Tutorial Shift: Survival or Slaughter
Ding.
Mission Updated.
『Tutorial #1 – Game Start (Revised)』
Theme: Survival or Hunt
Difficulty: Undetermined
Mission: Survive for 1 hour or successfully hunt a tutorial dummy. The mission will end early upon completion.
Reward: ■■■
Failure Penalty: Death
Remaining Time [01:00:00]
Survivors [95/401]
The original condition of simply enduring for 24 hours had been shortened to just one hour. On top of that, a new clear condition had been added: the mission would end early if we managed to hunt one of the monsters. If someone only looked at the changes, they might have mistakenly thought the mission had become easier. But no one sprinting down the hallway, listening to the monsters' roars, could hold such naive thoughts.
“Everyone, stay focused!” I shouted at the three people consumed by fear. “One hour! We only need to hold out for one hour! Four of us can definitely do it!”
It was a lie. Watching a single monster tear apart the iron door on the first floor, I had already decided. We would endure the full 24 hours somehow. Fighting the monsters head-on was nothing short of suicide. So the idea of defeating one and ending the mission early was far too optimistic.
‘One entrance. No exits…’
When we first entered the break room, I had checked the windows, wondering if we could escape through them if necessary. But like the glass doors on the first floor, they wouldn’t budge. I had resigned myself to focusing solely on hiding.
Scrape. Scrape.
Never in my life had all my nerves and senses concentrated on a single point like this. The horrific metallic screech against the wall grew rapidly closer.
Crash!
The sound of hallway decorations being flung aside echoed from the corridor leading to the break room. Through the small glass window in the door, I saw a shadow charging forward like an enraged bull. The moment I caught sight of the monster’s face right in front of me, goosebumps erupted across my entire body.
“Jocheol! The door!”
“Ah… uh! Right!”
I quickly shoved the furniture blocking the door flush against it. When Cheonho had entered the break room, the barricade had been slightly loose. Distracted by his story, I hadn’t reinforced it properly.
‘Damn it, I got careless.’
How foolish to relax even a little in the midst of monsters swarming everywhere. And the price for not checking the barricade… came back far more violently than I had expected.
BOOM—!
A shockwave and deafening roar strong enough to ring in my head erupted from the door.
“Guh!”
Park Jocheol groaned as the impact slammed into his entire body. Fortunately, he had been leaning against the cabinet, so he wasn’t badly hurt, but the situation was far from reassuring.
“Th-there! Its hand!”
At Cheonho’s shout, we turned our heads to see a large hole already punched through the door. The monster’s bony hand, thrust through the wooden door of the break room, came into view.
—Keeeek!
The monster, its joints caught on the door, let out a scream that shook the entire break room. It began twisting its rotting, foul-smelling hand, prying open the shallow crack.
“U-uaaah!”
Bang!
Namgung Cheonho, who had been panicking beside us, must have realized we would die if the door broke. He threw his entire body against the barricade holding the door in place.
We were cornered. But as the saying goes, a cornered rat will bite the cat. When I came to my senses, Seo Seyeong was standing behind us, hoisting a crumpled metal chair.
“Uwaaah!”
Crack!
She brought the chair down on the monster’s protruding hand. Whether because its bones were decayed, a faint scratch appeared on the hand where the metal chair struck.
—Kieeeek!
Bang! Bang!
Seo Seyeong swung the chair several more times, striking the monster’s hand. The attacks seemed effective—the thrashing outside the door intensified, and soon the hand yanked back out of the break room.
“Hah… hah…”
Seo Seyeong’s ragged breathing filled the air as she stood holding the chair. Park Jocheol, who had been sweating while listening to the monster’s receding footsteps, let out a sigh of relief.
An abrupt silence fell over us.
“Phew… Do you think it’s gone?”
Park Jocheol slumped down, drained of strength. Still wary, he cautiously peered through the broken door of the break room.
But—
…Thud thud thud thud.
He shouldn’t have done that.
“You son of a—!”
BOOM—!
“Gaaah!!!”
“Jocheol!”
Park Jocheol’s body was flung deep into the break room in an instant. The monster we thought had retreated had launched itself back at the break room. It was slowly forcing its head through the half-destroyed door, prying the barricade apart.
When the hole had been small, we could at least hold it back. But now, the word “hold” no longer had any meaning.
What should we do? An indescribable stench and horrifying bony joints slowly tightened around our hearts. Park Jocheol, knocked aside, struggled even to stand. Seo Seyeong, still holding the chair, froze in place, unsure how to respond.
‘Stay calm. It hasn’t fully entered yet.’
This was what I could do right now. The door wasn’t completely destroyed yet. The barricade looked like it had collapsed, but it was still there, and the three people here hadn’t fallen either.
Quick Understanding (D+) has activated.
Whoosh!
My vision, narrowed by excessive focus on the monster, slowly brightened. I quickly scanned the room. Namgung Cheonho, sweating profusely as he pushed the cabinet with all his might. Seo Seyeong, gripping the metal chair and glaring at the monster. Park Jocheol, staggering as he tried to get up. Not a single one of us had given up on survival yet.
‘How much time has passed?’
—Until Scenario End—
Remaining Time: 00:54:37
Remaining Survivors: 64/401
After checking the remaining time, I racked my brain as fast as I could. Only about five minutes had passed since the monster discovered the break room. The only card left to me now was the coins this damned system allowed.
‘Use the Tutorial #2 shop.’
Accessing Tutorial #2 Shop.
Without further hesitation, I opened the second shop. Drinking potions from the first shop wouldn’t let me last the remaining 54 minutes.
[Tutorial Item Box – 1,000 C]
A box marked with a question mark caught my eye. Without a second thought, I pressed the purchase button.
You have purchased the Tutorial Item Box. Would you like to use it…
“Use it!”
I had no idea what would come out. It might be a false hope, and buying ten potions to defend this place might have been the better choice. But with the monster’s head already halfway through the break room, there was no time left to hesitate.
Using the Tutorial Item Box.
Reward: You have obtained the Water of Awakening.
◈ Effect: Immediately raises your Status upon consumption. Must be drunk in one go for the effect to activate.
◈ Note: Can only be consumed once. Additional consumption will result in death.
The moment I opened the box, the sound of fireworks exploding rang out, and a ornate glass bottle filled with a radiant liquid appeared before my eyes.
‘Damn it, I’ll just drink it first.’
I snatched the small glass bottle floating in midair and downed it without hesitation. I had already made eye contact with the monster’s head as it forced its way in. Any further hesitation wouldn’t be caution—it would be madness.
And the moment I swallowed every last drop in the bottle—
You have consumed the Water of Awakening.
Your Status has increased.
You have obtained the qualifications to become an Incarnation.
My previously stifled chest felt refreshed, and my tired eyes snapped open. Muscles and joints deep within my body came alive, and every nerve cell that composed me awakened.
‘My senses…’
Above all, every sense had become vividly clear. It felt as if my body was being redefined. And then—
Awakening successful.
All stats have increased by Lv.3.
You are the first Awakener in this tutorial.
As a bonus, all stats have increased by an additional Lv.2.
As a bonus, you have obtained the ‘Ownerless Nameless Sword.’
Strength Lv.5 → Strength Lv.10
Agility Lv.3 → Agility Lv.8
Stamina Lv.6 → Stamina Lv.11
—
Name: Kim Siin
Constellation: None
Stats: [Strength Lv.10], [Agility Lv.8], [Stamina Lv.11]
Skills: [Quick Understanding (D+)]
Remaining Coins: 0 C
—
My stats displayed on the status window surged dramatically. Immediately after, a brilliant light burst in midair, and a crudely shaped sword floated into existence.
◈ Description: An ordinary-looking sword. Highly durable and resistant to breaking.
The sword granted to me as a bonus. Clang! I grabbed the floating sword and swiftly drew it from its scabbard. Its target was the monster’s head right in front of me. If I could strike its neck, I wanted to sever the relatively weak joint, but after the sword appeared, the monster had been watching me, making a neck strike difficult.
But—
‘There’s an opening.’
Calmed by Quick Understanding, I realized something. The monster before me was the same one that had fallen from the first-floor lobby and targeted Seo Seyeong. And on its head, a faint crack had formed from the impact of the fall.
Bang!
Without even time to adapt to my enhanced body, I leaped toward it. The diagonally held sword aimed for the monster’s head. A clean thrust with no unnecessary movements. I had never held a sword in my life, but the attack flowed from the single thought of driving the blade into that spot.
And then—
BOOM—!
Crack—!
The moment my sword pierced the monster’s head, the shallow crack rapidly split open, producing a grotesque sound.
—Kieeeek!
But my skill with the sword was far too lacking to kill it with a single strike. In pain, the monster began thrashing and screaming.
Crash! Crash!
For the first time since discovering us, the monster chose to flee rather than hunt. It struggled to escape the break room. Its violent movements caused the barricade blocking the door to slowly collapse.
Rumble…!
…Kieee…
To make matters worse, the sound of other monsters rushing toward the break room from outside began to echo.
“I-it looks like it called the other monsters!”
The monster’s earlier scream. I couldn’t tell whether the others had come simply because they heard the noise or if this monster had made the sound to communicate. But the important fact was—
“We absolutely cannot let it escape!”
We couldn’t allow it to leave this place. The already shattered barricade and the wooden door with a gaping hole that could no longer be called a door came into view. If we failed to kill this one and had to face the swarm of other monsters, it would be impossible by any standard.
But the monster’s head was already almost entirely outside the door.
‘Damn it! Just one more hit…’
The previous attack had nearly shattered the monster’s skull. If I could only stab the core revealed inside, I could kill it. But how…
“Hey, you…!”
But at that moment, a desperate shout from someone rang through the break room.
“You bastard—!!!”
Park Jocheol charged forward as if propelled and grabbed the monster’s arm as it tried to escape.
Grind!
For a brief moment, the monster’s movements stopped. Seo Seyeong and Cheonho seized that opening and joined in. The monster lost its balance and was forced to shove its massive head back into the break room.
“Siin! Now—!”
At Park Jocheol’s shout, I charged at the monster without hesitation. Through the window, dozens of monsters were visible, and my sword flashed in a long arc. But my sword was faster than the monsters’ charge.
Slash!
Finally, my sword reached the monster’s exposed head.