Chapter 1 · 10 min
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
The rent is insane.
Watching my paycheck brush past my bank account only to be withdrawn again made me think exactly that.
A dry laugh escaped me.
‘Are you a ghost?’
My paycheck’s grand escape act, slipping out of my account with lightning-fast footwork...
It was all because of the brutal rent.
And that wasn’t all.
Once utilities, phone bills, heating, and electricity were deducted too?
“What? I’m broke on payday?”
Anyway, that was the conclusion.
The rent is insane.
The speed at which it keeps rising is downright terrifying.
Actually, it isn’t just rent.
Jeonse has gone insane too.
“Huh. Maybe I’m the one who’s gone insane?”
On my way home from work, I glanced at the listings posted outside a neighborhood real estate office and nearly jumped.
Had I read the number wrong?
There was an extra zero tacked onto the price range I’d expected.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with my eyes.
This was simply the vicious reality of Seoul housing prices.
“Ohoho. Young man, here to look at houses? Want me to make you some coffee?”
“A-Ah, no.”
Startled by the realtor’s attention, I hurried away.
Sorry.
My bank account’s completely empty.
“What even is this...”
I worked hard this month too, staying late at the company every day. I leave for work at six in the morning and get home at ten at night.
The job itself is one thing, but the commute takes two hours each way. That’s four hours round trip every day!
This is what happens when you go hunting for cheap rent.
A studio near the office would've cost another 500,000 won a month, so I didn’t really have a choice.
I keep scrimping and saving like this because I’m trying to buy a place of my own.
But this.
Is it even possible?
“Ugh. Forget it. Let’s not think about it.”
I buy a buy-one-get-one beer deal at the convenience store and slip the cans into a plastic bag.
Then I trudge up the alley.
“Ha. Did I spend too much? They say you’re supposed to cut down on small expenses...”
Feeling timidly guilty, I did the math. One can of this beer costs 1,500 won, so...
If I save on 500,000 cans of these, I can afford my own home.
I’m going to lose my mind.
After climbing the winding road, I finally reached my studio. I punched in the door code, went inside, and flopped facedown onto the bed. Now this was luxury.
“Whew. Home really is nice.”
First, I cracked open a beer in the most comfortable position possible.
Then I turned on the TV.
A famous celebrity was showing off her house.
[A new rising star of Tower climbing! We’re here at Ms. Kim Byeolbit’s penthouse! It’s every bit as impressive as I’d heard.]
[Oh my. I’m embarrassed because I haven’t really done much with the place!]
[Wow! You could play soccer in here! How big is it?]
[Hoho. Four hundred square meters!]
Four hundred square meters... That’s insane...
Kim Byeolbit gave her pet dog, Poppy, a strip of jerky.
A caption appeared saying each piece cost a whopping 50,000 won.
“I’m drinking 1,500-won buy-one-get-one beer...”
[Woof!]
Stay humble, human.
That was what Poppy on the TV seemed to be telling me.
“Ugh. I admit defeat.”
These days, celebrities flaunting their wealth is all the rage on TV. Paying a subscription fee just to get tortured.
I changed the channel, and this time a documentary about Tower climbing was on.
[Humanity has entered the Age of the Tower. Global economic growth has reached an annual average of fifteen percent.]
The Tower!
It had already been quite some time since towers rose in cities around the world and changed everything.
The towers that appeared across the globe showered humanity with all kinds of good things.
Magic stones. Items. Summoned beasts.
And even superpowers!
Simply climbing the Tower could make you vastly stronger than an ordinary person and even grant you unbelievable abilities.
Tower Climbers became a prestigious profession and objects of admiration.
Back in the old days, the awakening rate was low, but nowadays the number of awakened people is climbing like crazy.
Maybe the Tower’s plan is basically to awaken everyone.
Even so, without talent, they say you can’t even get past the fifth floor.
No.
Forget the fifth floor.
There are plenty of people who get cut off at the first. Of course, I’m just an ordinary person who hasn’t even awakened.
“I’m worse off than Poppy the dog. Couldn’t I at least get one of those supposedly common awakenings?”
At that moment.
As if by magic, I awakened.
======
[Han Jain]
[Level: 1]
[Class: ■■]
======
“Whoa!”
It had just been a casual complaint, but I’d really awakened. After calming my pounding heart, I stared at the pitch-black class field.
[Class: ■■]
“That’s seriously black. Is it roasted seaweed?”
I went online and asked about the [■■] class, and replies poured in almost instantly.
― It shows up as ■■ because your future is pitch-black lol
― Trash build. Delete your character lol
― Bro, you became roasted seaweed.
“...!!!”
While I was despairing, new replies began appearing in real time.
― Did it really say ■■?
― If it’s ■■, there’s still a chance!!!
― Ohhh! The new newbie got ■■?
― Damn, I’m jealous.
― Jealous my ass lol
Within moments, my post had dozens of comments and became a popular thread. The attention was almost overwhelming.
‘...Do Climbers spend all their time on the forums instead of climbing the Tower?’
Anyway, the explanation went like this.
An extremely small number of awakened people get ■■ as their class.
These are people whose class has not yet been determined.
Their class is decided according to their talent and choices.
― If you roll ■■ properly, you’re set for life. Like Blacklight Rogue or Mythic Mage!
Ohhh. Those classes!
Those are the classes of rankers who dominate the whole world!
Now I’m getting excited.
― Lol, brat, don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Ever heard of Poverty Warrior, Mussel Mage, Stonehead Rogue, or Kleptomaniac Paladin?
Ah. I’ve heard of those too!
Aren’t those the classes that always show up in online posts titled <Climber Despair Edition>?
I heard the government even gives subsidies to people who end up with those classes!
So those come from ■■ too.
‘So it’s either heaven or hell.’
Cold sweat broke out all over me, but at the same time, my curiosity surged.
I felt like I wouldn’t be satisfied until I saw what ■■ really was with my own eyes.
“Enter the first floor of the Tower!”
That was the fastest way to check. Before I knew it, I was standing on the Tower’s first floor. An awakened Climber can enter the Tower anytime, anywhere.
Very convenient.
There’s also no need to worry about running into other people inside. The Tower’s interior is individually assigned, so the only people you can meet are your party members.
Basically like an “instance dungeon” in an RPG.
“It’s huge.”
The first floor was barren wasteland in every direction, with enormous insects roaming across it.
The Tower’s logic was simple.
Kill the monsters on each floor, and you clear it.
Then you receive a reward and permission to enter the upper floors.
Naturally, the higher the floor, the greater the rewards, but plenty of Climbers die by recklessly challenging floors beyond their limits.
At least the lower floors are basically tutorials.
On the first floor, all you have to do is beat up some bugs.
I’d heard they were nothing but trash mobs that didn’t even fight back.
“Huh? Why did I bring this?”
I put the extra can of beer from the buy-one-get-one deal into my inventory. But why was my inventory so empty?
“They said you get a basic weapon...?”
I hadn’t even received a starter weapon.
Wriggle, wriggle!
The bugs on the first floor were about the size of dogs, with bulging veins running all over their bodies.
“Gym-bro bugs?”
Looks like they’d done some serious lifting. I worked up my courage and kicked one of them.
Crack!
The bug didn’t even get scratched.
Only the top of my foot hurt.
======
<Lv.1 Tough Bug>
[Health: Wild dog level]
[Defense: Hippopotamus level]
======
My head spun.
How am I supposed to get through that barehanded?!
[First Floor Objective]
[Defeat 20 Tough Bugs.]
Oh boy.
I’d heard plenty of stories about mediocre Climbers getting stuck on the very first floor, but I never imagined I’d be one of them.
“Did I really get a dud awakening too?”
The bleak wasteland perfectly reflected my mood.
Still, it sure is spacious.
I could just give up on climbing and come here to relax once in a while.
“Yeah. Perfect.”
Even I, someone who owns no land whatsoever in Seoul, can gaze over this vast wasteland inside the Tower.
At that moment.
Something the size of a coin glittered from a crack in the wasteland. Thinking it might be a weapon, I quickly picked it up.
It was round, soft, and transparent.
The thing glittering under the light was.
‘A water droplet?’
And not just an ordinary water droplet.
‘It’s alive?’
An actual living water droplet!
[Aqua... Tremble, tremble...
( ´_ﾉ` )
]
For some reason, the little droplet was afraid of me.
It was a water droplet, but it had eyes, a nose, and a mouth, so I could tell what expression it was making.
It looked like a slime from an online game, only as tiny as a coin.
After trembling furiously for a while, the droplet seemed to steel its resolve and began threatening me!
[Aqua... Scary!
( ⚆ ⚆)و✧
]
[Aqua... Hiss! Hissss!]
Well, look at that.
It even hisses.
Of course, it wasn’t threatening in the slightest. The poor thing looked so weak I could only feel sorry for it.
Pop!
Its status window appeared.
=======
<Severely Weakened Water Spirit, Aqua>
[Health: Dust level]
Status: [Dehydration] [Severe Dehydration]
[Extremely Severe Dehydration]
[So Sad!] [Fear] [Disappearing] [Resignation]
This tiny being is a completely destitute spirit that wandered without a home.
Its presence is faint because it is on the verge of disappearing from dehydration.
=======
So the water droplet was a spirit.
And it was dying. No, wait. Its health was <Dust level>, so you could pretty much say it was already dead.
[Aqua... Fading...
]
Apparently exhausted from all the hissing, the spirit went completely limp.
“Huh? Hey. Wake up.”
Calling out to it didn’t work. Shaking it didn’t work. Trying to wake it didn’t work. I decided to save the little guy.
I didn’t even know what a spirit was, but after seeing its pitiful condition in the status window, I couldn’t just walk away.
「This tiny being is a completely destitute spirit that wandered without a home.」
You too?
Even spirits suffer when they don’t have a home.
Damn housing.
“For now, I need to give it some water...”
The surroundings were barren in every direction. If water had been easy to find here in the first place, this thing wouldn’t be dying of dehydration.
[Aqua... Croak...]
Every second counted.
I opened my inventory and took out the extra beer from the buy-one-get-one deal.
“Let’s save the spirit by feeding it beer!”
Even I knew how ridiculous that sounded, but right now, it was the best option I had!
Psssh―!
Beer foam bubbled out. This is water too. It just happens to have six percent alcohol added!
Hydration incoming!
“Whatever. Here goes.”
This wasn’t the time to be picky over hot rice or cold rice, spring water or beer water. The refreshing liquid poured out, and the spirit absorbed the moisture like a sponge.
Sluuuuuuurp
ꉂꉂ (ˆoˆ )
Ohhh.
It’s really going for it.
But why is its face turning red?
[Aqua... Alco-Aqua!
(@ˍ@)
]
“Huh.”
[Aqua... Charge!
ᕦ(@ ͜ʖ@)ᕤ
]
The spirit that had been on the verge of death suddenly burst with energy and charged straight at the bugs!
Boing boing boing!
It ran in the cutest way imaginable.
[Aqua... Confident!
୧(๑•̀ᗝ•́)૭
]
Did it think it could take down the bugs? The spirit leaped high into the air.
[Aqua... Heaven-Shattering Descent Flood.]
The spirit suddenly spoke in a solemn, grave voice.
Ruuumble!
The next instant, all twenty bugs exploded. Aqua’s water blast had finished them off.
“...Wow.”
So this is a spirit?
More than impressive, it was terrifying.
If that water blast hit me, I’d go down in one shot too, wouldn’t I?
[Aqua... I can handle my liquor pretty well!]
The spirit shouted boldly, though it was staggering around.
I used to say stuff like that all the time back in college...
[Aqua... I’m not drunk!
ꉂꉂ (ˆoˆ )
]
Ah. I used to shout that one a lot too!
Which means the spirit’s next move is!!!
[Aqua... Bweeegh.
ԅ(◜¬◝ ԅ)
]
Yep. Of course it is.
I patted the spirit on the back and looked over the new messages that had appeared.
[First Floor Conquered]
[You have claimed the first floor as your territory.]
[You have acquired a class.]
[You have become the Lord of the First Floor.]
I Set Up House in the Tower, and Making Money Became Too Easy