The Tutorial Is Too Hard c.183

< Tutorial 35th floor (2) >

[Round 24, Day 2. 23h 55m]

[Huh? Really?]

“Yeah, really.”

[Really? Really?]

“Yes, really.”

[Really? Really? Really? For real?]

I threw the holy sword who was obnoxiously making nasal voices into the inventory.

It’s been doing that ever since it heard that I won’t be able to bring him out for over 24 days.

It’s not like I couldn’t understand how suffocating it was to be confined in the inventory for all that time, but what could I do?

The system wouldn’t let me access my gear.

[Does that apply to me as well?]

Seregia abruptly asked.

“Yeah, you too.”

Seregia didn’t say any more.

It seems as though she fell back down into her deep consciousness.

Thankfully, Seregia still speaks up like that every now and then.

It startles me because her timing is random and out of the blue, but it was better than nothing.

I put the soul sword into the inventory as well.

Since the gear will all be confiscated, I didn’t need to prepare anything and stepped atop the portal.

Past the campfire room, I entered the 35th stage.

[Welcome to the 35th floor stage.]

[Round 24, Day 3. 0h 0m]

“Phewwww.”

I tried not to make any unnecessary noises, but I couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

It was an expected sight.

It was just as Kiri Kiri had said.

I knew it was going to happen, but the shock came again.

I was standing at the entrance of the 1st floor stage.

A straight dark pathway.

There were faint lights embedded in the ceiling every few meters.

The three-meter-high ceiling.

The floors and walls made of rough stone material.

I shed a lot of blood on these floors.

A chill ran down my spine.

It wasn’t because I was stuck in my past trauma.

It was the feeling, not the familiar sight.

My feet hurt.

No, hurt as much as.

I could feel the hard floor.

The feeling of exhaustion in my feet from standing on the stone floors felt very foreign.

The leather armor I was wearing until just a moment ago was all gone, and I was wearing the thin clothes from when I first entered the Tutorial.

The smooth modern clothes that I hadn’t seen for a long time were unfamiliar.

My body was also unfamiliar.

The inhalations were brisk, and my beating heart felt fragile enough to burst at any moment.

I couldn’t feel any strength in my arms and legs.

My vision was dark.

Though the lights were faint, they were just barely enough for me to discern the straight hallway.

It was no longer the superhuman body that I was used to for the last two years, but the typical body of a NEET[1] – living life as though I were crippled and spending time alone in my room.

[The 35th floor stage begins.]

Explanation: Your body returns to the time it was the weakest. By walking in the footsteps that you have once already made, survive in a different way.

The stage has 34 gates in total, and each gate mostly coincides with those that you have passed through before. Everything you have achieved here goes back to naught. Each time you pass a gate, water and jerky will be given to you through the pouch.

If you survive for a specified amount of time, you will be sent to the next gate.

[Clear Criteria.]

1. Survive.

It was no different from what I had heard from Kiri Kiri.

If there was one thing different, it was the information about water and jerky.

Without me realizing it, there was a small pouch tied to my waist.

I opened it, but nothing was inside.

Seems like they’ll store water and jerky here as I proceed with the gates.

Seems like that’s plausible.

Now, what do I do?

[The God of Remorse[2] is watching you.]

The God of Remorse.

That wasn’t a familiar title.

It’s possible that the God of Remorse is the architect behind this 35th floor stage.

Remorse.

I’ll keep that in mind.

I put aside thoughts about the god for now.

It wasn’t something that I needed to concern myself with right now.

Instead, I needed to focus on how to survive this stage and proceed past it.

First, there is no need to move right away.

The theme of the 1st floor is arrow traps, and the traps don’t go off unless I approach them.

Let’s prepare here, then move.

Next, I’ll need to check my condition.

“Status.”

[Lee HoJae (Human)]

Str: 10

Dex: 13

Sta: 11

Mana: 21

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a status this bleak.

There’s no level being shown and I’m level 0 just like when I entered the Tutorial .

The numerous skills I’ve had are all gone.

It really is a do-over.

What I need to focus on in this bleak status window is the mana.

Mana: 21.

During my time on the 1st floor, I didn’t know what mana meant, nor the implications of it being 21.

But now, I know exactly what it means.

The norm for most people is to start at 0 or 1, and the highest is around 10 for the mana value.

A mana value of 21 is a ridiculously high value.

And because of that, I very rarely ran short of mana when I’ve used skills.

To be fair, it’s also because I’ve used Authorities instead of active skills.

I closed my eyes and tried to feel the mana inside my body.

It was scattered throughout my body.

I proceeded to move a slightly large piece.

It absorbed the smaller mana fragments that it passed by and congregated into a large lump.

It was like rolling a snowball.

Once I felt enough mana was gathered, I moved it along a circuit.

[Acquired Mana Circuit Lv. 1.]

[Acquired Mana Circuit Lv. 3.]

Unlike the other challengers that did not how to advance their skills even after obtaining it, I fully understand the fundamental workings.

Without the help of the system, I could force open the blocked mana circuit.

One error was that the mana circuit in my body back then was smaller than I thought.

The mana being forced through the circuit brought small pains and tremors, along with a sensation as if small ants were crawling in my skin. My whole body started to tremble.

In addition, there were clogs along the path here and there.

Normally, one would slowly melt those away and widen the path by circulating mana hundreds or thousands of times, but I didn’t have the luxury of waiting for that.

I bore a path through the blockades.

“Kuhk.”

[Acquired Mana Circuit Lv. 7.]

Blood poured out of my nose and mouth.

It wasn’t like a small nosebleed.

It was more accurate to say I threw up blood than I had a nosebleed.

A small puddle of blood soon gathered at my feet.

“Phewooook. Phewoooo.”

Because I couldn’t breathe while throwing up blood, my lungs struggled  for air.

My lung capacity was pathetically awful.

I spat out the blood in my mouth and moved the mana again.

Just recognizing and moving the mana does nothing.

You need to find pathways to manifest mana outside of the body.

A lump of mana moving at high velocity clashed against a blockaded wall.

And along with it a Boom sound.

As if I were the victim of a hit and run, I felt a strong pain at the back of my head.

My vision went dark.

And the next moment, I felt nothing.

Along with the pain, my senses died, and my focus dissipated.

Fuck. Pain Tolerance.

I forgot I didn’t have Pain Tolerance.

Without the tolerance skill, my body released hormones to sedate itself upon feeling a strong pain signal.

I forced myself to focus.

I couldn’t feel any sensations, but I tried desperately to guide the mana along the circuit path.

Soon, part of my senses came back.

I was lying on the ground, writhing in agony.

I couldn’t keep a clear mind through the pain that came from every bone becoming misaligned and my muscles twisting.

It was too strong of a stimulation without Pain Tolerance.

“Ku….ahhhk…”

A groan escaped my clenched teeth.

My face felt as though it would explode from the blood pressure.

If not, my eyeballs would pop out at the bare minimum.

[Acquired Mana Circuit Lv. 16.]

[Acquired Will Lv. 4.]

[Acquired Awakening Lv. 7.]

Without knowing how much time had passed, the pain slowly eased away.

I waited for the pain to completely dissipate.

After I was confident that I was completely fine, I squirmed my arms and legs.

Thankfully, they move fine.

I thought I would be crippled if this went badly.

And if so, it would be very bothersome until I cleared the 35th floor.

Once I looked around, the formerly-small blood puddle had enlarged.

My body was sticky, as if blood had oozed out through my skin instead of just my nose and mouth.

It wasn’t a small amount of pitch-black blood.

If I express it how I used to[3], I probably dipped my ankles in the Samdo River.[4]

[Acquired Pain Tolerance Lv. 2.]

I got Pain Tolerance up to Lv. 2 in one go.

It really, honest-to-god fucking hurt.

It was enough to make me worry if my body would die from the shock.

Pain Tolerance doesn’t reduce the pain itself but blocks the shock and sedation of the senses.

A great deal of anxiety had welled up inside me upon being greeted by the acute pain without any form of tolerance. I was more worried that this body would actually die from the pain rather than the pain itself.

The sensation of pain was quickly dissipating.

But it left me feeling washed out.

I felt drowsy from my lack of strength.

But I also felt refreshed.

With the airways unobstructed and probably because bodily waste was gone, my mind felt clear.

And the mana inside my body was circulating without any obstructions.

Once I recover my stamina, it would be much better.

I decided to sit down and rest.

According to Kiri Kiri’s information, I’ll be on the 1st floor stage for a total of one hour.

[Round 24, Day 3. 0h 27m]

More time had passed than I had initially thought.

I thought it would be a few minutes at most, but I must’ve writhed in pain for a good half hour.

My reward[5] was Mana Circuit Lv. 16.

It was good enough for now.

I decided to be content with it for now.

If I did anymore right now, it would take too much time; plus,I was afraid I might die from shock.

I needed to respect my weak body.

To take the next step, I needed to relentlessly circulate my mana and prepare myself.

I finished up my thoughts and got up.

I was going to rest a bit more, but I needed to get moving since more time had passed than I initially thought.

Once I started to move forward, each step was excruciatingly difficult.

My legs shook, and my back bent backwards.

As I moved, I could feel the aches here and there in my body.

My body’s current condition required a few days of rest no matter how you look at it, but I pressed on.

Fuck. What I wouldn’t do for a bottle of elixir.

[The God of Remorse is watching you.]

The message about the God of Remorse appeared again.

The message appeared as soon as I wondered if I was irrational in forcing the mana circuit, as if the God was just waiting for it.

Was it waiting for me to have a regret or something?

I started to wonder what the Gods wanted to say throughout this stage.

Was it to look back through the stages that I’ve been through and find a new solution for the regrets that I’ve had?

Or was it to take everything I’ve achieved away, leaving this sad body with me to make me feel sorry for myself?

To ruminate over the terror and pain from the beginning and realize how meaningless of a being that I was?

Whatever it was, I was pissed.

I clenched my teeth and forced my legs forward.

My left leg wouldn’t move properly.

I proceeded along with one leg limping.

Ping.

Accompanied by the  launch noise I was waiting for, the arrow went off.

My eyes followed the white flash of the arrowhead reflecting the light.

I wasn’t certain if my eyes would be able to track and locate the arrow’s path, but it was enough.

The first is left shoulder.

I snatched the shaft of the arrow with my right hand.

I imbued mana on my hand and fingers to make sure the arrow wouldn’t slip through.

It felt as though my hand was on fire from the intense friction, but I ignored it.

Ping.

The second one is the heart.

I swung the arrow in my right hand.

Tik.

The arrow I swung hit the flying arrow’s tip and made it swerve from its path.

Ping.

The next one aims between the brows.

Without the need to swing my arrow, I tilted my head to the side.

The arrow passed through the air and flew into the distance.

The fourth comes a bit later.

One beat pause and…

Ping.

I threw the arrow downwards, past my knee.

The arrow that came low aiming for my ankle was impaled by the arrow I had and embedded into the ground.

I still had my natural abilities.

And the abilities, once the system recognizes it, becomes skills.

[Acquired Slash Lv. 11]

[Acquired Intermediate Weaponry Lv. 4]

[Slash Lv. 11 combined into Intermediate Weaponry]

[Acquired Intermediate Throwing Lv. 1]

[Acquired Combat Concentration Lv. 21]

“Status.”

[Lee HoJae (Human)]

Str: 10

Dex: 13

Sta: 11

Mana: 21

Skill: Combat Concentration Lv. 21, Will Lv.4, Awakening Lv. 7, Intermediate Weaponry Lv. 4, Intermediate Throwing Lv.1, Mana Circuit Lv. 16, Pain Tolerance Lv. 2

The once-bleak status window was soon filled.

Unlike the weaponry skill and combat concentration skills, the Pain Tolerance skill just skipped to  Level 2.[6]

It’s probably the difference between a skill about knowing technique, and a skill requiring familiarity with the technique.

The only merits I can take away are skills that don’t require the help of the system to acquire or use.

Let’s examine it for a bit.

The main objective is survival.

For that, I need to proceed carefully and defensively, and procure the minimal amount of jerky and water by passing through the gates.

But that wasn’t my personal goal.

I want a proper clear.

For that, I needed a more active progression.

The 35th floor stage lasts slightly longer than 24 days.

Only 24 days.

How much could I progress through in 24 days?

In that time, could I develop enough to defeat the enemies I’ll be facing again?

Authorities, Level Ups, Clear Rewards, and even the items you could buy in the store weren’t available.

But I have experience and information.

I calmly organized my thoughts.

Fun.

This is going to be a lot of fun.

I slowly took my breaths.

The air in the hallway was cold.

The cold inhale soon became a hot exhale.

[The God of Remorse is watching you.]

Let’s see how it goes.

To see if it goes your way or mine.

< Tutorial 35th floor (2) > End

Gandara

[1] NEET is an acronym referring to someone not in employment, education, or training. The author did not originally write this phrase, but implied it by describing Hojae’s activities.

[2] The God’s name is written as 회환(Korean) or 悔恨 (Chinese) denoting regret, remorse, and contrition.

[3] Hojae made jokes in the earlier chapters to how he was so close to death he was practically swimming and touched his grandpa's fingers, etc.. It's a throwback to those jokes.

[4] Originally written as 三途川, it refers to a river leading to the afterlife in Buddhist lore.

[5] The wording used for “reward” differed from the typical rendering of the word. The original text wrote 代價, which can be interpreted as “cost,” but it makes little sense in this context.

[6] The author originally wrote this as Pain Tolerance Lvl. 3, but we corrected it to match the text above.

Chapter end