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Chapter 2
March 19, 2024.
Everything was exactly the same as it had been three years ago.
Clearing the Tower of Trials.
That had not meant the end of the catastrophe.
It only meant one thing.
Returning to the past.
That was all.
There was no other reward.
Hoping for some special ability would have been too greedy.
“A return to the past…”
The tower had never truly been a disaster in the first place.
The old ancient book had already presented the choice.
Even the tower’s system never expected humanity to stop the great catastrophe on its first attempt.
“Why did it have to be me?”
But honestly, the answer was obvious.
The system did not choose me.
I was simply the one who survived after clearing the 100th floor.
“If they were going to send me back, they could’ve at least sent me back ten years.”
I could not help but wonder what could possibly change in only three years.
Three years was not a long time.
After reaching the 100th floor, it only took one year for all of Korea’s hunters to be wiped out.
And within the next two years, that same tragedy would happen again.
Three years.
Far too short to change everything.
Yet the tower system only sent me back three years.
Of course, the reason for that was already obvious too.
Today was the exact day I first awakened.
Even if I had gone back ten years, what could I have done before awakening?
If someone who awakened ten years ago had cleared the 100th floor, would they have returned ten years into the past?
I turned my head toward the window.
Unfortunately, I felt nothing special.
The familiar view outside my home looked no different from before my return.
Even though countless hunters died after the 100th floor, ordinary people’s lives had not changed much.
They simply lived each day anxiously.
Still, the hunters who died in the future were all alive right now.
I picked up my phone again.
There were barely any contacts saved.
Just my family and a few friends.
Even during my hunter days, I never really made companions.
Because of that, even after returning three years into the past, there was no one I desperately wanted to see again.
Everything around me remained the same.
Only time itself had gone back three years.
Except for one thing.
I still remembered everything.
“Still, it’s nice seeing this furniture layout again.”
A small villa apartment.
Though it was more than enough space for one person.
Back then, I had been living alone and living an ordinary life.
It was also the time when I had just quit my company job and was preparing to switch careers.
And right at that moment, I awakened.
“What did I do after first awakening?”
I searched through my memories.
The things I did around this time three years ago.
Slowly, the memories started coming back.
The first thing I remembered was the shock of awakening.
Surprise.
Confusion.
Unless someone was completely emotionless, most people probably reacted the same way.
The joy of becoming an awakened person only came afterward.
But right now, my emotions were completely different.
I had not awakened suddenly without knowing anything.
I had already spent three years as a hunter.
I had even experienced the top floor of the tower.
And I knew exactly what kind of future was waiting ahead.
“So what am I supposed to do now?”
Back then, I had not been in a position to change anything.
A growth-type hunter.
That was what people called me.
But despite the impressive title, my growth had been painfully slow.
By the time I finally reached my full potential, everything had already been destroyed.
But now things were different.
The biggest difference was that I already knew how to grow stronger.
“First, I need to get an ancient artifact.”
My awakening skill.
Summoning.
And the beings I summoned were dragons.
Mad monsters capable of wiping out even the 100th floor boss in a single attack.
I was a hunter who controlled creatures like that.
Of course, it was not as simple as summoning them whenever I wanted.
Ancient artifacts.
The medium needed to summon dragons.
I needed one first.
So I headed straight for the tower.
***
The atmosphere around the tower was completely different from before my return.
There were no desperate people praying for the 100th floor to be cleared.
Only hunters casually entering and leaving the tower as part of their daily routine.
The Tower of Trials.
The place where the ancient artifact I needed was hidden.
Of course, “hidden” meant nothing to me now.
I had already memorized every location where those artifacts appeared.
[Would you like to enter the Tower of Trials?]
The Tower of Trials.
No one stopped people from entering this place.
It was an equal opportunity given to everyone.
Failing inside the tower did not harm others.
As long as someone cleared the top floor before the time limit, that was enough.
If someone recklessly entered and died, that responsibility belonged to them alone.
“I’m entering.”
[You have entered Floor 1.]
The first floor of the Tower of Trials.
I never thought I would step into this place again.
“Kiiik! A human!”
“Kill! Human!”
The moment I entered, five goblins welcomed me.
Back then, they would not even have been worth a punch.
But now things were completely different.
This was my first day after awakening.
And I was only an E-Rank hunter.
“I’ll deal with you guys later.”
I said it confidently, but right now all I could do was run.
With my current physical abilities, if those monsters caught me, I would die before I could even change the future.
I desperately ran toward the location of the artifact while relying on my memories.
The five goblins chased closely behind me.
“Die, human!”
A goblin’s sword barely grazed my back.
Without knowing their own fate, they excitedly chased after me while I ran away.
“Just wait a little longer. You’re all dead soon anyway.”
The first floor of the tower was not very large.
In less than a minute, I reached the location from my memories.
And there it was.
An old box.
Thankfully, my memory had been correct.
I quickly opened the lid.
Inside was a small dagger glowing with blue light.
An ancient artifact.
The Bronze Sword.
“Found it.”
[Summon Rank: E-Rank]
[Summoning an attack-type dragon using the Bronze Sword as a medium.]
[Summon Limit: 1/1]
“Grrrr…”
A Red Dragon appeared before me.
Unlike the dragon in my memories, this one was small.
At best, it was only about the size of a human.
“Oh right. I forgot about this.”
After getting used to giant dragons over dozens of meters long, seeing such a tiny dragon felt strangely awkward.
Still, even a dragon of this size was more than enough to deal with goblins.
“Kill all of them.”
“Grrrr…”
A small breath attack burst from its mouth.
Though the flames were small, their power was far from weak.
The goblins chasing me could not even react before they were engulfed in fire.
The monsters rolled across the ground while burning, but their movements quickly stopped.
[You have successfully cleared Floor 1 of the Tower of Trials.]
The familiar system message appeared.
***
The Hunter Management Bureau located in Seoul.
Just like before, the office was quiet.
At this point in time, newly awakened people were still rare.
“I’m here to have my rank measured.”
“Wow. It’s been a while since we’ve had a new awakened person.”
The female employee greeted me with an excited expression.
She looked happy to finally have something to do.
She guided me to the testing room.
“Congratulations on awakening. Your future must be full of success now.”
“I wonder about that.”
A successful future?
No one could possibly imagine what was going to happen later.
“Please place your hand here and use the ability you’re most confident in. And just so you won’t worry…”
“There’s no need to explain. I already know.”
“You already know?”
The thing people worried about most during rank measurement…
Was whether their awakening skill might break the machine.
But there was no need to worry since the device directly absorbed the awakened person’s power.
I used to come here often for rank reassessments.
I knew all of this already.
I grabbed the Bronze Sword.
[Summon Rank: E-Rank]
[Summoning an attack-type dragon using the Bronze Sword as a medium.]
[Summon Limit: 1/1]
A loud noise suddenly came from the measurement device before it quickly quieted down.
Since the machine absorbed the mana to measure rank, the dragon itself was not summoned.
“Please wait a moment. Your rank will appear shortly.”
I looked toward the display above.
“Ding.”
[You have been measured as an E-Rank Hunter.]
“So you’re E-Rank. Please fill out your personal information on this form and we’ll register it right away.”
Her voice became noticeably less interested as she handed me the paperwork.
A newly awakened hunter had appeared after such a long time, but the result was only E-Rank.
She had probably already lost interest.
But I would be visiting this place regularly in the future.
And I still remembered clearly how that woman’s expression gradually changed each time.
Normally, awakening rank was decided purely by luck.
Some people awakened as S-Rank from the very beginning.
Others awakened as F-Rank and spent their lives carrying luggage.
Once a rank was decided, it never changed.
But I was different.
As my summons grew stronger, my own skill rank increased as well.
That was why I had to visit this place repeatedly for reassessment.
When my rank first changed from E-Rank to D-Rank, no one cared much.
People simply assumed there had been an error during the first test.
But as it kept happening again and again, people slowly realized it was not a mistake.
A hunter whose rank actually grew stronger.
Of course people were shocked.
The attention reached its peak when I grew from B-Rank to A-Rank.
People even started asking if I might eventually become S-Rank.
And in the end, I truly did reach S-Rank.
Though by then, the Hunter Management Bureau had already lost control of the situation.
An E-Rank hunter.
But eventually, I would become an S-Rank hunter.
For now, all I could do was shorten the time it took compared to my previous life.
Returning only three years into the past.
Reaching that same point again would happen in an instant.
