Episode 10
[Tutorial First Chapter – Adaptation]
-The third wave is starting.
-Defend against the monster wave and prove your existence.
As the remaining time hit zero, new monsters predictably appeared.
During the first and second waves, most people seemed confused, but it’s different now. Everyone was preparing for the monsters’ attacks with determined eyes.
And in the middle of them.
“Everyone, brace yourselves! If we stick to the plan, no one will get hurt!”
Yu Seo-ah, who had become the camp’s unspoken leader, was there.
At her shout, people united in spirit, gripping the weapons in their hands tightly.
“Squeak! Squeak, squeak!”
“Woah, monkeys?”
The main force of the third monster wave: Brown Monkeys.
The creatures that appeared from the direction of the rocky mountain were small, about 1 meter tall, but each of them was holding something firmly in their hands.
From roughly hewn stone tools made by splitting rocks, to stone axes made by attaching stones to sticks, and spears with sharpened ends.
The creatures were wielding weapons confidently, as if they were humans.
“Everyone, don’t panic! We can do it if we just follow the plan!”
With Yu Seo-ah reassuring the people, the full-scale battle began.
The monkeys swung their weapons, and the people in the front lines blocked the attacks with thick wooden sticks.
The people in the rear lines thrust out the wooden spears they had prepared in advance.
Thwack!
“Ooo-eek!”
Shields and spears.
It was a classic method, and the equipment wasn’t in great condition, but there was no better way to fight monsters than this.
As four or five monkeys fell from the first attack, confidence filled the people’s faces.
However.
“Oook!”
“Ookee-eek!”
“Squeak!”
“T-there are too many of them!”
The number of enemies had increased dramatically compared to the first and second waves.
The number of monkeys visible right now seemed to easily exceed thirty, and new monkeys were appearing over the rocky mountain.
As the number of enemies increased, the formation naturally became a little unstable.
And right now was the moment.
“Start it.”
It was Se-un’s turn to step up.
“H-hyungnim [term of respect for an older brother or male friend]. Are you sure about this? I-I’m really slow!”
Thud.
“Ugh, crazy!”
Park Jung-pil was holding a bright yellow banana – where he had gotten it from was anyone’s guess.
Se-un forcefully pushed the guy’s back, who was desperately resisting.
As Park Jung-pil, holding the banana, was thrown among the monkeys, the monkeys reacted immediately.
“Squeak?”
“Ook-squeak?”
‘Those guys go crazy for bananas.’
This was something he knew from his memories before the regression.
Although they sometimes eat meat, their favorite food is still bananas that grow in the forest.
A fruit they usually can’t easily eat because of the wolves in the forest. Now, a human, who could also be considered food, had appeared holding that fruit.
“Kee-eek!”
“Ook! Ookireek!”
The monkeys excitedly ran to catch Park Jung-pil.
Thanks to their attention being diverted, the situation of the people who were struggling in battle improved significantly.
“Aaaah!”
Soon after, Park Jung-pil began to desperately run, luring the monkeys as planned. No, at this point, he probably had already forgotten about the plan.
‘He’s faster than I thought.’
At least he thought he would be hit a few times.
As if proving the saying ‘Turtle of Daesan-dong’ [a local saying implying unexpected speed], Park Jung-pil’s legs were moving faster than anyone else.
The number of monkeys chasing after him already exceeded twenty.
“Hyungnim! Save me! I can’t run anymore!”
“Come this way.”
“I’m already going!”
“Ookee-eek!”
“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”
Watching him run with twenty, no, now almost thirty monkeys chasing after him, he was reminded of the Pied Piper [a reference to the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who lured rats and children away with his music].
Whoosh!
The mana circle surrounding Se-un’s heart rotated rapidly.
It was time to use the mana circle he had created before the monster wave started.
-You have opened the Treasure Trove of Greed.
[Fireball]
– A signature spell of the skilled mage ‘Dayrin Maychelt’ of the Red Tower. It has been modified to be used regardless of the circle, and its destructive power varies greatly depending on the amount of mana injected.
Whoosh!
A spark appeared in front of Se-un’s hand.
The circle rotated rapidly, pouring all the mana he had accumulated before the wave into the spark.
It was completely different from the spark of Kasha he had used last night.
The size of the fireball had already exceeded the size of his fist, becoming as large as Se-un’s upper body.
It was only a 1st circle spell, but he had poured all of his mana into it.
“Jung-pil, dodge it yourself.”
“Huh? What! Aaaah!”
Se-un threw the fireball with all his might, like throwing a baseball.
As Park Jung-pil screamed and threw himself to the side, the monkeys following behind him naturally became the target.
“……Ookik?”
The creatures, who had been distracted by the banana, finally recognized the existence of the fireball.
But it was already too late to avoid it.
Kwaaaang!!
The moment the fireball touched the first monkey, a violent explosion occurred.
Originally, a fireball shouldn’t have this much power, but the one Se-un used was no ordinary fireball.
It was someone’s modification from Mamon’s vault.
Thanks to that, all thirty monkeys melted into the flames.
The ones at the very center disappeared without a trace, and even the ones at a distance had their fur catch fire and screamed.
They desperately rolled on the ground, but the fire caused by magic, not ordinary fire, did not easily die out.
Thus, with a single attack, about thirty monkeys were annihilated.
“……H-hyungnim. What is this? Magic? This is magic, right? Crazy!”
It wasn’t just Park Jung-pil who was surprised. The gazes of the people who were fighting the monkeys were all directed at Se-un.
“Magic?”
“It’s not like some fantasy novel…….”
“Well. That system message and the monster wave too. It’s already no different from a fantasy novel.”
“Then maybe we can use it too? Magic?”
“M-maybe?”
As the number of enemies was reduced by more than half at once, the people’s battle went smoothly.
Although he had used up all his mana, Se-un’s main fighting style was close combat from the start.
If Se-un joined the battle right now, it seemed like the wave would end in a few minutes.
But.
‘They should be able to handle that much on their own.’
Se-un didn’t bother to step up.
Even if Se-un stepped up and dealt with the monsters now, he would only be taking away the opportunity for people to gain experience. Besides, if he kept stepping up, they might become too dependent on him.
It was an opportunity to earn points, but Se-un didn’t do it.
‘Either way, I can earn points outside.’
The hidden pieces weren’t just in the Wolf Forest.
There were bound to be similar hidden pieces on the hill where the boars came out, or on the rocky mountain where the monkeys appeared.
Right now, dealing with those first was the priority.
-You have devoured ‘Brown Monkey.’
-Absorbing nutrients increases agility by 3.
-Absorbing nutrients increases agility by 0.3.
…
-The constellation, ‘Hungry Prince,’ is greatly satisfied that the food is very crispy and well-cooked.
-The constellation, ‘Hungry Prince,’ shouts with joy as soon as he takes a bite of the monkey roast!
Se-un, who hadn’t forgotten to use the Authority of Gluttony, turned his back.
Just as he was about to move his feet, Park Jung-pil, who had come to his senses, spoke to him.
“H-hyungnim! You’re really amazing! Wow, magic! I-I think I made the right choice following hyungnim!”
“Is that so?”
“Of course! I, Park Jung-pil! Will serve hyungnim for life!”
“Then, please continue to take care of me.”
“Of course! Please entrust me with everything you need in the future!”
“That’s good. I was worried about what to do if you said you couldn’t. You should eat the banana. You’ll have to run a lot during the next wave too.”
“Yes! I have to run a lot……. Huh?”
As if the conversation was over, Se-un moved his feet towards the hill.
And behind him.
“I have to run again……?”
Park Jung-pil, holding the banana, was looking at Se-un’s back with pitiful eyes.
* * *
[Tutorial First Chapter – Adaptation]
-You have successfully passed the third wave.
-50 points are provided to all personnel who participated in the wave.
Not long after Se-un left, the wave ended successfully.
‘It ended faster than I thought.’
Although he had greatly reduced the number of monkeys, he thought it would still take more than ten minutes, but they had defeated all the enemies in less than five minutes.
That meant that people’s mindset had changed that much.
Soon after, the individual contribution points were also tallied.
[1st place: Jung Se-un 2,480 points]
[2nd place: Yu Seo-ah 340 points]
[3rd place: Kang Han-cheol 320 points]
“Oh ho.”
His contribution points aside, the rankings of 2nd and 3rd place, Yu Seo-ah and Kang Han-cheol, had changed.
“Well, even if it’s cheap, they’ve been given proper weapons.”
Before the regression, she was called ‘Seonpung’ and even rose to the ranks of a ranker [a top-ranked player].
Before arriving here, she said she was learning swordsmanship on Earth.
Even if he acknowledged Kang Han-cheol’s physicality, he was relatively inferior compared to a martial artist wielding a sword.
“Kooik?”
“Kweeeek!”
As he climbed up the hill, more boars than he had expected came into Se-un’s view.
The creatures, who were burying their heads in the ground to find something, rushed towards Se-un as soon as they recognized his presence.
It was truly a reckless charge.
It was a threatening charge that would have terrified and made an ordinary person run away.
Swish-
Ordinary Brown Boars were no longer a match for Se-un.
As he evaded the charge with the footwork of the Sip Ro Dam Toe [likely a martial arts technique] and swung his sword using the Hamelga Swordsmanship [likely a specific swordsmanship style], the boars fell like scarecrows.
-Level has increased.
When he had broken through about half of the hill, Se-un’s body flashed briefly.
Due to the nature of the tutorial, which only deals with limited monsters, it was common for a level to increase around the fifth wave, but Se-un had already reached level 3 in just the third wave.
With the addition of the Authority of Gluttony, his stats were already far beyond those of a beginner.
How long had he walked like that?
The boars rampaging on the hill were quickly cleared, and as he arrived at the highest hill, the target Se-un was looking for revealed itself.
“Kweeeek!”
“Let’s finish this quickly since time is precious.”
A large body taller than Se-un’s height, and solid muscles that were not hidden even by thick leather.
The boss monster that dominated the Boar Hill, the ‘Hill-Digging Boar,’ revealed its thick tusks and snorted.