Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Tutorial Boss (3)
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I opened the door and stepped outside.
-Crunch!
The room I'd woken up in—the mysterious chamber—welcomed me with a massive axe the moment I escaped it.
To give you an idea of how big that axe blade was, it was about the same size as Cyan, who was just a bit taller than the average woman.
A normal person might have jumped in fright.
But I'd half-expected something like this.
The Exile Tower was a place where countless high-level monsters massacred passing beginners.
I'd died there plenty of times myself.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚔ Guardian – Giant Guardian Lv.100 A massive statue of a knight in steel armor.
"Ha, this insane level is still the same as ever."
When I first came to this tower, I was around level 70, and every mob here was level 100.
Back then, the highest-level players were hovering in the mid-to-late 80s. It was utterly ridiculous.
Plus, the Demon's Blessing quest became impossible after level 75, and with a 20-level gap, most attacks would miss entirely.
In other words, it wasn't designed for beginners to take it down from the start.
-Intruder detected.
"Ugh, my head..."
Maybe because of those past experiences, a slight headache hit me, triggering some PTSD-like feeling.
Think about it: how many times had that thing sliced me apart? Even when I was barely scraping by on nearby mobs thanks to the Demon's Blessing's regen, it still one-shot me countless times.
-Thud!
That got me a little pissed.
I grabbed the axe swinging at me with one hand and muttered something like, 'You bastard, you picked the wrong fight.'
But what actually came out of my mouth was a bit different.
"...You dare look down on me?"
My speech felt a little off.
But no need to overthink it. Whatever the wording, I just had to deal with the damn thing in front of me first.
I snatched the axe.
Then I lifted it and smashed it down on its head.
-Boom!
"Huh?"
I'd swung an axe twice my height one-handed like it was nothing and pinned the thing to the ground.
Watching it in-game was one thing, but seeing it happen for real, in first-person view, was a shock.
If the game's stats were manifesting literally, it wasn't too surprising. Still, the vivid visuals left me impressed.
"What is this, my power?"
Standing over the shattered guardian at my feet, I clenched and unclenched my fists, assessing the situation.
A 3-meter-plus axe swung at an even bigger guardian, shattering it in one hit.
It felt worlds apart from Cyan's fragile mage image.
In truth, Cyan was a mage.
The demon race had double the base magic power of most races, so they often filled mage roles.
That left physical DPS demons in short supply.
'But I was different.'
『 Demon's Blessing 』 The downside was it blocked other accessories, but even accounting for that, this thing was broken.
*Upon equipping, increases natural HP and MP regen by 40% each, and doubles all other stats.
Exactly as it said: everything but HP and MP doubled. Stats like strength and agility that mages ignored became base x2.
By the way, the re-released Demon's Blessing item that came with the Cyan tutorial boss only boosted natural regen by 30%, no stat increases—a basic early-game item.
And even that regen was nerfed.
Honestly, no matter the acquisition difficulty, flooding the game with those would destroy balance.
"And I didn't even use any buffs..."
Either way, thanks to it, I was an all-rounder.
A mage who could dish out physical damage on par with other classes.
HP and MP didn't scale, so armor-piercing attacks were a weakness, but that was manageable.
"Guess it's just the level gap."
The one-shot just now was surely due to the overwhelming level difference.
My Cyan was max level; this was just an early-game high-level mob.
With level cap expansions and massive patches since launch, the gap was obvious.
"Taking its weapon and turning it against it feels different, though. Kinda fun."
This brings back old memories.
Back in my student days, I'd spin in circles—what we called 'whirlybird'—taking hits and waiting for regen, repeating until I barely downed one.
"...So, is this a library?"
I dusted off my hands, stood, and looked around.
The ceiling was about 10 meters up.
Since the Giant Guardian was 5 meters tall, that made sense.
Separately, there were tons of books everywhere.
Shelves reaching the ceiling were packed solid without a gap.
[Twilight Forest: The place where a hero from another world confronts his previous life.] I pulled out a random book and flipped it open to find those words.
"Never seen this script before, but I can read it all."
Probably Cyan's body influencing me.
Might explain why my thoughts and spoken words don't match up.
Whatever. Let's check a few more.
[Exile Tower: A place severed from the world, created by a transcendent who once grasped truth.] [Twilight Forest: The garden created for amusement by the transcendent who built the tower.] "All about this place, huh..."
Others were the same.
There might be a couple different ones if I searched, but the sheer volume here dwarfed every book I'd read in my life—tens, no, thousands of times more.
I'd believe someone gathered every book in the world here.
"Hmm."
Let's move on.
As far as I knew, the Exile Tower had 10 stages total.
Each floor had a level 100 guardian monster.
In my current state, they'd be easy pickings.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ...How much time passed?
"..."
I sat on the debris of a broken guardian to rest for a bit.
Not tired from fighting them.
The Exile Tower was just ridiculously huge.
Already an hour descending stairs, and no end in sight.
'By lore, this place is at least as tall as Lotte World Tower.'
The room I woke in was midway up, not the top.
Glancing up earlier, clouds hid the peak. No sense of scale for me.
Walking down such a height—my plan, but so damn stupid.
[Guardians: The tower's sentinels, created by the transcendent to protect their legacy.] "Even the books say the same stuff."
If only I could use Cyan's teleport skill.
But no clue how.
I'd always hotkeyed it in-game. No idea in this situation. There were incantations in the lore, but I didn't remember those.
"What to do."
I opened a door between shelves.
Inside was a room like the one I started in, with a window to the outside.
'Maybe if I go there...?'
...This was insane, no matter how I sliced it.
But knowing that, I still walked to the window.
"High up."
Another stunning view. I'd come down quite a bit from my wake-up spot, but still sky-high.
Like looking down from the top of a 63 Building, dense trees looking like grass below.
"Hmm."
I climbed pointless stairs to the railing.
One more step forward, and I'd plummet into the abyss.
This was straight-up suicide.
No sane person would try it.
Yeah, bad idea.
Even for Cyan, surviving that fall was impossible.
"Let's head back. Keep going down, and I'll hit the first floor eventually..."
I turned to the stairs.
Couldn't jump without magic. No way I'd do that myself.
-Boom...! Boom...! Crash...!!!
"Hm?"
Sudden roar— the room's entrance collapsed, a massive shadow appearing.
"Intruder... detected..."
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚔ Guardian – Giant Guardian Lv.100 "These things never quit!"
Another monster, a guardian.
Similar to the last one, swinging a huge axe at me.
But I'd handled over 20 already, and the first was no sweat.
-Crunch!
Snatched its weapon, swung it back, bisected it in one go.
"If you're gonna keep coming, drop some items like old times. Stop being annoying for nothing."
Honestly, I'd worried about high-level mobs swarming without magic.
But these were low-level; bare-handed was fine. No real crises.
Staying here seemed safe...
"Probably fine, right?"
-Crack. Craaack.
Huh, what's that ominous sound?
Like something cracking.
"No way?!"
I snapped to attention, scanning around.
Did I smash the axe too hard? Cracks spiderwebbed the walls near the window.
The room was collapsing.
My bad premonitions never missed.
-Kablooey!
"Ngh...!"
The railing gave way.
The tower itself held, thankfully, but I was falling hundreds of meters.
*
For the first time, I felt pain.
Guardian attacks? Nothing. This? Hurt like hell.
Regaining some awareness, I slowly rose. Body ached here and there.
Moving made rustling sounds from broken branches and grass.
"...Took longer to fall than expected."
One or two minutes, maybe?
Height meant it wasn't instant.
"Ha, somehow survived."
Brushed leaves off my clothes, checked myself.
Sore, but no breaks or wounds. Tougher than imagined.
Double base defense, plus solid gear...
"Got down somehow, but going back up's another issue."
Did I even need to? But if so, problems.
Think later.
"If I'm right... tutorial players should show up here."
I couldn't leave this tutorial stage.
Didn't know how.
Normal Novel Online tutorials gave a Guiding Crystal on entry.
Follow it to find the portal out of Twilight Forest.
Ignore it, get lost.
But with the crystal, you'd find the way eventually.
Me?
"No inventory, and even if, I tossed it ages ago."
No guide item.
Couldn't stay forever.
Fine now, but no life here—just vast woods full of golem-like guardians. Perfect for going mad.
A bit risky, but I wanted to see the outside world...
"Hmm."
To leave, wait for a tutorial player. Popular game, should be soon.
Assuming this was Novel Online's world exactly.
"Surely someone'll come."
I forced a smile saying it.
Dunno if it looked real. Got down the tower somehow, so explored the forest.
...
And half a year passed without a single player appearing.