Min Seok was still clinging to Kang Woo's shoulders like a long-lost puppy.
> "I can't believe you're alive… You have no idea how much we tried—every year, we held onto hope—!"
Kang Woo gave him a half-hearted pat on the back.
> "Yeah, yeah. Save the tears. You've got an office to run."
Min Seok pulled back, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
> "Wait—how are you awake?! The doctors said you were—!"
> "Oh, I died."
Min Seok blinked.
> "...What."
Kang Woo leaned back in the chair and smirked.
> "Got struck by lightning. Soul got yanked to another world. Lived for 1000 years. Conquered a continent. Came back. Ate mackerel. Good tea, by the way."
Min Seok's jaw dropped.
> "You—what the actual—?!"
> "Anyway," Kang Woo stretched, "Ji Hoon said you're the boss of this Hunter thing now."
---
Ji Hoon Enters with the Truth Bomb
Ji Hoon finally stepped into the office, clearing his throat.
> "Uncle Min Seok."
Min Seok turned to him, still shell-shocked.
> "Did… you know all this?!"
Ji Hoon nodded.
> "Yup. Found out about a week ago."
> "He's ridiculously strong. We were fighting a low-tier demon—he erased it with a look."
Min Seok looked at Kang Woo, horrified.
> "A look?"
> "Well," Kang Woo shrugged, "a glare. I was disappointed in their stance."
Ji Hoon added:
> "He has… this power system. Cultivation. Qi. He says he's 'Pi level'—whatever the hell that means."
Min Seok muttered:
> "God… help us all…"
---
The Offer
Min Seok sat down hard at his desk, then slowly turned to Kang Woo.
> "Listen."
> "Join the Hunter Association."
> "Officially. We need someone like you. Hell, we need a dozen of you—but one is enough."
Kang Woo raised an eyebrow.
> "What do I get?"
> "Top-class Hunter license. International immunity. Annual salary in the billions. Plus, a private research team to study your… uh… cultivation stuff."
Kang Woo looked at his tea cup.
> "Still not tempting."
Ji Hoon whispered:
> "Dad. He's offering a black card. Infinite tea."
Kang Woo's eyes lit up.
> "...Now you're talking."
Min Seok clasped his hands together, excited.
> "So, you'll do it?!"
Kang Woo smiled coldly.
> "Depends. Do I get to slap idiots who threaten my kids?"
> "...Absolutely."
> "Then fine. I'll be your disaster-class babysitter."
Min Seok leaned back, his fingers tented under his chin.
> "Alright… spill it."
> "Where were you all this time?"
Kang Woo tilted his head, gaze distant.
> "A world beyond this one."
> "A place they called Murim."
> "No magic, no guns — just blades, fists, Qi, blood, betrayal, war… and beasts."
He smiled bitterly.
> "And I ruled it all by the end."
Min Seok swallowed hard.
> "How long… were you there?"
> "One thousand years."
Min Seok's voice caught in his throat.
> "...How are you still sane?"
> "I'm not."
---
The Tower in the Sky
Ji Hoon, still in the room, suddenly remembered something.
> "Hey, Dad. You said something earlier about a big tower you saw during your sword-flight from Seoul to Kyoto."
Kang Woo nodded.
> "Yeah. In the distance... I saw a structure."
> "A colossal black tower. So tall, it pierced the clouds. I flew higher, but it kept rising endlessly."
> "It didn't feel… natural."
> "It felt alive. Watching me."
Min Seok's expression went cold instantly.
> "You saw that?"
> "Yeah. What is it?"
Min Seok stood up, walked to a shelf, pulled a folder, and slapped it on the desk.
> "That's the Tutorial Tower."
> "It appeared around six years ago. Out of nowhere."
> "No one knows how deep it goes. No one has ever reached the top."
> "But the moment someone enters, they're locked in. They have to climb."
Kang Woo's eyes narrowed.
> "Climb?"
> "Every floor is harder than the last. Time works differently in there. One month inside is one hour out here."
Ji Hoon whistled.
> "So it's like a death dungeon."
Min Seok nodded.
> "Exactly. But here's the kicker—"
He opened the folder to a blurry photo. It was a screenshot from a drone near the tower's base.
At the top corner… a familiar outline.
> "This figure was seen on the 77th floor two years ago."
> "But we've never seen him again."
Kang Woo stared.
His voice dropped.
> "...That's a Murim cultivator."
Kang Woo leaned forward, eyes locked on the blurry image.
> "Let me see that."
Min Seok hesitated, then passed him the folder.
Kang Woo took the photo in hand and let out a calm breath.
He channeled a thin stream of Qi into his fingertips — the paper glowed faintly.
Before their eyes, the image clarified, pixels tightening, colors enhancing.
Claire — the receptionist outside — peeked through the window and gasped.
> "That's not technology…!"
Ji Hoon whispered:
> "That's my dad... being cool again."
---
Zoomed In
The figure on the 77th floor grew clearer.
Tattered robe. Messy black hair. A wooden sword on his back.
Tied to his waist — a crooked jade pendant Kang Woo could never forget.
His breath caught.
His eyes shook.
> "...Impossible."
Min Seok looked at him, surprised.
> "You recognize him?"
Kang Woo's fingers trembled slightly as he held the photo closer to his face.
> "That's... Hajin."
Ji Hoon blinked.
> "Uncle Hajin? The one you told us about you were with in murim"
Kang Woo nodded slowly.
> "My... sworn brother."
> "He died 600 years ago. I buried him with my own hands."
Silence.
Min Seok swallowed.
> "Then how…?"
Kang Woo whispered as if to himself.
> "The photo was taken two years ago…"
He did the math in his head.
> "In Murim time… that's 200 years ago."
> "But he was already dead."
He stared at the frozen figure on the tower's floor.
> "Hajin… how are you alive… and trapped in that cursed place?"