Tutorial — The Second Floor

Potential... Supreme?!

For a moment, I couldn't hide the shock that tore across my face. Fortunately, Na-yeon and Na Seoyun were too busy celebrating that they'd formed a party — and that their partner was me — to notice a thing.

Supreme Potential. That was vanishingly rare. According to Gaia, the Supreme range was the maximum the Administrator's Eye could measure; anything past a certain threshold simply registered as Supreme, with no further details available.

Which meant, of course, that not every Supreme was created equal. Even so, the designation itself was staggering. Even at its lowest, Supreme left High in the dust without breaking a sweat. To put it in concrete terms: even someone at the very bottom of that rank, if they fully awakened what they had, could take down a Giant or two on their own. That was how precious it was — and how brutally difficult it was to develop all the way.

And this was the Tower. The Tower of Training, built for the express purpose of cultivation. If someone like that fully bloomed their potential and filled out their items and skill slots the right way, they could wipe a major guild off the map single-handedly.

My guess was that every last one of the Tower's top Rankers had been Supreme Potential.

And one of them was standing right in front of me.

A child who, in my previous life, hadn't even cleared the tutorial. Supreme Potential, buried and lost on the tutorial floors of my first run. The sheer absurdity of it hit me all at once.

I reined myself in, buried the tremor of excitement running through me, and greeted Na Seoyun with a smile.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Yoo Shin-hoo — we'll be in a party together."

"...Hello. I'm Na Seoyun. I'm in my third year of middle school."

"I'm twenty-four. Just call me oppa."

"Okay. Shin-hoo oppa. If you're twenty-four... that's the same age as my unnie."

"Ah..."

Na-yeon had only just realized that she and I had never even exchanged names. I hadn't thought about it either, thanks to the Administrator's Eye. And from her perspective, of course, she had no way of knowing this was my second time around.

"Right — we haven't even introduced ourselves yet. I'm Yoo Shin-hoo. Twenty-four. Looking forward to working with you."

"Ah. Yes. I'm Na-yeon. I'm... twenty-four."

"Same age, then. Let's drop the formalities. We'll be sticking together for a while anyway."

"Ah, yes. I mean — yeah. Looking forward to it, Shin-hoo."

"Likewise."

After that brief round of introductions, we joined hands just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as the message instructed.

Maybe because we'd only just formed the party, a faint awkwardness hung in the air. We hadn't been that close in my previous life, either.

The moment I locked in a party, the people around us shot me looks that said what a waste — but time was short, so they started clustering among themselves one by one.

Our side had three. A few people still tried for the remaining spots, but not a single one who approached had decent potential. I made a convenient excuse — if we went up to four, a one-person party might end up forming, so we were staying at three — and used that to stall out the rest of the clock.

When time ran out, every party had been formed at last.

A countdown began, and when it hit zero, our party entered Floor 2.

When I opened my eyes, we were in a forest. It was already evening; the light was fading fast.

"Argh!"

"Kyaa!"

Startled cries erupted the instant we landed.

"A-a person! It's a person!"

A man shouted, his voice thick with shock and naked relief.

"Ah — aah! Thank you, thank you! God, I really thought I was going to have to do this alone..."

I immediately checked the others who'd been summoned with us. One man stood off by himself. On the other side was a team of two women and one man. I recognized them at once — the other party's members were the same as last time.

Meanwhile, a message appeared.

There wasn't much to Floor 2. In truth, this floor had no real ordeal to speak of, and the difficulty was extremely low. True to the tutorial, it was more of a lesson than a trial — you fulfilled a quest and received some basic equipment. That was the extent of it.

"Fulfill a... request?"

The man who'd been summoned alone muttered it under his breath.

The parties eyed the other people who'd appeared with them, a current of tension running through the clearing. Wariness.

"...What's going on here?"

"I-I don't know. I finished Floor 1 and came to Floor 2 too. I got kicked off Floor 1 because the party numbers didn't match... Hey, could we maybe stick together? I'm nervous being alone. I'll cooperate as much as I can. Please."

The lone man was already asking the other party to let him join.

"...I understand Floor 2 is meant to be done as parties. I'll have to decline. Who knows what could happen?"

At the woman's refusal, the man's face crumpled with desperation.

"Th-the Floor 2 mission is shared among everyone on Floor 2, isn't it? Th-the message said so, so it has to be true. Please, don't..."

While they talked, I turned the Administrator's Eye on them and checked their potential.

The result: of everyone there, only the woman who'd refused him — Joo Ha-yeon — registered as Mid-High Potential. The rest averaged out at Low-Mid. It was a stark illustration of just how rare potential of High or above truly was.

A rustle.

The sound cut through the clearing. Everyone stopped talking, bodies going taut.

"What's this? Adventurers?"

A man's voice.

The brush parted with another rustle, and a middle-aged man with Western features stepped out of the grass.

The mission NPC. Johann had arrived.

"Adventurers, are you? Lost your way?"

Johann called out to us.

The others couldn't find an answer, hanging back in hesitation. I spoke for the group.

"Yes, that's right. We didn't realize the forest was this vast. And we've run out of food..."

"Adventurers after all, then? Name's Johann. I'm a hunter."

Role-playing. A bit of theater. Conversation with NPCs was something like that, and I knew it from experience. Last time, instead of playing along, we'd blurted out things like who are you, advertising our ignorance for all to see — and Johann had only given us a look that said something was off.

The people around me were staring as if I'd grown a second head. I ignored them.

"Would you happen to know if there's a village nearby?"

"There's only Mellid Castle around these parts. Not too far, though."

"That's a relief. I... I know we've only just met, but would it be all right to ask for some help? As I said, we're lost, and short on food..."

"Oh, it's nothing difficult. We all help each other out, don't we? If you'll just do a small favor for me, I'll gladly show you the way. Depending how it goes, I might even share some food."

"What kind of favor?"

"Nothing hard. Just go to the place marked on this map and fetch a cup from the altar. His Lordship's taken to collecting unusual cups lately, you see."

The trial of Floor 2. Johann's request had appeared. At the message, everyone around me turned to stare at me in open amazement.

"Not today, of course. Sun's about to go down. Rest up today and bring it tomorrow. In exchange, I'll take care of tonight's lodgings."

"Then we're grateful. Understood. We'll do it."

"Haha. Thank you. The castle's been short on food lately. They've set the quota high from above. I barely have time to check my traps as it is, and then this extra job on top of it. You've saved me."

"We're the ones receiving more help."

I talked and laughed with Johann as if we'd known each other for years.

Honestly, the whole situation was absurd — but the nature of the Tower, and the fact that the man across from me was an illusory NPC, was what made it hold together at all.

The others, seeing the message window and confirming that the conversation had gone well, looked visibly relieved.

Johann efficiently led the group to a spot suitable for rest. Sleeping arrangements for eight, including him. He taught us how to make a bedroll and how to start a fire. At first he looked incredulous that a group of so-called adventurers couldn't even get a flame going or put together a proper place to sleep, but when we told him we'd only just become adventurers, he accepted it readily enough.

We'd already told him we'd gotten lost in the forest, after all...

I had to sit through a lesson on methods I already knew by heart.

We each made our own sleeping spots the way Johann had shown us. While we worked, he started preparing a simple meal. It was nothing fancy — just a hodgepodge stew.

"All right, if you've all made your beds, eat up. Can't promise it'll taste like much, though."

Johann chuckled and portioned out the food.

We hadn't eaten a thing since the fighting. Plenty of us were hungry, so everyone took their share without a word.

A woman from the other party started crying as she ate the stew.

"Hhk... hh-hhk..."

She kept it down, muffling the sound as best she could. Maybe it was contagious. One by one, everyone but me began to cry.

Johann, whatever he made of the sight, turned his face away.

The next morning, Johann woke us without delay. True to his word that he'd take responsibility for the night, he had even stood the entire watch himself, splitting it with his dog.

"Just follow the map. If you've got time left, check the traps here, here, and here for me."

"Yes."

"Be back before noon. It's a bit of a walk to the castle."

"Understood. We'll be on our way."

"Right. I'm counting on you. There aren't any monsters, but there are quite a few wolves, so be careful."

I put on a serious face and nodded at Johann's warning.

The group set out with me in the lead, following the map.

"...You're amazing."

"Pardon?"

It was the woman who'd refused the lone man's request to join them yesterday.

"The way you talked to Johann. It was impressive. You spoke with him like it was nothing, and thanks to that we got the mission without any trouble. Thank you."

"I just got lucky."

I answered with a smile.

"I'm Joo Ha-yeon. The girl who cried first yesterday is Nam Eun-ju, and that man is Kim Insil."

"Un-unnie!"

"I'm Yoo Shin-hoo. This is Na-yeon, and that one is Na Seoyun. Looking forward to working together for a while."

"I'm the one who should be saying that. Starting with your equipment... how did you even get gear like that..."

"Luck. I collected a lot of tickets on Floor 1."

"...That's really impressive. We barely managed to get a single shield..."

"It's thanks to oppa that most of us even survived. He took down over twenty of those monsters all by himself..."

Na Seoyun had suddenly cut into the conversation, a hint of unease on her face.

"T-twenty of them?"

Staking a claim?

That hadn't happened in my previous life. Back then I hadn't stood out nearly this much, and the party atmosphere hadn't been anywhere near this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠calm.

"H-haha..."

Inwardly, I found myself welcoming the interruption. Na-yeon and Na Seoyun — Na Seoyun especially — were talent I had to secure. The person I intended to recruit was showing a flicker of wariness toward someone approaching me. Most likely, she wanted to be closer to the one who would protect her and her sister: a bid to raise her own priority.

"Oh my, is she your little sister? How cute."

"Ah. She's Na-yeon's little sister. We only met yesterday, but... I guess our personalities just click."

"I see."

I carefully stroked Na Seoyun's hair as she came up beside me. A look of relief crossed her face.

Even after that little territorial display, Joo Ha-yeon didn't stop smiling or talking to me. If anything, she seemed even more interested after hearing I'd taken down over twenty goblins on my own.

Before I knew it, Joo Ha-yeon and I were the ones leading the party, and no one else showed any sign of objecting.

We kept the conversation careful and never let our watch on the surroundings slip. The sun was out, so we were a little looser than before — but yesterday's ordeal was more than enough to keep the mood from relaxing too far.

Maybe that was why. Fortunately, nothing happened before we reached ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our destination. After walking a little over an hour, we arrived at the Abandoned Shrine marked on the map.