Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

Bronze League – Gangnam 1 Area Tutorial

“Finally, is it today?”

Hoo. Hoo.

Newbie bronze player, Dohyukgyu, let out a sigh of relief as he relaxed his tension.

“It’s going to go well. I’m lucky, after all.”

Dohyukgyu looked at his status window.

Gift: Agility A (Rank A)

-Agility is 25.

-This ability ignores the league’s stat limits.

Agility A.

A simple gift with a rank attached to the stat, but it was highly regarded due to its benefit of bypassing the league’s stat limits.

“This changed my life when I got this.”

Do Hyukgyu still vividly remembered his 18th birthday.

Back then, awakening as a player, a gift that only a tiny fraction could obtain.

Who would’ve thought he would get it!

And not only that, he got it as an A-rank.

“Tell the lottery to take a hike.”

That day, a banner hung in the neighborhood, “Mr. Do Hyukgyu. Awakened with an A-rank gift!” It was even more celebrated than a neighbor entering Seoul National University!

And then, scouts from top domestic corporations and guilds came to him with offers, even more so than his neighborhood mate getting into a prestigious university.

In the end, he was able to join the guild “Divergent,” affiliated with the Divergent Group.

“It was enjoyable.”

The guild provided him with a studio apartment in Gangnam.

When he commuted to and from the guild in their uniform, numerous people would turn to look at him.

Since turning 18 and receiving the gift, his life had truly solidified.

“…I’ll somehow make it to the top 50.”

Now, the remaining task was to survive in this Bronze League Gangnam 1 Area.

Do Hyukgyu gripped his sword tightly.

“I can do it, I can do it…”

Before the battle began, he looked around his surroundings.

A threatening horde of monsters.

And other players from different guilds, marked with corporate logos on their armor, caught his eye.

“That one is from LK. That one is from SG… That one is from Handae Guild. None of them are easy opponents.”

Indeed, Gangnam 1 Area.

They were all from major corporations.

Seeing formidable opponents, sweat dripped from Do Hyukgyu’s hand as he gripped his sword.

Flash.

At that moment, a player was summoned near him.

“…What’s this?”

A man wearing shorts and a t-shirt, with disheveled hair as if he had just woken up, and no weapon in his hand.

Seeing that sight, Do Hyukgyu immediately realized his identity.

“That… That’s a player who accidentally ended up in Gangnam 1!”

Originally, no one would think of participating in this area.

However, in the world of humans, mistakes did happen from time to time.

Even in the well-organized Korean league system.

Accidental awakenings who reached level 2 in Gangnam 1 like a drought relief were not uncommon.

“Normally, you should wait for the player who came in by mistake to give up the game…”

Leaving the player who entered by mistake alone until they press the game forfeit button.

That’s the rule and courtesy of Gangnam 1 Area.

However…

“I’m lucky!”

I could get one kill point for free.

What use were such trivial rules and courtesies?

Do Hyukgyu’s eyes gleamed ominously.

And then…

[Tutorial is starting.]

[Eliminate opponents until 50 players survive.]

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The powerful sound of a drum signaled the start, and as his tense body relaxed…

“Now’s the time!”

Tatadak-!

Do Hyukgyu swiftly approached the man, drawing his sword.

Before pressing forfeit, he had to kill!

As the Agility A gift came into play, Do Hyukgyu’s body shot forward like an arrow.

And just before the tip of his sword touched the man’s chest.

The sword didn’t move.

“Huh…?”

Kwaack.

In the blink of an eye, the edge of the sword was lodged between the man’s index and middle fingers.

* * *

“Last time, I died like this.”

Sung Jihan looked at the young man who had stabbed him with a sword.

He was quite fast for level 2.

Probably because his gift was agility-related.

No wonder he couldn’t do anything last time and died.

“Ik. Eek…!”

Meanwhile, Do Hyukgyu struggled to pull the sword from Sung Jihan’s grip.

But the sword still didn’t budge.

“What kind of strength is this…!”

His strength stat was 9. Not a low value by any means, yet the sword’s blade held between just two fingers remained absolutely steady.

“I should give you time to log out. You lack manners.”

“Y-You… What’s this? How can you be faster than my A-rank agility ?”

“A-rank agility? How did you manage to come to Gangnam 1 with that kind of ability?”

Sung Jihan looked at Do Hyukgyu with astonished eyes.

A-rank agility, Such an ancient artifact-like gift…

“Oh. This is the past, right.”

Before Sung Jihan could react, Do Hyukgyu wore an expression of disbelief.

“What? You’re saying my A-rank agility is that kind of ability?”

“Well, I won’t deny it.”

Stat-boosting gift.

It was meant to help with early-game survival in Bronze, but it becomes useless even in Gold League.

But for someone like this to participate in Gangnam 1…

Feeling like he had traveled back in time, Sung Jihan relaxed the grip of his fingers.

As a result, Do Hyukgyu, who was struggling to pull out the sword, tumbled backward.

“Argh…!”

Do Hyukgyu hastily got back up, his face flushed red.

He had ambitiously tried to secure a kill and start strong, but what was this situation?

“I’m done for!”

Whoosh!

As if determined to retaliate for this humiliation, he swung the sword haphazardly.

Yet, Sung Jihan effortlessly sidestepped the wild swings with an expression of boredom.

The opponent was definitely faster than him, despite his Weakness 5 stat.

“Well, what can you do? I can see your trajectory clearly.”

When you know the start and end of a sword’s movement, it’s easy to bridge the speed gap.

“Now I should finish this.”

Sung Jihan had made up his mind to break the achievement gradually.

Swish!

This time, Do Hyukgyu’s sword, which was swung forcefully, found its mark.

“That’s it!”

At the moment when he was sure it had landed successfully.

Thud!

Sung Jihan’s hands moved swiftly as he caught the sword in reverse.

“Huh…”

He had definitely been gripping the sword firmly in his hand.

In an instant, the sword was in the opponent’s hand.

When Do Hyukgyu opened his eyes in disbelief as if he couldn’t believe it…

Thud!

Sung Jihan’s sword pierced through Do Hyukgyu’s neck in one go.

“The sword served me well.”

Thud. Thud.

Do Hyukgyu was about to say something, but his body soon shone white and disappeared.

He had been dealt a fatal blow and received the death verdict.

Sung Jihan stared at that sight silently.

“What a nice world. Not dying or anything.”

The same applied to the sword he was holding, belonging to Do Hyukgyu.

Perhaps this was because of the current Battle Net being a ‘game’.

No matter how much he took the sword away, complete seizure wasn’t possible.

“I guess I’ll just use the weapon by taking it away.”

At that thought, the system window appeared.

[You’ve achieved the first kill in the tutorial.]

[You’ve earned 100 achievement points.]

“Oh, interesting.”

Perhaps it was because the achievement shop had been added to the system window. Unlike before, it showed why achievement points were earned.And that wasn’t all.

As Seong Jihan’s gaze shifted toward the groups of monsters in the Colosseum:

[Annihilation of the Orc Horde]

-The Orc Horde, numbering in the thirties, is the most powerful monster group in the Colosseum. Subdue them and demonstrate the difference in strength.

[Reward: 500 Achievement Points]

Above the monster horde, a quest window related to achievements was appearing once again.

“Good.”

Generally, killing monsters in the Colosseum map was considered inefficient.

Monsters gave only 0.1 kill points each.

Especially smaller groups like the Orc Horde, which formed small battalions, were so powerful that even players hesitated to engage with them individually.

But that was a story limited to ordinary players.

“Orc offspring. I’ll avenge humanity.”

They’re giving an achievement for killing the Orc who demeaned humanity?

Ah, I can’t resist this.

Without hesitation, Seong Jihan rushed toward the Orc Horde.

“Ku, rur?”

“Human. You are stupid!”

“Kill him! Human!”

Could they have not expected someone to charge at them bare-handed?

The Orc Horde, equipped with their own gear, chuckled.

“Save your arrows!”

“Kurr. Understood!”

Three out of the five leading Orc brandished their hand axes and hurled them at Sung Jihan.

Could they have thought that this would be enough against the reckless human?

In the eyes of the Orc throwing the axes, there was no sign of tension.

However…

“Tsk.”

Thunk, thunk, thunk!

Seong Jihan effortlessly caught the flying hand axes with one hand, as if playing with a ball.

“Kuruk…?”

For a moment, the Orc were bewildered by the absurd situation.

“This is how you throw axes.”

He casually waved his hand.

The hand axes flew out like a storm, each one of them.

“Kuh… Kuk…!”

Hand axes embedding themselves directly in the throats of the Orc.

Surprisingly, the ones hit by the axes were all those who had thrown axes themselves.

“He’s a madman! He’s not sane!”

“Be on guard!”

As they looked at the fallen Orcs, the remaining ones quickly readied themselves for combat.

“Too late.”

Seong Jihan had suddenly closed the gap between them.

Thud!

With each movement of his hand…

“Kee. Kiek…!”

“Ah, I can’t see!”

The Orcs’ throats dropped one by one.

Remarkably precise and clean maneuvers.

Was this how a pack of wolves pounced on a herd of sheep?

The mightiest group in the Colosseum, the Orcs, had no choice but to fall victim to Seong Jihan’s tactics.

Swoosh!

When one Orc’s throat dropped again,

The handle of the handaxe that had decapitated ten of their comrades in an instant snapped with a resounding crack.

“It snapped. It snapped!”

“Kill him now! Kill him!”

The Orcs, who had been huddled, then rushed at Seong Jihan.

“Carry better weapons with you.”

As if he had anticipated this, Seong Jihan kicked the ground

Then the weapons dropped by the fallen Orcs floated into the air.

Among them, Seong Jihan grabbed a spear of suitable length and proceeded to impale the necks of the charging Orcs, one by one.

…

“Next?”

* * *

“I-it’s a monster.”

“We’re running. We’re running!”

It didn’t take long for the Orcs to lose their morale.

With nearly half of their comrades wiped out in an instant, the thought of fighting vanished. But more than that, they felt a primal fear in the presence of Seong Jihan, a combat machine.

Snick.

A satisfied smile spread across Sung Jihan’s lips.

The Orcs’ decision was one that should never have been made in front of him.

Seong Jihan picked up his weapons and began his pursuit.

Despite the Orcs scattering in all directions, Seong Jihan had a clear plan for such pursuits.

In an instant, he assessed the number of enemies fleeing in each direction.

“There’s the enemy.”

On the Orc side, he aimed and threw weapons to subdue his opponents.

Swoosh!

Axes and javelins arced through the air, embedding themselves directly into the heads of two Orcs.

“Kraaak!”

“Kuk… kuk…”

Seong Jihan chased after the remaining enemy in the last direction as if he didn’t need to confirm the kills. Now, it was nothing but one-sided slaughter.

“Monster…”

As the 30th Orc’s dying words faded,

[“Extermination of the Orc Horde” quest cleared.]

[Obtained 500 achievement points.]

With the completion of the quest, achievement points flowed in. And along with that,

[You have leveled up.]

A level up message appeared before his eyes.