Tutorial (3)
-Puuk! “Kurrrr!”
A crude sword lodged deep into the orc’s neck. Dark red blood erupted in a fountain from the wound.
2/31
Another orc behind it let out a guttural roar and charged. The young man who’d driven the sword into the first orc’s neck gripped the hilt tight and swiftly pulled his body back. His expression showed not a flicker of agitation as he crouched low, then sprang up like a coiled spring, cleaving the second orc’s head clean through with his blade.
-Chwaak! “Kraaaah!”
The orc’s skull split in two, its massive body crashing to the ground.
3/31
“Hoo…” The young man caught his breath and scanned his surroundings. He’d taken down two orcs in the blink of an eye. But they weren’t the only ones around. Five orc corpses lay strewn across the dirt nearby. Even standing still, he seemed to glow with an otherworldly halo—a strikingly handsome young man named Cheon Tae-hwang, the genius who’d swept the world kendo championships at the youngest age ever.
“Five wasn’t even that hard.”
4/31
He turned his head, gazing down at the pile of orc bodies as he muttered to himself. He felt the hot rush of battle blood cooling slowly in his veins. At first, spotting the horde of dozens of orcs, Tae-hwang had slipped away into hiding. But that didn’t last. Born with a constitution that couldn’t abide running from a fight, he’d ambushed a lone straggler.
Orcs had raw power, but their movements were sluggish, so even a makeshift wooden sword could handle one if you played it smart.
5/31
After snagging a crude sword from that orc, he began proving exactly why everyone called him a genius. Tae-hwang’s talent wasn’t limited to the sword. He had an unparalleled gift for combat itself—something no one else could touch. Kendo was fundamentally a sport, after all, far removed from real battlefield swordplay.
But Tae-hwang had leveraged his innate combat sense to reshape sport kendo into a practical, battle-ready style tailored just for him.
6/31
‘Need something a bit stronger.’
Tae-hwang looked down at the orc corpses around him, his face saying it still wasn’t enough. He couldn’t forget that thrill from his first kill. A sensation no sport could ever provide—the electric rush of staking your life on every clash. He felt the long-smothered craving for true battle easing in his chest.
Instinct told him this was the real fighting he’d always hungered for.
7/31
But that rush only lasted at the start. Two weeks of nothing but orcs had dulled the edge of that initial shiver. If he’d never tasted it, he might’ve endured. But now that he knew? Shaking off that siren call was no easy feat.
Tae-hwang prowled onward, seeking a sharper thrill.
“Hmph…”
In his mind flashed the message window from before the orcs first appeared.
8/31
It had clearly stated that slaying the orc chieftain, Kroll, would end this tutorial.
‘Perfect.’
His cooling blood ignited once more. Whether the tutorial ended or not meant nothing to him. What mattered was the power of this orc chieftain, Kroll. A feral, beast-like smile curled his lips.
9/31
His heart pounded at the thought of clashing with something stronger.
‘Orcs can talk, right?’
He moved to grab a nearby orc and interrogate it about the chieftain’s location. In the spot he left behind, only the orc corpses remained.
* * *
Two weeks had passed.
10/31
Humans were creatures of adaptation, after all. In that short time, Yeong-sik’s group had grown somewhat accustomed to life in this world.
“Snort, snort.”
Yeong-sik eyed two orcs patrolling near their lodging. They wandered the forest, heads swiveling like they were hunting prey.
Yeong-sik turned to Seo A-ra.
11/31
Reading his gaze, A-ra nodded with a tense expression.
-Shh-rustle.
“Snort! Human! It’s a human!”
“Human female! Pretty human!”
The orcs spotted A-ra stepping into view and huffed excitedly, nostrils flaring. Astonishingly, they could judge human beauty—and this stunning woman had them in a frenzy, charging like beasts in heat.
In that sense, A-ra was prime bait for orcs—beyond prime, even.
12/31
The orcs rushed her with faces flushed in savage lust. A-ra grimaced at them. She’d seen plenty of men fail to hide their excitement around her, but a monstrous freak doing it? The revulsion hit different.
“Snort! Snort!”
They closed in, hot breath blasting, right up to her.
That’s when Kim Gil-su burst from the bushes at the path’s choke point, bringing his crude axe down like a thunderbolt.
13/31
Distracted by A-ra, the orcs couldn’t react to the sudden ambush.
-Puuk!
“Kurrk!”
Dark red blood gushed from the lead orc’s neck. The other froze, face hardening, then leaped back.
No matter how beastly and dim they were, they wouldn’t charge a beauty with a tribesman dying right in front of them.
The surviving orc glared at Gil-su, the killer, and bellowed a guttural roar. It raised its greatsword to swing.
14/31
That’s when—
-Shoooooo!Bang!
With a roar of igniting flames, a right arm rocketed toward it. The bullet-speed fist smashed its skull to pulp before it could react.
15/31
-Splatter!
Yeong-sik approached the orc to retrieve his arm—a motion he’d grown used to. Click. After reattaching the pulverizing fist, he turned to A-ra and Gil-su.
“Looks like we’ve cleared out most of the ones prowling around.”
“Haa… No idea where these bastards keep crawling out from. Endless.”
16/31
Gil-su stared at the corpses with a weary grimace. They’d already bagged over twenty in two weeks, yet the orcs showed up daily without fail.
“Still, being able to fight them at all is something.”
A-ra, who’d played bait, approached as she spoke. She was right—having the firepower to take them on set them leagues above others.
17/31
“Well… that’s thanks to Yeong-sik here.”
Gil-su grinned, eyeing Yeong-sik’s right arm. Yeong-sik shook his head slowly.
“No, sir. Alone, I couldn’t handle more than one or two. This is a one-shot weapon.”
Yeong-sik lifted his right arm with a wry expression.
18/31
Not humility—this was fact. His arm was near-disposable; reusing it after firing was a hassle. Over the past two weeks, he’d run tests on his body, confirming a few truths.
For starters, everyday activity barely tired him. He slept, but an hour sufficed, and hours of trekking left him unfatigued.
19/31
Intense combat or high stress did wear him down, sure. But compared to A-ra or Gil-su? He was in another league.
One big question had been his body’s durability. His right arm was mechanical, yet pre-launch, it felt indistinguishably human—soft skin, warm to the touch.
For kicks, he’d once punched a nearby rock with it. The result? Agonizing pain shooting through his arm.
20/31
It pulverized stone when fired, but swinging bare? Not even a scratch. ‘Tougher than rock, but pain renders it useless?’
A few more brute-force tests ended the same—searing agony forcing him to quit.
21/31
Overall, aside from the launchable arm, superhuman stamina, and minimal food/water needs, his body was eerily ordinary. No rock-smashing strength, no blinding speed.
Of course, he was already far beyond normal humans.
22/31
But for a machine-armed guy? A bit underwhelming. ‘Without the arm, I couldn’t take even one orc.’
Orcs were slow for their power. Still, with zero combat experience, neither Gil-su nor Yeong-sik could win one-on-one.
So Yeong-sik exploited their low IQ with ambushes to clear patrols.
23/31
A-ra’s killer looks drew them in easier than expected, letting the group hunt safely.
“At least we can guarantee taking one down every time.”
Gil-su flashed his good-natured smile.
He was spot-on—that near-guaranteed kill was a massive edge.
A-ra nodded in agreement.
24/31
“Yeah. Without you, Yeong-sik, killing monsters this easily would’ve been impossible.”
Her voice carried trust now, not the initial icy edge. Two weeks with Yeong-sik and Gil-su had thawed her walls a bit. Not chit-chatty or jokey yet, but a huge leap from her guarded start.
25/31
“Anyway, let’s move. Blood might draw more.”
Yeong-sik shifted topics, a touch embarrassed by the praise, and stepped off. A-ra and Gil-su followed.
Yeong-sik had naturally become the de facto leader.
Not just the arm. His cool-headed judgment—hard to believe from an amnesiac—and subtle charisma drew them in.
26/31
A-ra and Gil-su followed seamlessly, adapting to this life.
“Just one more week to hold out.”
A-ra’s voice held hopeful anticipation. Tutorial’s end didn’t guarantee escape, but maybe the “mainland” would differ. Maybe even mean Earth.
27/31
“Yes. But no letting your guard down. This is when it gets riskiest.”
Yeong-sik warned lowly. Danger struck when you felt safe—complacency bred openings.
His group couldn’t handle three or more orcs.
28/31
Luckily, most patrolled solo or in pairs. They’d spotted and skirted larger groups so far, but no guarantee ahead.
“Got it.”
A-ra nodded. She knew better than to relax.
“On the way back, let’s grab some water.”
Yeong-sik pulled a gourd-like container from his pocket—coconut husk repurposed post-meal.
29/31
“I’ll get it.”
A-ra took it, feeling she’d contributed less than the men. Yeong-sik didn’t refuse her offer.
As Yeong-sik and Gil-su watched for threats, A-ra reached the stream and dipped the gourd.
-Shh-rustle.
30/31
The bushes by the stream stirred faintly.
But none of Yeong-sik’s group heard it.
31/31