Chapter 1: Skip the Tutorial
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1: Skip the Tutorial
He had spent the final moments of his life cursing his wretched luck, but now, he opened his eyes to a cacophony of noise.
As he struggled to sit up and survey his surroundings, he saw a massive crowd filling a secluded forest clearing, their voices raised in a heated commotion. Amidst the jumble of foreign tongues he couldn't understand, Seo-un scrambled to make sense of the situation the moment his senses returned.
In the center of the clearing stood a towering statue carved from an unrecognizable, obsidian-like stone. Diverse groups of people were gathered around it, chattering loudly, while others—like himself—looked around in bewilderment, completely clueless as to what was happening.
It was then that a voice rang out.
“System?”
At the familiar word echoing clearly in his mind, Seo-un muttered it under his breath instinctively.
The moment the voice in his head declared the process finished, a miracle occurred: the unintelligible languages surrounding him shifted into fluent Korean. Seo-un’s eyes widened.
“What sort of formation is this?! You bastards! Do you have any idea who I am?! Show yourselves! Cheong-un of the Cheongsim Faction does not flee!”
The man shouting while drawing his sword looked exactly like someone straight out of a martial arts movie.
— Boom!
A thunderous roar erupted from the towering statue in the center of the grounds, followed by a massive pillar of flame. Seo-un’s gaze instinctively snapped toward the source of the noise. The bizarre, ancient-looking statue exuded an overwhelming presence even as it was engulfed in flames.
“This is surely the Demon King’s trickery! Destroy that statue! The magic circle will break!”
Seo-un watched as a man clad in a snow-white robe brandished a gnarled staff topped with a crystal ball—the kind seen only in fantasy films—and fired bolts of flame. Seo-un pinched his cheek as hard as he could. A sharp pain that brought tears to his eyes scorched his cheek.
“Ha! So it’s not a dream?”
Just then, a man in a black robe, looking like a withered, living mummy, stepped in front of the man in white.
“Keke... Escrow! The Demon King’s reply has finally arrived! Now, all shall face ruin!”
“Chiron! I knew this was your doing!”
As the two men began to trade fireballs, Seo-un felt his sanity drifting away. Then, the clear voice in his head spoke again.
The terms were all too familiar. Seo-un moved away from the noisy crowd, focusing his mind to listen to the voice echoing in his head. Suddenly, a small window floated before his eyes. Inside the window was a map, and a yellow dot—presumably his location—was blinking.
“This is just like...”
“What is this?!”
“Is it a map?”
“What on earth is this glowing dot?”
[Starting initial explanation for players connecting to Cloyd Survival for the first time.]
[This game will last for one hundred days, and the playable map will be restricted daily. The force field that restricts the map will grow stronger with each passing day, so please be careful not to take damage outside the force field.]
[The game continues until only one survivor remains. Those who finish the game or are eliminated will return to their original worlds.]
[Players who do not reach the TOP 90 will never be able to participate in Cloyd Survival again.]
[We wish all players victory.]
[Soon, you will share the vision of the Eye of Argas. Through the Eye of Argas as it soars through the heavens, you may shout 'Descend' at your desired location to safely land on the ground. We hope you obtain many items at your chosen spot. Please note that those who do not descend by the end will be automatically dropped at the final destination.]
[Preparing to start game.]
‘W-what is this? This is exactly like...’
“Log?!”
He was so flabbergasted that he shouted the word out loud. Seo-un looked around at the people, his shoulders trembling.
From people radiating terrifying energy while brandishing swords to ability users who seemed to defy common sense—scattering fireballs, powerful winds, and chunks of ice in all directions. There were even figures with inhuman strength, clad in thick iron armor, swinging bastard swords that looked too heavy to even lift. The place was teeming with people he couldn't even begin to compare himself to.
Not a single person looked like a fellow Earthling in similar attire, causing Seo-un to instinctively shrink back.
‘I’m supposed to play a survival game against people like this? That’s insane!’
As he stood dazed, watching the nonsensical abilities of those around him, a specific sentence flashed through his mind.
Rewards will be distributed differentially starting from the TOP 10. When the game ends or you are eliminated, you return to your original world. And if you don't make the TOP 90, you can never participate again.
He didn't know why he had been selected for such a terrifying game, but the word "reward" powerfully piqued his curiosity. Seeing the martial prowess of those who had easily transcended the human realm, a desire reared its head: if he could return to his original world with just one of those abilities...
At that moment, a group of people who had been quietly observing Seo-un from a distance approached him. A few of them, having noticed that Seo-un’s initial reaction was different from the others, drew their blades as they closed in.
Overwhelmed by their aura, Seo-un instinctively backed away before letting out a sigh of relief, remembering that there was no real danger in the waiting room. In the meantime, a man in armor who had drawn a longsword approached within arm's reach and glared at Seo-un.
“You. What do you know?”
Just then, the final voice rang out in Seo-un’s head.
Simultaneously with the announcement, a vision of the ground rapidly passing by from high in the sky filled his sight, and a strange sensation of being detached from his physical body took hold of him. Before long, he saw numerous flame-like streaks, resembling meteors, falling toward the ground.
‘Get it together. I don't know what this is, but this system is definitely similar to Log. It’s basically a real-life survival game. For now... it’s Quick Farming.’
Countless falling stars were plummeting toward a single point. Seeing them converge toward the upper part of a massive castle, Seo-un quickly scanned the area. Then, a mountainous region with scattered, small huts caught his eye.
“Descend!”
As he fell rapidly, a dizzying sensation of weightlessness enveloped his entire body.
“Uh... Uh-uh-uhhh!!!”
Seo-un’s plan to check if anyone was following him during the drop was impossible to execute. The trees and ground were rushing toward him so fast that he didn't have a spare second to look anywhere else.
Whump.
With a soft sensation, his body, which had been plummeting toward the earth, landed gently on the ground.
“Haa, haa... What kind of crazy...”
He still couldn't wrap his head around it. Only fifteen minutes ago, he had been on his way to register for a TOEIC academy with a fresh mindset. He was in no state to adapt to such a sudden, drastic change in circumstances.
Nevertheless, he quickly surveyed his surroundings and dashed headlong into the hut standing before him.
‘This is a survival game.’
That was it. A survival game. In other words, if you don't survive, you die—and the abilities of the people he saw in the waiting room far exceeded his common sense. The scene of the first man drawing his sword, leaping into the air, and swinging it to release a terrifying energy that tore up the surroundings still made his blood run cold.
‘There’s no way I can win a survival competition by just fighting guys like that. There must be something. I definitely heard the word "items".’
He didn't even consider the possibility that someone might already be inside the hut. He burst through the door, slammed it shut, and slumped down with his back against it. It was as if he were determined not to let anyone else in.
He wasn't physically exhausted, yet his heart was pounding wildly and he was out of breath. As reality slowly began to sink in, his hands started to shake as if he were falling into a panic, and he grew terrified of this inexplicable situation.
‘T-they said I could go back to my original world once the game is over. They definitely said that... If so, there’s no reason to struggle to survive, is there? I might as well just quickly—’
— Slap!
Seo-un slapped both his cheeks with all his might and shook his head.
“Get it together, Jin Seo-un! You’re a sergeant of the Republic of Korea Army. Don't act like a loser.”
Having regained his composure, he scanned the dim interior of the hut.
‘Quick Farming. That’s the way to stay alive.’
After being discharged from the military, he had picked up the game Log, also known as Royal Ground. He was still a novice and had only played it sparingly out of consideration for his parents, but he at least knew the basic rules of the game.
‘Survive as long as possible through Quick Farming, then find a spot and camp.’
This was Seo-un’s actual playstyle in Log. It was the method that allowed a beginner like him to survive as long as possible. Seo-un was instinctively trying to survive the current situation using that same style.
After staring into the darkness of the hut for a long time, something caught his eye.
“This is...”
Seo-un picked up a heavy object lying on the floor, took a deep breath, and exhaled forcefully.
“Phew!”
As the accumulated dust blew away, the heavy object revealed its sturdy form.
“Haa. Looks like I struck out...”
He looked down at the object in his hand as if it were a nuisance. A crossbow. It was better than a regular bow, but it wasn't exactly a weapon he was fond of.
“Better than empty hands, I guess...”
Seo-un tried to cock the crossbow. The tension was so high he couldn't possibly pull it back with his bare hands. Recalling something he’d heard somewhere, he stood the crossbow on the ground, stepped on the stirrup, and managed to hook the string.
“The arrows...”
In a quiver lying not far away, there were 20 bolts. He tightly strapped the leather quiver to the outside of his thigh and gave a light hop. He nodded.
‘It doesn't restrict my movement much.’
The crossbow also had a leather strap, so carrying it wasn't too uncomfortable. Seo-un loaded a bolt into the crossbow and aimed it at the door he had entered. The moment he pulled the trigger—
— Whiz! Thud!
With a heavy sound, the bolt fired from the crossbow pierced through the wooden door and embedded itself deep.
“Whoa... The power is way higher than I thought.”