The Tutorial Is Too Hard

Chapter 1: Prologue

The Tutorial or This Tutorial ?

Life is a series of choices.

A phrase I once read in 3rd year of highschool.

Life truly is a series of choices.

But what the fuck am I supposed to do about it?

That phrase hasn’t helped in any way for me to make better decisions on improving my life.

When I told that to my friend, my friend replied.

Your decisions can change the direction of your life. You will have always have the opportunity to make choices as long as you walk the path of the living. What this means is that you should stop suffering over your past mistakes, and live while looking forward.

Bullshit. The bastard dares to say such stupid things even when he knows my situation.

Because of one foolish choice, my life was ruined.

There were plenty of excuses.

I was drunk.

Which is why I could not think straight.

When a strange hologram message invited me to somewhere, I just snickered.

I always loved novels and cartoons. I’ve dreamt of those fantasy-like events happening to me.

So, I became audacious.

[Will you enter the Tutorial world?]

Without hesitation, I answered Yes.

I was an ex-pro gamer. Damn it. This was the biggest problem. Because of that stupid sense of pride and need to boast. Full of confidence, I couldn’t tell between game and reality.

[Choose the Tutorial difficulty. Depending on the difficulty, the dangers of the Tutorial stages increase along with the growth rate and reward.]

The Tutorial’s difficulty ranged between Easy, Normal, Hard and Hell.

Boldly, I chose the Hell difficulty.

Because of that stupid mistake, I’m still stuck here.

Life is a series of choices.

A phrase I once read in 3rd year of highschool.

Life truly is a series of choices.

But what the fuck am I supposed to do about it?

That phrase hasn’t helped in any way for me to make better decisions on improving my life.

When I told that to my friend, my friend replied.

Your decisions can change the direction of your life. You will have always have the opportunity to make choices as long as you walk the path of the living. What this means is that you should stop suffering over your past mistakes, and live while looking forward.

Bullshit. The bastard dares to say such stupid things even when he knows my situation.

Because of one foolish choice, my life was ruined.

There were plenty of excuses.

I was drunk.

Which is why I could not think straight.

When a strange hologram message invited me to somewhere, I just snickered.

I always loved novels and cartoons. I’ve dreamt of those fantasy-like events happening to me.

So, I became audacious.

[Will you enter the Tutorial world?]

Without hesitation, I answered Yes.

I was an ex-pro gamer. Damn it. This was the biggest problem. Because of that stupid sense of pride and need to boast. Full of confidence, I couldn’t tell between game and reality.

[Choose the Tutorial difficulty. Depending on the difficulty, the dangers of the Tutorial stages increase along with the growth rate and reward.]

The Tutorial’s difficulty ranged between Easy, Normal, Hard and Hell.

Boldly, I chose the Hell difficulty.

Because of that stupid mistake, I’m still stuck here.

Chapter 2: Tutorial Floor 60 Part 1

“I-can’t stand it anymore~ Ooh ooh ooh~” Before being summoned to the Tutorial world, I was walking through the residential district on the 60th floor singing a song that I heard from a movie. It seemed like a sweet and romantic song in the movie, but when I sang it it sounded more like an elegy. Anyone listening would have told me to stop singing at once. Truth is i’m tone deaf and beat deaf as well.

But I didn’t stop. I’m the only one here anyway. The empty streets and the empty buildings reminded of the movie starring Will Smith, ‘I am Legend’.

Other than my footsteps and my song, no other sound could be heard. A dreadful silence.

At least Will Smith had a bitch of a dog with him. So jealous. It was a bad choice by me. In the end, it is my responsibility to bear.

From the beginning, no almost the beginning, I was alone. It wasn’t surprising that I was alone in the residential district on Floor 30 as well,

but back then I wasn’t tormented by the feelings of gloom and loneliness.

Back then I was moving forward although it was hard to the point of almost dying. But now that I’ve reached Floor 60, I can’t go forward anymore.

It’s complicated, but to quickly summarise It is impossible to clear the floor from 61 onwards alone. No matter what path you take.

Similar to the game ‘Portal’. Just like their coop mission, it’s a stage impossible to progress alone.

I needed a partner. I went to my favorite pub. Of course there’s no bartender or other customers. I sat on my usual seat and ordered a drink. [300 points are deducted.] I grab onto the glass which appeared on the table and flicked a coin off my thumb. “Here’s a tip, mister.” The coin spun through the air, hit the ground and rolled off somewhere. [81st round will begin shortly.] [Remaining time : 10 minutes] Finally! Every time a new round starts Players are forced into the Tutorial stage.

Only those who are in residential districts are excluded, which I’m currently at. There is only one reason for me, who was safely tucked away in the residential district, to anticipate for the new round. When the new round begins, new Players enter. Please, let there be someone who will become my companion… “Community open.” I may as well look at the community to waste the remaining time. The first thing I see is… [Difficulty Hell, Forum (1/1)] What this means is, in the ‘Hell difficulty’ there is one survivor, and one person who is browsing the forums.

I move my eyes and look at the other forums.

Although it’s called Hell forum, it doesn’t mean that only Players in Hell difficulty could use it. The forum is to talk about Hell difficulty and additionally show the population in the Hell difficulty. [Difficulty Normal, Forum (42/86)] So many. I’m jealous. At that moment, a new post was made on the Hell forum. [Lee Joon Suk, Floor 90 : Ho Jae-hyoung, sup. Are you waiting for a newbie?] It’s Lee Joon Suk, who is at Floor 90 in Hard difficulty. I usually stay in friendly terms with Hard Players. I became close with them as we shared our tips and how we raised our skill levels. The highest rankers of Hard difficulty could have information which can help me aswell. Lee Joon Suk is someone who is currently grinding in the Tutorial world even though he has the opportunity to return to the real world once he advances through 10 more floors. The Tutorial is made from Floor 1 to Floor 100 and Players who were able to reach Floor 100 are sent back to the real world.

And those Players who are strengthened through the Tutorial become ‘The Awakened’ and protect the earth from monsters. How the Awakened grow is not through experience or training but through level ups like in a game and they can no longer become stronger the moment they leave the Tutorial.

They may become more experienced and efficient, but that’s the limit. The evolution of their skills and growth of their stats simply become impossible. It is the reason why Lee Joon Suk was grinding in the Tutorial. To become stronger before leaving the Tutorial. To return to reality as the strongest. Well he’s a nice guy for having a chat with me and I’m thankful and jealous as well. [Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : Yeah. Although I’m not sure if there will be one.] I was a 1st round player. I came here without knowing anything. I didn’t know where this was. Blindly choosing the Hell difficulty. But the situation changed by the 15th round when a few people cleared Floor 100 and left the Tutorial.

Those who left the Tutorial told the world of its existence. It was a good thing. Those that were still in the Tutorial were able to forward messages through the Players who cleared the 100th floor. Allowing them to tell their parents, their family and friends not to worry. Not to mention it gave them the hope of returning to real world if they could finish the tutorial.

Those in the real world gained information about the Tutorial which randomly kidnapped Players. Information like how to survive and what was dangerous. That was the problem. The dangers of the Hell difficulty was exposed.

Clear rate 0%, survival rate 0.01%. Who would enter, unless they were incredibly insane.

Afterwards, the number of newbies entering Hell plummeted. [Lee Joon Suk, Floor 90 : Hyoung, if there is a newbie, what would you want from them?] An interesting question.

All this time I was hoping for someone to just come, rather than what kind of person would come.

Hmm… [Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : Well gender and age doesn’t matter.] They grow stronger when their level grows whether they are women or children. [Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : But the most important factor is their mental strength.] Those who enter Hell difficulty are nine times out of ten insane. About half of them were people who should be in asylums. ‘Patients’ who couldn’t think normally.

Of course their survival rate was 0%. The other half are delinquents and school kids with chuunibyou full of empty boasts.

Their survival rate was 0.01%. On a side note among the 3 categories, I was the chuunibyou. Although I wasn’t in school anymore. Shit. Lastly are the misfortunate. For example, those who were summoned while riding a rollercoaster. Those who pressed Hell difficulty while they were waving their arms in the air.

Of course their survival rate was 0%. Well if I were to rank them, it’s Misfortunate > Chuunibyou > Delinquents > Insane. [Lee Joon Suk, Floor 90 : I think the rank for delinquents is too low. Hmm… I don’t get it. Hyoung, tell me why.] I am kind therefore I gave an answer. [Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : Hell mode is fair to all. There is only 1 way for newbies to survive. Listening to what I say. That’s it. So the rankings reflect the rank of those who will listen to me.] [Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : But that’s not the most important factor. The most important factor is the Class.] Class. The Class for RPGS.

Such as the warrior, mage, archer and priests. Truth is Classes are only mentioned by the Players.

To be accurate it meant the weapon they chose when they entered the Tutorial. From this starting weapon, their play style changes. They can change their weapon half way, but most follow the style of their original weapon. [Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : Definitely a warrior. It has to be a shield warrior. You can’t survive without a shield.] [Jung Gi Joon, Floor 51 : But Ho Jae-hyoung doesn’t use a shield.] Jung Gi Joon. He is a Hard mode player just like Lee Joon Suk. [Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : I did use it. Back then … ] Suddenly, the topic of the conversation became the tales of my adventures.

As I talked about my past, we came to my early days in the Tutorial.

The beginnings in the Hell difficulty.

Whether there were many who were curious or there were simply a lot of people browsing the Community due to the start of 81st round, a lot of people gathered at this forum. Then, a new name posted on the forum. [Jung Won Sik, Floor 33 : Even so, aren’t you just a loser? There’s no way you can clear Hell mode anyway. Why do you guys like him so much?] I froze as soon as I read those words. [Goo Dae Ho, Floor 53 : That retard lololol. He sure got balls for an Easy player lol.] Easy mode. If it’s Easy difficulty, it’s likely he hasn’t been in the Tutorial for long despite being on Floor 33. The clear speed for Easy difficulty is very fast. I massage the tension on the back of my neck, and continued to write. [Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : I remembered your name. I don’t know how many years it will take, but when I’m out I’ll find you first.] These weren’t empty threats. When I leave, I’ll find him.

But he won’t be first, unlike how I’ve written it.

There are 7 more I must visit before him. The bastard Jung Won Sik didn’t post anymore. [Jung Gi Joon, Floor 51 : By the way hyoung, what’s your level now?] [Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : 251] A series of comments explode after those words. [Lee Joon Suk, Floor 90 : 251? Hyoung went over 200? Why’s it so high?] [Goo Dae Ho, Floor 53 : Level 251 kek lolololololol Are you human? lololololol.] [Lee Won Ill, Floor 17 : Lolololol that guy before must be shitting his pants lolololol pissed off a level 251 lolol.] Anyway this world is a tutorial. It’s not a death game aimed at killing people.

Its aim is for Players to grow. It’s just the person who chooses Hell is at fault. Fuck. The system clearly said that danger increased along with difficulty. And that the growth rate and reward increased accordingly as well. The system is true. That’s it. After reading the comments, my anger subsided a little.

I am petty and childish, I know. And I always remember my grudges. I’ll never forget.

I open the memo on System and write down the name Jung Won Sik. [81st Round will begin.] The system message that I had been waiting for finally popped. I quietly closed my eyes.

Please let there be a newbie… I began to pray. Similar to praying for an item enchant to succeed in an RPG. I can feel the heart pounding, probably from my desperation. Please… Please…

And with those desperate feelings, I slowly open my eyes. [Difficulty Hell, forum (1/2)] IT’S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 3: Tutorial Floor 60 Part 2

In 2014, a strange event swept across the globe.

Monsters appeared from all over the world, and began to attack towns and cities.

Most of the monsters were neutralized by the military, but there were a select few that were able to survive as they were immune to bullets.

Many cities across the world were destroyed, and the number of casualties were innumerable.

It was then when the psychics known as the Awakened appeared.

Once every month, people were randomly kidnapped into the Tutorial world. If they were able to clear the Tutorial, they would receive powers and were returned to the real world.

[Round 81 will begin.]

It had been 30 days since Round 80 had started and now was time for Round 81 to begin.

As usual, 100 new players were kidnapped.

[Difficulty Normal, Forum (71/106)]

[Welcome newcomers.]

[Must-know tips before you beginning the Tutorial.]

[Basic introductions for Tutorial cla.s.ses.]

[Basic rules for the community waiting room. Newbies please read.]

[System interface configuration.]

[Punishment for breaking the rules.]

Such topics could be found and more are posted on the forums.

Most of the posts were uploaded by the NPCs in the residential districts.

Residential NPCs were Players who had given up on progressing through the Tutorial. They had chosen to settle themselves in the residential districts located on Floors 30, 60 and 90.

They give advice to first time Newbies and maintain public order in the residential areas.

I might become one of these NPCs too.

Afterall, I can’t get past Floor 60.

And…

[Difficulty h.e.l.l, Forum (1/2)]

It’s here! A Newbie!

How long have I waited for the number ‘2’ to appear.

I’m about to cry.

Please, come on the Community. Please…

Please… Someone normal… Please…

[Difficulty h.e.l.l, Forum (2/2)]

They’re here!

I had to make a post quickly, so the Newbie could see it.

At that moment, a new post was made on the h.e.l.l forum.

[Uhh…]

[Lee Yeon Hee, Floor 1 : Uh… am I in h.e.l.l difficulty sdalkhfiuoqrg. I think I pressed the wrong b.u.t.ton. Please help me. HELP MEDSKLFJGLKG]

I can feel her sanity crumble with each pa.s.sing word.

It may have been the greatest misfortune in her life, but for me it was my only ray of hope! Hoorray!

Meanwhile, the Newbie’s post received enormous attention.

[Lee Joon Suk, Floor 90 : Uh… Hm, I. Uh… Cheer up.]

[Lee Gi Suk, Floor 22 : Ah… mistakes were made. You misclicked and now you’re in h.e.l.l. fbm.]

[Goo Dae Ho, Floor 53 : Uwaa lolololol. Press the wrong b.u.t.ton and into h.e.l.l you go lololol.]

[Lee Won Ill, Floor 17 : Cheer up. The survival rate isn’t 0%, it’s just 0.01% kek.]

[Jung Gi Joon, Floor 51 : Don’t make fun of her you a.s.sholes. How sad would she be right now.]

I added a comment before the Newbie Lee Yeon Hee’s sanity would shatter into million pieces.

[Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : Don’t be so scared. If you listen to me, you can survive. Calm down.]

[Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : I’m sorry, but can you introduce yourself quick?]

I have to know her age at least.

There is no age limit for those who are sent here.

Which means that even a 100 year old grandma or a 5 year old kid could be sent here.

[Lee Yeon Hee, Floor 1 : h.e.l.lo, my name is Lee Yeon Hee. I’m 20 years old. My school…]

[Lee Ho Jae, Floor 60 : You can forgo details like your school. What weapon did you start with?]

[Lee Yeon Hee, Floor 1 : Bow.]

She’s screwed.

[Lee Gi Suk, Floor 22 : Archer, LOL. Pretty sure even Robin Hood couldn’t beat h.e.l.l difficulty.]

[Lee Won Ill, Floor 17 : What gave you the idea to pick the bow in h.e.l.l..T_T]

I thought the Newbie would of had a major breakdown completely if she read the comments so I sent her a 1:1 chat invitation.

[Lee Yeon Hee has entered.]

[Lee Yeon Hee : Is the bow really that bad? I heard it’s good in the early stages?]

A question as soon as she enters.

Well, her life depends on it. I should understand.

The bow is a very difficult weapon for beginners.

Unless you practice archery….

[Lee Yeon Hee : I am an archer. A national represent.]

Ah, is that so…

Those who start with the bow are often called Archers.

In the Tutorial, the Archer is a cla.s.s which does not simply fire arrows from afar like other RPG games.

In terms of combat, rather than being a sniper who shoots from afar, they are more like a ranger who sweep through battle like Legolas.

It was dangerous, but everyone’s forced to play Solo during the beginning, so as they progress through the Tutorial with a bow, they naturally developed such skills from difficult close quarters combat that occurred frequently.

As they go past the start, they begin to form parties,

These Archers become core members of the party due to their agility, survival and offer great utility such as excellent eyesight.

To make it brief, they are like the amalgamation of a rogue, adventurer and archer from a normal RPG game.

Everyone recommends to have at least 1 archer in all parties due to being multi-skilled and their ability to survive.

So, Lee Yeon Hee is correct about how good it is in the early phase. It’s dangerous on the first 5 floors where the Start of the Tutorial lies, but it’s not a bad weapon for Floors 20 and below which is considered the early phase.

But, that’s not the same for h.e.l.l difficulty.

Because it’s so hard to go past the first 5 floors.

[Lee Ho Jae : Archer is not a bad choice. Don’t worry. In truth, Archers are one of the best surviving cla.s.ses.

[Lee Yeon Hee : Really?]

[Lee Ho Jae : Yes. So don’t worry, follow my instructions and you’ll survive. Don’t believe anyone else and just follow my advice.]

After calming down Lee Yeon Hee, I explained about the basics of Tutorial. How to use the Shop and Community. How to gain and raise Skills.

[Lee Yeon Hee : Uh, is it really alright? Will I survive?

[Lee Ho Jae : You will survive if you follow my instructions. Not anyone else, but mine. Ah, did you ever hear about me?]

I asked as I repeated what I said before.

It’s embarra.s.sing to say it myself, but I am quite famous. Both inside and outside the Tutorial.

I am the lone survivor in h.e.l.l difficulty in Korea.

And also the highest ranking h.e.l.l Player in the world.

Apparently I’m a famous urban legend in the real world.

[Lee Yeon Hee : Yes. Uh, the lone survivor of h.e.l.l… Right?]

[Lee Ho Jae : Yes. That’s right but I’m not exactly alone. There are plenty of survivors in h.e.l.l on other different servers too.]

Apparently there are 11 survivors in the American server. Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.

Most of them are stuck in the residential area of Floor 30, but it’s still impressive to have more than 10 Players.

What’s even more surprising is that there are still people challenging the h.e.l.l difficulty.

I wasn’t aware that America was so Macho-tastic.

[Lee Yeon Hee : Uh, this may sound rude but, what’s the highest record for h.e.l.l difficulty?]

[Lee Ho Jae : Floor 60 which is where I’m at.]

It felt embarra.s.sing yet proud when I complimented myself.

[Lee Yeon Hee : Can you tell me what the records are for Players other than yourself?]

I thought briefly before I could answer. Should I tell her the truth, or hide it.

On the side note, the highest in Korea is Floor 17, while the World record is Floor 32.

[Lee Ho Jae : There are a quite a number of people who got past Floor 30. It’s a lot if you consider the fact that there aren’t many who enter h.e.l.l difficulty to begin with.]

[Lee Ho Jae : Most importantly, there’s a residential area on Floor 30. If you get there, you won’t have to worry about dying.]

Of course Lee Yeon Hee cannot remain on Floor 30. She had to come up to Floor 60 and help me clear Floor 61.

Anyway, I carefully chose words that would help her regain her calm.

However, I’m not sure how effective that was.

[Lee Ho Jae : Well then, I’ll give you a detailed explanation about the start of Tutorial, Floor 1.]

Now I needed to drill her about the pattern and tips on how to get through the start.

The h.e.l.l Tutorial had sent countless lives to their doom, but it wasn’t impossible to beat.

The most effect path was to memorize the order and pattern of the Tutorial.

The Tutorial is fair.

It brings equal challenges to all.

In the same order and pattern.

Before I started my explanation, I began to remember the days.

The days when I first fell into this h.e.l.l.

Chapter 4: Tutorial 1st Floor, Waiting Room (Part 1)

[One to your shoulder, heart and between your eyes. Half a beat later right ankle. Simple right?]

[What happens if you can’t dodge it? Um… It’s alright. Everyone’s like that the first time.]

I switched through the TV channels with empty eyes.

Comedy shows were boring, and the dramas were ever so predictable.

Music shows were absolutely trash.

I was in desperate need of some sort of stimuli.

A normal day, boring and stupid.

This has been going on for 2 years.

I’ve quit my career as a professional gamer 2 years ago and have since set up a convenience store with my savings.

It was challenging at first with so many things to manage, but I got used to it fast. And once I got used to it, I left it all to my part time employees and holed myself at home.

Who cares if the part timers rip some money off me.

Life was boring.

I should’t have quit my pro gaming career.

I was the best when it came to video games.

There may be arguments, but at my greatest height I was called the best.

However, with the pa.s.sing of time I was eventually deposed of that t.i.tle. Unable to deal with my loss, I decided to retire a short time after.

Rather than live on as a loser, I had decided to quit gaming completely.

I’ve always been extremely compet.i.tive.

From hide and seek to a local soccer match, once I started to play, I had to win.

Then one day, I played a fighting video game for the first time in front of a local stationary store.

How angry was I, after being completely destroyed by a 6th grader.

That’s when I was absorbed into gaming.

Until my retirement 2 years ago, gaming was my life.

What would it be like if I stayed as an ex-best gamer?

That life wouldn’t have been as bad as this.

My life right now is unbearably empty and boring.

Well, what could I do. What’s done is done.

I sigh as I raise a gla.s.s of soju. The gla.s.s was empty.

I try to look for another bottle in the black plastic bag as I keep muttering s.h.i.t.

Ah, have I drink them all already…

At that moment, an emergency broadcast was being played on the TV.

[… Just 30 minutes ago, multiple sinkholes such as these have suddenly appeared throughout the world. The government is currently investigating the cause to the sinkholes…. It has been advised not to approach near these sinkholes. This is NBS news update…]

It was a strange news update. But I was facing an even peculiar situation at that moment.

Floated words appeared in front of my eyes.

[Congratulations, you have been invited to the Tutorial World. Lee Ho Jae.]

Tutorial? Is it the tutorial, where they show you the basics of the game?

Am I wasted to the point of seeing hallucination, or have I gone insane.

[Will you enter the Tutorial World?]

I quickly began to contemplate whether this is an opportunity for me or not.

I had no regrets about my life. If anyone could give me a new life, I’d welcome it with both arms open.

It’s something that would happen in an anime or a novel, but I am seeing that possibility right in front of me.

Can I lead the life I want in the new world? Where I’m the protagonist again?

“… Yes.”

An answered creeped out of my dry throat. Is this ok as an answer?

The message changed after my reply.

[Please select the difficulty. The dangers of the stage increase with difficulty, along with its rewards and your growth.]

There were 4 options.

Easy, Normal, Hard, h.e.l.l.

There was no need for me to think.

I, Lee Ho Jae.

Have never missed out on a game, and have never been called bad in any of them.

I am confident that I can be at least above average in terms of sports, and I was filled with talent for games. A so called genius.

And so I chose h.e.l.l difficulty.

And then proceeded to lose my consciousness.

A rough shake woke me up.

‘Hey, are you awake? You’ve slept for long enough, get up.’

An intimidating looking man was shaking me to get up.

‘Are you coming to your senses? Are you ok?’

I forced my tired eyes open to look at my surroundings. I saw 3 people including the man who woke me up. All of them, people that I’ve never seen before.

‘f.u.c.k… who, who are you!’

I shouted as I stumbled backwards.

This wasn’t my room.

The floor and walls were lined with clean-cut stone that seemed like marble.

It was a desolate indoor s.p.a.ce with no furniture.

‘Where… where am I?’

As I opened my eyes, I was in a strange place with unfamiliar people.

‘This is the 1st floor waiting room.’

‘1st floor waiting room? What do…’

‘Hey, calm down. Let’s have a chat. Did you not see those messages?’

The man who shook me spoke with a calm tone. His face was like a rugged bear, but his voice was like a ballad singer.

‘A message?’

‘You know, the messages regarding something about a tutorial.’

At that moment I remembered what happened before I lost my consciousness.

Is this it? Is this like teleportation? Did I enter the game world?

My head was full of questions.

‘I saw it. I was drunk, everything was so hectic. Did all of you see the message and did it all lead you to come here?’

My voice was surprisingly calm and clear. Before I lost consciousness, I swear I was drunk to the absolute limit.

‘Yes.’

The man pa.s.sively replied, and the man and woman behind him nodded in agreement.

‘I wanted to know if you knew anything about this whole situation, hence why I woke you up. You probably got dragged here without knowing anything like us. Anyway, it’s only us here so shouldn’t we help each other?’

Mm…

Not a bad idea. Having allies is definitely better than being alone.

But only if I could trust these people.

‘Would you happen to have any leads about this entire situation?’

‘Well, come to think of it, before the messages started popping up, there was an emergency news report.’

The whole group of people paid their full attention to me as I said this.

Not only just the man I spoke to, the man and woman behind him approached me.

‘It said a large sink-hole had appeared across the whole world out of nowhere.’

‘Are you saying we ended up in here because of the sink-hole that appeared?!’

The ugly man at the back raised his voice.

He looked like a gangster.

‘f.u.c.king, do you think that even makes any sense, you r.e.t.a.r.d?’

Mm. The gangster could be right. Maybe he was also a little too anxious about this whole situation, it was quite a touchy response.

‘I just told you what I remembered.’

Luckily, it seemed the ganster didn’t want to dig into me anymore. At least he isn’t completely braindead.

I shook my head a little. Something’s a little…

‘What is it?’

‘No… just. Before I lost consciousness I was completely drunk, I feel as though I’m just a little too normal.’

‘Ahh. It must be because of that thing. Apparently, if you enter this area your whole body gets healed. It must be it.’

‘What?? The body heals by itself?’

‘Yes. A message saying that appeared just before you woke up.’

Another Message.

I feel as though I missed out on something important.

‘I’m sorry but can you tell me the details of that message?’

‘ok’

‘Firstly, I will tell you about the very first message that appeared.’

‘Thank you’

The man who looked like a bear was surprisingly nice. I wonder, how old was he?

The man first told me about beginner weapons. As soon as I heard that from the man, in my field of vision a little message appeared which instructed me to choose a starting weapon.

As I focused on the message, everything went black.

The next moment, I was in an area with countless amounts of weapons which spanned around my surroundings.

It wasn’t the stone chamber I was in before. The people had also disappeared.

What kind of balance was this…

Lets calm down. If I thought of this as a game, there was nothing weird happening at all.

I calmed myself and looked around.

There were various different kinds of weapons around me.

A spear, sword, bow, iron mace, that… mmm.. thing. There were also weapons that I couldn’t figure out how to use as well.

Is that even a weapon? It just looked like a plain hammer.

The bow came with a quiver and a bunch of arrows. It must of been given as a set item.

As you play a game, there are times where you had to make a decision.

The decision could affect me greatly in the future that is to come, so I had to chose with discretion.

Mmm… A moment of deep thought had come.

Now, what should I choose?

Chapter 5: Tutorial 1st Floor, Waiting Room (Part 2)

Countless weapons spanned across my surroundings.

They looked like the typical beginner cla.s.s weapons.

Most of them didn’t even have accessories and just looked unadorned.

It was no doubt that they were made just for practicality.

Which one should I pick?

First, let’s think about my stats.

Height: 177cm. Weight: 71kg.

I used to have quite a skinny physique, but I gained quite a bit of weight while staying home doing absolutely nothing.

Due to the lack of my muscle strength, swinging heavy weapons would be hard.

I was pretty confident when it came to fitness.

I was skilled at sports in general, this was probably attributed to the fact that I had good hand-to-eye coordination.

However still, I was most confident when it came to playing video games.

I never really practiced martial arts for a long.

When I was young, I only went to a Wushu dojo, though it only lasted for a short period of time.

And during my time in secondary school I tried a bit of Kendo.

It would be best if I didn’t rely on either Wushu,Kendo or martial arts in general.

Out of all the available weapons, the staff caught my eye.

It wasn’t a paddle-like staff that was used like a club, it was more of a magical staff that even Gandalf would probably carry around himself.

Well, I didn’t know if it was a real magical staff but it sure looked like one.

If I chose that, would I become a mage or a priest?

I might have to learn skills completely independent of the staff too.

Just as I imagined, melee weapons would be better.

Having a ranged weapon definitely had the advantage of safety in terms of staying at a safe distance in battle. However, that would only apply if I had someone protecting me.

Moreover, if I think about the people I had met in this area, the decision to choose a melee weapon is even more appealing.

Sticking a blade into someone’s face definitely has a different type of pressure compared to sticking a staff in someone’s face.

It would also probably be wise if I stayed on good terms with the people back in the stone chamber, but I als had to take into account when things could go bad between us.

With the exception of the bow and staff, every other ranged weapon should be disregarded.

With the same reason, I should stay clear from blunt weapons like clubs.

They weren’t sharp and intimidating like a sword was.

Overall, they were too heavy.

After I took everything into consideration, the only weapons that would be viable for me were the likes of spear, sword and axe, and so on.

There were many variants of the same weapons, except for the axe.

Although there were a few axes that weren’t too heavy, I just didn’t like them.

The only ones left were the sword and spear.

Normally, people would think that the spear had the advantage of reach and would be easier to use effectively, but in reality this was not the case.

The spear was an advanced weapon that no beginner would be able to use it that easily.

Basically, the spear would only be stronger than the sword if the person wielding the spear kept their distance.

In other words, the spear would be hard to use effectively if this distance was to be closed by the enemy.

Perhaps if I had other spear wielding allies by my side, to form a nice scrum it might make it effective.

I don’t know what type of enemies I might encounter… no, actually I don’t even know if I’ll encounter any enemies, but if they were stronger, faster and more precise, using a spear would be problematic.

I’m only a beginner and an ordinary person too.

Although using a sword is honestly challenging for a beginner, if I continue to doubt my own thoughts I’ll end up hypothesising forever.

I trusted my own decision and began looking for a sword that would fit me.

I lifted a longsword and it was much heavier than I expected.

I swung it with all my might and it felt like my body was actually being pushed away by its weight.

From this experience, I decided to disregard all two-handed swords.

Once I found a decent sized one-handed sword, I found multiple with a shield, like a set.

Ah, the sword and shield combo.

There were more than twenty sets, however they all had one thing in common.

They came with a catch, a penalty.

The swords and shields were in poor condition compared to the swords and shields that were available by themselves. The shields in the sets were much thinner and some were even rusted. The swords were also either shorter or thinner.

Moreover, some were rusted and even chipped.

Should I give up the sword and choose a shield instead?

Just becoming a tanker from the start could be an option too.

I pondered for a moment but soon disregarded that thought.

No matter what, even in doubt, it was essential for me to have a weapon.

I wasn’t sure if I would be able stay with the people back at the stone chamber.

Even if could, I couldn’t trust them just yet.

After scavenging for hours, I finally decided on my weapons.

A round shield that could be strapped around my arm and a st.u.r.dy one-handed sword roughly 40cm in length.

The sword looked pretty similar to a gladius used in ancient roman times.

The shield was made of wood and the surface was lined with leather. I liked that there was a handle and also a leather belt that allowed it to be strapped around my arm.

Like other swords found in sets, the sword I chose had multiple chips on the blade. Out of anxiety, I chose a sword that was short and st.u.r.dy so it wouldn’t break easily.

[Dirty Shield]

Defence: 4

Description: Separate from the handle, a leather belt is attached. The belt is more valuable than the shield. Second-hand.

[Thrown away training sword]

Attack: 3

Description: A training sword once used by a kid. Second-hand.

These descriptions were absolutely worthless. Why did they have to explain to me that the items are second-hand anyway? Although all the basic weapons here had these types of descriptions, maybe it was the penalty for choosing a set. The condition of these items were really poor.

[Will you choose this?]

A message popped up.

“Yes.”

The next moment I was back in the stone chamber.

“Welcome back. Did you choose your weapon?”

A man that resembled a bear questioned instantly upon my return.

“Yes.”

“I see you’ve chosen a sword and shield set. Nice choice”

“What?!”

The gangster shouted from afar

“How come you brought two things? What are you?!”

“This sword and shield came in a set. Even though they come together, they lack in quality compared to the swords and shields that were available by themselves.”

The gangster couldn’t accept my explanation and complained for hours.

The bear man confronted him and told the gangster that he himself saw the set weapons, which allowed us to barely calm him down.

The bear man taught me about the inventory and status bars and also how to use the Community feature.

“Inventory.”

As I quietly muttered this, my inventory appeared right in front of my eyes.

Inside my inventory were dried foods and water. I should check how much I have of those later.

At the thought about disarming my sword and shield and storing them in the inventory, the weapons I held in my hands slowly disappeared and appeared in my inventory.

Now I thought of re-arming myself, the weapons appeared in my hands again.

Now this really felt like a game.

“Status.”

Lee Ho Jae (Human)

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 13

Endurance: 10

Intelligence: 21

The status bar was so neat and tidy that it was so insignificant.

Surely there would be something more.

Like the main character in a story, I expected some special powers or something of the sort but it seemed like I was the very definition of the word human.

My intelligence could be quite high compared to others though. No wonder the staff was so tempting.

“The inventory and status bars are pretty simple to understand, but what’s this Community feature?”

“Mmm, it’s like a social media network. You can use this to chat to different people in different chat rooms. Other than that I don’t think it has any other feature.”

“Other chat rooms?”

I was so curious about this community feature that I had to open it.

[Difficulty: Easy, Noticeboard (33/61)]

[Difficulty: Normal, Noticeboard (7/24)]

[Difficulty: Hard, Noticeboard (11/16)]

[Difficulty: h.e.l.l, Noticeboard (1/4)]

“It’s separated by difficulty.”

“Yeah, and it’s only the four of us that chose the h.e.l.l difficulty. Since it’s like this, shouldn’t we combine forces and work together?”

“Right.”

“Lastly, the clock. If you think about wanting to see the time, it will automatically appear in your vision.”

Just like he said, I thought about wanting to see the time.

[Attempt 1, Day 0. 1:13pm]

[Time left until Tutorial: 70 Hours 43 minutes]

“Come here, we should introduce ourselves to each other and have a talk.”

Chapter 6: Tutorial 1st Floor, Waiting Room (Part 3)

[Attempt 1, Day 0. 1:28pm]

[Time left until Tutorial: 70 hours 32 minutes]

We sat in the centre of the stone chamber, the 1st floor waiting room and proceeded to introduce ourselves.

The bear-man who explained everything to me before was the first person to introduce himself.

The bear-man’s name was Choi Min Sik.

He was 47 years old.

Your average working man.

He was pondering on whether he should resign from his job when the message suddenly appeared before his eyes.

A special quality of his was that he was in the athletics team in high school.

Next was the short tempered rebel. His name was Cho Kyung Min.

He was 31 years old.

It was befitting to call him a gangster.

A special quality of his was that he really liked Korean RPG games like Lineage.

The only woman on the first floor, Park Su Ah, was next.

She was 21 years old.

A tertiary student.

She really liked j.a.panese anime.

“I’m Lee Ho Jae. I’m 26 years old and I was a pro-gamer.”

“Pro-gamer? Lineage?”

Kyung Min asked with delight.

Were there even pro-gamers in Lineage?

“No. I was a pro-gamer in the RTS category. When I was young I learned to play many sports including kendo hence I’m also quite confident in my athletic abilities.”

“Well, now that we know more about each other, how about discussing what is about to come?”

Min Sik began to speak.

However, we managed to only mutter to ourselves and as we tried to read our current predicament.

This was bound to happen since no one knew anything about each other. I guess it was up to me to man up and start the conversation.

“Well firstly, I believe that we all share the same understanding that this place is similar to a game, right?”

The other three agreed.

“They give you weapons, even a character status bar. It definitely resembles an RPG game. It’s kind of like Lineage, the game you like, Kyung Min.”

“Yeah, it’s really similar.”

Kyung Min loudly agreed with his voice.

“One of the most important things about RPG games is team play. In a party, we all get a.s.signed a role and play as a team. So, let’s all show each other what type of weapons we have chosen so we can a.s.sign these roles to each other.’

All four of us opened our inventories simultaneously and laid out our weapons.

Min Sik had a large trident.

The pole was wide and the blade was large also.

It was incredibly heavy.

It seemed to be roughly 2metres in length, a weapon that looked like it should be wielded by Guan Yu or Zhang Fei from the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms.

Kyung Min chose an axe. The blade was a little larger than a fire axe.

However, the long metal handle made it seem easy to use.

I thought I had seen this kind of weapon somewhere, then I realised, it oddly shared the looks of an axe that a dwarf would have used in The Lord of the Rings.

Including me, 3 of us had chosen a melee weapon.

Deep inside, I had hoped that Su Ah had chosen a ranged weapon. A bow, throwing weapon or maybe even a mage staff.

However, Su Ah had taken out a long katana instead.

It looked much larger than a normal katana.

Simply said, it looked like it was from an anime.

My G.o.d, how is she going to use that…

What are you, some sort of shinigami?1

All four of us had chosen a melee weapon. The combination was a little off-point.

While Min Sik and Kyung Min argued over whose weapon was better, I cleared my thoughts.

“I have an idea. Please listen.”

The formation I thought of was this.

Kyung Min and I at the front.

Since I have the shield, I would stay slightly ahead of Kyung Min to block front on attacks so he could attack with his axe.

Min Sik at the back

With Min Sik at the back, he should be able to pierce enemies in sight between Kyung Min and I.

Lastly Su Ah has a free-role.

The katana was significantly long. Compared to Su Ah’s physique, it was too heavy so, she would have to use it as a two-handed sword. This is way too dangerous for a beginner to use.

Su Ah would cover Min Sik’s sides and read the battle. Moreover if Kyung Min or I get hurt/ if people are out of position, Su Ah would come to support and attack only if there is a sure-fire chance.

“So, what do you think?”

Min Sik and Kyung Min agreed to my proposed positions.

Min Sik seemed relieved that he was a bit safer one step back and Kyung Min was happy that he was the main damage dealer in the group.

However, Su Ah didn’t like the idea.

In all honesty, I thought that Su Ah would like this position the most since it was the safest position out of them all. It really surprised me when she displayed her dissatisfaction.

“Su Ah. I understand how you feel, but I think you should consider Ho Jae’s suggestion.

I understand that this may feel like a game to you, however we don’t know if we can get hurt or even die like a game. Moreover, we chose the hardest difficulty. We don’t know the dangers ahead of us and if we don’t have any other solid suggestions I believe we should follow Ho Jae’s safe and stable positions.”

Min Sik calmly tried to convincing Su Ah.

Although Su Ah’s expression hadn’t changed, she nodded her head in agreement.

Then, we began our group training.

No matter how far we went, we were in an area where we weren’t able to get hurt, tired or even hungry. This was the perfect place to train.

Firstly, we began by getting into the positions I suggested.

Kyung Min and I at the front, with me slightly ahead of Kyung Min and Min Sik right behind us.

It was crucial to not get in Min Sik’s way.

We couldn’t stay too close, nor too far away from each other.

After multiple adjustments, we finally found the right distance we had to keep.

At this stage we just swung our weapons like madmen as a trial.

“This should be enough.”

Kyung Min’s words were reasonable and we were a little jaded to continue.

And so we stopped swinging our weapons.

Shortly after, we began to spar.

I was worried our weapons would get damaged as we trained, but fortunately, this wasn’t the case.

There were moments where our weapons would get damaged, however the weapons would repair themselves to their original state soon after.

Not only did the waiting room heal us, it also repaired our equipment automatically.

Although we were in the waiting room where injuries could not occur, when we sparred, we didn’t train with the aim of inflicting major injuries upon one another.

We all lived a peaceful life until yesterday.

We weren’t prepared to fight to draw blood, even though we were in the waiting room.

Despite that, we did make improvements.

Kyung Min would swing his axe and I would block it with my shield.

We trained vigorously, full of concentration.

If I there was an opening, I also swung my sword.

To deny the opportunity of a counter-attack, Kyung Min naturally learned to swing his axe with efficient movements. Allowing it to be swung with more precision.

Min Sik was trying to get a hang of using the large trident.

The trident was too heavy; it couldn’t be used in a fancy way like you see in those Chinese martial art films. You could only use the weight as an advantage for a forceful stab.

Fortunately, our enemies wouldn’t be able to target our backs.

Su Ah was quite a problem.

Due to how large it was, she was barely able to swing her katana properly.

It was more like uncontrolled waving in the air.

She still had yet to win a match when we sparred with her.

I could beat her easily even without my sword.

I didn’t expect anything better from her, so I wasn’t too disappointed.

However, you could tell that she was pretty upset about it.

“How about we try swapping our weapons?”

Maybe it was from the frustration and anger of her continued losses, but Su Ah suggested we try swapping our weapons.

“Why though?”

Kyung Min replied in a rude tone against Su Ah’s suggestion.

You could clearly tell Su Ah was really upset by then.

“Let’s try it. Maybe if we tried using each other’s weapons, we might be able to learn more about them.”

Kyung Min agreed to try each other’s weapons after I said so. He always tended to ignore Su Ah and made fun of Min Sik’s suggestions every time.

As odd as it was, he was fine with everything I suggested.

Maybe it was because I treated him like a superior ever since I met him.

Kyung Min always complained and had a short temper, but at least his personality isn’t completely trash. Knowing the fact that he was a gangster, he was quite well behaved.

Actually, when Kyung Min introduced himself as a gangster, the atmosphere in the waiting room got quite chilly. Luckily for us, it seemed like Kyung Min was able to get along with other people.

After having swapped our weapons, we began to spar again. Surprisingly, Su Ah won multiple times.

“Holy s.h.i.t, this is hard to use. The people in the movies used this thing so easily.”

Said Kyung Min after he had an attempt with the katana.

There was quite a bit of improvement once we started sparring with different weapons.

As we got to know more about each other’s weapons, we knew how to cover for their weaknesses.

Above all, something must’ve clicked in Su Ah as she swung Kyung Min’s axe.

She started practicing to swing the axe like cutting wood using all her strength.

Although hard to use in a real fight, it seemed ok for her role in the team.

Su Ah trained non-stop with the weapons as she started to gain confidence.

However there was one problem,

“Pierce the enemies’ soul! Judgement! Moonbeam Strike!”

Every time she swung her weapon she would shout something similar to this.

At first I tried to go over it like it was nothing because I believed it was to help her concentration, however I would be lying if I say I didn’t get embarra.s.sed every time she shouted these things.

“Oi, why do I have to feel ashamed because of you?”

“You have to say the name of the skills if you want to activate them.”

But I mean, why did you scream “Pierce”1 when you are striking downwards.

Makes no sense.

Chapter 7: Tutorial 1st Floor, Waiting Room (Part 4)

[Attempt 1, Day 0. 26 Hours 10 Minutes]

[Time left until tutorial: 45 hours 50 minutes]

“Like, f.u.c.k. So, are you saying I should just shut up and stay here doing nothing?”

“No, I didn’t mean that. I only said it because you get agitated so easily.”

A fierce tension formed between Min Sik and Kyung Min.

They’ve already been going at each other for 30 minutes.

The subjects of their arguments for the past 30 minutes have been very diverse too.

However, the arguments began because of their ego during one sparring match between one another.

On top of that, it looked like both of them wanted to become the leader of the party.

Simply said, Kyung Min was ignorant and was also rather manly.

He hated doing things that are tedious and required thought, instead he prefers actions that would bring him the limelight.

If I had to criticize Min Sik, it would be that his thoughts were too much like an old person.

He was serious and calm, nevertheless he wasn’t flexible as a person and he was just so persistent in his views.

And moreover, to put it into words, he displayed a l.u.s.t for power.

I’m not sure how becoming the leader of merely four people will quench that l.u.s.t, but nonetheless he just wanted to be the leader.

In all honesty, he led most of the conversations we had as a group.

He encouraged us to share our thoughts on different ways to train.

He had done a decent job at leading the party.

And as for me…

Mm, I had no interest. I basically preferred to play solo. I’ve tried and played every genre of games in the past and overall, my favourite type of games are the ones where the required teamwork was minimal and it only relied on myself being good

So, here I was watching these two guys argue away.

Su Ah sat next to me. It also seemed like she didn’t want to be involved in their argument, she was watching them on the side-lines just like me’

“HanSeo Univeristy? You must’ve been really smart.”

“My parents said if I didn’t do well in the college entrance exams I would never be able to become a pro-gamer so I studied heaps.”

The two of us leisurely conversed as watched their scene unfold.

I was a little disappointed we didn’t have any popcorn.

ED Note: Riley, Kappa.

Finally, it seemed like their argument was reaching the last stretch.

The subject of their high ego argument was now “Who will become the leader of the party?”

“Well then, the person with better performance in the tutorial stage will become the leader of the party.”

“Yep. Don’t go back on your words later.”

And the whole thing was concluded just like that between them.

“Will you guys agree to this too?”

Said Kyung Min as he turned to Su Ah and I.

They came to a conclusion by themselves, ppft what kind of agreement were they talking about.

‘Yeah, sure. But, I will deny orders that are illogical no matter who becomes the leader.’

And after that, we went back into training.

The training continued.

Min Sik and Kyung Min, who had completed military service, were great help to our training.

We did exercises under their tutelage when we had short breaks.

Although these exercises didn’t require weights, they were ridiculously tiring.

Normally, this type of training would go beyond muscle pain and would tear our muscles to failure. But as expected, the automated healing effect of the waiting room kept us from the feeling of any muscle pain or fatigue.

With this intense cycle of training and quick recovery, our muscle ma.s.s and flexibility improved very quickly.

Although Su Ah was sick of all the stories Min Sik and Kyung Min told of their experiences during military service as if they were boasting, they were definitely a great help.

[Attempt 1, Day 0. 71 Hours 57 Minutes]

[Time left until Tutorial: 3 Minutes]

Finally, the Tutorial begins.

The nervousness of the four lingered in the air of the waiting room. However, you could tell everyone including me, felt more excited in antic.i.p.ation rather than nervousness and horror.

Well, why else would they have chosen the h.e.l.l difficulty?

For the last 72 hours, for 3 days we trained very hard.

It was all possible due to the fact that we couldn’t receive lasting injuries and feel hunger or tiredness in this environment.

If we didn’t have this type of advantage, not only would we be out of time, but we would’ve had multiple injuries like muscle tearing and broken bones from all the sparring we had done.

Instead, we used this waiting room to the best of our advantage and even made use of our break times to frantically train ourselves.

As a result, we all grew to a point where you wouldn’t believe that this all happened within a span of 3 days.

[Tutorial, 1st attempt will begin shortly.]

[A portal to the Tutorial stage will now appear.]

4 magical portal barriers appeared in the waiting room.

Above one portal a message appeared.

[Lee Ho Jae]

Mm…

“Guys it seems like only one person can go through a portal.”

It was just as Su Ah said.

All that group training… was it all going to waste now?

“f.u.c.k, does that mean we just our wasted time?”

“Hmm. Well, we didn’t waste all of our time. We trained and grew together. Above all, we may have to cross paths in the future. Don’t be too distressed.”

Min Sik calmed the distressed members.

[The portals will be activated soon.]

We all moved up to our respective portals.

“Be careful everyone. I hope we will all meet each other after the Tutorial.”

I felt the same as Min Sik.

I also want to see these people safe and sound again.

Maybe it was the time of us living together, as we vigorously trained together for the last 3 days, we all grew really close to one another.

Sure, we fought due to our different personalities and got a bit salty between each other, but I felt it was safe to say to call these people my friends.

I preferred playing in a one-man team.

It’s uncomfortable trying to cover for others since I was confident that I could do well on my own.

However, maybe it was due to this new environment, these three individuals seemed like people I could depend on.

They weren’t too difficult to get along with, they were reasonable during the 3 days I had lived in the enclosed s.p.a.ce.

Instead of feeling like I was imprisoned, it felt more like the time when I went on a soccer training camp during the holidays of secondary school.

“Hey, before I go…”

Kyung Min raised his fist.

Everyone smirked and raised fists for one another.

“Don’t get hurt and let’s meet again.”

“You be careful too, Su Ah.”

“Yep, stay safe guys.”

We all comforted each other and stood on our portals.

[The portal will be activated.]

[Please enter the stage. Time left: 24 Hours]

[Will you enter the stage?]

“Yes”

The blue light of the portal grew brighter and it felt like I was falling. As I descended, my whole field of vision changed.

It wasn’t the place that I got used to for three days, instead I was in a dark corridor by myself.

[Tutorial stage, Welcome to the h.e.l.l difficulty 1st floor.]

It finally began.

I took slow deep breaths.

Now be calm.

Think about this as if it were like a game.

A straight dark corridor.

Lights hanged from above, equal distances apart of each other on the ceiling.

The light was faint, maybe even fainter than a candle.

It was just enough to make out that the corridor was straight.

d.a.m.n, it was too dark.

The walls, ceiling and floor was all made of stone.

The ceiling was a little higher than 3 metres.

The stone floor was flat but rough.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, I couldn’t even slip from this.

Behind me.

A wall and a portal.

A portal?

I approached the portal.

[Travel to 1st floor waiting room?]

“…Yes.”

The next moment, I was back in the waiting room.

[Please enter the stage. Time left: 23 hours 59 minutes]

So, you can come back without any restriction.

Due to the slightly pointless return, I felt my determination slightly thinned out.

What would happen if the 24-hour restriction pa.s.sed?

After some thought to myself, I tried to figure out what I could.

Using the sword, I made a small cut on the back of my hand.

Blood dripped slowly, but soon after the bleeding stopped and the wound healed completely.

The automated healing of the waiting room was still in effect.

No matter how many times I may get injured in the tutorial.

If I was able to run back to the waiting room, I could be healed and make a full recovery.

I found something really substantial.

During an emergency situation, it might even save my life.

At that moment, a portal in the corner of the room grew bright and Min Sik appeared.

“Min Sik?”

I felt slightly embarra.s.sed since we had just separated with full determination to go forth Tutorial.

“Hahaha. I thought if I were you, I would test this out too.”

Min Sik scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he spoke.

I shared what I found out with Min Sik.

“This is really important information. Su Ah and Kyung Min should learn about this too…’

But the two never came back.

In all probability, they must have continued on with the Tutorial.

Without being able to do anything, Min Sik and I went back to the tutorial stage.

[Please enter the stage. Time left: 23 Hours 42 minutes.]

[Tutorial stage, Welcome to the h.e.l.l difficulty 1st floor.]

Now, let’s start again.

“Status bar.”

[Lee Ho Jae (Human)]

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 13

Endurance: 11

Intelligence: 21

Within three days of training, my strength increased by 2 and my endurance increased by 1. There wasn’t anything like a proper workout machine, but after learning that stats could be increased by exercise, I exercised a lot.

HP and MP were not shown in the status bar.

I wasn’t sure if this was like a game, where you would die if your HP fell to 0.

Here, you could probably die instantly from a lethal blow to the head or a piercing strike to the heart.

If I could avoid fatal damage like that and make a successful run to the portal of the waiting room, I would be fully healed from any damage that I would have possibly taken.

I know it’s impossible to do this without a single drop of blood but I couldn’t afford to be careless.

Even if I were attacked anywhere else on the body, I would concentrate to mostly protect my heart, neck and my head.

With the round shield held in my left hand, I lifted it up to the under of my eyes and covered my chest, neck and face. I bent my knees and back to a crouching position so the shield would cover as much of my body as possible.

With only my eyes above the shield and sword drawn in front of me, I slowly moved forward.

Chapter 8: Tutorial stage

Tutorial stage.

h.e.l.l difficulty, 1st floor.

I walked through an empty dark corridor.

Step by step very slowly.

I kept myself curled up like a grub worm and slowly, very slowly went forward while keeping my shield in front of me.

Like, how long is this going to be?

[1st attempt, Day 1. 1 hour 26 minutes]

Around 5 minutes after I started, I was thinking ‘surely something will come out now?’

So I shortened my steps by half.

After 15 minutes, I was thinking ‘Something will definitely come out now.’

So I shortened my steps by half.

After 30 minutes, I was thinking ‘Something’s coming out, something’s really coming out!’

So I walked slowly as if I was dragging my feet along the ground.

And, now.

Nothing has come after all this time.

Am I being crazy?

That nice message, the message telling me the time kept bugging me.

Am I wasting this precious time? Is this something like a time-attack mission?

The anxiety and horror in my heart grew and grew.

My body is feeling tired also.

Due to the sword and shield I held in both hands, my arms and shoulders felt stiff.

My back, arms and shoulders were all shaking uncontrollably. It felt like I could hear my muscles making sounds whenever I moved. Sweat was dripping everywhere and I could smell alcohol in my breath.

f.u.c.k. It was already hard enough to keep my sword and shield at shoulder level. With my legs squatting, my back bent forward and my shoulders and neck curled inwards I kept myself behind the shield as much as possible.

I felt like I was dying walking in this position constantly.

I was thinking of just giving all this up and having a rest.

Straightening my back, no, should I just sit down somewhere and have a rest?

No. I still don’t have any information of this place. I shouldn’t brush off this tension, I must stay alert.

I can’t stay at ease at this time.

I’m not sure if I can react to a dangerous situation even if I’m alert and nervous.

Although it’s hard…

I must withstand this for as long as I can.

With a determined mind, I went forward as slow as a turtle.

But then,

[You have learned: Battle concentration Lv.1]

[You have learned: Will Lv.1]

‘Uh?’

As the dazed sound came out of my mouth independent of will I stood still.

Although I was determined to not stop, I should probably think a little bit about that new message.

I straightened my back and walked back a few steps.

‘Status bar’

[Lee Ho Jae (Human)]

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 13

Endurance: 11

Intelligence: 21

Skills: Battle concentration Level1.

Will Level1.

… So I got some skills.

[Battle Concentration (Lv.1)]

Description: Your concentration rises in battle. Allows you to stay focused for longer periods of time.

[Will (Lv.1)]

Description: Increases your will.

They’re both pa.s.sive skills.

Battle concentration and will. They’re both skills related to the situation I’m experiencing right now.

It feels like I learn new skills dependent on certain situations.

I thought you would naturally learn new skills by levelling up or by getting new items; I guess I was wrong.

If what I’m thinking is right, to learn as many skills I must try more diverse things.

Let’s try different things when I’m in a safer place.

I wonder if Min Sik, Kyung Min and Su Ah found this out by now?

I shook my head as I thought of the other three.

I can’t think of others right now. Let’s focus.

I curled up again and went forward. Slowly.

Thinking danger could come out in any moment, I walked forward for roughly an hour as slow as a snail. Finally, the danger found me.

The reason I could respond to the danger wasn’t because I was alert.

It was because of the shield I held up with my left arm.

Ting!

An arrow flew through the dark and got stuck on my shield.

Not until I felt the recoil from when the arrow hit my shield and gave a shock to my left arm, did I realise an arrow was shot towards me.

Ting!

Once again, an arrow got stuck on my shield.

Where is it coming from?

At that moment, I saw a silver flash in front of my eyes.

Instinctively I held the shield over my head

Ting!

That was close.

Phew…

I didn’t realise the first two arrows, but I definitely saw and dodged the last one.

Lucklily…

Pick!

?? Another arrow…

Pook!

‘AARRRRGGHHHHH!’

The last arrow shot pierced my ankle.

More than half of the arrow had pierced through.

It hurts, it hurts!

‘Aaaaaahhhhhhh…’

For a moment I saw my right ankle with an arrow pierced through it with my shaky vision.

More than half of the arrow had pierced through

I laid on the ground screaming and squirming in pain, but the pain didn’t stop.

The blood gushing out of my ankle pooled the floor and reached my face to coat it.

Even with my chaotic mind due to the pain, as I saw my bright red blood my brain functioned to get me out of this.

The waiting room!

I need to get back to the waiting room!

Following my brains’ final decision made through the excruciating pain, I went back, tracing the steps I took to come here, back to the waiting room.

I tried whatever I could to get back on both feet; however, without being able to stay balanced, I fell.

AARRRRGGGGHHHH! f.u.c.k!

The arrow must’ve grazed the floor as I fell; the pain arose again.

Tears were flowing from my eyes.

I stayed on all fours, and using the sword in my hand like a hook I stuck it in the floor as I dragged myself forward.

My muscles screamed as I crawled with my two hands and one usable leg.

They screamed in pain. Agony.

At the same time, the ankle with the arrow pierced through it screamed as if it were experiencing the most pain.

[You have learned: Pain Tolerance: Lv.1]

It took me a long, gruelling hour to get to where I was.

Crawling like a lizard with one of my r.e.t.a.r.ded legs, I could see no end to this path.

The crazy speed of my desperate pain-induced crawling was slowing down.

‘Pant, pant, pant.’

The pain subsided from a fresh deep piercing pain to a more compressed and controlled pain.

It must’ve been adrenaline or some s.h.i.t, but it felt like my brain was finally functioning.

I kept moving forward, even as I was moving forward I kept checking my body status.

I didn’t know if the leg with the arrow pierced through it became paralyzed or something, other than the pain I didn’t feel anything. I tried moving my toes but they didn’t move. No, I didn’t even know if they moved or not, because I couldn’t feel them.

[You have learned: Pain Tolerance Lv.2]

[You have learned: Haemorrhage Tolerance Lv.1]

f.u.c.king tolerance my a.s.s. I felt no effect.

My normal leg and both my arms and shoulders were trembling all over.

‘Pant. Pant. Pant.’

My lungs warned me to stop the physical exercise and demanded more air.

I could hear a high pitched ringing in my ear, maybe due to excessive haemorrhage.

I could feel a chill on my head of ever-rising temperature.

I stole the sweat drops of my arm and laid them on my face. It was still as hot as a bonfire.

Then, the chill I felt on my face was…

At that moment, I felt a growing dizziness and my vision started to fade.

The word ‘Death’ flashed in my head.

Think of this as a game? You f.u.c.king idiot!

This pain, this feeling. It’s real!

Death will be real too.

I couldn’t see anything anymore.

I tried rubbing my eyes, pushing on my eyelids and opening my eyes again, but I saw nothing.

In this pitch black place, relying on the faint senses on my arms and legs, I moved.

Luckily the corridor was a straight line.

If I ignored the stone floor I felt on my arms and legs, the only thing I could feel were my own tears rolling down my face.

I thought my tears had all dried up as I crawled my way through this misery, but the pressure of death let my tears flow once more.

Still, I didn’t give up and allowed my arms and legs to play in this darkness.

I didn’t want to die here in misery.

I don’t want to die.

Even if I die I shouldn’t die like this.

Never will I die like this.

How long has it been since I started crawling,

I wonder how far I’ve crawled.

Am I even crawling forward?

A flood of drowsiness filled my head.

I couldn’t feel any part of my body anymore.

It is said that the most extreme feeling of pleasure a human can experience is the feeling right before death.

I’ve seen some perverts on the internet actually die by strangling themselves in attempt to feel this extreme pleasure.

f.u.c.k, sure as h.e.l.l do I understand them. I want to rely on this drowsiness. Instead of denying and struggling, I just want to stay relaxed.

Is it going to end like this?

Because of a moment of carelessness?

No. I won’t become careless. I’ll stay aware of my surroundings and slowly…

It was an attack I couldn’t detect or even block with my skills.

If I didn’t have a shield, the first arrow would’ve pierced through my heart and I would’ve died there in an instant.

Just why…

(voooooommmm)

[Travel to 1st floor waiting room?]

End