Chapter 156

Chapter 156. Tutorial (1)

—…Members of Essence of the Strait, Desolate Moon, Frost Sanctuary, and other top-ranking guilds have entered the Tower of Wish. The Hero Association is worried that the Tower campaign will become too much of a free-for-all race, but they acknowledged that what happens is out of their control…

“….”

Pandemonium Arena, Demon rank fighter Jin Sahyuk’s waiting room.The arena’s hottest star, Jin Sahyuk, was currently staring at the TV with sunken eyes.

—Entrance tickets will transform into Portals on specified dates. This mechanism, which cannot be explained with our understanding of science and magic, shocked researchers all over the world…

On TV, Heroes were walking into the Portals that spawned from the entrance tickets. Seeing this, Jin Sahyuk’s eyes were filled with sadness, regret, and rage.

“That son of a bitch…”

Gritting her teeth, she spat out her resentment.As far as she was concerned, she should have been inside the Tower of Wish by now. Rather than sitting in this empty waiting room and watching TV, she should have been beyond that Portal.

“I’ll kill him. I’ll tear his limbs apart and grind them up into bits and pieces…”

Jin Sahyuk’s anger was driving her insane.In truth, Jin Sahyuk had obtained a ticket (given to her by a fan) and was leisurely waiting for July 1st. She even bragged about it to Bell and others who couldn’t find any. She thought she would be the one having fun while the others were sitting at home, bored.

But yesterday, once she was packing her stuff while whistling with excitement, she noticed that her entrance ticket was gone.She ransacked her room trying to find it, but it wasn’t anywhere.After about six hours, she suddenly thought of Bell.She hadn’t heard from that son of a bitch in a while.With trembling hands, she called him. As she expected, he didn’t pick up.Clearly, he had run off with her entrance ticket.

—The eyes of the public are now on the first wave of challengers…

“Just wait two months, you motherfucker…”

Jin Sahyuk mumbled in her blood-boiling rage.

**

Tower of Wish, tutorial waiting room.

[After taking off all equipment and clothes, please put on the tutorial uniform.]

“Got it.”

Following the directions of the messages being shown, I undressed and put on the tutorial uniform, a leather armor that looked rather shabby but was rather tightly woven.

“Done.”

[Confirmed. Now, please put all your belongings into the storage. Items from the outside world cannot be taken inside the Tower.]

A black storage box appeared in front of me.I put everything I had inside. Of course, I had my way around it. My smartwatch, Desert Eagle, and Aether were hidden inside Stigma.

“Done.”

[Please put all your belongings into the storage. Items from the outside world cannot be taken inside the Tower.]

“I did.”

[Please put all your belongings into the storage. Items from the outside world cannot be taken inside the Tower.]

“….”

It seemed I couldn’t avoid the eyes of ‘that existence’.Without any other choice, I took the items hidden inside Stigma out and put them into the storage box.

“Will they be given back?”

[‘Black Entrance Ticket’ has been confirmed. You will have the chance to take some of them once the tutorial ends.]

“That’s good.”

The Desert Eagle was one thing, but Aether was a necessity.

[Player Scanning will now commence.]

A handprint scanner appeared in front of me.I put my hand on it.

[Scanning in progress… 33%]

I felt a strange sensation of magic power running through my body.

“Auu.”

[66%… 99%… completed.][Player Kim Hajin has been confirmed.]

===[Kim Hajin]

▷Variable Stats…▷Invariable Stats…▷Traits□「Master Sharpshooter」[Intermediate rank] [Spirit attribute] [Evolving] [Grade 4 – Proficiency EXP: 89%]□「Random Consolidation System」[Low-intermediate rank] [Spirit attribute] [3-stage consolidation]□「Dexterity」[Low-intermediate rank] [Null attribute] [Evolving] [Grade 5 – Proficiency EXP: 55%]□「Magic Dysfunction Physique」□「Medicinal Memory Physique」===

[During the tutorial, your variable stats will decrease by 65%.][5 Traits have been detected.][All Traits are sealed inside the Tower. As a Player, you may choose one Trait to use.][Please make your choice.]

“…Huu.”

It was finally time for the ‘balance patch’.In this Tower, Traits included both Gifts and Physiques. Of the five Traits that I had, I could only choose one to bring with me (Arts are not included as they are considered as acquired abilities).However, this wasn’t too disadvantageous for me.The same restriction applied to other challengers of the Tower, and I even knew about a ‘hidden piece’.

“I’ll go with Master Sharpshooter.”

This hidden piece would let me acquire a second Trait.I didn’t need to think much about the first Trait. Master Sharpshooter was practically my identity at this point.

[Will you choose the Trait ‘Master Sharpshooter’?]

“Yes.”

[For the sake of balance, the Trait ‘Master Sharpshooter’ has fallen to grade-7.]

“Understood.”

I wasn’t happy with it, but it was better to treat the system politely.

[‘Black Entrance Ticket’ has been confirmed.][You’ve been assigned to the highest difficulty level.][In exchange, you will receive a bonus skill.]

“Thank you very much.”

It was finally time.This benefit was practically a cheat code. This was because the number of skills you could acquire from the Tower was limited.1 unique skill, 3 normal skills, 2 special skills, and 1 ultimate skill.Players could only learn 7 skills in total. In this sense, it was easy to see the advantage of having an extra skill.

[You may choose one bonus skill from this catalog.]

“Thank you.”

Players who performed well could return to the outside world with half of the skills they acquired.However, my goal was grander, to keep all 8 skills.Recently, my stats have stopped rising. I planned to use this Tower as a foundation to force myself up.

===▷Vitality Recovery*You can instantly recover 30% of lost vitality.*One charge is restored every 24 hours. Can be used twice a day.▷Rage Gauge*Rage builds up as you strike and destroy. This rage………===

I scrolled through the list with nothing catching my attention.Then, I found one.

===▷Blink*You can teleport to a point within a 15-meter radius.*One charge is restored every 8 hours. Can be used three times a day.===

This would be the skill Kim Suho chooses in two months when he enters the Tower of Wish with a black ticket. Although it was an excellent skill, it didn’t suit me.

“Pass~”

After scrolling some more…

===▷Random Dice*You obtain one dice every 9 hours.*Random Dice will transform into a raw material or a completed item once rolled. The chance of obtaining a completed item is much lower.*You may select a ‘category’ as you roll the dice.===

“This is it. Um, I’ll take this.”

Random Dice.A bonus skill that utilized my luck and synergized with Dexterity.I chose this skill without hesitation.

[‘Random Dice’ has been chosen as a bonus skill.][You may now say the words ‘status window’ to open Extra7’s status.][The tutorial will begin in one minute.][You will enter the highest difficulty tutorial.]

**

One minute later.After a burst of bright light, I was sent to an unknown place.Looking around, I found myself in an open field dyed in the sunset. Dirt, rocks, leaves, and weeds filled the area.

[This tutorial will allow you to estimate your basic battle prowess.]

The first tutorial was simple. Like in most tutorials, you just had to beat up monsters.

“…Damn.”

But there was just one problem. The monsters I had to beat up were a bit special.

“…How am I supposed to kill them without a weapon?”

I was up against goblins. That was fine in and of itself, but the problem was that these goblins came with descriptors.

—Kerrek.—Krrrrk.

A goblin shaman and a goblin warrior.Like Nunu and Willump[1], the goblin shaman was sitting on the goblin warrior’s shoulder.

“Ehew.”

I was confident before coming in, but now that I couldn’t use my Desert Eagle, my future was looking bleak.

[You spotted a goblin warrior and a goblin shaman.][Their information has been recorded in the ‘Player Encyclopedia’.]

Player Encyclopedia. As one of the Tower of Wish’s support systems, it stored all information discovered or experienced by Players.

“Open Player Encyclopedia.”

Information was usually key in situations like this.I stopped what I was doing and read up on the two goblins.

===Monster Encyclopedia[Goblin Warrior] [Intermediate-rank Grade-7][Goblin Shaman] [Intermediate-rank Grade-8]===

“…That’s it?”

Well, it’s true that the encyclopedia only had cursory information. It was enough to know that they were weaker than the ones I fought in Incheon.

“Hm…”

For now, let’s think.How did Kim Suho get through this situation in the original story?

…Right, they were slaughtered by the metal attribute magic power of Sword Saint.Being able to only bring one Gift in was too advantageous for Kim Suho.

Let’s think again.I’m different than Kim Suho.

—Krrk.

Thankfully, the goblins were talking to themselves and had not yet noticed my existence.

“….”

In that case, it was probably right to search for this stage’s hidden piece first.Narrowing my eyes, I used Stigma’s magic power….

[Warning! The activation of an unnatural power has been detected. This power may not be used in the tutorial!][Ignoring this warning may result in grave consequences!]

…or not.By the looks of it, I would have to search for it directly.

I lowered my body and walked silently. Thanks to my mercenary work over the past three years, I was used to sneaking around.I walked up to the closest boulder and flipped it over.Thud.There was nothing under it. It looked like it might have something, but I had a feeling I was only being baited.I began to walk again.Crack.

“…Huup.”

I accidentally stepped on a branch.I anxiously turned around.

—Krrrk.—Guoooo.

Thankfully, they seemed to be busy arguing about something.

“Whew.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, I continued onward.Because of how slow and carefully I was moving, walking half of the length of a soccer field took about one or two hours.

“…!”

Then, I found a leaf on the ground.Of course, there were other leaves on the ground as well. But the one I was looking at was clearly special. It was glowing and practically shouting that it was special.I quickly ran up.As soon as I held it up, a window popped up.

[Yggdrasil Leaf]

I found it.I held my breath to prevent an excited yelp from coming out.

[The Yggdrasil Leaf blesses you with calmness and adventurous courage.][Hidden Piece – you may choose one of the following three blessings.]

—Acquire an additional Trait.—Restore 10% of lost stats.—Cradle of Wisdom.

It had to be the first option. The second option was for stat monsters like Boss and Kim Suho, and the Cradle of Wisdom was crap. As I created the Tower of Wish in detail, I knew exactly what it was.

—You can acquire an additional Trait.

…But I was at a loss for what to choose between Medicinal Memory Physique and Dexterity.The Tower should have all sorts of precious medicine I’ve never seen before. If Medicinal Memory Physique remembers just one of them, my future should be much easier.

“Medicinal… no.”

However, there was too much risk in choosing Medicinal Memory Physique. I didn’t know how much of a medicine I would have to consume to remember it.

“…Dexterity, I’ll go with Dexterity.”

With Dexterity, I could just make items without having to buy them. Since I knew another way to acquire an additional trait (though it was a lot more difficult), going with Dexterity seemed to be the right choice.

[Yggdrasil’s blessing has unsealed your Trait, Dexterity.]

“Whew.”

Now, I could finally fight.I turned to Nunu and Willump, or no, the goblin warrior and shaman.At that moment, I received a system message.

[You can store the Yggdrasil Leaf inside your inventory.]

I almost forgot.

“Ah, thank you~ Inventory!”

Inventory, the highest-quality extradimensional space only available inside the Tower.I stored the Yggdrasil Leaf inside it and took out the Random Dice that was also inside.

“Huu.”

I held the dice which had a question mark on each side. An unbelievable nervousness filled my body.If I were to defeat those goblins, I needed this dice to turn into a weapon.

“…Blade. Give me something with a blade, please.”

I rolled the dice as I prayed in my head.Drrr—As soon as the dice disappeared, a primitive dagger appeared.

“YES!”

Holding the precious dagger, I thought of my next move.This dagger looked too dull to kill the goblin warrior.However, it should be possible to kill the goblin shaman as long as I hit its head.

“…Wait a minute.”

Then suddenly, I had a different idea. A method to kill both the warrior and the shaman at the same time.

“….”

Holding the dagger, I began to dig a hole. It had to deep enough for the 2.5-meter tall goblin warrior to be stuck.Like a mole, I dug a trap quietly.

[Warning! You have two hours remaining.]

After digging for dozens of minutes, by the time I was covered in sweat and the goblin shaman and warrior were moving separately…

“Done…”

I finished digging up a huge hole. It was large enough that even the goblin warrior would have no way out.I covered the trap up with leaves and branches, then got up with my dagger.

—Kieeek!

Immediately, I caught the attention of the goblins.I threw my dagger at the shaman, promptly piercing its head and killing it.

—Kieek…

The shaman staggered for a moment before collapsing. An intermediate rank goblin shaman was still a shaman. Its defensive power couldn’t even compare to a low-rank monster.

—….

The shaman was out of the picture, and now it was time to deal with the warrior.The goblin warrior was staring blankly at the corpse of the shaman.

“You’re not gonna move—?”

—Kuooo!

Then suddenly, the goblin warrior roared and madly charged forward.I simply stood still without moving.The clever goblin shaman would have noticed something was strange, but the goblin warrior was in a fit of rage after losing its friend.

—Kerek?!

Soon, the goblin warrior stepped on the trap, and its 2.5-meter body fell into the hole.

—Guooo!

As it struggled inside the hole, I quickly ran up to the shaman and retrieved my dagger.Then, I stabbed down at the goblin warrior stuck in the hole.Die, please just die.After about two hours, an alert finally popped up.

[You have cleared the first stage, ‘Basic Battle Prowess Assessment’.][You will be moved to your private waiting room.][After 12 hours of rest, you will be sent to the second stage, ‘Way of Survival’.]

“…Argh, I’m exhausted.”

[Rest well.]

“…Thank you.”

I told myself to treat the system politely no matter how difficult things got.This was the ironclad rule of the Tower of Wish, which only I knew about.In truth, it was designed with Kim Suho’s righteous personality in mind.After all, who else other than Kim Suho would talk to a system so politely?

**

The private waiting room was a personal space that every Player in the Tower of Wish possessed.

[Player Extra7’s waiting room]

Waiting rooms could be modified or decorated however its owner wished. Once the tutorial ended, Players could invite other Players to their waiting room as well. Using ‘Points’, they could expand the size of the room or purchase furniture as well.

“It’s so empty.”

Of course, for now, there was nothing but a single wooden board.…In the past, I didn’t think the waiting room mattered all that much, but now that I think about it, the waiting room was quite important.As ‘Waiting Room Return’ could be used once every four days, it could be used to escape enemies or death.

“For now… let’s sleep.”

No matter, I was too tired to think properly.I decided to sleep until I gained another Random Dice.

“Huu.”

I lied down on the hard wooden board.…Just like that, seven hours went by.

“Argh, my back.”

My body felt sore after sleeping on a hard surface. It was a sensation I haven’t felt for a long time due to my high stats.Frowning deeply, I checked my inventory.

[Random Dice][Yggdrasil Leaf]

“Haa.”

I took the dice out and immediately rolled it.As I did, I thought to myself, ‘ore, ore, give me an ore so I can make a fishing rod and a weapon.’

Plop!

The dice stopped and an ore popped out.

“…Oh?”

A translucent, red-colored ore. When I laid my eyes on it, I became speechless.

“This is…”

===[Red Crystal]A crystal formed from compressing fire attribute magic power.*A crystal specialized for crafting equipment.===

It was a low-intermediate ~ intermediate rank crystal that was sold at a hefty price in the real world. In this situation, it was even more valuable.

“Ooh…”

If I had to choose one thing I did right after being sent to this world, it would have to be raising my luck to 9.1.

“Ah, I have things to do now…”

Private waiting rooms didn’t count as part of the tutorial.Stigma’s magic power couldn’t be used during the tutorial, so I had to use this opportunity to craft items.

“Huhu.”

Even the Tower’s system couldn’t have known I would craft items in the waiting room.

[One of the administrators has detected the activation of an unnatural power.]

But unfortunately, the administrators’ eyes were better than I imagined.One of the administrators. It was most likely the mythical existence with the ability to see everything, the divinity in charge of the third-floor residential area, Heimdall.

“I’ll use just a little bit.”

I tried to bargain. After all, it was true that the waiting room wasn’t the tutorial.

“Hello?”

The system didn’t reply.But seeing that I wasn’t getting any more messages to halt…

I began to use little bits of Stigma’s magic power to make crafting tools.Ssk, ssk.Then, I began to handle the red crystal while walking on eggshells.

1. League of Legends reference.