Chapter 2
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nTranslator : Ekdud
nProofreader : Zennath
nTL Check : KobatoChanDaiSuki
nRe : MrPotatoes
nChapter 2: Tutorial (1)
nHansoo’s five senses, which had been frozen from the light, quickly started to recover.
n‘It succeeded, but is my head supposed to hurt this much?’
nHe knew.
nHe instinctively knew that he had really returned to the past.
nHansoo shook off his headache and checked his surroundings.
n‘What time have I come back to?’
nHe needed to know exactly when in the past he had come back to.
nIf he had come back too late, then the whole thing would be pointless.
nThrough his five senses, Hansoo realized that a chaotic situation was occurring.
n“Goddammit! What is this? Is there a hidden camera?”
nA hundred or so people were standing around and shouting frantically.
nThe surroundings resembled Gangnam train station, but it currently looked very different.
nThe Hyundae building was still standing high, but all the glass had shattered, and there were weird vines and trees growing everywhere.
nThe scene looked like a time 10 years after nuclear warfare.
nIt wasn’t surprising that people fell into panic.
nSome were even fighting with each other out of distress.
nIt was a really messed up situation.
nFrom this, Hansoo knew exactly to what time he had come back.
n‘It’s the first moment after we transported to the other dimension.’
nThe year of his birth had been rather peculiar.
nThat year, people started getting abducted from all over the world.
nAt first it was 100 at a time, and then the number continued to increase over time.
nThe year he turned 20, he also went missing in the real world.
nOnly then did Hansoo know where the missing people had gone.
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nA mid-way area that was created as the Abyss devoured the other dimension.
nThe terrain and buildings were like reality, but the contents of the world weren’t.
nThis 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.
n5 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.
nBasically, the 25 years before that were like a tutorial.
nIt was something that the people of the real world had to go through before entering the Abyss.
nFrom a certain angle it looked like benevolence, but to Hansoo, it didn’t seem that kindhearted.
nIt seemed like time had been given only because it would be boring if they died too easily.
n‘Whatever, it’s good that I’ve returned to the beginning.’
nHe had earned 5 years of time before the Abyss had opened.
nIf 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.
nHansoo started checking his body’s condition after he understood the current situation.
nBecause no one could move before a fairy came out and started the basic tutorial, it was good to have a warmup before then.
n‘As I expected.’
nTabula Rasa.
nAll the skills that he knew and the runes he filled his body with were all gone.
n‘Well, I can collect them all. Anyways, it should be here now.’
nAs Hansoo finished his thoughts, something fell from the sky.
n‘It’s here.’
nHansoo stared at the creature that appeared.
nThe palm-sized fairy looked around at the surrounding people and said, in a sweet voice,
n“Hello, everyone. I’m a helper, and I’m here to help you get off to a quick start.
n‘Tsk.’
nHansoo, who clearly knew what that satanic midget’s ‘quick start’ meant, inwardly clicked his tongue.
n‘I see… it wants to see us fight already.’
nAs the fairy appeared and a weird aura spread over the people, the seemingly uncontrollable situation slowly died down.
nThe fairy was a very eye-catching existence, even in this abnormal place.
nThe smiling fairy looked around as the surroundings quieted down and opened its mouth.
n“Firstly, I would like to welcome you all to the Otherworld. You’ve now all been granted a wonderful chance.”
n“Wait. Wait. What do you mean? What’s the Otherworld?”
nThe fairy stared at the questioning man for a while, then ignored the man as it continued its story.
n“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.”
n“…”
n“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.”
n“What…?”
n“You all can now become infinitely strong depending on what you do, like heroes from a movie.”
nAs the fairy looked at the confused people, its smile didn’t disappear as it opened its mouth again.
n“I will show you a quick demonstration, since I came to hasten the progress.”
nThe fairy pointed its finger at the man who had shouted out first.
nFrom the feeble and delicate finger, a light beam shot out and penetrated directly through the man’s heart.
nPuuuk
n“Ku…Kuuuk.”
n“I don’t like people who talk a lot.”
nAt that moment, everyone realized that the new environment was not entirely favorable towards them.
n“uuuuhp… uhphup.”
n“Very good. Shall we continue?”
nThen, the fairy flew towards the man’s corpse.
nSomething weird happened.
nAbove the man’s body, a translucent and shining symbol the size of a hand appeared.
nThe fairy grabbed the symbol and spoke.
n“This is a
nThe fairy, who disregarded the terrifying meaning of its words, casually looked around as it continued its speech.
n“Let’s see. This improves the strength of one’s muscles. Who… should I give this to?”
nEveryone hesitated.
nIf they acted out, they might get caught in the same situation as the corpse.
nAt that point, Hansoo raised his hand.
nHow much he liked the fairy was secondary.
nOne rune helped a tremendous amount in the beginning.
nPlus, there was no risk involved.
nThere was no reason to not raise his hand.
nThe fairy looked at Hansoo and gave a content look.
n“Very good. I like your determination. Put this on the top of your hand.”
nThe rune was absorbed into his body.
nFrom the outside, there was not much difference.
nBut the fairy looked at Hansoo with a smile.
n“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.”
n“…”
nAs Hansoo gave a nonchalant face, the fairy felt a bit awkward and turned around to continue talking.
n“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.”
nThe fairy looked around.
nEveryone got frightened and shriveled up from the fairy’s expression of hunting for prey.
nThat expression was too accurate.
nIt wanted to kill another person as an experiment to get another rune.
nThe fairy shrugged its shoulders as it looked around.
n“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.”
nAt those words, everyone started to look around and slowly backed up.
nIf they were killed, a rune would come out and would strengthen someone else.
nThey could all imagine what would happen in the worst situation.
nThe fairy enjoyed the weird atmosphere as it smiled contently and opened its mouth.
n“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.”
nAt these words, everyone started touching their ears.
nKang Hansoo
nStrength: 11
nStamina: 9
n‘Strength was increased by 1.’
nA simple and crappy configuration.
nBut everyone was like this at first.
nIt would be weird if normal people had mana.
nAs one hunted and collected runes, their mana, magic, physical defense and magic resistance would be added.
nIt didn’t matter if the hunted were humans or beasts.
n“Hmm… he would probably be around 17.”
nHansoo mumbled, as he saw a muscular man in the distance.
nA well-trained body.
nAt this point, he’s a high ranker among these people.
n11 and 17 were only different by about 1.5 times, but it was not that simple.
nHowever, he would be in a superior situation in the beginning with that much strength.
nIt’d be a lot for a woman to have a 3 or 4.
nThe fairy smiled and spoke as it looked at the commotion.
n“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.”
nThe fairy touched its butt as it spoke.
nEveryone started touching their butts without thinking.
nSomething was there.
nThey saw what came out of their pockets, and their faces turned white.
nA sharp dagger, which hadn’t existed before they arrived, came out of each person’s pocket.
nNormally, 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
nThe fairy laughed as it watched,
n“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.”
nThe fairy disappeared into a hole that had suddenly appeared.
nAs the fairy disappeared, people started to mumble.
n“…A tutorial?”
nEverybody was still tense from the words of a murderous being when a sound started from somewhere.
nAs everybody was on alert, they looked towards the origin of the noise.
nKyaaak!
nTiny green monsters with deformed looks appeared.
n“…Goblins?”
nAs everyone recognized them from the movies, their faces twisted with fear.
nThe fairy had appeared and told them something.
nIt was a tutorial.
nIt seemed simple, but the words of the fairy could not be so simple.
nThere were more than 200 goblins
nAlthough there were 100 people and the goblins were only half their size, it was impossible to stand still with a calm mind.
nHowever, it seemed like the goblins had the same thoughts, as they only stared back at them fiercely but didn’t approach them.
nIn this tense situation, somebody quietly spoke from the back.
n“Don’t irritate them, and slowly move backwards.”
nEveryone nodded at those words.
nThey all silently came to a consensus.
nThey saw it in the news.
nNo matter what you could do, always run away if the opponents had sharp objects in their hands.
nThey also had daggers, but who would want to fight sword to sword with those things?
nHowever, Hansoo shook his head.
nThose things were really evil-minded. How could they just throw in a few midgets and call it a tutorial?
n“…Huh?”
nAs they walked back slowly, somebody stopped and moaned.
nSomebody got frustrated and spoke out.
n“What are you doing? Keep moving. We need to get away.”
nThe man replied to those words.
n“No… this is weird. Something is here. In mid-air.”
n“What?”
nPeople started hurrying backwards at those words.
nAnd then they shouted in frustration.
n“Fuck! What is this? It’s blocked!”
n“Here too!”
nPeople started hitting the wall as they shouted.
nAt that point, somebody pointed something out.
n“Hey… this thing is slowly moving towards us.”
n“…What?”
nPeople started leaning against the wall.
nThey all frowned.
nThe wall was slowly pushing them back.
nKiiiiiiik!
nAs they heard the cries from far away, they looked in that direction.
nAt that location, the goblins were also getting pushed towards them.
nAs the invisible wall kept pushing them, they grew frustrated and started hacking away at the void, but nothing happened.
nKaaaaaak!
n“Fuck…”
nAs they saw the goblins staring at them, the people gripped their daggers more tightly.
nAt this point, they had to fight no matter what.
nAt that moment, somebody fell to the other side.
n“Huh? What? How did you get there?”
n“Uh… I don’t know. It just happened to be over here?”
nOne person got through the clear wall.
nAnd in the air where the man passed through, a number came up.
n<49>
n“…49?”
nAs people mumbled, somebody looked around and quickly ran towards that location.
nThe number changed.
n<48>
nAt that point, everyone had realized the truth.
n50 people could leave.
nThe remaining 50 had to fight with those things.
nSuddenly, everyone started running towards the tiny gap.
n“Get out of the **ing way!”
n“I will go out!”
n“Kyaaa!”
nHansoo shook his head at this scene.
nIf 100 people fought seriously, they could probably win.
nMost might die, but at least 20 would survive.
nBut if this happened, the story changes.
nIn reality, as the goblins saw the people fighting with each other, their eyes shone and they started running towards the people.
nWhen Hansoo had first come here, 40 of them had died to the goblins.
n‘First, clear up the situation. Then, move to the next stage.’
nThere were too many things to do.
nAs he made his decision, his whole body started wriggling around as his muscles tensed up.
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