Five minutes before the game begins.
Akira wore a demon mask with a flexible dress and a hooded jacket. Haruka also wore a similar dress with a demon mask.
"We put our parents in your basement. We also prepared an oxygen cylinder just in case. We put all the necessities. They can stay there for 7 days. We can come back within that time," said Akira.
They were in the basement, ready to go out as soon as they confirmed the portal wouldn't open in the basement.
'In my past life, I was in school, so I don't know which monsters come in this tutorial, but I know most of the level 1 monsters and prepared, Ruka. Even if they are unpredictable, uncle and aunty survived in my past life, so there must be someone with the ability to clear it. But my goal is to become the first to clear the tutorial for the first time tutorial clear reward.'
The system panel counted down the last 10 seconds.
3
2
1
0
**You are selected as a player to protect your world, go forth, and bring glory to your world.**
Both Akira and Haruka got hologram panels in front of them with that notification. Akira quickly checked to see if the portal was in the basement.
"It isn't here. They can be safe here; let's go up," said Akira, and they rushed outside.
Boom boom
While exiting the house, they heard bombing sounds.
"This sounds like the description you said about…" Haruka reminded.
"Slime bombs."
Previously, Akira explained about them. Slime bombs were football-sized monsters in the tutorial, and they were special from other monsters because they only had 1 HP. But when they die or touch a creature equal to or bigger than them, they would explode with a powerful blast. Just 2 were enough to kill a human being.
"Ruka, knives are useless now. Just pick up anything and throw it at them. Maintain at least a 2-meter distance from them. Its blast radius is 1 meter. But they are fast, so don't get spotted."
While he said that, a woman got attacked, and her meat splashed from the contact point. That shook Haruka's will. Even though Akira prepared her for this, she still felt a little overwhelmed.
He decided she wouldn't be able to do it. "Ruka, go to the rooftop and throw. You are not used to this yet."
"No, I will be fine." She slapped herself hard. That dumbfounded Akira. He also forgot how she maintained herself in her previous life.
'What was I thinking?' He blamed himself. 'This is the growth period; my urge to protect her is clouding my judgment. The best way to protect her is to make her strong. So, she needs to see this and overcome it. She is not someone I need to protect, to begin with. She is plenty strong herself; I was the one who fell into the trap last time.'
He resolved himself to not push Haruka towards safety or protect her from her growth. "OK, Ruka, watch my back."
She nodded with confidence that she got from his belief in her.
"Everyone, throw something at them; they will blast if you hit them with something," Akira shouted to let everyone know.
'Now I understand how her parents survived. They must have gone to the basement after seeing this, and the slime bombs got cleared on their own later.'
**You killed a level 1 slime bomb. You gain 10 exp.
You killed a level 1 slime bomb . . .**
Similar notifications are spammed on the player's left side. Both Akira and Haruka continuously got those notifications, but they didn't come in a way that would hinder them.
As slime bombs died, crystals fell from them. Akira and Haruka actively collected them, and seeing them, others did the same.
Some people took courage and started to throw, while a few couldn't take a step forward due to fear. But slowly, a few survivors took the initiative and started to clear the slimes.
With combined effort, they finally cleared the street. "The portal must be in that direction. There will be two portals in this area; try to avoid them," Akira ordered everyone.
He was worried because there were only level 1 monsters until now, but tutorials would have level 1 monsters as many as the number of people. Then for each 100 level 1 monsters, there would be a level 3 monster. Finally, there would be the leader monster with level 5.
Level 3 slime bombs would have 50 HP, which would be equal to 3 kitchen knife stabs from a 10-year-old. The blast from it would be more violent and 3 meters wide.
While they searched for the portal, Haruka heard a player shouting.
"Guys, you can level up with just 100 exp. It will be easy to deal with monsters."
"Don't do it yet, Ruka," Akira warned.
"You already said that," said Haruka, "don't worry about me getting influenced by others."
'Right, she is the one who hung on to the hope of saving me for 13 years without getting influenced by societal pressure. I should have more trust in her mentality more than herself.'
As they searched, they spotted a slime slightly bigger than others.
"Ruka, you throw stones at surrounding slimes; I will throw a knife at the big one. Remember, both of us should make a 10% contribution each to get the title we discussed."
"Right!"
Akira waited for Haruka to finish her part because 1 level 3 slime equals 30 level 1 slimes in terms of contribution, and slime blasts wouldn't harm the slime bombs.
After all level 1 slime bombs were killed, Akira threw the knife and stabbed the level 3 slime, and it got blasted. The blast was harmful enough for humans, but the surroundings didn't get much damage.
Haruka was very impressed with his luck. "You did it on the first try."
Akira felt awkward. 'I forgot throwing knives have a low probability of hitting. I almost gave away that I can hit with 100% accuracy.'
"Come, the system won't show our contribution. We have to kill as much as possible," Haruka urged Akira. She became more excited about it than Akira but Akira could see her hands shaking when she pulled him.
"Ahh, save me. Two heroes, save me." A woman from the 1st floor shouted.
Akira ignored her. "Ruka, this is a very important point; when you have something to do, ignore everything else. If you get distracted, you will miss an opportunity to get stronger."
Haruka felt reluctant with his words; she knew those words were cruel, but when she thought about the many people that already died and got hurt in this disaster, the woman hiding in a house safely didn't concern Haruka anymore.
'She is already safe in her house; why is she yelling like that,' Haruka thought.
They ignored the woman.
"Hey, are you deaf? How can you leave someone when they are in danger?" The woman shouted.
"She is safe there; why is she being so unreasonable?" Haruka asked while sprinting with Akira.
"It's the same as when those girls blamed you for my rejection. They think you are holding me without proposing to me so that if I become successful, you can propose and get me.
But if I become unsuccessful, you can say I am just your childhood friend; there is nothing between us. I clearly explained to them I don't plan on having a relationship until I can feed my family on my own, but they still unreasonably harassed you."
Haruka smirked and said, "harassed? More like I slapped the shit out of them. They didn't dare to come to school until my fingerprints vanished from their face."
'Ho! I remember now, I apologized to them later. In my past life, I didn't know her personality because she was my childhood friend, but as I remember, I am coming to know how proud she is.
What would she have done if she was in my position? I think she would have discussed it with her parents…(he shook his head) no, don't think about it. I only have to focus on the present and future, not imaginary scenarios.'