Chapter 10
Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 010
Chapter Title: The Tutorial Begins (9)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It told Lee Sang-hyun to endure.
Lee Sang-hyun immediately understood what he had to hold back. It wasn't hard to figure out.
Because he could feel it right away.
Wriggle! Wriggle!!
What he had to endure was the impulse to slaughter.
The clear urge to charge out right now and kill those orcs—he had to hold that back.
'If I just let myself go... I could kill them with my bare hands. Snap their necks and drop them in one go.'
Lee Sang-hyun stared at the orc wandering around defenselessly, thinking that.
Before awakening, it would have been nonsense. But now that he had awakened as a Berserker, it was no big deal.
Even against orcs bigger and bulkier than the ones he'd fought before.
'The problem is how long I have to hold out...'
Lee Sang-hyun hoped it would give him an answer. Because the impulse was far more vicious than he'd imagined.
Wriggle! Wriggle!!
It was so vicious that doubts flooded his mind—did he even have a reason to hold back? Rebellion against the command to endure even welled up inside him.
So Lee Sang-hyun earnestly hoped it would speak.
'...At most four days.'
Lee Sang-hyun judged that even if he suppressed the impulse with all his might, he'd lose his reason after four days.
Slowly.
The blood-red hue gradually filling his eyes proved his judgment correct.
Fortunately, it gave him an answer. "Five days."
"......"
Lee Sang-hyun, who had figured he could last four days at best, clamped his mouth shut at the command to endure for five. His expressionless face was already stained with agony.
'Five days...'
But that lasted only a moment. Lee Sang-hyun calmed his mind and decided he had to see it through, whether he could or not.
Because he believed there was a greater purpose behind it.
'I don't know the reason yet... but there has to be something special about it. Just the fact that it specified exactly five days is proof enough.'
So Lee Sang-hyun resolved to hold back the slaughter impulse for five days.
It would be agonizing enough to feel like death... but there was no reason he couldn't endure it.
'I endure.'
The first day of the survival game passed without incident.
There were no clashes between players. Everyone was too busy adapting to the unfamiliar environment.
"Orcs of all things...!!"
Choi Tae-seong, who had awakened as a Magic Swordsman, gnashed his teeth at the orcs daring to charge him.
Grind!
But facing dozens of them was not just difficult—it was reckless.
"Krooaaagh!"
"Krahak!"
"Kraaaah!"
No matter how great Choi Tae-seong was, he wasn't foolish enough to dig his own grave. Especially after hearing that he was dying too much.
So he was forced to choose a tactical retreat.
'Damn it...!!'
Choi Tae-seong swallowed his rage.
Because showing his back to worthless orcs was utterly humiliating.
'Why... why am I so powerless...!'
Choi Tae-seong was genuinely furious at his own weakness, even after becoming a Magic Swordsman, forcing him to flee.
'I'm supposed to be the protagonist...!'
Holding back his anger was excruciating. It might have been better to just fight and die.
But Choi Tae-seong didn't give in to his rage. True to his class as a Magic Swordsman—combining a swordsman's toughness and a mage's wisdom—he chose to fall back one step.
'Just you wait...!'
Grind!!
Bae Jin-cheol, who had become an Archmage, stewed in anger at the battlefield that was the worst possible for a mage.
'Damn it! I can't do a damn thing like this!'
The forest, densely packed with massive trees, was a nightmare for mages.
Even when he unleashed spells, they'd snag on trees and miss, and the fallen leaves, mud, and roots made movement awkward.
Whoosh! Thunk!
Because of that, Bae Jin-cheol was suffering the humiliation of being chased by mere goblins.
Thud!
Arrows shot by the goblins thudded against Bae Jin-cheol's shield. No damage, but deeply humiliating.
"You bastards!!"
Bae Jin-cheol couldn't hold back his fury and launched a fireball.
Kaboom!
The fireball's power was destructive enough to rip apart humans or animals with ease.
But it fell short of killing goblins hiding behind trees.
"Keeekee!!"
The goblins mocked Bae Jin-cheol, who lacked any learning ability, as they fired arrows and slowly tightened their encirclement.
Kirrit! Kiririr!
Kiririri!
Incredibly, Bae Jin-cheol was in the middle of being hunted by a goblin pack.
"Damn it!!"
Yeo Han-seol, who had awakened as a Shadow Archer, was like a fish in water.
As an archer, the tree-filled forest was perfect for hiding and shooting arrows.
'Five!'
The arrow leaving Yeo Han-seol's hand flew like a shadow, striking its target squarely in the head.
Thud.
It was unbelievable that she'd never held a bow before—her skill was astonishing.
'Six...!'
Yeo Han-seol nocked an arrow at her next prey. No hesitation this time either. She aimed sharply like a needle and released at the perfect moment.
Whoosh!
The prey never noticed who, when, where, or how it was being hunted.
Thud.
A clean kill without even a shallow cry. The name Shadow Archer suited her perfectly.
'Next...!'
Yeo Han-seol praised her choice of class and craved more prey.
'I'm going to climb up!!'
Kang Mu-hyuk's situation as a Swordmaster—who couldn't unleash even a speck of his class's techniques—was the worst.
"Urk!!"
He was even forced to flee from ten orcs?
For Kang Mu-hyuk, who had held first place all along, it was utterly humiliating.
But Kang Mu-hyuk didn't foolishly charge in. He swallowed his shame and waited for a chance to counterattack.
'As expected... they're starting to scatter. Trying to encircle and catch me, huh? Fine, I'll strike first!!'
Kang Mu-hyuk halted his retreat and switched to offense.
"?!!"
The orcs panicked at Kang Mu-hyuk's sudden change. Their delayed response led to death.
Slash!
An orc's head flew up, then hit the ground. Seeing it, the others roared and charged Kang Mu-hyuk.
'Flank!'
Kang Mu-hyuk read the incoming attack's path, dodged, and slashed the orc's side.
Slash!
"Kr... ah... ak...?!"
A fatal blow. Whether from blood loss or spilling guts, death was inevitable.
What's remarkable is that it was achieved not by technique, but raw 'talent'.
'Next...?!'
When Kang Mu-hyuk spotted his third orc, an arrow flew from behind, out of sight.
Pierce!
It pierced his right calf perfectly.
"Urk?!!"
Kang Mu-hyuk groaned in pain and staggered. Instinct screamed to run now.
Pfbt!
But before he could take two steps, more arrows embedded in his body.
Not vital spots like head, neck, or heart—but enough to turn him into prey.
"...Th... is... fu... ck..."
Kang Mu-hyuk realized too late that he'd been tricked.
Rustle rustle.
Through his blurring vision, orcs approached slowly. They were clearly mocking him. They'd waited for him to charge stupidly.
Crunch!!
Kang Mu-hyuk tried to squeeze out his last strength. But the arrow was faster than his swing.
Thwack!
The orc's arrow pierced Kang Mu-hyuk's head cleanly. This was his first death after awakening.
'...Fa... il... ure...'
Starting from the second day, things changed.
Players who had been hunted by monsters while adapting to their awakened power and the unfamiliar environment now realized their strength and adjusted quickly.
'Die!'
A mana orb from Bae Jin-cheol the Archmage struck a kobold's head dead-on.
Boom!
Unlike a fireball, the colorless mana orb was stealthy and could be guided in specific directions.
Thud.
Confirming the kobold's total death, Bae Jin-cheol clenched his fist.
"Yes, that's it! You think Archmage is just a name? The supreme being who masters all magic—that's an Archmage! Day one was... just a little mistake!"
Bae Jin-cheol erased the horrific memory of the first day, convinced that now was when it really began.
"Sure, some stupid mistakes opened up a score gap... but I'll catch up in one go!"
And there was a being eyeing such a Bae Jin-cheol.
"......"
Not a monster. A fellow player far more overt and aggressive than any monster.
A comrade and rival who had fought back-to-back not long ago was watching Bae Jin-cheol.
"Enough admiring yourself—move! The others have probably adapted like me by now!"
Unfortunately, Bae Jin-cheol noticed nothing. Even setting aside his Archmage class, he was too complacent.
And that led to his death.
"Huh?"
Stab!!
Neither Kang Mu-hyuk nor Choi Tae-seong had expected to encounter another player on the second day.
Yet by chance, the two ran into each other—with a troll as the prize in between.
'That guy...?!'
'Kang Mu-hyuk!!'
They recognized each other instantly. Without a word, they marked each other as 'enemies'.
However, Choi Tae-seong's hostility ran far deeper than Kang Mu-hyuk had anticipated.
'I'll kill him!!'
The moment Choi Tae-seong realized it was Kang Mu-hyuk, he charged without a second thought.
Whoosh!!
His blazing eyes demanded one thing clearly: Kang Mu-hyuk's life.
'This crazy bastard?!'
Kang Mu-hyuk, who had thought there might be room for talk, gnashed his teeth at Choi Tae-seong's sudden assault.
'You think I'll lose to the likes of you!!'
But the situation wasn't good.
He'd burned through a lot of stamina hunting orcs before finding the troll.
So Kang Mu-hyuk decided on a tactical retreat.
'...Fall back for now.'
No matter how insane Choi Tae-seong was, he wouldn't chase forever, Kang Mu-hyuk figured.
Rationally speaking, blindly pursuing an enemy of unknown traps or win chances was for fools.
But that was just Kang Mu-hyuk's thinking.
"Kang Mu-hyuk!!"
Choi Tae-seong's mind was filled solely with toppling Kang Mu-hyuk from start to finish.
Traps or whatever didn't matter. Only victory over Kang Mu-hyuk did.
"Die!!"
Choi Tae-seong swung his 'magic sword' at Kang Mu-hyuk. A blade burning blood-red.
Swoosh!
The magic sword, laden with clear killing intent, flew toward Kang Mu-hyuk and unleashed a chilling explosion.
Kaboom!!
Kang Mu-hyuk hadn't anticipated 'magic' from Choi Tae-seong and couldn't react.
Of course, he didn't die instantly.
True to a Swordmaster, he instinctively swung his sword to blunt the magic sword's power.
'Groooargh?!!'
But an irreparable wound cracked his pride.
'How dare you...!!'
Having taken a hit from Choi Tae-seong, whom he considered beneath him, Kang Mu-hyuk burned with genuine fury and vowed to kill him.
But it was too late.
"?!!"
Choi Tae-seong, having launched the magic sword, was already closing in.
Without hesitation, he swung. This time, a magic sword infused with lightning.
'No...?!'
For a split second, Kang Mu-hyuk's head and body reacted differently.
His Swordmaster-awakened body swung confidently against the magic sword, while his mind—unmastered in technique—judged to dodge.
Crackle!!
Regrettably, the correct judgment came from his head, not his body.
"...Da... mn... it......"
Kang Mu-hyuk's body couldn't withstand the invading lightning and crumpled to its knees. Right before Choi Tae-seong, whom he deemed inferior.
"I'm number one."
Choi Tae-seong looked down at Kang Mu-hyuk and declared it. Then he decisively severed his head.
Slash!
Kang Mu-hyuk's headless body collapsed emptily. And this was his second death.