Hududuk.
Hansoo rose out of his seat and looked around.
'Those evil things'
Why would the fairy leave friendly and strong people together in a group for them be enjoy.
In the small white room, ten people were looking around.
And they were actually rather calm and composed about it and weren't shocked. Just like how people who went through the first tutorial should be like.
Be cautious of your surroundings but do not make it obvious.
But then one of these people grumbled.
"Godammit… there's only ten"
And everyone made a slightly unsatisfied expression as if they agreed.
They were dropped in an unknown place.
They didn't know each other but if there were going to be in harsh conditions wasn't it obvious that having eleven was better than ten.
The man who complained before talked.
"Well. Let's at least introduce ourselves. Since we will probably be working toge…"
Before the man finished talking, the fairy's voice came out from thin air in the room they were at.
And as soon as the fairy's voice came out, everyone didn't say what they were going to and instead focused on the fairy.
"…?"
Everyone made a confused expression at the fairy's words.
"…"
Everyone made a sigh of relief.
Their room had 10. If they were going to balance the numbers then they would probably kill off one person in one of the rooms with eleven people and then start.
And if that happened they might get injured during the fight and even if they manage to kill somebody off without getting injured then they would be cautious of each other.
But the fairy crushed everybody's expectations.
"…Fucking bitch of a fly. I wondered why it was moving things along so smoothly"
One person spat out curses while everyone who had been sighing in relief started to be cautious of everyone else.
And at the same time they looked for the person who was likely to be the weakest to of all.
There probably won't be anybody who they can easily.
If they searched then they might find some but most of them had already been dropped off at the 1st tutorial area.
The people here were people who would not die alone, they would at least stab them back before they die.
And because of this, it was important to find the weakest person to attack with the nine and kill them instantly.
Daechul, who was the first to curse, mumbled inwardly.
'Fuck… there's no way to know since you can't judge from appearances'
If they were all normal existences then you could judge very simply from their appearance.
Since females were generally weaker.
But if you went on like this in this place you neck will fly off.
Since if they had collected runes zealously because they were weaker, crushing any decent male was possible.
Because of this Daechul instead searched for the existence of weapons.
Since if they didn't have a weapon, they would be the weakest.
'The one without a weapon…damn. They all have it.'
Daechul mumbled.
Everyone was gripping intensely onto their well sharpened blade that was shining in the light.
But in this situation, one person was out of the ordinary.
'…Who's that guy holding the needle'
On the waist of the guy standing leisurely in the corner there was a long needle.
'Is he crazy?'
Daechul swirled his tongue.
That thing was sharp but from one look one could see that it was harder to use than a blade with a sharp edge.
And unless that guy was at the level of a fencing athlete there's no way he would pick such a weapon.
But he couldn't act carelessly.
Because if he acted with just that as the basis, the chances of danger was too great.
At that moment a female in the corner looked around as she spoke.
"Aren't we going to act together from now? Let's try to appeal each other. To show each other how much they're worth"
Everyone started to nod at those words.
Since it was still very pressuring to act if they think somebody looked weak.
Because they might be the only one thinking like that.
And if they're unlucky and get into a one on one then things become even more of a headache.
But on the other hand, if they were to talk things out in a circle like this, they can somewhat judge.
As to who was the most useless one here.
Since they were going to act together from now, it was better if they were stronger or have a unique ability.
But on the other hand, if they didn't have such merits then they were useless.
Then the nine could just kill them.
And if that happened then they probably won't get injured.
Daechul pondered for a moment then raised his sword.
It was a little regrettable to show his hidden card but if he hid it and then get ganged upon because he seemed weak then he would just die.
"I'm called Daechul, I'm not sure if you've seen something like this."
And then a humming sound came out of his hands as a shining energy started to flow off from the sword on his hands.
And Hansoo's eyes shone as he saw this.
'Reinforce'
There was a very unique skill among the runes.
If you learned it then you could raise all your other stats while using your mana.
This was called Reinforce.
The user would continuously use mana while raising the other stats for a set duration.
And a few better ones of those people could infuse mana into weapons like that which increases durability and sharpness.
Well, the Reinforce rune that could be attained in the tutorial area wasn't that good in terms of efficiency but it was better having it than not.
Since it raised the battle power as a whole.
Reinforce was part of the runes that were very useful and high priced even out of the numerous skill runes.
The people who had seen this looked around cautiously as they fought each other in words in order to appeal to others.
"I can heal"
"With just that huh. I can…"
They argued as they talked back and forth but since it was a problem with their lives on the stake so the atmosphere turned darker.
If they lost in this dumb show off competition then it meant death.
But Daechul made an expression of leisure.
'It's definitely not me'
It seemed that he wasn't the strongest.
But the skill he had, reinforce, was better than anybody else's.
As long as he wasn't last place.
And that the same time their eyes collected on two people.
It was Hansoo and the girl who first suggested to appeal themselves.
Daechul made a leisurely smile as he spoke.
"I don't think the lady over there has spoken yet"
Then the girl stared at Daechul as she spoke with a laugh.
"I'm called Jimin. What I'm good at…I will show you now"
Than the girl stood up and started to head towards Daechul.
Daechul's caution exploded as he saw the girl move towards him suddenly.
Usually it was a walk that would make his heart beat but his heart rate increased for a different reason at this moment.
"What are you doing? Don't come close."
"I said I'll show you what I'm good at."
And then the girl pulled out a dagger from her inner thigh.
A blackish dagger that did not look normal.
Daechul spat out curses.
"Fuck! Are you all just gonna watch? This is just a crazy bitch!"
But everyone just pretended to listen.
It seemed like that would start fighting each other, why would they butt in.
It didn't matter who died out of the two and even if one did not die, injury was sure to happen so they could just finish them off after.
Daechul, who was looking at this, crumpled his face as he rose the power of the skill he attained,
The 27 mana that was surrounding his body started get converted quickly into Daechul's stats.
The strength that was around 45 rose to 50.
Not only Stamina, Agility, Perception were raised but even Magic power, physical and magical resistances also rose.
One of the advantages of Reinforce, it raised the stats of resistances which were hard to obtain in the start.
Daechul even added mana onto his sword and swung down with his raised stat.
Kuduk
"Huh?"
Daechul, who had seen the female disappear right in front of his eyes, searched for her in a hurry but then looked towards his chest as he felt a warm sensation surge out from the area of his heart
And in that area the girl had already stabbed the dagger in her hand onto where his heart was.
The girl looked at Daechul as she whispered.
"I'll use the skill well. It seemed like that your skill seemed the best out of these. And even so to the point where it didn't fit your level"
And at those words Daechul realized why she asked them to appeal themselves.
'Fuck…'
Daechul fell soon afterwards and Jimin smiled as she saw the numerous runes and the one skill rune drop from his body like corn.
"My luck is good. It didn't seem like they dropped on a 100% chance. I will take the skill? Ah yes, we should share the stat."
If you monopolize then you will get sick.
Jimin only took the skill rune she wanted and the rest shook their heads while they picked up the runes on the ground.
'Crazy bitch. What did she go through in this one week… at least go crazy nicely'
Hanchul, a man who had been watching the girl, clicked his tongue.
It wasn't that he didn't have to confidence to win.
But it'll be tiring if that crazy bitch charged at him because of a few words so he decided to shut his mouth.
And it seemed like a few others had the same thought as him.
But the fact that that Daechul died wasn't really unjustified.
Since he had a skill that was too good for his level.
The skill Reinforce did really look good.
But it needed to be used by someone who could use it well.
Even if Jimin didn't kill him, one of the others would've.
Killing the weak wasn't the answer.
If they killed randomly with no reason then they would attain hostility and die but in a situation like this where a reason existed, it was basically acting like a thankful cleaner.
It was best if you could kill somebody strong when there was a reason to if you can kill them.
Since if you had to kill somebody anyway, it was best to kill somebody who would spew out the most.
Jimin had lowered them into nine and didn't want to struggle anymore so she sat in the corner.
And soon a voice came out of the air again.
Sky Road.
The road to the sky.
"…Crazy Bitch."
"Bitch."
Curses were mumbled out from the surroundings.
The fairy's voice continued in the air as if it didn't hear those sounds.
Sky Road.
A road where you had to go from the 1000 starting points and head towards the topmost single area.
There wasn't only one path.
It was a setup where you would get split up and collide into the people from other starting points.
Though there was something very unique about it.
And then a large amount of light and wind started to pour in from the outside.
"What is this…"
Everyone made a ridiculous expression as they looked at the outside.
The room they were at was currently floating high up in the sky.
A scene that would turn make an acrophobiac shrivel up.
A vast sea could be seen thousands of meters below and in the distance outside the white room a large floating island that seemed much larger than Yeouido.
There was a long bridge connecting their room and the island.
A few other rooms just like theirs were also connected to the island and there were many other islands floating about the same height as theirs.
And the thousands of islands that were floating above them in layers.
The people cried out in gloom as they saw the islands that looked like stairs but too far apart to be called stairs.
'It's been a while'
Hansoo mumbled as he saw the stairs of islands in his view.
Move by moving between the islands floating in the air.
And continue to climb higher and higher.
Every island had rewards you could attain and had special rules or beasts.
'And there's also a trap'
The thing Hansoo needed to do on Sky Road was simple.
He needed to prepare as much as he can in order to pass the final parts of the dungeon. (*Dungeon: Mentioned in chapter 3)
He needed to find every hidden piece and important factors as he climbed the Sky Road.
And the most important thing on the first level of the stairway island was one thing.
He didn't care about the other things but this was a necessity.
'First I need to attain
As Hansoo set his goal and started to move out, everybody cautiously moved along the bridge.
The width of the bridge was short but it wasn't dangerous because there were side rails.
And while they were doing so, Hanchul spoke to maybe lighten up the mood.
"Well. At least it feels good, it's like an adventure. Let's do well together. If we don't go crazy and move cautiously and slowly…"
Kugugugu
Before Hanchul's words were finished, a faint tremble was felt from the island.
While everyone got shocked and grabbed onto the side rails, a fairy's voice was heard from above them.
"Bitch-like Fly"
Curses came out of Hanchul's mouth as he could not keep calm anymore.