Tutorial — Floor 1

A message hung in empty air. I stared at it, dazed.

...I really did regress.

I thought back to the contract I had made with Gaia, the sole Administrator of Earth.

She said she would freeze time. Told me to accumulate experience while it was stopped.

I remembered her saying she had even prepared arrangements for that purpose.

Honestly, I had wanted to give up. Climb this tower all over again... it was a nightmare. In the end, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠though, I had agreed.

Family. To bring back the family that had met such a horrific death.

While I was still turning it over, other people began appearing one after another.

"Aaaah! What is this place! What's going on!"

"A monster! A monster! There's a monster in the sky...!"

"Where are we?"

"Somebody help me! Hey!"

Every last one of them was drowning in panic. My past self hadn't been any different.

The area was in complete uproar, with no sign of anyone settling down. Some had been summoned in their pajamas, others already bleeding. Not a single one of them could accept what was happening.

Yeah. That was how it had been.

I ignored them and quietly murmured.

"Status window."

Not yet, then?

In that case...

Administrator's Eye.

This was different from any skill the Tower granted. It was a technique obtained through my contract with Administrator Gaia — Administrator's Eye. It didn't consume a skill slot, and I could use it on instinct, which made it the only skill available even before I cleared the tutorial and unlocked the Tower's functions. The catch was that Gaia was Earth's Administrator, so it only worked on Earthlings.

I immediately used it on someone I had shared a small connection with in the past.

A simple information window popped up. Once the status window and skill slots were unlocked, I would be able to see even those details.

Those functions weren't open yet, so all I could get was a rough outline.

High Potential.

My own potential was High. Without some special stroke of fortune, this was someone whose ceiling would sit right about where I had been in the past.

Depending on skill slots and early skill luck, she might climb higher than that.

So that was the kind of person she was.

Knowing she had never bloomed and had met a terrible end in the previous timeline, I felt a twinge of pity.

I didn't have time to look everyone over properly, but I still had to carve out whatever moments I could. Each use drained my mental strength and left me exhausted, so I couldn't overdo it — that didn't change the fact that I would have to use it on everyone I met from here on.

I needed to build a party of my own.

No matter how hard I pushed myself, saving my homeland alone was too much. Companions weren't optional. They were a requirement.

When I contracted with Gaia, I had made myself a single promise.

I would not live like a sucker the way I had in the past.

I was the one carrying the heavy burden of saving my homeland now. That meant I would never again hand over skills, items, dungeons, or any of the countless opportunities to anyone else.

I would keep them for myself, and share only a portion with party members who would support me without question.

I had to make people mine, and I had to grow endlessly myself. I already knew my potential and how many skill slots I had, so I could plan exactly which skills, items, and dungeons I needed. The only difference was...

The class... I suppose.

In the past I had been a Warrior. This time, I had to become a Priest.

Gaia's arrangements would only work properly if I was a Priest, so a class change was necessary.

Priests required the least talent of any class, and if an Administrator was determined to help, they were the easiest to support. That was why I had agreed to the change. And besides.

Nobody said a Priest has to stay in the back line.

I was still turning over plans for the future when a message window appeared before my eyes.

Yeah. That line. I had fallen for it last time.

Reach the top and go to the world you desire. There had been any number of theories, but most of us — especially us — took it to mean we could go to Earth.

Homecoming. Yeah. We thought it meant we could go home. That was the answer most trainees settled on.

A chime rang out.

Message windows cascaded across my vision, one after another, until they nearly blotted it out.

The barrage quieted the surroundings a little. But only for a moment.

"What is this!"

"The Tower of Training? What the hell is that? Send me home!"

"I don't know what any of this is! Just — just send me home! Mom!"

"Goblins? What are those? Kill them...? Is this a joke? Who is this? Who's pulling this sick prank!"

I ignored the commotion and selected a weapon at once.

There were about thirty people summoned here, and thirty goblins as well. Honestly, with half of them men and more than ten of those adults, thirty goblins were not a terrifying enemy — especially with weapons being handed out. But everyone except me was a modern person unused to combat. That was why, in the past, fewer than ten people had walked away from this alive.

Combat experience mattered that much.

The moment I made my choice, a cluster of brilliant light bloomed in front of my hand. The light gathered at once and shaped itself into the weapon I had chosen.

A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mace. It wasn't the weapon I had mainly used in the past, but given my current physical abilities, this was the best choice.

The moment I summoned it, every eye in the area snapped toward me.

"What's that...."

"A-a weapon?"

"The light turned into a weapon...."

They all looked stunned at the sudden light and the way it had become a weapon in my hand. Earth had been a world ruled by science, after all — no mana, no magic.

That was when it happened. A scraping, monstrous sound rasped through the air. As if my summoning the weapon had been the trigger, a whole pack of goblins appeared at once.

"Kieek?"

Across from us.

The little green creatures looked thoroughly startled by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the sudden change in environment. From their perspective, a pack of nearly thirty humans had just materialized out of nowhere. But they were monsters — beings ruled by wild instinct rather than reason.

Every human face showed shock. People ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠recoiled. Fear rolled off them in waves, and the goblins' senses did not miss it.

They recognized the humans as mere prey in an instant, and with joyous shrieks they charged toward the cluster of people.

"Kieeeee!"

"Monsters! They're monsters!"

"Waaah! Mom! Moooom!"

"Ruuun!"

People scattered in a panic.

I moved among them as well. There was no way I could take on thirty goblins alone. Experience or not, this body was the completely untrained ordinary one I had walked in with. Five or six was my current limit. So I needed the goblins to spread out a little.

I carefully circled around Na-yeon, whose potential had been high, while using Administrator's Eye on the others.

Mid, Low, Low-Mid, Mid, Lowest, Mid-High...

Every last one of them was lacking.

By the time I had checked about ten people, my mind was already worn thin and I couldn't use it anymore. Meanwhile, people were dying to the goblins one by one, and some hastily summoned weapons to fight back.

"Get the hell away! You little monster runts...!"

A man screamed as he wildly swung the sword he had chosen.

"Kiek!"

One goblin took a wound and backed off. Emboldened, the man shouted.

"Everyone pick a weapon! These bastards aren't actually that—"

That was as far as he got. The moment he swung and wounded one of their own, the surrounding goblins piled on and focused their attack on him.

"Shit! Ugh, aaah! Aaaagh! You monster, you monster bastards...! Help — help me! Hey! Don't run...!"

Mid-High Potential. Not a terrible talent, all things considered, but unfortunately he was quite a distance away.

Not quite worth abandoning Na-yeon and charging in to save him. I gave up on the man and looked at the goblin coming straight at me.

"Aaaagh!"

The man was eventually torn to pieces in the goblins' hands, and the people, drowning in terror, tried even harder to flee farther away.

But they could not escape.

A transparent barrier enclosed the entire area, and it would not permit anyone to run.

"Open it! Open it! Let us out!"

"Please save me! Please! I'm begging you!"

"Waaah!"

"Kieeeee!"

I ignored the surrounding screams and the goblins' joyful shrieks, watching the one charging at me as I leisurely spun the mace.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

Just as the description had said, the balance was decent — the heavy feel of it was satisfying.

Well. Nothing personal...

One goblin, charging in.

Seeing me give up on running and settle into a stance, its face lit up with delight. It was looking at me as complete prey.

This is a quest too.

I swung the mace hard at that goblin.

A watermelon splitting open. The mace I had put everything into struck the charging goblin square in the temple.

It died without even a chance to scream. Brain matter leaked from its shattered skull, and a bit of red blood splattered across me. Instead of wiping it off, I rolled my slightly sore shoulder and muttered.

"Hoo... I swung that properly and it still feels like this... This body is seriously pathetic. When the hell am I supposed to train it."

It was my own past body, but the criticism came out on its own. My wrist was throbbing a little too — I would need to be more careful with my swings. Should I have at least warmed up?

The moment I dropped one goblin, the others turned their heads at the scent of their kin's blood and flinched at the sight of the corpse.

I swept my gaze over them. Six.

A twitch.

I grinned.

They seemed to sense a hint of danger from an atmosphere completely different from the other prey.

I gave them a light smile, raised the mace again, and shook it in a slow, threatening arc.

Whoosh. Whoosh!

"Kieeeeee!"

Perhaps they took that as a provocation. The surrounding goblins charged straight at me.