Chapter 241: The Tutorial Floor (13)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 241: The Tutorial Floor (13)
He had his reasons.
After all, that rabbit bastard who casually popped people's heads had spared him, the one who actually caused a scene.
The rabbit's attitude was enough to convince him that his own value was quite high among those gathered in the clearing.
Besides, thanks to the fantasy novels he'd read in his youth, understanding the current situation wasn't too difficult.
Later, he happened to join up with a man named Baek Jihyuk and they formed a camp.
Originally an E-rank Hunter, Baek Jihyuk was strong, and the camp quickly grew in power.
The monsters he'd once fled from became trivial once he started cooperating with others and got used to his supernatural abilities.
At first, he thought he'd fallen into the afterlife, but now he realized this place was a new opportunity given to him.
Just when everything was going smoothly, a strange guy showed up at the camp.
He didn't like him from the very first impression.
The way he remained composed while armed men were watching him, and the fact that he had two women so beautiful that the word 'gorgeous' didn't even do them justice.
A sense of deprivation washed over him.
He, who had reigned like a king within the camp for the past few days wielding the new power of WP, suddenly felt infinitesimally small.
Women?
The ones in the camp were all mediocre at best. The only beauty who could compare to those two was Jangmi, a member of the combat squad.
A black rose he could never touch, one that would invariably show its thorns if he tried.
A wave of inferiority washed over him.
When he came to his senses, he found himself disgracefully collapsed on the ground, having pissed himself.
The moment he saw his reflection in the puddle, he was reminded of the days when he was pushed aside by worthless people and ridiculed by everyone in his department.
A terrible sense of humiliation enveloped his entire body once more.
He endured sleepless night after sleepless night, waiting for the moment of revenge that would one day come.
Early one morning, as the murderous intent he had suppressed for so long was reaching its limit...
Tiring-
「From now on, the WP holdings of all player candidates will be made public.」
「Overall Rankings
1. Kang Hyun-woo - 55,372 WP
2. Lucy - 24,724 WP
3. Lee Serin - 15,370 WP
4. Yoo Ah-rin - 6,210 WP
5. Baek Jihyuk - 4,793 WP
˙
˙
˙」
A new opportunity had arrived.
-Fifty thousand...?
A chaebol chairman buying a multi-hundred-billion-won building is something from another world, but when an acquaintance buys a building, you can't help but feel jealous.
For Lee Gyuho, that leaderboard was exactly the same.
The moment he saw that unrealistically high amount of WP, a single thought filled his mind.
-...If I can just kill him, I can continue to wield power even after entering the Tower.
He appeared to be caught up in excitement, but he was more rational than ever.
Just as he himself had obtained a valuable item in the special space of a dungeon, he assumed the other guy had also gotten lucky and earned his WP in a dungeon.
Otherwise, it just didn't make any sense.
Can you become a multi-millionaire by working diligently at a company and saving money?
Unless you get lucky with a stock market surge or a real estate boom, it's practically impossible.
Moreover, he had learned about the transcendent beings called Constellations.
And that they could sponsor them with WP.
Putting together the overall situation and the words of that rabbit bastard, he concluded that the guy was nothing more than a nouveau riche who'd gotten lucky.
Well, he didn't think there were no variables.
After all, if he had cleared a dungeon, it wouldn't be strange for him to have good weapons, armor, or items.
Nevertheless, this was an opportunity that would never come again.
The die was already cast. Using the women and WP as bait, he had recruited two F-rank Hunters, the core of the combat squad, and four other combatants.
Including himself, that made seven of them. In contrast, his opponent was just one man and two women.
He could win.
He was sure of it.
But it was only after seeing the six men, besides himself, lying scattered on the ground with their heads severed from their bodies that he realized something was terribly wrong.
“I just don't get it. You're scared of monsters, but you think I'm a pushover?”
The cold, sunken voice stabbed into his chest like a dagger.
His hands and feet trembled like an aspen leaf, and he felt as if all the blood was draining from his body.
Only then did he realize.
“Use your common sense. Do you think I earned all this playing poker?”
That his judgment had been wrong.
That this man was no mere lucky nouveau riche.
*
6,047 WP.
That was the WP I'd gained from cutting off the heads of the six men Lee Gyuho brought with him.
Honestly, I was very disappointed. Shouldn't members of the combat squad have at least 3,000 WP each?
But I decided not to dwell on it. There's nothing more foolish than getting hung up on side income.
'Still, only a thousand per person is pretty pathetic.'
Well, you'll find big spenders anywhere. They must have been the same.
Surprisingly, there were many ways to use WP.
The tutorial-exclusive shop sold not only food but also luxury items like cigarettes and various daily necessities. Plus, there were women in the camp.
'Prostitution is a business deeply rooted in the entire history of mankind.'
I agree that there's nothing like sex to relieve the stress built up from hunting monsters.
But I also agree that there's nothing more foolish than blowing all your money on prostitutes when you should be saving.
Not unless they planned on being satisfied with whores for the rest of their lives.
Well, that was a long tangent, but the conclusion is simple.
“I hope you’re the type who saves well.”
“H-Hiiik?!”
As I approached, Lee Gyuho shrieked and scrambled backward on the ground.
It wasn't a pretty sight. Just as I moved in to finish him off...
“Please wait.”
I was stopped by a timely uninvited guest.
It was Baek Jihyuk.
“If you plan on interfering, back off right now... No, just get lost.”
A golden aura flickered over my sword.
Seeing this, Baek Jihyuk swallowed dryly.
He shows up right as I'm about to deal with Lee Gyuho, as if he was waiting for it?
It was more than just suspicious; I couldn't help but think Baek Jihyuk was the one who orchestrated this whole thing.
“...Please don't misunderstand. I've only come to make you a good offer, Hyun-woo-ssi.”
When I just stared at him without a word, Baek Jihyuk immediately bowed.
“First, I must apologize. This incident is my responsibility for failing to control Gyuho-ssi. But I swear to the heavens, I did not order this.”
“So?”
“I came to offer my apologies and make a proposal to you, Hyun-woo-ssi.”
Baek Jihyuk was desperate. Unlike the man I'd seen a few days ago, he seemed to have lost all his composure.
But no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't imagine him bringing any meaningful proposal.
In fact, it felt like a waste of time.
As if sensing this, Baek Jihyuk quickly continued.
“One of my companions has a skill that draws monsters. It's dangerous, so we haven't used it often, but it can cover a radius of 800 meters.”
I had a rough idea of why he was bringing this up.
“You’ll lure the monsters, so you want my help hunting them?”
Baek Jihyuk nodded, his nervousness palpable.
800 meters.
It was an ambiguous range, but in terrain with many obstacles like a forest, its efficiency would multiply. If this were Earth, it would have been a highly valued ability.
“Can't you just do it yourselves like you've been doing?”
“We don't have the strength. There are fewer than twenty combatants in the camp, and most of our core members are...”
Baek Jihyuk glanced at the corpses scattered on the ground. It seemed the men Lee Gyuho had brought were the camp's main force.
Of course, even if they were alive, the plan he just mentioned was still reckless.
The forest was in a state of chaos. The number of monsters had clearly increased, and it stayed that way even during the day.
It had to be at least double the number from the first day.
Luring all the monsters within an 800-meter radius was basically a group suicide pact.
“I don't understand.”
According to the leaderboard, Baek Jihyuk has about 5,000 WP. There's no reason for him to make such a reckless gamble.
Of course, he might have gotten greedy after seeing the rankings.
But he didn't seem foolish enough to lose his reason over a potential immediate gain.
“When your life is on the line, why are you looking for trouble?”
“...Because there are still many people in the camp who haven't collected 500 WP.”
His words left me dumbfounded.
What a saint.
“Are you some devout believer? Or a philanthropist?”
“If there are people we can save, isn't it right to save them?”
It was the most cliché idealism I'd ever heard.
“Are you planning on changing grown adults’ diapers for them?”
I might have understood if there were at least some minors.
But there were no minors in the camp.
“Ten people would be 5,000 WP, and twenty would be 10,000. You don't actually think that's possible in the next two days, do you?”
“...If it comes to it, I plan to share the WP I have.”
At this point, I had no choice but to revise my assessment of Baek Jihyuk.
He wasn't a great leader; he was a pushover who only knew how to give things away.
“Even if they survive with someone else's help, they'll just fall behind after entering the Tower. Are you going to look after them then, too?”
Baek Jihyuk fell silent.
He had no plan.
Seeing no more reason to talk to him, I ignored him and walked toward Lee Gyuho.
“J-Jihyuk-ssi! Please, save me!”
Lee Gyuho begged for his life, not from me, but from Baek Jihyuk.
It was a wise decision, in a way. I had no intention of sparing him, no matter how much he begged me.
'Then again, if he were truly wise, he wouldn't have come to kill me in the first place.'
I didn't want to drag this out any longer.
Just as I swung my sword to cut off his head...
“Wait a moment.”
I was interrupted again. But it wasn't Baek Jihyuk.
Tiring-
「'Incomplete Moon's Eye' has been activated.」
「Name: Yoo Ah-rin
Age: 20
Contracted Constellation: -
Affiliation: -
Authority: -
Exclusive Trait: Azure Dragon Thirteen Swords (C-)
Exclusive Skill: -
Traits: Swordsmanship (D), Close Quarters Combat (E+)
Skills: -」
It was the woman who was the camp's third F-rank Hunter and the sole woman in the combat squad.
Yoo Ah-rin, her hair tied back in a ponytail, was still beautiful as she walked forward. She was comparable to Lee Serin.
Although she still looked young, she had a fresh charm to her. It felt like looking at a college freshman.
“Can I ask you for a favor?”
Even with six corpses scattered around, Yoo Ah-rin was unbelievably calm for a twenty-year-old.
Most women her age would have screamed and run away.
She had nerves of steel.
“What is it?”
Yoo Ah-rin stared at Lee Gyuho with cold, sunken eyes.
“Let me kill him. I'll give you all the WP.”
“W-What is that crazy bitch saying?!”
Lee Gyuho screamed in terror, but I had no interest in paying him any mind.
“Why?”
“He told me to sell my body to him.”
I nodded.
“Kill him.”
“Thank you.”
Yoo Ah-rin bowed her head.
Immediately after, she drew her sword with incredible speed and rushed toward Lee Gyuho.
A panicked Lee Gyuho raised his sword, but it took less than five seconds for his head to fly through the air, tracing a red arc.
It rolled across the ground a few times before coming to a stop beside his comrades.
Yoo Ah-rin looked relieved as she flicked the blood from her sword.