Tutorial
"Ah, fuck."
Lee Seong-han started bitching the second his eyes fluttered open. It was like the second day at boot camp—an utterly shitty dawn. Please let this all be a dream, that was the vibe.
The female teacher looked just as grim-faced the moment she woke up. Now it was crystal clear: this wasn't a dream.
They hauled their grubby asses upright and immediately felt a brutal thirst clawing at their throats. They needed water.
"Let's find some water first."
The three of them trudged through the dim dawn forest. Fog hung thick in the air, cutting visibility short. Something eerie lingered in the atmosphere, sending chills down the spine.
Kang Ji-hyuk took point, with the other two trailing behind. Even Lee Seong-han seemed spooked this time, sensing something off.
Before long, the sun peeked over the horizon, burning off most of the mist. Far off, they spotted a puddle fed by a stream.
Lee Seong-han lit up at the sight and bolted toward it. Ji-hyuk grabbed him.
"Hold up."
"Huh?"
"It's dangerous."
"What is?"
Lee Seong-han looked utterly clueless. But Ji-hyuk pointed out that a plump puddle like that probably had an owner.
"...Huh?"
"You think we're the only ones here?"
Ah— Finally, it clicked for the guy.
Of course, the married teacher, true to her profession, suggested they try for a peaceful agreement.
Ji-hyuk let out a short scoff. If that shit worked, he wouldn't have stopped Lee Seong-han in the first place.
"Won't fly."
"Just try, okay? ...My throat's killing me."
Ji-hyuk didn't press further. No point explaining—you had to experience it to get it.
They headed toward the puddle anyway. But suddenly, a massive lizardman loomed in front of them.
"Ah...."
From afar, it hadn't seemed so bad, but up close? The sheer intimidation was overwhelming. Even just clutching a wooden club, it filled Lee Seong-han and the teacher with mortal terror.
"Get lost."
The lizardman snarled viciously. The teacher was too scared to even speak, backing away. Thirsty or not, she wasn't ready to die yet.
The three retreated far from the puddle. Only then did the other two grasp what Ji-hyuk meant.
...Peaceful agreement? What a joke.
This wasn't a place where human common sense applied.
"Let's look somewhere else."
Lee Seong-han and the teacher were parched beyond endurance, throats burning like fire. Here, they truly learned water's value.
They pushed deeper into the woods. But every viable puddle had its owners already staking claim. No choice—they ventured even further.
That's when they ran into their first hostiles: two orcs, foraging for food.
...Should've whittled a wooden skewer or something.
Pure bad luck. Still, Ji-hyuk could handle a pair of orcs with ease.
Lee Seong-han and the teacher hadn't clocked the danger yet. They figured they could just sidestep.
If Ji-hyuk had let them, those two would've been pulped by orc clubs and turned into breakfast.
But he still needed them, so no way was he letting them die here. He palmed a rock from the ground.
Meanwhile, the other two tried circling wide around the orcs.
Suddenly, the orcs charged without warning.
Ah—!! The pair froze like statues in shock.
Ji-hyuk hurled the rock. It whistled through the air, smashing dead-center into one orc's eye.
Kwiiik— The beast shrieked like a pig at slaughter, collapsing.
The other orc whipped its gaze toward him. Ji-hyuk snatched another rock.
The orc barreled at him, swinging its thick wooden club to cave in his skull.
Ji-hyuk leaned back, dodging by a hair, then drove his foot into the orc's exposed balls.
———!!! Ballshots hurt like hell across all species.
As the orc doubled over clutching its nuts, Ji-hyuk's rock cracked its temple hard.
One hit wasn't enough to kill. He smashed the staggering orc's head again with the rock.
Once, twice, three times, four. It finally dropped.
He mounted it, pounding relentlessly. The rock split the skull wide open with the final blows.
Huff, huff—
Ji-hyuk's feral eyes shifted to the remaining orc, which fled clutching its burst eyeball. Smart bastard.
Lee Seong-han and the teacher sat trembling on the ground, faces pale with horror. Speechless.
Ji-hyuk wiped the splattered blood from his face and grinned.
He figured he'd turned into one of those psychos who needed to see blood to feel alive. Not entirely true, but most heroes had some twisted kink like that. In his case, it was relatively tame.
Hell, going nuts like this was practically encouraged. It sped up results.
But the other two, not yet broken, sat there dazed.
At least the things weren't human—small comfort from their expressions. Mottled green skin, grotesque tusks jutting from thick lips. No mistaking that for human.
"If I hadn't killed it, we'd be dead."
Ji-hyuk said it casually, like an excuse. They nodded weakly in agreement.
Lee Seong-han snapped out of it quicker, but the teacher was still shaking, shell-shocked.
In that sense, the skinny guy was way more useful than the married woman. Honestly, she was only good for night watch duty. Otherwise, he'd have ditched her without a second thought. No need to drag around another mouth to feed.
They hadn't shed their Earth sensibilities yet—human rights and all that crap. But Ji-hyuk had. He was bone-deep isekai now.
To survive, you ran or you killed. That law was etched into his marrow. No hesitation smashing that orc skull.
...We need food too.
Ji-hyuk actually saw running into these as a stroke of luck. In this starving hell, orc meat was prime rations.
He'd endured worse a hundred times; this was routine. Eating some non-team monster meat? No big deal.
No need for every cut—just a hunk from the thigh would do. Only a week to endure anyway.
"Hey, uh, Seong-han?"
"Y-yeah?"
"Help me cut some of this?"
"...Pardon?"
"Just the meaty parts."
...Ah. Lee Seong-han got it. They were gonna cook and eat this thing.
Urp— The teacher dry-heaved at the realization.
Ji-hyuk didn't chew them out. Barely a day in, still fresh off Earth. Expectations were low.
"D-do we have to eat... that?"
"Don't wanna? Fine by me. What about you, Se-hee?"
"...I'm okay."
He didn't force them. Sharpened a rock and sliced a slab from the orc's thigh. Tedious work, but one portion for himself was plenty.
No sharing, even if asked. Freeloading without effort? Thief mentality.
...Though they probably wouldn't ask.
"Let's move."
Ji-hyuk pocketed the thick meat slab and kept walking. The other two's faces drained of color.
We're stuck with a real psycho, their eyes screamed.
Not wrong.
Finally, they found an ownerless puddle. Ji-hyuk checked first: flowing water, not stagnant. Good—stagnant was a no-go.
Lee Seong-han and the teacher guzzled like mad. Ji-hyuk drank his fill to settle his gut, then rinsed the meat clean.
Immediate crisis averted. The pair slumped against a tree, recovering.
Meanwhile, Ji-hyuk sparked a fire and started roasting.
Fishy stench hit hard. He ignored it, wolfing it down. Taste? Save that for fancy restaurants. Here, survival first.
They'd drunk water, but faces were still green. Over a day and a half starved—hunger hit like a truck.
No regrets yet over skipping orc meat. Stomachs not empty enough.
Starve a few more days, and they'd crave worse.
With bellies full of water, Ji-hyuk pondered next steps. Obvious: hunt monsters, loot tokens.
Tokens were pure RNG. Ji-hyuk didn't know exact odds, but not abysmal. Problem was surviving and hunting.
Especially for skill-less Earthlings. Rare for them to make it to the continent.
Strategies: pick weak monsters or steal from others.
Stealing? Slim odds. Ji-hyuk handled those orcs easy; anyone else would've been brained.
So, weak game only. But everyone thought that—small fry vanished fast.
Even if you found one, no token guarantee. And possession fights broke out.
Endgame: bloody brawls over scraps. Pure hell for Earthlings.
As the tutorial fairy said: weaklings unnecessary—die quick.
Ji-hyuk had died here twice. Toughened him right up.
"...What now?"
Lee Seong-han eyed him nervously. The guy who'd strutted like a protagonist yesterday was deflated.
Realized he was barely an extra.
Ji-hyuk shrugged. "Hunt monsters."
"...Can we even?"
Terror laced his voice. Teacher useless too.
Didn't matter. Ji-hyuk never counted on them.
"Can't hunt, we die."
Ah. Faces darkened. The teacher buried her head between her knees, sobbing.
"I wanna go home. Home... I wanna go hooome... Hueeeng."
Lee Seong-han got it too: isekai wasn't the fun harem fantasy.
That was novel shit. Reality? Orc chow.
The teacher's wails grated. Ji-hyuk snapped.
"Crying won't fix shit."
She stifled it, desperate not to piss him off. Instinct told her: rely on him to survive.
"Isn't... anything to eat?"
Starving teacher sought food. Needed fuel to move.
But just green foliage around. No botanists here—no clue what was edible.
They scoured the woods. No fruit, no game.
Back to the puddle, filling up on water. Sun dipped low.
Time for night watch, Ji-hyuk said.
"Don't wanna get eaten? Stay sharp."
Their faces fell. They sensed he wasn't bullshitting.
"I'll take middle. You two do front and back."
Lee Seong-han, playing gentleman, took both his and hers.
Teacher first watch. Ji-hyuk crashed on the dirt.
Darkness fell fast.
Hic, hic— The teacher sobbed quietly.