The Tutorial, Part 2
Fortunately, the sword his avatar was holding didn't disappear.
Thank goodness. I almost had to buy another one.
And because the avatar had been absorbed back into his main body and remade, the uncomfortable blood splattered on his clothes was completely gone, leaving him clean.
"Not bad. If I'm too lazy to shower, I could just remake my avatar."
Aside from the fact that the avatar was always created wearing his combat suit, he was highly satisfied.
As he was transported to the third floor of the Tower, a message floated up from the crystal—something that hadn't appeared when he first created the avatar.
Hunt one Goblin.
It seemed that climbing the Tower normally provided quests that allowed immediate progression to the next floor.
Although no goblin was in sight yet, the moment he took his hand off the crystal, a section of the wall slid open. A single goblin slowly walked out toward him.
He had been ambushed on the second floor, but that was because he hadn't ascended normally from the first floor. Under normal circumstances, it seemed climbers started in a safe position.
Unlike the horned rabbit, this green dwarf was wielding a chipped hand axe. Seeing this, Jiwoo quickly opened the Shop window and purchased a shield.
Although his inventory was linked to his main body, the shield weighed well over three kilograms, making it impossible to store inside.
Still, he had earned 1 Shop Point as a reward for hunting the horned rabbit, so it wasn't a total loss.
"Actually, is it a huge loss?"
One point was equivalent to a high-grade recovery potion. If sold outside the Tower, it would fetch at least fifty million won. To think a crude wooden shield like this cost fifty million won!
But he couldn't just keep dying. Even if it was an avatar, the pain was very real.
"Kereuk."
The goblin let out a raspy, boiling growl and glared at him menacingly.
Jiwoo secured the shield to his left arm using the leather strap, raised it defensively, and braced himself.
In the tense standoff, the goblin lunged first.
"Kerek!"
The goblin, about the size of an elementary school child, swung its worn hand axe with all its might. Jiwoo thrust his shield forward, matching the obvious trajectory of the strike.
Thack!
He had expected the axe to bounce off the shield, but the blade bit deep into the wood. Fortunately, the shield was sturdy enough that it didn't split or shatter.
Before the goblin could pull its axe free, Jiwoo twisted the shield and swung his sword.
Lacking physical strength, the goblin couldn't let go of its weapon in time, throwing its posture completely off balance. The swordsmanship he had acquired from the ability stone cut a surprisingly clean arc, slicing through the goblin's throat.
Perhaps because his physical strength wasn't particularly high, the head didn't fly off, but the goblin collapsed, clutching its severed carotid artery.
"Ugh."
The only things he had ever killed in his life were mosquitoes and cockroaches. Killing something that actually splattered blood felt incredibly bizarre. The fact that it was bipedal only made it worse.
Fortunately, unlike the rabbit, the goblin's blood had a bluish tint, which made it feel less real.
Was he not disgusted by the rabbit? He wasn't crazy enough to feel sympathy for a rabbit that had literally killed him. Animals that harmed humans deserved to die.
By the way, if its blood was blue, did that mean copper flowed through its veins instead of iron?
Hemocyanin instead of hemoglobin was less efficient at transporting oxygen, making it unsuitable for vertebrates. It was fascinating.
Could this goblin have lived in a cold environment? Unlike hemoglobin, hemocyanin maintained its activity even in freezing temperatures. If this species had evolved to survive in an arctic zone, it might use copper instead of iron.
"Well, in a world where superpowers are a daily reality, a monster with blue blood isn't even that strange."
Come to think of it, the blood of the monsters in the photos circulating on the internet had been quite colorful. Was that actual blood color, and not just censorship?
With those thoughts, he extracted the mana stone from the goblin's chest.
This time, he didn't have the luck of finding an ability stone, but he did obtain the axe the goblin had been using.
Unlike the one-handed sword, it didn't have a sheath, which was a drawback, but it seemed like it would be useful as a throwing weapon.
Holding the sword in his left hand and the axe in his right, he touched the crystal to ascend to the fourth floor.
The environment on the fourth floor was not much different from the second and third. It looked like ancient ruins, with torches lighting up the interior.
Hunt three Goblins.
The quest to proceed to the next floor appeared on the crystal.
It was exactly as the Tower returnees had described on the internet and broadcasts.
Although the monsters differed by country, they had said that before the 10th floor, the creatures generally possessed the physical capabilities of an elementary school child. However, they had warned that from the 4th floor onward, multiple monsters would appear at once.
Of course, they also mentioned that anyone with a superpower could defeat them without much trouble, but Jiwoo's superpower wasn't the offensive type, which made him nervous.
And one shouldn't underestimate an elementary schooler. An elementary school child often possessed more stamina than a lazy adult male.
Just like on the third floor, the wall rumbled open to reveal an entrance, and three goblins rushed out.
Before the goblins could react, Jiwoo immediately threw his hand axe.
"Strike first, ask questions later!"
The hand axe flew swiftly and embedded itself in the stomach of the goblin on the left.
"Kieeeeek!"
The goblin shrieked and collapsed. It was deeply embedded, but it didn't seem to be a fatal blow.
"Ah, missed."
He had aimed for the head of the middle one, but his throw had gone wide. Fortunately, the goblins had been standing side by side, so the one next to it got hit. Otherwise, he would have just gifted a weapon to the enemy.
The foolish goblin that had been hit by the axe made a stupid choice, likely due to the pain and the foreign object in its body.
It pulled the axe out of its stomach.
Well, it was understandable. When in pain, it was natural to want to remove whatever was causing it. Having had his chest pierced by a rabbit's horn, Jiwoo felt a sudden wave of empathy for the goblin.
But because of that foolish choice, the wound in its stomach tore open, and blood gushed out.
"Ugh, grotesque."
The other goblins, driven into a frenzy by the sight of blood, rushed at him wielding a hand axe and a worn dagger.
While he couldn't handle a three-on-one fight, he could somehow manage a two-on-one.
Clang!
He tried to switch his one-handed sword from his left hand to his right, but he accidentally dropped it onto the ground.
He hurriedly bent down to grab the sword. At that moment, the goblin with the axe swung down toward his head.
He had to block—no, dodge!
Panicking, Jiwoo rolled to the side.
But this was a mistake. There were two enemies.
The goblin with the dagger aimed for his neck and stabbed downward with a reverse grip.
"Whoa!"
He barely managed to raise his shield to block it. The dagger, backed by the goblin's body weight, carried enough force to punch a small hole through the wooden shield.
With his life on the line, Jiwoo swung his sword with trembling hands. Even in his panic, the acquired skill ensured the sword's trajectory was remarkably clean.
The moment his one-handed sword slashed deep into the dagger-wielding goblin's abdomen, a heavy impact struck his head, followed by a warm sensation trickling down.
It was his own blood.
The goblin with the axe had struck him from behind.
You green piece of trash!
His consciousness snapped back to his main body.
Jiwoo clutched his head, groaning from the headache.
He knew it was phantom pain, but it took about ten seconds for the vivid shock to fade.
"Phew."
He was nowhere near used to the pain, but this second death left him with a strange sense of dissonance.
"What is this? Why am I not afraid?"
It was bizarre. He hadn't thought about it during his first death, but this was clearly abnormal.
He wasn't afraid.
The pain was terrifying and unpleasant, but there was no fear regarding death itself. It felt as though he was merely watching the death of a character he controlled in a game.
Was it because it wasn't his actual body dying, but just an avatar?
No way. A normal person would tremble and freeze just standing on a bungee jumping platform.
Just moments ago, he had been so worked up in the fight that he dropped his sword and failed to use his shield properly.
Perhaps if he kept using this ability, he would eventually get used to dying as an avatar. Bungee jumping was only terrifying the first few times; once you got used to it, you could jump without a second thought. Humans were creatures of adaptation, after all.
"Should I look at this positively or negatively?"
On the positive side, it could mean that his Multidimensional Avatar ability possessed an unlisted mental protection function.
On the negative side, could this be a penalty of death?
The fear of death was a survival instinct. Having this instinct paralyzed was a severe detriment. There was no guarantee that a paralyzed survival instinct wouldn't eventually affect his other senses or emotions.
For now, the former seemed more likely. After all, he had only died twice; it was too early for such a major detriment to manifest.
He opened his status window to check his condition.
Status: Normal, Tense, Hungry
No abnormalities were displayed.
But if he doubted the ability itself, he had to question whether he could even trust this status window in the first place.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. It wasn't easy, but once he felt somewhat stable, "Tense" disappeared from the status window.
With his mind cleared, he reevaluated his condition.
"Does the fear of death only disappear while I'm in the avatar, or does it affect me as well?"
He focused, reconstructing his death in his mind, imagining that death was approaching him right now.
A chilling sensation washed over him, and the status window shifted.
Status: Normal, Terrified, Hungry
"Pant! Pant! Pant!"
Because it was a death he had actually experienced, the sensation was incredibly vivid. Cold sweat poured down his body, and he began to shiver violently.
"I-I guess... the fear itself... hasn't disappeared."
Perhaps because he had focused too hard, the terror didn't subside easily. But as he concentrated, he felt as if a protective barrier was wrapped around his mind.
It might have just been his imagination, but the moment he focused on that barrier, the terror began to rapidly fade.