To the Continent (1)
"Where... is this?"
Yeong-sik frowned at the suddenly changed scenery and looked around.
It was a massive cavern. Covered in hard, dark blue walls, it held over a thousand people gathered inside, all wearing the same bewildered expressions as they scanned their surroundings—just like him.
"Does that mean... the Tutorial is over?"
Gil-su asked, recalling the message window he'd seen just before arriving here.
Having quickly gathered his wits, Yeong-sik nodded calmly in response.
"Yeah. Since the orc chieftain died, it looks like the Tutorial ended ahead of schedule."
"Then everyone here...?"
"Yeah. These must be all the people summoned for this Tutorial."
At A-ra's words, Yeong-sik sharply scanned the crowd with piercing eyes.
They were plunged into confusion, their faces a tangled mix of relief that the Tutorial was over and anxiety about what came next.
"But when we first got here, there didn't seem to be this many people...?"
A-ra asked cautiously, the unspoken implication hanging in the air: 'And a lot must have died.'
Yeong-sik nodded and replied.
"We weren't the only ones. There were others summoned alongside us."
Gil-su and A-ra's expressions hardened at his words.
Even at a rough estimate, there were over a thousand people in this cavern.
Which meant... how many had died, exactly?
Yeong-sik's group had adapted to the Tutorial space far more easily than others, thanks to his bizarre abilities and quick judgment, A-ra's stellar role as bait, and Gil-su's affable personality easing the tension and stress.
But others hadn't been so lucky. Especially those traveling in small groups of one or two—they'd likely been massacred unilaterally by orcs or collapsed from starvation.
"Speaking of which."
Yeong-sik narrowed his eyes at a young man gripping a crude sword.
Cheon Tae-hwang.
The man who had slain the orc chieftain Kroll and ended this Tutorial early.
He stood apart from the crowd, lost in thought, just as he'd appeared when they first saw him.
"No way he took down Kroll all by himself?"
Yeong-sik stared at him in disbelief.
Until the message announced the chieftain's death, he'd assumed Tae-hwang had teamed up with others to fight it.
But seeing him now, that didn't seem right.
If he'd defeated Kroll single-handedly, then Cheon Tae-hwang was a monster far beyond Yeong-sik's expectations.
'Though I guess I have no room to call anyone else a monster.'
Yeong-sik gave a wry smile, knowing he had no right to judge others that way.
In truth, no one here fit the word "monster" better than himself.
The others were whispering and stealing glances at Tae-hwang, having seen the message about him slaying the orc chieftain.
Kendo wasn't hugely popular in Korea, but Tae-hwang's striking looks and world records had made him somewhat famous.
Yeong-sik watched him for a while before turning away.
A-ra approached and spoke up.
"What happens now...?"
She asked in a worried tone as she looked around.
"Who knows. Just gathering us like this... no idea."
Yeong-sik frowned at the massive crowd filling the cavern.
The message had said that after the Tutorial ended, there'd be an "adaptation" period before heading to the mainland—but what adaptation meant, or where the mainland was, remained a mystery.
"H-Hurry up and get us out of this damn place! The Tutorial's over! Send us back home!"
A man shouted in desperation. He looked gaunt and hollow-eyed, as if he'd suffered greatly during the ordeal.
At his words, the crowd began to stir.
"Y-Yeah!"
"Send us home now!"
"I don't wanna stay in a place like this anymore!"
The people screamed into the empty air, their pent-up frustration and resentment from two weeks of desperate survival exploding all at once.
The murmurs grew louder.
As if in response, a massive orb of light appeared in the center of the cavern.
Hello, Summoners.
"Wh-What's that?"
A low voice emanated from the giant light orb.
It carried an overwhelming power that no one could resist.
This feels... familiar?
Yeong-sik stared at the orb, sensing an odd familiarity.
No, "familiar" wasn't quite right.
It was like looking at a part of himself.
As Yeong-sik pondered the strange sensation, the orb spoke again.
I offer my respects to all of you who have successfully completed the Tutorial. After a period of adaptation, Summoners will head to the mainland, the Ernoir Continent.
"Er-Ernoir Continent?"
"What? It really was a fantasy world...?"
The crowd muttered in confusion at the unfamiliar name.
Undeterred by their reactions, the orb continued in a flat tone.
During the adaptation period, you will be granted the concepts of Level and Class. Levels form the foundation of the Ernoir Continent's systems, accepted by natives, monsters, and even prior Summoners alike.
The crowd's faces went slack at the orb's words.
Levels and classes? It felt like they'd fallen into a game.
Level limits are determined by a combination of talent, ability, luck, and other factors. Summoners with higher limits possess incomparable growth potential.
'This is different from regular games.'
Yeong-sik thought darkly as he listened.
In RPGs, the key was a "fair starting point" for all players. Skill differences existed, but everyone began at the same level and could level up equally.
But if level caps varied from the start based on personal talent, those without it could never rise beyond a certain point, no matter how hard they tried.
This was a system more like harsh reality than a game.
Classes will guide your path forward and grant you powerful skills.
"We don't need any of that crap—just send us home!"
One man yelled hysterically, cutting off the orb.
The crowd nodded in agreement.
They didn't care about levels or classes—nonsense like that. All they wanted was to return to their warm homes.
Summoners may return to their original world only upon completing their objective.
"...Objective?"
The crowd stared blankly at the orb.
Your objective is to repel the monsters invading from the north of the Ernoir Continent and slay their Creators.
A surge of intense light poured from the orb.
The Summoner(s) who slay the monsters' Creators will gain the authority to travel freely between worlds and reign as rulers of the world.
"Wh-What the...?"
The crowd swallowed hard at the orb's words.
It was hard to take in right now.
Slay the monsters' Creators and rule the world? To ordinary people, it sounded like utter nonsense.
Of course, some eyes gleamed with greedy desire at "ruler of the world."
They started fantasizing like protagonists in novels or comics—gaining immense power, thrilling adventures, beautiful women, riches, and authority.
After all the absurdity they'd witnessed, such delusions felt almost plausible.
"Quit bullshitting and just send us back to Earth!"
The hollow-eyed man from before cried out desperately.
Having brushed death multiple times, the intense stress left no room for pink fantasies.
Ignoring his plea, the orb continued.
Then, we shall begin adaptation.
Fwaaash!
With those words, intense light began enveloping the surroundings.
The brilliant glow from the orb started flowing into people's bodies.
"Kugh!"
"Wh-What's happening...!"
The crowd flailed their limbs in panic, staring at the light invading them.
"Yeong-sik... this is."
"Yeah, this must be the adaptation."
Yeong-sik watched intently as the light seeped into people starting from those nearest the orb.
He didn't sense any lies or nonsense from it.
'So, does this really grant levels and classes?'
A strange sense of anticipation welled up in him.
Yeong-sik wryly smiled at the feeling and watched the others adapt one by one.
Then—
Fwaaaash!
An enormous surge of light poured into one young man.
It dwarfed what anyone else received.
"Cheon Tae-hwang...?"
Yeong-sik murmured the youth's name as he absorbed the intense light.
Tae-hwang stared at the orb with a calm, almost indifferent expression.
Summoners with special talents will gain even more through adaptation.
The orb spoke softly, as if explaining Tae-hwang's phenomenon.
All eyes turned to him.
They realized their protagonist fantasies were wrong.
The true protagonists were the talented few like Cheon Tae-hwang.
"Hmph. If he's getting that much, I can't wait to see how big yours is."
A-ra smirked mockingly at Tae-hwang radiating intense light.
She knew he'd soloed the orc chieftain and possessed incomparable innate talent.
But.
No matter how exceptional he was, she didn't think he could compare to Yeong-sik—who fired Rocket Punches, deployed Gatling Guns from his back, and shot lasers from his eyes.
For Yeong-sik, it wasn't even about talent anymore.
A-ra figured levels and classes meant nothing to him.
What he'd shown was that shocking.
"Haha. With Yeong-sik here, it'll probably shock everyone."
Gil-su nodded in agreement.
They watched Yeong-sik expectantly.
Yeong-sik gave an awkward smile, slightly burdened by their gazes.
And as time passed, his turn approached.