The Unlikely First Place

The Babel Tower raid scores were visible to the outside world as well.

Every midnight, with a one-day delay, each floor’s progress was broadcast to every nation.

The two categories that drew the greatest interest were the Tower Vanguard Competition and the Tutorial Score.

Among them, the one that ignited the hottest attention at the start of every month was the Tutorial Score.

“Everyone, the day we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived.”

The self-proclaimed tutorial analyst, the streamer known to viewers as Newbie Bettor, BJ Raccoon, rubbed his hands together the instant the broadcast began.

The number of viewers spiked the moment the stream went live. BJ Raccoon’s main content was tutorial analysis. When the tutorial stage began, famous guilds publicly released the stats and equipment of their promising rookies as a form of promotion. The analysis content compared those revealed specs and predicted who would rank highest.

“You all know this batch is going to be bloody, right?”

BJ Raccoon displayed the data the guilds had released.

“Whoa, looks like Hwarang and Phoenix are going head-to-head this time.”

“Ahem. Hwarang’s promising rookie is Park Jongwon. His unique ability is Master of Weapons.”

The chat window split between people shocked by Park Jongwon’s ability and those expressing doubt. BJ Raccoon smiled with satisfaction.

“According to the Association’s classification, it’s S-rank. It’s a unique ability that enhances the capabilities of worn equipment.”

Before the viewers could overheat again, BJ Raccoon quickly displayed the next piece of data.

“Phoenix Guild’s promising rookie is Oh Jiwon. This guy’s Iron Man. Wow, both of them are stacked.”

“Park Jongwon from Hwarang Guild, obviously.”

BJ Raccoon answered without hesitation. Iron Man was a late-blooming unique ability. The additional stats gained with every level-up provided greater benefits at higher levels. There were supplementary effects attached to the Iron Man ability, but the matchup was simply too unfavorable.

Hwarang must have gone all-in on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him.

Unique-grade items, the Silent Blade, and at minimum Rare-grade equipment across the board. All of it was provided to maximize the effect of Park Jongwon’s Master of Weapons.

“Ugh, how boring. If I have to pick one, it’s Park Jongwon.”

Ring— Ring—

The alarm he had set for 11:59 finally rang.

“One minute left.”

Both BJ Raccoon and the viewers waited for the clock to strike twelve.

BJ Raccoon rubbed his hands together as he checked the results.

“See? I told you it would be Park Jong… Huh?”

BJ Raccoon’s eyes widened in confusion. The result before him was completely different from his prediction.

The chat exploded with heat that made the previous messages look lukewarm by comparison.

At the same time, not only BJ Raccoon’s stream but every corner of society was left stunned by the first-day tutorial results. The guilds were the first to move.

“He took first place without support from any major guild?”

“Look at the score. It’s insane. This is a record-breaking performance!”

“We must find out who Yu Jinho is.”

“A player who surpassed both Hwarang and Phoenix’s top prospects. Our guild absolutely has to recruit him.”

The guild officials had drawn up more objective indicators than BJ Raccoon’s analysis.

Park Jongwon — 67%

Oh Jiwon — 32%

Others — 1%

The probability of taking first place on the first day of the tutorial. The figures calculated by the Association and the various guilds were nearly identical. One percent was a number that existed only in theory.

Yet that tiny probability had hit the jackpot.

Multiple guilds across the country began tracking Yu Jinho’s movements.

“Secure the CCTV footage first.”

“Find out his age, school, and who his close associates are.”

“Comb through his SNS immediately!”

The media, having received the unexpected news, were just as frantic. The three letters of Yu Jinho’s name set the entire night in South Korea ablaze.

Dense forest. The tightly packed conifers greeted me like old friends.

The moment I stepped into the forest zone, a black border framed the edges of my vision. This level of penalty was acceptable.

I walked with my hands clasped behind my back, strolling through the forest at a leisurely pace. The shadows of the conifers stretched across the ground. Even though the sun was high in the sky, the dense canopy blocked the sunlight, leaving everything dim and gloomy.

It’s fine. There aren’t any dangerous enemies in the forest anyway.

After walking for some time, the sound of rustling leaves tickled my ears. It was an extremely faint noise. Had I not obtained the Ultrasound ability from the Big Bat, I would never have caught it.

I changed direction toward the source of the sound and quickened my steps. After walking for about a minute, a pair of long antlers appeared at the edge of my vision.

A mana deer. A monster that appeared in the forest. It seemed to have noticed my presence as well; its bright, clear eyes turned toward me.

In that instant, the mana deer lowered its head at a ninety-degree angle. A bluish energy gathered between its forked antlers.

With a sharp whistle, a blue orb flew straight at me.

“Now that’s one hell of a greeting.”

I charged forward with Thorn Armor wrapped around my forearm. It was a straight-line path. Continuing like this would mean throwing myself directly into the energy bolt. Since we were still quite far apart, I could have dodged if I wanted to.

But I chose to meet it head-on.

Mana deer always flee after attacking.

It was a trait that made them avoid prolonged fights. Their pattern was to fire an energy bolt from range and then escape at full speed. Their speed made catching a fleeing mana deer quite difficult.

The impact transmitted to my arm wasn’t significant. Energy Bolt was a one-star skill that magic-type players commonly learned. In other words, it wasn’t particularly strong.

“Rooong?”

When its first attack failed, the mana deer immediately turned to flee without hesitation. Just as I expected.

I activated Agile Hind Legs in succession, closing the hundred-meter distance in a single burst. The mana deer’s eyes widened. It tried to kick off the ground and create distance, but it was already too late.

“Game over.”

I swung my hand, its nails reinforced by Sharp Claws. With a clean slice, a blue trajectory cut through the air, followed by crimson droplets that contrasted sharply with it, scattering in every direction.

The mana deer collapsed to the ground. Because it specialized in speed, its defense was paper-thin. Once I closed the distance, taking it down wasn’t difficult.

The hard part was just getting close.

Among players, mana deer were avoided as hunting targets. Their absurdly high difficulty, the way they dodged magic from range and fled at full speed the moment you got close, made them excellent at maintaining distance. If I hadn’t used Agile Hind Legs repeatedly, I would have broken quite a sweat hunting it.

Since I hadn’t taken any damage, I immediately moved on to the next target.

“Rooong.”

“Rong.”

The moment the mana deer sensed my presence, they all fired energy bolts without exception. If they had run away the instant they began casting, their survival rate would have been slightly higher. But they didn’t know that.

I ignored the Energy Bolts flying straight at me and hunted the mana deer one by one.

As expected, it was a one-star skill. I hadn’t held high expectations from the start.

Still, gaining a long-range option is better than nothing.

It was the first magic skill I had obtained since regressing. The moment I absorbed the essence, the method of rearranging mana imprinted itself in my mind. I tested Energy Bolt as an experiment.

The mana inside my body went through a simple rearrangement process and condensed. It took roughly one second to complete the Energy Bolt. With a flick of my wrist, the blue orb flew toward a conifer.

Thud— A small explosion rang out as the impact site caved inward. Its power was stronger than the mana deer’s version. Thanks to my high magic power stat, the attack power of the energy bolt received a significant boost.

“Not enough to use as a main weapon, though.”

My strength stat, including items, exceeded 80. If I struck with my hand protected by Thorn Armor, I could even snap trees. I should be satisfied with simply gaining a long-range attack option.

Wait, it had a charge function too, didn’t it?

I used Energy Bolt once more. The moment the completed orb hovered above my palm, instead of releasing it I poured in more mana. The energy bolt gradually grew larger. After about 4.2 seconds, its size had tripled from the beginning.

I released the energy bolt toward the conifer just like before.

Kwaaaang!

This time even the sound of the explosion was different. The struck area shattered into pieces. The conifer groaned loudly as it tilted heavily to the right.

“Not bad at all, is it?”

I muttered to myself while looking at the broken conifer. At this level, it possessed enough power to chill the hearts of distant enemies. Although accuracy would drop the farther the distance, the mere existence of Energy Bolt allowed me to engage in psychological warfare.

The mana deer essence that I had never obtained before my regression turned out to be more useful than expected.

Then the rage ape… Ah, it’s already been hunted.

That guy Park Jongwon had beaten me to it. To think he would defeat a boss monster on the very first day of the tutorial. His skills weren’t bad.

Hmm. Returning in a week wouldn’t be a problem, but it felt wasteful to leave the forest like this. Come to think of it, there was that guy deeper inside the forest.

The Blood Mountain Lord—one of the top five most difficult boss monsters on Rainbow Island.

If I hunt him, I can obtain a martial arts manual.

I clenched my right hand into a fist and then opened it again. Originally I had planned to challenge him in the second week. However, my current stats already far surpassed the level I had initially anticipated.

In that case, it wouldn’t be bad to challenge him now and learn the martial arts as soon as possible.

Let’s test my limits.

I clenched my right fist tightly and turned my gaze deeper into the forest.