Chapter 17: Contribution Points
Tower of Fate, Floor 20.
Kobold Spear Knight's Hut.
"Hyung, are we really doing okay?"
Three rookie Hunters were struggling against a group of Kobolds.
They had awakened as E-rank Hunters and formed their party only a month ago.
Reaching Floor 20 already was an impressive achievement.
"Of course! Look at us. We're already on Floor 20."
"But why is this so scary?"
"Don't panic. More importantly, you prepared properly for Floor 20, right? Let's clear only Floor 20 today and retreat. No pushing ourselves."
"Of course!"
"We memorized Heavenly Demon's Floor 20 guide word for word!"
The three encouraged one another and worked together.
Kim Junsu, the leader of the three-man Tower party, tried to raise morale.
"Once we break through Floor 20, you guys might be able to wear equipment worth hundreds of millions like me."
Kim Junsu proudly puffed out his chest.
His teammates looked at him with envy and jealousy.
"The Floor 20 Boss has a sharp spear, so I'll take the front. Everyone, stay alert!"
With that, Kim Junsu's party boldly set out to clear Floor 20.
Two of them were E-rank.
But their leader, Kim Junsu, had awakened a C-rank ability.
Floor 20 shouldn't be a problem.
The only reason he'd managed to obtain gear worth nearly one hundred million won was because he'd taken out loans after awakening as a C-rank Hunter.
I took out Hunter loans and even a mortgage for this gear, but... it doesn't matter. I'll earn everything back by climbing the Tower.
He had heard that once you somehow reached Floor 50, simply hunting there could make you rich very quickly.
"Hyung, what's that above your head? It says 'Low-Rank Soldier.'"
"You have one too."
"Me too."
The three tilted their heads.
There had been nothing like that yesterday.
When they looked around, every Hunter nearby had [Low-Rank Soldier] floating above their heads.
"Maybe it's something added to help rookie Hunters?"
"Ah."
They dismissed it as nothing important.
Filled with excitement, Kim Junsu's party fought their way toward the Kobold hut.
·
Graaaah!
·
Finally, they encountered Floor 20's Boss, the Kobold Spear Knight.
But then...
Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew!
"Hm? What's that sound...?"
A piercing noise tore through their ears.
For an instant, everything around them seemed to turn red.
"Wait, that's not an illusion!"
Red beams erupted from behind the Kobold Spear Knight.
They swept through the hut and the Boss, reducing them to ash in an instant.
The beams still hadn't lost any energy.
They continued straight through Kim Junsu's party.
"R-Run...!"
Fwoosh.
"Aaagh!"
"Kyaa!"
The two party members closest to Kim Junsu followed him into death.
Hiss...
The moment the red beams touched them, only white ash remained.
But then...
"Gasp!"
Kim Junsu suddenly opened his eyes inside his tiny studio apartment.
"I-I'm alive."
He touched his body and pinched his cheek.
A moment ago, he'd been inside the Tower and died after being hit by a strange beam.
Was it a dream?
If so, thank God.
Then all the equipment I bought with Hunter loans and my mortgage should still be there, right?
Kim Junsu opened his Hunter's Inventory to check.
"...It's gone?"
He looked around.
Rubbed his eyes.
Checked again.
Still nothing.
Bzzzt.
His smartphone vibrated.
He answered.
·
Junsu hyung! My equipment disappeared!
·
"Did you have the dream too?"
·
Dream...?
·
"The dream where a laser killed us!"
·
Wait. Then that wasn't a dream...
·
"It was real!"
·
W-What do I do? I even took out a mortgage!
·
"You too?"
·
Wait, then Junsu hyung, your life is also...
·
Their lives sank together beneath the surface.
Unable to accept this injustice, Kim Junsu immediately opened HunVen.
[Title: My Equipment Suddenly Disappeared!]
[Author: TowerClimbingNewbie]
·
I went to Floor 20, everything suddenly turned red, and then I woke up at home. I checked my inventory and all my equipment was gone. What happened? Give my equipment back!
·
[Comments: 24]
·
Huh? Me too!
·
·
Same thing happened to me. Please restore my equipment.
·
·
? Are you idiots? You died and the Tower revived you. Now you're demanding the gear back too?
·
┗You expect me to believe the Tower revived us?
It wasn't the only post.
[Title: Guys, What the Hell Was That Just Now???]
·
I seriously thought I died, but then I woke up at home. Is this insane or what?
·
[Title: Me Too. I Just Revived.]
·
My body doesn't have a single wound. Is this the new safe PvP system? But we weren't even doing PvP.
·
Comments flooded in by the second.
·
Huh? Same thing happened to me on Floor 20.
·
·
Me too! Me too! What was that laser?
·
·
Were all of you on Floor 20? I was too.
·
·
Did some Ranker pass by and accidentally shoot us?
·
·
Wait, then were we treated as monsters???
·
┗If that's true, this is ridiculously unfair.
·
I'm glad I'm alive, but I almost had a heart attack.
·
"PvP...!"
Kim Junsu roughly understood what had happened.
The incident caused a huge debate about the PvP system.
But one thing became clear to everyone.
From now on, climbing the Tower would be completely different from before.
My house.
"Hm? Contribution Points?"
I checked the system message again.
[Low-Rank Soldier defeated.]
[Contribution Points x100 acquired.]
Low-Rank Soldier? Wasn't that a Kobold?
Maybe it was a Kobold Low-Rank Soldier?
I wasn't sure exactly what I'd killed.
Whatever.
It was probably a monster.
Oh, right.
I remembered reading that PvP gave Contribution Points.
But I didn't PvP anyone.
Would I kill people just to earn some points?
Only psychopaths did that.
It didn't suit a kind, law-abiding citizen like me.
