TNHAS 03

Chapter: 03

Wish

Flash─!

A powerful light burst from the sword sheath at Cha Junhyuk’s waist.

And what appeared before my eyes were five goblins sprawled on the ground, their bodies sliced apart.

At the same time, status window notifications began popping up one after another.

<Rewards will be distributed.

Basic Reward: 100 F-rank mana stones, Basic Inventory (10 slots), 3 Earth Essences.

First S-rank Clear Reward: 1 Time Delay Ticket, 10-Slot Inventory Expansion Ticket, 3 Random Box Pieces>

<As a special reward for achieving the first S-rank clear, a buff will be applied to Gwanaksan Tower for one week.

Attack Power +5%, Defense +5%>

“Did the exit alarm pop up?”

Cha Junhyuk asked as he sheathed his sword.

“Yeah.”

“Cancel it.”

When I did as he said, the remaining time appeared on the status window.

“Just trust me and follow me!”

Cha Junhyuk strode toward the forest where the goblins had appeared. He even hummed a tune, apparently in a good mood.

Inside the forest, I could see five crudely constructed huts.

They seemed to be the goblins’ homes.

Following the wooden palisade around to the back of the huts, we found a shabby door made by tying logs together.

“Here.”

Outside the door was simply the forest.

But when we passed through the door…

<You have discovered the hidden entrance to Floor 1 of Gwanaksan Tower.

Rewards will be recalculated according to causality.>

Taratatatak─!

The sound of a bill-counting machine, the kind you would hear at a bank, rang out.

<Reward recalculation complete.

110 F-rank mana stones, Basic Inventory (11 slots), 1 Time Delay Ticket, 11-Slot Inventory Expansion Ticket, 4 Earth Essences, 4 Random Box Pieces>

“Did the rewards pop up? See? I told you I discovered this route, didn’t I? Even now, I bet only a few top-ranked Hunters know about the back route.”

The corner-of-the-room ghost winked proudly.

With a flash of light, our bodies were transported outside the Tower.

We emerged at the entrance to a hiking trail on Gwanaksan Mountain.

[It was only for a moment, but that felt great!]

Cha Junhyuk, who had become a ghost again, smacked his lips.

He could have savored the feeling of being human inside the Tower a little longer, but it was surprising that he hadn’t wasted any time and had immediately finished the hunt.

“You got the fastest time for Floor 1.”

[Of course! I knew it. I told you I’m hundreds of times stronger now than I was before!]

“Good job.”

[I can do it because I’m me! Because I’m me!]

The corner-of-the-room ghost puffed out his chest before cautiously asking.

[We’re coming back to the Tower, right?]

“Of course.”

I had thought I would have to struggle through the Tower for quite some time, but I had finished the clear much more easily than expected.

A perfect proxy clear.

If clearing the Tower could be done like this, there was no reason I couldn’t climb it every day.

[Thank you! Thank you. You made the right decision! It’s definitely good for you too, you know?]

Good for me too?

“Why?”

The ghost looked left and right before lowering his voice.

As if that wasn’t enough, he came closer to my ear and whispered.

[Shh! This is a secret, but…!]

“Back off.”

[No! Why!!]

Because he was cold.

This was why people unconsciously got goosebumps whenever they sensed the presence of a ghost.

When a ghost came into contact with a living creature, it unconsciously stole some of that creature’s vitality.

It happened because of the difference in the density of vital energy, something similar to convection—the same basic phenomenon that caused wind to blow.

Besides, I was the only person who could understand the ghost’s words from this distance anyway.

There were ghosts on that road, beside the bakery building, and even at the crosswalk right next to us, but no one could recognize them.

Grumbling, Cha Junhyuk still moved one step away from me.

[Listen carefully, house owner.]

“Okay.”

[The Tower grants wishes.]

Those completely unexpected words suddenly came out of the ghost’s mouth.

But his expression remained serious.

He didn’t seem to be lying.

“A wish?”

[That’s what the System said after I cleared Floor 39. Other countries probably know about it too, but they seem to be keeping quiet.]

“I suppose so.”

If information like this leaked to the outside world while things were still maintaining some semblance of order, it could cause tremendous chaos.

[Only the United States has cleared 50 floors and China has cleared 43 floors so far, right? Anyway, it said that if I cleared Floor 40, it would give me a Q&A and detailed hints….]

“You died?”

[Exactly! Because of those Association bastards!]

“The Association? Then your death was…”

[I was planning to go after I was fully prepared from the beginning. It was an important floor. But the Association threatened me and insisted that I had to go alone that day. I mean, does it make sense to go to the highest floor, a boss floor, without even bringing a party? I thought they were talking complete nonsense. It was so ridiculous that I just ignored them at first.]

“But then?”

[They had rented an item. From China. So I thought I could do it this time.]

China?

“What kind of item?”

[The Qin Shi Huang Terracotta Warrior. A special S-rank solo item that can only be used once a week. And those Association bastards also bought information about Floor 40 and told me about it.]

“From China? What information?”

[Information about Floor 40, specifically the boss on that floor. There’s a floor boss every ten floors in the Tower. Those guys are pretty troublesome, but I was told that the Floor 40 boss had the Fire attribute. The bosses can differ from country to country, but the general strategy for dealing with them is usually similar.]

A Fire attribute and a Qin Shi Huang Terracotta Warrior?

“Was it a defensive item?”

[Exactly! When the wyvern breathes fire, you enlarge the Terracotta Warrior and hide inside it. It’s a legendary-grade item, so it’s pretty famous.]

“Then why did you die?”

[It was a fake.]

“……”

Perhaps remembering that moment, Cha Junhyuk’s face twisted violently.

[Those Association bastards! If I ever see them, I’ll kill them all!!! GRAAAH!!!]

As Cha Junhyuk became enraged, frost suddenly began falling around us.

“Ah! It’s cold!”

“What the hell? Why is there suddenly frost?”

When a ghost harbored a grudge, causing localized weather disturbances like this was entirely possible.

Especially when it was a grudge strong enough to have caused his own death.

After about three seconds, the frost that had been pouring down like crazy abruptly stopped as though nothing had happened.

Naturally.

He was still a newly dead ghost.

This was the limit of the influence he could exert on the physical world.

[The information about Floors 10 and 20 was accurate, so I trusted them, but they stabbed me in the back like this!!!]

It seemed that the Association had actually built up some degree of trust with Cha Junhyuk until then.

[I’ll get my revenge! I’ll catch every last one of those Association bastards and tear them apart!!!]

But there was no point in vowing revenge.

As a ghost, there was nothing Cha Junhyuk could do.

Unless several hundred years passed like this.

For now, the most he could do was enter someone’s dreams and scare them a little.

But if a grim reaper happened to catch him while doing that, he would immediately have a collar put around his neck and be dragged away.

That was something I had heard from my maternal grandmother.

She had said that both humans and ghosts needed to keep their hearts pure.

[Anyway, that’s what the Tower said. If you climb all the way to Floor 100, it will grant you anything a human can possibly imagine. That’s the condition the Tower offered! It even said you don’t have to be human. As long as you clear it, that’s enough! I heard it clearly while I was dying!]

It would grant the wishes of the dead too?

There was something almost omnipotent about the Tower.

And there was one more thing.

“Anything a human can possibly imagine….”

This was something I needed to investigate further.

If it was really true…

Then it would become an important reason for me to climb the Tower from now on.

“Got it.”

[See? I told you that you made the right decision, house owner! The Tower never lies.]

With a broad smile, Cha Junhyuk thumped his chest.

His face looked much brighter than it had yesterday.

The newly appointed Director of the Hunter Management Agency, ‘Kim Cheolho.’

Kim Cheolho, who had remained at Grade 5 for fifteen years due to a backlog in promotions, had received an unprecedented promotion this year.

‘Life really is all about one big break!’

At this rate, even becoming a Minister wasn’t a dream he could never achieve.

His fellow Grade 5 colleagues hated the idea of becoming a Minister, saying they would quickly get their heads chopped off once they became one, but Kim Cheolho’s appetite for power was different.

Before retiring, no matter what happened, he would become a Minister at least once.

That was Kim Cheolho’s dream.

But a Minister was an appointed position.

It was a position determined according to the President’s orders.

In other words, it was a position where having the right connections was crucial.

Connections with powerful figures were important as well.

But instead of becoming an aide to a member of the National Assembly, Kim Cheolho had passed the notoriously difficult higher civil service examination and entered the government as a Grade 5 working-level official.

The reason was simple.

‘A Minister who knows how to work.’

That was the ideal Minister Kim Cheolho dreamed of becoming.

To achieve that, he first needed to understand actual administrative work properly.

Unexpectedly, he was a principled civil servant with a strong sense of duty.

There were generally two types of civil servants.

One type wanted a stable job.

The other worked out of a sense of duty toward public service.

Kim Cheolho belonged to the latter.

And that Kim Cheolho was currently sweating profusely as he ate pork soup with rice.

Pork soup with rice was, after all, one of the quintessential foods of ordinary people.

The reason he was here in the middle of summer was to gauge public sentiment at a local soup restaurant.

‘Maybe I should’ve just eaten naengmyeon.’

Sweating heavily, Kim Cheolho briefly regretted his decision.

[…Because managing power requires even greater power.]

The TV at the soup restaurant was broadcasting news about the President’s address.

The Director nodded.

It was true no matter how many times he heard it.

[With the Hunter Management Agency newly established under the strong determination of the President, the first Director will be…]

As the announcer spoke, his own face briefly appeared on the TV.

Reporters eagerly thrusting microphones toward him.

And in front of them, he had boldly forged his way forward.

Kim Cheolho hunched his body and brought his face even closer to the steaming bowl.

He was doing so in case someone recognized him.

He shouldn’t disturb the citizens’ peaceful mealtime.

“The Hunter Management Agency?”

“Didn’t we have one until now?”

“They said it was newly established.”

“But that Director guy…”

‘Could they have recognized me already!’

Kim Cheolho suddenly felt like a celebrity.

Only now did he understand why celebrities were so careful about their movements.

Even without consciously paying attention, he could feel people stealing glances at him.

Extremely tense, he mechanically moved his arm and spooned soup into his mouth.

“Why? Who’s the Director?”

“Why are you asking? Do you even know who he is?”

“Of course he’s a parachute appointment.”

‘……A parachute appointment?’

Tsk.

People tended to talk carelessly when they didn’t know the inside story.

That was when—

The smartwatch on his wrist vibrated.

‘What is it?’

Kim Cheolho, who had been emptying the remaining chive salad into his pork soup, casually glanced at his smartwatch.

‘Huh?’

At the same time, a status window appeared.

<You have achieved an S-rank clear of Floor 1 of Gwanaksan Tower.

The clear was achieved by Player Jack Reach_07.

As a special reward for achieving the first S-rank clear, a buff will be applied to Gwanaksan Tower for one week.

Attack Power +5%, Defense +5%.>

“What?!!!!”

Bang─!

Kim Cheolho, the Director of the Hunter Management Agency, slammed his hand down on the restaurant table and stood up with great force.

Thanks to that, the sturdy table split dramatically in half.

“Ah….”

After repeatedly bowing his head to the startled citizens, the Director went to the restaurant counter, took out one of the business cards he had received by express delivery that morning, and handed it over together with ten 50,000-won bills.

“If there are any costs beyond this, please bill them to this address.”

“Yes, yes!”

The owner, who recognized at a glance that he was an Awakened, nodded vigorously.

“I’m terribly sorry.”

Kim Cheolho bowed his head once more before leaving the soup restaurant.

However, the more he walked, the straighter his back became.

“Ha! This guy, really.”

From the very first time they met, there had been something unusual about him.

That righteous yet courageous look in his eyes somehow reminded Kim Cheolho of himself in his younger days.

Even when he was standing still, those eyes radiated the uprightness unique to a civil servant who worked with a sense of duty.

His name was Officer Lee Jihoo.

‘Even after Awakening as a Hunter, he chose to remain in public service….’

There were many ways in which he resembled Kim Cheolho.

“Ha, really. That guy, really.”

Although he sighed with his mouth, the corners of Kim Cheolho’s lips kept rising higher.

Trill─!

Then an emergency call came through his smartwatch.

‘Mugunghwa One!’

Kim Cheolho remembered the warning he had received when the Minister of National Defense handed him the smartwatch.

If a call came in under Mugunghwa One, answer immediately before the second ring.

“Yes! I’m answering!”

[Director Kim Cheolho.]

A solemn voice came through the smartwatch.

Sensing that something serious was happening, Kim Cheolho immediately put the wireless earbud connected to his smartwatch into his ear.

“Could it be….”

[Yes. It’s me.]

A voice he recognized.

It was the very same voice he had heard just moments ago.

The person who had been delivering the address on the TV news.

The voice of Lee Youngsoo, the current President of the Republic of Korea and the commander-in-chief of the nation’s armed forces, came through the phone.

“Y-Your Excellency!”