Chapter 37: Entering the Tutorial

/ March 16, 2017, 10:25 PM /

I am in the room where I have been staying with uncle Jung for the past three days. The reason for this is that when one is transported to the Tutorial Zone, a replica of one's living space is created. Fearing that we might be transported to different places, I decided it was best to stay in the same room as uncle Jung during these last three days. This was somewhat sad for the girls and me because we could not sleep together during the last few days knowing that we would be separated for a while, but it can't be helped; priorities come first.

In the room, I have everything I believe I will need during the tutorial, which really only amounts to three things. The first is a chair specifically designed for uncle Jung to sit comfortably. The chair has safety straps to keep him securely fastened to it. Additionally, on the back of the chair there are other straps that allow me to carry it on my back like a backpack. This way, I can carry Uncle on it without having to use my hands and affect my combat ability. If I use [Mana Cloaking] to protect uncle, no matter what situation we get into, he will not be harmed.

The second item is a fanny pack backpack to temporarily carry the supplies I will need to feed uncle, the nasal probes, and other things. Once I obtain the Gold Brand Bag from the tutorial, I can replace it.

And finally, on the room's table, there is a long sword, black as night with a silver edge and runes painted in bright red. The blade is thin like a stiletto and looks like a fantasy sword, but it is completely for show.

I had it made by a company that designs prop equipment for theater plays and movies. The sword is entirely a toy, although since the blade is super thin and I sharpened it, it can cut. But because the material used is very soft, if it is used to try to cut with it, it will actually spoil immediately.

But that does not really matter; I only need its appearance and thinness. As long as I cover it with [Mana Cloaking], I can use it as a super lethal and indestructible weapon since its durability is based on my [Mana Cloaking]. I tested it and was able to cut even thick bars of reinforced steel as easily as Wolverine's claws do in the movies.

I looked at the clock, and the time finally marked 10:30 PM. I felt a force dragging me, but I did not resist. I almost felt like I was being forced to sleep, but since my abilities are superhuman, I was able to resist the sleep inducing force and only found myself lying in one of the room's beds. I got up quickly and saw uncle Jung lying in another bed. I lifted him and sat him in the chair, secured the straps, and then checked that everything was in order. I put on my formal attire, a tuxedo jacket and pants even though it is normally an uncomfortable and unathletic type of clothing. This was designed to maintain the elegance of class clothing and the freedom of sportswear.

Then I looked for my phone and found one on my bed and the other on uncle's bed. I checked them; the phone on my bed is obviously not mine, and uncle does not even have a phone given his situation, so they are obviously the ones provided by the Tutorial to help the participants.

I looked for the fanny pack, put it on, also carried uncle's chair on my back, and finally took the prop sword, put it in its sheath, and tied it to my waist. Now I look like a high-class, rugged executive with a sword at my waist. If I take a picture and upload it to social networks with this appearance, surely the crazy fans would go wild.

A few minutes after I finished getting ready, both phones rang. I checked them, and they asked for confirmation. I confirmed for both and saw the message; they ask us to attend the "Paradise High School" and to arrive within 30 minutes. If I remember correctly from the novel, the time it took the protagonist to get there was 10 minutes, but I assume that the time they give varies according to the distance one is from the school, and since I live in a different place than where Seol Jihu from the novel lived, it makes sense that the time changes.

I left the house, or rather, the replica of the house; it's completely empty, and there are no signs of anyone else besides uncle Jung and me. Then I started running. According to the direction in the message, the school is actually quite close, and running at my average speed without [Physical Reinforcement], it only took me 5 minutes to get there.

I saw the sign for "Paradise High School" and it made me chuckle. After so many years of preparation, I am finally at the starting point. I walked inside, and the message said to meet in the auditorium. I walked there, and outside there was a blonde girl of average height, 161 cm, dressed in a European maid's outfit. She is quite pretty with an innocent appearance, white skin, red lips, light brown eyes, blonde hair; she is Maria Yeriel.

A person who is very, very greedy and is known as one of the Six Crazies of Lost Paradise. She is known as the money demon. She has a very greedy personality and is highly vulgar. According to her, she can't filter her words in her mind, or as we commonly call it, she speaks without thinking, and her thoughts tend to be very rude, so she tends to insult very, very often.

But she is not a bad person, and despite being extremely greedy, she is quite loyal. If you earn her trust, she will risk her life for you without hesitation. That is why she is one of the people I want to get along with.

I walked in her direction, and she extended her hands as if she was asking for something. From the novel, I know that at this moment she is not speaking because she is practicing self-control of her tongue, and according to her, the best way to do so is to avoid speaking.

I quickly took my invitation and uncle's and gave them to her. She looked at me strangely until she saw that what I was carrying on my back was not a backpack but a chair, and in it was uncle Jung. Clearly, she was thinking of some rudeness but said nothing. Then she checked the invitations, and when she saw mine, she looked at me with a lot of surprise.

She made some gestures as if to ask whose golden invitation it was, and I told her it was mine, the other one was uncle's. She nodded, and this time with much more respect in her behavior, she guided us to the auditorium. At this moment, it seems we were among the first to arrive, although there are still a few people. I checked them with the [Nine Eyes], but none of them is who I am looking for, so I did not continue to look at them and started to wait. The other people in the auditorium were looking at me surprised, and some gathered to gossip. Apparently, they know who I am because of my fame.

The minutes continued to pass, and more people began to arrive, among them came the first person I am looking for, his name is Hyun Sangmin. He is a tall man, just a little shorter than me, with black hair and eyes, and he wears a baseball cap and sunglasses.

According to the novel, he describes himself as a selfish person who only seeks personal benefits, and to a certain extent, it is true. But he is also loyal, and if you earn his respect, he will be willing to work for you no matter the task you give him, as long as you give him benefits for it.

I walked in his direction and spoke to him, "Hello, I am Seol Jihu, I am forming a group to easily overcome this test. If you join my group, I assure you that you will not regret it."

He extended his hand and whistled while saying to me, "Huh, a big fish, you don't need an introduction, there is no one in South Korea who doesn't know you man. You go out on the street, and at least you will hear a woman say your name about 3 to 4 times a day," he said, half irritated and half amused.

Then we sat down and talked a little while we continued waiting. He asked me about my uncle and whether he would be an obstacle. I told him that he wouldn't be and that if he feels otherwise, he can leave the group whenever he wants. He just nodded and agreed.

Minutes kept passing, and another person I was waiting for entered. Her name is Shin Sang-Ah, a woman of average height for a Korean, with light brown hair and eyes, and a bob haircut. She is not a great beauty but is slightly above average. If anything stands out, it is her breasts, which are clearly larger than average for a Korean woman, not exaggeratedly so, but enough to be noticed without much effort.

The most important thing, and the reason I was also looking for her, is because she is a fair and loyal person, someone worth being friends with. So I headed in her direction and greeted her. When she saw me, her reaction was one of great surprise, and she became nervous.

"Hello, my name is Seol Jihu, I am forming a group to overcome this test, I was wondering if you would like to join, miss...?"

"Oh my god, it's really him, it must be a dream," I heard her whisper softly.

"Are you okay, miss?" I asked.

"Yes, better than ever, I am Shin Sang-Ah, it's a real pleasure to finally meet you, Seol Jihu Oppa," it seems she said 'Oppa' by slip and was embarrassed about it.

"Sorry, I meant to say Mr. Seol Jihu," she corrected herself, extending her hand shakily. I also extended mine and gave her a handshake.

"So, Miss Shin Sang-Ah, what do you say to my proposal?" I asked.

"Of course I accept, no matter what you ask me, sir, I will do it," she said super excitedly, and I heard her whisper that she would never wash that hand again. Well, it seems that in the end, the crazy fans have spread further than I would like.

Shin Sang-Ah and Hyun Sangmin exchanged greetings and then we continued waiting. When there were only 15 minutes left of the 30, many more people started to arrive, and among them came an unpleasant group, those who were the antagonists in the novel during the Tutorial.

Kang Seok and his two thugs, Yi Hyungsik and Jeong Min Woo.

I discreetly told Shin Sang-Ah and Hyun Sangmin that those guys are unpleasant, if they greet us, just return the greeting and if they try more, just avoid them civilly. They listened to me and nodded.

After entering the auditorium, Kang Seok acted as if he were the king of the world, looked at the contracted ones with contempt, and then looked at us, or more specifically at me. I heard him murmur very softly, "A damn rich kid born with a diamond spoon in his ass, just what we needed," but his expression did not show the displeasure of his whispers, and instead, he put on a super happy face and approached me.

He began to exchange friendly greetings with us, we returned the greetings and then ignored him. Clearly, he was annoyed by that, but I don't care, this guy will not complete the Tutorial, and I just hope he gives me a reason, however small, to kill him.

Shortly after, another group of people entered, among them were almost all the others I was waiting for. A family of three, clearly the spouses and their daughter, a little girl of 6 years old. Seeing them made me angry. I knew about them from the novel and always thought I could not tell who was more backward, the parents for bringing their girl to a war zone or the idiot who gave them the contract.

But I took a deep breath to calm down, the others who entered with the group and whom I was also waiting for were two young people, 16 and 18 years old respectively, they are siblings, the boy is the younger Yi Sung Jin and the girl is the older Yi Seol-Ah. They are the Yi siblings. They joined the Tutorial and Lost Paradise in search of a cure for their sick stepmother, she adopted them and is their mother in all but blood.

But the overexertion of working and feeding the three took its toll, and she ended up getting sick, and in the conditions of scarce resources in which they live, her health only worsened. So the siblings had no choice but to look for a cure with more clandestine methods and joined the Lost Paradise for that reason."

I approached to greet the two siblings first. But as always, it seems unnecessary to say my name, as it seems no one in Korea, or almost no one, doesn't know me, which makes my introduction a bit awkward.

"Hello, I am forming a group to overcome this test, I was wondering if you would like to join, with you we will be five people and I assure you that we will easily pass," I said while greeting them. The boy was quite suspicious, but the girl seemed to be a fan too and happily agreed to join.

Fortunately, though a fan, she does not seem to be one of those crazy fans, which relieved me a bit, and then when I told them part of my reason for coming here to find a cure for my uncle that I was carrying on my back, they immediately sympathized with me and also told me their situation, thus our relationship was strengthened and the boy was no longer suspicious of joining the group.

Then I approached the couple and the girl, I asked them why they brought the girl and the mother who wanted to tell her situation was quickly silenced by the father. The guy is complete trash, in the novel he abandoned them to die by the Tutorial Monster.

I don't want to leave that girl to her fate, I would not forgive myself if I ever did, so I grabbed the guy by force and took him away from everyone, there I offered him a blank check, I told him he could cash the amount he wanted back on Earth and that it was his if he gave me his wife and daughter, the trash agreed quickly. I don't even know what he has for brain cells, everything we carry on us are just replicas of things from Earth, even the check I took out of my checkbook is a replica, even if he takes it back to Earth, it will be considered a forgery, but if that served to help the mother and daughter without that scum of a man to bother, then better.

He did not delay in abandoning the woman and the girl, they were clearly desperate, but I told them to join my group. The others in the group were looking at me quite suspiciously because of what happened, but no one asked anything, they saw that the guy was trash and the mother and daughter pair were better off with us.

When there were less than 10 minutes left for the time limit to end, the last person I was waiting for arrived. It is impossible to confuse her, she is the spitting image of Yun Seohui, only younger.

She is pretty, has black hair but unlike her sister Yun Seohui who likes to keep it short, Yun Seora's is long and reaches up to her upper back, her eyes are black and her gaze is fierce and proud.

When she noticed me looking at her intently, she blushed a little and put on the hood of the sweatshirt she is wearing.

I approached her and spoke to her, "Hello, Yun Seora, right?"

"Mr. Seol Jihu, my sister told me about you, but I don't need to be looked after, I can take care of myself," she said annoyed.

"I'm not a babysitter Miss Yun Seora, I am just like you another participant in this test, and as you can see I also have my responsibilities to deal with, so it would be presumptuous of me to say that I will take care of you, on the contrary, I would like to ask you to join my group, I assure you that it will be an alliance that you can take advantage of and we will not hinder you in overcoming the test, and if you feel that is the case you can leave the group whenever you wish," I told her calmly. She is a proud person so I have to give her the impression that I am not doing her a favor, but that I am offering her a fair deal where we both win.

"Alright, just because you're a friend of my sister I'll join temporarily, but if I see that you hinder me, I will leave the group, and you are also free to leave me if you think I hinder you," she said seriously.

I nodded and we shook hands, she blushed but quickly let go, readjusted her hood to cover even more of her face, and looked away. She is clearly embarrassed.

Then we gathered in a more secluded part of the auditorium. I did not mind sitting in the guest seats or remaining standing up, the group members wanted to ask me if I was okay, as I have been carrying my uncle on my back all this time, but with my superhuman physical abilities this is not a problem, but I can't answer like that, so I just told them I was fine.

There were less than 5 minutes left for the waiting time to end. And I really thought there would be no unforeseen events until then, but the human trash called Kang Seok could not contain himself and started talking trash, he started clapping and said:

"Look at them, the star group. We have the two young siblings, the guy who looks like a bum with a cap and sunglasses, the girl who seems to work in the alleys at night, the mother and daughter, the presumptuous girl who doesn't even show her face under the hood, the pompous one who thinks he is the king of the world just because he was born with a diamond spoon in his ass, and let's not forget the star of the day, the poor devil who is clearly disabled in the chair. Look at this great group of brave heroes gathered together, they are the new 'United Avengers', give them a round of applause," he said while clapping with his lackeys and laughing. The others in the room did not find it very funny and the members of my group were offended and clearly wanted to respond violently.

"Ignore that human trash, it's not worth paying attention to, soon the time will be up and the test will begin. It's not worth getting into trouble for that trash," I said and the others swallowed their anger and waited.

That idiot looked disappointed and said a few more provocative stupidities, but seeing that we ignored, him he just spat on the ground and sat back down.