Ch 12: Cost of the human life [pt1]

"Boss, how long do we have to wait here for? That monster is guarding the exit of this world."

The 'boss' looked at his subordinate, who stated the obvious.

"Well, what do you suppose we do? Do you want to go and kill that monster for me?"

The boss asked in a tense tone.

He was worried about the coins he had spent on finding the exit, only for it to be blocked by a monster.

'Darn, that shopkeeper! He promised to show me the exit if I paid the price for it. Now, all of us are broke without a way to move forward.'

There were only a few hours left before the end of this trial, and no one knew what their fate would be.

When it seemed like everything was over for them, the boss heard the words of hope.

"B-Boss, Katherine is back! S-She survived alone out in the jungle!"

Whispers of surprise broke out, causing everyone to look toward the other side of the clearing.

Katherine walked toward the group with slow steps.

"K-Katherine is back, and she's alive. Katherine, you are our last hope. We need you to head out and defeat that monster."

People crowded around Katherine, waiting for her to go out and fight the monster.

Katherine tried to avoid the hands reaching for her, but the people around her were adamant in trying to catch and sacrifice her.

"H-Hey, let me go. I am not going out to fight that monster."

'There is no way I can fight that monster now.'

Katherine looked at the fierce mini-boss in front of her. 

Her body was shaking, but Katherine tried her best to remain calm.

If nothing else worked, then she was going to fight the humans.

"B-Boss, look! Someone is fighting that monster."

Everyone, even Katherine, looked at the man fighting the mini-boss.

Katherine immediately remembered the man as the same one who saved her.

"T-The monster is killed. Boss, we can head to the next floor now."

People rejoiced at the system notification.

"Hurry, let's head to the next Tutorial. We still have a few hours left."

People rushed toward the next section, not caring whether they deserved it.

Katherine was the only one who felt hesitant but even desired to live.

"Boss, hey, look here. Isn't that the man who cleared that monster for us? He must have mad loot since he is that strong. Should we rob him?"

People began to gather around Soma's sleeping form to rob him.

The boss reached out to grab Soma, but a small shield stopped him from reaching Soma.

"What the hell? Why is there a barrier between me and him? Is this some kind of skill? Wait! Let me check."

The boss reached out to punch his subordinate and check if he had the same shield protecting him.

Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case.

"Ouch, boss! It hurts."

The subordinate complained while holding his bleeding nose.

"Oh, sorry. I thought the safety net would protect you if I punched you. I did not realize you would get punched."

The boss did not sound sorry for his actions.

Katherine watched as the boss took out his knife and attacked Soma's unconscious body.

[Warning: Effects of Absolute protection space. Your attack will be redirected back toward you.]

The boss blinked in shock as his fist recoiled and collided with his face. 

"What the hell-? What happened?"

The boss looked baffled, and everyone else watched the man's face go through six stages of anger before he accepted his defeat.

"Tsk, it looks like this lad got lucky this time. But the next time we meet, I will ensure I get my revenge."

Everyone knew that the boss was bullshitting in their heart.

But no one opened their mouth to say these words.

Katherine also took this time to rest and reduce her presence. 

Her only goal was to survive and get to a safe spot where she could quit this killing.

A few hours passed in silence, and quite a few people attempted to harm Soma's sleeping body.

Everyone got death the same punishment, but people kept trying until the end.

Once the announcement of the next round came, people finally gave up and accepted their fate.

...

[Those who have 50,000 coins by the end of the day can pass this trial.]

The condition to pass this trial was simple.

But just because it was simple did not mean it was easy.

"N-No way! How can you propose such a condition to us after robbing is in the last round? How will anyone collect 50,000 coins in 24 hours?"

The boss was not the only one who cried out in outrage over this situation.

No one had nearly enough coins to pass this round.

Soma, who had more than twice the needed amount, was the only exception to this rule.

"O-Oi! I am your boss, right? That means I get to move toward the next round. Hurry up and give all your coins to me."

Once the announcement was made, the boss immediately decided that he should be the one to move on.

Naturally, not everyone agreed.

"No way! I am the best brawler, so I should move on."

The buff man immediately stepped out and made an angry expression.

He bulked his muscles out to intimidate others.

The tutorial site immediately turned chaotic, with everyone turning at each other.

Just when the internal fight was beginning to start, the shopkeeper made its appearance, and Soma instantly turned his attention to that tiny fairy-like creature.

The appearance of a shopkeeper in a scenario could never be a good sign.

Especially when they appeared on their own within the tower's intervention.

'What are these tiny fuckers up to?'

Soma wondered while slowly waking up.

He had a bad feeling about what would happen next for some reason.

"Welcome to the fourth tutorial stage. I am happy that quite a few of you made it this far."

The tiny fairy had a happy smile on its face when one of the humans decided to jump at it.

"You little shit! You took all my money away from me during the last round and gave me a dagger that broke as soon as I used it. I want a refund right now."

The angry man demanded from the small fairy, but that tiny fucker kept on running around and laughing.

"Calm down, my dear customer. I, the shopkeeper, never cheat, and I never lie. All I did was tell you about your options. You bought that cheap knife because that was the only thing you could afford then."

The fairy giggled and quickly floated out of the human's reach.

The soft giggling voice Soma heard sounded sinister to him.

"Anyway~ Since I am such a kind and gracious shopkeeper, I cannot let my dear 'future' customers die. I will provide you with a way to clear this tutorial."

Everyone looked hopeful once they heard the fairy's words. 

Finally! They had a way out of this situation.

"Everyone, turn your attention toward your system screen. Can you see a number in the corner of the screen? That is your system ID and your ranking."

The small fairy explained with a gleeful voice.

Soma's sinking feeling worsened once he noticed his number as '1' on the screen.

"What the heck is this number? Is this some kind of ranking? What for?"

The boss asked in a suspicious voice. 

He was ranked 1050 on the rankings.

Once, the shopkeeper grinned as he looked at his next set of victims.

"The rankings you see on your screen indicate where you currently stand regarding strength. I will tell you how you can get money from these rankings."

The shopkeeper's grin turned sinister.

"All you need to do is kill someone and present me their corpses. If you successfully deliver a corpse to me, I will award you money corresponding to that person's ranking. You can see the coins per rank list below."

Soma looked at the list as well out of curiosity.

He was currently worth 10,000 coins, which felt like an insult.

But it was far more than the second place, which only had about 1000 coins as bounty.

"Y-You cannot be serious? You want us to kill each other for money?"

Someone asked in a frightened voice.

"Of course not! You all can head out and take your chances in the city. Or, you can take the easy way out. It's your choice."

The shopkeeper informed the people that they had only one solution.

"I am sorry, but I need you to die for my sake."

Someone yelled before the chaos began.

Many people tried to attack Soma, but he was protected by Absolute Protection Space.

It did not take people to run away for the center. Once they realized that it was not safe to stay there any longer.

After one hour of the tutorial's beginning, Soma was the only one left at the starting point.