Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: F-Rank Gate Tutorial Raid
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As expected, it's really just like the game.
This system where users log into the game system one by one to train their characters and clear quests.
[Gate Recognition Code F3449—Gate opened 19 days ago.]
[79:01:37]
The next surge in roughly three days.
Kali said.
“F probably means F-rank dungeon, or rather gate, right?”
“Most likely.”
“If this is F-rank, just how bad are A-rank or S-rank? One surge could wipe out a whole city.”
“Well, but Awakeners can level up to 99 too.”
Gotta grind those levels hard.
It was profoundly regrettable and strangely unsettling that this nation's safety hinged on that leveling.
[Kaisha (lv3): In Progress—Tutorial]
She's still seriously low-level, but she could probably close an F-rank gate just fine.
“It's empty.”
For now, it's still a cave exploration.
True to a cave teeming with monsters, it's eerie and damp.
Since they'd cleaned up the outside as a group during the second raid, there were hardly any monsters near the gate entrance.
I looked at the guild members.
“Everyone's in tutorial mode, right?”
“Yes.”
“But how long does this tutorial mode last?”
“I'm a bit curious about that too...”
[Quest:]
[Access the Babel Tower.]
This was the next quest the game system had given us who were in the middle of the tutorial.
The guild members, who had been quietly following me, chimed in.
“It seems like accessing this 'Babel Tower' is the real start of the main game.”
“But what's the Babel Tower? Wasn't it in Vipa?”
“I played a mobile game with tower climbing once. You clear quests to climb the tower, but where is the tower?”
“Maybe it's connected through somewhere in this gate.”
“That seems the most likely right now. The only dungeon we can enter right away is this one gate.”
Step, step.
The sound of people's footsteps echoed through the cave.
I listened to the guild members' conversation while walking silently ahead, then suddenly stopped and raised my hand quickly.
“Halt.”
Screech, screeech—
The footsteps of some creatures.
The noise tickled my eardrums sensitively. My eyes darted around sharply.
“There are a lot! Battle stations!”
“Eek!”
Unknown monsters charged at us in a group.
[Slash lv2]
Splaatt—!!
Monster blood and slime splattered, but since it was the same in the game, no one was startled.
Users often said Vipa Reality was insanely realistic for no good reason, but now it felt believable even if this turned out to be another world.
Everything was almost identical, except the items were crap.
Slash! Splaatt!!
What I swung was the real sword I'd gotten from Kim Je-hyun's card.
Even though I'd bought a light one, my strength must have increased since the game became reality, because it felt even lighter than expected.
[Giant Ant]
Ants, huh.
The trope of familiar creatures turning into monsters was classic Midgard story.
No idea why those monsters were popping out of real gates, though.
Me, Hyunwoo-nim, Mura-nim, and Kali handled the front line, skillfully smashing the monsters.
“Light it up!”
“Yes, sir!”
At my shout, several fireballs shot from behind.
[Fire Arrow]
The basic magic skill from the rear lit up the depths of the gate, revealing the monsters' carapaces glowing red.
Kali froze, trembling.
“F-Fuck, there's a ton.”
“Don't freak. They're weaker than they look.”
“Yeah, makes sense. Numbers are their biggest strength anyway.”
I shouted loudly.
“Giant Ants! Everyone, stick to your roles!”
Identifying the monsters clearly dispelled the fear. The guild members moved in perfect sync.
Me, Kali, Hyunwoo-nim, and Mura-nim took tank and melee DPS.
Skill window.
[Slash lv2]
[Thrust lv2]
[Block lv1]
[Strike lv1]
[Punch lv1]
[Kick lv1]
[Lightning lv1]
[Ice Ball lv1]
[Fire Arrow lv1]
[Heal lv1]
[Bless lv1]
[Curse lv1]
The so-called 'aptitude test skill window.'
It exists to pick out the skills and job classes that best match each user's 'brainpower.'
Whoosh. Whooosh.
Maya came up behind me, casting buffs and saying in a tense voice.
“Aren't there too many?”
“It's fine. We have plenty of numbers too.”
Thirteen party members.
Not just any users, but a perfectly optimized group for defending a territory in siege warfare.
Low level or not, team play skills don't vanish.
“We'll push straight through like this. Use the guild voice chat like in the game.”
Voice chat on, mic on.
["Roger."]
The voice burrowed straight into my ear without any device, making the guild members flinch and look up.
It felt so exactly like the game that the sudden tension melted away.
["Whoa. Using voice chat makes it feel super real-game-like."]
["Leveled up!"]
Enker and Mino, who loved voice chat in the game, jumped right in.
["Man, this is nice."]
Guild members turned on voice chat one by one, chattering away.
Kali let out a dying wail.
“Argh! Rear, you got time for chit-chat?! These ant bastards are freaking everywhere!!”
This guy's good in a fight but such a drama queen.
Kali's surprisingly timid, but gamer instincts are etched into the body, not the brain.
Screaming he's dying while pulling off 3-kills per hit.
“It's manageable.”
Hyunwoo-nim, already relaxed, said in a laid-back voice.
Splaatt—!!
“Not F-rank for nothing.”
Fear was gone.
[Bless lv1]
[Fire Arrow lv1]
Self-bless, then fire arrows into the cave as I charged into the ant swarm.
Tadadadot!
“Whoa! Guild Master!”
Laughter and cheers mixed from behind.
I leaped right into the black wriggling mass of ants. All the front monsters turned to me.
[Lightning lv1]
[Fire Arrow lv1]
Lighting the way again, I swung my sword with all my might.
[Slash lv2]
Precise brainpower control.
KABOOM—!!
Skills chained right after.
[Lightning lv1]
[Fire Arrow lv1]
[Thrust lv2]
[Slash lv2]
Low-level basic skills, but still felt great.
Using game skills freely in reality felt surreal while doing it, and the moment I realized it.
BOOM—!!
Thrill surged through my body.
["Whoa! That ruthless use of ants as fuel!"]
["Ant evolves into Fire Ant."]
["Puhahaha!!"]
["Whew. She's hyped, hyped."]
["Guild Master, can you tone it down? Scared the cave'll collapse."]
["It's a gate, it's tough."]
The flashy show completely erased the guild's tension.
The guild members were laughing.
“Ah...”
After fighting hard, I paused.
At my pause, the laughing rear guild members reacted instantly.
["What's up?"]
["Something wrong?"]
“Forgot low-level means mana runs out fast.”
Laughter erupted again.
["Pull back to rear now."]
["Good work."]
["Recruiting party to rescue mana-less Guild Master."]
["I'll break through the front."]
I'd thought I'd pushed deep alone, but they'd caught up quick. Guild members arrived soon.
Still swinging my sword, Kali's eyes went wide.
“Huh? Mana's empty, how're you killing monsters?”
“Turns out normal attacks still work without skills.”
“Oh. It does, huh.”
Guild members pushed me to the rear and kept breaking through.
Still a mountain of ants left, but no crisis sense like at the start.
Abyss came beside me.
“Sis, check your inventory. Should be some items from the first quest reward.”
I opened inventory right away.
“Yeah.”
It was packed with basic mana potions and health potions.
Tried a mana potion.
[HP] 420/420
[MP] 310/310
Mana pool so small it fills right up with basic potions—really weird.
Obviously, at max level, no potion could fully restore bottomed HP in one go.
More stats below.
[Space Dominance] 4998340
[Max Attack Power] 15945
[Avg Attack Power] 321
Space Dominance barely 5 million, average attack in the 300s.
“......”
Weird, you.
My original Space Dominance was over 100 million, not even numerically displayed, max attack similar, estimated around 10 billion.
I'd kept average attack around low 1 million.
I'd hidden my power by lowering that 'average attack power' stat, holding back on ults.
Asked Abyss.
“Yerin, what's your average attack showing?”
“Mine's around 400, and those ants have under 300 HP anyway.”
“Mine's 300-ish.”
“We're still lowbies. 100k feels forever away.”
10k is basic siege DPS for rankers.
Of course, we tweak it there and amp with brainpower.
“Sis, what's your multiplier?”
Meaning max attack as multiple of average.
“About 50x?”
Abyss froze for a sec.
“......No joke. Well, sis was always immeasurable.”
“50's a lot?”
“From Vipa community analyses, never low.”
Abyss looked like she wanted to share her multiplier but held back, probably lower, so didn't ask.
Top ranker pride and all.
“Sis, brainpower stat still the same?”
“Eight 9's plus.”
In Vipa, that's just 'hundred millions.' That's how I hid my power.
Abyss said.
“In the original game, brainpower equaled Space Dominance, but real-world adaptation varies, so they decoupled.”
“Felt like it.”
So 'brainpower' is potential, 'Space Dominance' real-world stat.
At first, just using skills in reality thrilled me, but seeing numbers made me antsy.
Sighed.
“Gotta grind levels hard.”
“Levels come. Real key's brainpower.”
“True, but.”
Siege guilds check that first for recruits.
High level? Max attack.
Low level? Multiplier.
Lowbie checks absolute potential—brainpower aptitude.
Opened analysis.
[Brainpower Aptitude by Skill]
[Slash] 50
[Thrust] 49
[Block] 47
[Strike] -
[Punch] -
[Kick] -
[Lightning] 52
[Ice Ball] -
[Fire Arrow] 51
[Heal] -
[Bless] 57
[Curse] -
Shows how well your brainpower fits each skill.
Higher number means better synergy, exceeding baseline effect.
You reference this picking job skills.
Real-world aptitude test matched game almost perfectly.
Solid brainpower application overall, especially buffs.
“Hmm...”
In reality too, first pick healer skills?
Staring at analysis made me want to fill the blank unused stats.
[Heal lv1]
Whooosh—!
Green heal light swept the area in darkness, guild members fighting turned to me.
“Whoa!”
“AOE healer class.”
Could amp to AOE heal, but obviously way weaker than proper job skill.
“Guild Master recovered mana?”
“Yeah. Got recovery items as tutorial mission rewards in inventory.”
Tried another skill.
[Curse lv1]
Keehehehe, screeech—
Monsters twitched like in pain, slowing drastically.
“Ooh.”
“Effective?”
“Works great!”
Mura-nim tanking up front shouted back.
[Ice Ball lv1]
Fired an Ice Ball too.
Skipped melee unarmed next, they're brawling skills.
Even if I'd win, didn't wanna punch gross huge ant monsters barehanded.
Tutorial life, feeling cocky, then—
Boom!
“!”
Warning popped.
[Warning!]
[Gate rank changing.]