Day One (3)
A Sword Saint.
It was one of the top-tier classes you could find even in the game.
A cheat class that kept shining all the way to the late game.
It wasn’t just some average swordswoman.
It was a special class that drew attention the moment she awakened.
Yet.
“You’re a Sword Saint and you’re an intern?”
“Yes.”
Kang Do-yoon truly couldn’t understand.
“Isn’t someone of her caliber supposed to be a full-time employee by now?”
Even digging through the memories from the game, Sword Saints weren’t common at all.
Someone with that kind of job was standing at attention right in front of him.
“Well, I’ll think about it later.”
Right now, there was nothing he could figure out anyway.
What mattered was the practical training right in front of him.
Kang Do-yoon turned his gaze toward the gate.
And naturally, he looked in the direction of Cha Jin-hyuk.
The original protagonist.
That alone meant the tutorial phase.
Three goblins and similar monsters.
Explanation of combat methods.
Practice using skills.
And a simple reward.
That was all he remembered.
“It’s an F-rank gate, so nothing bad should happen.”
It was a tutorial, after all.
There weren’t many dangers inside the game, either.
And besides, he was a healer.
He didn’t need to go out and fight.
He could just heal a little from behind and it would be over.
Thinking that, he waited his turn.
Not long after, a voice echoed.
“Team 14, enter.”
Finally, their turn had come.
Yoo Chae-won flinched.
“W-we’re going!”
Anyone could tell her voice was tense.
Kang Do-yoon felt a strange unease.
The two of them walked toward the gate.
Fluttering blue light.
Like a wave border rippling in front of them.
Kang Do-yoon took a short breath and stepped inside.
His vision blurred for an instant.
He felt like he was floating.
And the scenery in front of him completely changed.
Just moments ago, they had been in the middle of a city.
High-rise buildings, cars, and crowds of people.
Now it was a lush forest.
Leaves swaying in the wind.
A scent of earth.
Birdsong.
And a vast open area.
It was like stepping into another world.
“Oh.”
Kang Do-yoon let out a small sigh.
The gate he experienced for the first time was completely different from the game.
At that moment, Yoo Chae-won stepped forward one step.
“P-please trust me and follow along!”
Her voice was strained.
But her steps were anything but graceful.
She swung her left arm and left leg at the same time.
A completely awkward movement.
“……”
Kang Do-yoon watched her silently for a moment.
“Is she okay?”
His trust from earlier was shaken a little.
But he shook his head right away.
Even so, she was a Sword Saint.
Just by looking at her class, he was clearly much stronger than himself.
She was just very nervous.
Kang Do-yoon convinced himself like that and followed behind Yoo Chae-won.
Not long after, something suddenly jumped out from the bushes.
Kang Do-yoon reflexively turned his gaze.
Green skin.
Small build.
Ugly face.
And a floating name above its head.
[Goblin 1]
“……”
Kang Do-yoon was a little surprised.
Monsters he saw in real life felt completely different from the game.
“Interesting.”
Just as he was admiring it.
“Hup!”
A short sound rang out.
And.
Goblin 1 disappeared.
“Huh?”
It wasn’t exactly gone.
It had split into two pieces and lay on the ground.
Only then did Kang Do-yoon notice the sword in Yoo Chae-won’s hand.
When had she drawn it?
He hadn’t even seen her swing.
“Wow.”
A sigh slipped from Kang Do-yoon’s mouth.
It was a single slash.
Exactly once.
In the game, they would have done normal attacks and used skills.
There would have been some decent combat scenes.
But in reality, it was overwhelming.
“A Sword Saint is indeed a Sword Saint.”
Yoo Chae-won neatly cleaned up the monster’s corpse with her familiar hand movements.
A moment later, a glittering Mana Stone dropped.
She quickly picked it up.
And hurriedly turned to Kang Do-yoon.
“T-the Mana Stones will be handled by me!”
“Huh?”
“It would be troublesome for you to handle them yourself!”
Yoo Chae-won’s voice quickened.
“I’ll show you all of them later!”
“I-I’m not the type to get suspicious.”
“If you’re worried, I’ll give you all the Mana Stones from today’s gate!”
“……”
Kang Do-yoon was momentarily at a loss for words.
Why was she suddenly acting like a subordinate being accused of theft?
“No, I don’t need it that much.”
Suddenly, Yoo Chae-won’s face brightened noticeably.
“R-really?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so relieved…”
She muttered softly and let out a breath.
She looked genuinely relieved.
“L-let’s keep going!”
She started leading again.
Her steps were still awkward.
But her skill was beyond doubt.
[Goblin 2]
“Hup!”
It disappeared with a single slash.
[Goblin 3]
“Hup!”
A single slash.
[Goblin 4]
“Hup!”
Again, a single slash.
Kang Do-yoon ended up never using a skill once.
He had nothing to do as a healer.
“Surprisingly easy?”
Much more so than he thought.
Extremely easy, in fact.
Not long after that, a monster twice as big as the others appeared in the center of the open area.
Red letters floated above its head.
[Goblin Boss]
“Oh.”
Kang Do-yoon felt a little anticipation.
Even though it was a boss.
Would it show him something this time?
That hope was shattered in just three seconds.
Whoosh.
Slash.
“Kyahaaaah!”
The boss’s body was split right in half.
“……”
“……”
“It’s over?”
Yoo Chae-won sheathed her sword.
Kang Do-yoon stared at the boss with a dumbfounded expression.
Weren’t they supposed to defeat the boss like a normal monster?
“A Sword Saint is really OP.”
At that moment.
Beep.
A semi-transparent window appeared before his eyes.
─────────────────
First Gate Cleared
Reward Granted
- Skill Upgrade Ticket x1
- Mana Stone x10
─────────────────
“Oh.”
Kang Do-yoon’s eyes widened.
The reward was better than expected.
Soon another message popped up.
─────────────────
Level has risen.
Lv.1 → Lv.2
Level-up reward granted.
- Random Skill Ticket x1
─────────────────
“……”
He was genuinely surprised this time.
A Random Skill Ticket.
It was quite rare even in the game.
If he got lucky, he could obtain a cheat skill from the very beginning.
Kang Do-yoon’s gaze naturally turned toward the ticket.
“Should I use it now?”
While he was hesitating, a new portal appeared.
It was the return portal signifying the end of the practical training.
“Wow…”
It ended this quickly?
In the game, it must have been longer.
At that moment, a cautious voice came from beside him.
“Um…”
Yoo Chae-won clasped her hands together and looked nervous.
“W-were you uncomfortable at all?”
“Huh?”
“You must have been bothered because I wasn’t enough…”
Her expression was sincere.
She looked like a new employee being evaluated by her boss.
Kang Do-yoon couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous it was.
“I wasn’t. In fact, it was incredibly convenient.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I just followed along from behind. Thanks to that, it was really smooth.”
Suddenly, Yoo Chae-won’s face lit up brightly.
The tension from earlier vanished like a lie.
“T-then…”
She gathered her courage and continued.
“Next time… won’t you be in the same team?”
“Ah.”
Kang Do-yoon finally remembered.
Team changes were possible after the first practical training.
It seemed there was a similar system in the original game, too.
He looked at Yoo Chae-won.
Her personality was a little… strange.
Actually, very strange.
But.
Her skill was certain.
Overwhelmingly so.
“Sure. Let’s do it again next time.”
Suddenly, Yoo Chae-won’s eyes widened.
“T-thank you!”
She looked ecstatic.
Like someone who had been selected for the national team.
“……”
Kang Do-yoon felt a little bewildered as he watched.
No matter how he thought about it, her reaction was way too much.
But since she was happy, that was good.
“Ah.”
At that moment, Yoo Chae-won seemed to recall something and hurriedly rummaged through her pocket.
A moment later, she held out several Mana Stones.
“Mana Stones.”
“Huh?”
“We got a total of 19.”
Yoo Chae-won naturally split them in two.
“I’ll take nine. Kang Do-yoon, you take ten.”
“I didn’t do any, though?”
“B-but we’re supposed to divide them according to the number of people…”
She looked like she was stating something obvious.
“Then you gave me an extra one?”
“T-that’s…”
At that, Yoo Chae-won panicked.
“T-that’s… since you said you’d be in the same team next time… that’s a bribe!”
“If that’s the case…”
Kang Do-yoon hesitated for a moment and accepted the Mana Stones.
They headed toward the return portal.
As they came out of the portal, the woman who had handled their team assignment was right there.
“Congratulations on successfully completing the first gate practical training. The Mana Stones acquired from this gate are all recognized as personal property. However.”
The woman continued.
“From the next practical training onward, you will have to pay 5% of the acquired Mana Stones to the guild according to guild regulations.”
5%.
It was less than he thought.
He had expected to bring more.
“That’s it for today. Good work. See you again tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
The woman gave a short greeting and went back to waiting for the next team.
Kang Do-yoon naturally turned his head.
“Huh?”
But Yoo Chae-won, who had been nearby earlier, was nowhere to be seen.
She had completely vanished.
“When did she leave?”
Kang Do-yoon looked around, but couldn’t find her.
In the end, he shrugged.
“Well, I’ll see her again tomorrow.”
Kang Do-yoon turned his footsteps.
“I should head to the dormitory first.”
There were still too many things he didn’t know.
He had to look up more information about this world.
He needed to check how much this world differed from the game.
Above all, he had to check the Skill Upgrade Ticket and Random Skill Ticket.
And at that time, Kang Do-yoon didn’t know.
His first party member had just been happily saying,
“I survived! Next time we’ll be in the same group!”
before he forcibly dragged her away.