A few years ago, the towers emerged—strange buildings, shrouded in mystery. Though they looked like any other towers, these monolithic structures pierced the skies like shards of darkness, with each floor resembling a whole new world. Their purpose and origin were unknown, these towers, which looked dark and emitted an ominous aura, seemed dormant at first, until monsters began pouring out from within them. The monsters that poured out of them, however, were all too real. Waves of creatures, each one more terrifying than the last, ravaged the earth, leaving destruction and despair in their wake, slaughtering and destroying everything in their path, leaving no blade of grass untouched. As humanity was almost driven to the brink of extinction, a single person began to kill all the monsters that were wreaking havoc. This man wiped out all the monsters he could find and then headed straight for the tower.
After this event, people all around the world began to awaken supernormal abilities. Those who were awakened possessed inhuman strength and power, allowing them to rival that of monsters. These awakeners did not all have the same abilities. Some became warriors who fought with weapons at close range and had explosive strength, while some specialized in magic, and others relied on stealth. There were different variations of them. But one thing was for sure: each of them was a monster, capable of rivaling a country's military strength.
However, even among them, there were ranks. Those who awakened abilities were weaker, ranked between D-ranked to F-ranked, while those with exceptional abilities were classified from A-ranked to C-ranked. But even among them, there were rare talents with monstrous abilities and talents; they were known as S-ranked awakeners. These awakeners decided to call themselves Hunters.
After awakening, Hunters began entering the towers, as if drawn by something. Its nature was unknown, but one Hunter referred to it as the System. As humanity started to clear the floors at a fast pace, they caught the attention of the Transcendent— - beings at the pinnacle of the towers. Beings from other worlds, who had conquered the towers eons ago, now stood as paragons of power. Some were gods, once deemed mythical, while others were warriors or swordsmen who had transcended mortality. Little is known about them, but all we know is that they could threaten mankind.
Well, that was 20 years ago, when nothing was known about the towers. It is now 2055, and humanity has conquered up to the 60th floor. More information about the towers is being broadcasted on the news every day, thanks to the Hunters. Food shortages and famine are diminishing, thanks to access to cleared floors.
We'll discuss that later. I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Hwon; I'm an orphan, so I lack a surname. I'm 21 years old and live alone. And no, I'm not awakened. Though life as an orphan and non-awakened isn't ideal, it's manageable... Never mind; this life is frustrating. Surviving is challenging. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's surviving. It's a skill I've developed. I've been taking on available work since I was a kid until I saved enough to rent a place. I no longer live on the streets. And I bought some clothes to make myself look decent so I can look for a job. At least my life is finally getting somewhat better. But I wonder how my life would differ if I were awakened. It's best not to dwell on that; I don't want to jeopardize my progress. Plus, I'm not exactly what you call lucky. Anyway.
Well, let's forget that. What about you? It's a good thing I found you in time and bandaged your wounds; otherwise, you would have definitely died. Hwon, who had been talking all this time, was shown to be in his house, talking to a cat which was sitting on the bed. It had an injury on its legs, but it seemed to have been well bandaged and taken care of. Hwon thought to himself, "It's a good thing I found this little guy in time. It seems he was attacked by some dogs but managed to climb a tree to escape. It doesn't seem to belong to anybody, either. If I hadn't passed by and seen him collapsed on the floor, he would have been in real trouble. But for some reason, after I helped him, he started following me and wouldn't go, no matter what I did. So, I decided to take him in. But now that I look at it, he does have a unique color of fur. Perhaps it's a breed I haven't seen before. Well, at least now I have someone to talk to. I was getting somewhat lonely lately."
The cat, which was on the bed, slowly crawled to him, rubbing its body against Hwon's hand, and then meowed. "Damn, he really is cute," Hwon thought.