[CHAPTER 11. FLOOR 1 (PART 1). STEP INTO THE PORTAL.]
The moment my foot crossed the threshold of the portal, the forest vanished, replaced by a vast lecture hall. Not only I, but every player who had cleared the 0th floor had gathered here. I had no idea how many of them had slain the dark knight. Some in a single day, others in a week, some even a month… The number of players who had cleared the 0th floor tutorial could be counted on one hand. Even though the number of field bosses was fixed, since they all fought together they could all pass, so their count meant nothing.
They simply called it the **Academy**—it wasn’t the real name, but who cared? Honestly, nobody really paid attention. What the existing players expected from the Academy was one thing only. Had a promising sprout come in? Had someone with balls of steel arrived?! They were stuck on the 7th floor because they couldn’t beat the boss monster there. Everyone else was maxed out. The entire squad was at its limit and growing stagnant, so they’d already given up. Change was needed. In the Tower of Struggle, change meant new players—fresh-faced rookies.
New faces were required for those climbing the floors. They brought over the hotshots from each dimension, trained them, and slotted them into the squad to break through the 7th floor. That was why the eyes of every top-ranked player and guild member in the Academy were locked on the newcomers. The Academy taught them the bare minimum basics. Even the basics were only useful for weaklings, so most veterans skipped straight ahead. If the tower rankers filled the Academy with early graduates, only mediocre players would remain, and that was where the real hell began.
They’d dig for hidden talent, grind them, make them fight each other, and of course some rookies would die. Yoo Dahui herself had died dozens of times. The veterans didn’t care. If a guy was going to die here, he’d die outside anyway. They deliberately neglected the Academy with some twisted logic. The iron irony was that even the graduates died. At least that way they died “trying.” Like the old saying: you only survive war if you train hard. I didn’t know. Whatever.
Sound Amplification
Something stood in front of the stage at the lecture hall. A blonde ponytail, emerald eyes, pointed ears—default elf values. The armor was probably full kit to intimidate the rookies.
“Welcome. I am the academy director in charge of your education, Elena Trigard.”
Elena Trigard. Central 1st Knight Commander of the Elf Kingdom Alvheim. Even without spirit bags, she was considered the strongest elf.
“This place is the 1st floor, the so-called Academy. It’s a bit like the Beginner Village on the 0th floor. The only real difference is that you’ll find much stronger seniors lined up here.”
The way she spoke was oddly neutral. More accurate to say everyone had blank stares, just like when they first got summoned to the 0th floor.
“The Academy will teach you a few fundamentals. Basic skills necessary for a player to survive. But because they’re fundamentals, there are already a lot of players who know them—skilled ones. Those skip ahead. If you’re good enough, you can finish the entire course faster than everyone else. If your guild offers to pay, you can even skip the whole thing.”
It sounded like a massive privilege, but in reality the guild was just dumping their trash on her. “We’ll take that guy? Fine, you teach him.” That was the vibe.
“Why do we even need these courses? Some of you might be wondering. Right. Where the hell am I supposed to use this crap? Why waste time teaching us?”
“To clear the Tower of Struggle.”
“To raise your survival rate. Occasionally, one of you will shine.”
⟨ THE ACADEMY EXISTS FOR THAT ONE SHINY PLAYER ⟩
She let that sink in. It was absurd. They ran the Academy for one player—while that same player stole their only chance to clear the tower. The Tower of Struggle was designed for everyone to climb together. Beat the boss and a portal to the next floor opened. But on the 10th floor everything changed. Only one person could stand before the God. Everyone in the boss room became the boss monster. Pure hell.
Elena’s tone dripped with mocking provocation. The guys who thought they were tough were already glaring murder at her. Some had murderous eyes. Some just stared blankly. Both were fine, she said. By graduation, everyone would be a real player. She promised.
Elena stepped down from the stage and left the hall the second her speech ended.
Before the words were even out, the veterans—those who called themselves seniors—swarmed in. The aura rolling off them was terrifying.
They’re going to piss themselves. Literally.
“Humans. All humans come here.” One human male gathered the human rookies. He’d been pulling his hair out from being surrounded by players and trying to remember names.
“Eleven? More than I expected. Well, there are so many dimensions, it makes sense.”
Humans existed in more dimensions than anyone else—medieval fantasy, modern Seoul, hero fantasy, murim, and future sci-fi. The author had just thrown every genre together.
“The human race is a walking contradiction.”
“They really are all over the place,” Yoo Dahui muttered, glancing at the gathered humans.
Reading about them and seeing them in person felt completely different. The familiar faces were Kang Hana, Baek Seon-woo, and Yoo Dahui herself. The other eight… did I really have to remember their names? Complete strangers. But the instructor who was supposed to be leading us? I knew his name. Choi Sung-yoon, a detective from the future sci-fi world.
“Everyone who is 1-Star, step forward.”
Choi Sung-yoon held up some kind of strange machine. A small pen created a palm-sized holographic screen.
> STAR RANKING SYSTEM INITIALIZED
> Scanning 1-Star players…
> 1-Star, 1-Star, 1-Star, 2-Star detected
> 1-Star, 2-Star, 2-Star, 2-Star, 1-Star…
> 2-Star detected
It scanned Kang Hana and found she was 2-Star. Then me, Yoo Dahui, Baek Seon-woo… and one last unknown woman.
“Eunyoung-ah. Take the 1-Star players.”
“Yes!” A player named Eunyoung led the 1-Star rookies away. Those idiots were basically done for.
“Out of eleven, five are 2-Star. Everyone’s putting in real effort.”
Choi Sung-yoon put a cigarette in his mouth and muttered.
“Murim and hero? The clothing makes sense, but… his gaze kept coming back to me and Yoo Dahui. Murim Baek Seon-woo, hero Kang Hana… and that girl staring blankly? Must be a cyborg from the future sci-fi dimension.”
We were the weakest of the weak. Even the other humans were stronger.
“They’re really amazing. I only heard about those dimensions from rumors. This is the first time I’ve seen them in person.”
Choi Sung-yoon gave us a tiny clap. I wondered if he actually thought we were impressive. Maybe not a bad guy after all. I followed him with that thought in mind.
“You’ll all receive four weeks of education here at the Academy. Eight weeks for the 1-Star players.”
He was assuming 1-Star players were weak and needed the extra time to grow.
“The four weeks will teach only basics. Honestly, the murim guy or the hero here don’t need this. It would be more efficient to focus on your own skills during that time.”
He led us into one of the buildings. The dormitory we’d be staying in for the next four weeks…
[Welcome to the Academy Dormitory]
[Shared Rooms • Basic Beds • 4 Weeks • 1-Star Free Housing]
“This is where you will stay.”
Choi Sung-yoon walked in as if it were nothing. It was better than the Shelter inn, but still pretty crappy.