[Jumping Character Perk]

Description: A perk available only to Jumping Characters!

Effects

– Luck and Sense are added to your Status.

– You gain +2 additional Level-Up Points.

– All acquired EXP is increased by 100%.

– All Statuses increase by +20.

Ha Gangwoo smiled as he looked at the System window floating before his eyes.

“Utterly insane.”

The Perk’s effect was, quite literally, insane. The word didn’t do it justice.

He’d held out some hope for an S-Rank Trait, but this? This surpassed every expectation.

Gangwoo snapped open his Status Window.

[Ha Gangwoo]

Level: 1

HP: 501/510

MP: 29/29

Strength: 31 (20↑)

Agility: 28 (20↑)

Vitality: 51 (20↑)

Mana: 29 (20↑)

Sense: 20 (20↑)

Luck: 20 (20↑)

Trait: DLC

*Thrum—*

A faint light enveloped Ha Gangwoo, flowing across his skin.

The sensation of growth radiating through his body was the closest thing to madness he’d ever felt.

His body felt light as a feather; his mind, clearer than it had ever been in his entire life.

He looked down at his injured palm. New flesh had already knitted itself — there wasn’t even a trace of pain.

Gangwoo clenched his fist.

‘This is my Trait.’

A total of 120 stat points gained from a single item.

He had just reached the threshold that an ordinary Player would only hit at level 25.

But the stats weren’t what truly amazed him.

“Sense? And Luck?”

New Statuses had appeared — ones that hadn’t been there before.

“That’s… something, too.”

No explanation of the new stats was written in the window, but he could already intuit what Sense meant.

‘So this is the effect of the Sense stat.’

Standing in the alley, Gangwoo closed his eyes. The flies buzzing past, even the ants crawling on the pavement — he could feel the entire space around him dimly, without looking.

‘Not bad.’

The newly unlocked Sense stat was satisfying. But Luck — he couldn’t even begin to guess what that did.

“Luck…”

Did it just… increase fortune, like the name implied? There was no way to test it right now.

‘I’ll find out sooner or later, whether I want to or not.’

He set Luck aside and checked the remaining Perk effects.

– Gain +2 additional stat points per level-up.

– All acquired EXP increased by 100%.

“Suddenly, 100 million Gold looks cheap.”

He’d thought the 100-million-Gold item was expensive.

But every time he checked the Perks, the effects were so good that 100 million Gold started to feel like a bargain.

“So it boosts level-up points.”

You normally got 5 points each level. This effect raised that to 7.

A compounding gap — the higher he climbed, the further he’d pull ahead of other Players.

“And double EXP on top of that…”

It felt like someone was shoving him from behind, pushing him to rise faster.

‘So this is what a Jumping Character is…’

The DLC’s name was Jumping Character — an item truly made for a leap forward.

Gangwoo clenched his fist again.

“I’m going up.”

With this much of a push at his back, there was no room for hesitation.

The second chance given to him, the new abilities he’d gained — he’d use every last bit of it. And he would save his younger sister.

He was done examining his Trait.

There was only one thing left to do.

“The Tower of Tutorial.”

After the guide ended, every Awakener already knew where they had to go.

Ha Gangwoo pressed the [!!!] button. The remaining guide began to play.

[Proceeding to the next guide.]

[Quest window activated.]

[Please open the Quest window and activate the Pathfinding function.]

The third system window to open was for Quests.

Gangwoo, moving with practiced ease, flicked the system open and checked his Quest.

[To the Tower of Tutorial!][Main]

Description: Head to the Tower of Tutorial, where everything begins! A fantastic adventure awaits you!

Reward: ???

(Pathfinding)

“So this is a Quest.”

This was where it really mattered.

If he’d had the leeway, he would have enrolled in a Player school or academy to get trained, but he didn’t have that kind of time or money.

Gangwoo activated the Pathfinding function immediately.

Ding-

[Starting Pathfinding: To the Tower of Tutorial!]

[All guides have been completed.]

[Ending guide.]

The system chime faded, and a yellow arrow materialized before his eyes, pointing in one direction.

“So this is the Pathfinding function.”

Gangwoo followed the arrow with his gaze.

“At least I won’t get lost.”

A tower soared above the city, a beam of light at its peak meeting the sky.

“Let’s go.”

Gangwoo headed for the Tower of Tutorial—the starting point of everything.

***

“Registration is complete. Please wait for your queue number.”

Following the staff’s instructions, Gangwoo sat down in the waiting area of the Tower of Tutorial.

[Queue Number: 101]

That was the number on the ticket he’d received. Just then, a voice rang out from the tower entrance.

“Player number 81, please enter.”

The person holding number 81 walked toward the tower entrance at the staff’s direction.

‘Twenty more to go.’

The waiting area of the Tower of Tutorial was more crowded than he’d expected.

There were more foreigners than Koreans.

Only seven Towers of Tutorial existed in the entire world. If Seoul didn’t have one, the nearest tower would be in Russia.

It was only natural that Awakeners from countries around Korea would flock here.

Gangwoo sat down on a chair, lost in thought, when a conversation drifted his way.

“Wait on the third floor. You know what to do if you get there first, right?”

“Wait? If you don’t show up in ten minutes, I’m ditching you. You better believe it.”

Two men were talking, clearly already familiar with each other.

‘Classmates?’

They knew each other and seemed to have knowledge about the Tower of Tutorial—probably classmates from an academy.

The Tower of Tutorial was the most critical gate for early Players.

Because, separate from Traits, it determined a Player’s rank.

The rank you first received could only be changed by progressing through Scenarios, so most people came fully prepared.

‘And I couldn’t even go to an academy.’

If he’d had the resources, he would have gotten training or information from a school. But he had no time—and no money, either.

‘A week…’

His younger sibling’s living expenses weighed heavily on his mind.

He had only a week to scrape together some money.

If he couldn’t secure the money by then, even the chance to save his sister would vanish.

‘C-Rank or higher is all I need.’

That’s why he needed a high grade.

From loans available only to C-Rank and above, to government subsidies and guild signing bonuses—treatment improved drastically starting at C-Rank.

Ha Gangwoo’s eyes sharpened with a glint of steel. He’d get a high rank no matter what it took.

And so Ha Gangwoo steeled his resolve.

Then—

“Tch… The fuck is this crowd?!”

A man barged into the Tower of Tutorial waiting room, fresh from completing his registration. His face crumpled in disgust as he spat complaints—a man with a savage temper.

“Isn’t that the pro fighter, Choi Jangbok?”

“Yeah, that’s him. Heard his fighter career ended after Awakening. Guess he’s here for the Tutorial.”

The men around Ha Gangwoo whispered. Forced into retirement by his Awakening.

Ha Gangwoo vaguely recalled catching snippets in the news.

[Pro Fighter Choi Jangbok Indiscriminately Beats Civilian!!!!]

[Choi Jangbok Accused of Sexual Assault by Woman A!!]

The headlines were mostly bad ones.

‘Is that what a bastard like him becomes when he gets power?’

Ha Gangwoo looked at Choi Jangbok and thought of the S-Rank healer, Yoon Jeonghyuk. With nothing more than the influence of a famous fighter, he’d beaten and even raped civilians.

What kind of unhinged monster would a man like that turn into once he gained superhuman strength?

The memory of Yoon Jeonghyuk looking down on him made Ha Gangwoo’s anger slowly simmer.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve got a debt to settle with that bastard too.’

Yoon Jeonghyuk, who’d weighed him and his sister against money and thrown them away. He owed that man a debt too.

Then a shadow loomed over Ha Gangwoo, still burning with rage.

“Hey, buddy. How ’bout you move over there?”

Ha Gangwoo lifted his head to the source of the shadow. It was Choi Jangbok.

With his ugly face twisted, he looked no different from a gangster.

“You deaf? I said move.”

‘…..’

There weren’t any empty seats, but the man had come straight to him and demanded he give his up.

A ridiculous situation. Ha Gangwoo fell into thought.

‘What a pain in the ass.’

In the past, in a situation like this, he would have moved.

Not because he wanted to avoid a pointless fight—he just hadn’t had the backbone for one.

But things were different now.

Strength: 31

Agility: 28

Vitality: 51

Mana: 29

Sense: 20

Luck: 20

Stats that weren’t those of a level 1, and a body that had once even died.

He was sick of living like a coward.

Ha Gangwoo remained seated and looked up at Choi Jangbok.

“I don’t want to?”

At Ha Gangwoo’s words, a muscle twitched in Choi Jangbok’s brow.

‘This punk…?’

Choi Jangbok ground his teeth.

As if he wasn’t already pissed off because of his so-called ‘boss,’ now some nobody was acting cheeky.

‘He Awakened, did he?’

Choi Jangbok stared hard at Ha Gangwoo’s face.

Some punk had lost all sense of fear, actually daring to stare him straight in the eye.

‘What a piece of shit…’

He hadn’t wanted to cause trouble before debuting as a Pro Hunter, but it looked like shit was about to hit the fan today.

“Hey, hey, Choi Jangbok’s fighting again.”

“Poor bastard, I guess he doesn’t know Jangbok’s a pro fighter?”

People nearby recognized Choi Jangbok and wisely backed off on their own.

Jangbok knew damn well he was a celebrity of sorts, living the rough-and-tumble life. He’d always prided himself on being someone who could throw a punch.

Any normal punk would tuck tail and lower his head at the sight of him.

So what the hell was this arrogant little shit doing, standing his ground with his hands in his pockets?

Choi Jangbok cracked a snide grin.

‘Does he think Awakening made him something special?’

Kid figured Awakening meant he was hot shit now. Didn’t know his goddamn place.

Choi Jangbok bored his gaze into Ha Gangwoo’s eyes. The arrogant little brat, completely clueless about his place, kept staring right back.

Jangbok scowled and grabbed Gangwoo by the collar.

Gangwoo’s body lifted lightly, as if he weighed no more than a doll.

“What the hell are you looking at, you punk?! You wanna die, you fucking idiot?!!!”

Choi Jangbok sneered at Gangwoo dangling from his grip.

*Thump*—

Gangwoo’s hand came up, landing on Jangbok’s forearm.

*Crackle*—

Gangwoo vice-grip squeezed Choi Jangbok’s wrist.

“Aaagh!!!”

Choi Jangbok released Gangwoo’s collar, reeling from the sudden pain. Agony coiled around his wrist.

Through the haze of pain, Jangbok met Gangwoo’s eyes.

A bead of sweat traced down his spine.

‘What… the hell… is this punk…’

Terror crept up from his gut.

‘I’m… gonna die.’

The vague thought surfaced. Instinct was screaming that this kid was dangerous.

‘What… the hell…’

Choi Jangbok was reeling, utterly disoriented by the situation.

*CRRUNCH*—

Excruciating pain surged from the wrist Gangwoo had trapped.

‘Fuck…’

Choi Jangbok gritted his teeth, holding back a scream.

He couldn’t exactly shriek like a damn coward with all eyes on him, could he?

That was when a Tower staff member appeared.

“Hey! You can’t fight here!!!”

Ha Gangwoo crushed Jangbok’s wrist with all his strength as he turned to look at the staff member.

‘He’s a high-level Player?’

The staff member radiated considerable force.

He wasn’t sure if it was an effect of his Sense Stat, but he felt like he could roughly gauge an Awakener’s power.

‘Drawing attention won’t do me any good.’

Before he’d even received a grade, planting a bad image with the Association was a bad move.

Ha Gangwoo released Choi Jangbok’s wrist.

He hadn’t wanted to fight the bastard anyway.

He just didn’t want to live groveling. And he’d confirmed what he was curious about.

‘Not bad.’

It had been a good chance to test just how impressive the increased Strength stat really was.

Ha Gangwoo let out a short laugh.

“Looks like it’s my turn. Sit if you want to.”

Somewhere along the way, the Tower waiting list number had come up for Ha Gangwoo.

He picked up his ticket and headed for the Tower entrance.

“Haah… I was hoping today would be quiet. Another fight and that’s a warning!”

The employee let out a deep sigh and walked off.

Choi Jangbok didn’t hear a word the employee said.

“Did Choi Jangbok just lose?”

“I dunno, he looked completely cowed to me.”

The noise from the crowd was grating beyond belief.

Choi Jangbok ground his teeth, staring at Ha Gangwoo’s retreating back.

‘You son of a bitch. See you in the Tower.’

It looked like a decently strong Trait, but that was it.

Strength and fighting were completely different things. Vowing revenge, he rubbed his swollen, reddened arm.

As Ha Gangwoo reached the Tower entrance, the employee spoke up.

“Number 101, correct?”

Ha Gangwoo handed over the ticket.

“Player Ha Gangwoo, the procedures are complete. You may enter immediately. Good luck.”

The employee typed something into the computer and said.

Ha Gangwoo followed the employee’s guidance and approached the Tower’s door.

A massive door, easily over three meters tall. The Gothic engravings were doing their part to set the atmosphere.

“This is where it really starts.”

The beginning of everything. And now he stood before that door.

Ha Gangwoo’s hand went up to the door, and he pushed.

*Creeeak—*

[You have entered the Tower of Tutorial.]