Chapter 8
Chapter 8
1. Status Window and Tutorial -6
'The Corporation judges. The Corporation judges.'
R-11's world was a world ruled by a single megacorp.
A world of relentless surveillance, where every move every human made was observed by densely packed surveillance cameras, and even a small curse about the "Corporation" muttered in the bathroom would be written into your personnel file the next day.
Now, three years after obtaining his Status Window, he was living a life that would be the envy of anyone in his world, but the experiences of his childhood still remained lodged in his mind like a wedge.
A stark white interview room, a single interviewer. And hundreds of CCTVs.
The Human Evaluation Center, where cameras densely covering the walls of the interview room watched him from every direction, analyzing even the twitch of a tiny facial muscle to render judgment.
Those eerie eyeballs hounded him, catching even a single uneven breath. You're nervous. That's not a good attitude. Is the leg shaking a sign of anxiety? Self-control in the bottom 30%, far from the talent we seek.
Nausea. Queasiness. That pressure of feeling stripped naked even while clothed, as if they were peering into his very skin. The chilling sensation of being a corpse on a dissection table.
Even now, just thinking about it made him shudder. A horrible experience.
Then why?
"........"
Why did he feel something similar right now?
"........Ssshh."
The guy was calmly steadying his breathing and watching R-11. That was all. He wasn't making threats, wasn't even making a face. But that gaze. The gaze alone dredged up the memories of that day.
It was just a single pair of eyes.
Yet it felt like hundreds of eyes were staring into the deepest part of him──.
........
R-11 soon understood the reason.
"Why, you goddamn—!!"
The fist he swung like a storm was driving back that insolent beginner, along with the gauntlet's fierce flames. Noah Won's clothes were already in tatters, and his skin was scorched.
But he could tell.
In truth, not a single one of his attacks had landed.
R-11's fist came flying with a ferocious shout. I took in every movement with my eyes and watched steadily. Just like when I used to analyze the details of each movement I envisioned in the mirror, back in that practice room where even the fan barely worked.
When you do that, you see a lot.
Combat is, in a way, close to a spot-the-difference puzzle. At least for me.
On the large scale, the gaze. Predicting the trajectory of the opponent's attack from the direction the eyes move.
On the small scale, gauging the strength of an attack or the presence of a feint from the tension and release of the trapezius, the trembling of a jaw clenched with force, the tempo of breathing.
Then, if I move appropriately... like this.
"Raaaah—!!"
"Ssshh."
Whoosh—! The flame-wreathed fist swept over my head. Dodged.
In the end, if you look well and move well, most attacks can be dodged or blocked. It's a basic, obvious statement, but it's that much more solid and powerful for it.
The Korean Civil War, when the conflict between the government and hunters reached its peak. My desperate struggle to survive that hellscape gave me this ability. How many hunters had I fought?
For months after surviving the civil war, fighting people had felt more familiar than fighting the plant bastards.
In that sense, R-11 was not a hunter with much experience fighting people. I could tell.
His movements seemed designed for fighting monsters larger than humans. His motions were big, and his guard was sloppy. If he wanted to smash a human head, his aim should have been a bit lower.
His movements were so simple it was almost boring. Enough that even after solving the puzzle, I had time left over to think about what to eat when I got back after this fight. The outcome was already decided.
If I intended to kill him── I'd deliberately plant a "bad habit," bait his stance into collapsing, then counter and cut his throat in one go.
But hadn't R-11 told me? The System fines you for killing hunters in these events. And besides, if you asked whether he'd done something deserving of death, the answer was no.
I'd drag it out for three minutes and hold on, collect the reward he'd boasted about, then decline his pyramid-scheme pitch. That seemed clean.
Take my time and fight slowly. There's no need to rush.
Fwoosh—!
The heat of the flames sweeping past my side singed my cheek.
If I'd wanted to, I could have cleanly blocked even the aftereffects like that, but instead I took the hits while deflecting them as narrowly as I could. To put it the way Minsik would when he teased me, I was "ability freeloading"—racking up what you might call side income.
[Download -2].
Sssssss──
Some of the flames coming off the gauntlet I'd deflected veered slightly toward me. And I felt them being properly absorbed.
My ability downloads faster the closer I am to the enemy's ability. To suck it in at maximum speed, taking the hit head-on without a guard would be best, but then my body would be crispy before the download finished.
So this tempo was the optimal flow. Like being slowly roasted as stone-grilled squid. A little hot, and my skin stung, but the actual damage stopped at around a first-degree burn.
Because I was blocking everything that needed to be blocked.
Just when I figured I'd absorbed about 20% by feel, ding.
Along with the system notification sound, a display appeared in the corner of my vision.
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Flame Goat Gauntlet: Flame Emission』 (Downloading... 22%)]
I was keeping a poker face since I was in the middle of a fight, so I didn't show it, but inwardly I was startled.
...Does the Status Window support my skill this much—make it this easy to understand?
If so, maybe it would attach an effective range or crosshair to Minsik's 『Bullseye』 ability. For a pyrokinetic, maybe it would display flame temperature or Magic Power capacity.
(Downloading... 42%)
Around then, the mentor's face twisted strangely.
"You... are you messing around right now...?!"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm telling you to stop appraising me with those eyes and fight properly, you goddamn bastard—!!"
That was unexpected. He'd noticed I was fighting while slacking off and dragging it out. Whether he took it as mockery or insult, veins bulged on R-11's forehead in an instant. His face twisted badly. He looked like a gorilla that had blown its top with rage.
It didn't seem like something worth getting this angry over. Did he have some similar trauma in his past?
Fwoooosh—!!
The amount of flame erupting from the gauntlet doubled. It was enough to nearly cover R-11's upper body, and the heat was enough to scorch the weeds around him.
This seems way beyond the scope of a "guidance spar"... Is he really going through with it?
By then, the other mentors were also shouting in alarm.
"What are you doing! Do you intend to kill a beginner who just arrived?!"
"You'll be fined, R-11! This is a tutorial stage! In the first place, you were dominating him, so why suddenly use lethal force...?!"
As the situation grew more serious, Sohye, who had been on the verge of tears, also cried out, her voice strained.
"Three minutes, the three minutes passed long ago, mentor! You said it yourself, that you'd acknowledge Noah if he held out for three minutes!"
"Shut up—!!"
Despite the attempts to stop him, the guy paid no attention. It looked like he was going to go through with it.
Actually, attacks that flow and scatter like flames are a nightmare matchup for me. If he attacks by blanketing a wide area all at once like that, I can't block it all with this one small shield.
In times like this, I usually pressure them so they can't use a big technique in the first place, but that approach already seemed too late. Should I just tank it with my body?
Then, Sergios of Mount Moria. The lunatic who hadn't taught his mentees a single word so far stepped forward.
"You dragged out a fight that could have ended in 30 seconds. Is toying with a foolish weakling that enjoyable?"
Swish. He smoothly raised his spear.
A grip with the spearhead pointing downward. A throwing stance. Was he going to mediate the fight?
Right, he'd gone on about the virtues of a hero or whatever. In that case, from his perspective, the sight of R-11 beating on a beginner who'd just arrived would naturally look unpleasant. He has a surprisingly decent side.
"I will end this worthless battle with my spear. Block it."
Clink.
The spear was raised, and the sharp spearhead took aim.
...But the direction was a little strange. The spear was aimed not at R-11, but at me. I hurriedly spoke to the spear guy.
"Hold on."
"What?"
"I think you're aiming at the wrong place."
"I aimed correctly. Did you not toy with that fool?"
Wait, was that aimed at me?
Wheeeee—
The sound of wind being sucked in. A noise reminiscent of a typhoon. With a density that made R-11's flames look shabby, a powerful vortex coiled around the spear guy's spear.
My instinct's warning light lit up. That, that's dangerous. If I block it wrong, that's an attack that'll send me to the afterlife. Choking with indignation, I shouted at the spear guy.
"No, the one who started the fight is that bald guy! The one who kept hitting me the whole time is that bald guy! The one still preparing a killing blow is that bastard too, so why are you aiming at me, a newbie, you crazy son of a bitch!"
"Because you're stronger."
"So because I'm stronger, you're saying I should apologize and be the bigger person and back off first?!"
"No. I mean you should have killed that idiot long ago. A hero has no time to waste. I cannot stand to watch you laze about like that."
"...This guy's a complete lunatic!"
Apparently, he was saying he was throwing the spear at me because I hadn't been decisive enough for his tastes.
No, butting into someone else's fight was already absurd, but this case was outright unfair. I was downloading that mentor bastard's skill, for crying out loud!
On top of that, R-11 hadn't canceled his attack. The flames leaking from the gauntlet had nearly covered his entire body, and whatever he planned to do with it, it was definitely going to be aimed at me.
I was caught in a pincer between two mentors.
Focus. Focus.
Even if you're dragged into a tiger's den, you survive as long as you keep your wits. I can do this. I just have to take attacks from two hunters with higher weight classes than me at the same time.
"『Whirlwind Thrust』."
"I'll burn you to death, 『Flame Emission』──!!"
Wheeeee— fwoooosh—!!
Attacks flew in from both sides: a wind-wreathed spear streaking in almost silently, and a massive flame roaring and crackling as if to burn the world.
The only mercy was that the spear guy's throw had an honest trajectory. If he'd truly meant to kill, it would have come on a far nastier path. He had the skill for it.
...I didn't want to use this.
I forgot everything. I emptied all the resentment and indignation from my head and thought only of blocking that attack. My head went blank. My vision narrowed. My ears grew muffled.
All I could see was the spear.
And I used Minsik's 『Bullseye』, which I'd stored long before entering the tutorial. Now this shield would definitely touch that spear.
One thing left. Grit my teeth and deflect it.
Screeeeech──!!
Push it away. From left, to right. Like that.
Thwoong──!!
I deflected it.
After the dust kicked up by the collision settled.
"Gah, guh...!"
I was alive, and a spear was lodged in R-11's abdomen. It hadn't suddenly sprouted from somewhere. That was the spear guy's thrown spear.
The spear deflected by my parry had scattered the Flame Emission shooting at me and then struck R-11 directly.
Blocking the Flame Emission had been intentional, but I hadn't expected the spear to hit R-11. I got lucky. Or that bald guy had lost his mind more than I thought.
"Wh-what just happened... Why did R-11 get hit? The spear was definitely heading that way...!"
"Noah! Noah, are you okay?!"
"Yes. I'm fine."
I smiled at Sohye, who had run over with a worried expression, and reassured her.
Looking around, the onlookers' gazes were fixed on me. They seemed to be trying to memorize the face of the person who'd wrecked a mentor.
[The tutorial has ended. You may now return.]
Just then, the system notification appeared. Had it been scheduled to end around now anyway, or had it ended early because of this commotion?
"........"
R-11, who had been clutching the spear in his gut and groaning for a while, glared at me fiercely, then vanished as if evaporating. He didn't seem dead; he'd apparently returned to his own world.
It seemed I'd made an enemy on day one.
Speaking of bad connections, this side couldn't be left out either. I looked around the spot where the spear guy had been to demand an explanation, but he wasn't there.
That bastard had apparently returned the moment the return notification popped up too. I hurriedly took deep breaths to calm my stress. I'm pissed.
Next time I see him, I'll definitely pay him back... No, never mind. Revenge and all that, none of it matters. The best policy with lunatics is just to avoid them.
Please, just let me never run into that bastard.
I said a brief goodbye to Sohye, added each other as friends, and wrapped things up. Since our worlds had similar cultures, it seemed like we could get close easily.
Also, she seemed to feel both apologetic and grateful toward me. If we stayed acquainted, at least she wouldn't feed me false information. I hoped she'd share any good information she found.
"Return."
[Returning to your original world.]
With that, I finished the entire tutorial and returned.
When I opened my eyes, I was in the mountains.
Exactly the same place where I'd entered the tutorial. The middle of a quiet mountain where neither cicadas nor birds could be heard, on a rock that was decent enough to sit on.
The information gathering that had been my original goal was quite successful. Thanks to R-11's enthusiastic explanation, I now roughly understood how this system worked. It really was similar to an RPG.
I'd also set a goal. To be promoted to a C-rank hunter. Staying at D-rank gave me no way to pay off my debt.
Since I couldn't use the Shop, buying artifacts from it like R-11 did was effectively off the table. I'd probably have to look into other ways to get stronger.
Also, there was side income.
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Flame Goat Gauntlet: Flame Emission』 (Downloading... 100%)]
[『Flame Goat Gauntlet: Flame Emission』 stored]
[-> Download Slot 2: 『Whirlwind Thrust』 (Downloading... 1.1%)]
I'd managed to download the skill of the gauntlet R-11 had been swinging. It was single-use, but if I used it at the right moment, it would be a huge help.
If I had nowhere to use it, I could use it for weeding. The plant bastards steadily expanded their territory bit by bit, so constant weeding was necessary, and with this level of flame, I could comfortably widen Seoul's living radius.
And the spear guy's thrown spear... downloading that was hopeless. The gap in skill between me and the spear guy was so large that the download speed was abysmal.
I'd have to meet him again and take the same attack about 99 more times to get it, which was absurd. If it was just going to occupy a slot like this, it was useless.
[-> Download Slot 2: Empty]
I humbly emptied the download slot.
I'd brought in a fairly bountiful harvest, but R-11 running off left a bitter taste in my mouth. Where did that promise to give me something if I held out for three minutes go? Petty bastard.
[● Random grocery box equivalent to 100,000 kcal (1 Credit)]
I'd been planning to use that as an excuse to ask for a few grocery boxes.
Far in the distance, gaunt, crumbling concrete buildings were visible. The sight of Seoul, the city I governed. Food shortages were already chronic, so today too, a mixed group of hunters and civilians would probably climb the mountain to gather wild greens.
And in the process, a few would get hurt or killed by the lurking plant bastards.
My head cooled.
To participate in the tutorial, I'd told the people of Seoul that I was "going to get something valuable."
I'd certainly gained a lot in the tutorial, but it was all intangible, so I had nothing proper to show them. That bothered me a little. I wondered if this was how a breadwinner felt when he couldn't even bring home a chicken.
I should make a plan to run a stage or something in the near future and get at least one thing...
Ding!
[Tutorial completion reward: Magic Power Generator x1 has been issued.]
[The 1st place bonus reward will be processed as repayment via system authority.]
"........"
A chicken fell from the sky.
I stared blankly at the black generator that had materialized in midair, then quickly scooped it up in both arms and started running down the mountain path. Yeah, this is the kind of thing they should be giving out!
I love you, System!
When I ran down in one dash, the sentries guarding the entrance to Seoul startled and raised their weapons. But once they confirmed my face, they immediately snapped to attention and saluted.
"Hunter Noah Won! You've returned!"
"Um, Hunter, your current condition... should we call the medical unit? You look terrible!"
I ran right past them.
"Let's talk later. Keep up the good work!"
"........"
Then I ran down the main road, up the building stairs, to the command control room. I threw my glove at the face of Minsik, who was sprawled out on the sofa sleeping like the dead, and woke him without hesitation.
"Guh, wh-what?!"
"Got a generator."
"What?"
"I said I got a generator!"
The look on Minsik's face as his eyes went wide was worth seeing.