Chapter 16

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Of course he accepted the second tutorial.

It was no exaggeration to say that he came all the way here just for this.

Kegu. Ke.

The shape of the ground where he stood began to change as soon as the second tutorial began.

To be exact, the place itself has shifted.

An area of flowing lava.

Fire pillars rising and sinking repeatedly.

The sky turned red, making it look like the world has ended.

And the heat was so intense that his whole body felt as if it was burning.

He was finding it hard to breath.

“Huuk…Heuk.”

“Huh? Why are you like that?”

On the other hand, the undead Feranet looked fine.

Undead had many advantages.

[Prior to the present players. There were the original players.]

A hologram window appeared out of nowhere.

It was out of the blue, totally out of line with the current situation.

While Yujun was puzzled, the message continued to appear.

[The original players, who could fly freely in the sky, separate the seas, and overturn the earth, were worshipped by everyone.]

It’s an unfamiliar story.

He has never seen the words ‘original players’ in the five years he played War of Gods.

So he tried to imprint the messages that appeared into his mind.

[It was also thanks to the original players’ contribution that the demon invasion was stopped. Since then, the original players were treated as not only heroes but Gods to the people.]

‘God?’

Is there a connection to the name War of Gods?

He doesn’t know right now.

[But the enemy of humanity wasn’t just the demons. The demonic children. The power of the group, composed of various races, was beyond the power of humanity. So the original players made a decision.]

It’s time to get to the point.

Yujun focused his eyes.

[Special people with high potential were given the power of players. These powers were no match for the powers of the original players, but it was of great help to humanity.]

Over time, the players scattered and the system appeared.

In the end, humanity was able to work with the different races to stop the demon invasion and restore peace.

The message ended with that.

Nothing appeared after.

‘Demon invasion? Is this the future? No. Given that the present players are scattered, it’s highly likely this is the past.’

From the story alone, it doesn’t appear to be a storyline in the game War of Gods.

He had never heard of such a story before.

War of Gods’ storyline was not originally this.

The land was divided because the gods fought for interests, and the players fought in their place.

‘A lot has changed from what I knew.’

But there were many things that didn’t change.

Especially the contents that exist in the Infinite Tower.

He could tell just by looking at this ancient ruins.

‘Do other players know about the original players and such?’

They probably don’t know.

If so, it was highly likely that only he knew about this information.

‘But why did the system explain this history to me out of the blue?’

Are the original players related to the second tutorial?

It was the moment he thought about it.

[Survive 48 hours in Zone 1.]

He set out to do what he has to do in the second tutorial.

‘Did it start already?’

The second tutorial doesn’t seem to have a difficulty setting.

Its difficulty level is fixed.

The given environment alone did not seem easy.

‘This… it’s a place where you have to clear the Hell difficulty to enter. So the difficulty here can’t be easy.’

But, he can’t believe he has to survive here.

It’s hard to even stand right now.

He was focused on reading the hologram window because it was important, but honestly, his condition was terrible.

And he was very anxious because he didn’t know when and where the fire would rise.

He wasn’t just going to stand here like this in the heat that could melt his body.

Yujun the almighty problem solver opened his inventory.

‘It’s gotta be somewhere.’

The consumables were kept relatively close, so they could be found quickly.

‘Cooling Flask.’

Drinking the liquid in this flask can block all heat that touches the body for a while.

It was a popular item because serious penalties were applied to the players when going to glacial or lava zones.

Other items included ‘Seed of Fire’ and ‘Essence of Fire’.

‘If I was higher level, I would have used such items.’

It’s a shame he’s low level.

Yujun opened the lid of the Cooling Flask and gulped down the liquid inside.

His goal is to survive for two days, so he drank it all up.

This should work for at least a week.

“Master. Are you alright?”

Asked Feranet.

Unlike before, he was in excellent condition.

“Yes. I’m fine now.”

“That’s a relief.”

Schwa!

A pillar of fire rose right next to him.

Fortunately, it brushed past by.

Yujun, who was shocked, breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Even if I drank the Cooling Flask, I won’t be fine if I’m hit by a fire pillar.’

It won’t do much against a direct hit from a fire pillar.

That means he should avoid the fire pillars.

‘I won’t be able to sleep for two days.’

He’s been up for quite a while.

Fortunately, he was not an ordinary human being but a player.

He’ll be fine even if he doesn’t sleep for a few days.

‘Here… surely the second tutorial is more difficult than the Hell difficulty?’

Living here for two days.

Is there anyone who will be fine after being hit by a fire pillar?

No matter how many players there are, if you touch that hot fire pillar, your whole body will melt away.

“M-master!”

Feranet, who has been following, suddenly shouted.

“What?”

“I found it.”

“What?”

“Where the flames are coming from.”

“Fire pillars?”

“Yes!”

“How do you know where it’ll appear?”

“Vibration.”

“…”

“Well, don’t look at me like that…hear me out. Just now, I could feel a slight tremor in the fire pillar before it rose.’

“Hmm.”

That makes sense.

There is no way the fire pillars would rise without any warning.

The problem is that it’s hard to tell the difference because it’s everywhere.

“Where do you think it’ll show up next?”

“There.”

As soon as Feranet pointed its finger, a fire pillar shot up.

“…”

“Right?”

Said Feranet triumphantly.

Yujun looked at Feranet again.

“How did you find out?”

“I just felt it.”

“Really?”

Is it because of Feranet’s traits?

The traits Survival Instinct and Evasion.

Both were definitely very high rank.

It was no wonder it could find the location of the fire pillars, which was so hot that it could melt anything at a touch.

“That’s great.”

“Keheum.”

Feranet shrugged.

It was glad to be praised after a long time.

“Then you’ll have to keep telling me where the fire pillars will appear.”

“…Continue?”

“Yes?”

“I need a break too.”

“I can’t rest either. How can you? And you don’t have to rest, do you? You’re an undead.”

“Ah.”

Feranet, who paused for a moment, spoke loudly.

“Then leave the rest to me and go to sleep.”

“Are you crazy? How can I sleep here?”

No matter how much of the Cooling Flask was used, it was not enough to sleep in this lava zone without fear.

After half a day, Yujun fully explored Zone 1 to understand the situation.

‘It’s so big.’

As a result, he realized that the lava zone was vast.

‘It’s as if I’m not supposed to leave Zone 1.’

He didn’t intend to go to the next section right now anyways.

Only by completing the given goals will he be able to earn the second tutorial rewards.

Then.

“Geuruek. Geuruek.”

What had been thought to be a burning tree fiercely approached him.

‘Monster?’

It looks like a cactus with legs.

It is also of considerable size.

A monster he had never seen in War of Gods.

Then maybe it only exists in the second tutorial.

Yujun took out his sword.

Feranet also took a combat stance.

“Heup!

Feranet made the first move.

Leaping to a very high point, Feranet grabbed the handle of its sword and swung with all its might.

Boom!

The fiery monster split in half with one stroke.

[Level has risen!]

Yujun’s level rose from behind.

‘Oh. Does the second tutorial level give good exp too?’

He defeated only one, but went up a level.

It is clear that its level was quite high.

Still, Feranet’s attack killed it in one swing.

Giving it equipment was worth it.

“This is easy.”

Yujun nodded at Feranet’s words.

‘Monsters are coming out.’

It was like giving them a chance to grow faster.

He wanted to reach level 100 as soon as possible.

‘With this kind of experience, I think I can reach level 100 before I clear the tutorial.’

After that, Yujun raised his level by hunting monsters he had met earlier.

However, if there’s one complaint, it’s that it was hard to find any monster.

‘Well, I’m glad it gave me a lot of experience.’

Feranet informed him of the location of the fire pillars from time to time.

It did not participate in any battles, and Yujun just told it to let him know the location of the fire pillars.

“Right! Be careful!”

“Okay.”

Feranet warned and Yujun threw himself hurriedly to the left.

Because of Feranet’s help, he was not hit by any fire pillars.

By the time he reached level 93.

‘I’m getting tired.’

Yujun raggedly breathed.

He doesn’t know how much time has passed.

The watch on his wrist was not working.

It would be strange if the watch worked in this heat.

Only Feranet was in good condition.

“I think you caught all the monsters nearby. Shall we look for more?”

“No, let’s get some rest.”

“Well. I see.”

It’s been a while.

Is it not over yet?

Yujun frowned.

It was almost a crisis.

“Should I invest my stat points in Stamina?”

36 undistributed stat points obtained from leveling up.

It was when Yujun was about to open his status window.

[48 hours have passed. You’ve passed Zone 1. The location will change.]

A much-anticipated message appeared.

It was a boring and painful 48 hours.

The space where he stood began to change.

“Waaa!”

“Waak!”

“Kill them all!”

“The smell of human blood! It’s driving me crazy!”

All kinds of noises bombarded his ears.

Suddenly, Yujun, who was warped, bumped into something and rolled on the ground.

Strangely, he didn’t feel much pain in his body.

‘W-what?’

Yujun looked around, lying face down, flustered.

He could see great black elephants and mounted horses.

‘Demons?’

It’s obvious from their appearances.

They were massacring humans.

‘What’s going on all of a sudden?’

Looking slightly to the side, Feranet was also lying on its stomach along with Yujun.

Their eyes met.

“…”

“…”

[Demon invasion. This is a virtual battlefield made from reference to an actual invasion by the devil’s followers.]

[Join forces with humanity and players to defeat the devil’s followers.]

Yujun widened his eyes.

‘The devil’s followers?’

One goal was given.

His eyes narrowed as he read the message.

‘Suddenly the scale has become this big?’