter a nickname.>
A keyboard-like keypad appeared in the System window.
I’d already discussed this with the Director yesterday.
“You need a nickname to climb the Tower. Something like a codename.”
“I see.”
“Is there anything you’d like?”
If that was the case, there was something that seemed pretty fitting.
“How about Jack Reach?”
It was the codename of the protagonist in a spy movie I’d watched when I was young.
“Perfect!”
And so, the nickname Jack Reach was decided.
The nickname Jack Reach was already taken, so I added an underscore and 07 at the end.
Then another notification appeared.
<Would you like to bind Cha Junhyuk as your affiliated spirit?>
“Bind him.”
Pop!
My vision changed in an instant.
The place that appeared moments later was a forest.
But immediately after entering, I heard someone shouting in delight.
“This air! This sunlight! This sensation!”
A man was jumping around excitedly, touching various parts of his body.
He was a tall man who looked to be in his early thirties.
But there was something strangely familiar about his face.
When he saw me, he smiled brightly and spread his arms wide.
“Thank you!”
But I wasn’t happy in the slightest.
I took several steps back as he approached me.
“Who are you?”
“Huh? You don’t recognize me? It’s me!”
…No way.
“The corner-of-the-room ghost?”
“What?? Corner-of-the-room? Anyway, the ghost who’s been living with you. It’s me!”
Looking closely, his appearance did seem to overlap with the hazy image I’d seen at home.
His face made it certain.
“No way… Cha Junhyuk?”
“That’s right!!!”
Cha Junhyuk—the ghost—began jumping around excitedly again.
But I couldn’t understand what was happening at all.
Something that should have been physically impossible had occurred.
“Why did you become human?”
The System had clearly referred to him as an affiliated spirit earlier.
“Hmm… I don’t know either?”
What a thoroughly irresponsible and insincere answer.
The ghost scratched his head vigorously before speaking.
“If I had to find a reason… I just heard a voice right after I died.”
“A voice?”
“Yeah. It told me to go to the Tower. Said it wasn’t my time yet.”
He nodded repeatedly.
“Oh! It also said this!”
“Said what?”
“‘I’ll send you somewhere safe!’”
Somewhere safe?
“Something like, ‘Where the hand of the dead cannot reach you.’”
The dead?
Did he mean a grim reaper?
Cha Junhyuk fell into deep thought.
“And then my soul…”
“What happened to it?”
“Whoosh!”
Whoosh?
The corner-of-the-room ghost imitated a pitcher throwing a ball with all his strength.
“Someone grabbed it like this and threw it!”
“Your soul?”
“Yeah. My soul! And when I came to…”
I could guess what happened next.
“It was my house.”
“That’s right! Exactly!”
The ghost clapped his hands together as if he’d just given the correct answer.
“The Tower! It’s been so long~!”
He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms.
“Wait a moment.”
Five goblins had appeared before him.
Cha Junhyuk looked at them and grinned.
“Three seconds. That’s all it’ll take.”
