Chapter 1. Tutorial
Kang Ji-hyuk snapped his eyes open. A cold, rough sensation stabbed at his nape. A dim sky filled his vision.
...Fuck.
He dragged a hand across his bare face amid the grim haze. He'd thought this time he could really see it through to the end.
...But who the hell could've known the Great Demon King would be that strong?
That bastard Carmine was on a whole other level just from slapping a "Great" onto Demon King. Total bullshit.
...Fuck, shoulda called myself the Great Hero or something.
The moment he'd died to the Great Demon King Carmine, he'd lost everything he'd built up. Sure, this was something he'd gone through countless times before, but that didn't make the shitty feeling any easier to swallow.
Ji-hyuk had been hailed as a continental hero. Skill, experience, reputation—he'd lacked for nothing. But in the end, there were no real heroes to back him up when it mattered. That was the decisive reason for his defeat.
Truth be told, it hadn't been much of an issue until the showdown with the Great Demon King. Even without other heroes, his own hero team had taken down every Demon King just fine. But the Great Demon King was different. No matter how skilled he was, he couldn't handle that monster alone. The thing was beyond imagination. He'd learned that the hard way upon clashing with it directly. His team alone wasn't enough. He needed reliable heroes—true comrades who would rush in and fight by his side when shit hit the fan.
...But no matter how hard he racked his brain, no names came to mind.
It wasn't just him, either. Heroes generally didn't get along well with each other, for some weird reason. Even when they seemed chummy, it was all fake. Just pretending because it benefited them in the moment.
Heroes were locked in cutthroat competition. Not that it was all bad—everyone grinding for promotions kept the demons' expansion in check efficiently. But when it came time to pool their strength, they always fell short. That was the real problem.
...What the hell am I supposed to do about this?
Ji-hyuk sat up, letting out a long sigh. He shook his head to clear it. He wanted to rest a bit. The endless war with the Great Demon King's army had worn his mind ragged. He'd think about how to play this loop later. Surprisingly, the rage he'd expected to explode in didn't last long. Time had dulled it. After dying so many times, you got numb to it, or something like that.
Of course, this death stung a little more than most, but since it was a fight with zero chance from the start anyway, any lingering regrets just evaporated.
From the moment he'd burned bridges with the other heroes, the whole plan had been flawed from the foundation. He didn't have to be besties with them, but he sure as hell shouldn't have made enemies out of them.
Ji-hyuk quickly pinpointed his mistake and resolved to fix it. He knew from experience that failing to do so would just screw him over again. This time, he was confident he could draft a better blueprint. He had the experience and talent in spades. Rebuilding wouldn't be so hard.
Dawn was breaking in the distance. The people sprawled around him began stirring one by one. The real Tutorial wouldn't kick off for a little while yet. Ji-hyuk sat still, quietly observing the scene.
Those who'd woken early wandered around with blank faces, clueless about what the fuck was going on. And it wasn't just humans here. Every race was mixed in—orcs, trolls, goblins, lizardmen, even fairies. Honestly, humans were on the weaker side ability-wise. There were way more heroes from other races. That made it tough to buddy up with them sometimes. Different species meant less common ground, after all.
And Earthlings weren't the only humans. They came from all sorts of worlds. Plenty wielded superpowers, magic, or martial arts. Compared to them, Earthlings ranked at the absolute bottom.
Handicaps? If there were any, I wouldn't be saying this shit.
But Ji-hyuk had no fears. He could solo the Tutorial no problem. He'd done it so many times, he could write a damn strategy guide.
As his mind wandered, the sun peeked over the horizon. No one was rolling around on the ground anymore. Everyone was up, scanning their surroundings.
That was when the Tutorial Fairy appeared. Called itself a fairy, but it looked like some kind of hairy monster ballsack.
"Hey, everyone. I'm the Tutorial Fairy—!"
The floating furry nut sack bobbed around, chattering away.
"You all got summoned here to save this world in crisis. So buck up and lend a hand, yeah?"
Zero persuasiveness, obviously. Even Ji-hyuk had thought it was bullshit the first time.
"Gotta do some screening, though. Can't take just anyone. Weaklings aren't needed."
The ballsack fairy spouted its crap without a care.
"It won't be too hard, though. Kill monsters, and sometimes they'll drop a token. Hold onto one, and you pass. Deadline's exactly one week—!"
The fairy looped once over the stunned crowd.
"Good luck, then—!"
And poof, gone. Truly the most unfriendly explanation ever. Utterly absurd. They'd been yanked here out of nowhere just to hear "weaklings GTFO."
A brief murmur rippled through the group. They were probably just as baffled. Ji-hyuk stood up. Tutorial briefing over—it was time to move.
There were exactly two Earthlings: the skinny glasses guy and the married teacher lady. They were useful. You needed grunts for the grunt work.
Ji-hyuk's body still needed babying. Rest when tired, sleep when exhausted. Which meant night watch to avoid surprise attacks while sleeping. Enemies here weren't just monsters. Fellow participants were threats too. Later on, token shortages sparked fights over scraps.
Weak Earthlings were perfect for that. Minimal risk of backstabbing.
"Hey there."
Ji-hyuk approached with a friendly smile.
"Ah, h-hi."
Awkward greetings exchanged.
"Looks like we should stick together."
"Y-yeah?"
The three shifted spots together. Glasses guy was a talker, buzzing with excitement. "Never thought I'd actually get isekai'd for real—can you believe this shit?"
The teacher lady, meanwhile, looked terrified.
"This... this is all a dream, right? Tell me it is?"
"Does it feel like a dream?"
"How could this happen in real life? No way. It has to be a dream."
She was an extreme realist. Slow to adapt.
...Pretty standard Earthling reaction, actually. Glasses guy's the outlier.
But dismissing these vivid sensations as a dream was a stretch. To confirm, she pinched her thigh and slapped her cheeks. The pain was crystal clear. The married woman had no choice but to accept this was reality.
Glasses guy, hilariously, was already acting like the protagonist of his own isekai novel.
...Must read a ton of that stuff.
"So what now?"
The teacher asked anxiously.
Glasses guy jumped in.
"We need tokens, right? So hunt monsters. That's how we pass the Tutorial."
The guy shouted it out. Ignorance breeds courage, huh.
But Ji-hyuk cut in. Hunting mattered, but prepping to survive a week came first.
"Shouldn't we secure water and food first? Gotta be prepared to last a week out here."
"Yeah, good call."
Glasses guy played leader. Ji-hyuk just watched. No skin off his back who took charge, as long as it wasn't too obnoxious. He'd play along.
"Oh, right—I'm Lee Seong-han."
"Kang Ji-hyuk."
"Kim Se-hee."
Names exchanged. Of course, clean slate once the Tutorial ended.
Water first—key to survival. Tough in open plains, so they headed toward the distant forest. Mountains behind it probably meant streams in the valleys.
Other races moved the same way. Great minds.
Glasses guy chattered nonstop en route, targeting the teacher. She looked reluctant but answered with forced "yeahs" to avoid awkwardness. Ji-hyuk stayed silent.
The forest was far. Distance barely shrank despite walking forever. Teacher was already flagging, low stamina.
"Can we... rest a bit?"
They hunkered behind a big rock, out of the sun. Glasses guy yapped about army marches. Exhausted teacher barely responded. He finally clued in and shut up.
Recovered enough, they pressed on. Plenty of groups were dots on the horizon now. They lagged dead last. Glasses guy was still accommodating the teacher.
Acting all manly 'cause he has a dick, huh.
Question was whether that'd hold when he got tired. Ji-hyuk barely remembered these two. Not every loop teamed up with them, and too much time had passed. His brain wasn't a perfect archive for trivia.
Still, it hadn't ended badly, he figured. Humans remember bad blood too well.
Anyway, they walked and walked, resting often. Teacher was already beat, recovery slowing without water or food. Dusk fell by the time they reached the forest edge.
Darkness made it eerie. Ji-hyuk was used to it, but the two were newbies to pitch-black woods. No visibility meant no action. Plus, no energy left.
"Let's camp here."
They grabbed trees and flopped down. Ji-hyuk scraped the ground with a rock, packed dirt, and lay on that.
Glasses guy woke first.
"Ah, fuck—!"
He shot up, brushing frantically. Ants everywhere. Teacher followed suit. They ended up on bare ground away from trees.
Cold, hungry, uncomfortable bedding. The pair was wiped but couldn't sleep easy. Ji-hyuk, chill as ever, snored away.
No night watch day one. If shit happened, reset and done.
...And so the first night of the fifteenth loop deepened.