...Youngwoo meets a few people

Youngwoo woke up sluggishly. Actually, it wasn't that he wanted to wake up. While he didn't remember a lot from what he was dreaming about, he was almost certain that he remembered Hilda being there. But he woke up because he heard something.

As the sleepy haze removed itself quickly from his eyes, he looked around. And then, he once again heard a loud sound. It was someone banging on the door to his apartment. Who was it? Youngwoo had bad feeling. Typically, nobody ever noticed his existence, so this was weird.

Ensuring that he was clothed, he bolted out of his bed and opened the door in less than three seconds. While he wanted to first get his sword, he decided against it. Even if he had to fight, there was too little space to swing freely.

As the door swung open, he got greeted by a woman. She was about 30, but her body had a lot of firmness to it that made her look a few years younger. Nearly two heads shorter than him, she was an image of an athlete, and her toned muscles were visible under her tight shirt. Her just as tight shorts ended just above her knees. Her skin was of a dark shade, and her brown eyes seemed nearly black as they looked at him diligently. Her full lips were grimaced in an unpleasant expression. Was she mad?

"...hey Valentine."

"Don't you 'hey' me, Lee." She replied with a glint of anger in her voice. "Were have you been? We started thinking you died."

"Oh, you know. Here, there, here again." He shrugged a little.

"Oh, I know, you know? And you know what you don't know?"

"...didn't I pay the rent for January?" He asked. There was only one reason for Valentine to come around. She was owner of the building he lived in, among nearly 200 other F-ranks. And now, she came to collect what he owed her.

"January, yeah, but what about February?"

"Is it 25th already?"

"...what the hell do you have in your head Lee... Yeah it is! And I've been at your door 6 times already! Dude, seriously, at least pick up your phone!"

"I'm sorry. I'll get the money immediately." He bowed his head a little, and retreated into his apartment.

Within a few seconds, he grabbed a pouch in which he still had some silver coins left (he really went overboard with the food before). As he counted the coins, he heard Valentine's voice:

"Also, one extra thing. Rent is increased to a gold coin monthly now."

"What?" He frowned. The rent was always 70 silver, and as far as he remembered, it shouldn't rise until 2041. No... there was something off here. Why would it rise out of blue?

"Don't look at me like that. I got my own bills to pay, you know?" She rolled her eyes. "If you don't have enough this time, I'll be lenient enough to let you pay it next time, since I'm assuming you didn't know?"

"...I had no idea." He replied. "But I have enough." He added, taking a golden coin out.

"Fine then." She answered, tapping in her phone quickly. "Just don't forget that it's risen."

"I'll remember that." He nodded in response.

Valentine rolled her eyes, but formed a smirk.

"So, where have you been to? I mean, you've been gone for almost the entire month. Have you been staying on 3rd floor for something?" She tilted her head a little.

"No... I've been on 11th floor."

"Huh... I've heard that it wasn't too bad."

"It was manageable." He didn't want to say that he placed on rankings. Well, to begin with, him and Valentine didn't really know each other. She was a warm person, but Youngwoo rarely had time to sit around and talk with her.

"Say, do you have some time now?"

"...I guess?" He took a look at his phone. It was 14:25. Yeah, he still got hours before 13th floor would be open. "Why?"

"You see, I got a new guy around here. He got enlisted today, and I honestly couldn't find anyone who would take care of him. Can you show him the ropes of hunts?"

"...that's a weird request. Isn't there a training facility?" A place where newest Hunters in the Tower would go and test their abilities, it was a perfect spot to begin with. In fact, once people realized nature of the Tower, it came to be one of the first buildings built in Safe Zone.

"He says that he went through the regime, but he doesn't feel confident."

"Am I really a person to turn to? You know that I'm not great at hunting."

"Listen, if I had a different option, I'd have taken it. I know your reality, Lee, but everyone else is gone, and I don't want to leave him hanging. He'd die on his own."

"..." He wanted to ask if she couldn't do it, but decided against it. "...alright, then. I do have a few hours. I can help him out."

Valentine sighed with relief.

"You can't imagine how much you're helping me here. I'll pay you back later, Lee. Now, get ready and meet me in my room. You got 10 minutes."

"Alright." He nodded, closing the door.

Quickly, he changed his clothing, ate some food (without the need of alarm for once), and fastened his sword before going in the corridor. After locking the door, he went down the corridor and to the base floor of the apartment building. 'A newbie, huh.' He thought. 'I don't really have much to do, so I can take care of him. Who knows, maybe if he'll get a good skill in the future, he'll remember my favor?' It would be a lie to say he was doing this out of selflessness. Sure, Youngwoo did strongly believe in the maxim of 'Hunters should help fellow Hunters in scaling the Tower', but a lot of time he also tried to make good relationships with everyone around. This was partly because he got his pesky, rotten passive C-rank skill, and partly because he didn't know any better most of the time. Survival of the fittest; this was his entire life, from the orphanage in Korea in which he lived for years to his fights in the Tower. And him helping the newbie out was also an act of sowing a seed of good relation with that person, which he could use someday.

As he placed his final steps from the stairs, he turned left, away from the entrance, and went into another corridor. After walking for a few steps, he knocked on door to Valentine's office, and stepped in once she called out to him.

In the office, opposite of her desk, sat an older man. He looked to be around 50 or so, but his hair was dark grey. A nice tuxedo was fixed on him, and a pair of large sunglasses were obstructing his eyes. The man got up and turned around to face Youngwoo. His face had just a few wrinkles, and his figure was rather slender. Still, there was something about him that made the taller one shiver a little at sight.

"Lee, this is the newbie I was talking about." Said Valentine, going through some documents. "Mister Page, please just sign here and we're done."

"Of course." Replied the man, turning around. In a blink of an eye, he made a quick sign on the paper, and turned to Youngwoo. "Hello, fellow Hunter. I'm Arthur Page, but well, people tend to call me just Page, since it's easier for everyone."

"Hello, mister Page. I'm Lee Youngwoo, but everyone calls me just Lee. You know, simplicity sake." He said and smirked a little. This man seemed a little off, but actually, he seemed likable, even. "So, shall we go?"

"If you're ready."

The two of them went outside, and then took their steps towards the Gate. Well, it was more of Arthur following Youngwoo's lead (since he didn't know the way), but that didn't matter much anyway. The day was a little chilly, but neither of them seemed to care. Well, Lee's case, he had his skill, and Page didn't seem to care for temperature much, either. Still, there was something that he just had to ask.

"May I ask what kind of skill you received?"

"Hmm?" Arthur turned to him for a moment. "I got great sight. Well, but my eyes became quite sensitive, hence the sunglasses." He chuckled a little.

"Do you have a weapon on you?"

"Yes. I was a marksman outside of Tower, so I received a pistol with mana ammo when I finished the training in facility." He nodded. "You're a swordsman, I see?"

"Yes."

"So what kind of skill did you get, Lee?"

"Just a passive to survive temperatures better."

"I see..."

"So... I suppose I should show you how to hunt?"

Arthur nodded lightly with a smile. There was something weird about him, but Youngwoo decided not to ponder on it too much. After he quickly explained the procedure of transfer, they both got to floor 2.

A large forest appeared in front of them. The trees were larger than typical ones on Earth would grow to, going about 25 metres each, and their branches were very wide and abundant with green leaves. Slowly making their way between the trees, it didn't take them long time to run into some other Hunters. In fact, the closer one was to the return gate, the more people hunted around, trying to get some of their quests done. Soon, Youngwoo asked:

"Did you get a quest, mister Page?"

"Hmm? Yes... it says that I have to slay 2 great orcs."

"2? Hmm... that won't be difficult."

"Um... are you sure?" Arthur tilted his head a little. "It says 'great orcs'."

"Yeah, it's fine. All orcs are big anyway. Great orcs are a bit more skilled in fighting, but since you're a shooter, not a melee fighter, it'll be a piece of cake for you."

As they made their way forward more and more, they started hearing sounds of fighting. Indeed, some Hunters were clashing with some orcs all around. Soon enough, it'd be turn for Youngwoo and Arthur (well, actually only the former).

It took them about 7 minutes to reach a small clearing. In it, there were exactly 2 orcs. They were large, humanoid creatures with green skin, huge muscles, wielding some basic weapons and tools. Their face was somewhat reminiscent of a boar's, but there were clear similarities to a human as well, and some large teeth stuck out of their lips, making them look somewhat like boar-human hybrid. Some loincloths were covering their important areas, but other than that they were naked. [A/N: TFW you forget you're writing a story on a porn site, and are actually more inclined to write actual story and omit sexual parts than to lay them out. Funny story, this actually already happened one time in this story. Made me laugh, not gonna lie.]

As Youngwoo unsheathed his sword, he felt Arthur's hand on his shoulder.

"Um... are you seeing this?" He looked a little confused by something.

"Yes, that's orcs."

"No... don't you see their names above their heads? 'Great Orc Gorrgruk' and 'Great Orc Kohkluk'?"

"...no?" 'So that's what his skill lets him do...?' "I think it's because of your skill, mister Page."

"Oh... I see..." Arthur took a hold of his gun. "Who should we attack first?"

"I'll grab their attention, and you shoot them down. Seems good?"

"Lee... will you be able to take them on?"

"Oh, sure. They're big, but also quite slow. Just be sure to shoot them down."

"...very well then." Arthur cocked the gun he held and pulled its head a little, checking if it was loaded. "Ready when you are."

Without a word of encouragement more, Youngwoo gripped his sword tightly and rushed forward. He smiled lightly. It felt nice rushing into combat, and not train again. He shouted towards the two orcs sitting, getting their attention. As he came closer to them, he swung his sword lightly and stopped, clearly provoking them. As both of them got up, Youngwoo begun his stride.

Orcs were somewhat intelligent creatures. They used basic language, tools, and even knew that cooking meat would make it better to eat. As such, they were able to use tactics. One of them started circling Youngwoo, while the other tried to divert his attention, charging at him up front. Both of them wielded chunks of tree branches as their weapons, and with their imposing height of nearly 3 metres, they looked like they could kill him in one blow. However, their strength came at expense of their sluggish attack speed. And Youngwoo took full advantage of this.

He cut calves of the first one while striding around it with Linked Revolve. Then he made a large cut on its back before it could turn around, causing it to groan loudly in pain. He then made a run to the other one, intending on cutting its stomach open with Link. Well, it was correct to call it his intention at best. Suddenly, a gunshot could be heard, and the orc pummeled on the ground, its skull penetrated by a clean shot through its temples, dead in one shot.

Deciding to change his tactic, Youngwoo turned around and struck the first orc with Wave instead. After that, he quickly made some distance and cleaned his sword a little, after which he sheathed it. The high orc glared at him angrily, and **** itself to run at him. However, as its tendons were severed, it failed to even take 2 full steps before lying flat on the ground. As it started lifting itself up, a second gunshot reverberated through the forest, and it died as well. Arthur came from between the trees, a calm expression on his face as he expelled some air from his lungs.

It didn't even take 30 seconds to raid the orcs. Indeed, they were easy creatures to take care of. Most Hunters could finish their orcs in no more than a minute themselves, so this speed was to be expected. Still, Youngwoo marveled for a short moment at how accurate Arthur's shots were. There was no way he was lying about being a marksman. One shot, one kill. Indeed, making friends with this man would be worthwhile if Youngwoo wanted to ever create a raiding party. He thought about banshee on floor 20. This man, if he were to obtain a stronger weapon, like a sniper rifle or the like, would be a great help.

"That was easy." Said Youngwoo. "How's your quest? Got a new one?"

"Yes... it says to find and obtain orc's war banner."

"..." 'Well, that's just plain suicidal.' "It's going to be difficult. Here there were only 2 orcs, but war banners are typically in their villages. No, it's a quest for 10 people party... why would it give it to you?" He wondered for a long while.

"It's alright, Lee. I think I should go."

"What?"

"Well, you were here to show me how to hunt, right?"

"...I suppose, but-"

"Then you've done your part. I think I know how to go about it."

"I-"

"Lee." Arthur's expression hardened a little. "Don't worry about me too much. You'll get old." He chuckled lightly. "I know how to take care of myself." He quickly pulled up a hunting knife. Hell, where did he hide that thing? Its blade itself must've measured about 15 centimetres. "For now, I'll just go and rest. I'm still new in the Tower, I need to figure out the Safe Zone a little. Thank you for your help. I hope we'll meet again one of these days."

"...very well. I hope you stay safe, mister Page."

Arthur smiled widely as he nodded his head lightly.

"Now then, I'll get going. Until we meet next time, Lee."

Youngwoo nodded in response. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like this man would be safe on his own. It was like he was stronger than he seemed. Oh well, that wasn't very important to him at the moment. He laid foundations for a good relationship in the future. In fact, this man seemed like a very nice grandpa/uncle person. Wasn't there a word 'gruncle'?

'Oh well, I should get going soon enough as well. But first, a little training.' Youngwoo checked the time on his phone. He still got about 10 hours before 13th floor would open. There was more than enough time.