CHAPTER 04……………………………….
For a moment, I remembered a line from the novel’s narration.
[Shin Su-ha, who cleared the 7th floor alone, was found dead with his body torn apart by a rampage. The only thing that indicated how long he had survived was the time he cleared the stage.]
I clicked my tongue and checked the time on my phone.
5:10 PM.
Shin Su-ha was supposed to clear the floor at 7, so if I hurried, I might be able to purify him even after he fainted from the rampage.
‘Starting the very first day in style, huh.’
Grumbling, I stood up.
“Ugh.”
Just from a bit of running, my body hurt this much?
Seo Go-un. This damn body.
“Starting tomorrow, I’m working out. I’ll build this body somehow.”
At this rate, I wouldn’t even make it into the Cradle raid party—I’d get caught and torn apart by a passing monster.
For now, I needed to focus on saving key hunters and building my body.
“First, I need to change clothes…”
As I looked around for something to wear after being dragged by the poison toad, I fell silent.
Was he at war with primary colors or something? Every piece of clothing scattered on the floor was ridiculously bright.
These looked like clothes even beggars wouldn’t take.
I ignored the pile and opened Seo Go-un’s closet—then immediately closed it again.
‘Don’t tell me… does the healing potion have side effects?’
I rubbed my eyes and opened it again.
“Crazy bastard… it’s worse in here.”
The closet was filled with flashy, gaudy luxury clothes that were honestly painful to look at.
Ignoring the rainbow-colored palette, every item had huge brand logos plastered all over it.
Wearing them would probably make you feel like a walking billboard.
‘What is his taste, a peacock? Why does he even own a neon fur shirt?’
I clicked my tongue and rummaged deeper until I found something tucked away in the corner.
“…At least this is normal.”
A navy shirt with no logo and a simple design.
Unlike the neatly arranged luxury clothes, this one was wrinkled, clearly ignored by its owner.
It looked like something he wore before becoming obsessed with luxury brands—or before he started acting like a spoiled brat toward Seo Tae-ju.
“Top’s fine… now bottoms…”
I grabbed slacks from a drawer and picked the most normal-looking black cap I could find, since every other hat was branded.
‘I’m definitely buying clothes tomorrow.’
After changing, I grabbed my wallet and keys and took a taxi.
“Take me to the Tower, please.”
“Oh! Going to the Tower? So you’re a Hunter? First time I’ve seen one. Give me a handshake!”
The driver held out his hand, and I awkwardly shook it.
“Looks like today’s my lucky day, meeting a Hunter like this!”
“Ah… yes.”
In this world, Hunters were as admired as doctors or lawyers.
Most children dreamed of becoming one.
Part of the reason was scarcity, but also because Hunters earned a lot of money fighting monsters with flashy skills.
The driver kept chatting nonstop as I half-heartedly responded.
“Alright, we’re here.”
“Could you wait here for a bit? You can leave the meter running.”
“Oh, you’re picking up items? Sure thing, good for me! I’ll park here and grab dinner. Take your time.”
“Thank you.”
I got out of the taxi and looked up at the Tower.
It was massive.
The Tower of God.
A structure so tall it seemed to pierce the sky.
[Climb.]
Like most stories with towers, it was mandatory—and failure came with penalties.
Here, if a floor wasn’t cleared, monsters would spill out endlessly.
‘Just like the Cradle.’
Until a floor was cleared, monsters would keep pouring out, forcing Hunters to complete missions at any cost.
Clearing progress was shared globally, so once one country cleared a floor, others didn’t need to—but ranking points still encouraged everyone to climb.
Humans everywhere loved rankings.
‘Well… not important right now.’
If I wasted time sightseeing, Shin Su-ha would die.
I quickly entered the Tower.
The 1st-floor lobby was exactly as described in the novel: just a gate and a hologram-like display board.
The board showed “7F” and the mission deadline.
But by the time I arrived, it was already 7 PM.
The 7th-floor mission had already been cleared.
“Good. Just in time.”
Relieved, I walked behind the display and felt along the wall.
“This should be it…”
Click.
Bricks shifted, revealing a hidden passage just big enough for one person.
“Here it is.”
Inside, faint light glowed from the floor.
An elevator.
All Hunters normally had to climb from Floor 1, but this hidden elevator allowed instant travel to cleared floors.
I needed Floor 5 first—not Floor 7.
‘If I hadn’t found this, I would’ve been screwed.’
Before saving Shin Su-ha, I needed something to purify corruption—and it was on Floor 5.
As I opened my eyes, a massive stone door appeared.
Just like in the novel.
Since Shin Su-ha hadn’t known about the elevator, he had already cleared Floor 5 on his way to Floor 7, leaving the gate open.
I stepped inside.
“Wow…”
The environment changed instantly.
Dense jungle, humid air, insect sounds.
It wasn’t decoration—it felt like a real ecosystem.
Floor 5 was like a recreation of the Mayan civilization.
“Feels like a time machine.”
I walked through the jungle-like ruins until I spotted a Moai statue in the middle of a three-way junction.
“There it is.”
In the novel, Seo Tae-ju had cleared Floor 5 first.
Later Hunters passed through quickly, missing the purification item.
Only a treasure-hunting skill user in a later raid accidentally found it.
Inside that Moai statue was the purification item.
“Not for me.”
I placed my hand on the statue.
“Decomposition.”
[Skill activated: Decomposition]
[Success]
[Item broken down: sand, water, stone fragments, ??? egg]
The statue vanished, leaving behind sand and a strange egg.
A white egg with brown speckles.
[Passive ‘Truth’ activated.]
[??? Egg]
Description: Unknown egg. Has remained unchanged for centuries. Emits faint warmth.
※ Additional hidden information available.
“So passive skills activate automatically…”
The system revealed something I already suspected.
The missing word was obvious.
“Purification.”
This was a Purification Egg.
A hunter holding it would have corruption cleansed.
The warmth likely meant purification energy.
I picked it up.
No reaction—probably because I wasn’t corrupted.
As expected, Seo Go-un had never even been a real Hunter.
Then—
Ding.
A message appeared.
[Rare item obtained. Passive ‘Diagnosis’ unlocked.]
“Diagnosis?”
A new window appeared.
[Diagnosis: Allows detection of corruption level.]
“Oh.”
This wasn’t in the novel.
It must be a skill unique to Seo Go-un’s alchemy trait.
“Nice. Better than nothing.”
I rolled the egg in my hand and returned to the elevator.
Time to go to Floor 7.
The 7th floor was a desert.
Endless sand, pyramids shaped like giant triangles.
“Guess Hunters don’t need overseas trips.”
No sound except wind.
I walked across the desert until I reached a pyramid entrance, where torn monster bodies lay scattered.
“No need to track him.”
The path was obvious.
Following the trail of dead monsters, I moved deeper in.
Eventually, I found a massive boss door with geometric patterns.
Inside—
A sphinx-like monster corpse.
And beside it, a man collapsed.
“…So that’s Shin Su-ha.”
He was unconscious—completely corrupted.
[Diagnosis activated.]
[Shin Su-ha – Corruption: 98%]
“Good. I’m not too late.”
I knelt beside him and placed the purification egg in his hand.
It slipped out.
I tried again. It fell again.
‘Damn it.’
I picked it up and grabbed his hand.
[Corruption: 97%]
[Corruption: 95%]
…
‘Annoying.’
As the corruption slowly dropped, I studied him.
Even as a side character, Shin Su-ha was famous in the novel—always compared to others in strength and appearance.
And now I understood why.
Silver hair like melted silver thread.
Deep, foreign-looking eyes.
Sharp nose and soft lips like a sculpture.
But what stood out most was his body.
Broad shoulders, thick thighs, dense muscle hidden under a perfectly tailored suit.
“Damn… if I had to possess someone, it should’ve been this guy.”
I had trained consistently ever since deciding to become a detective.
Gym every day, even building rapport with elderly regulars.
But no matter how much I trained, I never got a body like this.
I poked his arm.
Hard. Solid.
“This is the body I should’ve had.”
I examined his muscles like a mechanic inspecting an engine.
Deltoid, biceps, triceps, forearm.
Perfect structure.
“…Why did I end up in Seo Go-un’s body?”
“Mm…”
A faint groan escaped Shin Su-ha’s lips.
He was waking up.
