Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The End of the Tutorial
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Na Youngho realized what had gotten him.
The problem was that it was far too late.
Thud.
Na Youngho collapsed into the hallway, pelted by the rain of acid and poison.
'Like this? Am I really dying this pathetically?'
Plip plip plip!
Whether it had run out of reserves, the pipes had burst, or the fire trigger had vanished, the sprinklers quickly shut off.
"I-Inventory."
Na Youngho stretched out his hand with great effort.
'Stay calm.'
A healing potion wouldn't cut it.
He needed to pull out an elixir and chug it to have any hope of recovery.
'Good...'
He finally managed to retrieve the elixir.
But at that moment.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The spirits lunged at Na Youngho.
"Hand it over!"
"It's mine!"
A ugly scramble broke out.
"Y-You bastards! You're already dead! Get off me!!"
Na Youngho shouted, but it was no use.
The elixir's power was absolute, said to wipe away all negative effects.
Maybe, just maybe, it could even revive a spirit that was already dead.
The spirits clung to that irrational hope and slim possibility.
"Shut up, Na Youngho!"
"We trusted you and now we're dying again!"
"Give me the elixir! Give it! Give it!!"
In the end, Na Youngho lost his grip on the elixir amid the tussle, and it spilled across the hallway floor.
Splash!
It mixed into the poisoned sprinkler water and scattered.
The spirits tried to lap it up, but it was already too late.
All the spirits died.
"Damn... you...!"
Na Youngho died as well.
Even killing him indirectly like this still granted coins, it seemed.
The dark night sky.
Messages and items materialized in front of Dokgo Hyun, who stood before the rooftop water tank.
'I won.'
He had fully cleared the long, grueling tutorial.
"Congratulations! You did it!"
The masked Principal appeared on the rooftop.
"How did you pull it off at the last second?"
"I dumped poison into the rooftop water tank and set off the fire detector."
To break it down more specifically:
-Step 1. Confirm that Na Youngho and the spirits are gathered in one place.
-Step 2. Slice a gash in the top of the fiber-reinforced plastic water tank using the Venom Knife.
-Step 3. Apply [Time Overload], an advanced technique stacking [Instant Acceleration] onto the Venom Knife with [Venom Mode] activated.
In that case, a warning message appears.
-Step 4. Ignore the warning, plunge the Venom Knife into the water tank, and use [Object Rewind] to restore the damage to the tank.
-Step 5. Head down to the fourth-floor hallway, grab an abandoned textbook from any classroom, light it with the lighter snatched from the delinquent, and hold it to the ceiling fire detector.
-Step 6. The sprinklers activate. Time it right and bolt back to the rooftop.
-Step 7. Na Youngho and the spirits die, drenched in sprinkler water turned into deadly venom and strong acid.
"That's how."
"Impressive. Quite the bold move. But won't you lose the artifact for good?"
"No choice. I was prepared for that."
By now, the Venom Knife was probably half-melted and sunk to the bottom of the water tank.
It was originally resistant to acid and poison, but the abnormal overload Dokgo Hyun had forced on it must have wrecked it beyond repair.
"Heh. A resolve fitting for the final tutorial round. Clearing a hard difficulty tutorial completely... astounding."
"Hard?"
"Yes."
Snap!
The Principal snapped his fingers, and another message appeared.
"......"
"The difficulty was a bit tough, right?"
"So each zone has different difficulties."
"Yes. From Easy to Hell, four levels in total."
Indeed.
There were countless tutorial zones, and even within just H Zone, there were over 100 tutorial areas.
Even in the same H Zone, difficulties varied by location.
For example, Hanshin Police Station might be Normal, Happiness Boarding House Hell, and Daegiman Seong Nursing Home Easy.
"Now, time to distribute the sole survivor clear bonus."
"Normally I'd pick a suitable reward for you, but as a special treat, here's a two-choice selection. Ta-da!"
The Principal declared, and a two-option reward appeared.
"Choose. A special reward for the tutorial's sole survivor."
The Principal spoke, and Dokgo Hyun pondered.
'Hints are important, but...'
The issue was just one.
He'd seen plenty of hints during the tutorial, but a single one rarely made a big difference.
'Hints give fragmented info. You need to collect and piece several together to make them useful.'
So, 500 coins was the rational pick.
'Coins from killing Oh Sua and Na Youngho: 200. Tutorial Mission 10 clear: 1,000. Add 500 more...'
Total of 1,700 coins.
Enough to boost his stats significantly.
"Heh. Tough choice?"
"One question."
"Sure, anything."
"After the tutorial ends, does combat continue right away?"
"No. Safe return home is guaranteed. And starting tomorrow, you get a three-day 'vacation'."
"Vacation...?"
"You'll be able to rest worry-free at home until tomorrow morning. Absolutely guaranteed."
"I see..."
Dokgo Hyun made his decision.
Step step.
He picked up the tongs left behind the water tank, probably from rooftop cleaning.
Clang!
Dokgo Hyun pierced the water tank and fished out the sunken Venom Knife from the bottom.
'As expected, it's lost all power.'
He gripped the thoroughly wrecked Venom Knife.
"Hm? What are you doing? Hurry and decide."
"Ah, sorry. I'll take B. Give me the hint."
Pop!
A hint note appeared before Dokgo Hyun's eyes.
He read it quickly.
"......"
Dokgo Hyun reread the hint carefully, timing it out.
"Hint not helpful? Hahaha."
"Yeah. Deeply disappointing. So much so that I want to die."
"Pardon?"
Stab!!
Dokgo Hyun jammed the wrecked Venom Knife into his own throat.
"What?!"
"Gah...!"
Stabbing with the damaged blade made it hurt even more.
Thud!
Dokgo Hyun felt death approaching.
'[3-Minute Regression].'
Dokgo Hyun returned to three minutes prior—the moment he was debating A or B and pulling the Venom Knife from the water tank.
"Hm? What are you doing? Hurry and decide."
The Principal urged him, exactly as before.
'Good. Back safely.'
"Yes. I'll choose option A."
"Alright, then..."
"Ah, hold on. Just one quick thing."
With the Principal's permission, Dokgo Hyun opened his status window.
'All-in on Mana.'
Dokgo Hyun's pure stats, without [Hyper Mode] applied, were as follows.
'Perfect! And with [Hyper Mode] active now, all stats are doubled for the next three minutes.'
Slide.
He set the wrecked Venom Knife on the ground.
"[Object Rewind]!!"
Vrrrrrr...!
Dokgo Hyun had restored a torn card before.
Even that had made his head spin, but now he was trying to restore an artifact.
'I can do it! I went all-in on Mana, and with [Hyper Mode], it's doubled!'
Meaning his effective Mana was nearly 96.
Rumble rumble...!
Crack... crunch...!
The thoroughly mangled Venom Knife slowly reverted to its original form.
'Ugh! Even in [Hyper Mode], this is tough.'
The moment Dokgo Hyun thought he couldn't hold out any longer.
"Yes!!"
Dokgo Hyun wiped the sweat from his brow, overjoyed.
Beyond its value as an artifact, it was a weapon that had saved him countless times in critical moments—he felt attached to it.
"Well, I'll be. Incredible. As expected of the tutorial's ultimate victor."
The Principal sighed in amazement.
Then, slowly, he removed his mask.
The true face of Hanshin High School's Principal appeared.
"Now... you've graduated. Keep fighting the good fight."
The Principal gave Dokgo Hyun a bittersweet smile.
Thud!
He collapsed like a puppet with cut strings and died.
The Total Administrator, the puppet master behind the mask, had discarded him.
Poof.
The mask crumbled to dust and vanished, leaving a message before Dokgo Hyun.
Flash!
Dokgo Hyun was transported somewhere.
"Ah..."
A pitch-black space.
A familiar smell.
'Home.'
Dokgo Hyun was back at his house.
Wondering if it was just a game area mimicking home, he flicked on the fluorescent light and looked around.
'Definitely my house.'
He hurriedly grabbed the home phone.
He wanted to check on his brother.
But the call wouldn't connect, and a system message appeared.
"Huh?"
Absurd, Dokgo Hyun tried to open the front door.
It wouldn't budge.
He considered prying it open with the Venom Knife but stopped.
'Pointless.'
It was enforced rest.
The Apocalypse Game Management Bureau forcing tutorial clearers to 'rest!'
Even smashing the door or breaking windows wouldn't work.
"Damn it."
The moment he gave up, another message appeared.