Chapter 01
―It would be better if you aim a little more to the right. If you need additional assistance……
“That’s enough.”
―Bang!
When I pulled the trigger, the magic bullet flew and struck the monster’s heart exactly.
―Hit location confirmed. It missed the instant-death zone by 2 millimeters. I will analyze the cause. The reason is trembling at your fingertips. Maintaining the data table.
“So it’s my fault?”
―If that’s how you felt, I’m sorry. But I only stated the facts.
Lucy winked at me. It was unbelievably irritating.
She used to be much more mechanical than this.
The identity of this fairy-like girl, visible only to me, was the only skill the Tower had given me.
I heard other people’s unique skills had at least three lines of explanation. Mine was only 21 characters long.
It wasn’t short because there was nothing to explain.
I had been with Lucy for three months now.
Lucy was not an easy spirit to handle.
―Death confirmed. I will begin the butchering protocol.
I approached the monster and pulled out my butchering dagger.
―Tap.
I touched the heart area, cleanly pierced by the magic bullet.
―Move 1 centimeter lower. Yes, right there.
―Stab!
When I stabbed the spot Lucy pointed out, I felt a small foreign object.
―Slide.
I pulled it out with the dagger, and a small magic stone the size of a fingernail appeared.
―Will you stop hunting for today?
“Yeah. It’s getting dark.”
We were clearly on the first floor of the Tower, yet somehow there was a sky.
―I will inform you of today’s expected earnings. You hunted a total of 96 monsters today, and the estimated profit is 240 points. You hunted for 8 hours—
“That’s enough.”
―Understood. If Master is fine with it, may I begin the learning protocol now?
“You’re starting earlier these days.”
Lucy’s “learning” wasn’t just about inputting data.
It was the process of restructuring and optimizing her data table, remodeling herself into something better.
―I think there isn’t much time left.
Lucy smiled softly and disappeared.
Using the abilities she learned did not consume mana, but while learning, she constantly drained my mana.
Since I bought a pistol that creates magic bullets using mana, I was already consuming mana continuously during combat. So I couldn’t let her learn while hunting.
Today as well, I left the hunting grounds and returned to the city.
“Did you earn a lot today?”
When I entered the general store I always visited, the wolf-faced owner asked cheerfully.
“About the same as always.”
“How much?”
“About 240 points.”
Without even weighing the magic stones, he transferred the points immediately.
“You’re not going to check?”
“No need. You’re accurate. If you say 240 points, then it’s 240.”
“I might be scamming you.”
“If it’s a 240-point scam, I’ll take it.”
There was no point inflation on the first floor of the Tower, but 240 points was still not a lot.
In Korean currency, it was about 24,000 won.
The discounted long-term inn fee was 150 points, and weapon maintenance cost 20 points per day. So after working all day, I only earned about 7,000 won.
“Hyunwoo, are you planning to climb?”
“I always want to climb.”
At least the 11th floor had to be reached to return to Earth.
I don’t have family or friends… but the technology was good.
“The problem is that I’m an Earthling. My unique skill isn’t combat-related, so climbing barehanded isn’t easy.”
All intelligent beings from every world gathered in the Tower.
Among them, Earthlings were physically the weakest.
We weren’t born in a world with mana, so we started with a tiny amount of it. And our physical abilities weren’t impressive either.
“You’re hunting tomorrow too, right?”
“I have to. I need to pay for the inn.”
Still, ever since I bought the mana-bullet pistol, I had some room to save money.
Using mana was cheaper than buying bullets.
“Alright. See you tomorrow.”
When I reached the smallest room in the inn, I threw myself onto the bed.
It had been 10 years since the Tower descended on Earth.
No one knew how many floors the Tower had in total.
People from other worlds who were summoned earlier than Earth had only reached around the 70th floor at best. In comparison, Earthlings had formed a limit around the 40th floor.
The biggest reason was that Earth was still a newcomer to the Tower. The second was that Earthlings were weak.
When I saw climbers on TV, I thought I could do that too.
When I was first dragged into the Tower, I thought it was luck.
I knew how returnees from the Tower were treated.
If you passed the 10th floor, you could spend 15 hours a week in your original world.
20th floor, 30 hours.
40th floor, 60 hours per week on Earth.
Climbers on TV climbed the Tower and swept away monsters on Earth, gaining both wealth and fame.
But most people were in the same situation as me.
If your unique skill awakened as combat-type, reaching the 10th floor was possible.
But my awakened skill had nothing to do with combat—creating artificial intelligence.
Without skill support, an Earthling’s body struggled even to clear the first floor.
―I have returned, Master. May I report the updates?
“Go ahead.”
I looked at Lucy casually—
—and froze.
Her art style changed?
Was it right to say that to a spirit?
But her art style really had changed.
Until yesterday, she looked like a roughly drawn cute character.
Today, she looked like a high-quality illustration—extremely beautiful.
“Lucy? You look really different.”
―It is just one of the many updates completed overnight.
“What exactly happened?”
I knew her learning process well.
Until now, updates only slightly improved shooting precision.
Recently, she said she was learning how to restructure data settings. Maybe that was why.
―I will explain the updates. The biggest change is the modification of the learning protocol itself. By revising the learning protocol, overall efficiency increased. Using that, I optimized the learning protocol again.
An AI improving itself—and becoming more efficient over time?
“Did you reach a singularity or something?”
―You may consider it the early stage of a singularity. My learning speed will continue to increase.
There was strange confidence in her voice.
“If it’s such an important phase, wouldn’t it be better to spend a whole day learning?”
―Your opinion is reasonable. However, feedback is essential to verify whether the learning process is effective. And this feedback can only be obtained by experiencing the Tower with you. Let’s go hunting.
“What about the update details?”
―They are too long to explain in words. Especially the shooting support protocol—you will understand better by experiencing it directly.
A group of five goblins noticed me and approached.
―Initiating shooting support protocol.
At the same time, red and blue areas appeared on the goblins’ bodies.
―The red area indicates instant death. The blue area indicates one-shot kill range.
“This is much more convenient.”
―That’s not all. Would you like to aim once?
When I aimed my gun at a goblin, a white dot appeared on its body.
“Is that an aiming point?”
―Correct.
This was far more convenient.
Yesterday, I had to adjust aim based on verbal instructions. Now, with a visible marker, there was no delay.
―Wooooong.
―73%… 89%
As I infused mana into the gun, a probability appeared beside the aiming point.
―It shows the probability of subduing the target with the mana currently invested.
―Bang!
The mana bullet hit the aiming point perfectly.
The perfect accuracy gave me catharsis.
“I want to subdue monsters using the least amount of mana possible. Can you calculate that too?”
―Of course. Half of the mana you just invested would be sufficient.
Another gauge appeared. The blue one-shot zone shrank significantly. The red zone disappeared entirely.
―Wooooong.
―Bang!
With less than a quarter of my usual mana, the goblin fell.
It wasn’t an instant death, but it would die soon.
―Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
One shot per target. The five goblins fell instantly.
“This… this is a revolution.”
―How is it? Do I seem impressive now?
“Yeah. Very.”
There were two reasons I could only hunt around 25 monsters per day.
Lack of mana and lack of hunting speed.
Now, by investing less mana, the first problem was solved. And with Lucy’s support, even groups of more than ten would be manageable.
The second problem was solved too.
―I will input today’s hunting data and improve the shooting support protocol. So let’s hunt a lot.
That day, I hunted 400 monsters.
―Clatter.
The shop owner’s face was worth seeing as I poured out piles of magic stones.
“You got a lot today.”
“My shooting skills improved.”
It was a little embarrassing, but not a lie.
Lucy was part of my ability.
“How much do you think this is worth?”
“I’m not sure this time.”
“Why?”
“The condition is different from usual.”
He looked closely at the stones.
“They’re all cracked.”
“They broke during hunting. That’s never happened before.”
“For goblin stones, minor damage doesn’t change the price.”
His eyes flashed as if he realized something.
“Don’t tell me—you aimed exactly at where the magic stone was in every monster?”
His voice was serious.
I nodded.
“At this level, you should hunt higher-ranked monsters instead of goblins.”
I was already thinking the same thing.
