CH 13

Crackle-

All the monitors that were illuminating the tutorial field went down with a noise.

No one had any idea how the situation would change with the difficulty adjustment.

“Do you know why there is such a thing as a monitor room in Babel, Jo.”

“To find the ones who have talent and raise them.”

“That’s true, but the nature of ‘monitoring’ is to be able to prepare for unexpected events. If the target is a beginner, then they must be observed for protection.”

〈Silver Lion〉’s president and vice president, Gyeon Ji-rok, and Jo.

There were only a few left at the monitor room after everyone rushed out so it was quiet.

Eun Seok-won said in a serious tone.

“We can’t lose the rookies here. They are the future.”

“Why so over the top? It’s just a change in difficulty.”

”I think that Babel’s monitor room was arranged for unexpected situations, or something like that. The tower shook. This is the first time it ever happened. That’s never a good sign.”

“…what do you want me to do?”

Zio continued in a dreary manner.

“I am sure they will find their way out, are they kids or what? There must be someone inside who knows something…”

‘Huh?’

There was.

Not the old man, but Gyeon Zio.

Zio’s eyes trembled under the hood.

Come to think of it, Baek-ssi…!

Until earlier, she was sitting relaxed on the sofa cheering ‘Go, regression monster. You are Number 1’, she was even laughing inside but she had forgotten.

Zio’s words suddenly stopped .

Gyeon Ji-rok, who told his guild members to leave first and remained alone, couldn’t hold his tongue.

“I understand what you are feeling, silver lion. But it’s impossible to interrupt a tutorial that has already started, and it’s even more impossible to break into it in the middle. Especially if you are a ranker. I am sure you know that very well. Soso let’s not burden Gyeon Zio with the impossible.”

”I didn’t mean to. If it sounded like that, then I apologise.”

“No need for apologies… well it’s frustrating for me too. If a contractor helps then maybe someone can use them and receive a Ranker’s ‘exclusive ticket’.”

Flinch.

…

…

Zio swallowed her dry saliva.

Chills.

A dagger flew onto her chest and bloomed.

But don’t worry. If nothing showed on her face then she could just act as if nothing happened, and go home…

“..no more movement. Did you hide your brazen face?”

‘Damn it. He is like a bastard.’

[Attribute ‘brazen face’ has been disabled.]

Gyeon Ji-rok’s hand snatched the hood down like a hawk.

Bleh. Zio turned her head back towards the sky.

“Ah, no? You mean me?”

“You… I am really curious, are you aware of how terrible of a liar you are? I want to be fooled too. Whatever. Just answer. Did your contractor give you the ‘free pass’ or not?”

“You are writing your own script, Bambi bastard!”

“If you get caught lying, your hands will fly away. Huh?”

Tap tap. Clatter.

Eun Seok-won who was watching the fight between the Gyeon siblings anxiously asked the person next to him.

“Tiger, shouldn’t we stop them? The words of the children are a little harsh.”

“Leave it be. They are just playing around.”

The veteran babysitter Tiger who had 10 years of experience answered calmly.

It was a great exchange between a cat and a deer that he had seen hundreds of times while taking care of Gyeon Zio.

As he had said, the quarrelsome fight ended with Gyeon Ji-rok grabbing onto Zio’s wrist.

“Ugh…!”

A white Babel emblem was engraved at the inner part of her forearm.

Unlike regular tickets, it was the size of a grain, but it could be clearly seen by the eyes of the top rankers.

An ‘exclusive ticket’ that was issued by contractors with their unique authority as a deity.

In other words they were called this;

Free pass.

Usually in order to enter the tower, you had to bring in an entrance ‘ticket’ or have your name registered as an awakened on the server.

Therefore, the main purpose of the ‘exclusive ticket’ was not to go through the tutorial but an arrangement for the incarnations who were chosen by contractors.

If a star spoon wanted to go through the tutorial before registering a nickname, the contractor would be generous and say ‘oh yes, my dear. It’s not a bad idea to go through the bottom for some experience’ and grant an exceptional ticket.

In fact, such situations were very rare.

It was changed from its original intentions and the incarnations who were close to their contractors used that to get them and used it for various purposes as adults.

It was literally a ‘free pass’ that could go anywhere (as long as it’s an open floor) ignoring the rules of Babel.

Tiger watched neatly by lighting a cigarette using a goblin fire.

“Is it Sakura?”

“…cough.”

“Ah, see. This is why I told you to stop giving out tickets multiple times!”

Even though free passes were usually difficult to see in one’s life, that wasn’t the case at all for this side.

Because of her stubbornness of never stepping foot on the tower, she would playfully exchange it with her contractor everyday.

Until Ji-rok brought it up, Zio had even forgotten that she had it.

[The Deity ‘Reader of Fate’ scratches his chin, wondering if she knew it would end up like this.]

[Do you trust your oppa baby? Since this is happening, hold on a second. He’ll take a look at the Babel bag and then come and comfort you.]

In the burning gazes of three men.

Zio, who was cornered, rolled her eyes.

Ring. [A quest has arrived.]

∨ Event quest.

/Condition Rankers only/

▷ [Help me, magician king~]

•Difficulty | EASY

▷ Objective | Exit the tutorial.

━ Error code: Unknown error in GF scenario 〈Beginning Festival | Human disqualification〉 they are in crisis (ᗒᗣᗕ)

Get rid of the risk factors that have been lifted and end the scenario safely.

[Completion Reward.]

•3% Up on Unique skill proficiency.

•Growth buff acceleration (5x) throughout the scenario.

Umm.

“…as a senior, I can’t just watch as juniors are facing a crisis.”

“…?”

“If this is my mission, then I have no choice but to accept it.”

“…”

“Leave this to me and go. This tutorial will be played by God Zio.”

“…what is up with this 180 in attitude.”

Gyeon Ji-rok muttered with a chewed up expression, but Zio ignored it and skillfully turned around.

Tiger who put out the light frowned.

“Hold on, are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t joke around. Chicks die from cat’s pranks.”

“Yes. It’s only the first verse of the nagging.”

Zio shut down her mind and injected mana into the ticket.

Thanks to the top ranker Gyeon Ji-rok, she knew how to use it.

《Gyeon Zio requests the use of an exclusive ticket.》

《Correct permission holder. The request has been approved.》

《Gyeon zio is currently in the monitor room of the 0th floor. Because you have already entered, the ‘tower entry’ does not apply. It will be replaced with admission rights for another floor.》

《Enter the floor number you want.》

Zio responded by saying “Ground floor”.

《Ground floor. Square. Tutorial scenario 〈Beginning festival: Human disqualification〉.》

《This is an ongoing scenario. Do you wish to enter in middle of the scenario?》

《Confirmed. The 1 person admission of Gyeon Zio has been approved.》

As if there was a ripple on a water surface, a door suddenly appeared in the air.

As the gleaming light washed over Zio, her hair flowed along the breeze.

Leaving the gazes behind, Zio grabbed the doorknob.

An hour and 40 minutes had passed since she entered the tower. Her current unique skill proficiency was 17.033%

“Hmm. It seems I am still the 2nd place Kong Zio?’

[Your contractor, ‘Reader of Fate’ doesn’t buy it, and takes out a  sunflower mask that says ‘No.1 Zio admirer’.] (here, the word used for admirer comes from the word sunflower and means that you admire something like sunflowers watching over the sun)

‘Good’

Shall we go?

And retake the throne.

Zio laughed, half a day was long.

Even if it’s annoying and frustrating, fate is fate.

A king was a king even if they were indolent and indifferent.

Gyeon Zio was born to be a king by nature.

So even for a single moment, there was no reason not to be.

[AWAKENER STATUS] 

• Name: Gyeon Zio

• Age: 20

• Rank: S-rank (Specialized in Combat and Magic)

• Ranking: (in progress)

•Tendency: A free standing ruler

•Affiliation: Earth — South Korea

•Sub-Affiliation: None

•Covenant: the reader of fate

•Sole Title: Omniscient Librarian

•First Title: Magician King (M)

•Unique Title: Number one, All in-one, world king, record,  tyrant, lazy, immature

***

Na Jo-yeon clenched her teeth.

In Babel tower she had heard about a notorious number of ‘tutorials’.

From beginners who used to be ordinary people.

Only human monsters would come out to erase the hesitation for slaughter.

And it was literal.

In line with the theme of ‘Human disqualification’ the monster in this scenario was a cannibal.

At first glance they seemed ordinary, but they were monsters whose mouths were torn down to their waist.

They boasted of cruelty and ferocity by tearing or swallowing participants alive.

Nevertheless, since it was a human being, it would be a good opponent to face if their mind was straight.

Surely that would be the case…

‘Crazy, why are you suddenly evolving! Are you a digimon!’

《Tutorial difficulty has been re-adjusted due to external factors.》

《The tutorials where the scenarios has started cannot be stopped.》

[As a result of the difficulty adjustment, temporary weapons besides the ones given at the beginning will be given. Weapons are provided randomly according to the participant’s traits.]

[l surviving participants in the scenario has been fully healed.]

[The points for ‘killing friends’ has been changed from 50 to 0. You can no longer earn points through killing participants.]

After several notifications came up.

Cannibals with wings, two-headed cannibals etc.

Even if you looked at it closely, the monsters that started appearing didn’t look like humans at all.

“I-I… I want to go back…”

Of course, she knew that even if she died in the tutorial she would still be alive in real life.

But this wasn’t a game.

The pain felt wasn’t filtered and passed on.

She was in a party of 5 people but everyone except for Na Jo-yeon was wiped out.

Ha, haaah.

The breeze that came from the man-eating giant’s hot nostrils brushed over her head. It was creepy.

Na Jo-yeon crouched further under the rock and began regretting the choices she made minutes ago.

‘Damn it, Damn it! Anyone who saw that guy would realise he is the main protagonist…”

Baek Do-hyun, the guy she bumped into earlier.

The tutorial rankings were released to all participants in real time.

Him being able to record a terrible score with such a friendly face gave her goosebumps.

Baek Do-hyun (surprisingly) offered to accompany her, but Na Jo-yeon (cooly) refused him and chose another party she met later on.

‘If I had followed him at least I wouldn’t have to worry about being torn to death by such a giant.’

“Hic…”

Out of frustration, she started crying without realising it. Growing pale from the sound she made, Na Jo-Yeon rolled over.

Tak, Crash!

“Argh!”

Bang,  Pieces of stone went in all directions.

It was from the rock that Na Jo-yeon was hiding it till just now.

If she was a little late, it would have been her and not the rock.

Na Jo-yeon crawled around the floor without realising her palms were covered in blood.

She had to stand up, but she couldn’t give strength to her legs.

“P-Please, just move…!”

‘Help me. Anyone, please!’

In fact, it was because of her traits that the regressed Baek Do-hyun had offered to accompany Na Jo-yeon.

The trait ‘fanatic’.

It didn’t matter what she believed in or worshipped. The only criteria that was judged by saints was the purity of one’s beliefs.

The purer the mind, the higher chance of being chosen by the tower, and the higher the chance of being awakened in high grade.

He didn’t know about the Na Jo-yeon now, but as far as he remembered, she was an AA class healer in Baek Do-hyun’s previous world.

It meant that she was second to none in terms of natural purity.

And Babel hadn’t turned a blind eye to the earnestness of such Na Jo-Yeon.

“”Territory declaration.””

Library implementation.

[Magical Marksman – Unanimous guns.]

Reinforcement keyword: ‘Cunning Jamiel, there is no 7th bullet in the silver gun’

(This refers to a German opera called Freischutz where someone obtains a magical gun after a contract with the devil and are given 7 bullets, the first 6 bullets can be shot by the marksman’s will but the 7th is shot by the devil)

Flip.

She thought she heard the sound of a paper rolling over.

The moment Na Jo-yeon opened her eyes thinking of that.

Taak-!

There was fierce gunfire.

It wasn’t like books.

Kung! The giant fell down without a scream with a hole through the center of it’s forehead.

Na Jo-yeon blankly turned her head away.

Standing alone in middle of the field, there was a person with a black hood down to their eyes.

As she aimed the silver gun over her shoulder, she said.

“I’m afraid I’ll end up in olympics.”