Chapter 1: Returning to the Beginning
A god who loved watching bloody battles the most created a new world to get rid of his boredom.
Fight and kill, a reward will be given.
If you are lazy, you will die.
The god named the bizarre world and started to slowly pour in the life forms he created.
****************
"As I expected, only one person can go back to the past. Do we need to have a popularity vote?"
Keldian, one of the four people who were standing in front of the crystal and who had a golden book, muttered while looking around the crystal.
A great tool that is said to have the mythical power of sending one to the past.
And the last remaining hope of the humankind which entered the Abyss 50 years ago and perished.
A man in the corner with a massive sword spoke out at those words.
"I'm going. The strongest person should go."
Keldian laughed at those words.
"Kangtae, you've just been lucky and gotten strong by stuffing runes and items. It'll be much better if I go."
"Keldian, I acknowledge your intellect but there were numerous occasions of disagreements when you clowned around with it. I shall go instead."
Keldian stared at Eres and then laughed.
"Eres, you're too naive. Thinking of the troubles underneath you, you disqualify as well."
The three who were arguing stopped and stared into the distance.
Huge dragons that showed off their massive bodies were flying with incredible speed.
The temple in which the crystal resided and the woman who saw the real owners of the crystals, Eres, spoke out with a bittersweet face.
"It seems like it isn't the time to argue."
The fact that the dragons were flying here means that the forces they used to buy time have all been annihilated.
If those had died, these 4 were the last of mankind.
The golden dragon race was one of the top ruling classes even in the Abyss.
They weren't opponents for the dragons as they struggled just to get this far.
Eres sighed with a regrettable face and spoke while looking at the man with a black hair sitting in the corner.
"Although it feels a little unfair there's no other way. Hansoo, you go. Everyone agrees?"
At those words Kangtae and Keldian held a reluctant face then sighed as well.
"Can I really not go? I have confidence I can do well."
"…"
"Alright. Don't look at me like that. Petty ones."
Kangtae plained with an extremely pitiful face.
Then Hansoo sighed with a tired look.
"Can't I stop fighting now?"
Hansoo shook his head.
50 years since the great war between the original races who had been dragged into the Abyss.
The survivors had to fight rigorously every day for 50 years.
Just to survive.
"I've fought too long."
Hansoo shook his head.
As if it's allright to die like this.
But Eres' head shook with a firm look.
"You are the one who has to go."
The four people here including herself arrived this far because they were the most outstanding of the 7 billion people.
They had confidence to do better if they returned to the past and to do so they needed another chance.
But everyone knew inside.
'He's the one who has to go.'
The ruler classes of abyss were so strong that even if they went back in time they didn't have a plete guarantee that they could win against them.
However, he started 20 years after they did yet he stood shoulder to shoulder with them.
If he had bloomed his unique potential a little earlier, no, 5 years earlier, then they wouldn't have been pushed back this far.
Hansoo looked at the three and then spoke out.
"Say something, I should at least listen to the last words of my friends."
If it was anybody else it wouldn't have mattered but how could he ignore their words.
As Hansoo watched the three with a regrettable look, Kangtae spoke out first.
"You. If you have the chance to acquire my runes and items, take them all and use them."
"Huh? Don't I give them to the you of the past?"
Hansoo asked with a surprised face.
His items and runes were immeasurable to the point that his nickname was fate creator.
To the point where a huge problem between them occurred.
"Yeah, it's better that you use them instead of me. If you're going to do something, do it right."
Hansoo nodded at those words.
"Eres, what about you?"
"Don't fling off people who approach you just because it's annoying and take care of them."
"I will try."
"Oh e on, you're going to save humanity aren't you? Think about how cool it is. Listen to the leader."
"Well, if the situation allows it."
"Sigh.."
Hansoo turned his back to the sighing Eres as he asked Keldian last:
"Keldian, what about you? Oh by the way I have no confidence in using my brain as well as you. I have no confidence in collecting all the skills you use either."
Keldian replied with a cold face:
"I don't have much. If you go back to the past… get rid of those 'cockroaches' who will only be of harm during the great war. And that Light Monarch, kill him for sure. That is my request."
Hansoo nodded and Keldian smiled with a satisfied smile. Then he lifted up his book and started mumbling something.
Then shining light bursted out of the crystal and surrounded Hansoo as he disappeared with the light.
"I should rest now."
They wanted to go but they also wanted to rest.
They didn't know their true feelings so they said no in case they regretted it.
Since this chance is literally the last chance.
However since it was decided and he was sent off, they clearly knew their true feelings.
Since their minds were now at rest.
At the same time they felt bad for Hansoo.
"Take care. We leave it up to you."
The three watched the disappeared Hansoo as they smiled with a mix of regret and relief. Soon the energy blasted out by the golden dragons swept them from above like a storm.
Chapter 2: Tutorial (1)
Hansoo's five senses, which had been frozen from the light, quickly started to recover.
'It succeeded, but is my head supposed to hurt this much?'
He knew.
He instinctively knew that he had really returned to the past.
Hansoo shook off his headache and checked his surroundings.
'What time have I come back to?'
He needed to know exactly when in the past he had come back to.
If he had come back too late, then the whole thing would be pointless.
Through his five senses, Hansoo realized that a chaotic situation was occurring.
"Goddammit! What is this? Is there a hidden camera?"
A hundred or so people were standing around and shouting frantically.
The surroundings resembled Gangnam train station, but it currently looked very different.
The Hyundae building was still standing high, but all the glass had shattered, and there were weird vines and trees growing everywhere.
The scene looked like a time 10 years after nuclear warfare.
It wasn't surprising that people fell into panic.
Some were even fighting with each other out of distress.
It was a really messed up situation.
From this, Hansoo knew exactly to what time he had come back.
'It's the first moment after we transported to the other dimension.'
The year of his birth had been rather peculiar.
That year, people started getting abducted from all over the world.
At first it was 100 at a time, and then the number continued to increase over time.
The year he turned 20, he also went missing in the real world.
Only then did Hansoo know where the missing people had gone.
A mid-way area that was created as the Abyss devoured the other dimension.
The terrain and buildings were like reality, but the contents of the world weren't.
This place had many beasts that roamed around due to the influence of the Abyss, and there were people with powers who had come here before them that roamed around.
5 years later, all the people from the real dimension would be transported to the Otherworld, and after that, the passage that linked the Otherworld and the Abyss would open, igniting the Great War between them and the inhabitants of the Abyss.
Basically, the 25 years before that were like a tutorial.
It was something that the people of the real world had to go through before entering the Abyss.
From a certain angle it looked like benevolence, but to Hansoo, it didn't seem that kindhearted.
It seemed like time had been given only because it would be boring if they died too easily.
'Whatever, it's good that I've returned to the beginning.'
He had earned 5 years of time before the Abyss had opened.
If it was at the moment it opened, he would've been in trouble and wouldn't have been able to do anything, but this was a very good situation.
Hansoo started checking his body's condition after he understood the current situation.
Because no one could move before a fairy came out and started the basic tutorial, it was good to have a warmup before then.
'As I expected.'
Tabula Rasa.
All the skills that he knew and the runes he filled his body with were all gone.
'Well, I can collect them all. Anyways, it should be here now.'
As Hansoo finished his thoughts, something fell from the sky.
'It's here.'
Hansoo stared at the creature that appeared.
The palm-sized fairy looked around at the surrounding people and said, in a sweet voice,
"Hello, everyone. I'm a helper, and I'm here to help you get off to a quick start.
'Tsk.'
Hansoo, who clearly knew what that satanic midget's 'quick start' meant, inwardly clicked his tongue.
'I see… it wants to see us fight already.'
As the fairy appeared and a weird aura spread over the people, the seemingly uncontrollable situation slowly died down.
The fairy was a very eye-catching existence, even in this abnormal place.
The smiling fairy looked around as the surroundings quieted down and opened its mouth.
"Firstly, I would like to welcome you all to the Otherworld. You've now all been granted a wonderful chance."
"Wait. Wait. What do you mean? What's the Otherworld?"
The fairy stared at the questioning man for a while, then ignored the man as it continued its story.
"In this place, you are all granted infinite freedom. No matter what you do here, nobody will punish you. All the rules you're used to following do not exist here."
"…"
"And that's not all. We can't call that a chance by itself. All you no longer have any of the physical limits of the past."
"What…?"
"You all can now become infinitely strong depending on what you do, like heroes from a movie."
As the fairy looked at the confused people, its smile didn't disappear as it opened its mouth again.
"I will show you a quick demonstration, since I came to hasten the progress."
The fairy pointed its finger at the man who had shouted out first.
From the feeble and delicate finger, a light beam shot out and penetrated directly through the man's heart.
Puuuk
"Ku…Kuuuk."
"I don't like people who talk a lot."
At that moment, everyone realized that the new environment was not entirely favorable towards them.
"uuuuhp… uhphup."
"Very good. Shall we continue?"
Then, the fairy flew towards the man's corpse.
Something weird happened.
Above the man's body, a translucent and shining symbol the size of a hand appeared.
The fairy grabbed the symbol and spoke.
"This is a
The fairy, who disregarded the terrifying meaning of its words, casually looked around as it continued its speech.
"Let's see. This improves the strength of one's muscles. Who… should I give this to?"
Everyone hesitated.
If they acted out, they might get caught in the same situation as the corpse.
At that point, Hansoo raised his hand.
How much he liked the fairy was secondary.
One rune helped a tremendous amount in the beginning.
Plus, there was no risk involved.
There was no reason to not raise his hand.
The fairy looked at Hansoo and gave a content look.
"Very good. I like your determination. Put this on the top of your hand."
The rune was absorbed into his body.
From the outside, there was not much difference.
But the fairy looked at Hansoo with a smile.
"Isn't it amazing? These runes break the physical laws. Your muscles were only able to lift 117.1kg before, but it has been increased to 122.3kg."
"…"
As Hansoo gave a nonchalant face, the fairy felt a bit awkward and turned around to continue talking.
"The reaction was pretty bland. Anyways, there are a lot of different abilities one can raise, and there are a lot of runes to follow that. In those, there are special abilities that the science you played around with before cannot explain. Let's see… it'd be nice to show something one more time."
The fairy looked around.
Everyone got frightened and shriveled up from the fairy's expression of hunting for prey.
That expression was too accurate.
It wanted to kill another person as an experiment to get another rune.
The fairy shrugged its shoulders as it looked around.
"Let's stop. I like the number 100. Anyways, keep that in mind. There is nothing bad about any rune that raises any characteristic. If you want to be strong from now on, you need to collect a lot of runes. Your muscles won't improve no matter how many pushups you do."
At those words, everyone started to look around and slowly backed up.
If they were killed, a rune would come out and would strengthen someone else.
They could all imagine what would happen in the worst situation.
The fairy enjoyed the weird atmosphere as it smiled contently and opened its mouth.
"If you touch your right ear, you can see which runes you have. Humans seemed to like things in numbers, so we implemented this 15 years ago. You just need to know that the average human's stat is 10."
At these words, everyone started touching their ears.
[Kang Hansoo]
Strength: 11
Stamina: 9
'Strength was increased by 1.'
A simple and crappy configuration.
But everyone was like this at first.
It would be weird if normal people had mana.
As one hunted and collected runes, their mana, magic, physical defense and magic resistance would be added.
It didn't matter if the hunted were humans or beasts.
"Hmm… he would probably be around 17."
Hansoo mumbled, as he saw a muscular man in the distance.
A well-trained body.
At this point, he's a high ranker among these people.
11 and 17 were only different by about 1.5 times, but it was not that simple.
However, he would be in a superior situation in the beginning with that much strength.
It'd be a lot for a woman to have a 3 or 4.
The fairy smiled and spoke as it looked at the commotion.
"The starting line may be unfair… but where you used to live was like that too, right? Well, I will give you all a bonus, so don't be sad."
The fairy touched its butt as it spoke.
Everyone started touching their butts without thinking.
Something was there.
They saw what came out of their pockets, and their faces turned white.
A sharp dagger, which hadn't existed before they arrived, came out of each person's pocket.
Normally, this would have been very reassuring, but the thought of becoming prey for items and the fact that the person next to them also had a dagger was not pleasant at all
The fairy laughed as it watched,
"You'll at least need those to do something. Forget about the past and take the chance that was given to you. The tutorial I created will begin now, so good luck."
The fairy disappeared into a hole that had suddenly appeared.
As the fairy disappeared, people started to mumble.
"…A tutorial?"
Everybody was still tense from the words of a murderous being when a sound started from somewhere.
As everybody was on alert, they looked towards the origin of the noise.
Kyaaak!
Tiny green monsters with deformed looks appeared.
"…Goblins?"
As everyone recognized them from the movies, their faces twisted with fear.
The fairy had appeared and told them something.
It was a tutorial.
It seemed simple, but the words of the fairy could not be so simple.
There were more than 200 goblins
Although there were 100 people and the goblins were only half their size, it was impossible to stand still with a calm mind.
However, it seemed like the goblins had the same thoughts, as they only stared back at them fiercely but didn't approach them.
In this tense situation, somebody quietly spoke from the back.
"Don't irritate them, and slowly move backwards."
Everyone nodded at those words.
They all silently came to a consensus.
They saw it in the news.
No matter what you could do, always run away if the opponents had sharp objects in their hands.
They also had daggers, but who would want to fight sword to sword with those things?
However, Hansoo shook his head.
Those things were really evil-minded. How could they just throw in a few midgets and call it a tutorial?
"…Huh?"
As they walked back slowly, somebody stopped and moaned.
Somebody got frustrated and spoke out.
"What are you doing? Keep moving. We need to get away."
The man replied to those words.
"No… this is weird. Something is here. In mid-air."
"What?"
People started hurrying backwards at those words.
And then they shouted in frustration.
"Fuck! What is this? It's blocked!"
"Here too!"
People started hitting the wall as they shouted.
At that point, somebody pointed something out.
"Hey… this thing is slowly moving towards us."
"…What?"
People started leaning against the wall.
They all frowned.
The wall was slowly pushing them back.
Kiiiiiiik!
As they heard the cries from far away, they looked in that direction.
At that location, the goblins were also getting pushed towards them.
As the invisible wall kept pushing them, they grew frustrated and started hacking away at the void, but nothing happened.
Kaaaaaak!
"Fuck…"
As they saw the goblins staring at them, the people gripped their daggers more tightly.
At this point, they had to fight no matter what.
At that moment, somebody fell to the other side.
"Huh? What? How did you get there?"
"Uh… I don't know. It just happened to be over here?"
One person got through the clear wall.
And in the air where the man passed through, a number came up.
<49>
"…49?"
As people mumbled, somebody looked around and quickly ran towards that location.
The number changed.
<48>
At that point, everyone had realized the truth.
50 people could leave.
The remaining 50 had to fight with those things.
Suddenly, everyone started running towards the tiny gap.
"Get out of the fucking way!"
"I will go out!"
"Kyaaa!"
Hansoo shook his head at this scene.
If 100 people fought seriously, they could probably win.
Most might die, but at least 20 would survive.
But if this happened, the story changes.
In reality, as the goblins saw the people fighting with each other, their eyes shone and they started running towards the people.
When Hansoo had first come here, 40 of them had died to the goblins.
'First, clear up the situation. Then, move to the next stage.'
There were too many things to do.
As he made his decision, his whole body started wriggling around as his muscles tensed up.
Chapter 3: Tutorial (2)
All of the muscles in Hansoo's body started squirming around at a minuscule level.
His body, which he wasn't accustomed to due to the time gap, moved quickly according to Hansoo's will.
Hansoo, who had readied his body, slowly walked towards the goblins, who were crazily running towards him.
They were already trying so hard to get to him, so what was the point of him running?
It was important to conserve stamina in order to wield his dagger.
Hansoo deflected a goblin's swinging sword-arm.
Keeik?
Hansoo, who seemed as casual as someone going out on a stroll through the mountains, suddenly changed fiercely, while the goblin was flustered.
He released all the strength that he had built up.
All the runes were gone.
All the skills were also gone.
But the same strength, the same stamina, or the same perception had huge differences in effectiveness depending on how they were used.
The body was basically a tool of battle, and depending on the way the tool was used, the final outcomes would have differences like heaven and earth.
Hansoo rushed between the goblins and started slashing madly in all directions.
Kiiieeek!
A running goblin he slashed screamed in a beastly manner and dropped down onto the floor, rolling around.
In the spot where the goblin dropped, two things were left.
A crude Podao, which looked much more threatening than a dagger.
There was also a tiny rune.
Hansoo spread out his right hand, grabbed the Podao, and swung it fiercely as he grabbed the rune with his left hand at the time same.
At that moment, a part of Hansoo's body changed slightly.
'My luck is good.'
[Kang Hansoo] Strength: 11
Agility: 10.1
Stamina: 9
As the rune raised agility by 0.1, Hansoo's status menu changed.
Agility, which wasn't previously shown, appeared.
In a sense, one's strength is what made one faster, but agility was a little different.
The user's time twists and becomes 0.1 times faster, and their reaction speed becomes quicker, as well as the same movement becoming slightly faster.
As agility rises, the user starts to live in a different dimension.
Every rune stat other than strength and stamina, which were already present in humans, started at 10 due to the stats not normally being present in humans.
Hansoo moved his new, faster body without hesitation towards the incoming goblins and started to cut them into pieces.
Sometimes, a rune didn't come out. When one did, it was small, but since numbers were numbers, Hansoo's rune stats rose slowly but surely.
Of course, with his current status, no matter how weak goblins were, killing 200 on his own was a bit far-fetched.
The Podao was so feeble that two or three swings broke it, and Hansoo had to keep changing weapons as he fought the goblins.
Injuries rose as well.
The people who saw that stopped and stared at each other.
At this rate, they would all die.
Not from goblins, but from the hands of humans.
Also, they started to have feelings of greed.
It seemed like runes were very important.
But as one person ate it all, they started to feel anxious.
And they gained courage as they saw Hansoo, who only seemed to be a college student, fight so well.
From afar, his actions looked very sloppy.
The actions were not flashy, but rather only created due to him protecting himself, but as they saw the goblins falling to those slashes, the goblins seemed very weak.
"Fuck…eyy shit I don't know anymore!"
"Uwahhh!"
The people ground their teeth, but carefully approached Hansoo's back and started fighting.
Kiiiiek!
The goblins stared at the humans who were charging towards them with panicked looks, but then started fighting with loud roars.
And then chaos started.
"Ahhhhk!"
"Goddammit! Help me!"
They each held one dagger.
They knew they had to fight.
They knew they would get stronger if they fought.
The opponent wasn't that strong.
But even then, they were just ordinary people.
And the enemies were also armed with weapons, albeit they were a bit feeble, and had large amounts of killing intent as well.
A lot of injuries were occurring from all directions.
However, even in that chaotic situation, Hansoo continued to kill goblins as he absorbed runes and slowly walked forward.
Honestly, there was no need to rush and risk receiving a lot of injuries.
He could hide between the people and fight slowly, as if he were peeling an apple, and kill more leisurely.
But there was a reason why he rushed, despite receiving injuries.
'There is no time to dilly dally.'
Including this location, there were countless amounts of adventurers.
'There are probably over 10,000.'
The 100 people here was not everybody.
There are probably a few hundred of these locations just for Korea.
If the whole world was taken into consideration, there were many more.
However, everyone here was a new first year.
There were no adventurers from the previous years.
The fact that they didn't come here probably wasn't due to kindness towards the newbies.
This location would be protected for three months as the tutorial area.
If restrictions like this didn't exist, all the more experienced would come, kill everyone, and take their runes.
With only 1 year of experience, a person could kill 100 newbies very easily.
From one point of view, it seemed like the fairy was being benevolent, but Hansoo's thoughts were different.
'How do I say it? It was created to enjoy the chaotic fight between weaklings?'
It seemed like the protection was made because it would be boring if a strong person came and wiped out everybody.
Whatever the reason, this was a chance.
In 3 months, they would have to collide against people who had been here for 2 or 3 years.
With that in mind, they must become strong, fast.
Due to Hansoo flying around quickly in the front, the fight ended rather quickly.
As the battle ended and the tension was released, some people couldn't bear the fatigue and fell onto the floor.
'About 16 people died.'
This was a much better result than in the past.
If Hansoo wasn't here, at least 30 would've died.
While the 100 people fought 200 goblins, the number of goblins Hansoo killed by himself was at least 70.
The surrounding people tiredly stared at him.
As the people thought of Hansoo's mad actions of slashing in every direction with his Podao and dagger, they started slowly moving away from him, and the fairy appeared.
"Wow. The grade is really good here. Well, from this point onwards, you all should know how to survive."
'Fucking son of a mayfly.'
The people couldn't curse out loud, so they did it inwardly.
It was rather easy to realize who put up the goddamn wall.
"I will get rid of the wall now. From now, do it just like this. Fighting!"
As the fairy disappeared, people started mumbling.
Hansoo shook his head and then checked his stats.
[Kang Hansoo] Strength: 14.3
Agility: 10.9
Stamina: 10.1
Perception 11.2
'It's not bad'
Hansoo nodded his head.
As he expected, agility runes didn't come out easily.
And maybe due to the situation being a tutorial, skills didn't come out.
However, compared to the three goblins he had killed when he started off in the past, it was not that bad.
He even received perception runes, which increased his overall perception, so this start was pretty good.
'I even got something like this.'
Hansoo laughed as he saw the sword with a sharp edge.
This well-balanced and sharp Podao was one of the more useful items obtainable in the beginning.
It wasn't a great weapon, but compared to the ones that had lost their edges with a few swings, it was much better.
With the dagger attached inside and the Podao attached by his waist, his whole body had multiple scars, as he had rushed in order to end it fast.
Hansoo, who had finished his basic preparations, thought of the things that he needed to do at the moment.
'Firstly… I won't be able to meet them.'
He was a 1st year adventurer.
On the other hand, Keldian, Kangtae and Eres were 19 to 20 year adventurers.
Since they had started 20 years ahead of him, they were probably running far ahead.
So, Hansoo thought of the next thing.
'Well, telling them about the Abyss is rejected.'
The dimensional corrosion of the Abyss was sped up depending on how much the corroded dimension knew about the strength, intel, and skill of the Abyss.
It was like ink spreading in the water.
If intel about the Abyss were to spread, the invasion of the Abyss would start earlier.
'First, strengthening myself is of utmost importance.'
He was here in order to change the flow of water.
However, having the strength to change that flow of water was the start, and was of utmost importance.
And with that, Hansoo thought of his friends.
Eres, Kangtae and Keldian.
It was planned that they would all return together with him.
Unlike him, who had become strong by struggling intensively, each of their actions were close to those posted in a guidebook.
And their survival was because of their strength.
'How did they say they did it?'
They had told him in the past.
How they had gotten strong in the beginning.
Eres told him.
'Rejected.'
It didn't fit his personality, and more than anything, one needed to be at the level of Eres to do that.
Next was Keldian.
Then, Keldian had eaten all the runes and he quickly rushed away.
'In my view, Keldian might have provoked them a little.'
But Hansoo shook his head.
In the words of Eres and him, who had come to save humankind, doing that sort of thing was absurd.
Also, there was more bad than good in the long term if that were to happen.
If you kill somebody, a rune will appear, but it didn't mean that the person who took the rune would have the dead person's strength added to their own.
Runes didn't drop in large numbers.
In reality, the man who had died earlier had more than 20 runes together, if you combined his strength and stamina, but the only thing that was dropped was a single strength rune.
If you look at it from the point of society, coexistence was the answer. That was the reason why Eres, who had included everyone, was able to stay as a leader until the end.
More than anything else, if he were to think of his plans, killing a person to obtain a rune was forbidden.
It might be different if they were to kill others, though.
'How did Kangtae say he did it?'
'…This doesn't help either.'
His luck was too good.
Agility was one of the most useful stats out of the beginning stats.
The increase in reaction speed allowed one to easily dominate others.
And there should be a limit to how lucky one can be, killing a tutorial goblin and getting a regeneration rune.
The methods of those three did not fit him.
Actually, their methods were a bit lacking.
He needed a way to leap over their standards and rush forward with dominance.
Hansoo knew of such a way.
'Something like this existed.'
A long time ago, one of his comrades from the Final Brigade had told him.
The tutorial area, where 10,000 people were trapped for 3 months, contained a secret.
In this place, there was a hidden dungeon.
For a beginner, the difficulty was immense. So, attempting to complete the dungeon would only end in failure. However, just getting to the halfway point would allow one to have an incomparably immense head start.
His comrade, who had only gotten to the halfway mark after a long struggle, became strong enough to the point of entering the Final Brigade.
Becoming one of the Final Brigade meant being one of the top 100 strongest humans.
Because of that, the hidden dungeon was one of the most important locations in the tutorial area.
This world was not fit for mankind to survive, but one thing was clear.
Something that seemed close to impossible would grant a larger reward when completed.
'First, I must accomplish that.'
Hansoo set his primary goal.
Chapter 4: Tutorial (3)
'In that case… there is something that I need to solve first.'
There was a hidden piece.
If it did indeed exist, then it would be something that an evil god would have hidden, something that overpowered and theoretically unobtainable in the beginning.
From what he had heard, the difficulty of the final dungeon located in the tutorial area was too high for a beginner to clear.
The survivors of mankind were all geniuses, but no one had reached the end of the final dungeon.
In order to finish, Hansoo would have to collect many pieces.
These hidden pieces were hidden around the tutorial area.
To clear the final dungeon, he must monopolize every remaining hidden piece and become stronger.
'Let's see… the first hidden piece was said to be located in the nearest train station.'
The tutorial was split into two stages.
The first stage was one in which the first 100 people acted together.
For one week, the 100 people would stay in the designated area, and then for 3 months after that, the second stage commenced in which they would hunt in another designated area.
When those two stages were over, the protective area would be opened, and they would be able to meet with the people from previous years.
To his knowledge, there were two hidden pieces in the first stage of the tutorial.
After one week, those two hidden pieces would disappear. He needed to find them before the week was over.
Hansoo got up and dusted himself off.
'I'm heading to… Gangnam Station.'
The location of the first hidden piece was Gangnam Station.
By the time Hansoo started heading over there, a chaotic situation had already arisen.
'I knew this would happen.'
Hansoo clicked his tongue as he heard the screams from multiple directions.
"Why are you doing this!"
"Aaahk! We will go separately!"
"Go where! We need to group in order to survive!"
In the location where the battle ended, everyone was making an uproar.
'Their opinions probably differed.'
There were a lot of small fights here and there between the people who wanted to act by themselves and those who wanted to group up.
Normally, if their desires were that different, it would be normal to separate.
There would only be problems if you held onto somebody with a drastically different opinion.
However, if one side overwhelmingly didn't want the other side to go for some reason, a problem occurred.
Since there were over 100 people, there were obviously people who were more beautiful than normal.
For the same reason, there were also a few who got used to the new world more quickly.
"Ahh, seriously!"
Suddenly, a group of 3 males and 4 females dashed out and ran towards Hansoo's location.
"He….Hey, where are you going!"
'With their levels of beauty… there will definitely be problems.'
Maybe it was because they were at Gangnam Station and were brought here, but their appearances were above average.
One was seriously a league above everyone else.
Suddenly, one woman looked behind them and shouted:
"We will act separately! We are going to work with this person here!"
"…"
As Hansoo heard the frantic calls, he frowned.
"Hey! Hansoo! Why are you pretending to not know us? We're acquaintances!"
'Oh. Right.'
Hansoo nodded then, as if he just remembered.
Because everyone had died right off at the start, he hadn't remembered his college acquaintances.
There was no way he could remember them after 50 years.
He had forgotten already, but after this situation occurred, he started to remember them bit by bit.
'Oh yeah, we came with four guys and four girls to get closer to each other.'
From the other side, a thirty-something looking man ran towards them while breathing excessively and was startled after he saw Hansoo.
'That guy is…'
The man remembered.
Hansoo was the guy who advanced quickly as he crazily slashed apart the goblin-looking beasts.
He was so good at fighting that while the others were struggling with 2 to 3 of them, he alone killed dozens of them.
'Does he do some sort of sport…?'
The middle-aged guy, Taesung, kept contemplating.
He understood that Hansoo was strong.
'And he looks hurt too.'
But, as the fairy had told them before, no one was at an extremely high level yet.
As Hansoo saw the squirming Taesung, Hansoo clicked his tongue.
'This is why it's problematic.'
Normally, the people wouldn't even think of fighting.
The hype of the battle had not yet disappeared.
Their first injuries, their first encounters with violence, and the results gave them confidence, which could clearly be seen in their excited expressions.
The others were the same.
'It would be hard to use reason.'
There was really no reason to start fighting with each other right now.
The time in which Hansoo would become angry enough to fight was long gone.
There was no reason to meet this man or stay here any longer.
Hansoo turned and started walking away from Taesung, who was starting at him.
As Hansoo started to walk off, Taesung watched him bewilderingly.
"This bitch, leaving a person in front of him… Hey! Where are you going?!"
Then, Hansoo suddenly got curious and turned around to confront him.
What would this person say to him?
"Is there something you want to say?"
'Do I set my age as 76 or 201?'
He wondered if he should be formal or informal, but then decided to go with the easier route.
Due to Hansoo's words, Taesung looked shocked.
"What? This young bitch…"
'Yeah. What do I say?'
Hansoo's previous crazy fighting prowess scared Taesung, who did not want to make an excessive demand, but he would be filled with regret if he simply let Hansoo and the young people behind him walk away.
While Taesung was shocked, the man who was standing behind him spoke impatiently.
"We really aren't bad people either. My name is Giltae. Let's act together. It seems like you eight are young, so wouldn't it be better to work together? It seems that there will be a lot of times where strength is needed from now on."
Then, people who agreed with his words gathered behind him.
'No, it's not that they agree.'
From the atmosphere, it seemed that they knew each other.
Hansoo stared at the man who had talked to him, as he seemed like the leader.
'Hmm, his eyes…'
There were a lot of people like this.
Those who got used to things way too quickly.
No, it would be more fitting to say that they were restricted in the world they had used to live in.
And now, since those restrictions were gone, they were like fish swimming in water.
Hansoo thought for a moment, choosing between the dying wishes of Eres and Keldian, and then made a decision.
'Eres, you are saving a lot of people right now. I will let them go, once.'
Honestly, pulling out the roots that hadn't done anything yet was not in his character.
Even then, his stats were still pretty average.
He needed to get out, but if he killed everyone here and left, the time for hidden pieces would be rather limited.
Hansoo replied abruptly.
"Dismissed."
Having a lot of people wasn't bad, since it made hunting much easier.
However, people who were like vultures, trying to gobble up everything they can, were bound to make trouble.
Hansoo, who had finished talking, searched around the goblin corpses and bound two more Podaos to his waist, and then started to walk away.
The remaining friends looked at each other and then followed behind him.
"This son of a bitch…"
Taesung, who had been watching Hansoo, gritted his teeth and stepped forward, but Giltae blocked his path.
"…"
As Taesung watched his elder brother Giltae's actions with a weird look, Giltae opened his mouth.
"This isn't the time to be fighting with them. They… can be dealt with after everything is organized. We must first get this place in order."
Giltae looked around at the 70 or so people remaining.
The current situation was already chaotic.
A strange place with strange beasts.
And that damnable fairy, too.
Since it was already chaotic, keeping those who would create trouble would only make it hard on him to control them.
'First, set the atmosphere here.'
From one point of view, this chaotic period was a chance.
Giltae stared intensely at the location where the group had disappeared for a while, and then stomped his way into the crowd.
............
Taesoon, one of the group of friends, stared at Hansoo, who was walking in front of him raggedly, with a complicated look.
'I'm not sure if this was the right move.'
But Taesoon shook his head.
If they stayed in there, a real division would've occurred.
Humans were scarier than goblins.
Besides, being next to Hansoo made him feel safer.
Logically, it didn't make sense that being next to one person felt safer than being next to seventy, but that's how it was.
'Anyways…'
Taesoon knew that this guy was peculiar.
Starting all the way back from orientation at the college, Hansoo had been in a corner, dazed.
As if he was thinking of something else.
He had also said that he was an orphan.
And from that, Hansoo seemed like a weak target.
The reason why Taesoon had brought him today was because if there was somebody lesser than him around, Taesoon would stand out more.
'Tsk.'
But Taesoon didn't realize that Hansoo was like that.
As Taesoon remembered Hansoo fighting manically in the front, he watched Mihee, the beauty of the group, with a face full of regret, as she was staring at Hansoo. He then cleared his throat and spoke:
"Hey, Hansoo! Do you really not remember us?"
At those words, Hansoo looked at Taesoon, and then spoke:
"I think I got amnesia when we got here. I don't really remember much."
"Hey, why do you talk like an old man?"
"…Does it show that much?"
Mihee smiled softly at those words.
Hansoo stared at her.
The other three girls weren't bad, but she had a beauty that stood out.
At that level, living life was pretty easy.
'…But.'
In the Otherworld, beauty was a double-edged sword.
If you had the confidence to use it well, it became a weapon, but if you aren't strong enough, then you would invite all sorts of crooks.
'Well, she'll figure it out by herself.'
Hansoo ceased his thoughts and kept moving.
Mihee stared at Hansoo and spoke cautiously:
"Where are you going right now?"
Hansoo had been walking with a purpose from the beginning, as if he knew exactly where he wanted to go.
Hansoo gave a short reply.
"Inside Gangnam Train Station."
"Why there?"
Hansoo pondered for a moment.
'If I travel alone, I don't need to explain all these things, but this is rather annoying.'
However, since he decided to keep Eres's words in mind as much as possible, he gave a curt reply.
"I'm getting a feeling."
"… A feeling?"
"Yeah. It seems that with the amnesia, I seem to have gained psychic powers. I'm getting a feeling that I must go to the train station."
It was too annoying to explain every single thing, and they would probably believe him if he said that he gained psychic powers.
'Well, even fairies exist, so if I say that I have psychic powers, they will somewhat understand.'
Technically, he didn't really lie either.
If one was extremely lucky, they could get a rune with something called the 'Sixth Sense'.
Hansoo, who had organized things simply, continued to walk forward while the others looked at him weirdly.
His actions had been weird from the beginning, but psychic powers?
"…Is it ok for us to follow that guy?"
Jisun, one of the girls standing behind Mihee, softly whispered to her boyfriend, Gangtae.
This couldn't escape Hansoo's enhanced hearing.
Hansoo smirked as he spoke:
"You really don't have to follow me. I'm the type that respects personal preferences."
"…"
Hansoo, who headed forward without hesitation, went down the steps to the twelfth exit that came into view.
The group made bitter expressions before following after Hansoo.
Honestly, the things humans could do to them were much more terrifying than whatever a beast would do, and what the fairies were capable of was even more terrifying.
'It'd be nice if he really had psychic powers.'
Taesoon, who was mumbling inwardly, went down to the train station and then spoke to Hansoo:
"Ah! Are you preparing a place to live?"
Hansoo nodded at those words.
Suddenly, Hansoo slashed his Podao downwards.
Kuuuaaaaak
"Unfortunately, there are some friends already living down here."
1. In Korea the way of speaking changes in regard to the speaker's age and his seniority towards the person he's speaking with.
Chapter 5 – Gangnam Station (1)
Kaaak!
A beastly sound was heard from below as green blood spluttered out.
Taesoon who had seen this was scared out of his wits.
"What is it!"
'Green Worm'
This place looked like Gangnam Train Station but it was not anymore.
It copied the looks of the Gangnam Train Station but one could look at it as a dungeon.
And Green Worms were one of the most widely spread mobs of the Tutorial area.
They don't like sunlight so they stay underground and they come out after feeling the vibrations above ground.
If someone were to be bitten by that somewhat lacking mouth, chunks of flesh getting ripped off was a given.
'Well, they still give runes.'
From one point of view, it is very dangerous.
If you get bitten once and fall down you will die without being able to do anything.
But there was an easy way to deal with these guys.
Hansoo ruthlessly hacked down on the heads as he spoke:
"If you aren't confident then walk on the unbroken granite. If you see somewhere that's broken and earth is exposed, stab it with your sword. Oh and be careful of your hand when you stab."
Right below the granite was soil, confirming that this place just copied the looks of Gangnam Train Station.
"… How do you know all of this?"
As Taesoon asked with a suspicious look, Hansoo replied very simply.
"Psychic powers."
"…"
At those words the seven who had been eyeing Hansoo with a terrified face carefully walked on the granite as they stabbed the areas with exposed soil.
Kiiieeeeek!
Hansoo shook his head at the way they stabbed the earth ruthlessly.
'Four of them are useful. Three aren't quite there yet.'
Surprisingly the females were leading.
Mihee and Jisun were stabbing the earth with clenched teeth and Taesoon and Jisun's boyfriend were also stabbing the earth zealously.
But the remaining three were perhaps afraid of the green worms who came out screaming, they were just watching quietly from the back.
Hansoo didn't really care about those three.
There was no reason to get upset because they didn't join in on the fight. Because the work will eventually fall onto him anyway.
Soon there were tiny runes shining everywhere.
Hansoo was picking the runes that came out from his killings then turned around and asked with a weird look:
"…Why aren't you picking them up?"
Then Taesoon laughed awkwardly.
"No, It's nothing much but… isn't it better for you to take them all? Even in games we do something where we give everything to one person."
Everyone nodded a little bit.
Just because someone assimilated runes, it didn't mean they would become strong like superman.
But if at the moment they were to get caught by those beastly things and get tetanus or something then they would just die.
If they gave all these runes to Hansoo and his protection offers safety, it's a better option.
Hansoo shook his head at those words.
"The things you kill, you take."
This was not his thoughts.
If they were going to become enemies from the start it wouldn't really matter but if they are going to travel together they at least needed some rules.
And this was the most basic rule that they followed in order to stay together for decades when roaming around the abyss.
'As I expected due to it being the start…'
Thinking that they will protect you because they eat the runes is a very flawed idea.
Why would they since we're friends. Thoughts like if i'm this nice to them they will reward me with something.
When a situation where one's life is on the line comes along, a relationship built on each other's likes disappear like bubbles.
So far reality is still in check but soon after they will realize it.
A situation where one's life is in danger isn't far off in this place.
In conclusion the only thing you can trust is your own ability.
If you are useless you will get thrown off immediately.
They will realize it eventually and once they do they will zealously go for runes and become red eyed.
The above rule was created because of that.
'I'm not their babysitter, they've got to handle things themselves.'
At that moment Taesoon mumbled softly in the corner.
"Hey look over here. There's a special rune here."
At those words everyone gathered around.
Everyone saw it for the first time but from instinct they knew what use this rune had.
"If one takes this then they can use skills huh."
Taesoon mumbled as he stole glances at Hansoo.
The object gives rise to the desire.
Before, Hansoo coolly said that they should distribute the runes but if his eyes turn at the sight of these new runes and he says that he will take it, Taesoon had no way of stopping him.
"Can I really take this?"
Then Hansoo nodded his head.
Hansoo even knew the identity of that rune.
'It's a pretty good rune at the start'
A rune that made your skin hard and increased regeneration.
A rune which increases both defense and regeneration in the beginning where survival is important.
And that rune was almost like a passive where learning had no restrictions and didn't take mana.
You get more gluttonous but for the benefit you get, it's worth it.
Food can be stolen once you get stronger and won't be a problem.
But Hansoo shook his head.
'I cannot learn skills freely.'
Usually one learned a few tens of skills.
It's not erasable but there isn't really anything you need to give up to learn the skill.
The strength of the skill changes according to proficiency and rank but since there's no risk of learning there's no harm in learning it.
Someone with a good sense and a lot of mana sometimes has over a hundred and Keldian had over a thousand.
And since he was able to use all those skills properly he was one of the strongest four.
Kangtae was the strongest but if they actually fought Keldian was not a joke either.
But he could not be like that.
A nickname given by Eres after seeing his peculiar characteristic.
A characteristic that allowed him to catch up to Kangtae, Keldian, Eres and stand shoulder to shoulder with them despite starting 20 years late.
And the characteristic that was the deciding factor that made the others send him to the past instead of themselves.
............
The time he realized his characteristics was when he first learned a skill.
The first skill he learned was
But as soon as the rune was implemented to his body he knew he made a mistake which could not be changed.
<…the amount of skills I can learn is exactly seven.>
To be specific the amount of runes that was allowed for him was seven.
Eres always lamented.
The limit of seven was a huge disadvantage.
But more so than that there's a huge advantage to it.
The speed at which the proficiency of the skill rises is surprisingly fast.
At an incredible speed.
And the skill even breaks the limit and keeps on evolving afterwards.
The skill he learned, Dororo Lizard's Essence which basically just gave fast regeneration evolved to the point where it was comparable to his immortal technique he learned.
Eventually the Dororo Lizard's Essence was like that.
The scrubby skills which he learned as a final resort in order to survive eventually strengthened as he struggled.
In the abyss where a strong skill was important, this was a talent of blessing.
And for that Eres firmly told him before he came back to the fast.
Make sure to carefully select before deciding on the seven skills.
And he was thinking of doing that if all went according to his plans.
'According to my plans… there's nothing before exiting the tutorial area.'
"Then I'm going to learn it?"
The surrounding friends stared jealously at Taesoon who was very happy.
And soon when Taesoon absorbed the rune a change occurred.
Wriggle
Taesoon's skin temporarily showed a bit of green then returned.
There wasn't much change but Taesoon knew the second he learned what kind of change happened to his body.
The tired body started to have miniscule amounts of vitality flowing into it and the skin which had been grazed by the teeth of the green worm started to heal.
And a newly appeared stat.
'A stat called physical resistance appeared'
Taesoon touched his ears.
[Park Taesoon] Strength: 11.1
Agility: 10.1
Stamina: 12.5(+1.5
perception:10.3
Physical Resistance: 10.7(+0.7
-Ekrol Troll Tribe's Essence (Proficiency 1.0%)
'Good'
The proficiency was only at 1% but quite a lot of stats went up
Dumbass, giving me something like this.
If it was him he would never have given it.
Hierarchy should be taken advantage of when it is applicable.
'I will catch up to you'
Taesoon, who had counted the number of runes, watched Hansoo with a confident smile.
While Taesoon was doing that Hansoo checked his stats.
[Kang Hansoo] Strength: 15.3
Agility: 12.1
Stamina: 12.1
Perception:13.2
'It's not bad.'
The level where it was not bad but rather it was extremely fast-paced compared to the past.
Hansoo shook his head as he continued forward.
But at that moment Taesoon came next to Hansoo as he spoke:
"It'll be dangerous from now on so let's go together."
And as Hansoo saw Taesoon steal a glance at Mihee he shook his head.
'…There's no way that he's seeing me as a competitor.'
Actually this much was cute.
In the future one won't know how it will change.
'Whatever happens it isn't bad.'
Even if they split the runes the speed was fast so the rate at which the runes increased was faster compared to when he hunted alone.
He was worried that Taesoon might be in the way but he was at least working enough for one person.
With the two as the lead, the eight kept on going forwards.
Thankfully a little bit of light came through half broken down roofs so there wasn't much issue in going forward.
Though it was a little hard to see.
Kuaduduk
Maybe it was because they got greedy after seeing a skill, everyone was greedily slashing down upon green worms but they could still not compare to Taesoon and Hansoo's speed.
'Anyways… that guy doesn't even have a skill but he's so much faster than me.'
Taesoon looked at Hansoo with a slightly jealous look.
Due to the new skill he could dash in with a little less fear.
That was the reason why his hunting speed rose.
But that guy ruthlessly dove between green worms as if he was invincible and slashed down on heads.
'…No. I will win.'
Taesoon, who could not accept that a guy who was quietly stuck in a corner was much better than him, was slashing down on green worms even more zealously than before as he advanced slowly.
Mihee cautiously trailed behind and asked Hansoo.
"…But why are we going downwards?"
Hansoo replied to those words:
"To ride the subway."
"…The subway?"
As Taesoon looked at the collapsing train station with no electricity, he looked at Hansoo with suspicion.
Chapter 6 – Gangnam Station (2)
Hansoo thought of the words that Minchul, who was part of the final brigade, had told him.
He asked because it was so spontaneous.
How did you know about it?
And then Minchul grinded his teeth.
It seemed like a simple suggestion but there was a problem.
This train leaves after one day.
And that's why it was a hidden piece that needed to be solved by today.
Just falling into a weird place was enough to shock somebody but there will not likely be someone who will crawl into the third floor of a monster-filled cave.
But just getting to the Final Brigade meant that you were an abnormal person and there were about four people who knew about this and they all got something different.
But they all received artifacts.
And they were all very useful during the beginning.
'Let's see what comes out'
Eventually Hansoo's group had their eyes on the entrance that led further down.
Mihee mumbled inwardly.
'This isn't… this isn't Gangnam Station.'
Never had she heard of this entrance while travelling back and forth through Gangnam Station tens of times.
"Are you really going in?"
When Mihee asked with an anxious look as she looked at the entrance which permeated a creepier aura, Hansoo merely shrugged.
"I don't know either. I'm just going by how I feel. By the way anybody can leave or stop following whenever they want to."
If one thought about it there was not really a reason to follow him down.
And there was plenty of game around here too.
Since there were many green worms left.
"I'm going in."
Taesoon said confidently first.
And Mihee, who was contemplating what to do, said while biting down hard.
"I'm going in too."
'… She must be feeling pressured.'
Hansoo nodded his head.
She probably understood the situation before.
Someone like her is in a more dangerous situation than others.
Right now, her face was not a blessing but a curse.
If she wasn't going to slash her face she needed get stronger.
'Would it be enough even if she slashed her face?'
Hansoo shook his head after seeing Mihee's body which was almost about to burst.
Jisun and Gangtae, who were a couple, spoke after staring at each other.
"We will stay here. We can just hunt here."
Hansoo nodded his head.
That was not a bad plan at all.
It's a good choice to raise your stats while the people higher up are bickering back and forth.
And one of the three people who were fighting on a small scale, Sangjin who was following from behind with a scared expression, opened his mouth as well.
"I will go down too"
Everyone made a surprised face at those words but Sangjin just bit his lips and didn't say anything.
And with that it was decided that four will stay and three will go down.
Hansoo ruthlessly moved his body downwards.
............
'He said… it'll be here when I come down.'
Hansoo, who had come down to the second floor, looked around.
Before coming here he had heard everyone's individual tutorial area stories.
They were old stories but due to it being their first impactful experience, everyone remembered it to an extent.
'The results… were all different'
The mobs and landscape in the tutorial area comprise of thousands of different kinds and what was in here was going to be random.
But they all had something in common.
'As I thought, it exists.'
On the second floor of the train station, a convenience store was always placed there.
As if they were rewarding you.
"Wahhh!"
Mihee shouted as she approached the store.
The lights were off but there were plenty of goods including fresh water inside.
Mihee, Taesoon and Sangjin went in and started to collect some necessities.
"There's even cigarettes"
What each took were different.
Taesoon took a few kitchen knives that looked like they could be used as a weapon then found a belt like object to hold them. Mihee blushed as she gathered a few goods like sanitation pads cautiously in the corner.
Hansoo, who was looking at that, went into one of the corners of the store.
'It's closer to a market than a convenience store…'
Hansoo nodded as he saw pots to bunsen burners and even portable burners.
As Mihee saw Hansoo who was getting ready to boil something in the corner, she asked with a strange look.
"Anyways, why did you bring those?"
Mihee looked at a pouch in Hansoo's hands with a puckery face.
Hansoo had cut the goblin leather into a suitable size then brought the blood of the green worm within it.
Hansoo didn't reply to those words and started to weigh the items on the scale meant for mail.
'It's been innovated with extreme detail. Anyways it was 800g of green worm blood and 225g of goblin leather.'
Hansoo who had weighed everything with extreme detail, poured the blood in one pot and then ripped up the goblin leather, put it in the same pot and proceeded to boil it.
Soon, when the blood started to boil, something fascinating happened.
The goblin leather started to melt.
'Good.'
Green worms, when goblins invaded, bit off the goblins and then sprayed blood from an injury in its mouth to melt down the leather.
And goblins, to retaliate, evolved to counter this.
If the blood of the green worm was to touch their leather, it would become poisonous.
'The two species probably lived in the same area for a long time.'
Whatever happened, the poison made this way showed a powerful might in the beginning.
Hansoo started to carefully smear the dark red liquid onto the blade.
And Taesoon, Sangjin and Mihee who had gathered around watched as if it was fascinating.
"What is he making?"
Taesoon made a slightly suspicious face as he spoke.
And Hansoo replied very simply:
"It's poison."
"How do you know the method…"
"Psychic powers, the knowledge is springing up in my head."
"…"
'Seriously, I thought my head was going to explode while memorizing these.'
Hansoo shook his head as he thought of Keldian and the alchemist, Rahiman, who had grilled him.
Hansoo's magic stat was very high but just because the magic stat rose did not mean intellect rose.
Only that the power of the skill increased.
Hansoo's information that he had painstakingly learned was called
Since even though getting items was important, creating and enhancing them was also of great importance.
In the earlier years, there were clans or magi who researched these professionally.
Normally a magi like Keldian learned and produced these but the other three in the group of the last four surviving people, those other than Keldian, went through tons of stress in order to memorize these.
'Though only I survived in the end…'
Hansoo, who was reminiscing the old days, remembered Keldian's words.
Keldian firmly told him while handing down the combination methods.
Hansoo, who had thought up to this point, stole a glance at the three who were watching fervently but shook his head.
They won't know even if they see.
Since if the correct ratio wasn't known and the heating time was not done perfectly then it would be useless.
Hansoo emptied a nearby shampoo container, filled it with the liquid he created, then applied it to his sword by squeezing the container.
"Is there a possibility that we can use that too?"
Hansoo nodded as Mihee carefully asked.
"Of course."
And then everyone's faces brightened up.
If Hansoo didn't follow up with some more words.
"One application costs either a ½ strength or stamina rune."
"…Isn't that a bit too petty?"
Taesoon made an annoyed expression.
Hansoo shrugged his shoulders.
"I could just give it to you if I wanted."
"…"
"But if you look at it on the long term, it doesn't seem like a good choice."
Mihee nodded after thinking about it for a moment.
A one-way relationship will eventually get ruined.
And Hansoo seemed like a good person to know for long term, or at least he did so far.
"I will give the rune to you later. Let me put it on first."
Hansoo nodded at those words0
"What about you guys?"
Sangjin and Taesoon nodded eventually without a choice.
'Since we don't have to give him anything if it isn't that good. Or just not use it.'
The two thought as they presented their swords.
"Careful when you put it on, since there will be severe pain if it gets on your fingers."
And at those words the people who were squeezing the shampoo bottles applied the poison carefully.
Hansoo added something whilst staring into the giant bag latched onto their backs.
"If you walk around outside with such a big bag then you will realise why a lure is effective in fishing."
"…"
"If you want to complete it safely then do it like this. You can't fight with that on anyways."
Hansoo gathered a bunch of things then went into a corner where light didn't reach, digged a hole then buried it.
Since they had enhanced bodies and swords, digging in the ground was very swift.
Taesoon and Sangjin, who had seen this, started to gather every food item and started to put them into a large bag.
Then Hansoo shook his head as he saw this.
"If those all disappear, the guys who come here later will chase us with their lives. Leave some."
"…"
The two who looked at Hansoo with a dissatisfied face, started to gather necessities first.
Mihee was checking out Hansoo thoroughly from afar.
'…I thought he was only quiet.'
He wasn't only good at fighting.
Every single action was extremely reliable.
Like a professional survivalist.
'….Won't a psychic power like that appear for me as well?'
It was weird that he had used the excuse of psychic powers since the beginning but in a world where monsters and creatures exist something like psychic powers seemed possible.
Mihee shook her head after looking at Hansoo in a strange way.
She was quick to catch on ever since she was small.
There were countless millions of people who had gone missing but not one had come back.
Which meant it was likely that they were going to spend eternity in this place.
And for that she had to adapt to this place fast.
'I… definitely don't want to die'
No, maybe dying was a better alternative in some situations.
'If nothing works…'
This wasn't the time to look for a man to protect her but a final method was always important.
Mihee looked at Hansoo with a strange look then followed Hansoo, who had gotten out of his seat and proceeded to go deeper into the station, while clenching her teeth.
.........
Taesoon kept on asking Hansoo as he saw him walk through the darkness:
"Is there a way for us to get that psychic power too?"
At those words Mihee, who had been staring at Hansoo, and even Sangjin, who had been following quietly, listened in.
Hansoo nodded at Taesoon's words.
"Maybe."
"Really?"
Hansoo's knowledge of his own future was not due to psychic powers but a few people who come in the otherworld show special skills that they didn't have in the real world.
This was called
Keldian gave an explanation about traits in this way:
People who had a very good personal trait showed a faster rate of growth than others if they survived the start.
His case was a trait called Seven Stars.
A large variety of traits existed and very dangerous traits existed among those as well.
'I need to find those guys though.'
Taesoon asked with a weird face at Hansoo:
"Why did you get quieter all of a sudden?"
He didn't really talk about but he talked even less now.
Hansoo replied very simply:
"There aren't many things to talk about."
Hansoo thought of the annihilation of mankind as he answered.
Everyone was at a dried up state without a moment to talk for the last 5 years.
As there were opponents such as the tribes of abyss who seemed to flood them like water, hope had started to slowly disappear.
And thanks to that a person to talk to rapidly decreased.
"How could he…"
Taesoon clicked his tongue.
'Was he a loner during high school? Is that why he learned martial arts?'
Well whatever happens as long as there's possibility for him.
Taesoon, who had always been in the center of the crowd, and who was now in a the second man's position wasn't really used to it.
And it wasn't pleasing either.
'A guy like him developed psychic abilities and can do that much, if it appeared on me I'd shine even more.'
And when that happens he will become the center of the crowd again.
'Since that guy Hansoo is useful, I should keep him by my side.'
Taesoon walked forward with hopeful thoughts.
Chapter 7: Gangnam Station (3)
"Wait a moment!"
"What is it?"
Taesoon, who was already annoyed due to Hansoo's slow movement while he checked the walls and the ground carefully, replied bluntly.
Hansoo ignored Taesoon and searched the surrounding ground.
Monsters are living beings too.
They were dragged along with them into this world but their life habits or markings existed.
As Hansoo checked the ground he found a mark that looked like something had been dragged across the floor.
In the tutorial area, the monsters that drag their body across the floor are 17 kinds.
Plus if you take into account the mucus then it is reduced to three kinds.
It isn't the Black Snail. A unique sour smell was not in the air and the markings are only on the ground. If it was the black snail you would see the mucus on the walls as well.
It isn't Chopped Up Zombies either. Because then the markings on the ground would be half mucus and half intestines.
Then only one choice remains.
'Land Mermaid?'
Land Mermaid.
This is actually more like a nickname.
Their upper body was a unique shaped human and their lower body was like a grub, from one angle it would look like a mermaid that had been dropped onto the land.
To drag their heavy lower body across the floor with their hands, the strength of their hands was very developed and the paralyzing poison that came out of their lower body was dangerous.
Their lower body was heavy and the speed of dragging themselves across the floor was only slightly faster than walking but if you aren't ready and get shot by the paralysis poison, you will witness the sight of your body getting ripped apart by these guys.
Hansoo made an unsightly face after seeing the overall state.
'This is a tutorial area with a high difficulty'
If every tutorial area's monsters were different then their difficulties were different as well.
It's not an opponent that you cannot win against but it was indeed a problem to deal with.
The Goblin and the Green Worm are similar in terms of physical ability and aren't that bad when dealing face to face but the consequences could be dire if you don't know about them.
And because it's the the first day newbie adventurers not knowing was definite.
When he had first come here, the tutorial stage ended before he came to the train station so he didn't know but it was set up with rather troublesome mobs.
'I guess I need a little more preparation.'
Hansoo stopped and then returned back to the convenience store.
The three who had been following mumbled quietly.
"…It is that psychic power again."
"You guys come and help too."
Hansoo returned, gathered all the Soju (Korean Alcoholic Beverage), flipped them upside down and started to empty them.
Gluglugluglug
'They did say it would be here…. but why is something like this here.'
He did heard it from the team he made the plans with but after seeing the paint thinner in the corner Hansoo smirked and laughed. (*TL: Paint Thinner is Extremely Flammable and EXPLOSIVE)
After he emptied the Soju bottles, he filled them with the paint thinner.
'Is there no diesel around.'
Hansoo just replaced it with a cheaper version and poured some of the sesame oil in the corner then plugged the top with tissue.
"…Where did you learn how to make a molotov cocktail?"
"If you live in Korea you should at least know this much. We need to make as much as available."
When the four made it together, it was done quickly.
Hansoo got the lighters from the side of the counter, handed them one each then gathered the molotovs in two backpacks and another bag and talked to the three.
"One will throw the molotov and the three will stand in the front. The Rune displacement will be less for the person on the back who is on the safer location. Anybody up for it?"
Taesoon, who heard that the rune displacement was low, stood without words but Sangjin and Mihee raised their hands slowly.
Hansoo looked at the two and spoke.
"Get into a consensus, as to who will throw."
Sangjin knitted his brows for a moment but since he couldn't bicker with the beauty he was about to lower his hand.
When Mihee was about to make a sigh of relief Hansoo threw out another word as a bonus.
"As a reminder, it will become much more dangerous from now on. Instead of saying let's trade during the fight decide carefully now."
At those words Sangjin, who was about to lower his hands, stopped and Mihee looked at Hansoo with a resentful face.
Mihee looked at Sangjin with a desperate face but when Sangjin had no looks of backing down she just gave up.
"Let's take turns with it."
"…Alright."
Sangjin thought for a moment but since he didn't want to bicker around he agreed with those terms.
'Should I just go up…'
Sangjin pondered for a moment after hearing that it was dangerous but then shook his head.
It felt like if you followed Hansoo something amazing will come out. He also wanted to be part of that.
'It seems like he shares it fairly so…'
If he lent a hand, would they throw him out.
He did say it was dangerous but he could easily run from the molotov throwing position in case of danger.
Sangjin gulped his saliva then slowly headed into the darkness.
.........
Kuduk
"Uaaak! Throw it! Throw it this way!"
Taesoon screamed as he saw the monster crawling towards him over the stones.
Hansoo's poison was very strong.
Even if they were scratched they would still turn and twist around their bodies.
It definitely was worth paying runes for it.
But the problem sprang out somewhere else.
Whilst fighting joyfully, a paralysis poison sketched by his leg.
Taesoon had already been shot in one of his legs so his movements were not completely free.
'Goddamit! I fell for it even though I knew about it!'
Even though Hansoo had gone out to the front and showed how they spat it out but since the look of them crawling over the ground was funny, he was caught off guard.
Thankfully the location he got shot didn't melt or anything but the mobs who spread out their long arms and approached in strides were fear itself.
Them, who had looked slow before, are now almost like grim reapers.
"uaaaah…"
Sangjin who had been fumbling around, barely lit the fire then threw it towards the location where the Land Mermaids were gathering.
Chuuuung!
As the molotov exploded, pieces of flame scattered everywhere.
Keeeeeeeek!
As their skin dried up, they twisted their bodies as if it was painful.
Kudududuk
And at that moment Hansoo ran around between the Land Mermaids and smashed the heads.
Since the edge was dulled it didn't cut well but when the Podao was swingged with enhanced strength, it had no problem getting through the skin and muscle.
One strike One kill.
Honestly it didn't matter if they didn't die in one strike.
The poison on the blade stimulated their nerves and gave them insane amounts of pain.
The Land Mermaids still shot out paralysis poison and stretched out their arms but Hansoo dodged most of it and the rest he deflected with a piece of goblin leather.
'Does that guy have eyes on the back of his head?'
Taesoon spun his tongue around as he looked at Hansoo.
As Hansoo finished them off and all the enemies disappeared they finally sat on the ground as if the tension was released.
"Huuah… Huaahhh"
"Rest a while then bring the runes."
Taesoon walked towards Hansoo who was distributing the runes though he was tired.
At first he was suspicious that he would cheat them but as he perfectly distributed them he stopped worrying.
As if he was looking at the whole warfield the whole time, he knew exactly how many one killed and how much one contributed.
'Goddamit, it isn't much.'
After getting shot by the paralysis shot, he fought while dragging his foot so the amount of runes he acquired was much less in comparison to the floor above.
'Fuck… the physical difference between us is increasing.'
The one who killed takes the runes.
But the combination of the kills of the three was not even a quarter of what Hansoo killed.
And thanks to that the speed at which he hunted increased more and more.
As Hansoo's physical stats rose, it was like he cast off iron chains and was flying around.
"Eey, fucktard!"
When Taesoon felt something boiling up from this chest, he looked at Sangjin and then shouted at him in anger.
Sangjin couldn't even throw a molotov properly because he got scared by a Land Mermaid that was walking towards him.
Even though he was a friend since he couldn't even do that properly while they fought with their lives on the line, Taesoon's anger exploded.
"Uuuu…"
As Sangjin made a sorry expression Hansoo spoke while looking at Sangjin.
"Come and take the runes. The recovery will be faster after you raise the stamina"
And after Hansoo concluded his words, he started to cut the belly of the Land Mermaids.
'Let's see. If you open the area between their rear end and the belly button… it's here.'
Hansoo took out the paralysis poison sac from between the slit of the stomach, carefully shrouded with goblin leather then started to carefully squeeze it out as if he was making medicine and poured it into an empty shampoo container he brought.
Though it wasn't useful against the Land Mermaids it was definitely useful against the life forms of the third floor.
Taesoon then looked at his and Sangjin's runes by Hansoo's side.
'If I take those runes too… I can somewhat catch up.'
Taesoon's eyes shone as he screamed and marched on.
"Why would you give it to a bitch like him! It's better for me to take it and fight!"
A sword stopped his way when he stomped towards the runes in anger.
"…Are you really going to be like this."
"The distribution must be fair. You're not supposed to touch the food line." (*TL: Food line = a way for someone to survive)
At those words Sangjin, who had been trembling in the back, slowly came to the front and took the runes that were considered his.
Mihee, who was sighing, asked Hansoo cautiously.
"Isn't it annoying or anything?"
Though they were fighting zealously but to Hansoo it was probably frustrating to no end but he did not get angry a single time and kept on heading down steadily.
Hansoo merely shrugged his shoulders.
"If it's this much it could be considered gentlemanly."
Normal College students. They didn't even go to the military.
Half were female.
And they were dragged here with no form of preparation.
Will it make sense to fight like a special forces warrior on the first day here against monsters who want to rip them apart.
To those who were living a normal life before, that was a normal reaction.
If it wasn't such a dire situation like this they would have never thought of holding a sword.
'Well I was crazy in the past so…'
Even if he knew that he could only learn 7 skills he would have still learned Dororo Lizard's Essence.
Because he was not in a situation where he could afford to not learn it.
The days where he ran around barely holding onto his lifeline after learning a Lizard Essence were still remembered by him.
Hansoo, who had finished his thoughts, looked at the three in front of him.
Hansoo didn't have any plans about saying anything about things they couldn't do.
As he lived through the abyss life, he found out that the ones that latched onto your ankles in the end were not the ones who were scared or weak near the beginning.
Rather it was the ones that were fearless and strong that made problems.
'It doesn't matter if they can't do it"
As long as they have a limit to what they can't do.
"You aren't abandoning us, right?"
Mihee watched Hansoo with teary eyes and at those words Sangjin and Taesoon both jerked.
Because they felt it through their body.
The only reason they can remain friends and talk leisurely like this was due to Hansoo.
Then Hansoo smirked.
'It seems like they've got the wrong idea.'
He never took them in so what would he be abandoning?
"You three are doing well enough so don't worry. Since we've rested somewhat let's continue forward."
These were not empty words, the three were not at the level of grabbing onto ankles.
Even if Hansoo fought alone the speed would've been around the same. From another point of view he was able to move about more freely because the three took away some of the attention.
If the number of monsters were limited it would be different. The only thing that they weren't short of were monsters and the important thing was how many runes you took in the limited time.
'Let's see'
Hansoo checked his stats as he picked up his runes.
[Kang Hansoo] Strength: 25.3
Stamina: 24.5
Agility: 14.1
Perception: 15.2
'As I expected'
Though it was random you couldn't ignore the specialties of the entity.
The Land Mermaids had high strength and stamina. It seemed like he had gained a lot of strength and stamina in a short amount of time.
'It isn't bad'
Rather strength and stamina were more important right now.
Agility and perception runes had a good effect but he can replace them with battle skills and experience.
But on the other hand the strength to get through the armor and the stamina that helped with healing and the duration of how long one swings their sword was more important during the fight.
'And another thing'
Hansoo moved his hands towards the last stamina rune on the ground anxiously.
And that moment Hansoo's stamina rose from 24.5 to 24.8.
'It's above 50'
The moment the addition of Strength and Stamina rose above 50 the air suddenly stretched apart.
And that the same time a familiar yet unsightly face came out.
'A mission has been given.'
Hansoo smiled at the Fairy that had appeared in front of his eyes.
Chapter 8: Gangnam Station (4)
"There's an adventurer who has gotten over 50 first? Wow."
The fairy came out of thin air and clapped with its tiny hands.
The three who were standing behind Hansoo just watched this scene in a daze.
Taesoon, who was in a daze, asked the fairy.
"What do you mean 50?"
At those words the fairy smiled and answered.
"It means that the basic strength and stamina combined have gone over 50."
And then the fairy flew onto Hansoo's shoulder.
"We always like a person who is active and outgoing. And for that we prepare a small reward to the most active and outgoing person."
"Wait. Isn't it a little unfair then?"
Mihee opened her mouth.
Mihee was a female.
Because she exercised and kept her body in shape her strength and stamina were 8, it wasn't a bad start for a female but against males it would get pushed away.
Mihee was dissatisfied but asked quietly and tried to show the least amount of disrespect.
Since she had seen that cute fairy rip out the heart of a person.
"You don't need to be that careful. We don't kill once we start. We don't kill on a whim."
"…"
"And to answer the question. It is supposed to be unfair. Life is."
"Uh…"
While Mihee was flustered the fairy kept talking.
"This isn't some sort of game. Why do you find fairness? Do you think you can just go out because there isn't a balance patch?
"…"
"You were probably also a part of the unfair faces in your world. But then you didn't change your face to lower yourself to the average right?"
At the fairy's bitter words Mihee clenched her teeth and backed off.
The fairy ignored Mihee and opened her mouth while looking at Hansoo.
"Since you were the first one to go over the combination stat I will reward you."
Hansoo knew what the reward was.
'3 of any rune.'
It was a reward to the first person who had gone over the combination score of 50 out of the 100 in the tutorial stage.
But to be honest Hansoo didn't really have high expectations for this mission.
If you satisfy a special requirement then a reward is given.
From a point of view it is similar to a game but the damnable part is that this mission thing isn't really set already.
It was like there was a bank full of problems and the fairy would pick a few then started the tutorial.
He brought the mission list with 119 missions created through people's experiences but he didn't know which mission would've came out.
And this mission was vastly in favor for the person who had a different starting point.
The muscular man he had seen probably had at least around 33-4 of strength and vitality combined at the start.
But on the other hand he started at 20.
He didn't expect much but maybe due to his fast progress or something he luckily received it.
And among the 119 missions this mission had quite a nice reward.
"Tell me 3 of any rune that you want"
'As I expected'
3 of a stat rune is a large reward if it's a large and is a small reward if it's small.
3 strength runes could be gathered with a little bit of effort but 3 agility runes are hard to acquire as well as giving much more assistance.
But what he wanted was a different rune.
"Is it agility or perception as I expected? Ah. What about regeneration rune? It's a consumable but if you take this then you can even heal a hole in your belly. A normal poison will disappear. Having limbs being cut is a bit far fetched but isn't it amazing?"
At those words the ones who reacted were the three.
If you receive the three regeneration runes then wouldn't it be getting 3 more lives?
And Hansoo might even give it to them.
'He won't leave us to die, right?'
But Hansoo betrayed everyone's expectations and spoke of a different rune from his mouth.
"Do you perhaps have a rune to resist magic?"
At those words the fairy made a slightly shocked face then smiled as it spoke.
"Of course it exists."
And the fairy pushed its hand into the void without words then pulled out three peculiar looking runes.
'As I thought it doesn't really care much. It worked.'
Basically all these fairies wanted was things to go in an amusing way so they didn't really ask much no matter how much you planned things.
And Hansoo, who had gotten much more comfortable, laughed inwardly.
Magic Resistance Rune.
Regeneration rune is indeed good but one could obtain it pretty soon.
But on the other hand physical resistance runes and magical resistance runes are not something you can acquire in the tutorial stage.
No, Kangtae said it came out of a random mob but then he is an exception since he is a seriously special case.
'It's really some crazy luck'
Magic resistance runes are very important.
There is no such thing as a health point in this world so one fatal strike meant you were gone.
It wasn't like a game where if you got hit for 100 damage ten times you would lose 1000 and die.
Increasing vitality meant your recovery speed and activeness rose and not tankiness like in the games.
And for that physical resistance and magic resistance were more important than anything else.
Just because you use these two runes didn't mean your skin got tougher or get covered with scales or anything.
It had a more essential solution.
The two runes, after controlling their numbers, reduced the incoming attack itself.
'This is similar to a game's defense or resistance'
As Hansoo ate the runes, his stats were altered.
[Kang Hansoo] Strength: 25.3
Vitality: 24.8
Agility: 14.1
Perception: 15.2
Magic Resistance: 13
Magic resistance, which was fixed at 10 from the start and had no reason to be displayed, showed up as it increased by 3.
Hoo-oong
As his surroundings lashed about he could feel the laws which were applied to his body getting twisted a little.
'Good. With this I gain resistance to skills.'
He pondered between Physical and Magic resistance but in the end magic resistance is the best.
To be honest, in the tutorial area most attacks were physical if you take into account for the attacks you would receive.
But physical defense can be filled in to an extent with his experience and battle skills but on the other hand magic attacks with a wide range of attack and a few vicious skills couldn't be dodged once they were cast.
There isn't a beast or human who would use magic with the normal tutorial difficulty but the place he was challenging were the dungeons with hidden pieces.
Of course it wasn't something that lets you get hit 3 times and survive instead of getting hit once and being gone.
Just reducing the damage to an extent.
But there is a huge difference between getting killed on the first strike and surviving to land another slash of a sword.
Since regeneration runes are only able to be utilized if you were alive.
This will be of great help to his progress.
The fairy looked at that Hansoo and then smiled widely.
"I have high expectations. Please continue to do well."
The fairy, who had finished talking, disappeared into the void.
Hansoo turned around and talked as he walked.
"Let's go. But why are your expressions like that? It seems like you miss something."
"… It's nothing."
It felt like three regeneration runes had disappeared right in front of their eyes but no matter how shameless someone was they couldn't say it so they just made pitiful faces as they walked behind Hansoo.
............
Kudududuk
'It's now the third floor.'
Hansoo, who had gotten rid of all the Land mermaids, mumbled as he looked at the creepy entrance in the distance.
But Taesoon, who had been looking at him, spoke out.
"But it seems your movements have remained the same since back then…"
Hansoo nodded at Taesoon's words.
'He has some keen perception.'
Hansoo showed him his right wrist.
All the runes Hansoo took were gathered just like that on there.
"This can also be gathered like this."
"Really?"
'Well if consumable runes existed a mechanism like this should exist. But how do you do it?'
But then he realized that it wasn't that hard.
He thought 'I should gather them…' and the moment he moved his hands the runes that had been getting absorbed into his body turned into a small dot-like symbol on his wrist.
Hansoo looked at Taesoon and spoke.
"It's not something that's very good."
"Why?"
Hansoo answered as Taesoon asked.
"First it reduces your hunting speed."
If your stats are high then hunting would naturally be faster.
Since you could get the gathered runes and raise your stats instantly in case where you feel like you would get pushed back but there are holes in the strategy.
"The second reason is the important one… if you die from a sneak attack while doing this then all these runes get puked out."
"The runes?"
"Yeah."
Usually when one died the rune that came out was only a tiny part of what they had acquired and the dropped rune was also random.
You could block a sneak attack but dying at the hands of somebody with similar hands was not a hard task.
And especially during the beginning where one doesn't have physical and magic resistances.
If you aren't focused then you are gone just like that and even if it wasn't a sneak attack something like
Walking around with a lot of runes on your wrist was basically walking between bandits with the body to buy weapons and armor on your back.
"Then why do you gather them?"
Hansoo gave a short reply to Sangjin's question.
"Because we can trade with each other."
After the tutorial there exists currency which the adventurers had created.
The nine strongest clans created by the existing people.The common currency created through the agreements from two neutral clans of the
The runes were of too high value so using them wasn't suitable as currency.
But in the tutorial area where adventurers couldn't get into runes could be used as currency to some extent.
Two of the people who cleared this hidden piece told him.
As far he knew that mission was the only mission of a first-come type mission in the first tutorial area so there was no need to keep raising his stats vigilantly.
If he was in a perilous situation while fighting he could just simply use the runes and there shouldn't exist anybody who could kill him anyway.
In this case he could just gather the runes and trade if he was lacking then just simply wear the artifacts.
At those words Taesoon and the others started to gather tunes.
Hansoo who had seen them gather runes on their wrist shook his head.
"You guys can't. Just use them as you get them."
"…Are you looking down on us right now?"
As Taesoon suddenly asked Hansoo, Hansoo clicked his tongue.
'As I see it he wants to get those runes and trade them to raise perception or agility…'
If your perception or agility rises then you become better at evading so you receive less injuries.
Probably from their situation they want to go towards the path where they receive less injuries.
But how you get rid of the enemies is dependent upon how hard, and how many times you swing the sword.
If you lack stamina or strength then you will fall before you can get rid of the enemy.
He had no reason to suffer a sneak attack. He had a lot of experience and intelligence.
He was confident physically as well. The techniques were fundamentally different so he could save runes and fight at ease with the remaining strength and vitality.
Taesoon, Sangjin and Mihee were not at that level yet.
And they were in front of the third floor. They didn't know which monsters were protecting the train but it was definitely going to be dangerous.
But Hansoo just shrugged.
'Well if they go down and get wrecked they will wake up.'
There was no need for a hundred words.
If you get hit by a monster once and scream out you will automatically touch your wrist.
He who had been fighting against the crazy monarch's slaves or the demons of the abyss but came back to the past, to him this much was almost cute.
'Just maintain around that pace.'
"Well do whatever you want. Let's go down then. Are all three of you going again?"
The three who had been watching Hansoo pondered at Hansoo's words.
'The second floor was definitely hard… but we got stronger. And it was only hard at the start and we got used to it after.'
The three made their decisions and nodded.
And if they kept fighting wouldn't they get something like a mission as well.
They aren't really much in comparison to Hansoo but they are still better off than the people above.
'And… We've come this far, we cannot let him go alone.'
If there's something good, they should share it.
The three who had decided followed Hansoo just like that to the third floor.