JiHan was surprised when he saw the message.
'To think I'd level up in the middle of a game.'
You usually gained more experience when a game ended, so leveling mostly happened all at once when the fighting was over
'I guess it's because I'm such low level.'
It wasn't unreasonable. After all, he'd done something a typical level two couldn't do.
JiHan opened his status window.
[Martial Power: 5]
[Magic Power: 5]
[Unused Stat Points: 1]
He invested the unused stat point in his Martial Power.
'Once Martial Power reaches 30, the path to obtaining Nameless Divine Arts will open.'
Nameless Divine Arts was an SSS-rank martial art that had put him on top of the world, so his immediate priority was to increase his Martial Power.
Despite being a step closer to his goal, JiHan didn't seem excited.
'It probably won't increase… but I'll have to allocate the points anyway.'
Martial Power was a unique stat that encompassed Strength, Vitality, and Agility, so it probably wouldn't increase from one stat point allocation.
'Not only that…'
Someone with five Martial Power and five Strength should've been equal when it came to strength, but in reality, that wasn't the case. Someone with Martial Power was at least twice as strong with the same stat value.
In other words, Martial Power was a crazy stat that added all three of the stats it encompassed together, and it was twice as effective.
'There's a downside, though.'
It was very hard to raise Martial Power.
In his past life, he'd thought it was a bug that it didn't increase even though he'd invested points in it, but he later found out that investing points merely extended its growth limit.
The stat slowly increased after he participated in many battles and personally underwent intense training.
In other words, Martial Power had to be built up through a lot of effort.
"But then, why…?"
JiHan rubbed his eyes and looked at his status window again.
"Why?"
The number seemed odd.
[Martial Power: 6]
Why did '5' look like '6'?
After blinking several times, JiHan noticed he felt stronger.
Only then did reality hit him.
'Did my Martial Power… just increase?' That never happened before.
His flustered state only lasted for a brief moment.
"Nice."
He shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
JiHan smiled and looked around.
A Martial Power value of six…
He wanted to test his strength right away.
At that moment, the system's voice echoed.
[There are 60 survivors left.]
[The tutorial will end soon.]
There wasn't anywhere to hide, so the game progressed very quickly.
JiHan checked the scoreboard.
- 1st: Sung JiHan - 4 Kills - No Affiliation
- 2nd: Im GaYeong - 3 Kills - Twin Star
…
JiHan had killed about 30 urks, which counted as three kills and put him in 1st place.
A player named Im GaYeong was right behind him in the rankings.
'Im GaYeong?'
It felt like he'd heard that name before. JiHan tried to think but couldn't figure out who she was.
He'd spent many years exiled in the United States, so not being able to remember everything was understandable.
'Three kills? I might lose 1st place if I'm not careful enough.'
He decided to cast aside his thoughts about Im GaYeong for the moment; the most important thing was to finish 1st in the tutorial.
He had to solidify his position by getting at least one more kill.
Just when he'd made up his mind…
Swoosh-!
An arrow flew in at him from the left side
JiHan easily dodged it and turned his head.
"He dodged it!"
"He got lucky."
Two people wearing armor with turtle shell patterns approached him.
'Do they belong to the same guild?'
The goal may have been to survive individually, but there were no rules against cooperating.
There was a system in place that prevented people in the same guild from being summoned.
'It seems like they've somehow managed to be summoned simultaneously.'
There weren't many groups participating in places like Gangnam 1, so situations like that happened from time to time.
'Their synergy is also pretty good.'
There was a male Warrior holding a sword and shield and a female Archer—a simple but effective combination.
The two walked toward him, looking like they believed they'd hit the jackpot.
"Let's kill him quickly and raise our ranks."
"Sure. We should kill every person we can."
"Sounds good."
JiHan was covered in urk blood, and even though he was holding several weapons, he looked like easy prey because he was dressed in training clothes.
'He must have been summoned by mistake.'
'It seems like he couldn't log out because of his lack of experience… This is an opportunity to achieve a kill.'
They were members of the Turtle Guild, one of South Korea's top 10. They were excited when they realized that they had been summoned together.
With their combination of a close-range fighter and a long-range fighter, it was almost guaranteed that they would survive.
'The tutorial is going to end soon, so I was trying not to overdo things…'
'It would be stupid to pass on such a newbie.'
They thought that JiHan was like a mouse trapped in a cage.
"If you treat me to dinner, I'm willing to let you have him."
"Fufu, no thanks."
They giggled as they approached him, but JiHan was the one truly laughing.
'They're off guard. This is better.'
He didn't have much time, so the opportunity was great.
JiHan threw a hand axe, and it moved faster than when he was slaughtering the urks.
"Huh…?"
The Archer was startled by the speed. She tried to dodge the attack, but it was a little too late.
Clang!
The Archer's right arm fell to the ground with her bow.
"AGH…!" She teared up.
JiHan chuckled when he saw her reaction.
'What an overreaction. She probably connected using a Battle Net connector.'
The Battle Net connector reduced the amount of pain you received. While it probably wasn't as effective as Sae-jin's it should've still reduced it by at least 70%.
To think that such pain was enough to distract her.
'She isn't ready yet.'
JiHan finished his judgment of the two.
"S-stop!"
He ignored the man blocking his path and targeted the Archer's head.
The Archer tried to dodge the spear, but…
Stab!
It pierced her head anyway, and she soon turned white and vanished.
"H-how could you do that to a woman…?" The man's voice trembled when he saw the Archer die. JiHan looked at him as if he were crazy.
"What? A woman? Did you come here to play?"
Judging based on gender on the battlefield…
Was that all the Bronze League players had to offer?
"You need to stay in the tutorial a bit longer."
He couldn't let someone with that mindset pass the tutorial. JiHan quickly rushed toward him.
"E-eek…!"
[There are 52 survivors left.]
[The tutorial is about to end.]
Two more kills and it would be over.
The man hid his body behind the shield.
'Let's not think about fighting and just focus on staying alive. The end is near!'
He gauged JiHan's strength when he passed by him.
If he fought, he would 100% lose, but he could at least defend.
The monster's weapons were bad, and the man was wearing full platemail and a helmet while hiding behind his shield.
'Even if he's strong, what could he possibly do?'
On the other hand…
"Hmm. He doesn't even have a fighting spirit."
JiHan was able to read the man's thoughts.
"Well, then try to hold on."
Clang!
JiHan moved to the man's back, and his spear stabbed toward the man's neck.
"Ugh…"
The armor crumpled, and the man wobbled, but…
The spear couldn't withstand the shock and snapped.
'As expected, I can block it!'
The Turtle Guild's B-rank full-plate armor was reliable!
[There are 51 survivors left.]
[The tutorial is about to end.]
If one more person died, he would survive…!
The man, trusting his armor, was thinking of holding out when…
Clang! Clang!
Attacks rained down on the back of his neck.
'Ugh! That's right, this bastard has a lot of weapons…!'
From a cub to a hand axe, he was holding all sorts of weapons; it seemed like he was using all of them.
'B-but… he's hitting the same place over and over!'
The man didn't stand still. He tried to turn his body and block as much as possible, but JiHan somehow managed to move behind him and hit the same place again.
The enemy could handle all sorts of weapons very smoothly.
The man broke out in a nervous sweat as his armor started to crumple with every blow.
Finally…
"Cough…!"
Crack!
It took four weapons breaking, but a gap in the armor finally appeared, and a broken sword drove through it.
Stab!
The man's consciousness went hazy as his neck was pierced.
The system's voice echoed in his ear.
[There are 50 survivors left.]
[The tutorial has ended.]
'So I was the 50th casualty.'
The warrior regretted it.
'I shouldn't have touched this guy…'
He should've realized that there was something strange about him from the moment he saw the player not logging out and holding so many weapons.
The man's body turned white and disappeared, and the scoreboard appeared before JiHan.
- 1st: Sung JiHan - 6 Kills - No Affiliation
- 2nd: Im GaYeong - 4 Kills - Twin Star
…
There was a solid two-kill difference between 1st and 2nd place.
[You finished 1st in the tutorial.]
[You've earned the title 'The One Who Conquered the Tutorial'.]
[You've cleared the limited quest 'Finish 1st Place in the Tutorial'.]
[You've earned 1,000 achievement points.]
'Good.' He made a satisfied smile.
'I've obtained 1,600 achievement points and a title after finishing one game.'
Moreover, once he returned to the real world, he would obtain extra rewards based on his final ranking.
He was looking forward to seeing how much his level would increase.
* * *
"1st, Sung JiHan… No affiliation?"
The executives of the guilds that had participated in the tutorial were confused by the results of that day.