Desperate Flight and the First Fall
I ran. I ran with everything I had. The only regrettable part was that my current physical specs were those of an early-20s guy fresh out of the military—barely above average.
'Not quite at the level of a hero who's cleared the Tutorial.'
The Tutorial was a process designed to forge a hero—in other words, a single warrior capable of battling the demon race. That's why we half-jokingly called it the 'Hero Factory'—a factory, plain and simple. Before a car rolls off the assembly line, before it's fitted with a proper engine or any real features, the chassis is nothing more than a sturdy tin mock-up. Only after becoming a full-fledged hero could you sprint 100 meters in five seconds or hoist entire buildings like they were nothing. So, I couldn't entirely shake it off.
"Hey! Hey!!"
Desperate voices echoed from behind. Not just one or two.
"You know something, right?!"
"Spill it if you do!!"
'Damn it.'
The pursuers were closing in. If they were goblins, I could've lured a few and taken them out easy. But they weren't goblins.
"Hey, Yoo Si-woo!!"
Humans. The same ones who'd just signed their Hero Contracts and been forcibly teleported into this forest. A few of the fitter ones were chasing me down. And there was only one reason.
"Hand over the info, and huff, we won't chase you anymore!"
Because I'd stood out from the start with my actions, they figured I knew something. That's why they were after me.
'Sharp eyes.'
In the Tutorial, keeping a close watch on anyone acting solo had become a cliché. I wasn't exactly an expert on that stuff, but back in my first playthrough, some of my comrades would chat about it now and then.
—Si-woo. The whole Tutorial thing is practically its own genre...
From mimicking the moves of Tutorial veterans to blindly following those vets.
—The key is not to stand out.
In my factory, everyone played it safe, but there was this one guy obsessed with isekai reincarnation stories, and people just flocked after him like lost puppies. Not me, though.
...Right up to forcibly forming groups around whoever seemed to know the inside scoop.
Splash.
I stopped in my tracks. I'd been bolting through the forest, and suddenly a cliff loomed ahead. Dead end.
"Hah, hah... Yoo Si-woo...!"
A guy came panting up, maybe ten paces away. The others had given up midway or were still trudging along, but this one had actually caught up to me. Seeing his face jogged my memory.
"Yeah, Chang-hyun hyung."
Senior in his final year, on the cusp of graduation. You might wonder why a grad student was at orientation, but the poor bastard had gotten dragged into this factory for real.
'Nice guy.'
The type who'd personally deliver dozens of chickens to feed underclassmen just because he had a car. The classic good-hearted, athletic pushover—Kim Chang-hyun.
"You know what this place is, right...? That's why you're running?"
"No."
"Don't... lie, hah. Fuck, did you just run drills in the army or what...?"
"Not exactly."
I wasn't as winded as Kim Chang-hyun, but I was soaked in sweat too. I'd been pacing my breathing based on my pre-regression combat standards, and this Tutorial body burned stamina way faster than expected.
"You ever read any fantasy webnovels?"
"Huh?"
"Y'know, getting dragged into a Tutorial or whatever. They even make webtoons out of 'em."
"No, I mean... Weren't you the type who didn't read that stuff?"
"Picked it up in the army."
"Oh."
The army. That mysterious realm where social butterflies could emerge as total weebs. In reality, I barely had time for webnovels or webtoons during service, let alone personal downtime. But the important thing was that the pushover in front of me wasn't coming any closer.
"It's not like I know jack about this world. I just move better alone."
"For real?"
"Swear it. Wanna pinky promise?"
I stuck out my tongue, then hooked my thumb. Naturally, keeping my pinky extended out front.
'Sorry, Mom.'
Even if it was a freak natural disaster, I'd still died before my parents—that was filial impiety on a massive scale. Hiding the truth with a lie sworn on my mother? That was small potatoes compared to spitting in the ocean.
"Nah, no need for that. So why'd you run then?"
"They said goblins are coming. You just gonna stand there?"
"Well..."
"I don't know shit."
Maybe chatting with Kim Chang-hyun had bought me some time. A group of guys built like him started approaching from behind, one by one.
"Huff, huff. Hey, spill it. You know something, you fuck...?"
"Hidden piece! If you know, tell us quick!"
And just like that, they demanded answers from me like I'd borrowed their money—or hell, like I was the money.
"Hidden piece my ass. I'd tell you if I knew."
"So hand it over if you do!"
"Hand over what?"
How should I play this? Tell these 108 hero hopefuls—with a 99.7% pass rate—that crossing over to the other side meant instant death from the brutal difficulty?
'Yeah, right.'
No need to spill that. Crushing their morale wouldn't help the Goddess one bit.
"Know my ass. I'm just guessing as I go."
"What...?"
"That clearing earlier? Looked prime for goblins to swarm out of. How do you expect to survive here if you can't even spot that?"
"What the fuck, you punk?!"
A beefy guy lunged and grabbed my collar.
"Hey, Park Chang-su! Calm down!"
"This fucker's still got army crap in his head...! One minute we're playing sergeant in the barracks, next we're in this shithole—"
"Fuck off, you retard."
I didn't release his grip on my collar but shoved him back just enough to feel the strain. He was pushing it.
"You exemption pussy, who the hell—"
"This little shit—"
The beefcake let go of my collar and reared back for a punch. Kim Chang-hyun rushed in from behind, startled, trying to grab Park Chang-su's arm—but I went limp first, in an instant.
"Huh?"
Park Chang-su's grip slackened on my collar, and my body tumbled straight off the cliff below.
'Please.'
With any luck.
'No other fuckups have died ahead of me.'
The drop was nearly 30 meters. I offered a silent prayer for the bastard who couldn't even reach the cliff's edge to watch me fall, then closed my eyes.
Thud.
You have died.
Killed by a comrade in the Tutorial.
Goddess Points +1.
Ah.
Fuck.
'Didn't expect someone to die before me.'
# Remaining Lives: 2 / 3
Fine. Still two coins left.
* * *
The sky.
"...I never imagined two would die before the goblins even spawned."
Angel Estiel tilted her head at the data floating on the screen before her.
"It happens sometimes, but two cases in my sector? Unbelievable."
Estiel pulled up the profiles of the two from the summoners' roster.
[Kyaaack!]
Before the goblins appeared, a woman fleeing through the forest had been pushed off a cliff to her death. An accident. The epitome of 'misstep fatal'—she'd tripped in the dense woods, and a branch pierced her abdomen.
Cause of death? If you had to pin it down... yeah.
—You bastard! If you hadn't said to run from the goblins!!
—I-I don't know anything! She just tripped!!
—You kill someone and say that?!
—Tripping while running from goblins—how's that my fault?!
Goblins are coming. Run. Find weapons, do something—scatter first.
...In the Tutorial, the quickest average time to death belonged to the 'let's stick together!' crowd. But cases like this had precedents aplenty.
"They say up top that prior Tutorial knowledge actually helps the hero candidates, so no big issue... hmm."
Click, click.
"Still, it's a relief. Better they burn stacks early than drop like flies later."
With mechanical precision honed from long practice, Estiel processed the deceased.
"Congratulations all the same. Even the first pitiful soul to die is embraced by the Goddess. However..."
After reviving one.
"...This one, hmm."
Estiel's finger paused on a man.
Yoo Si-woo.
The first to sign the contract. Without that tripping death, he'd have monopolized the Goddess Points as the 'first to die.'
"...Seems like he knows something and acts on it, but too..."
Reckless? Over the top?
"Never thought the first 'comrade killer' would happen so soon."
Impatient, he'd contracted first. Split from the group first to survive solo. That was it.
They chased him for info that might not even exist, grabbed his collar, swung—and killed him.
"...Hmm."
Something didn't sit right. But Estiel had already decided.
—It was an accident! Fuck, an accident!
Hey, don't go!
—...Sorry, but I can't stick with you.
Hey!! You guys are gonna regret this!!
Debatable as comrades, but Estiel imposed the penalty on the first comrade killer per regulations. And awarded one Goddess Point to the victim, as per rules.
"...Did he know and act on it?"
Estiel's hand itched.
"Report regressor..."
Next to the name Yoo Si-woo: the [Revive] button. And somewhere, a [Report] button with a red exclamation mark.
—Remember: Secure anyone suspected of using regression powers. Death Regression, Time Reversal—doesn't matter.
The archangel had decreed it.
—We must know why we failed. Why he regressed. Why we lost to the Demon King's army and had no choice but to rewind.
For the Goddess's victory.
For the angels' survival.
"......No."
Estiel reached not for report, but revive.
"I can't do that."
Lick.
"He's my sector's hero."
Thump, thump.
Curiosity bloomed in Estiel. If this man really was a regressor, what would he do next? Unknown, but reporting now would summon the archangel to haul his soul away.
"......."
Whirr.
Revived at a random spot, the man shot to his feet, checked the time, and bolted.
After glancing at the sky—precisely at Estiel watching.
"...A sector hero's achievements are the handler angel's bonus."
Smirk.
"Looking forward to it. Your Tutorial clear."
Estiel winked at him with one eye.
And then.
"...Huh?"
Estiel saw it.
The words the man said while staring right at her.
I will use Goddess Points.
"......."
Thump, thump.
Estiel suppressed her trembling and folded her wings toward the ground.