Ding!
【You have entered the 1st Floor of the Demon Tower.】
Whoosh—!
A blinding light flooded Ha-min's vision.
TIP
―If you happen to meet a [Forest Spirit] in the woods, give them a [Spirit's Greeting]. With luck, something good might happen?
'What? A tip? They have these?'
He didn't know that. Why didn't he know?
The light blocking his view faded, and Ha-min felt his feet touch the ground.
"Urgh…."
A slight wave of dizziness washed over him.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dense forest.
The sky was clear, and birds were chirping. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear the sound of flowing water.
'I-Is this the tower's first floor?'
Ha-min, a first-timer in the tower, was taken aback.
'I never expected it to be like this….'
It was just an ordinary forest. No, more accurately, it was a real forest—indistinguishable from reality.
He'd heard a lot about it, but he truly had no idea it would be this immersive.
'So there really are magic beasts here?'
Not a single magic beast was in sight.
Just then,
"Hamin-nim! Are you all right?"
A voice called out from beside him.
It was Bellamon.
In the end, he had entered the first floor of the tower together with him.
***
「Big-Tooth Rabbit」
It was a magic beast regarded as the weakest among all magic beasts.
Why?
The biggest reason was that it had no offensive power of its own.
At that point, you might wonder, Then why is this even considered a magic beast?
Just then,
"Private! Bellamon! Perimeter secure, all clear!!!"
"Ah, geez! That scared me!"
Bellamon's high-pitched voice snapped Ha-min back to his senses. He scanned their surroundings.
And then,
"Hamin-nim, there's a magic beast over there."
Bellamon pointed to a spot with his finger.
Over there—
Hop, hop
Several cute rabbits were nibbling on grass. They were a bit larger than ordinary rabbits, but aside from their oversized front teeth, they looked exactly like normal rabbits.
"Is that the Big-Tooth Rabbit?"
He'd seen them in videos before, but this was his first time seeing one in person.
Ding!
▶ Monster Information
― Name: Big-Tooth Rabbit
― Level: 1
― Combat Power: 3
― Monster Rank: 9th Class
― Background: A basic magic beast of the Asuna Continent. Located at the very bottom of the food chain.
The information was very simple.
But wait—was this really a magic beast? It looked weak enough that even he felt confident he could take it down.
"Alright! Here I go!"
Suddenly filled with confidence, Ha-min dashed forward.
But then,
"Huh? Hamin-nim!! Wait!!"
Bellamon tried to stop him, but Ha-min was already way ahead!
And then—
Papat!
Papapat!
Papapapat!!!
"Huh?"
The rabbits scattered in an instant… but their speed was anything but ordinary.
"!!!!!"
Wheeeee—!!!
By the time Ha-min blinked, nothing remained in his field of vision. Every single rabbit had vanished.
The problem was…
'So. Freaking. Fast!!'
It was a speed that his eyes couldn't even track.
"Whoa…."
「Demon Tower 1st Floor」
This was a floor where you tested your unique traits against magic beasts. The Big-Tooth Rabbit—in fact, these creatures had absolutely no offensive power.
Instead… they were magic beasts with ludicrously fast legs.
Catching those fleet-footed rabbits—that was the key to clearing the first floor.
"Hamin-nim, are you all right?"
Bellamon had already approached him and asked.
Honestly, he wasn't fine. He'd known about this beforehand, but actually seeing it with his own eyes was a completely different experience.
'I heard they were fast, but this fast?'
If even the lowest-ranked magic beast was like this…
He realized once again just how high the tower's bar was. He'd charged forward with bravado, but in the blink of an eye, the rabbits were gone. Reality was truly different.
And he was supposed to catch ten of these?
"Are they always that fast?"
"For the Big-Tooth Rabbit, speed is their lifeline, sir. That's the only way those creatures can survive."
"Then how do we catch them?"
"You have to catch them with skills, sir."
Ah, right. Skills!
Right. Of course—skills and traits.
All 「Breakers」 have unique traits based on their respective classes.
In other words, the 1st floor is a tutorial floor. You have to catch the rabbits by making use of your unique trait. That's why the time limit was set generously at 24 hours.
But in reality, it was said that almost no one actually caught them within that time limit.
Most people only managed to catch them after their second or third attempt, once they'd gotten the hang of it—and that made sense, since they needed training to understand both their own traits and the magic beasts. This was exactly why people called the 1st floor the tutorial floor.
'Hold on….'
Here was the problem. It was Ha-min's 「Absolute Command」.
If he used 「Annihilation」 from his 「Absolute Command」, catching one would definitely be no problem—but the issue was the target and the number of uses.
The target for 「Annihilation」 was fixed at one, and at his current level, he only had one use left.
Sure, he could catch one rabbit, but how was he supposed to catch the rest?
Or rather—was he really going to use something this incredible just to catch a rabbit?
This was like firing a missile to catch a rabbit. And not just any missile—a nuclear one….
'Then there's no solution for me, is there?'
Just then,
"Please leave it to me, sir."
Bellamon stepped forward.
"It will be over quickly, sir."
"Eh?"
Whoosh—
The moment the words left his mouth, Bellamon vanished from sight.
'Huh? He disappeared?'
Swoosh!
Ha-min rubbed his eyes.
At that very moment—
Ding!
【Private Bellamon uses 「Abyssal Judgment」.】
Thump!
From somewhere far off on the meadow, a sound of something being struck rang out.
【Defeated a Big-Tooth Rabbit. (1/10)】
'Huh?'
Thwack! Thwackthwack!
More impact sounds followed in succession.
Only then was Ha-min able to see it.
A blue flash cutting across the forest. It looked like a single streak of light.
And that streak of light was Bellamon.
…
Following that,
【Defeated a Big-Tooth Rabbit. (3/10)】
【Defeated a Big-Tooth Rabbit. (4/10)】
His movements were several times faster than the rabbits themselves.
"That's insane…."
It was simply an awe-inspiring speed.
A realm that the human eye could never hope to track.
With his own eyes, Ha-min could barely follow the afterimages—no, even that was a stretch. It was more like a vague… sensation.
Yet Bellamon was eliminating the rabbits one by one, with surgical precision, as if he were playing a game.
Ding!
【Private Bellamon uses 「Abyssal Judgment」.】
Bellamon used his skill once again.
「Abyssal Judgment」?
Even the name alone sounded ridiculously cool! He couldn't tell exactly what kind of skill it was, but it was one-shot, one-kill. Something powerful.
'Whoa… he's no joke!'
So this was what real combat against magic beasts looked like! Ha-min was inwardly impressed. The ramyeon-gobbling Bellamon looked completely different now in his eyes.
Then again, he was a soldier of the Demon Lord's army. A combatant.
'Had I been underestimating him this whole time?'
Perhaps because they hadn't known each other for very long, this feeling still felt very unfamiliar to him.
Even as all sorts of thoughts ran through his mind…
Ding!
【Defeated a Big-Tooth Rabbit. (8/10)】
【Defeated a Big-Tooth Rabbit. (9/10)】
Everything truly ended in the blink of an eye.
What exactly 「Abyssal Judgment」 was, or how he was catching the rabbits—Ha-min's eyes couldn't quite make it out.
Chak!
Pat!
And then Bellamon reappeared right before Ha-min's eyes.
"Phew."
Bellamon took a short breath to steady himself and lightly dusted off his hands.
Then he slowly walked over to Ha-min.
Looking thoroughly pleased with himself,
Striking a pose…
Heh heh!
A faint smile.
And right after,
Ding!
【Defeated a Big-Tooth Rabbit. (10/10)】
The final elimination message appeared.
…
'Whoa. Isn't he overdoing the pose a bit?'
That was the impression Bellamon's movements gave.
Soon after,
【1st floor objective achieved.】
…
【1st floor cleared successfully.】
…
【Level up.】
…
【Rewards will be distributed.】
…
Huh?
System messages popping up one after another. Honestly, he was dumbfounded.
Why?
Because Ha-min hadn't done a single thing, obviously…
Huh? What? Whoa? Jackpot?
Just like that, it was over.
But it was too early to be surprised.
…
Ding!
【Global Announcement: The Korean record for clearing the 1st Floor of the Demon Tower has been broken.】
!!!!!
"Wh—what? What did that just say?…."
【Clear Time: 2 minutes 10 seconds】
Whoa… A new record?
Then how fast was the 2nd place record?
…
The 2nd place record was a staggering 【3 hours 32 minutes and 14 seconds】.
Does that even make sense? And I did it in just 2 minutes???
A gap of about 3 hours and 30 minutes from 2nd place.
At this level, it could only be seen as a record on a completely different dimension.
The 「Demon Tower」 has a system that ranks each floor by clear time. And those records are divided into two categories: national records and world records.
Ha-min's [Clear Time: 2 minutes 10 seconds]
In other words, this was undoubtedly both a Korean record and a world record.
And the icing on the cake was…
Sure enough—
Ding!
【Global Announcement: The world record for clearing the 1st Floor of the Demon Tower has been broken.】
A real global announcement had just gone out to the entire world.
"Whoa! This is huge!!!"
Something he hadn't even imagined, let alone expected, had happened. He didn't want to draw attention to himself… but this was practically like putting up a billboard ad.
And not just anywhere—worldwide….
'Calm down. The announcement went out, but they still don't know who I am.'
The same went for 「Absolute Command」. No one knew about it anyway. That was what mattered. So there was nothing to be afraid of.
…Swoosh!
Bellamon returned to his original spot.
Not a single hair out of place, as if nothing had happened.
"Hmph!"
On top of that, he was puffing out his chest proudly in front of Ha-min.
Private Bellamon of the Demon Lord's army.
He was strong. Overwhelmingly so.
Honestly, the only reason it took that long was because Ha-min had wasted time at the start. If you counted just the time spent catching the rabbits, it was probably around 20 seconds—at most.
He'd expected Bellamon to be fairly strong given how confidently he boasted, but he never imagined it would be to this extent. For the first time, he saw a person—no, not a person, but a demon—in a completely different light.
…
Ding!
【Congratulations on your new ranker registration.】
【Please set your registered name.】
"Huh? Name?"
Ha-min was taken aback. This wasn't really asking for his real name, was it? Was it telling him to put his name out there for the whole world to see? As Ha-min hesitated, Bellamon, standing beside him, spoke up.
"Hamin-nim, what's the matter?"
Bellamon asked, not understanding Ha-min's hesitation.
"Bellamon-nim. This… this…."
Ha-min pointed at the system window, and Bellamon replied.
"Ah~ This actually doesn't mean much, sir. You can just put in anything, sir."
Anything? Really?
"Think of it like entering your name after finishing a game at an arcade—that makes it super easy to understand, sir."
"Oh. An arcade?"
Now that's a word he hadn't heard in a long time. Arcade…
But hearing the word "arcade" come out of a blonde foreigner's mouth felt a little awkward, didn't it?
Ha-min pondered for a moment, lost in old memories.
"Hamin-nim? Aren't you going to register as a ranker?"
"Ah! Yes?? I have to do this, right?"
They said anonymity was guaranteed, but he was still uneasy.
However,
"You must input it to receive your reward settlement, sir."
Dammit! He said it was mandatory.
That meant he had no choice but to write something. Ha-min pulled himself together.
'An arcade… if that's the case…'
Ha-min entered the initials he used to use at the arcade when he was a kid. It had been a really long time.
A little embarrassing, sure, but he had to get the rewards, right?
And then,
【Name input complete.】
【A new 「Breaker」 world record has been registered on the 1st Floor of the Demon Tower.】
"Oh, done!"
And then,
Ding!
【As a reward for achieving the world record on the 1st Floor of the Demon Tower, you have received Gold Medal x1.】
Huh? Gold medal?
What's this now?