Chapter 3
A long time ago, I once heard about the tutorial rewards from one of the members of our raid team.
“Hey, did you know? There’s a reward you can only get during the tutorial.”
“…What good is knowing that now? Worry about tomorrow’s raid instead. No, before that, you should probably focus on the sparring match we’re having right now.”
Kazzt!
Even while our swords clashed, the guy grinned and shook his head.
“Man, you really have no sense of romance! Anyway, the point is, yours truly managed to get it!”
Kwa-dut! Kaang!
Storm Sword Lee Seha.
Just as his nickname suggested, his sword strikes came rushing toward me like a violent storm.
Even though this was only a sparring match, every attack that slipped through an opening was sharp and fierce.
But—
Kaang! Thud!
Lee Seha’s sword was knocked away.
He lost his footing and fell straight onto the ground.
“Ow… My ass hurts. Take it easy, will you? Easy.”
“…So you killed ninety-two goblins during the tutorial alone?”
I held out my hand.
Still sitting on the ground, Lee Seha shrugged casually before taking it and pulling himself up.
“I told you, didn’t I? Yours truly is just that amazing. So be proud of yourself. You beat someone like me, which means you’re a monster acknowledged by me. Hah.”
He dusted off his dirt-covered backside.
Then he immediately threw an arm around my shoulder and continued talking.
“Now, here’s a question. What reward do you think I chose?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t need to ask. Stop talking nonsense and tell me.”
“Tch. You really are no fun. Anyway, what I chose was… a private meeting with the lower administrator, Leon.”
“…A private meeting? There should’ve been other rewards.”
“You only say that because you don’t understand. The other rewards are things you can get later anyway. But this one is…”
My thoughts returned to the present.
I was inside a cozy house filled with cat supplies, including something that looked like a cat exercise wheel.
This was Leon’s personal space.
“Hmph. So, what do you want from me, nya?”
Leon glared at me with his arms crossed.
His tail kept swishing from side to side.
He looked quite annoyed.
“You’re the first one to choose this reward, nya. I don’t have much time, so get straight to the point, nya!”
“You should have plenty of time. The tutorial ended earlier than expected, so the next floor probably isn’t even ready yet, right?”
“…!”
Floors one through nine were all part of the tutorial.
Naturally, everything had to be thoroughly prepared in advance.
Thanks to the ridiculous ten-minute time limit Leon had set, there was still plenty of time left.
The other stages are probably still in progress.
Leon began sweating as he slowly backed away.
He looked extremely flustered.
His jaw went slack and his mouth hung open.
At that moment, he looked exactly like an ordinary cat.
“H-How do you know that, nya…?”
I thought about it for a moment.
I couldn’t exactly tell him that I happened to learn about it in my previous life.
In that case…
“Instinct.”
“Ah, instinct… Did you really think I’d believe that, nya?! Eek! Don’t lie to me, nya!”
His fur stood on end as he hissed.
The private meeting with the lower administrator that Lee Seha had told me about.
There was something that could only be obtained through this private meeting.
“Enough nonsense. Lower Administrator Leon, I want to use the ‘Hidden Shop’ you have.”
“W-Wait! H-How in the world do you know about that, nya?!”
The Hidden Shop.
A special shop where coins circulating throughout the Tower could be exchanged for unique items.
It could only be accessed through an administrator.
Normally, I would learn how to use coins on one of the higher floors.
But by then, I wouldn’t be able to obtain the thing I wanted.
“You… You’d better answer me while I’m still asking nicely, nya.”
Grrrrk.
His small body suddenly expanded to a frightening size.
He raised a massive claw toward me.
Leon stared at me with murderous eyes.
“I really can kill you, nya. Just because you did well in the tutorial, do you think I can’t kill you, nya?”
Anyone else who knew nothing would have been terrified.
After all, they had already seen Leon kill someone with a single gesture.
“So you’d better answer me while I’m still being nice—”
“Go ahead. If you’re confident you can deal with the consequences.”
Flinch.
“……”
An administrator only had the authority to kill once in order to maintain order.
In other words, Leon currently had absolutely no way to kill me.
“D-Don’t act tough for no reason, nya! I know you’re trembling in fear inside…!”
“If you can’t kill me, put those claws away and open the shop already.”
Leon was visibly shaken by my completely confident attitude.
His pupils trembled violently.
His face practically screamed—
How does he know?
“Ugh……”
Leon’s body shrank back to its original size.
A massive window appeared before my eyes.
Countless items were displayed in the shop list.
[Coins Possessed: 1,650]
In my previous life, even Lee Seha, who had ranked first, only managed to collect 700 coins.
This was an absurdly strong start.
[Unique] Goblin Warrior’s Sharp Bakdo — 1,000 Coins
It would certainly be extremely useful right now.
But I had already decided what I was going to buy from the beginning.
“This one.”
[Legendary] Elixir of Growth — 1,200 Coins
Quantity: 1
It was a potion that greatly increased the user’s abilities for a certain period of time.
If I tried to buy it on another floor instead of during the tutorial, the price would rise several times over.
On top of that, it was an item that could only be purchased once.
It was definitely worth the investment.
For me, weakening the conditions for Trait Plunder was more important than simply becoming stronger immediately.
Starting from the next floor, I might run into ‘him.’
Yoo Taeseong.
In my previous life, thousands of people had died because of him.
The reason most of our raid members had died during the final battle was also because of that bastard.
There had been no real reason behind it.
He simply wanted this slaughter game to never end.
Crunch.
I wanted to kill him immediately.
However, I had to wait until I obtained the reward from the Hidden Dungeon on the next floor.
“Purchase.”
[You have purchased the item ‘Elixir of Growth’.]
[Your remaining coins are now 450.]
[The item has been bound to your inventory.]
Everything I could prepare here was now ready.
Only one thing remained.
…In this life too, I’ll make sure to kill you, Yoo Taeseong.
“Hmph! Are you done choosing, nya? If you’re done, hurry up and get out, nya!”
The moment I stepped outside Leon’s space, I could feel the uncomfortable gazes of the survivors.
A few of them seemed to have survived by killing goblins.
“Ahem, hmm…”
“Ugh…”
But most of them hadn’t.
No matter how much they tried to hide it, they couldn’t hide the metallic smell of blood or the bloodstains splattered across their clothes.
That was human blood.
…So they ended up killing each other.
I stopped.
My former superior’s corpse lay there, cold and lifeless.
Blue bruises covered the limbs that had been torn from his body.
That meant they had been ripped off while he was still alive.
In the end, he had died helplessly without being able to do anything.
There was only one reason this man was dead while those people had survived.
They had been willing to kill the people around them in order to survive.
That was all.
Snap!
With the sound of fingers snapping, my vision flashed brightly.
The surroundings changed.
We were now standing inside a forest densely packed with trees.
“Hmph. Congratulations on passing the tutorial, nya. More of you survived than I expected, but the real thing starts from here, so prepare yourselves, nya!”
Leon seemed to be glaring particularly hard at me while saying that.
Apparently, what happened earlier had put him in a bad mood.
“E-Excuse me… Where are we?”
“That’s a very good question, nya. This is the second floor. In other words, this is where all of you must survive for one month, nya.”
If the first floor existed simply to reduce the number of players, then floors two through nine followed the format of a death game where people killed and were killed.
Killing monsters earned points.
Those with more points would receive greater rewards.
“The higher the floor, the more points monsters will give, nya. Don’t recklessly think about rushing to the upper floors, nya.”
But there was something even more terrifying about this place.
If one player killed another player, they could absorb that player’s points.
“Hehehe. Remember this well, nya. You’ll receive roughly half of the points possessed by the person you kill. Also, the points of the highest-ranking players will be updated at regular intervals on that board in the center, nya.”
The tutorial we had just completed had also been part of this game.
Which meant that the person who currently had the most points here was me.
[Total Ranking]
Lee Suhyeok — 165 Points
Yoo Taeseong — 100 Points
Jang Geonho — 62 Points
Bong Taesu — 38 Points
Lee Yumi — 27 Points
Yoo Taeseong was right behind me in second place.
He had also ranked second in my previous life.
That was how quickly he adapted to this world.
Flinch.
…Wait.
I couldn’t see them anywhere.
The names of the comrades who had fought alongside me.
There was no way this was some system error.
That left only two possibilities.
Either every single one of them had died during the tutorial—
Or they had never been summoned here in the first place.
At that moment, the words spoken by the administrator before my regression flashed through my mind.
‘I sincerely hope you can overcome everything on your own.’
Leaving only Taesu behind was probably some sort of safety measure designed to make sure I continued participating in this play.
I finally understood the meaning behind those strange words.
I clenched my fist and muttered quietly.
“…Ha. So that’s what it was.”
My emotions almost wavered for a moment, but I quickly regained control.
Whatever the case, my revenge hadn’t changed.
Maybe it’s actually fortunate that they weren’t dragged into this place.
Someone raised a hand and asked a question.
“Th-Then… if we just survive here, can we safely move up to the next floor…?”
“Hmm. It’s possible, nya.”
Hearing that they could survive, everyone sighed in relief.
They looked happy, as though they had found a way to live.
They began clinging to the vague hope that they could survive as long as they stayed together.
“Tch. How long are these brainless idiots going to keep saying stupid things? Do all of you have holes in your brains or something?”
It was the woman who had been standing next to Taesu earlier.
Was her name Lee Yumi?
A middle-aged man wearing hiking clothes immediately became angry.
“Y-You! You little brat! How dare you speak to your elders like that?! Is that what your parents taught you?!”
He pointed his finger at her while shouting loudly.
Now he was suddenly bringing age into the conversation.
He was obviously trying to establish some kind of authority over the others.
“Think about it logically. You get points for killing people. Do you really think everyone will just watch and leave you alone? They’ll come after you and try to kill you somehow.”
“B-But if we work together…!”
“Especially people like you, who look like easy prey. Wouldn’t they kill you the moment they saw you? Hell, even I’d want to kill you right now. Don’t you agree, old man?”
Everyone’s expressions turned ugly.
They had been so relieved to survive that they had completely forgotten what kind of place this was.
“And what does age even matter in a situation like this? Do you think we’re still in South Korea? To put it simply, what are you going to do if I kill every single one of you right here? Call the police?”
Lee Yumi slowly began walking toward them.
Everyone flinched and instinctively stepped backward.
Now that society’s rules no longer existed, only two kinds of people existed here.
The weak.
And the strong.
“That’s enough, nya. You won’t get any points even if you kill each other before the game begins, so don’t do anything pointless, nya.”
Lee Yumi alternated her gaze between Leon and the others.
Then, clicking her tongue in annoyance, she returned to where she had been standing.
“…Tch. It’s not like I was seriously going to kill anyone. I was just trying to make them understand the danger.”
“Ahem. I was secretly worried you might actually do it. It seems the young lady may be a better person than she appears.”
That was an incredibly awkward compliment.
Lee Yumi stared at him with a dumbfounded expression before sighing.
“…Sigh. Forget it. I shouldn’t even bother talking.”
Leon glanced around at the atmosphere.
Then, as though he had something urgent to deal with, he hurriedly wrapped up his explanation.
“Looks like the explanation is finished, so stick together and do your best to survive, nya. Huh?! Th-Then I’m busy, so I’ll be going now, nya!”
Leon checked the watch on his wrist and quickly disappeared.
Judging by how urgently he left, he had probably been summoned by his superiors because of what happened earlier.
…More importantly, I don’t have much time.
One month might actually be cutting it close.
Just as I was about to hurry away, the middle-aged man who had been shouting earlier stopped me.
“H-Hey, young man! I saw what you did earlier. So if we just trust you, then… you know… we’ll be fine, right?”
“H-Haha… We’re all on the same t-team now, so of course we should travel together… right?”
They were trying to use the mentality of the crowd to force me into becoming their protector.
To them, I was nothing more than someone they needed to cling to in order to survive.
“F-First, we should travel together and—”
“If you want to survive here, fight on your own. Don’t think about leeching off someone else.”
“Ugh… How can you say something like that?! Don’t you have an elderly mother and father of your own?! Huh?!”
Complaints and curses erupted from every direction.
I ignored them and started walking again.
As I passed Taesu, I casually spoke to him.
“If you head east, it should be relatively safe. And unless you have a good reason not to, travel alone. Moving around in a large group will only make you a bigger target.”
I was only showing him a path that could keep him alive.
Whether he became stronger on that path was entirely up to him.
Let’s go.
To the outskirts of the western forest.
Bong Taesu watched Suhyeok’s disappearing back and slowly grinned.
“I don’t think that man said a single wrong thing. In the end, all we have to do is keep killing monsters, right?”
“Well, I guess so.”
Lee Yumi began walking in a direction other than east.
Bong Taesu looked puzzled.
“Where are you going, young lady? Wouldn’t it be safer to head east with those people?”
“No thanks. Didn’t you hear what that oppa just said? He told us to survive on our own whenever possible. Besides, weren’t you heading somewhere else too, old man?”
“Haha! You’ve got sharp eyes. I was found out faster than I expected. Was I that obvious?”
Bong Taesu scratched the back of his head and laughed brightly.
Lee Yumi glanced at him before speaking quietly.
“…I’m definitely going to survive. And if I want to do that, shouldn’t I first become someone useful to that oppa? Instead of being like those useless old men and women over there.”
When they realized she was openly looking in their direction, their expressions immediately turned sour.
They tried their best to ignore her and continued walking toward the eastern forest.
“…You’re right. I don’t really know what it is, but whenever I look at that man’s back, I keep feeling like I can survive too. It gives me some strange, emotional feeling that I can’t quite explain.”
Bong Taesu tightened his clenched fist as he strengthened his resolve.
“If that’s the case, then I suppose I’ll have to work hard too. I hope we can meet again one month from now. Haha.”
Lee Yumi let out a small laugh.
“Pfft. We’ll have to survive first before we can meet again. Who knows whether you’ll even still be alive when that happens, old man?”
The two exchanged faint smiles before heading down separate paths.
They had both made their decisions.
And neither of them had any intention of backing down.
