Chapter 1. Tutorial
The problem I'd expected to explode did so sooner rather than later. My nerves were on edge from the sight of blood, so even before I could drift off, I felt a strange energy prickling my senses. It was unmistakable killing intent.
Not the refined malice of intelligent beings, but something utterly savage. A monster.
The monster was closing in. I snapped my eyes open and bolted upright. The half-asleep teacher woman widened her eyes in surprise. The skinny guy was still out cold, oblivious to the world.
"G-going to take a leak or something?"
But I didn't answer, holding my breath and staying still. Her face twisted in fear at my sudden weird behavior.
It's coming.
Convinced the monster's target was right here, I shook the skinny guy awake. "Wha—huh?" He blinked groggily at me, like it was already his turn or something.
"Something's coming."
"...Huh?"
I checked if we could fight first. If it was too dark, I'd have bailed, but the forest was decently lit. Clear night sky, bright moonlight—perfect for a scrap. Looked fightable. We'd have to kill monsters for tokens anyway. Whether one dropped was pure luck, of course.
"Get ready to fight."
"F-fight? Like, for real?"
"We need tokens. It's coming to us—lucky break."
...Huh?
I'd never thought like them from the start. Their faces screamed, How can he even think that? But I didn't care what they thought. My goal was clearing the tutorial with minimal hassle. No thanks to scrambling around at the last minute like an idiot. Better to die and loop again.
No point fighting by the puddle we called home, so I moved us out. The skinny guy and teacher trailed behind, faces saying, Is this a dream or real life? The air grew chilling. They rubbed their arms, trembling instinctively at the killing intent in the breeze.
Soon, a black shape appeared in the distance.
Ah.
It looked straight out of hell—like a bastard dog from the abyss. Size of three or four lions mashed together.
Grrrrrr.
A low growl spread across the ground like ominous background music. The skinny guy and teacher froze solid at the eerie sound. No way we could win. Even one lion would've sent us running; this thing was three or four times bigger. Normal Earthlings would've lost the will to fight on sight.
So I didn't expect much from them. Fresh off the Earth boat—what could I hope for?
Gripping just a single wooden spear, I strode toward it without a hint of fear. Yeah, it was big. But to me, who'd faced way worse, it looked downright cute, like a puppy.
A-ah...
To the clueless duo, my boldness looked like reckless bravado. The idea of beating that thing? Impossible. They just wanted to run. But terror had locked their jaws and paralyzed their bodies. Teeth chattering, they couldn't move.
The monster prowled around me, waiting for me to blink. The second I did, it leaped.
But I'd been waiting too. I hurled the spear at its belly with everything I had. Tiny thing, but infused with mana. No mere leather hide could withstand it.
———!!!
The spear punched clean through its gut and out its back. I dashed back from where it'd land. But that one hit wasn't quite enough—fatal wound, sure, but it was still twitching.
I charged. It lunged too. I twisted aside at the last second, dodging its swinging arm, then snatched the fallen spear.
Its movements slowed drastically. Crimson blood poured from the hole in its belly. Even a monster couldn't shrug off a gut punch like that.
But wounded, it grew even more ferocious, eyes screaming it'd devour me for sure. It leaped again.
This time, I aimed for the chest. Full power throw. It streaked like a bolt, piercing straight through its torso.
The beast tumbled, convulsed, then lolled its tongue and died.
Hoo.
I panted heavily. Weak by my standards, but my body's condition wasn't great yet—killing it wasn't a cakewalk. With more strength, I'd have gone for the head, but I played it safe to avoid a miss.
No token, naturally. They drop randomly around corpses—none meant bad luck.
...Figures, my luck sucks.
I hadn't expected it on the first try anyway. Never been lucky with this stuff.
With the massive beast down, the skinny guy and teacher approached slowly, murmuring in awe. They'd never dreamed I'd drop it so easily.
...Probably thought it'd shred me without a chance. I had zero interest in gloating, though. No need, no reason.
"That was amazing, really—!"
The teacher gushed, desperately pushing her survival strategy: latch onto me since she couldn't hunt solo.
The skinny guy jumped in too. Any resolve to try fighting himself? Vaporized after that display. Impossible against something like that. But I'd done it easy. Token or no, they were genuinely impressed.
I ignored their stares, checking the corpse. Their praise meant less than whether this thing was edible. If it was, food problem solved.
Monsters usually aren't, but no giving up. Gotta eat something now.
"Cut some meat off it."
"O-okay."
They smashed rocks for sharp edges and hacked away. Luckily, no fur on the torso. After a struggle, they got a chunk off. They'd eat it grilled if I said so—beast-like, not orcish, so less gross-out.
But I just sniffed. No go-ahead.
Starving skinny guy couldn't wait. "Edible?"
I shook my head. "Dunno. Test later."
"Test?"
His face paled—Me first? Nah, not using him as a guinea pig.
We headed back to camp and crashed. They insisted on longer watches since I'd done the work. Fine by me.
Dawn next day. We woke, filled up on water, and hunted goblins. I'd feed them the meat first. No death, no poison.
Following the stream, we found the three survivors huddled warily. I crept close, tossed the chunk, and backed off out of sight.
Goblins approached cautiously, sniffed it, then grabbed and whiffed more. Orcs or trolls might've suspected, but dumb goblins? Straight joy—dancing even. Cute little shits. Explains why they're popular voluntary slaves.
They lit a fire and grilled. Boring wait. I watched till they scarfed it, squabbling for seconds.
Good enough. Back to camp. Check in half a day—if alive, safe.
"They won't get sick, right?"
Skinny guy and teacher hoped so. I wasn't optimistic.
"Who knows. Poison's more common."
"Ah... r-really?"
I said hunt more monsters. They followed, stomachs growling unhappily. I swapped my busted spear for the teacher's good one. She agreed eagerly, scraping for points.
Forest crawl again. More traces than yesterday—participant and monster corpses everywhere. Proof of fierce night fights. Monsters swarming where prey gathered.
Head to the rocky hills? Knew from experience they cluster there.
Problem: the tagalongs. Even I couldn't protect them while fighting at this level. One monster? Maybe. Two-plus? They'd die exponentially faster. Lucky if they lost just a limb.
Worms or no, I needed them still. Deep sleeper ambushed at night? Even I'd die. Sneaky ones might slip them, but they'd buy time as meat shields.
...Extra lives, basically.
But tokens mattered too. Time for a call.
...Circling here's pointless anyway. Others hunting too—area's picked clean.
"That way." I pointed to the hills.
No choice for them. They followed nicely.
"I'll help however I can."
Skinny guy brown-nosed. Teacher jumped in: "Me too, anything I can do."
I eyed them. They tensed.
Just shut up and survive.
But I smiled warmly. "I'll ask if I need you."
Something about that smile chilled them to the bone.