Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Orbis
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Orbis
GRRROOOAAARRR!!!
"Now!!!"
BOOOOM!!!!
A deafening roar echoed through the surroundings.
It was the sound Cha Ryu-jin made by swinging his axe.
One of the artificial monster's legs was completely mangled.
"Finish it off!"
At Han Ain's shout, someone charged toward the artificial monster.
Blue hair and two gleaming swords.
Vrrrrm-!
Mana began to gather in the dual swords.
Whoosh!
Blue flames then erupted along the dual swords.
BOOOOM-!
...
"Hoo..."
Seo Ji-ho sheathed his dual swords and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Han Ain and Cha Ryu-jin approached from a distance.
"Any injuries?"
"None."
Han Ain brushed the dust off her clothes as she spoke.
"No time to rest."
Cha Ryu-jin said as he lifted his axe.
"Right."
Seo Ji-ho drew his dual swords as well.
The exam wasn't about defeating the boss artificial monster—it was about accumulating points.
To do that, they had to take down the artificial monsters scattered throughout the city.
Seo Ji-ho followed Han Ain and Cha Ryu-jin, cautiously glancing back.
He could see the massive artificial monster that had died with its head severed.
'How the hell did he take that down in one strike?'
...
Congratulations on passing the Practical Exam.
Reward: 1 Stat Point
Bonus Reward: Shop Unlocked
A cheerful alert chimed, and the rewards were granted.
'Feels just like a game.'
Well, since this is inside a game, it should feel like one.
Trait Change [50,000 A Coins]
Talent Addition [50,000 A Coins]
Penalty Change [25,000 A Coins]
...
"A Coins?"
A currency he'd never seen before.
'They'll probably give some as rewards later?'
The shop truly sold everything.
Stats, even relics.
'Penalty Change.'
Penalties were a kind of high-risk, high-reward gamble.
Depending on the penalty type, they granted bonus stats or special abilities. For example, 'Shackle of the Sword' prevented using more than one skill at a time but boosted stats slightly when a skill was used.
But it was just a 'slight' boost.
Useful in the early game, sure, but the lack of skills became a massive problem later on—making it a true high-risk, high-reward mechanic.
"No option to delete penalties, huh."
He searched the shop thoroughly, but disappointingly, penalty deletion wasn't available.
"Huh, they've got stuff like this too."
8th Grade Relic: Kasparchi's Watch [1,850 A Coins]
1st Grade Relic: Eternal Sharpness [10,000,000 A Coins]
'1st Grade relics are basically there to say "don't buy me."'
Relics were items infused with mana.
Objects found in gates, not made by humans.
Each relic had its own unique law applied. For instance, 'Eternal Sharpness' had the law 'Cuts Through Anything.'
The ability to cut literally anything.
Remaining Stat Points: 1
The stat point from the practical exam reward.
Results weren't out yet, but getting the reward meant he must have passed.
Name: Lee Han-su
Trait: One Sword Ends Heaven
Talent: Iaido
Penalties: Curse of the Sword, Shackle of the Sword
"Everything's mediocre."
To be blunt, his stats were just a tad above average for a regular person.
Especially his mana—it was way too low.
"Gotta rethink my build."
For starters, he wasn't the protagonist.
He couldn't steal the protagonist's essential lucky encounters, which made things a real headache.
And the protagonist used dual swords, no less.
Relics that synergized well with an Iaido build overlapped with dual sword builds.
"Gonna have to give up on mana early game."
Mana powered skill potency and frequency.
'Potency's already plenty.'
Thanks to the trait and penalties' burst stat amps and skill buffs, his damage was overflowing.
Of course, it was one-and-done per use, but with no other skills besides Iaido, mana wasn't critical yet.
Remaining Stat Points: 0
He invested the stat point into Agility.
"This'll do."
Agility was a damn good stat.
Valuable across most builds.
Vitality, Strength, and Endurance could be raised naturally through exercise or training.
But Sense, Mana, and Agility were tough to boost without stat investments.
Sense had no real merits, and Mana could be covered with relics later on.
...
Practical Exam Pass Notice
Lee Han-su Entrance Ranking [65th]
About a week later, the results came in.
Slightly above mid-tier ranking.
"Higher than I expected."
In an exam where you earned points by slaying artificial monsters, he'd only taken down one—albeit a boss-grade one—and still ranked decently.
He'd pulled off a one-shot spectacle, but rankings were purely by points, so it was surprising.
'Was aiming for top 100.'
Better this way.
...
The magnificent fusion of magic and science: Magic Engineering.
And the world's top hero training academy built with Magic Engineering: Orbis.
It was on another level compared to seeing it on a monitor screen.
'Class 1, right?'
Orbis had 10 classes, each with about 40 students.
'Class 1...'
The class with the protagonist and key characters.
He'd worried about landing in another class, but luckily, it was Class 1.
Stepping inside, he spotted familiar faces amid a diverse mix of nationalities and personalities.
No assigned seats, so he plopped down in an empty spot.
How much time passed before a group of three students entered the classroom?
Starting with the protagonist, whose blue hair stood out, then Han Ain with her sky-blue bob—granddaughter of the chairman no less—and finally Cha Ryu-jin with his massive build.
The story's core characters.
Then one more entered.
Scraaape-!
Silver hair and a sharp impression.
A girl with glowing red eyes, as if inheriting the Yoo Family bloodline.
Yoo I-seol.
"You...!"
Their eyes met for a moment.
Her eyebrows twitched.
Then she started walking toward him.
"What was your rank?"
"65th."
"...Heh."
She snickered to herself and headed to the back row.
She looked pleased.
'Idiot.'
Speaking of which, they were due any minute now.
As that thought crossed his mind, a brother-sister duo approached him.
"Hey."
The two looked strikingly similar.
The guy had jet-black hair and shining golden eyes; the girl had obsidian-black hair and eyes.
The Japanese Arima siblings.
He glanced cautiously at the younger sister.
Obsidian eyes stared back.
She hadn't awakened yet.
"That swordsmanship you showed in the practical exam was pretty impressive."
Her brother, Arima Kisho, spoke first.
Swordsmanship Club recruitment.
An event triggered by slaying an artificial monster with a specific sword style.
Orbis had tons of clubs, and the Swordsmanship Club was one of the most popular.
A place to learn all sorts of sword techniques, instructed by none other than 1st Grade Hero Kim In-cheol, one of Korea's top heroes.
"If you don't have a club in mind yet, how about joining the Swordsmanship Club?"
The sister, Arima Kanna, chimed in, holding club signup papers.
"Lemme think it over."
"Sure, just let us know when you decide~"
Clubs were important—they tied into the main story.
The content and rewards changed based on the protagonist's choice.
'Hope he doesn't pick some weird one.'
Personally, the Swordsmanship Club offered the best rewards for dual swords.
With a 1st Grade Hero as instructor, it was perfect for raising sword proficiency.
'Should just tell him to come along.'
Wrong clubs made things hellishly tough.
To follow the main story, he had to pick the same club as the protagonist.
Scraaape.
Then the door slid open.
"Good to meet you all. Let me introduce myself first. Name's Park Ju-seong. I'll be your instructor for the next year."
The classroom buzzed.
"4th Grade Hero Park Ju-seong...!"
"I've seen him on TV."
"No class today since it's the first day. Follow me."
They'd picked weapons for the practical exam, but now came the official post-enrollment selection.
Weapons chosen here couldn't be changed for a full year, so caution was key.
Opening the door to Orbis's weapon vault revealed mana-infused weapons galore.
"Whoaaa...!"
Cheers erupted around him. Weapons were neatly sorted by size and type.
Spears alone had over 40 varieties, each with different blade shapes and sizes.
He picked a sword again.
No real choice.
A katana-style one—not because he was a weeb, but because it synergized with Iaido.
(Mana-forged weapons were far sturdier than regular ones, FYI.)
The protagonist went dual swords, Yoo I-seol picked a spear, and the Arima siblings chose swords.
No one picked a gun.
...
Class wrapped up with a basic rundown of Orbis rules and facility locations.
He got his dorm key too.
Orbis policy: one person per room.
'...?'
After grabbing his key, the protagonist vanished somewhere.
He still needed to recruit him for the club.
'Maybe in the training room.'
He headed to the training room.
But no protagonist. Sighing, he turned toward the dorms when—
"You here to train too?"
A voice from behind.
Blue hair and the tragic choice of dual swords: the protagonist.
"Yeah, something like that. What's your name?"
"Me? Seo Ji-ho."
Learned the protagonist's name.
"Picked a club yet?"
"Nah, gonna take my time thinking."
He was about to suggest signing up for Swordsmanship Club together.
"Ji-ho!"
Someone approached from afar.
A girl with sky-blue hair down to her shoulders.
"Who's the guy next to you? Oh... hello."
"Hey, nice to meet you."
"Don't use casual speech with me."
Should've picked the taser gun during weapon selection.