The Cradle of Heroes (1)
I hadn't really paid much attention to him. It wasn't like I particularly wanted to deal with the guy, and we weren't exactly on speaking terms anyway, so I'd just ignored him. But now that I thought about it… where the hell did he go?
No matter how much I looked around, the truck driver was nowhere to be found in this space. Everyone else was here. There was no reason for him to be the only one missing. As I pondered what might have happened to him, I recalled what Luniel had said earlier.
She had definitely said that forty-seven people had passed.
That meant the truck driver had failed to make it through.
Why?
Everyone had been given three lives. There was no way he would have received fewer, so assuming he started with three as well, it could only mean one thing. He must have already lost one life before the second tutorial even began.
The淘汰 group had beaten him nearly to death. His condition had been so severe that it wouldn't have healed easily through normal means. Yet right before the second tutorial started, he had reappeared looking completely fine. I'd assumed Luniel had healed him, but what if that wasn't the case?
The pieces of the story roughly fit together.
“Excuse me, can we use the shop right now?”
“Of course. Anyone besides Hero Candidate Song Dayeong may use it freely.”
While I was lost in thought, everyone else had started doing their own things. Song Dayeong had asked about using the shop to spend the points she'd gathered. Once permission was granted, five people—including her—stood up from their seats.
Pretty much who I expected.
Song Dayeong and Kwon Soyeon were obvious since I'd helped them gather their points. The other three—Kim Dae-kwon and two women—had also been diligently saving up since the first tutorial, so it made sense they'd reached five hundred points. The rest of the group, who clearly hadn't managed to save that much, watched the ones who stood up with envious eyes.
In the middle of it all, it looked like Song Dayeong was saying something to Kwon Soyeon. I could guess what it was about without even listening, so I didn't bother paying attention. My main concern right now was the truck driver's whereabouts.
There were a few other things I wanted to ask Luniel about, so I opened my mouth to speak—
“Hero Candidate Yoon Iseo.”
Luniel spoke first. When I looked up, I realized I was the only one left in the waiting room.
“What is this?”
“Please do not misunderstand. This time, I have simply isolated you from the others to present the first-place tutorial reward.”
At the mention of a first-place reward, I relaxed my guard. I'd wondered if she was up to something again, but apparently not.
“Before I receive the first-place reward, may I ask a few questions?”
“As long as I am able to answer them, anything is fine.”
“Then why were there only forty-seven people who passed? As far as I know, there were forty-eight of us total.”
“Hero Candidate Choi Kyung-seok was eliminated after dying four times during the tutorial.”
Hearing the answer directly from Luniel left me feeling somewhat dumbfounded. So the snowball had rolled that far? In a way, it was karmic justice. What had started as nothing more than the vengeful outburst of the dead had rolled and grown until it delivered the very outcome they would have been satisfied with. And the people responsible didn't even know they had succeeded.
After that day, they had treated the truck driver like a complete stranger and apparently erased him from their minds entirely. No one even realized how he had disappeared.
Anyway. The dead man's business was over. Time to move on to the next question.
“What is this used for?”
I pulled out the unidentified grass I had picked up during the second tutorial and showed it to her. She immediately refused to explain.
“I cannot tell you that due to regulations.”
I had no idea what the criteria were, but once she brought up regulations, I knew she wouldn't tell me. So I didn't press further.
If there was nothing else…
“If you have no more questions, may I now grant you the first-place reward?”
“Yeah, let's get it first and think later.”
I couldn't think of anything else to ask anyway. Since she was offering it, I'd take it and figure it out afterward.
“Since you seem curious about the reward, I will skip the formalities and present it immediately. This is the first-place tutorial reward.”
The moment Luniel finished speaking, a ticket of unknown purpose appeared in my hand.
“The first-place reward is a Talent Enhancement Ticket (Medium). It is a valuable item that can raise a talent rated at low-middle grade all the way to middle grade. Please use it wisely.”
A Talent Enhancement Ticket (Medium), huh. It was certainly a reward worthy of the first-place title.
“How do I use it?”
“Simply tear the ticket.”
After hearing the instructions, I ripped the ticket without a moment's hesitation. No sudden surge of knowledge came over me. Instead, the fundamental elements required to better utilize aura—the aura hole where aura was stored and the aura road through which it flowed—had grown significantly stronger.
A satisfied smile crept across my face at the genuinely pleasing reward. It also reminded me of another reward I had forgotten about.
“What about that clone you promised to summon for me?”
“… Please finish quickly.”
I waited for Luniel to summon her clone, then pulled down my pants. No matter how busy things were, some things still needed to be done.
***
After relieving myself thoroughly against Luniel's clone and regaining a perfectly cold-headed state, I finished my shopping at the store.
What I had realized during the last fight was that while the one-handed sword talent was excellent, having my left hand idle was a significant drawback. One-handed swords were lighter than two-handed ones, so they couldn't deliver heavy blows. That meant I needed to make proper use of my empty left hand—whether by holding a shield, throwing weapons, or something similar. But right now, I couldn't do any of that, and it felt like I was losing out because of it.
At first, I had considered using a shield in a standard way. But since Threading the Needle enhanced my concentration and fingertip sensitivity, I decided to go with throwing weapons—specifically, throwing daggers. Both talents were rated (Low), so there didn't seem to be much difference, but I felt that dagger techniques would receive slightly better synergy. In addition, I unlocked Resilient Mind (Low).
This time, curses hadn't worked on the Hero Candidates, but there was no guarantee that would always be the case. So I opened one just in case. How useful it would actually be, I'd have to find out later. Still, it was better than nothing.
“If you are all prepared, I will now open the portal to Aeteria.”
When Luniel chanted her spell, a portal appeared that was incomparably larger than the one we had used to enter the tutorial.
“Once you pass through, your real life in Aeteria will begin. There will be many difficult moments and times of despair. But I pray that you will defeat the Demon King.”
After leaving those short words of encouragement, Luniel stepped aside from the portal. Everyone swallowed dryly, visibly tense. We slowly walked toward it.
The moment I stepped into the portal, all I saw was blinding light. It was so intense I couldn't even keep my eyes open. I couldn't tell if I was moving forward properly, and anxiety began to build—until gradually the light faded. My vision returned completely.
When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the waiting room. I stood in an entirely new space.
It looks like a cathedral.
A quick glance around revealed the same goddess statue I'd seen in the tutorial. It seemed to be some kind of church or temple.
“You have arrived, Hero Candidates.”
After a short wait, a middle-aged man with white hair and a monocle appeared and greeted us.
“I am Silas, a faithful servant who worships the Goddess. Though unworthy, I hold the position of bishop.”
He introduced himself as Bishop Silas. I wasn't particularly knowledgeable about these things, so I wasn't sure exactly how high a bishop ranked. But from what I remembered, bishops usually held quite high positions.
“I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who have willingly come this far to save the continent from crisis. However, I must first weed out those who are unqualified.”
Clap! Clap!
At the sound of Bishop Silas's clapping, fully armed knights filed out from behind him. It was obvious who they were here to remove—the people who had died three times during the tutorial and lost their qualification as Hero Candidates.
“H-Hey, let go of me!”
“What are you saying? Just stay still!”
“Fuck! This is bullshit no matter how you look at it!”
They dragged people away without hesitation, as if they had some way of identifying them. A few resisted, but people who couldn't even clear the tutorial had no chance against fully armored knights. In the end, nearly half the group was hauled out of the room.
“… What will happen to those people?”
“We will not harm them. They will simply be expelled from the Cradle of Heroes.”
When Kim Dae-kwon asked, Bishop Silas answered as if it were no big deal. But for people who had just arrived, being thrown out into the world like that was practically the same as being pushed into their deaths.
“Now then, with only the true Hero Candidates remaining, shall we begin our discussion?”
Bishop Silas smiled gently at us, then climbed onto the platform with practiced ease and began explaining this place. The explanation was simple. It could be summarized in three points.
First, we would spend one week here studying about Aeteria.
Second, for the following three weeks, we would carry out light requests from the Church to adapt to this world.
Third, once that was finished, we would decide what to do going forward.
In truth, the third point was by far the most important. The first two were ultimately just about learning and adapting to this world. The third was the real main event.
Bishop Silas explained that there were multiple options. We could join a noble's household, become mercenaries, and so on. But most of the choices were related to combat.
“You must choose carefully. There are Hero Candidates whom no one wishes to take.”
With a kindly smile, Bishop Silas delivered those chilling words. Everyone nodded silently in response.
The next month. Honestly, I never once thought I wouldn't be chosen. At my level, I figured anywhere would want me. So my plan was to squeeze out every possible benefit I could get here and then make the best possible choice.