In Behemoth Guild’s office in the Hunter’s Bureau, Kang-Hyun leaned back against the plush sofa, staring at the calendar hanging near the automatic door. It had a circle around Saturday, August tenth—the date of the next Core Dive.0

He picked up a stack of over fifty pages lying on the table, titled “Core Second Floor Strategy Guide.” This guide was created using information Do-Jun had shared a few months earlier about the Core’s second floor.0

Currently, Behemoth Guild was practicing with their orange Status Windows to gather additional intel. Unlike the first floor, starting from the second floor, there was access to a feature called the Core Forum, which resembled the countless online communities of Earth.0

The posts varied greatly in content. Some were simple “attendance checks,” while others turned into full-on “keyboard battles,” reminiscent of heated online arguments. Thanks to the anonymity guaranteed by the board, it was impossible to identify the authors or commenters.1

Most posts weren’t worth reading, but some were surprisingly helpful, like “Tips for Core Newbies (Ver 1.0).” It was a post by...0