The Second Tutorial (3)

The most annoying part of the tutorial was mealtimes. I had no idea if these damn angel bastards simply didn't eat or if they just lacked any concept of it. They forced us to work without providing a single meal, yet had the nerve to sell food on the side. If it were cheap, maybe I'd understand, but the stuff actually worth eating was insanely expensive. I couldn't afford to buy it, so I had to make do with hard bread or jerky. Back in the lobby, minimizing my movements made it tolerable. During the active phases of the tutorial, though, it was pure hell.

It had been bad enough in the first tutorial, but the second one was worse. The sheer number of goblins meant I spent all day running and slashing, which spiked my energy consumption. On top of that, using aura doubled the drain. The hunger that a few measly pieces of bread couldn't touch made me seriously consider burning through points to fix it, but...

So this is how they solve it.

The ringing in my ear turned out to be the system urging me to hurry up and claim my gift. I accepted every last item from the first-place rewards. This time, for once, I didn't bother thinking about the future. I just ate.

The bread melted in my mouth. The salty, savory explosion of ham and cheese combined with it, bursting across my tongue. By the time I came back to my senses, I'd already devoured nearly half the bread and ham.

“Now I feel like I can actually live.”

I stood up, savoring the pleasant fullness I hadn't felt in a long time.

Now that I've eaten, it's time to get back to work.

I wasn't usually this diligent, but during the tutorial I planned to move constantly.

There might actually be a hidden piece this time.

In my opinion, this was exactly the kind of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠place where they'd hide one. Hidden pieces usually appeared when you did something unnecessary. The mission was to stop the goblin horde invading the village, but I believed the angels would have prepared a special gift for anyone who went out of their way to explore outside.

With those inflated hopes, I was about to leave the village when a voice called out from behind me.

“Yoon Iseo. Got a minute to talk?”

I paused at the sound of Im Do-geon's voice.

“What do you want?”

They were faces I saw often enough, except for Han Seung-woo, so polite words didn't come naturally. From the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠look of them, they'd been through some hardship, but aside from Han Seung-woo, the men seemed to have survived.

“Are you even human? No matter what, how could you do that to Seung-woo...!”

“If you're here to bitch about that, I'm leaving.”

What a waste of time. I wasn't the one who started it. He tried to scheme first, got caught, and paid the price. I had nothing to apologize for.

Besides, I'm the one who should be getting an apology.

They were the ones who dragged every goblin in the area and nearly got us all killed, not us. And after hiding this whole time only to show up and start raising their voices, it was obvious they had no intention of apologizing anyway.

“You bastard, at least hear me out!”

“I only listen to the end if it's worth hearing. If you're just going to spout nonsense, fuck off. Or would you rather get beaten first and then fuck off?”

I drew my sword on Im Do-geon, who kept yapping. I must have been too nice. I'd been using polite speech and listening to everything, so they thought I was an easy mark. Seeing them swallow dryly at the flash of my blade, I realized I should have done this from the start.

“Nothing left to say? Then I'm gone.”

“Wait! We're sorry.”

“Huh? Now you're sorry?”

I was honestly dumbfounded. The arrogant attitude from moments ago had vanished, replaced by this servile apology from Im Do-geon. If he'd slammed his head to the ground the second he saw me, maybe. But apologizing right after I drew my sword made his intentions too obvious, and that pissed me off even more.

“I'm really sorry! I'm not in my right mind, that's why I'm apologizing like this. Without you, we'll all starve to death!”

It was true. Watching a guy who had been so cocky suddenly kneel and beg did make it seem like his mind was flipping back and forth. Not that it meant I'd help him.

“What are you talking about? You must have killed some goblins at least.”

“We did kill some, but there's no shop. We searched the entire village. There's no shop anywhere.”

I'd assumed I just hadn't found it yet, but it simply didn't exist? That explained why they'd given food as a reward.

“You guys received rewards too, right?”

“...All we got was hard bread. And even that wasn't nearly enough.”

“At least you've been taking care of the girls, huh?”

“Except for the ones who ran away first.”

“Your loyalty is as useless as it is strong.”

I roughly understood the situation. I didn't know their exact rankings, but they were probably near the bottom. The upper ranks, including me, had handled most of the goblin kills. It would stay that way going forward. I wasn't sure how the rest of the tutorial would unfold, but their combat ability was already lower than the top group's. If they had to fight on empty stomachs, the outcome was obvious.

“Hmm...”

“Please. We won't act up anymore. We'll behave.”

I watched Im Do-geon bow his head pathetically and considered it for a moment. Couldn't be helped. Honestly, I didn't want to give them anything, but given the nature of the second tutorial, having some meat shields to draw aggro would make things easier for me too.

Once I'd decided, I pulled a block of cheese from my bag along with some of the hard bread and jerky I'd bought earlier, then tossed it to them.

“Thank you. We'll never forget this kindness—”

“Do whatever you want with that. You know this is the second time, right? There won't be a third, so figure it out yourselves.”

I cut him off sharply and turned away. Helping ugly bastards like them was something I'd only do once or twice. This was the end.

After tossing them the bread, I kept walking in the direction the goblins had come from. There were mountains on either side and other paths I could have taken, but since it was the route the goblins had charged down, I deliberately chose this one. There were several reasons, but the biggest was simple curiosity.

In my estimation, this whole place had been artificially created by the angels. If that was true, the goblins didn't need to run from far away. They could have been summoned from thin air or appeared through some other method. The fact that they had run here anyway meant there had to be a reason. I was convinced something was hidden at the end of this path.

So I walked forward without any real plan, but...

“Fuck, is this really the right way?”

What waited at the end of the path the goblins had charged down was a mountain. Not just any mountain—a whole range with multiple peaks. The height itself didn't look extreme, but even in broad daylight it was dark and gloomy. Just looking at it screamed suspicion. If I went in, it would probably be crawling with goblins.

There was definitely something in there. I could feel it. But if I went looking and got myself killed, this second tutorial would end right here.

Still, I have to go in. What choice do I have?

If I wanted to play it safe, I never would have come this far. Even if I died, I wanted to die after claiming the hidden piece. That was my mindset now.

Step.

The moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I decided, I headed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠straight into the mountain. It wasn't some well-maintained neighborhood hiking trail. With no proper paths, the climb was brutal, but I pushed on diligently. I forced my way through bushes that scratched every inch of my body. Since I was constantly scanning for any sign of the hidden piece, my pace was slow. It would have been easier if sunlight reached the ground, but the trees grew so thick and dense that almost no light penetrated. The surroundings stayed pitch dark.

It would have been nice to have made a torch beforehand. After wandering through the dark mountain for what felt like ages, I started thinking about the return trip and whether I should head back down. That's when I finally spotted a suspicious cave.

It was hidden between moss-covered rocks in the already dark forest. I nearly walked right past it. Only a faint, strange sound kept me from missing it entirely.

Goooo—

The closer I got, the louder the sound became. My steps grew hesitant, but I pushed forward boldly into the cave.

Splash.

The interior was damp and filled with a musty stench. Water dripping from the ceiling had pooled across the floor, making every step awkward. The one saving grace was that it wasn't completely pitch-black inside. Some unknown jade-colored substance clung to the walls and emitted a soft glow, providing enough light to see by. My vision was about as good as it had been outside, so I continued exploring with less worry.

The exploration itself was uneventful. The stalactites on the ceiling were getting lower, gradually approaching head height, but nothing seemed especially dangerous. Just as I was starting to feel disappointed, thinking this would be another dead end...

Kerek.

A faint goblin cry echoed from deeper inside. I lowered my body and strained my ears.

Kerek. Kerek.

The small but unmistakable disgusting cries of goblins sent tension flooding through my entire body. Instinct told me there were a massive number of them ahead.

Even so, I moved forward carefully.

Slowly. Silently.

I advanced without letting the goblins detect me. Eventually, a faint light appeared ahead, marking the end of the passage. There was an entrance slightly shorter than my height.

I pressed myself flat against the wall, carefully poking just my head around the corner to peek inside.

Fuck. So this is where the goblin bastards were coming from.

In the wide cavern, goblins lay sprawled everywhere. The truly fucked-up part was that these sex-crazed monsters were endlessly copulating, as if they needed to prove exactly why their species had such ridiculous reproductive rates.

“Urk.”

My eyes hadn't had time to process the sudden goblin orgy. Watching them mindlessly repeat the act made the sandwich I'd eaten earlier threaten to come back up. I turned my head away and retreated down the path.

I can't go in there anyway.

There were at least as many goblins inside as had attacked during the first invasion. No matter how good I was at killing them, I had zero confidence I'd survive going in there alone. If there had been another route, I might have tried to circle around, but with only one path, I was out of options.

Still, I needed to clear them out somehow and search the area.

Should I really start a fire?

The classic method would be to light one at the entrance and smoke them out. But judging by the air flow I could feel, the smoke probably wouldn't reach deep enough into the cave.

“Not much time left, either.”

I stepped outside and checked the sky. About two hours remained. Considering the trip back, I needed to leave now. But lingering regret kept my feet rooted in place.

Then a thought struck me.

Don't those bastards have to come out eventually anyway?

Given the circumstances, it was highly likely that the goblin group invading the village would be these very ones. If so, when the invasion time arrived, they'd naturally emerge from the cave, leaving it empty. I had no idea how they'd replenish the ones that left, but...

It seemed worth checking at least once.