"Ugh, what in the world was that just now…"
A swarm of multicolored lights so dazzling they made my vision spin enveloped me, and before I knew it, I had fallen into the middle of a medieval-style village.
The only problem, if I had to name one, was that goblins and people's screams could be heard from all directions, and some of the village's buildings were on fire.
According to what I had researched online, the 1st Floor of the White Tower had a waiting room and monster rooms that were separate, no matter how high the difficulty.
Furthermore, unlike the towers that real-deal Hunters went to, there was even a tip saying there would be a door behind you that you could turn around and go back through.
But here was an open space in every direction….
There was no door to turn around and go back through.
"…Mystic difficulty."
I'd thought I'd collected all the information on the White Tower available online without missing a thing, but I had never heard of a difficulty like this.
In other words, I was the first discoverer of this difficulty.
Hmm.
This is bad.
I could tell without even giving it deep thought.
Generally speaking, there were considered to be exactly two ways to exit a tower.
Either you achieved the goal set by the tower and walked out on your own two feet,
or you lost your life and were ejected as a corpse.
Yet now, in the White Tower, which was supposed to be the easiest difficulty, I was being forced into such a choice.
As I took a deep breath and prepared myself, a hologram appeared before my eyes and presented the objective.
[ White Tower 1st Floor - Mystic ]
[ Objective: Exterminate the goblins and protect the village. ]
[ Condition: 5 or fewer villager deaths ]
[ Current Deaths: 0 ]
The displayed objective and condition operated somewhat differently. The objective was the condition for exiting the tower. This part was usually not very difficult.
The condition meant what had to be done to obtain rewards. The condition the tower set for rewards was simple.
A time limit.
'Five or fewer deaths, huh….'
Not for the reward… but for the people's lives, I needed to move quickly.
"What's done is done, so I have no choice but to pull this off."
"Kid! You haven't evacuated yet?"
While I was resolving to get out alive, a man clad in full plate armor approached me.
"It's dangerous here! I'll help you find your parents—."
The man in full plate armor snatched my wrist and tried to drag me off somewhere.
At that same moment, a hologram appeared before my eyes.
[ Current Deaths: 1 ]
The number displayed on the hologram already signified that one death had occurred.
There was no time to delay.
"Kid, you should listen when an adult speaks!"
When the man in full plate armor spoke with a frightening expression, my heart briefly sank, but I soon closed my eyes and focused on the Dragon Heart pulsating at my core.
The energy spreading from that intensely vigorous heart circulated through my entire body without cease.
"Polymorph."
The moment I cast the skill, a change occurred throughout my entire body.
My skeleton shifted, my skin hardened, and my nails grew sharp.
It wasn't painful.
It wasn't uncomfortable either; rather, it was as pleasant as lying on a cloud.
Though my fully transformed Dragon form was incomparably small compared to Tenebris, I looked to be at least about the size of a horse.
Well, if it's a hatchling, this makes sense. It actually felt natural.
"H-heavens…."
The knight who had tried to help me took steps back.
Hmm… I suppose it's surprising when a person suddenly turns into a dragon.
Even I'm surprised right now.
However, I didn't have time to explain.
The more time I wasted, the higher the probability of failing the condition would grow.
I powerfully flapped my larger-than-usual wings and soared high into the sky.
[ You have acquired a new skill! ]
[ [D] Dragon Breath ]
( Active Skill )
Consumes a large amount of mana to unleash intense flames originating from a deep breath.
This skill can only be used when fully polymorphed into a Dragon.
"Oho…?"
It had restrictions, but it was an extremely useful offensive skill.
Since there happened to be plenty of targets to test it on, I prepared my Breath toward the area where the goblins were swarming the most, as a trial.
Scorching heat welled up from deep within my lungs.
That blazing heat travelled up my throat and filled my mouth.
"Breath!!"
"Kerk?!" "Kerrrrrk!!"
The horde of goblins that had been charging aggressively was charred to a crisp alive by the fierce burst of flames.
Tsk-tsk, they should've dodged to the corners.
The Breath's power was outstanding, but its mana consumption was no joke in proportion.
It felt like I had burned through 30% of my mana in an instant.
'I should probably save this one as a finishing move….'
Even while in Dragon Form, my mana was slowly draining, and considering I'd need to use skills and such, it seemed better to conserve Breath as much as possible.
If I excluded Breath, my remaining methods of attack were limited to using my body parts.
I needed to close the distance.
'The position… that spot looks good.'
The goblins were clustered densely enough that I could crush them under my bulk.
With claws fully extended, I executed a nosedive and crushed several more upon landing.
If this level of power kept up, I felt like I could clear even Mystic difficulty.
No, I would clear it.
Whether the goblins had lost all fear or thought they could take me on after seeing my size, they began to surround me gradually.
'Good, if their aggro is drawn to me, it might be tricky, but it'll be easy to fulfill the condition, right?'
It might actually work out for the better, but the fact remained that I had to fight one against many from my very first real battle.
For an efficient and swift victory, I needed to know myself, know the enemy, and know the situation.
The weapons I could employ were my hands, feet, tail, wings, and though it wasn't ideal… even my mouth.
There were about twenty goblins gathered around me.
The melee hadn't started yet, but the moment a brave goblin acted as the trigger, they would rush in in an instant.
The fighting style of a Dragon….
At that word, I suddenly recalled the draconic boss I had fought in Dark Souls 3.
I remembered that approaching the head, neck, or tail usually meant getting hit by fast attack patterns, but the hind legs and sides were comparatively easier to approach.
'…Are those the weak points?'
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
The goblins charged at me from all directions as if some trigger had been pulled.
I bit and killed the goblin leading the charge from the front, then tore two more goblins apart with a claw swipe.
For the goblins approaching from the rear, I swung my tail with force, sending three flying at once and slamming them into the ground.
And when the goblins came too close, I took flight.
The short reach of the goblins' small bodies was the core of my first-strike strategy.
I dove down once more onto several goblins, wounding three more.
"Kgh… the nosedive hurts a bit. It's fast, though…."
"Kerrrrrk—!!!"
"Damn it!"
While I was briefly unable to gather my strength properly from the impact of the nosedive, one goblin charged precisely at my side.
The moment the goblin's rusty spear was about to pierce my side, an arrow flew in and struck the back of the goblin's head dead-on.
I instinctively looked in the direction the arrow had come from.
"Hey! You alright?!"
"Ooh. Nice support."
It was that knight I had seen earlier.
Perhaps thanks to the goblins' aggro being focused on me, the knights had been able to regroup; numerous knights raised bows and began pouring arrows at the goblins around me.
The ranged support was truly appreciated, but it became a bit awkward to move around freely.
However, the situation was completely in my favor.
The goblins' gathered position and my exquisite positioning synergized to create the absolute best firing angle.
"Breath!! Dodge!! To the corners!!!"
Kuwaaaaaaaah—!!!!!
The fierce Breath erupting from deep within my lungs was more than enough to turn the green mobs before my eyes into ashes.
Because I hadn't fired boldly in order to minimize damage to nature and the village, a few goblins were still trying to raid the village or lunging at me, but—
Shwick, shwick!
"Kieeeek—!!"
—they simply died screaming under the knights' barrage of arrows.
As I looked over the hundreds of goblin corpses, a hologram appeared again and covered my vision.
[ White Tower 1st Floor - Clear ]
[ Final Deaths: 1 ]
[ Time Taken: 14 minutes 33 seconds (Difficulty Record!) ]
[ White Tower 1st Floor Rankings ]
[ 1st: Enter name. (107,231 points) ]
[ 2nd: WeaponMaster (37,502 points) ]
[ 3rd: vIcePrincessv (35,465 points) ]
"So I finally cleared it…."
I had known that clear rankings were displayed for each floor, but I never imagined I'd take first place.
As I gazed proudly at the ranks, I read the prompt saying I had to enter a nickname.
"Nickname? Hmm… what should I use?"
What to make your nickname. It was a fiendishly difficult problem that anyone who had ever named one could sympathize with.
Anonymous or not, it was my alter ego. It couldn't be chosen carelessly.
[ 1st: DragonChicken (107,231 points) ]
Phew… Perfect. That it was a little weird was an unavoidable choice for the sake of anonymity.
…Plus, it appealed to the fact that I'm a dragon, too.
After completing the naming and looking around the rankings, I saw quite a few nicknames that let me infer who they were.
The Sword God (劍神), also called the light of Korea's Hunter world. Choi Hyeonseok.
And beneath him….
"Ice Princess? I don't know who that is, but that's a confident name."
At the end of the continuing hologram, a 'Claim Reward and Exit' button floated.
If I pressed the exit button like this, I could get out of this strange place as soon as possible, but somehow I felt reluctant to leave without a word to the people I had fought alongside.
And I figured they wouldn't treat badly the person who had saved them.
That's right. I saved this village.
Worship me!
In a slightly smug mood, I landed in the village.
Unfortunately, I couldn't control my speed precisely, resulting in a loud thud and a cloud of dust.
After the dust settled, I could feel people gathering around me.
"Oooooh…!"
Feeling like the crowd's reaction was about to escalate, I hurriedly dispelled Polymorph. After all, having a dragon in the middle of the village would be scary. I would've been scared too.
But perhaps they misunderstood my consideration, because the moment I dispelled Polymorph, the villagers approached me even more.
"Name! What's your name?"
"Wow! So cute!"
"Over here! Please look over here!"
The fortunate thing was that they seemed to have some consideration of their own, not coming too close.
As I was answering people's questions, the knights pushed through the crowd and stood before me.
At their center was an old man wearing worn clothes, who seemed to be the village chief.
"Are you the… dragon?"
The chief's question was simple. I had planned to just greet them and leave, so when I answered simply, the chief suddenly grabbed my hand and spoke.
"How can we ever repay this grace…"
"No, I was able to win comfortably thanks to you guys."
"Please don't say such things. I've never seen a goblin raid of this scale in my entire life; if not for you, how would we be alive? Please allow us to repay you."
Huh? Is there another reward besides the tower clear reward?
Considering that tower clear rewards were commonly known to be automatically claimed upon exit, it was quite a strange thing to say. But there was no reason to refuse if they were giving it.
Perhaps my worry that it would take too long was unfounded, as the chief had a knight hand over a sword wrapped in cloth.
The sword looked quite old but fairly ordinary. It had a design that roughly any passing knight would carry.
"This is a sword that has been passed down in our village for a very long time."
"Oh, you shouldn't have gone to such trouble…."
Though I had a slightly rude thought for a moment, I accepted it after a brief formal exchange. For a second I had wondered if an amazing item might pop out, but I was just happy they were giving me anything.
"In any case, please accept it as an expression of gratitude. By the way, you seem to be a traveler; when do you plan to depart? Until then, we can provide you with convenience in the village."
"I should head back soon. I can't stay long."
As I spoke while looking at the hologram floating in midair counting down by the second, the knight and chief made expressions as though they had heard the story of someone with complicated circumstances, then soon nodded as if they understood.
"I see. May peace be with you."
"Thank you."
Light swallowed my vision.
***
Yun Seol-a was lying around and rolling on the floor at Lee Haneul's house to commemorate getting off work.
As expected, rolling around after work is the best.
She thought that when Lee Haneul returned, she would be subjected to the cheek-pulling sentence and the one-hour tail-petting sentence. There was no reason.
While she was thinking that, she heard the beep-beep-beep of the door lock from the door, and then it opened.
"Oh, what. Seol-a, you were here?"
"Huh? What are you carrying in like that?"
Lee Haneul was grunting as he brought in a box so large that it was clearly hard to carry with his own body.
Hadn't he said he was going to the White Tower today?
Yun Seol-a wasn't a Hunter and had never entered a tower, but she was well aware of a tower's structure and operating principles.
She briefly wondered if Haneul oppa had boldly challenged Hard difficulty, but she dismissed the thought.
No matter how hard the difficulty he challenged, the rewards would only amount to a few decent-quality mana stones.
'Did he maybe get it in front of the tower?'
Yun Seol-a naturally pictured Lee Haneul receiving gifts from nearby Hunters and Hunter Association employees.
How could anyone endure watching such a pretty kid walk around the association building without giving him something?
Even if she saw it herself, she probably would've tried to give him something too.
Truly a terrifying level of cuteness.
"…You really would've suited being an actor."
"Say that again and I'll hit you with my tail."
Yun Seol-a slightly closed her eyes at those words and continued.
"You should've become an actor…."
After that, she was rewarded mercilessly.