Entering the association building was a hassle during the morning rush hour. That was even more apparent today since many were here to witness the Angela Guild's departure ceremony.
"We, the Angela Guild, will conquer the Tower!" A guild member shouted as the audience below watched with bated breath. The entire building was filled with so many agog hunters that Gi-Gyu had to spend an eternity just to get in.
"I'm here!" Gi-Gyu announced.
"There you are, Gi-Gyu." The guide department's head, Oh Tae-Shik greeted him.
Gi-Gyu greeted him as well and sat down. After settling down, he exchanged pleasantries with the other hunters present in the room.
"Hi, Gi-Gyu."
"Kim Gi-Gyu, long time no see."
Hyun-Shik, a short guy, and Tae-Oh, a sharp-looking man, were seated near Tae-Shik.
"Oh, hey." Gi-Gyu gave them a half-assed greeting.
Usually, the position of being an association guide was temporary. Players often took this as a part-time gig until they reached a certain level. It was certainly not a long-term career for most. This was why all the other guides quit not long after starting the job. Of course, this was the case for everyone except Gi-Gyu.
Tae-Oh and Hyun-Shik were newbie guides . And since newbie guides never tarried in this place, Gi-Gyu never took the time to befriend them.
"Are you leaving right now?" Tae-Shik asked Gi-Gyu.
"Yes, I'm taking my group from yesterday to the second floor," replied Gi-Gyu.
"Oh, haven't you heard? Those customers asked for a new guide; this will be your last trip with them. Someone new will accompany them from tomorrow," informed Tae-Shik.
"Why?" Gi-Gyu asked curiously.
Everyone was enjoying themselves yesterday, Gi-Gyu didn't make any mistakes, and the Players followed his instructions very well, so why indeed.
"They said they couldn't trust you. I think they must've heard the rumor," Tae-Shik explained.
"Oh..." Gi-Gyu smiled bitterly.
That rumor had cost Gi-Gyu many customers recently. He didn't know who began such a rumor, but there was nothing much he could do about it, even if he knew. After all, the rumor was true.
"Tae-Oh will be taking over after today. Still, break a leg today!" Tae-Shik encouraged Gi-Gyu.
On the other hand, Tae-Oh apologized to Gi-Gyu with a blank face, "I'm sorry."
"Nah. There's nothing you need to be sorry about."
"But I still feel like I'm stealing your customers, so I feel bad," Tae-Oh answered emotionlessly. If a stranger saw this interaction, they would've thought that Tae-Oh was being sarcastic. But, Gi-Gyu knew better.
'He just has a quiet personality.'
Tae-Oh was one of those ever stoic and honest types. Gi-Gyu knew he genuinely felt sorry for what had happened.
"Well, I'll take my leave now. See you guys later." It was time to meet the client Players, so Gi-Gyu stood up.
"Don't worry about it too much. You already have new customers scheduled, so think of it as a blessing," Tae-Shik consoled Gi-Gyu.
"Thank you."
The other guides also said their farewells, "Take care, Gi-Gyu."
"Have a safe hunt, Gi-Gyu."
Everyone felt sorry for Gi-Gyu. They knew about his family situation, how hard he worked, and what an upright man he was. They wanted to help him, but no amount of help could make him start leveling up. Unfortunately, there was no place in this world for a player who couldn't level up.
"Tsk." Tae-Shik clicked his tongue in pity as he watched Gi-Gyu walk out the door.
***
"I see everyone came early," Gi-Gyu said to the players, who were waiting for him at the designated spot. Gi-Gyu was 20 minutes early, but it seemed he was still the last one to arrive.
"Yeah. I was so excited about climbing the second floor that I couldn't sleep last night!" one player exclaimed.
"Me too!" another player chimed in.
"I bought plenty of potions just for today," the third player announced enthusiastically.
Gi-Gyu couldn't help but smile bitterly at the players. This wasn't the first time his customers had canceled his services. Still, Gi-Gyu announced with a gentle smile akin to a kind teacher, "The second floor is dangerous, so don't let your guard down. Everyone needs to focus," and began leading the group.
"Okay!" The players answered with vigor.
***
"This is the door?"
"It looks just like how it was described to me." The players chatted as they stood in front of the giant clunky door. The five stories tall steel door seemed like a haphazard build; Gi-Gyu even pushed it open with little effort.
Creak.
When it opened with a squeaking sound, the players admired the scene out loud. "Wow…"
"It's so pretty!"
The sight withheld by those doors was indeed awe-inspiring. The starry sky inside seemed even more brilliant and lively than the one outside. It was a stark contrast to the all-blue Gate.
"Now, stop staring, and please get inside quickly." Gi-Gyu walked in first, followed by the other players.
"This is the second floor?" one of the players asked.
As soon as they were inside, the scenery changed suddenly. They found themselves amid an endless forest with mammoth trees.
"The Tower is so magical," one player commented.
"It's not just the Tower. Just think about how the Gate, the players, and all those other magical things appeared out of the blue. No one knows the answer to the why or the how. We are still as clueless about the Tower as we were 23 years ago when it first appeared," Gi-Gyu explained.
Why did the Tower suddenly appear? What about the Gates? And why did some people awaken as players? It seemed no one found the answers to these questions in the last 23 years. A rumor suggested that the truth would all be revealed when the players ascended to the higher floors, but nothing had been confirmed so far.
"I heard that Angela Guild will try to climb higher, so I hope they find something," said a player filled with hope for the unknown.
"I'm more worried about that S-Class Gate that appeared in the US," another player added.
"Why should we worry about that?! If it goes down, it will be the US that goes down with it, not our country."
"Hey, but people will still end up dying."
The players discussed the recent events loudly. Gi-Gyu wasn't much interested since they were talking about the things he already knew. Guessing this conversation was never going to end, he began walking ahead as he explained, "Okay. I'm about to repeat the basic info regarding the second floor, so listen carefully. This floor houses monsters known as orcs. They look different from the goblins, but they have similar abilities. Their combat power and speed…"
"Combat power and speed?" one of the players asked.
"Yes, the orcs have greater combat skills than the goblins, but they're slower. So, a single hit from an orc can cause fatal damage, but it will be easy to dodge," when Gi-Gyu explained. The players from the client group nodded as they followed him.
***
"The orcs on the second-floor use clubs instead of glaives. This will hold true until you reach the fourth floor, so get yourself acquainted with the orc's fighting style here." When Gi-Gyu gave this instruction, his students answered, "Yes, Sir!"
Thud!
A player's sword hit an orc's club, making it dart out of the orc's hand. Another player took this opening to stab the orc.
Shink!
"Chweek!" The orc screamed.
"Orcs are pretty resilient, so you mustn't let your guard down until it's completely beheaded or you're certain it's dead. An orc without its weapon can still be deadly," Gi-Gyu explained.
The players swung their swords one at a time at the retreating orc. After sustaining numerous wounds, the orc collapsed, and its green blood soaked the ground underneath.
"Yay! I leveled up," a player exclaimed.
"You leveled up faster than I did." When another player commented with curiosity, Gi-Gyu explained. "Congratulations. Every player requires a different amount of experience points to level up. But this doesn't mean the players with lower experience requirements are better."
"Really?" the player who thought otherwise asked.
"Indeed. The Tower's rules are pretty fair. If a player's experience requirement is lower, he'll tend to have lower skills or a slower growth rate. There would always be something else that creates a proper balance. Most of the famous rankers usually have incredibly high experience requirements." When Gi-Gyu explained, the player who asked the question nodded in understanding. "Oh…"
"So don't be so happy when your growth at the beginner's stage is fast. In fact, you should try to make an even greater effort. But of course, some powerful players don't have to follow these rules. Do you know what I'm talking about?" Gi-Gyu asked.
"Oh!" A player who seemed to know the answer exclaimed. He replied, "The unique ability holders."
"That's right! I knew that too!" another player added.
"They aren't considered your average players. Unique ability owners are special and powerful existences, which means their strength can't be measured by numerical levels or stats." Gi-Gyu explained, but he didn't add that he was the weakest player despite being a unique ability holder.
"Gosh, it would've been great if we had unique abilities too," one player lamented.
"Totally. Most unique ability holders are either rankers or high rankers, right?" another player concurred.
Did they know how Gi-Gyu felt? Were they doing this on purpose to torment him? The players continued to chat about the unique ability holders, but Gi-Gyu looked around without paying attention to them. Part of a guide's job was to be a lookout when the players took breaks.
'Everything seems okay here.'
He inspected his surroundings carefully, but he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Sometimes, a sudden horde of beasts or revived monsters could spread panic among the newbie players. At times like those, the guide's duty was to lead them to safety.
'It should be okay as long as a guardian doesn't show up.'
Every floor had a guardian, also called the "boss monster." Only a guild or a large group of players could hunt these creatures because they tend to be much more powerful than their respective floors. But they were rarely seen, which was why there weren't many hunting parties that specifically targeted them.
Gi-Gyu continued to study the area as he announced to the other players, "Let's head out now!"
***
"Thank you for your hard work again today." Gi-Gyu thanked the other players.
"You too, Guide!"
"The player who got hurt should visit the hospital. I know we treated him with a potion, but he might have injured his bones or nerves," Gi-Gyu advised them.
"Got it!"
After the day's work, Gi-Gyu checked his old wristwatch.
'It's late.'
Today's work took longer than he expected because one of the players got seriously injured. Thankfully, Gi-Gyu performed a successful first aid; his appointment took much longer than he had planned.
'I don't think I can hunt today.'
It was a little too late for him to do his daily solo hunt, but this wasn't all that bad. Gi-Gyu knew Tae-Shik would make sure he got paid overtime. Gi-Gyu said his goodbye to the players and left the Tower.
"It was a long day, huh?" Tae-Shik asked when Gi-Gyu returned to the office.
"Yeah, someone got hurt in the middle of the session," Gi-Gyu explained.
"Did you treat him properly?"
"Yes."
Gi-Gyu checked the time and realized that he had taken an additional three hours to finish his job today. Then, Tae-Shik handed him 20,000 won for his troubles.
"This is too much, but I'll still accept it. Thank you!" Gi-Gyu answered as he smiled playfully.
Ever since Gi-Gyu became a hunter at 18, Tae-Shik was the one person Gi-Gyu could always count on. In the beginning, Gi-Gyu felt frustrated when he couldn't level up. And the daily brushes with death he suffered were of no help to that frustration and annoyance. Then one day, he was returning home with a minor injury. Since he didn't have the money for potions, Gi-Gyu's wound was left untreated. It was on that fateful day that he met Tae-Shik.
It was Tae-Shik who offered Gi-Gyu the guide position at the association. Whenever he could, Tae-Shik tried to pay him extra. Tae-Shik also took care of the hospital bill when Gi-Gyu's mother needed emergency treatment.
"I know it's hard now, but be patient. I'm sure things will get better," Tae-Shik encouraged Gi-Gyu.
"Thank you." Gi-Gyu thanked him, and Tae-Shik replied with a warm smile. He was one of the few people other than his family whom Gi-Gyu could depend on.
"Oh, I almost forgot, Gi-Gyu. We have a new customer who specifically requested you by name."