Chapter 10: The Tutorial’s Hidden Piece

[The 'Lady of the Scales' has begun to watch you with interest.]

I flinched.

'The Lady of the Scales?'

Her name alone wasn't all that impressive. But I was already well-aware of what kind of Guardian the 'Lady of the Scales' was.

'She's the Guardian of the Typhoon, Jo Sunghyun.'

He was one of the 8 Players who represented Korea, and she was a Guardian who prioritized 'fairness' above all and liked Players capable of 'doing acts of good'.

'Her personality is close to lawful good.'

Unlike the 'Courageous Lion King', who could care less about whether his sponsored Players died or not, the 'Lady of the Scales' was a stern upholder of justice and prioritized the wellbeing of her Players.

'She also gives appropriate compensation, and is one of the Guardians who gives extremely reliable support.'

That the Lady of the Scales had me in her sights was nothing but welcomed news.

'Fairness, justice, sacrifice, and commitment. The Lady of the Scales is a Guardian who reacts primarily to such things.'

I glanced at Sunhwa behind me. It was commonly said that the Guardians were looking down 'from above'.

'From up there, it must have looked like I was protecting Sunhwa.'

That was my best guess. In any case, it was good. Someone who was told they had [No Talent] like me already had the interest of three Guardians, and the fact I had secured myself a special privilege meant I had made huge strides.

"Oppa, what do we do now?"

My previous plans changed a little.

'Originally… we were going to leave and hide in the nearby Safety Zone, waiting for the Fist King So Yoohyun to come and kill that thing on the 2nd floor, but…'

After killing the Goblin Soldier on the 1st floor, large-scale onslaughts like the Goblin attack would end. That meant safety would be pretty much guaranteed afterwards. That's why I rushed to kill the Goblin Soldier.

'For now, we're safe.'

If I killed that guy on the 2nd floor of the D-Tower, I would get the title of 'Tutorial Ender', but I didn't hope for that much.

'Let's make full use of the Tutorial Field's special characteristics.'

I zeroed in on my goal, a goal right in front of my eyes. I would earn $1 million.

'And then…'

To be honest, I wanted to look further ahead. Like anyone else, I wanted to succeed and live well. I wanted to live happily with my family and do everything I wanted. It was too early to jump to conclusions, but currently, I suspected that my talent was very nearly 'transcendent'. And I… didn't want to let a talent like this go to waste. I no longer wanted to be a burden on my family and study for ages to become a civil servant.

Turning to Sunhwa, I said, "We're going to go hunt the monsters outside the D-Tower. As many as we can."

"The City Foxes?"

"No."

If we went a bit towards the Cheonggyecheon district, we would run into 'City Wolves' instead of 'City Foxes'. They were pack monsters that were far more ferocious. Even so, they were only slightly higher in level than Goblins.

"Their levels are around 7. They sometimes have alphas, and those guys are around level 9. The two of us can hunt them no problem."

"Where did you learn that?"

"I know everything."

"I knew it."

Sunhwa didn't harbor any suspicion. Her eyes showed absolute trust in me.

I purposefully didn't continue to press Senia about the 'deal'. She hadn't mentioned it. I gave a thin smile.

'Alright then, let's dance. Push and pull.'

In this dance of pushing and pulling, it wasn't a bad thing to see who would end up on top—the Streamer who had absolutely nothing going for her besides her appearance vs. the regressor whose future was shining brightly? It was painfully obvious who had the upper hand, so I wasn't in a rush.

'The person who gets impatient first loses.'

Sunhwa was a truly talented tanker.

City Wolf. LVL 8

Awoooooooo–!

The City Wolves called their comrades.

"Taunt!"

Not a single wolf slipped past, all of them charging straight for Sunhwa, and in the meantime, I defeated the wolves from behind. After a few fights, it seemed that 'club'-type weapons were more effective than 'bladed' ones, so I hunted them using the 'Wooden Club' that dropped from the wolves.

[EXP acquired.]

[8 Coins acquired.]

After hunting for about one hour, we rested in a nearby convenience store before continuing.

[Level increased.]

[Current level: 11]

Finally, my level went up.

'I really did become level 11.'

I broke the level cap of 10. That it was at all possible to reach level 11 in the Tutorial Field was something that even I, a rote memorizer of the Ten Years' History, hadn't known at all. I guessed even the Fist King So Yoohyun didn't know it.

The notices continued.

[Congratulations!]

[You are the first to have reached level 11.]

[Your achievement has been recognized.]

[You have been granted the title 'The First Pioneer'.]

I could only doubt my ears.

'A title?'

There were 'titles' in the System. The abilities of Players could vary immensely due to titles. It could be called a benefit that bestowed special parameters.

'There's a title in the Tutorial Field? Other than Tutorial Ender?'

I'd never heard or seen of such a thing. A 'title' could only be gained at around level 30, and even then it wasn't guaranteed. I killed the Tutorial Field's miniboss monster, the 'Goblin Soldier', and still didn't get a title. So I was stunned I got a title just by reaching level 11.

"Did you get a title?"

God, she scared me. Senia suddenly appeared behind me. Though her face was expressionless, the tips of her wings were trembling. The Guardians might even be clamoring "Tell us what kind of title he got! Find that out!"

"I did get a title."

"What kind of title?"

Senia asked with an impressive nonchalance, but her expression was extremely stiff. She'd always had an expressionless face, but right now, it was looking kind of robotic.

"Not telling."

"…"

If the Player didn't want to disclose, they had no obligation to. Titles couldn't even be scanned. I decided to check it out first.

[The First Pioneer]

A glorious title given to one who pioneered a new domain.

EXP +20%

Stacks with other titles.

Sunhwa tugged on my clothes.

"Oppa? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing."

I had fallen into a daze without realizing it.

[The 'Nameless Observer' is terribly curious about your reward.]

[The 'Lady of the Scales' is curious about your reward.]

It looked like the Guardians had no idea what I had just received. There was no need to expose everything to the Guardians. I had to hide an appropriate amount, choosing and picking what I would reveal.

'I can't believe it's a 20% buff to EXP.'

A boost that big made it a title of the highest level. In particular, an experience buff in the beginning would have a huge butterfly effect that would aid me later, because it would help me get firsts in everything.

'If I can keep developing like this…'

I could really become a Ranker. Wealth. Glory. Power. All of those things could become mine. And even if it wasn't as grand as those things, I could definitely succeed enough to feed and clothe my family very well.

'No.'

Before, in order to succeed, the only option was to study like all the others to become a civil servant. But now, it was different. I could forge a different path from the past.

I said to Sunhwa, "Let's keep hunting. We'll level up for another two days or so."

* * *

"Hiya!"

Yoohyun punched.

Arf!

The City Wolf yelped.

[Level increased.]

[Current level: 8]

Yoohyun rubbed his nose. The people behind him cheered.

"In one hit again?"

"What is he, One Punch Man?"

"Even a level 8 monster is no big deal, huh?"

The City Wolves were wolves in name, but they seemed weaker than stray mutts. So Yoohyun had realized many things over the last five days. He leveled up faster than others. He was stronger than others. He didn't know why, but it was true.

There were hardly any monsters that could survive his one and only skill, 'Power Fist'. As a result, quite a lot of people trailed behind So Yoohyun. Those people thought they'd grabbed a real lifeline. Roughly ten people were following him.

"You're indeed incredible."

"Do you think so?"

"Of course. So Yoohyun is the strongest on the Tutorial Field, no?"

"Pshaw. I'm not that great."

Everyone could see it. Even though he was saying 'not at all!' and acting humble, So Yoohyun's earlobes were a bit red. He was definitely a bit embarrassed right now. At first sight, he looked like a regular ol' moron, but his body was quivering with muscles that were anything but ordinary. However, at that moment, So Yoohyun saw someone in the distance.

"Huh?"

In the vicinity of Cheonggyecheon, where they were, he saw another team hunting 'City Wolves', made up of a young man and girl. The child was taking the tanker role, while the man was handling the DPS.

"There are more survivors!"

So Yoohyun swiftly strode that way.

"Hello!"

Having just finished hunting the City Wolves, Kim Hyukjin stared at So Yoohyun. He was able to recognize the man instantly.

'The Fist King'.

It was the Fist King So Yoohyun. Hyukjin was meeting him in person. Many people were following So Yoohyun—it seemed he had rescued them all, unlike Hyukjin, who had turned away many people.

'I can't believe I'm seeing the Fist King in person.'

He was one of the eight most famous Players in Korea. He looked to be about 190 centimetres tall and had a very bulky physique, but his eyes looked very honest and simple. The dark circles under his eyes gave him a big panda image.

After a short conversation, So Yoohyun made a proposal.

"Would you like to work with us? Survivors should clump together, right? What do you think?"

Kim Hyukjin looked So Yoohyun straight in the eyes.

'If everything goes the way I saw in the past…'

All of the people behind him would die. The only person who survived hunting that thing on the 2nd floor of Gwanghwamun D-Tower was So Yoohyun. According to So Yoohyun's reminiscing, he said the thing he regretted most was taking those people to the 2nd floor of D-Tower.

"No thanks."

Hyukjin refused So Yoohyun's offer. He had no intention of hunting that thing. It was far more dangerous than the Goblin Soldier, and there was a high chance he would die. This was such a rare chance. He couldn't let it go to waste in vain.

Continuing, Hyukjin said, "I heard the Tutorial Field will end after surviving for seven days."

His #1 goal was to earn $1 million, and for that reason, he had to survive the Tutorial Field. There was no need to face excessive danger in order to defeat the Tutorial Field's boss monster. The moment he killed the Goblin Soldier, the 'attacks' or 'waves' ceased for good, which meant there was absolutely no need to flirt with death.

"Mm. No helping it then," said So Yoohyun.

Yoohyun didn't dwell on it or insist. His personality had always been like that. No matter what happened, he simply accepted it for what it was. However, the people following him thought that Kim Hyukjin was a little rude.

'He must not know So Yoohyun's strength yet…'

'Tsk, tsk. He just kicked away a good offer with his own two feet.'

It looked like the pair was pretty skilled themselves, but they didn't think they had anything on So Yoohyun, who had the power to kill a City Wolf in one hit.

'Can't be helped. He's simply throwing away his own fortune.'

They didn't openly show their discomfort on their faces, but it was palpable to Kim Hyukjin. He said, "Survive. I wish you good fortune. If you meet a truly powerful monster and are in a truly hopeless situation… Aim for the left eye."

So Yoohyun would walk his path, and he would walk his. He just had to think about how to get out of here in one piece. History would continue on its path. And within that prescribed path, Kim Hyukjin would secure as much profit as he could.

He continued to hunt wolf packs.

['Mutant Wolf's Fang' acquired.]

[Level increased.]

[Current level: 12]

With the 'First Pioneer' title EXP buff in addition to his original leveling speed, he leveled up much faster than expected. Even though he was killing 'City Wolves' that were relatively weak, his EXP was going up nicely. As time went on, he learned some tricks to hunting and was able to hunt faster than the wolves respawned.

'We've caught all the wolves in this area.'

The wolves had run dry. But just then, he heard a notice.

[You have hunted 500 'City Wolves'.]

[Checking the Hidden Piece conditions.]

[A Hidden Piece qualification condition has been fulfilled.]

'A Hidden Piece qualification condition?' That was the same notice I heard on the 1st floor of the D-Tower. 'Isn't that the notice I heard after killing the Goblin Soldier?'

He didn't know what it was back then, but it was written here.

[You have fulfilled all three conditions, 'Hidden Piece qualification condition, break through level cap, & hunt 500 City Wolves'.]

Kim Hyukjin achieved three conditions no one had achieved before.

[The conditions for the Hidden Piece have been fulfilled.]

Notices that had never existed in the past continued to ring out.

____