Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

On the day of departure for Kill Screen.

Chae Jiseok and Hyun Habin were seen off by Secretary Lee Junhwi.

“Ah, Vice Guild Master-nim. Please take this too.”

“What is it?”

Could he be giving them some items as a parting gift?

Chae Jiseok turned his head without much thought.

However, his prediction was completely off. What Lee Junhwi held out was neither an item nor a potion, but paper documents.

“Here. These are documents related to Solaris’ plans for the first half of this year. Work on them when you have spare time.”

Chae Jiseok objected.

“You want me to work even when I’m at Kill Screen?”

He had just chided Hyun Habin for planning to watch movies at Kill Screen. Now wasn’t the time to be talking about others.

Working at Kill Screen?

That was even crazier.

Jiseok asked with a shocked expression:

“……You’re joking, right?”

“Joking? Guild Master Chae Jise managed it well. She said she used to work on business matters when she got bored during dungeon conquests.”

“Is nuna really insane?!”

What? Working on business when bored during dungeon conquests?

“That’s because it’s nuna! I’m not like that!”

“Yes. I think so too, but given the current situation. Aren’t you similar to her in this aspect, being her sibling?”

“Would you be like that if you were in my position, Secretary-nim?”

“Haha, no.”

Lee Junhwi, who had laughed soullessly, put on a serious face and held out the documents again. He didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down.

“You said you’re not going to the 50th floor anyway, right? If you’re just looking around the lower floors, you should have enough time to handle this much, right?”

“…….”

We are going to the 50th floor…… But I can’t say that.

Chae Jiseok tried to return the documents to the secretary. His expression was pained, as if he were forcibly swallowing bitter medicine.

“Please give me the files. I’ll check them on my tablet.”

“Right, that would be better considering your inventory.”

Ding.

The file was transmitted instantly without a second’s delay, and Chae Jiseok sighed.

“What are you doing? Aren’t we leaving?”

Habin, who had been waiting at a distance, approached. Chae Jiseok nodded.

“Ah, right. Let’s go.”

As they turned around, Secretary Lee Junhwi bowed his head politely.

“Well then, come back with all your limbs intact.”

You still have to finish your work, after all.

‘I must be imagining that last part?’

Ignoring the uneasy feeling, Jiseok took a seat in the back with Habin. The waiting driver asked:

“Vice Guild Master-nim, where shall we go?”

“……Please take us to the Kill Screen portal.”

◆◇◆◇◆

Title: Has anyone been to Kill Screen?

Body: I apply for permission every day because I want to visit, but why don’t I get approved?

└ You’ll never get permission if you apply as an individual

└ They only give permission if there’s a legitimate purpose at the guild level. Whether it’s for visiting the Kill Screen branch or for conquering Kill Screen.

└ No, individuals can visit if they have national contributions. Or if they’re participating in a national research project.

└ For example, hunters like Kang Taeseo and the Chae siblings get a free pass even if they apply on the same day, and my cousin who’s a graduate student participating in Kill Screen research has a free pass too

└ ???A graduate student who’s a hunter? …..Can people who go there…. actually sleep…?

└ There are specialized graduate schools for this field. Some people enter through special admissions for hunters. It’s a department newly established by the government for Kill Screen research purposes

└ To the comment above, I think what the person two comments up wanted to ask wasn’t whether there’s a graduate school, but whether people attending there can get any sleep, or if they even survive…?

└ Oh…?

└ Wait, I’m the original poster, but anyway, is there no way for an individual to visit secretly without any of that? I just want to ride the portal once

└ No… Don’t even think about trying. It’s illegal, so you’ll be stopped at the entrance?

└ You can go by plane or ship without taking the portal. But you’ll still have to fill out a visitor log and verify your identity at the Kill Screen entrance.

Kill Screen itself is a tower that suddenly appeared one day in international waters in the Pacific Ocean.

However, entrance portals leading to it have appeared in various regions and cities around the world.

Currently, Korea has three Kill Screen portals, one each in Seoul, Daejeon, and Busan.

When you enter through a portal, you’re immediately transported to the entrance of Kill Screen, and when you enter a portal from Kill Screen, you return to where you originally entered.

People who went to Kill Screen from Seoul return to Seoul, those who visited from Busan return to Busan.

So while you can’t use the portals to travel from Seoul to Busan as a shortcut, there’s the unexpected advantage that people from different regions can gather at Kill Screen simultaneously.

Because of this advantage of being able to visit from various regions around the world at once, there are numerous guild branches right next to Kill Screen, including the SPES Kill Screen branch.

Right now, Hyun Habin and Chae Jiseok were passing through that area.

Just before heading straight to Kill Screen, Chae Jiseok spoke up:

“Wait a moment. Let’s stop by our building.”

They had already passed through the Kill Screen portal and arrived in front of the Solaris Kill Screen branch.

They had passed through the portal comfortably without any restrictions, thanks to the pre-arranged documents prepared by Secretary Lee and Chae Jiseok.

Although Chae Jiseok and Lee Junhwi were top-tier hunters with national guarantees that allowed them immediate approval and passage even on the spot without needing to wait, documents were necessary to allow Habin, an A-rank trainee, to pass through.

Chae Jiseok pointed to a gleaming white building and said:

“And this is the Solaris Kill Screen branch.”

Around the massive dungeon tower ‘Kill Screen’, various buildings were clustered like this.

There were dazzling guild buildings from each country that looked like hotel buildings, shops selling potions, shops selling items, and even restaurants, beautiful sandy beaches, and souvenir shops.

“Wow! That’s the 9-star hotel , isn’t it? I’ve only seen it on TV!”

Habin’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the hotel building that resembled a fairy tale castle.

“There’s a Ferris wheel and monorail over there too? Wow, that building next to it is ‘Continue’, the item crafting brand that’s only available on Kill Screen Island! I heard they have duty-free shopping there……”

As Habin exclaimed in admiration while looking around, the commercial district around Kill Screen was indeed splendid.

If not for the massive Kill Screen asserting its presence in the center, it could have been mistaken for a beautiful island resort in the Pacific Ocean.

“It’s your first time visiting the Solaris branch at Kill Screen, right? Last time, we met directly on the 26th floor.”

The Solaris building boasted a first floor adorned with white marble and gold decorations. The interior was reminiscent of a hotel lobby.

“It actually serves as accommodation too. It’s a place for our guild members to rest when they visit Kill Screen, and there’s also a conference room on the top floor where we sometimes hold international meetings.”

A lobby cafe on the first floor.

Chae Jiseok said he had some documents to deliver while they were here, and left Habin at the cafe for a moment as he headed for the elevator.

Left at the cafe, Habin sat at a table and looked around.

“Would you like to order a drink?”

A waiter rushed over as if he had been waiting and handed her a menu.

Habin looked down at the menu.

The menu was quite ordinary. It had the usual coffee drinks like Americano, Espresso, and Latte, as well as grapefruit tea, iced tea, and hot chocolate. Most of the drinks you’d expect to find in a Korean cafe were available.

Just then, the waiter pointed to one side of the menu.

“Since you’re visiting Kill Screen, how about this menu item?”

The menu item the waiter pointed to was ‘Kill Screen Parfait’.

A mysterious tower of endless height. This signature menu item captures the unique characteristics of Kill Screen.

Using vanilla ice cream and fresh cream as a base, we’ve recreated Kill Screen’s distinctive rainbow-colored waterfall effect by appropriately combining green grapes, blueberries, and strawberry syrup.

“The photo looks similar to Kill Screen, so many people upload it to Staragram. It’s like a Kill Screen miniature! It’s quite a popular menu item at our cafe.”

“…….”

“We also have Kill Screen Latte, Kill Screen Cake, and Kill Screen Tart.”

Habin looked to the side. There were actually tables where people had ordered this parfait and cake and were taking photos.

In particular, the people busily taking photos at the next table were a group of internationally famous celebrity hunters that everyone would recognize.

Since most of the people visiting Kill Screen were high-ranking hunters, the people sitting around were famous celebrity hunters.

#KillScreen #BusinessTrip

“Are you uploading again?”

“Of course, I always upload everything. You never know what might happen during tomorrow’s raid.”

“Come on, you’re a strong hunter. You don’t need to worry.”

Watching them laugh and upload photos, Habin tilted her head.

Come to think of it, even during her porter part-time job days, she had seen photos taken by rankers here circulating on HunterNet.

‘So this was the source of those photos.’

Outside the window, there was a blue sea and lush green trees.

And if you turned your head slightly, you could see the massive tower at the edge of your vision.

Kill Screen, both a challenge and an opportunity for humanity, while also bringing death and terror.

[Hooh, to make and eat such drinks with that thing right before their eyes.]

Turning Kill Screen, a symbol of threat and terror, into parfaits and tarts, making it a source of amusement.

Building hotels and enjoying vacations in front of such a state of emergency.

‘……In a way, that might be what’s great about humans.’

Humanity, treating Kill Screen like a Staragram hotspot, and repurposing the portal as a venue for international conferences.

Isn’t the terror of Kill Screen being diluted, if not mocked, in front of this?

[Hooh. Now that you mention it, that’s true……. Is this their own way of adapting? Are you going to order a Kill Screen Parfait too?]

‘Hm? No?’

What parfait.

Habin spoke to the waiting waiter in a fresh voice:

“I’ll have an iced Americano.”

Even if I freeze to death, it’s iced Americano.

◆◇◆◇◆

“I’m done and back. Let’s depart now.”

Chae Jiseok, who had delivered the documents, came straight back to the cafe.

“How do we get there (they had agreed beforehand to vaguely refer to the 50th floor as ‘there’ to maintain secrecy)? Do we first enter Kill Screen’s first floor, and then you have your own method?”

The method of visiting the 50th floor.

Although he had heard from Hyun Habin that it was ‘a method of entering through errors’, Chae Jiseok still didn’t understand exactly how they would go to the 50th floor or what route they would take.

In the existing human method, as each floor was conquered, the next floor itself would ‘open up’, allowing access through stairs, portals, or various entrances.

But unconquered floors were completely inaccessible, with only a rainbow-colored outer wall like a waterfall visible.

Many people had tried to break through Kill Screen’s outer wall before, but all attacks either oxidized into light without properly affecting it, or there were only rumors of people almost being sucked into the wall.

“Ah, the method of entering there is nothing special, you just need to find a gap.”

A fluctuating error.

If you could find an error, you could squeeze through the fluctuating gap and use the ‘Interdimensional Entry’ skill.

“A gap? So is that only visible once we’re inside Kill Screen?”

“I thought so too, but…….”

Habin frowned. She muttered while looking at the white marble floor.

“I can already see it from here.”

“……?”

Last time she came, it was more visible inside Kill Screen, but now she could clearly see errors even before entering Kill Screen.

Now, small holes that looked like broken pixels were sprouting all over the cafe walls and floor.

“It works from here too?”

[……?]

“Hey, don’t tell me you mean…….”

That you can enter Kill Screen without authorization even from outside……?

Chae Jiseok, surprised and only able to whisper with mouth movements due to many ears around.

Just then, Habin, who had finished her Americano, shrugged.

“Maybe?”

We’ll have to try to know for sure.