Tutorial — 5th Floor

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Ah. Now that was refreshing.

A mountain of corpses. A sea of blood.

It had been a long time — no, this was essentially the first time since my regression that I'd gotten to blow off steam this thoroughly. All the stress that had been building up finally drained away, clean and complete. The ground around me was carpeted with goblin blood and corpses.

If you counted the ones we'd fought on the run, the number my party and I had killed easily topped a hundred. That was enough to make even the Grand Goblin Settlement sit up and take notice. Three snipers were among the dead, after all. Linger any longer and reinforcements would come. Time to get out of here.

I looked myself over. Breastplate and boots — that was it. I'd given the rest of my gear to Na Seoyun, so nothing but cloth covered what remained. The problem was that I was soaked from head to toe in bright red blood.

Guess I need a wash.

I snapped a branch off a tree and hurled it into the river.

Splash.

Then I jumped in after it and grabbed hold. A sensation I hadn't felt in a long time. I let the current take me, watching the scenery rush past along the banks.

Some of the others might have climbed out along the way. I kept scanning the shore as I went, ducking under now and then to rinse the worst of the blood off. After a long stretch of river, I finally drifted free of the forest.

Still no sign of my party. Instead of climbing out, I kept looking.

And then I saw them.

The Na sisters were sitting on the far bank, staring at the water with desperate intensity. My physical stats were high enough that I spotted them first. I immediately started swimming for shore.

The current was still fairly strong, but with my enhanced physique I closed the distance fast. The sisters caught sight of me and came running.

"Shin-hoo!"

"Oppa!"

I hauled myself onto the bank, making a show of looking a little worn out.

"Oppa, your clothes are covered in blood...!"

"Shin-hoo, are you okay?!"

I'd rinsed off, but getting the bloodstains out of the fabric was another matter. Stripping down to do laundry mid-river hadn't been practical, and I was going to jump in anyway, so changing clothes hadn't made much sense either.

"Ah, yeah. I'm fine. Nothing hit me."

The moment I said I was all right, Na Seoyun held out the gear I'd lent her.

"This... you lent this to me, so..."

"You weren't hurt?"

"...A few arrows came my way, but I was fine. This stuff is insanely sturdy..."

"That's a relief."

I smiled, letting the relief show.

"...Thank you. For being alive."

Na-yeon's face said she meant it with everything she had.

"We promised, didn't we? That we'd see each other alive."

I said it as if the outcome had never been in doubt.

"Heh. Yeah, we did. Thank you. Really. We made it because of you."

"Thank you, Oppa."

They kept thanking me, and I deflected, a little uncomfortable with the gratitude.

"What about the others?"

"We were late getting out. Since we haven't seen them yet, they were probably swept farther downstream."

"Then we'd better go look."

I handed them the spare dry cloth and clothes I'd bought just in case. They thanked me for the consideration, changed — I didn't look — and we started walking along the riverbank in search of the others.

Toward the setting sun.

I'd already given them a rough idea of the direction to Mellid Castle, so all we had to do was follow the river and pick up any trail we found. It wasn't difficult. Before long we found signs of the others, tracked them down, and reunited.

Joo Ha-yeon and Nam Eun-ju burst into tears of gratitude that everyone had made it back alive. Na-yeon and Na Seoyun, the ordeal still raw, ended up crying with them. Even Kim Insil couldn't hold back a few tears of his own.

Park Nam-young, however, was still out of it.

"We need to move. Fast."

I took Park Nam-young from Kim Insil as I said it. Both of their wounds ran deep. If we delayed, the damage could become permanent. A potion would have been nice, but it was still too early in the tutorial for those to appear. We needed to get them in front of a priest as soon as possible.

Park Nam-young's already too late, though.

In truth, he was. Unless Mellid Castle had a high-ranking priest, treatment would be impossible. The hit had been to the knee, and then he'd gone into the water. Both of them had salve and bandages on their wounds for now, but Park Nam-young's injury was truly severe. Kim Insil was better off by comparison, but if the priest wasn't skilled enough, he'd be left with lasting damage too. Even a successful treatment would take a long time.

Goblin snipers really did know their craft.

Even if Kim Insil ended up with aftereffects, it wouldn't be enough to cripple the arm entirely. Park Nam-young, on the other hand, might lose the use of that leg altogether. If we'd gotten to them right after they were hit, a low-grade potion or a junior priest could have managed it, given enough time... but we were well past that window. A priest and potion of that caliber wouldn't cut it now. Miss the moment, and treating the aftereffects later would take a first-string priest's focused care, a Ranker's highest-tier spell, or an elixir-grade potion. Nothing less would restore him.

But people of that caliber wouldn't appear for years, and elixirs were so rare they were called spare lives. You could show up with a mountain of gold and still not find one.

In other words, Park Nam-young was finished. Kim Insil's fate hung entirely on the skill of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whatever priest we found.

By the time we reached the castle, none of us could hide the look of people who'd simply survived. We presented what we'd seen and the map we'd brought. The trial was complete — and Mellid Castle erupted into chaos.

We'd arrived on the 5th Floor, but unlike the previous cycle, nothing about the situation had really changed. The people in front of me were still reeling, pressing me for details, while I got the wounded settled and went to meet a knight so I could report to someone higher up.

"So that's actually true?"

"I saw it with my own eyes. Ask anyone in my party — they'll tell you the same thing."

"Hrm..."

One of the knights who'd helped me on the 3rd Floor let out a low groan.

"This is a nightmare. No wonder the goblin raids have been getting worse..."

After a long moment of thought, the knight turned to me.

"You've done well. I hear your party took quite a few injuries. Two of them in particularly bad shape... I've already sent for a priest. Have them look you over."

"I'm grateful for the consideration."

"You've earned the rest. I didn't mean to send you on such a brutal request. You completed it magnificently. I'll make sure the lord hears of it."

I thanked the knight and stepped outside. I asked around for the infirmary and headed to where the others were waiting.

Every face in the room was grim.

"How did it go?"

"Kim Insil will recover to some extent, but... they said he won't be able to use his arm as freely as before... And Park Nam-young..."

Joo Ha-yeon's expression darkened as she continued.

"They're saying he'll... limp. For the rest of his life."

Kim Insil wore a hollow look. Park Nam-young still hadn't regained consciousness. When he woke up, the news might just break him.

"...That's bad."

There wasn't much else to say. Five tutorial floors still remained. I wasn't sure Park Nam-young would even be able to clear them.

Everyone was exhausted, so I told those who'd finished treatment to go rest. We'd be taking it easy for a while. I'd submitted the same report as in the previous cycle, so the lord would almost certainly commission another expedition into the Underground Waterway. If he didn't, I'd have to go anyway — even if it meant sneaking in.

There were other dungeons, but that one had a hidden quest, and I'd already cleared it in my first life. It was the comfortable choice. The monsters were weak, too.

The party slept the day away.

The next morning I went to check on the two wounded. Park Nam-young's eyes were all but dead. Kim Insil was straining, trying to move his arm however he could. It wasn't a situation for conversation.

I went looking for Johann, but all I heard was that he'd gone out that morning to restock supplies. He must have just about had a heart attack when he heard we'd made it back yesterday.

I had a pretty good idea why he'd left the castle. To set some pathetic little trap, no doubt. The problem was that in the first cycle, it had actually worked.

I hoped he'd do the exact same thing this time. I'd already planned how to turn it around and screw him over with it.

I opened the skill window I'd received as a reward for the 4th Floor.

Six skill slots and one unique skill.

In my previous life, I'd had a unique skill called Regenerative Body, a Normal-grade ability. A kind of self-heal, I suppose. This time around, Gaia's intervention had swapped it out for a trait with the frankly ridiculous name of Double Contract.

Administrator's Eye didn't show up on the skill list.

I tapped that absurdly named skill, and detailed information popped up.

Gods. Another name for Administrators.

They weren't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠omnipotent, but within their own dimensions they could certainly wield power that bordered on the miraculous. The limits, however, were absolute. If they exercised that power directly, the dimension would tear. Monsters from other dimensions could pour through the rifts, and so any direct use of their strength invited the destruction of the world itself. On top of that, they were bound by the restrictions of the Creator God — the God of Gods — which made even exceeding a certain threshold of power extraordinarily difficult.

That was why Administrators could only ever act indirectly, through their contractors.

And the leaders of the monsters that invaded dimensions — Giants, demons, and the like — were Demon Kings whose power rivaled the Administrators themselves. By mutual covenant, even if it meant annihilation, neither side could intervene directly.

I was a little sorry to lose Regenerative Body, which I'd put to good use in the past, but compared to the power of Double Contract it was nothing. Skill grades ran Normal, Rare, Super Rare, Legendary, Semi-Mythic, Mythic. The two skills were five full ranks apart. Comparing them was almost embarrassing.

A priest's skills varied enormously depending on the nature of the Administrator they contracted with. By contracting with two gods, I'd be able to use holy magic with two distinct affinities — and the synergy would be enormous. Holy power at least doubled. And since I was Gaia's only contractor, I monopolized every blessing she had to give.

The original plan had been to use this trait to become an insane buffer. Fill every skill slot with buffs and healing via Double Contract, take the full backing of two gods, and I was confident I could raise a first-string trainee to something approaching Ranker level. And if I had even a single Ranker under my command, and then stacked my buffs on top of that? You might end up with a monster who could take on two or three Giants alone.

The Giants that invaded Earth numbered around a hundred. They'd struck simultaneously, so plenty of them had been isolated. Defeat in detail was possible. If the Rankers, who had never once united in the previous timeline, had actually come together, Earth might not have fallen.

But that had been impossible. Rankers and guilds had been too busy fighting each other. A handful of guilds, including the one I'd belonged to, had at least flown the banner of saving Earth. The rest had been consumed by their own greed. And Earth hadn't even lasted long enough for Rankers to emerge in the first place. It was all empty speculation.

Now, though, things were different. Earth's time was frozen. A miracle born of cooperation between Gaia and another Administrator.

On top of that, I'd inherited my physical abilities. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I wasn't just a priest anymore — I had the potential to function as a paladin, filling a warrior's role as well. Self-healing, self-buffing, and high physical stats. An all-purpose monster.

I might even surpass the Goddess's Agent, one of the Rankers from my previous life. No — I was confident I could. My potential was only High, but I knew about countless hidden quests.

And then there was Na Seoyun.

Which reminded me — I needed to check the sisters' skill slots. I'd started with six. Most trainees had three or four. Mine was on the high side. Each slot was a skill, so the starting number had an enormous impact on a trainee's future. One of the Rankers had started with a ridiculous eleven slots, and on the strength of that she'd earned the title of Archmage.

I did my best to keep the pounding in my chest in check and went to find the Na sisters.