Chapter 4

Chapter 4

McHugo, the tutorial trial supervisor, stood atop a huge, white stage as big as several playing fields combined. He stood with his arms crossed and looked at the participant lying on the ground.

Near the participant, two goblins, each about a meter and 20cm tall, lay dead.

“Haa... Haaa...” the participant was panting heavily.

It was hard to believe a participant could struggle so much with just two of the lowest-ranking monsters, goblins. The pathetic sight made Hugo frown.

“I somehow succeeded,” the participant said to himself.

Hugo’s eyes twitched. In his silver armor resembling that of a knight’s, he approached the participant and asked, “Do you want to challenge the next stage?”

“N-next stage...?” The participant looked confused. Soon, a message appeared before him.

[Would you like to challenge the next stage?]

[1 additional goblin will be added per stage.]

[Additional rewards will be given for clearing higher stages.]

“No, I won’t! Are you crazy? How am I supposed to defeat three?!” The participant’s face turned pale. Three goblins? He’d struggled with just two, so there was no way he could clear three.

“Shout again, and I’ll knock you down,” McHugo said. As the trial supervisor, he couldn’t harm the participants. Still, he couldn’t help but give the participant an annoyed glare when he saw their poor skills and rotten mental state.

As expected, the participant seemed frightened and went pale before running away and giving up on the next stage.

Swoosh—

The participant had defeated two goblins and could’ve moved on to the next stage, but he didn’t get any rewards other than the most basic of passing grades. In the tutorial, the real rewards were given from stage two.

‘So that’s his limit.’ Most participants were like that. The tutorial was known to be significantly easier than the trials on the other floors, but less than half of the participants stepped up to challenge stage two.

‘Evaluating individual skill, desire for improvement, and the courage to face multiple enemies simultaneously is why this tutorial exists.’ Hugo sighed. “I never imagined I’d have to send such pathetic people up...”

The participants in the tutorial that time were just too pathetic. Only two goblins... Those who left to the next floor after giving up on going to stage two of the tutorial usually hit a wall in progression right away.

The tower’s trials were always like that—it gave rewards to players based on the greatness of their achievements; fools who thought they simply needed to climb as quickly as possible were never able to get far.

‘At least there was one.’ Hugo recalled a participant who had taken the trial a few moments prior. Isaac... He was Reinhardt’s son and had shown his natural talent by his ability to use magic on the 1st floor. With talent surpassing his lineage, he’d only stopped after defeating more than 20 goblins at once.

“Stage 20 is almost record-breaking. Based on his talent alone, he’s above Reinhardt.” Isaac used both swordsmanship and magic as a magic swordsman with talent in both areas, and watching him hadn’t been boring.

As Hugo was recalling Isaac’s trial, the door to the trial hall opened, and the next participant entered.

“Lee Su-hyeok?” The name was unforgettable; even Hugo had idolized the legend at one point. Rather than excitement, he felt sympathy for the participant.

‘He must have struggled due to his name.’ The participant had probably always been compared to the real legend, and he even used a sword—the same weapon Su-hyeok had favored.

[2 goblins have been generated.]

[Defeat the goblins.]

Messages appeared in front of the participant.

“Kirii, kaa!”

“Ukik!”

The goblins let out monkey-like cries and gripped their poison-tipped spikes.

“Start!” Hugo yelled.

In the next instant, the participant’s sword flashed forward and decapitated the two goblins with lightning speed, sending their heads tumbling.

Whoosh—!

‘What did I just see?’ Hugo’s eyes widened in surprise.

[You’ve cleared the 49th stage.]

[Would you like to challenge the final boss?]

[Additional rewards will be given for clearing the highest stage.]

“Haa...” Su-hyeok caught his breath, which he’d been controlling until then. Sweat soaked his hair, and he read over the message again as he swept his damp hair back.

‘The final stage...?’ It seemed that the tutorial only went to the 50th stage. ‘This is great. I was just about to stop.’ Up to that point, he’d cut down over a thousand goblins in total over several hours. Though there was a break between each stage, his muscles were screaming in exhaustion.

[Fatigue: 71]

With his Fatigue so high, he was bound to be a bit sluggish. Either way, the next stage would be the last. Su-hyeok made up his mind. “Challenge.”

[You will challenge the final stage.]

[You have a 10-minute break.]

’10 minutes...’ He thought they were giving him plenty of time to recover. Deciding to rest and bring his concentration to its peak, he sat down and closed his eyes. After the long but short 10 minutes passed...

[Boss: ‘King of the Orcs’ is appearing.]

Wiinng—

Opposite of Su-hyeok.

A giant monster many meters tall with a pig head appeared opposite of Su-hyeok.

“What...?” Hugo turned to Su-hyeok in surprise. “Give up, now! Can’t you see what the boss is?”

Finished catching his breath, Su-hyeok opened his eyes and stood. The orc was about a head and a half taller than him, with rugged muscles and solid armor covering its whole body—it was a monster several times stronger than a regular orc.

“You can still give up since it hasn’t started yet! Don’t be greedy! No matter how good you are, you won’t be able to overcome the stat difference!” Hugo yelled.

Of course, Su-hyeok was aware of that. The King of the Orcs wasn’t an opponent a tutorial participant could defeat. ‘With my current stats, I won’t be able to inflict proper damage on that guy.’ He probably wouldn’t even be able to pierce far into its body.

‘Still...’

Glance—

“I don’t want to give up.” He had already made up his mind and wasn’t about to change it.

“You absolute—!” Hugo cursed when he saw his confident attitude, but before he could finish...

“AAWWRRGGH!” The King of the Orcs’s roar shook the trial hall.

Hugo was certain that, no matter who the participant was, they wouldn’t be able to defeat such a monster.

Even Su-hyeok’s sword, which had sliced through the necks of countless goblins, wouldn’t be able to do anything against the King of the Orcs’s tough skin.

[The final trial is starting.]

Swoosh—

Thud—

A poisoned dart flew and pierced into the King of the Orcs’s thigh.

“Grr~?” The monster gave Su-hyeok a confused look.

“Let’s make a bet.” Su-hyeok, after bending down and going through the corpses of several goblins, held several of the poisoned darts in his hands.

Clang—

He tossed his sword aside as if it were never needed for the fight and held several of the poisoned darts in each hand.

“Let’s see if you can catch me before you’re turned into a pincushion.”

____