Tutorial — Floor 4

"Oppa! Oppaaa!"

The one who flung the door open in a rush was Na Seoyun. Na-yeon came in right behind her.

A sudden visit.

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

"Well... we got separated when we were transferred to the fourth floor. I think she got scared without you around."

Na-yeon said it with a faintly bitter look on her face.

So that was it.

A quiet satisfaction settled in my chest. The more they leaned on me, the more trust they built, the easier they would be to recruit.

No — if we simply kept traveling together like this, recruitment wouldn't even enter into it. They would naturally become members of the guild I was going to found.

A first-rate mage, and someone with the potential to become a Ranker.

They would make an excellent foundation. Of course, my own growth still came first.

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry."

I stroked Na Seoyun's hair as she burrowed into my arms.

Na-yeon wore an apologetic expression. I smiled at her, letting her know it was fine.

"When we got moved so suddenly, I didn't know what to do. It looks like the defense at least succeeded, though..."

I agreed with her.

"We must have passed the trial, since we made it to the fourth floor. Looking at the rooms and the mention of a request, we're still inside Mellid Castle. Someone will probably come find us. They said it was a commission from the lord."

In the first timeline, I remembered Johann being the one who came.

Knock, knock.

Someone rapped on my door.

"Who is it?"

"Ah, you're here. It's Joo Ha-yeon. May I come in?"

"Yes."

At my reply, Joo Ha-yeon opened the door and stepped inside. She wasn't alone. She brought the rest of the party — and Johann — in with her.

"So the other two were here as well. Mr. Johann brought a request from the lord. He came to my room, so... I thought I should let you know first, Shin-hoo."

I nodded, and Johann stepped forward.

"It's been a while... though I suppose it hasn't actually been that long. Good to see you, Mr. Johann."

"Good to see ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you too, Shin-hoo. I hear you all put on quite a show this time? Thanks to that, I even received a commendation from the lord myself."

"That's good to hear."

"Haha. Between that business with the bowl and guaranteeing your identities so you could fight, I got promoted from hunter to a post managing other hunters. I'm truly grateful."

"Congratulations."

"It's thanks to that connection that I was the one sent to deliver this request. Ah, before I get to that — the lord was quite impressed by your performance. As a reward, he'll be issuing you armor. He seemed to feel it was a shame your equipment was so lacking compared to what you accomplished. Ah, your gear is already sufficient, Shin-hoo, so a bonus was issued instead. The equipment will be handed out by the soldiers if you go to the supply warehouse tomorrow. Your bonus, I'll give you right now."

He pulled out a heavy coin pouch and handed it to me.

I cracked it open. There was a fair amount of silver and gold inside — at least ten gold. It felt like roughly ten thousand dollars.

"Thank you. But you mentioned a request?"

"Ah, yes. The lord intends to take advantage of having just fended off a large-scale invasion and wipe out a few goblin settlements. The knights will handle the actual assault, but goblin camps tend to relocate frequently. So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he's commissioned you all for reconnaissance. You were adventurers originally, after all."

I nodded.

"And the deadline...?"

"He wants you to find at least five settlements. The more, the better. But you must return within five days."

"The reward is one gold per person, plus a custom-forged weapon from the castle blacksmith."

Not bad. No — it was a decent reward. Custom-made weapons were extremely expensive.

In the past, they'd just thrown a little money at us. This time the compensation had gone up. In exchange, the number of settlements to find had increased to five or more.

Honestly, I roughly knew the locations. I could find ten or more if I wanted.

I glanced at the party, then spoke to Johann.

"We'll do it."

Not that there was any way to refuse. Refusal was impossible in the tutorial. The reward would probably get slashed and we'd be forced to do it anyway — or, in the worst case, we'd die at the lord's hands. That was the kind of place the Tower was.

"Good thinking. You'll have combat fatigue built up, so rest for two days before you set out. Come find me that morning. I'll give you provisions and a map."

"Understood."

"You've had a long day — I shouldn't keep you. Get some rest."

With that, Johann left the room.

"Hah... I don't know if we'll even make it to the tenth floor in one piece. The third floor was already like that — how are we supposed to get through the tenth?"

Joo Ha-yeon said it in a weary voice.

"We should rest for today. Everyone's exhausted. We'll pick up the reward equipment tomorrow. This kind of battle must have been hard on all of you... but you did well. Thank you for your hard work."

"We barely did anything. We ended up relying on you again this time, Shin-hoo. Thank you, truly."

At her words, the others offered me their thanks as well.

"It was only possible because we all worked together. Let's call it a night. I'll see you all in the morning."

With that, everyone except the sisters Na Seoyun and Na-yeon left my room.

Na-yeon tried to take Na Seoyun with her, but between Seoyun's plea to stay just a little longer and my assurance that it was fine, she eventually relented.

"...Just ten minutes, then."

I looked at Na-yeon sitting in front of me and Na Seoyun still nestled in my arms, then activated the Administrator's Eye.

...Holy shit.

The newly unlocked status windows were anything but ordinary.

Even I hadn't gained mana until the seventh floor. Most people only awakened to it after consuming the Elixir of Mana — the seventh-floor reward — so I was reasonably talented myself. My potential was rated High, after all.

But these two already had mana stats of 1 or higher. The moment they became aware of it, they'd be able to use mana to reinforce their bodies — and if they could do that, their combat power would skyrocket. Na Seoyun even had a mana of 2. And her agility was 14. Agility — the second-hardest stat to raise after mana — sitting at fourteen...

Both were women, and Na Seoyun was young on top of that, so their stamina and strength were lacking — but those were relatively easy stats to raise in the early stages. Now that their status windows were unlocked and they had the system's assistance, they'd hit the average of 10 in no time.

It confirmed that my choice on the first floor had been an excellent one.

Time passed as I savored the satisfaction. Na-yeon took Na Seoyun and returned to their room.

I gave a small wave to Na Seoyun's disappointed face, told her I'd see her tomorrow, and closed the door.

It had been a hard day. Thanks to the unlocking of my status window and the inheritance of my records, my body was fine — but the memory of pushing a weak body to hold the line against goblins left me mentally drained.

The stress of combat itself ate away at the mind. Given the scale of the battle, the others might have nightmares tonight. At least I had my memories from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the first timeline. A day of rest should be enough to keep me from any real issues.

Just as my consciousness was beginning to drift...

Knock, knock.

"...Who is it?"

The third time today. I was starting to get annoyed.

"I've been sent by the lord. May I come in?"

Sent by the lord?

Puzzled, I opened the door myself.

A young woman. Quite beautiful.

"What...?"

"I've been ordered to warm your bed tonight. May I come in?"

I understood immediately.

"Did you... go to the others as well?"

"No. This assignment is exclusively for you, Mr. Yoo Shin-hoo, in recognition of your distinguished performance."

I see. I felt a private sense of relief. The others weren't used to this kind of thing yet. For some of them, it might have caused more stress than it relieved. Then again, the men might have liked it? Most men did tend to work off post-combat stress through sex. The women... thinking back to the first timeline, there had been some who did the same, but less frequently than the men. Some of them ate their feelings instead.

"Come in."

I was used to this. There was no reason to refuse.

I'd been building up stress anyway. This would do just fine.

This was the tutorial. A few floors from now, we'd never come back here. It was the lord's order, so there wouldn't be any fallout.

I decided I was fine with it.

The woman entered the room and went straight to the bed. The motion of someone who knew exactly what she was doing. I followed her.

Without a word, she slipped off the robe she'd been wearing.

Thin clothing underneath.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her breast a light squeeze.

"Mm..."

A soft moan escaped her.

A modest size. Watching her let out that faint sound, I lightly licked the nape of her neck.

"Hngh..."

Her reaction was good. She seemed to know exactly how to get a partner worked up.

One hand stayed on her breast while my tongue traced slowly down from the nape of her neck to her collarbone; the other slipped inside her clothes and stroked lightly along her spine.

"Nnh, hngh, nnn..."

As I caressed her body and my tongue gradually worked its way down, she twisted slightly. At the same time, she brought both hands down and slowly stroked my cock.

I felt myself swelling, but I didn't stop touching her. My tongue had already passed her collarbone and was approaching her chest. The clothes were starting to get in the way.

I reached down and pushed her top up. She didn't resist — she simply paused her caressing and raised her arms to make it easier.

She wasn't wearing anything underneath. I resumed.

I placed a hand on her left breast and licked the right, working my way across the surface, slowly circling closer to the areola.

Her hands were busy too. One was already exploring my chest; the other had slipped inside my pants, lightly stroking the base.

"Haah, nnh."

"Mm..."

Soft moans filled the room. Neither of us spoke. Probably because I hadn't said anything.

Before long my shirt was off too, and she was completely naked. I focused on her breasts while my hand traced her thigh and stroked around her sex. By then she was already wet.

I didn't feel the need to keep going with the foreplay. The point was stress relief. Sex was just the means. The caressing had been the bare minimum of courtesy.

Feeling that she was wet enough, I pulled down my pants. She understood. She lay back on the bed and spread her legs, ready to take me.

Her eyes were half-lidded. A smile sat on her lips, but it didn't reach her eyes. This wasn't love. This was sex as work.

We both knew it well enough.

I pushed into her and settled into her arms.

"Haaahn..."

A lewd moan. Her body took me easily, tightening lightly in welcome.

Feeling that pleasant fullness rising from my cock, I began to slowly roll my hips.

Wet, slick sounds filled the room.

"Hngh, haahn, nnh!"

She moaned in time with my movements. Her arms slipped under my armpits, pulling me against her as she rested her chin on my shoulder. Sweet cries of pleasure drilled into my ear.

"Nnh, aah! Hngh!"

Her spread legs rested lightly over my upper thighs, swaying with my rhythm, and the bed creaked in time with every thrust.

I didn't whisper sweet things to her. I didn't give her enough foreplay. This was purely for my own relief.

So it didn't last long. I had no intention of pleasing her, so I didn't hold back the climax building in me — I came immediately.

"Hnh! Haaaah!"

Maybe because she felt me coming. Even though I hadn't done a single thing to please her, she wrapped her legs around my waist, clenched her whole body tight, and seemed to climax lightly herself.

Whether it was an act or the real thing, I didn't know.

In that moment, pleasure flooded all the way to the top of my skull. I trembled slightly, riding out the aftershocks.

But one round wasn't enough to drain it all. Maybe it had been building up for a while. Feeling that I was still hard, I started moving my hips again.

"Hhk, nngh."

She took it without a word.

The night grew late.

And so the night wore on.