I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Inherited the 1st Floor of the Dungeon of the Tower – Episode 1

The first.
A word that captivates everyone.
And if you add SSS-rank to that?
Capturing the world’s attention becomes as easy as eating cold porridge.

“Kang Ha-jin! Please look this way!”
“Korea’s first to awaken as SSS-rank…”
“You’ve awakened as the world’s third SSS-rank after the United States and China. How do you feel right now?”
“The news that you’ve joined ‘Taesan,’ Korea’s truly supreme guild…”

Just like me right now.

“Please step aside. I’m busy.”

I was confident.
A 100-floor Tower that appeared in the world?

Ding!
【Name: Kang Ha-jin】
【Level: 4】
【Trait: Knight of the Night (SSS)】
Stage 1 – Night Vision: Stats increase by 300% when there is no sunlight.
Stage 2 – Unlocks at Level 10.

With this power, I could conquer every floor of the Tower within five years.
After earning massive wealth from clearing the Tower.
I would live lavishly in a grand mansion, raising adorable pets.

But the moment I entered the 5th Floor, my dreams shattered completely.

-Exposed to sunlight.
-The hidden penalty of Knight of the Night is revealed.
-Excessive sunlight exposure causes a 90% decrease in stats.

“What?”

A hidden penalty, of all things.
And I wasn’t the only one shocked by this revelation.

“What? You expect to clear The Tower while carrying such a penalty? Forget the contract. Get out.”

When Ahn Jae-jun’s gaze fell upon me—the guild master of Taesan and South Korea’s only S-rank Hunter—I understood the truth.
My life was over.

Click, click, click, click, click, click!

“Hunter Kang Ha-jin, please look this way!”
“Is it true that you’ve been expelled from Taesan and owe 2 billion won in breach penalties?”

Once Taesan discovered the nature of my penalty, they immediately terminated the contract and demanded a staggering breach fee, claiming I was at fault.
Since I was still in the early stages of my membership and hadn’t received proper support from the guild, I had every right to feel wronged.
I tried appealing my case through every channel, including the media.
Perhaps it was Taesan Guild’s media manipulation at work.
I, who had once been the nation’s “sacred figure,” had somehow become a convenient punching bag.
All I received in return was ridicule—why did I have to awaken such a useless ability?

“With this money, you can only afford a basement room. Tsk, what a shame for a young man.”

Right after being expelled from Taesan, I sold my apartment first.
I needed to pay off the sudden breach penalty, and my house was my greatest asset.
My parents had left it to me, but what choice did I have?
Taesan Guild was composed of high-level Hunters.
If they decided to come after me, they’d really do it.

“Cough, cough! Ugh, this mana is suffocating. Anyway, this place is near The Black Land, right on the boundary line, so you should be able to survive here. Well then, I’m off.”

And so I moved to what they called a “Tower view”—a place where The Tower was visible from my window.
Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
Not at all.
First, when The Tower appeared, it unleashed such tremendous mana that the area around it became The Black Land, uninhabitable for ordinary people.
Moreover, The Tower must update its latest floor every three months, and if it fails, The Tower collapses and spews out corrupted mana.
In other words, the place I’d moved to was a desolate wasteland that no sane person would ever choose to live in.

‘…Still, this used to be the most expensive neighborhood in the city.’

The Tower had a peculiar characteristic—it always manifested in the most densely populated areas.
In Korea’s case, that place was Seoul.
I gazed silently at Seoul, now a ghost city.
It seemed to mirror my own circumstances.
A life that had plummeted from the heights to the depths.

“Cough, cough!”

I hacked away while tidying up my dwelling.
Still, I had to think positively.
Even if it’s near the Black Land… having a place to stay is something.
In this weather, sleeping on the streets would be a quick way to catch my death.

“Damn it. What’s so good about any of this?”

Zing—.

My phone rang at that moment.
I checked the screen. It was the Taesan Guild.

[Your remaining penalty fee is 1,989,120,000 won.]

They were demanding I pay the penalty.
Nearly two billion won in total.
Just looking at that figure made me sigh involuntarily.

‘Ugh, what can I do? Still, I have to survive somehow.’

This precious life of mine that I’d somehow managed to endure.
I suppressed a cough and changed into my armor.

“Well, let’s go then.”

I fastened my sword to my waist and opened my mouth.

“Enter the Tower. 4th Floor.”

Ding!
【Entering the 4th Floor.】

Whoosh—!

The moment the System Message appeared, the scenery before my eyes transformed.

Ding!
【4th Floor Clear Condition: Defeat 30 Vampire Bats.】

Unlike the 5th Floor I couldn’t conquer, the 4th Floor had a cave theme.
It was the most profitable floor where my job abilities truly shined.
Even if I picked up and sold magic stones, it only amounted to 500,000 won a day.
But wasn’t that something?
I just needed to run like a madman for fifteen years.
The fortunate part was that the 4th Floor was a breeze with my skill.

“Right. This is better than going to some convenience store hauling water. I heard Hunters even desert if they get water-logged.”

Screech, screech, screech!

The cries of bats echoed from all directions.
Because it was a cave, the sound reverberated, making it difficult to pinpoint their locations.
The darkness was compounded by the scarcity of light.
For this reason, the 4th Floor was where most novice Hunters gave up on clearing.
And naturally.

“Night Vision.”

That didn’t apply to me.

Ding!
【Sunlight is absent.】
【Skill ‘Night Vision’ activation condition has been met.】
【Skill ‘Night Vision’ is now active.】
-Nocturnal vision acquired.
-Stat increase of 300%.

Whoosh—!

My darkened vision suddenly blazed with clarity.
This was my skill—Night Vision.

‘These bastards… I was already in a foul mood from that text message, and now they’ve walked right into my trap.’

Screech! Screech! Screech!

With my vision now clear, I could see the vampire bats diving toward me.
I drew the sword hanging at my waist with casual ease.

Shing!

“Come at me all at once today, you little rats. Let’s wrap this up quick.”

Boom!

As I poured my weight into my feet, the stone floor caved inward.
My enhanced body was the reason I could do that.

Crack!

I pushed off the ground with explosive force and unleashed my blade.

Szzzt!

One vampire bat desperately tried to alter its flight path, twisting its wings at the last moment.

Rip!

But with my strength and agility stats tripled, the sword I swung cleaved its body clean in half.

Thud. Thud.

Ding!
【You have hunted one vampire bat.】
-Remaining: 29.

Without even glancing at the falling corpse,
I immediately swung my blade again, finishing off the one lurking behind it.

Whoosh!

Ding!
【You have hunted one blood bat.】
-Remaining: 28.

It was the one that had used my colleague’s sacrifice as a stepping stone, diving toward my throat.

“Not today.”

This was my dozens, perhaps hundredth time clearing the 4th Floor.
If the system didn’t require clearing the next floor to level up,
I might have already reached level 40 instead of 4—like some web novel protagonist who maxed out by hunting nothing but slimes.

“Screeeee!”

The terrified bats thrashed about wildly.
Abandoning any semblance of formation, they shifted from hunting to pure survival.
I pursued them gleefully, swinging my blade in wide arcs.

Whoosh.
Crack!
Scrape.
Slash-slash-slash!

With each stroke of my sword, the bats in its path rained down like water.
I had no unique sword technique, but I didn’t need one.
The overwhelming stat difference meant a simple swing was enough to send them tumbling.

Ding!
Ding! Ding!
Ding…!

System messages chimed relentlessly.
For this moment at least, I forgot the melancholy that clung to me like a passive skill.
I simply immersed myself in swinging my blade toward the goal before my eyes.

Ding!
【You have hunted a blood bat.】
-Remaining: 1

“Hehehehe!”

Exhilarating.
Never grows old.
Yet somehow, it felt melancholic.
Because of this damned penalty, I couldn’t conquer the 5th Floor.

“Screech, screech…!”

Finally, I caught up to the last bat.
It fled with considerable effort, but we were inside the Cave.
Dead ends were inevitable here.

Whoosh—!

Watching it tremble drained my enthusiasm.
With nothing but thoughts of heading home, I swung my blade without hesitation.

Whoosh—!

That was the moment.

“Huh?”

Abruptly.
My blade came to a halt.

“Screech—!”

Thanks to that, the last remaining vampire bat managed to cling to life for a moment longer.
After all, we were inside the Cave.
As long as I had night vision, I could find it again whenever I wished, so I simply left it alone.
One last creature.
In other words, something far more captivating than clocking out stood right before my eyes.

‘A Treasure Chest hidden on the 4th Floor?’

A Treasure Chest.
A chest that had only been discovered three times in all of recorded history.
Within it lay extraordinary artifacts capable of upending the very balance of the Tower itself.
Ever since an American Hunter first discovered one a decade ago, it had become a term no Hunter ascending the Tower could afford to ignore.
My heart began to race uncontrollably.

‘James achieved the top ranking among American Hunters based on the rewards he obtained from that Treasure Chest.’

After calming my racing pulse, I decided to access Hunternet just in case.

Whoosh!

A window materialized before my eyes, much like a status window.
Unlike a typical status window, it was unmistakably a community interface straight out of the internet.

[Hunternet.]

I pressed the search button beside the logo prominently displayed at the top.

“Search using keywords: 4th Floor, Hidden Piece, Treasure Chest.”

[Search completed.]

Immediately, countless posts cascaded down the screen.

[Found a Treasure Chest on the 4th Floor.
-Author: Eokkeuro-gun.
(A rock that looks like a Treasure Chest.Jpg)]
Anonymous comment: Seriously?
Anonymous comment 2: Idiot.

[Is there really a Hidden Piece on the 4th Floor?]
-Author: Akeo-bap.
Anonymous comment: Nope, there isn’t. The Top Guilds finished investigating that ages ago.]

“….”

Even after scrolling through more posts, nothing seemed helpful for my current situation.

Gulp—

I swallowed hard.
According to Hunternet, it seemed I was the first to discover this.
Well, considering I’ve conquered the 4th Floor hundreds of times and I’m finding this for the first time, that says everything.
Now that I think about it, the shapes of the rocks around here feel quite unfamiliar.
One could argue that rocks all look the same.
But this was a cave I’d entered almost daily, like going to work.
At the very least, I could tell at a glance that this place was different from usual.

Tap.

As if entranced, I placed my hand on the chest.
Gripping my sword just in case it was a trap.

Click.

There was no lock mechanism.
A tremendous light poured from the crack of the opened chest.

Whoosh—!

‘…It’s finally here!’

Clench!

Without realizing it, I clenched my fists tight.
Tears nearly burst forth.
How difficult it had been until now.
Enduring in a place without hope, persisting again and again—and finally, I see the light.

Thump, thump.

Clutching my racing heart, I peered carefully inside.
Despite my readiness with the blade, there was no trap.

“A key?”

A cold sensation touched my hand.
Inside lay a single key, sitting solitary and plain.
It wasn’t a modern object like what emerged from the Tower.
It gleamed with an almost garish shine.
There was no other way to describe it.

Ding!
【You have obtained the Legendary-grade item: Key to the Dungeon of the Tower.】

“…!”

My eyes snapped wide open.
Legendary-grade.
I actually struck it big.

“Wait, I’m not seeing this wrong, am I?”

I rubbed my eyes and looked at the message again.
But the words “Legendary-grade” still gleamed brilliantly.

What even is a Legendary-grade item?
It’s so famous that even someone like me, stuck on the 4th Floor, knows about it.
Only five have been discovered in the entire world so far?
Two billion? Debt? That’s nothing with this.

“I’m done for…!”

In an instant, countless scenes flashed through my mind.
The moment I fell into the abyss.
The moment I stepped into that basement room.
And Ahn Jae-jun’s contemptuous gaze.
Even the ramen I’d eaten until I was sick of it.

A stifled laugh escaped me.

Something threatened to burst out from within me.
But I held it back.
There’s a saying, after all.
Until you sell it, the money isn’t yours.
It was too early to celebrate.

Whoosh.

I turned my body and stared down the corridor.
The moment I had discovered the treasure chest earlier.
It was the exact spot where the last remaining blood bat had fluttered its wings.

“Since I’ve earned a generous bonus, why not call it a day?”

【The skill Dark Adaptation is now active.】

Crunch.

I drove my lower body into the ground with all my strength.
Then.
I kicked off the earth toward my target.

Thud!

“Screee-!”

Ding!
【You have defeated the last remaining blood bat.】
【You have cleared the 4th Floor.】
【You have obtained 3 Magic Stones.】

The usual messages.
And then….

Ding!
【You have obtained the Key to the Dungeon of the Tower.】

The sound of a life-changing reversal echoed alongside it.

* * *

After clearing the dungeon, a wail of anguish echoed through the basement room.

“Nooooo! Bound to me?!”

【Dungeon of the Tower Key】
-Bound Item.
-Cannot be transferred to others.

My hands trembled violently.
It couldn’t be transferred.
That meant I couldn’t sell it either.
This wasn’t the sound of a life-changing fortune—it was the sound of my dreams crumbling.

“My… my mansion dreams…”

Thump.

I braced my hand against the floor.
The faces of the pets I’d been dreaming of raising grew increasingly distant.
I glared at the key with eyes full of resentment.
I felt like I’d obtained a useless burden, a white elephant.
In that moment, the key gleamed.

“Wait.”

My mind cleared.
It’s still a legendary-grade item.
While I can’t sell it, that doesn’t mean I can’t use it.

Click.

I carefully picked up the key.

【Dungeon of the Tower Key (Legendary)】
-Can be used in places other than the surface.
-Current conditions are met.
-Usable.

“Huh?”

Conveniently, I could use it again.
This basement room where I lived had finally become useful to me for the first time.
Right, what good does despair do anyway?
The situation won’t change.
If I can’t sell it, I’ll use it myself.
It’s a legendary-grade item—surely something worthwhile will come out of it?

‘Or maybe there’s something that could fundamentally solve my situation.’

If I could just be free from sunlight, I could climb steadily upward.
And if that happened, I’d have more than enough to pay back two billion won.

Gulp.

I swallowed hard and slowly opened my mouth.

“…I’ll use the key.”

Ding!
【You are using the Dungeon of the Tower Key.】
【There will be a brief impact, so please don’t be alarmed and wait in place.】

“Impact? What do you mean by—”

After the message appeared.

CRASH!

The floor suddenly gave way beneath me, swallowing me whole.
A hole opened up in my basement room out of nowhere, and I plummeted underground.
What in the world was happening?

“Ahhhhh! How far am I falling!!”

And at that moment, I didn’t know.
That using the key would become the catalyst for my rise in status.

Ding!
【Congratulations. You have awakened as the Tower’s first ‘Dungeon Player.’】
【Daylight never reaches the depths beneath the Tower.】
【Your trait ‘Knight of the Night (SSS)’ has evolved into ‘Knight of Eternal Night (EX).’】

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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