The Tutorial Is Too Hard (4)
“D-don’t pat me...”
Was it because the tension had eased? For the first time since dropping into this unfamiliar world, Chaeyeon began facing the situation head-on.
“And 89? That makes me a pretty seasoned player too. Only 10 levels to go till max.”
Another World doesn’t really start until then...
“What game in the world starts you at max level? Anyway.”
Chaeyeon flashed an idol’s bright smile and threw up a V-sign.
“Just trust me. Ask away if you’ve got questions.”
“Alright then.”
Chaeyeon scanned her surroundings while preparing her answers. With people’s stares making it hard before, she now took in the structures properly.
Two gargoyle statues. Better steer clear of that area.
Attacking structures are common too. And that... looks like a door?
...Best to stay far away. This game loved jump scares.
Chaeyeon grabbed Doil’s wrist.
“Let’s go. This spot’s no good.”
“Oh.”
Doil followed with subtle admiration, intrigued by her sudden shift in demeanor.
“No questions?”
Heading back toward the entrance, Chaeyeon stared straight at him. She planned to prove her worth with solid answers.
He says he’s not much of a gamer, so he’s probably just someone with top real-world specs. And those types usually thrive in Another World.
As she mulled over her angles, Doil asked,
“How much do idols make a year?”
“...”
In this situation... that’s what he’s curious about?
“Entertainers’ income varies. With lots of ads, around 50 billion won by my standards.”
Still, Chaeyeon answered earnestly.
“Just from idol work? With so many members, it’s not much.”
Why is he even asking this...!
“...No. With the Hallyu wave these days, even Love Pink—a mid-tier group—settles about 5 billion per member.”
She answered sincerely anyway.
“Guess I should debut as an idol too.”
“You’re way too underestimate—...”
Chaeyeon eyed him from an industry insider’s perspective for a moment.
...A genius with a quirky fourth-dimension vibe. It’d be a sellable concept. And that confidence, that ease.
She could almost see it working, but reality hit, and she twitched an eyebrow.
“That’s not what you really wanted to ask.”
“True. Then...”
Doil turned serious this time.
“Why’s this user Sisilia confirmed as an NPC? Timeline and evidence? Explain it by the five W’s and one H so I can understand.”
“...That detailed?”
“It’s important.”
She didn’t know why, but Chaeyeon answered anyway.
“Back in the day, a famous YouTuber tried PK’ing Sisilia. To reclaim the top rank.”
Chaeyeon always researched thoroughly, even in games.
And she’d stumbled on a video blowing up.
“Pro gamer background, tens of billions in spending. But he couldn’t even graze her.”
Until then, Chaeyeon hadn’t planned to dive deep into Another World. Pretty graphics and the first full VR game had sparked curiosity, that’s all.
But she got hooked after that.
The NPC Sisilia’s moves were just too cool—even for a total newbie like her.
She smiled at the fond memory.
“It was shocking. He was rank 2, but couldn’t touch rank 1.”
“...Just a skill gap?”
“No. He analyzed the footage after. And...”
“And?”
“She moved frame-by-frame. No human reaction speed does that.”
Hacks were suspected at first.
But that theory died.
Because even her eye movements were frame-perfect. No hack needed that.
Consensus: game company’s event AI.
“Plus, that NPC PKs civilians indiscriminately. Sure, lifestyle players are just aura sinks by game logic. But against another user? No need.”
“...”
“Oh, right. Famous line from then—you’ve heard it, yeah? ‘Please die for the sake of humanity.’”
Doil’s eyes chilled.
“What Sisilia says during PKs! I love it personally. Even cosplayed once... Uh, Doil? Where’re you going?”
Doil bolted somewhere, looking like he was fleeing.
Chaeyeon chased, chattering on.
“Anyway, let’s stick together. I know my stuff. Detectives need a sharp sidekick, right? I’ll be your Watson.”
Doil finally glanced back at “Watson,” expression like she was a weirdo.
“Watson? Kinda cringy.”
“...”
Chaeyeon got Watson’s pain now. He’d wanted to smack Sherlock too.
**
The faction-split groups eyed each other warily, resting apart. Talking wouldn’t change anything; stalemate set in.
“What time is it now?”
The high school girl muttered, crouched low.
Everyone felt it.
Time had passed. A lot.
Problem: no food, no water.
A day’s fast was doable.
But scarcity amplified the hunger.
“I’m starving.”
“...Me too.”
Thick despair hung in the dungeon air.
Only Chaeyeon and Doil looked okay. The rest felt terror creeping in.
“Oh, there’s a clock.”
“...Midnight?”
“No clue if it’s day or night.”
“Phones are dead too.”
The two high schoolers stared blankly at the clock.
That’s when the med student sensed wrongness.
“...A clock? Hey, you unemployed guy.”
“Told you not to call me that just ‘cause I’m jobless... What?”
“Another World’s medieval, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Clocks invented late 13th century. Just tower bells back then. No way a compact one like that in medieval times.”
The med student grabbed the unemployed guy’s shoulder.
“Seen a clock in-game? Or anything modern-ish?”
“Far as I know, Another World sticks to era fidelity...”
Chaeyeon’s eyes widened hearing it.
Stone wall. Stone clock atop it.
Design so natural she’d missed it—but now, screamingly off.
Obvious in hindsight.
“Issue’s spotting the fake. ‘Exists’ can mean objects too. So...”
Doil smiled brightly.
“One riddle solved. ...Slower than I thought, though.”
“!”
As Chaeyeon’s eyes wavered, the med student jumped up, yelling,
“The answer’s the clock! That’s the fake!”
No change.
People stared blankly.
The boss sneered,
“What’s that retard babbling?”
Doil nudged Chaeyeon’s arm.
“Have Ji-eun say it.”
“Ji-eun’s who...? M-me?”
Doil nodded.
Chaeyeon mumbled reluctantly,
“The answer’s... the clock?”
That instant.
‘Reveal the Falsehood 1’ - Progress 1/3
A massive door at the stone wall’s base rumbled open.
Impossible to spot as a door before.
“What’d you say?”
“Seoul Uni brains are different! Knew I could count on you!”
Cheers erupted as people rushed out.
...Right after I said it.
Wrongness. Chaeyeon felt it.
And then, a hologram appeared before her eyes.
“This is...”
“Su-bin?”
Doil looked puzzled.
Chaeyeon gave up correcting her name.
Instead, she asked,
“Doil... you don’t see it?”
“See what?”
“N-nothing. Shall we go too?”
She smiled awkwardly and led the way.
Doil followed with a cold smile.
“We can go home now, right?”
“Thank goodness.”
Chaeyeon checked around.
Excited chatter.
But no mention of ‘message windows’ anywhere.
Something like that would’ve sparked talk.
She scrutinized faces. Especially the med student’s.
Blank as ever. No change.
Just me seeing it?
Special ability? Felt off.
Her ‘Star’ blessing wasn’t status-related.
...Users should all see it.
Why not these people?
“S-something’s there!”
“Wh-what is that?”
“Gross...!”
“Kyaaah!”
“Monster! It’s a monster!”
Around the corner, mad screams and footsteps.
Chaeyeon’s eyes widened at Doil.
He was behind her.
“Looks like monsters showed up.”
Doil held a goblin corpse.
Chaeyeon gaped.
She whipped to the corner.
Poke, poke—!
Green monsters stabbed people with eerie sounds.
Blood stench choked her.
Breathing got hard.
Then, the unemployed guy shoved her aside.
“Move!”
Doil caught her as she stumbled.
Sweating coldly, he faced forward.
“I’ll buy time. Figure something out.”
He plunged into the fleeing crowd.
Ahead, some fought back: med student, day-labor uncle.
Doil wielded a dagger from the goblin corpse.
Three held well, but goblins overwhelmed. Passage packed with terror.
I-I gotta run too.
Flee-ers were far ahead.
With blockers, escape was possible.
But then, she spotted Doil’s goblin corpse.
Doil was at the rear.
Goblins in the back too. And most of all...
Another World had a famous saying.
“...No escape holes in dungeons.”
She clenched fists white-knuckled.
Turned her fleeing body around.
Locked eyes on goblins.
As a girl, I’d just hinder.
...But this is Another World. Not Earth. So...
Gender irrelevant.
Only one thing mattered here.
Aura.
Chaeyeon gripped her pounding heart, closed eyes.
Clear image.
Star’s blessing. Attack method?
No complex stuff.
Another World: shaky mind, no aura.
Easiest: state application.
Star’s application.
Eyes open.
Stardust poured on goblins.
Imagined: grains swelling.
Swollen grains attacking—
“Hup.”
But...
...Nothing.
Same on repeats.
Can’t I do it after all?
Doil yelled,
“Name it!”
“...!”
“Shout the name!”
Chaeyeon’s eyes flew wide, hand to air.
Drew swelling stardust again.
And said,
“St-star candy!”
Imagined: star candy sprouting thorns.
Over-focused; name was lame.
But her imagination—
became reality.
Pwoosh—!
Stardust swelled on goblins.
Swollen stars thorned out, stabbing each other.
Narrow passage. Thorns lethal.
Goblins skewered like bugs.
Chaeyeon’s heart hollowed; she slumped.
Doil approached, thumbs-up.
“Astral Lance. Cool skill.”
Astral Lance
▸ Bard
▸ Saint
▸ Mage
“You’ll make a fine knight.”
#$@%!~> Data Corruption
External Interference Detected
▸ Knight
▸ Magic Knight
Prove your destiny.
Chaeyeon blacked out.
In fading mind: What the actual... bullshit is this?
**
When Chaeyeon woke, people surrounded her.
“You saved us.”
“Sis, you’re up!”
“Knew you had it from the start.”
She clutched her throbbing head.
Doil said,
“Mana overuse. It’ll pass.”
Kind smile.
Chaeyeon gave a wry one.
“That so?”
“Yeah.”
She stared silently.
Ashen stardust drifting around him.
Goblin-colored.
“...”
What did it mean?
Really, what?
Chaeyeon slumped limply.