Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: The Final Stage
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A massive white stage that looked like several schoolyards merged together.
There, the Tutorial exam proctor, Mac Hueger, stood with his arms crossed, gazing down at the participant sprawled on the floor.
In front of him lay two goblins, each about 1 meter 20 cm in size, collapsed in heaps.
"Huff... huff..."
The participant gasped for breath.
To think he was this exhausted after dealing with mere goblins, the lowest-tier monsters.
Hueger couldn't help but frown at the sheer patheticness of it.
"A barely successful clear, I suppose."
Hueger's eyes twitched. Clad in silver armor symbolizing a knight, he approached the participant and asked,
"Will you challenge the next stage?"
"N-next stage?"
The participant's face twisted in confusion, as if he'd never heard such a thing.
Soon enough, a message appeared before his eyes.
The participant's face drained of color.
Three goblins.
He'd struggled against just two. There was no way he could win.
"N-no! Are you insane? How am I supposed to take down three?!"
"Don't yell. Before I decide to drop you myself."
The exam proctor couldn't directly harm participants. Even so, Hueger glared at him with eyes full of irritation at his abysmal skills and rotten mentality.
The participant flinched in fear.
Soon, his form, having forfeited the next stage, faded away in a burst of white light.
Shoooo...
The participant who'd felled two goblins would ascend, but there were no extra rewards beyond that.
The real rewards in the Tutorial began from stage 2.
'That guy's limit is probably here too.'
Most participants were the same.
The Tutorial exam was known for its significantly lower difficulty compared to trials on other floors.
Yet fewer than half dared to challenge the next stage.
'Personal skill and drive for improvement. And courage in combat against numbers. That's the purpose of this Tutorial exam.'
Hueger let out a sigh.
"To think I have to send trash like that upward..."
This batch of Tutorial participants was a mess.
Just two.
Most who cleared two goblins and ascended would hit a wall immediately on the next floor.
The Tower's trials were always like that.
The Tower rewarded based on the player's demonstrated prowess.
Fools who thought they could just climb endlessly never reached greater heights.
'At least there was one standout.'
Hueger recalled a participant from a previous run.
Isaac.
Reinhardt's son. From floor 1, he'd already displayed innate talent in wielding magic.
Using magic at level 1.
With talent surpassing his bloodline, he'd felled over twenty goblins before calling it quits.
'20 stages is a record. Purely in terms of talent, he outshines even Reinhardt.'
Swordsmanship too. And magic too.
A magic swordsman with gifts in both.
At least watching his trial hadn't been boring.
Kiiiik-.
As he reminisced about Isaac's trial, the exam hall door slid open.
Hueger checked the participant list in his hand to identify the next one. The name looked familiar.
'Lee Soo-hyuk?'
A name impossible to forget.
Even Hueger himself had once idolized him like a hero.
For this participant, pity outweighed any expectations.
'He's gonna suffer because of that name.'
The perfect build for constant comparisons to the original Lee Soo-hyuk everywhere he went.
Even the weapon in his hand was the same sword type the original favored.
Kiririk, kii-.
Kueek-.
The goblins clutched poison-coated daggers, emitting monkey-like cries.
As the goblins prepared to attack, Hueger signaled the start.
"Begin-."
In that instant.
Queek-!
A blade hurtled toward the two goblins, simultaneously severing both heads.
Chaaa-.
In the blink of an eye, goblin heads soared through the air.
Unable to believe his eyes, Hueger's widened in shock.
'What did I just witness?'
Thud-.
The goblin heads hit the floor.
The goblins' bodies slumped lifelessly. Moments after the stage 1 goblins met their end.
The message floated before Soo-hyuk's eyes.
As if he'd been waiting, he made his choice immediately.
"Challenge."
Thud-.
A goblin's head fell limply.
Hueger, who'd been counting the downed goblins, abandoned the effort.
"...Insane."
His crossed arms fell loose. Sweat beaded in his clenched fists.
From stage 1 to now.
The exam hall floor was so littered with goblin corpses there was barely room to stand.
The bodies wouldn't vanish until Soo-hyuk's challenge ended—but it showed no signs of stopping.
Kwaat, kwaaat-.
A blade slicing through the goblins' slender necks.
Even as he cut them down, Soo-hyuk's eyes continuously scanned his surroundings.
'It's not just wild swinging. He's reading two, three moves ahead.'
While swinging his sword, he observed the goblins' attacks. He minimized his movement range for simultaneous foes while ensuring he wasn't fully surrounded, always aware of his positioning.
This went beyond mere combat prowess.
Could he himself, with the same stats as this participant and having cleared up to floor 6, pull that off?
'No. Impossible.'
He shuddered.
No magic like Isaac's, nor any standout physical superiority.
Yet Soo-hyuk dominated fifty goblins.
'Is he really the original Lee Soo-hyuk reincarnated? How can he move like that?'
Goblins were fearsome for their poison weapons and nimble movements.
But their 'poison' trait was utterly meaningless against Soo-hyuk.
Ka'at-.
Any goblin entering his sword's reach with a poison dagger had its neck severed without fail.
Their flung poison needles never touched him. He evaded stabbing daggers and anticipated darts alike.
If it never landed, what use was the poison?
"Hoo, hoo-."
Regulating his breath, he created distance. The goblins hesitated, intimidated.
Virtual monsters conjured by the trial, yet they were living beings all the same.
Fear of death and submission to the strong were natural instincts.
And toward that cluster of goblins, Soo-hyuk launched himself again.
Kirik, kii-!
The remaining three signaled each other.
A cue to attack together, perhaps.
The trio charged, thrusting their daggers at the oncoming Soo-hyuk.
And in that moment.
Pop-.
Soo-hyuk ducked low without slowing a step.
Kiiik-?
The goblins faltered in confusion.
In that gap, a single line connecting their necks traced across Soo-hyuk's vision.
Kwa-ut-!
One swing.
But following that line, the goblins' heads tumbled like overripe barley.
Thud, thud thud-.
With that, the stage concluded.
"Huuu-."
As the message appeared, Soo-hyuk finally drew a deep breath, one he'd been keeping shallow.
Sweat had soaked his hair thoroughly. He swept it back and checked the message.
'Final boss, huh...'
Next was stage 50.
This seemed to be the Tutorial's ultimate stage.
'Perfect timing. I was just thinking of stopping.'
From stage 1 to 49.
Over a thousand goblins slain in total.
The exam had dragged on for hours now. Though rest periods came between stages, his muscles were starting to scream in fatigue.
At this fatigue level, his body had no choice but to dull.
Last one anyway.
Soo-hyuk decided.
"Challenge."
'10 minutes.'
This time, they were being generous.
He folded his legs and sat, closing his eyes. These 10 minutes weren't just for rest—he needed to peak his focus too.
Thus passed the long yet short 10-minute respite.
Weeeing-.
Opposite Soo-hyuk.
A massive pig-headed monster, over 2 meters tall, materialized.
"What...?"
Startled, Hueger turned to Soo-hyuk.
"Quit now! Didn't you check the boss?!"
Having caught his breath, Soo-hyuk opened his eyes and rose.
The orc loomed half a head taller than him. Bulging muscles encased in sturdy armor—this beast possessed strength several times that of a regular orc.
"Hasn't started yet, so you can forfeit. Don't get greedy! No matter your skill, you can't bridge a stat gap!"
He knew.
With his current stats, the King of Orcs before him was impossible for a Tutorial participant to fell.
'Can't even land a proper hit with these stats.'
Could he even drive his sword deep into its flesh?
Cleaving bone or stabbing to vital organs? Unthinkable.
'Still.'
Glance-.
The answer came swiftly.
"No."
Soo-hyuk's decision was final.
At that resolute attitude, Hueger finally let a curse slip.
"You mad-."
But before it finished.
Kuuuiiiiii-!
Zing, zing-.
The Orc King's roar shook the exam hall.
Hueger was certain.
No participant could defeat that monster.
One punch from the Orc King would burst a head like a melon, and Soo-hyuk's sword, which cleaved goblin necks, wouldn't even scratch its bones.
As Hueger thought that.
Shiiik-.
Pook-.
A single poison needle flew, embedding in the Orc King's thigh.
Gruk-?
The Orc King looked at Soo-hyuk in bewilderment.
Soo-hyuk, who had crouched to rummage through goblin corpses, held several needles in his hand.
"Let's make a bet."
Clang-.
As if a sword had been unnecessary from the start.
Soo-hyuk tossed his blade aside and gripped goblin-dropped poison needles in both hands.
"Whether you catch me first... or you turn into a pincushion first."