Jackpot
The Player Hunter Agency, located in Seoul.
Team Leader Jin Yun-ho, seated in the conference room, let out a low groan.
Those gathered with him followed suit, murmuring their own laments.
"No traces at all?"
"None whatsoever."
The team members replied in subdued tones.
Letting out a deep sigh, Jin Yun-ho sank back into his chair.
He knew there was nothing, but he had to ask just in case.
He turned his gaze to the conference room monitor.
Displayed there was the Book of Honors.
The records in the Book of Honors weren't easily surpassed.
Reaching a new milestone floor or breaking an existing record was no easy feat.
But the past three weeks had been different.
The Book of Honors had been updated daily.
From the 1st floor to the 16th, the fastest clear times had all been shattered, and every one of them had earned SSS+ grades, all by some unknown individual.
"Does this even make sense? These days, people are busy filming and bragging just for clearing the 1st floor a little faster."
"Right? It's completely unbelievable."
The Tower meant money.
And it wasn't just about the items that dropped.
The Tower was a bundle of content.
Each floor ascent unveiled an entirely new worldview and environment, along with fresh monsters and items.
The spin-off content from that was truly infinite.
It wasn't for nothing that 90% of NewTubers focused on the Tower.
And that was far from all.
The Tower was also a means to flaunt and prove one's abilities.
In this day and age, aspiring high-salary hunters filmed and uploaded videos every other day just to catch someone's eye.
Yet here was someone setting absurd records like these without so much as a single video or photo to show for it.
It was as if the very concept of greed didn't exist for this person.
"Don't give up—keep searching. We have to find them, no matter what."
He had no intention of abandoning the search just because there were no leads or traces right now.
It wasn't something they could afford to give up on in the first place.
In a world where some random floor could transfer at any moment and upend the fate of a nation, they couldn't afford to.
"But, Team Leader."
One of the team members ventured cautiously.
"Is this person really worth investing all these resources? Wouldn't it be better to watch a bit longer before going all in?"
It was a reasonable point.
Clearing the 16th floor wasn't some extraordinary achievement in itself.
There were probably plenty of people in Korea alone who had done it.
Even so, Jin Yun-ho was convinced they needed to find this record-holder as soon as possible.
"Better to scoop them up first—even if they're a nobody—than drag our feet and let some other agency snatch them away. It's way lower risk."
In a world where anything could happen at any moment, they had to keep that possibility in mind.
The record might extend beyond the lower floors into the higher ones.
With the team leader's resolve so firm, the members held back any further objections.
Knock knock.
Someone entered the conference room and handed over a single file.
"Team Leader, here's the list of areas where unidentified transfer floors might appear."
"Good work."
Jin Yun-ho checked the file he'd been handed.
Transfers usually appeared in order, starting from the lower floors.
But occasionally, they skipped ahead.
The transfer that had appeared in Dongdaemun last time was a prime example.
It was supposed to be the 44th floor's turn, but what showed up in Dongdaemun was the 45th.
Which meant there was a high chance the 44th had quietly transferred somewhere else, evading detection.
Since transfers kept expanding their range until their clear conditions were met, they had to track it down somehow.
"Reach out to freelance hunters too. We're expanding the search radius."
"Got it."
After finalizing the search zones, Jin Yun-ho ran a hand through his hair.
Then he glanced back and forth between the Book of Honors and the unidentified transfer floor.
He had no idea why there were so many things they needed to find.
Inwangsan, located in Jongno.
No sooner had they entered the trailhead than a grim warning sign greeted Jin Hyeok and his group.
High Accident Area. Exercise Caution When Entering.
"Going to look at a house, and suddenly we're hiking?"
"Did we take a wrong turn or something?"
"Nah, this is the place."
Thumbs up, Jin Hyeok passed the sign.
One thousand one hundred million won in total assets.
Realistically, it was nowhere near enough to escape a basement apartment.
Especially in Seoul.
Still, he wanted to move above ground, so he'd diligently scoured nearby listings.
That's when he found it: a house near Inwangsang in the Jeongdong settlement.
It wasn't from some real estate site.
He'd spotted it on a famous abandoned house forum.
'It looked pretty decent.'
Even as a ruin, he'd come to check it out for one simple reason.
The photos the poster had uploaded made it look surprisingly appealing.
Two stories, multiple rooms, and a spacious yard to boot.
It was perfect for living freely out of sight.
The only hitch was that the post was from a year ago.
Rustle.
A sound came from above.
Kancho, who could hide on his own, and Seira, pulling her hat down lower.
Two elderly hikers with trekking poles paused their descent and eyed Jin Hyeok's group.
"Huh? You folks heading up now?"
"Yes. Just thought we'd take a light stroll."
"Oh dear, you're too late for that. Sun's about to set. And... you know, right?"
One of the elders lowered his voice, seeing their clueless expressions.
"Ghosts come out here. More than a few people have seen things near the summit and foamed at the mouth! That's why we don't go anywhere near the top either. We live close by, so we just circle the lower trails and head down."
"It's not just empty talk. I pushed my luck and went a bit higher once, and I heard ghost cries myself. You gotta be careful. Even seasoned shamans steer clear of Inwangsan."
He'd known about it when he came.
The reason no Inwangsan posts had appeared on the abandoned house site in the year since.
Too many people had seen ghosts for it to be dismissed as mere rumor—even content-hungry NewTubers avoided the place.
"Thanks for the concern. I'll just take a quick walk and head back down."
"Right you are. The mountain after dark is seriously dangerous, so watch yourselves."
After exchanging greetings, they pressed on up the trail.
Jin Hyeok wasn't immune to fear of ghosts.
Back in the day, he wouldn't have even dreamed of trying this.
But now he had Seira, who could take down monsters, and Kancho.
Whatever came—ghost or otherwise—they'd handle it, or so he believed, giving him the boldness to climb.
"Seira, can you hit ghosts?"
"If you command it, I shall strike them down."
'20,000 points.'
Satisfied with the 20,000-point response, he nodded.
"Kancho, you..."
Jin Hyeok trailed off.
No wonder his shoulders felt heavy.
These nature-loving yokai apparently hated hiking.
Kancho had already slipped quietly into the pet bag.
And not just that—he was snoring away, fast asleep.
'Should I leave him behind?'
Shaking his head, Jin Hyeok continued the hike.
After trudging along for a good while, fog began rolling in from somewhere, obscuring their vision.
"Seira, I've got a suggestion."
"What is it?"
"How about we hold hands from here on? The fog might make us lose each other."
"A wise tactic."
He clasped her extended hand tightly.
Kancho was in the pet bag.
But one napping yokai wasn't enough to ease his mind.
Ding!
[You have entered the Fog of Hallucinations! Status effect activated!]
[Trait activated! Resisting status effect: Hallucination!]
"Huh?"
It was an abrupt message.
A status effect out of nowhere, and they hadn't even entered a Tower.
It could be the work of a player with sync rate, but this was the mid-slope of Inwangsan.
The odds of that were extremely low.
"Hallucinations, huh."
Seira swept her hand through the fog.
Thanks to one of the Black Knight Order's innate traits, 'Unyielding Mental Fortitude.'
It allowed Seira to remain unaffected in the mist.
Kancho seemed fine too, still snoring away.
"Still a ways to the destination?"
"Almost there. Just up ahead."
A bit further, and a mansion backed by a granite ridge came into view.
"With that granite ridge behind it, it looks like a fortress."
Inwangsan, made of granite.
The previous owner must have built it evoking the image of a fortress.
"No presences nearby."
Reassured, he approached right up to the house.
As in the post, the exterior was surprisingly intact for an abandoned place.
One difference, though: unidentified rocks were jutting out between the walls, causing cracks.
'Guess I'll have to patch it up thoroughly.'
If those cracks weren't filled, it wouldn't be surprising if one whole side collapsed.
He drew closer and examined the rock protruding from the wall.
A rock with an oddly blue surface.
"Huh."
Then Jin Hyeok's eyes widened as realization dawned.
"Owner?"
His hands grew busy.
He pulled out his phone, waving it around to catch a signal.
Finally latching on, he quickly opened the 'All About Towers' site.
"Whoa."
He compared the displayed photo with the mineral.
No doubt about it.
This was udium.
Pure udium ore had a blue sheen.
Only after shattering did udium reveal its smooth sparkle.
Standing up, Jin Hyeok scanned the surroundings in a wide circle.
Scattered here and there were no small amounts of udium ore.
'The 44th floor.'
There had once been a post that set the site ablaze.
-# The mineral in Despair Tower's 44th floor is udium.
Players who cleared the 44th first hadn't recognized it due to differences in fragments and color, but a player with appraisal traits had identified it.
Of course, the presence of the mineral didn't mean it could be mined.
The post had drawn massive attention, leading high-level players to re-enter the 44th floor and attempt various methods, but the system blocked every try.
"Seira. Can you smash this for me once?"
Nodding, Seira swung her sword at the ore.
'Break. Break. Break.'
In the meantime, Jin Hyeok prayed fervently.
Please, no system messages. Please, let this ore shatter normally into udium fragments.
Crack-crunch!
The moment Seira's sword struck, a harsh rupture echoed, and the ore split apart.
Shards crumbled and tumbled to the side.
With trembling hands, Jin Hyeok picked up a piece.
Definite.
This was the udium fragment he'd sold at the general store earlier today.
Ding!
His heart sank at the alert sound.
Were transfer zones like the Tower interior, where mining was impossible?
[The intact udium ore has been shattered! The hallucinatory fog emanating from the ore dissipates!]
The source of the fog inducing hallucinatory status effects.
It seemed udium was to blame, after all.
But that wasn't the important part.
Calming his heart, Jin Hyeok broke into a smile.
"Let's head home."
"You're not moving in?"
"Nah."
The system hadn't taken the udium fragment from his hand.
Which meant.
"Let's do it today."
He'd struck a jackpot.
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T/N:
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