T7RFHE 12💸

Chapter 12

Moments later.

Whish! Slash!

「Screeeech!」

Having arrived near the Seongshindan Tower, Jang Su-nam swiftly cut down the Necro Bakeries swarming the area.

Despite the sweet aroma they gave off, their grotesque decorations were made from human organs and severed body parts baked into pastries.

Worse yet, their weakness—the core—was never in the same spot, forcing hunters to strike them at least twice.

Crash! Thud!

「Kiiieeek!」

Of course, being able to take one down in only two hits was nothing short of astonishing.

Other hunters needed entire teams working together, striking dozens of times, to fell just a single Necro Bakery.

“Did you see that crow mask guy? His skills are insane.”
“Two hits… just two hits! He must be ridiculously overleveled.”

The hunters murmured in awe. It was only a matter of time before news of his feat reached Baekui Authority.

“Wait, could that be the infamous Crow Hunter?”
“No way… is that really him?”
“With that kind of strength, it has to be.”

Apparently, some hunters had even begun impersonating him.

‘Good. Just as planned. The more imitators there are, the easier it will be to conceal my true identity.’

Ignoring their chatter, Jang Su-nam prepared to move on.

But as with all rising fame, trouble soon followed.

“Finally found you!”

‘Hm?’

A stranger he didn’t recognize shouted from afar.

“There! Over there!”

And from several directions, more figures began converging on him.

‘What now…?’

Su-nam tensed, ready to act.

But instead of hostility—

“The Crow Hunter really showed up, huh?”
“Hey, I got here first! Don’t butt in!”

They weren’t here to fight.

“Greetings, Crow Hunter. I’m with the recruitment division of Glory Guild. Do you happen to be unaffiliated?”
“Even if you’ve already joined somewhere else, it’s fine! Just sign with Steel Guild too—we allow dual membership!”
“Back off! I called dibs!”

From every direction, guild scouts surrounded him, desperate to recruit.

So far, he had only been a rumor, a fleeting shadow. But now that confirmed sightings spread, the guilds wasted no time sending out teams.

‘Persistent pests….’

In this new world, powerful star hunters meant prestige and massive value. Since guilds were still in their infancy, everyone was scrambling to secure talent before others could.

‘I don’t have time to get bogged down in this mess.’

He sprinted toward a narrow gap between buildings he’d marked earlier.

“Ah!”

The scouts chased after him, but the passage was far too narrow for many to pass at once.

“Move!”
“You move!”

While they fought over space, an ominous screech echoed.

「Kiiiiek!」

A Necro Bakery appeared from the opposite end of the passage.

“Oh shit! Back up! Back up!”
“Fall back, fall back!”

Fighting such a monster in that cramped space was suicide. In their scramble to escape, they completely lost track of Jang Su-nam.

Not long after.

Having shaken them off, Su-nam gazed up at the towering structure before him.

‘Five hundred and fifty meters, maybe more… about the same as Lotte World Tower.’

This tower would later become one of the most challenging raid sites for hunters.

But unlike ordinary towers, this one was made entirely of confectionery.

‘First playthrough… I really suffered here.’

Its foundation was reinforced with rock-hard ice cream and pastries, yet mixed with brittle, fragile sweets. Step on the wrong spot, and you could plummet all the way back down to the first floor.

‘But every puzzle has a trick.’

Ting~!

He flipped a coin several times. With heads and tails alternating evenly, his luck was balanced—neither blessed nor cursed. Perfect.

Satisfied, he pulled out the Returnee’s Journal.

Meanwhile, inside the confectionery tower’s stairways, the 1st Security Team of Baekui Authority raced desperately upward.

“Run! Faster!”
“Climb before it collapses!”

The stairs were a gamble—some solid as ice, others fragile as sugar glass.

After countless trials, hunters had determined the traps held a maximum load of only 20 kilograms.

Which meant: ordinary adults had no chance of climbing safely.

“Gaaahhh!!”
“Team Leader! Tae-hee fell!”
“Leave her! She’ll respawn anyway! Keep running!”

One by one, members plunged into the abyss, but the survivors pressed on.

Their mission: reach the summit and confirm the existence of a vaccine. Their orders came directly from Lee In-ja, commander of the Baekui basecamp.

“If we fail, we’re dead men anyway! Run, even if it kills you!”

At last, they reached a stable middle floor. Relief spread—

Drrrrrum!

“Huh?”

From below, footsteps thundered upward.

And then they saw him.

A figure in a crow mask sprinting up the crumbling stairs—without falling.

Whish!

In a blur, he surged past them, ascending without hesitation.

“What the hell?! Why isn’t he falling?”

It was as though he already knew which steps would collapse.

But more than that—his fearless stride, flowing as if in rhythm with the tower itself, looked like a dance.

“Wait… isn’t that the Crow Hunter from the rumors?”
“The one every guild wants to recruit first?”

Now they understood. Watching him ascend was enough to explain his reputation.

But realization brought panic.

“Team Leader! What if he reaches the vaccine first?”
“Damn it! Run! RUN!”

Whipped into a frenzy, the exhausted team forced themselves upward once more. Their reckless strategy: outrun the collapsing stairs.

Yet by the 125th floor, their stamina failed.

Ruuuumble!

“Uwaaaahhh!”

The tower swallowed them whole.

Some time later.

At the summit, Jang Su-nam stepped into the top chamber, unharmed.

Ordinary hunters would have been trapped by countless traps here, but with the Journal’s walkthrough, he moved effortlessly.

“Just as I thought. The journal never fails.”

He had projected the tower’s exact strategy from its pages, following the guide as if retracing his own footsteps.

Then his eyes turned toward the centerpiece:

A massive fountain, not of water, but of shimmering golden powder flowing endlessly.

‘Back then, I never imagined… that this golden misugaru could prevent and cure the zombie virus.’

The tower had long been dismissed as worthless. Hunters had once scoffed—risking their lives for nothing more than golden grain powder.

But when its true effect came to light, the fountain had already vanished.

Foreign guilds tried smuggling it overseas, but their ship was sunk by monsters at sea.

Later, Su-nam had retrieved scraps of the powder for Baekui Authority. The rest of the story… ended in tragedy.

‘This time, things will be different.’

He pulled out an empty bottle, scooped misugaru into it—then placed his hand on the fountain.

“Store.”

With a flash, the entire fountain vanished into his inventory.

The system’s limitless storage meant even massive objects could be taken, so long as they weren’t bound or sealed.

‘As long as ownership is intact, even something this big is mine to keep.’

Which also meant:

‘Baekui Authority will never get their hands on the cure. Their plans end here.’

But he knew better than to relax.

‘I still need to bring them down completely.’

“Guess it’s time to smash their basecamp.”

He turned to leave—

[Extreme Fortune has activated.]

Tock!

A pebble rolled beneath his foot, clattering into a pile of broken pottery.

Ordinarily, he wouldn’t care. But with the system’s warning, his instincts flared.

He crouched down, shifting shards aside.

And then—

‘This is…!’

[One-time Lucky Jewel]
┗ Increases Luck for a single use.
┗ Expires after 12 hours if unused.

‘A hidden item… buried under debris?’

Luck items were rare treasures, especially unranked ones like this.

But there was one catch.

Time limit.

‘Before 12 hours are up… I need to summon something worthwhile.’