Community Meetup
"Wait. What about my reward?"
Final rewards can be claimed after score tallying in the Waiting Room.
"Then we're good."
I accepted the darkening vision with practiced ease and began anticipating the next step.
'Are they all there?'
They should have arrived by now. I'd just cleared the hardest difficulty, so if anyone who picked an easier one was late—well, that'd be its own problem. Especially that Frosty Beast guy. I really wanted to meet him.
- Pop.
Just like that, the space still thick with battle heat flipped in an instant.
.. ... ....
#
- Pop.
"H-huh...!"
The newbies who had just finished their tutorials began trickling into the Waiting Room one by one. Their clear times were pretty average across the board. The tutorial was the kind of stage where failing was the strange part. So rather than whether they could clear it, the real question became how effectively and decisively they could carve out their own standing.
"...Whoa."
"O-over there."
Amid the newbies' gazes, the red-haired figure who had just entered radiated an aura strong enough to press down on everyone around her.
- Carmia.
The promising rookie of the proud Dragonoid race, bearer of the title "star of the generation."
"...."
With only the faintest traces of battle left on her, she looked around with complete composure.
"What are you looking for?"
One of her former teammates asked. Carmia answered calmly.
"Just checking things out."
"Hmm... Looks like most of the people from the community are here."
There had been thirty participants in this tutorial. No—thirty-one, if you counted the mysterious newbie.
"That person..."
"That person? Ah..."
The teammate immediately understood who Carmia meant. The one who had set the community ablaze. The chaos incarnate. The unknown newbie who had been dropped into the Apocalypse difficulty tutorial alone, with no other information released. Everyone was quietly interested in that existence.
"Where the hell is that bastard?!"
Look at that. Someone was stomping the ground in irritation, desperately searching for the community figure. White hair like fresh snow, beast ears proudly perked up, and a tail that swayed with every agitated movement—clearly a tiger's. Tiger Clan—Lisha.
"L-Lisha... calm down a little..."
"Yeah. Tone it down."
Carmia, unable to watch any longer, added her own remark.
"Eek?!"
Who dared— Lisha whipped around with a glare, only to meet the Dragonoid's eyes. The sight of someone she acknowledged as a peer and generational powerhouse made her...
"...Hmph."
Lisha obediently backed down, exhaling in clear displeasure.
"Phew..."
The incident ended without incident, but Carmia knew that fiery temper wouldn't stay quiet for long. That hot-blooded nature and decision-making style had already earned her quite a reputation beyond her results.
- Vmm...
While the tutorial winners gathered in the Waiting Room were still sizing each other up—
"Huh?"
"Oh..."
A phenomenon that captured everyone's attention manifested simultaneously from multiple directions.
Congratulations on clearing the tutorial.
Please wait a moment. Score tallying will begin shortly.
"...!"
Score tallying. It wasn't just about claiming rewards for clearing stages—it was the crucial scoreboard that determined who among the gathered challengers had achieved the most outstanding results. Because of that, some people in the room thought the same thing.
That the challenger who had stirred up the community with the Apocalypse difficulty must have ultimately failed.
"...Talk about a quick cooldown."
"Right? From the start, it was obviously..."
Just as the excited atmosphere was starting to cool—
"Finally showed up."
"...?"
Behind that relieved voice came a thick, stomach-turning stench of blood and killing intent that made everyone's brows furrow.
"Hic."
Someone let out a thin whimper. The frightened gazes landed on the man who had just arrived in the Waiting Room.
"Damn, good to see you all."
The man carefully scanned every single face in the room, then—
"I've been through way too much."
He let out a tired breath and grinned with a bloodthirsty expression.
"...."
To the onlookers, that smile looked like the deranged grin of a terrifying, blood-soaked lunatic—
but Kang Woojin couldn't even imagine such a thing.
.. ... ....
#
'Kinda disappointing.'
I felt a bit let down as I met the stares coming from all directions. I'd thought we'd built some kind of inner camaraderie on the community, but the reactions coming back were pretty cold. Was this the icy competitiveness between dimensions? Still, I figured they'd at least acknowledge that I'd survived this long.
"...Ah. I forgot about that."
Once my thoughts reached that point, I realized the massive mistake I'd been overlooking.
I never introduced myself.
- Step.
While I was thinking I'd messed up the first button, I felt a presence approaching.
"You."
Striking beauty paired with shocking external features. Two black horns proudly rising from red hair caught my eye.
'Beastkin. Dragon.'
I'd never seen one in person, but I'd caught glimpses of hunters with those traits on TV a few times. Beings from other dimensions, each carrying their own unique properties. This woman with dragon traits was probably the same.
"Don't tell me... Apocalypse?"
"You figured it out right away."
I'm honored. Especially since such a pretty person recognized me first—maybe I could brag about this to Chief Choi over drinks?
'Woojin's too ugly to have any luck with women. Give up.'
The memory of a friend who'd once said something harsh to me flashed by, but my brain had long since overcome that old trauma(?) thanks to the current dopamine rush.
"It's me. Floor Spreader."
"....!"
Not just the Dragonoid hunter in front of me—gasps of shock echoed from all around.
"That was... actually true?"
"Huh? Of course it's one hundred percent true. I went through some seriously dogshit situations to get here."
But what was this awkwardness? This tense atmosphere? The return of the legendary newbie and news of his exploits should've been met with open arms, yet everyone was keeping a cautious distance like they were watching animals at a zoo. It was seriously grating.
"What?!"
Just as I was about to slip away from the creeping stares, a rather noisy presence stomped straight toward me from afar. This time it was a beauty with white hair, tiger ears, and a tail glaring at me.
"Don't make me laugh! You really cleared the Apocalypse difficulty...?!"
"Sure did."
"....!"
The white tiger beastkin's pretty brow twisted into a vicious scowl as she growled.
"Who the hell do you think you're lying to?"
"Lying? About what?"
"Confess the truth right now. I'll forgive you generously if you do."
"Hoo... Then I guess I have no choice."
"Right, it was nonsense from the very beginning—"
"I didn't just clear the Apocalypse difficulty. I completely wrecked it. Damn, the entire community should be worshipping me right now."
"...You."
"Lisha, that's enough."
Just as something was about to erupt, the Dragonoid girl beside her held back the hunter called Lisha.
"Lisha. That's a really beautiful name..."
"Don't call my name so casually!"
"...And you, please refrain from provoking her. Causing a disturbance in the Waiting Room will lead to penalties."
"Yessir."
Kang Woojin here. A man who knows when to back off gracefully. For now, I needed to quietly retreat and analyze the situation. And to help with that analysis—
'You're the one.'
I chose the calm-looking red-haired Dragonoid in front of me.
"Since I introduced myself, I'd like to ask your name."
"...Carmia."
"Carmia, I was dragged here without any preparation, so there's a lot I don't know."
So be my tutorial fairy. When I looked at her with that obvious intent, Carmia's gaze naturally drifted upward.
"...?"
"The results should be out soon."
"Ah."
Results. The users who finished the tutorial stages would recognize each other's strength through the scoreboard.
"...."
Even Lisha, who had been glaring at me the whole time, was now looking up at the scoreboard that had appeared.
Before long, the results came out—
▶ 1st: Floor Spreader (Lv.14)
▶ 2nd: Yeouiju Dragon (Lv.9)
▶ 3rd: Frosty Beast (Lv.8)
...
"...Huh?"
For a moment, dumbfounded reactions leaked out from all around. Among them was the white tiger beastkin who had been called Lisha earlier.
"His level... is that right...?"
Someone voiced the question with a disbelieving breath. Level 14. A number that completely overwhelmed even the current second place, and reactions exploded from every direction.
'I really did pull ahead a lot.'
Was this the power of the solo clear bonus? It was an incredibly reassuring number.
"Eheh, how embarrassing."
"H-huh? Why... this is..."
Among them, the most spectacular reaction came from the one who had been denying my existence all this time.
"You... just what are you?"
Looking at the red-haired woman's startled expression as she turned to me, it seemed she really was the one using the username 'Yeouiju Dragon.'
- Step.
I gladly walked over and offered her a handshake.
"Thanks for explaining all that. It helped a lot."
"...Ah."
She shook my hand with a dazed look, and next—
"Frosty Beast, you here?"
"...!"
When I called out the username, I spotted one person flinching hard.
"It's you, huh."
At the end of my gaze stood the white tiger beastkin who, until moments ago, had been fuming and ready to charge at me.
"I really wanted to meet you. Glad I did. Right?"
I approached the hunter called Lisha and looked down at her. Between us sat the massive gap created by the results.
"Let's get along."
With trembling eyes and a nervous gulp, saliva slid down her throat.