Prologue
“Do you think clearing a tower is a joke? Are you trying to get yourself killed? With these stats, you shouldn’t enter the Tower!”
Irrefutable. Truly, those words were correct.
A spec so shabby it was closer to miserable than humble, daring to dream of being a Hunter.
“So what?”
But I’m fine. Because……
[The activation conditions for the Attendance Log skill have been met.]
[Day 1 Attendance Complete! First attendance reward has been granted!]
—Because I grow stronger just by showing up.
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You’ve Been Kidnapped
“Hey, are we still far? Hasn’t it already been a day?”
Narrow eyes, thin lips. A man with a nervous impression tapped my shoulder and urged me on.
“I told you, about three hours left.”
“Be honest. You’re stalling for time, aren’t you?”
“……What kind of nonsense is that? Why would I stall for time?”
“So the Guild Master isn’t the only one; even you think I’m a joke, huh? You think the first Magus, Lee Myeongjun, is funny?!”
“That’s not what I meant. I said we came early to fill the time before the rear support arrives. Why are you so anxious? Did the Guild Master say something bad to you?”
The man’s name was Lee Myeongjun. He was a Hunter with the advanced class Magus in the Mage class line.
He had once caused an uproar across the country as the world’s first Magus, touted to become an Archmagus someday, but he ultimately remained a Magus, a burdensome executive of our Redeemer Guild.
“That’s…… mm.”
Unable to answer my question properly, Lee Myeongjun stamped his feet and bit his nails.
His nails were already ragged and jagged like sawteeth on both hands.
Only then did I realize the anxiety emanating from him wasn’t just because time was passing slowly.
“Wait. Hey, Lee Myeongjun. Did you drag me here without reporting anything to the guild? Was it a lie that reinforcements were coming?”
“……Kuh.”
Lee Myeongjun kept biting his nails until they bled, his mouth firmly shut.
From that appearance, I suddenly recalled a story I had heard from a senior guild executive not long ago.
“Come to think of it, I heard you got suspended because of the trouble you caused with the heir of the Geoshin Guild last time. Is that not over yet?”
“……Tch, you caught on.”
Surprisingly, Lee Myeongjun admitted it readily.
‘Damn, I spent a day on the 80th Floor of the Tower following a guy on disciplinary suspension.’
At this point, I should abandon him and run away immediately, but……
‘……I can’t do that.’
If I were left alone here without Lee Myeongjun, the ending was obvious even without looking.
My chances of survival were zero—no, they didn’t converge to zero, they were exactly zero—for someone completely devoid of combat ability in a place swarming with highest-grade monsters.
They say monsters don’t approach teleportation magic circles unless absolutely necessary, but that isn’t one hundred percent guaranteed.
If I encountered even a single monster?
I, who was nothing more than a “Bag” providing extra inventory, would have no choice but to accept death.
The only skill I possessed was somewhat useful for avoiding blind attacks and fleeing, but I didn’t have a single means of inflicting damage on highest-grade monsters.
“Damn it, you crazy bastard! You can’t even leave halfway from here!”
Furthermore, from the 60th Floor upward in the Tower, the authority to use teleportation magic circles is locked from the moment of entry until the floor clear is complete, and this is the 80th Floor, well above that threshold.
Of course, new personnel can still enter, but those already inside cannot leave mid-raid.
The moment I stepped foot in this place following Lee Myeongjun, I had already crossed a river I couldn’t turn back from.
“Yeah, you’ve been kidnapped. Got it, Golden Goose?”
Lee Myeongjun called me not by my proper name, Han Juhyeok, but by the nickname Golden Goose.
‘A goose that lays golden eggs. Shortened to Golden Goose.’
It was usually an enormous compliment, but to me, it wasn’t a very pleasant nickname.
Even though our positions in the guild held no superior-subordinate relationship between us as intermediate executives, it sounded like he was speaking to a subordinate.
‘Ugh, seriously, what an arrogant bastard.’
The reason I, who could only act as a “Bag,” was treated as an intermediate executive of the Redeemer Guild, and the reason Lee Myeongjun gave me the nickname Golden Goose, was only one.
‘Attendance rewards.’
A common concept in online games, but an ability possessed only by me among Hunters.
The skill
“Golden Goose, if you don’t want to die, just stay quiet and hand the attendance reward over to me immediately when it comes out.”
Now that the truth was revealed, Lee Myeongjun put on what he considered a “vicious” expression and began threatening me.
Though it was truly a life-threatening situation, the threat was so clumsy that I wondered how such a petty threat could exist.
“Since this is the 80th Floor that no one has cleared yet, the reward must be insane, right? No, it has to be something tremendous.”
“Hey, you brat with a refreshingly nonexistent plan. Do you think you can clear the 80th Floor alone with that, without the guild’s help?”
“I’ll break through the wall. So, you know what you gave Choi Hyera? That
The maximum level a Hunter can reach through simple hunting is 100.
From there, only Hunters who have ascended to the Highest Class through enlightenment can proceed to the next level.
However, Lee Myeongjun had been stuck as a Magus for four years after reaching level 100, unable to advance.
‘And to make matters worse, he kept causing trouble with other guild Hunters.’
“That’s something used when ascending to the ‘Awakened Class’ above even the ‘Highest Class.’ And if that were a skill I could use at will, would I be treated as a mere intermediate executive instead of a senior one?”
Though there are occasional exceptions, generally Hunters ascend from “Basic Class” to “Advanced Class” to “Highest Class” to “Awakened Class.”
Lee Myeongjun was saying he wanted to use an item required for the Awakened Class to ascend to the Highest Class.
‘It’s a waste, but is it even possible in the first place……?’
“I don’t care about that! Whether it becomes an
‘This guy Lee Myeongjun, has he lost his mind?’
Surely, as time passed, the guild would eventually send rescue.
But I couldn’t be blindly optimistic.
‘This isn’t like when I was abandoned on the 25th Floor and the Guild Master happened to rescue me.’
Choi Hyera, an SSS-Rank Hunter and one of only three in Korea, who leads the Redeemer Guild. A Paladin.
I had been doing unauthorized part-time work as a “Bag” and abandoned in the Tower when she rescued me, and as a result, I joined the Redeemer Guild.
Afterward, the true value of my Attendance Log skill was revealed and I rose to an executive position, but unlike then, the 80th Floor wasn’t a place Choi Hyera could rush into easily.
‘After all, renowned guilds have publicly attempted to challenge it and failed miserably.’
If she entered without preparation just to save me, she would likely throw her life away as well.
‘What matters is what decision the Guild Master makes.’
It was difficult for me to predict what Choi Hyera would prioritize.
However, I had to brace myself for the fact that rescue wouldn’t arrive within a day or two at the earliest.
‘At least the food is plentiful, so that’s a relief.’
The most important task I had as a “Bag” was supplying food in the Tower.
Though I had been dragged here by Lee Myeongjun in a hurry, thinking we were going to clear the 80th Floor, I had stocked up enough food to feed the entire raid team, so at least I didn’t have to worry about starving.
‘Let’s endure as much as possible while keeping that wretch Lee Myeongjun from making any extreme choices.’
All I could do was pray that Choi Hyera would make the right decision.
* * *
“……Huff, huff, damn, is this the end.”
On the 8th day since being deceived by Lee Myeongjun into coming to the 80th Floor.
Before me was a pack of “Acid Drakes,” gigantic black lizard-like monsters two meters tall dripping acidic saliva.
And behind me was a dizzying cliff thousands of feet deep.
“Aack! What the hell is this because of that stupid bastard Lee Myeongjun!”
—As they say, even a rotten fish is still a fish?
For the past few days, Lee Myeongjun had fought fairly well on his own.
Even if his level was 100, fighting against the occasional few monsters approaching the teleportation magic circle in a defensive battle wasn’t too difficult.
Moreover, the
Thus, Lee Myeongjun was finally able to break through the wall and become an Archmagus.
‘But the problem was after he succeeded in the promotion.’
Lee Myeongjun, who had ascended to the Highest Class Archmagus after a full 10 years as a Magus.
I could roughly guess how great that emotion would be after such a long wait.
Honestly, when Lee Myeongjun succeeded in his promotion, I had even been happy enough to high-five him.
‘Though I have no excuse if you call it Stockholm syndrome……’
I knew well the complex that came from the experience of feeling like a useless person.
But even so, no matter what, what I couldn’t understand was…….
“Damn it! So what if he’s a mage, how does a guy called a mage not know how to manage his mana?!”
You could say he was “intoxicated by power.”
The overly excited Lee Myeongjun recklessly spammed the Highest Class magic he had learned upon becoming an Archmagus.
And so, eventually, this morning on the 8th day, Lee Myeongjun was taken down by the monsters after running out of mana.
“That damn bastard. A bastard who picks fights. A stupid bastard. An idiot bastard!”
All I could do, left like a kite with a snapped string, was run for my life to hold on a little longer.
But even that was over now.
The only choices left to me were to be bitten by the lizards and melt to death in acid, or fall off the cliff.
‘The timer…… about 30 seconds left now.’
The only good news was that not much time remained until I could receive the maximum reward for a single floor, the Day 7 reward.
Because from the 30th Floor upward, the Day 7 reward almost always included a Relic.
‘Though even if I get a Relic now, what good would it do?’
Unless it was a Relic that let me escape from the Tower immediately, it held little meaning for me who had no combat ability, no matter what powerful weapon was given.
Kuaaaah—!
Shaak!!
With that sound, the brief standoff with the cliff before me ended.
As the leader of the Acid Drakes let out a ferocious roar, the other Acid Drakes rushed at me with mouths dripping saliva wide open.
“Uwaaah—!!”
In a situation where there was no room left to run, the only thing I could do was throw myself off the cliff.
At least it was better than being bitten and melting to death right now; I was just trying to buy some time.
‘10, 9, 8……’
Even as I fell into the dark cliff bottom where the ground was invisible, my eyes were fixed on the timer displayed in the corner of my vision for the
“Please, give me some time……!”
Escaping from the Tower would be best, but if not, anything that could buy time—flight, a barrier, a Relic of any kind—would be good.
Anyway, falling to death before using the Relic would make it meaningless as well.
Unluckily—or perhaps luckily—the cliff was deeper than it looked.
‘……3, 2, 1, now!’
[80th Floor Day 7 Attendance Complete! Attendance reward has been granted!]
The moment the message that the reward had been granted popped up, I hurriedly checked my inventory.
‘As expected, it was a Relic!’
Next to the now-useless food and supplies, a newly granted Relic had taken its place.
Praying that it would be an item helpful to me immediately, I checked the Relic’s information.
‘……!’
There was no need to examine it further. No, ironically, there was no “time” for that.
After roughly checking the description, I instantly plunged the golden screw-shaped
‘8 days ago…… No, even just this morning would be fine.’
Returning to before I was deceived by Lee Myeongjun would be ideal, but if I could go back even six hours, I could at least prevent the spectacle of Lee Myeongjun collapsing from mana depletion.
The face of that openly detestable bastard was, at this very moment, literally something I wanted to see again so badly I could die.
“Just wait, you idiot bastard!”
I began turning the wind-up key lodged in my chest with all my might.
Blood spurted from the pierced hole, and I felt extreme agony, but I didn’t care and turned it as fast as possible.
Then, the falling speed of my body, which had been plummeting at tremendous speed, gradually began to decrease.
To 0.75x speed, then to 0.5x speed, then to 0.25x speed…….
And then,
⏪ Rewind.