TRHHAC 01

Chapter 1

Regression.

The wind sliced at his flesh.

“Damn it….”

Kim Jun was falling. A fall that began from the 100th floor—an endless spiral of despair with no bottom in sight.

“So this is as far as I go….”

The top of the Tower—the limit humanity could reach. And what awaited him there was nothing but despair.

‘Almighty?’

The being called the destroyer of the world. With a single gesture, everything ended.

The strongest hunter? An EX-rank existence?

‘What a joke.’

Kim Jun let out a bitter laugh. Only now did he realize how hollow the title of humanity’s strongest truly was.

Before the power called “Almighty,” he was nothing more than a mere insect.

Decades of effort, countless battles, the strength gained through the sacrifices of his comrades—

All of it collapsed in an instant.

Rumble—

The Tower was crumbling.

Kim Jun fell helplessly.

“Cough!”

Even as he spat blood, he stared into the void. In the chaos where sky and ground flipped, he prayed desperately.

“Just once… just one more chance….”

As he plummeted toward the ruined earth, he prayed again and again.

If given just one more chance, he could stop the fall of Earth. He could do it.

So in that final moment, though his reason denied it, he clung to something deep within his heart—

God, fate, miracle—it didn’t matter.

A man who had believed only in his own strength his entire life knelt, for the first time, before something greater than himself.

“Can’t you… hear me? Can’t you hear the screams of the people?”

The collapsing fragments of the Tower fell alongside him. Beneath them, countless people were being crushed to death.

“Mom! Mooooom!”

“It’s okay… it’s okay….”

A child clinging to their entire world, and a trembling mother covering the child’s ears.

“Ah… ah… I’m going to die….”

People who had already given up, watching the massive debris fall like meteors.

“Hoo….”

Others simply smoked, waiting for the end.

‘It’s all my fault. I couldn’t save them….’

Kim Jun screamed.

But no one heard him.

Only the wind tore at his body, and the ground rushed closer.

‘Is this how it ends?’

He closed his eyes.

There was nothing left he could do. Regret, anger, despair—none of it mattered anymore.

It was simply the end.

But then—

『—–. — — —-.』

A sound that could be heard, yet not heard.

Flash!

“Hyung! Snap out of it!”

“Guildmaster? What’s wrong with him?”

Someone was shaking his shoulders.

Kim Jun slowly opened his eyes.

A damp cave floor. Cold air. And worried faces looking down at him.

“Man, you almost gave me a heart attack! Why’d you suddenly collapse like that?”

Park Min-su. Tank. A reliable shield who never lost his smile.

A comrade who had died protecting him on the 70th floor.

“Are you okay?”

Han Su-in. Assassin. Quiet and swift, yet warm-hearted.

A comrade found with her throat slit after being ambushed on the 32nd floor.

“Oppa?”

Ryu Jia. Mage. The adorable youngest who followed him.

A comrade who sacrificed herself to create an escape route on the 80th floor.

“Why is the guildmaster acting like this? Did he hit his head?”

Lee Seo-yeon. Healer. Gentle and caring, like the team’s mother.

A comrade who died protecting him on the 95th floor.

Kim Jun placed his trembling hand on the ground.

Cold. Damp. The musty smell of a cave. And the distant sound of dripping water.

‘This is… the Red Gate?’

It was real.

He had returned.

To before everything began.

“Hyung, want some water? You collapsed right after drinking from that spring.”

Park Min-su handed him a canteen.

‘The spring?’

Yes. The spring.

Kim Jun turned his head.

A massive statue was carved into the cave wall.

A woman with a benevolent expression. From her eyes, drops of clear liquid fell, forming a small pool.

Before regression, he had drunk from it out of curiosity—and briefly lost consciousness.

“I mean, why would you drink something like that? A mysterious liquid in a gate?”

Park Min-woo sighed.

“Exactly. That was reckless, even for you.”

Lee Seo-yeon looked worried.

Kim Jun slowly stood up. His legs were unsteady—but something more important mattered.

“What’s today’s date?”

“April 15! Hyung, are you sure you’re okay?”

April 15.

Three days before the Tower appeared.

After clearing this Red Gate, he had witnessed the Tower rise from the ground.

“This time… it’ll be different.”

He didn’t know why he had regressed.

But one thing was certain—

This time, he could change everything.

Kim Jun summoned his status window.

[Name] : Kim Jun
[Rank] : S
[Stats] :

• Strength: 60
• Agility: 42
• Intelligence: 28
• Health: 9430/10000
• Mana: 20

Right before regression, he had been EX-rank—the strongest hunter alive.

Now he was back to S-rank.

But it didn’t matter.

His experience, knowledge, and memories of the future remained.

“Maybe we should just leave him out? We can handle it ourselves anyway.”

Kim Jun looked at him.

The younger brother who followed him to the top of the Tower.

The man who died saving him on the 70th floor.

“Min-su.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“W-what? Okay, something’s seriously wrong with you!”

Min-su panicked. Kim Jun was never one to say things like that.

Kim Jun looked at each of them in turn.

All of them had died for him.

‘This time is different. This time, I’ll protect you. All of you.’

With that resolve, Kim Jun walked deeper into the cave.

“Where are you going?”

“To kill the boss.”

“The boss? We haven’t even finished exploring!”

“It’s fine. I know.”

At the deepest part of the cave—

A massive chamber.

There, the Red Gate’s boss, the Guardian of the Ruins, awaited.

An S-rank boss monster.

Before regression, he had struggled to defeat it.

But now—

He knew the hidden route.

After an hour of navigating traps and monsters—

“This way.”

Kim Jun pointed to a narrow crack in the wall.

“Hyung, can we even fit through that?”

“Just trust me.”

“…Can I fit through that?”

“…It widens inside.”

“…Fine!”

They squeezed through—

And found a wide passage beyond.

Ancient runes covered the walls.

The floor was spotless.

“Whoa… this is the boss room?”

In 1 hour and 10 minutes, they arrived.

A vast circular chamber.

At its center knelt a giant clad in golden armor.

Along the walls stood dozens of stone soldiers, lined up like lifeless statues.

“Grrr….”

The guardian lifted its head.

Darkness filled the helmet’s visor.

“Who dares… disturb the ruins?”

Crack—

The statues began to break apart.

“Hyung! Beside us!”

They came to life all at once.

“ROOOAR! Over here!”

Min-su drew them in, forming an unbreakable wall.

“Inferno!”

Ryu Jia unleashed a pillar of flame.

“Guildmaster!”

Seo-yeon cast buffs and shields.

Kim Jun drew his sword.

Step by step—

He walked forward.

Flames ignited along the blade.

“Come.”

“Insolent…!”

The guardian raised its massive axe.

BOOM!

The ground shook—

But Kim Jun had already moved.

‘Just like before.’

Everything was the same.

The attack patterns. The timing.

Whoosh—!

The axe swung—

Kim Jun slid under it—

And struck.

CRACK!

His flaming greatsword pierced the gap in the guardian’s shoulder.

“GRAAAH!”

“Going into Phase 2? Not this time. Die here.”

Before, it had five phases.

A nightmare that revived again and again.

This time—

He wouldn’t allow it.

“One shot. Before it transitions.”

“Impossible! Who are you—!”

“Explode.”

BOOOOM!

[Guardian of the Ruins defeated.]
[Hidden clear achieved.]
[Additional rewards granted.]
[Acquired: Key of the Ruins]
[Exit has been created.]

Outside—

Chaos.

“Did they clear it?!”

“A Red Gate cleared?!”

Reporters rushed forward.

A gate even large guilds avoided—

Cleared by a 5-member team.

As always.

“Guildmaster Kim Jun! How was it inside?”

“Will you donate half again?”

“Yes.”

Because of those who came before them.

The first-generation hunters—

Who fought without systems, without knowledge.

Their sacrifice built the present.

“Three days….”

Kim Jun muttered quietly—

His gaze turning toward Yeouido.

The place where the Tower would rise.