Chapter 4

Former Ranker's Newbie Life - Chapter 3 (4/271)

3

“Phew.”

After finishing the third dummy, Dojin took a deep breath and stood up.

Perhaps because it had been a while since he had used his body so directly, he felt refreshed, but the black, sticky liquid that the dummies had spilled made him dirty all over.

However, such minor discomforts disappeared as a cheerful alarm message rang out.

Dojin roughly wiped the liquid from his face with his sleeve and walked toward the exit.

The newbies who had been watching Dojin had already retreated, intimidated by the ferocity.

Nothing stood in his way.

As he stepped out through the training ground portal, he saw Rami holding a crystal ball used to monitor the training ground.

Her face was full of shock as she had watched Dojin's quest progress through the crystal ball.

“Sir, I’m done.”

“……”

She didn’t respond.

Dojin called out to her again, noticing her dazed state.

“Um, I’m sorry.”

Only then did Rami clear her throat and compose herself.

“…Impressive. I never thought a trainee would knock down dummies without a training weapon….”

“It was nothing.”

Dojin replied lightly, his eyes saying, ‘Hurry up and give me the quest reward. And the next quest, too.’

Feeling urged by Dojin’s intense gaze, Rami reluctantly put away the crystal ball.

“I’ve confirmed that you’ve completed the first training. Now for the reward….”

At that moment, Rami hesitated.

She remembered what Dojin had said.

‘He clearly said he couldn’t hold a weapon due to religious beliefs. Hmm… So, his brutal fighting style must be his own way of adhering to his beliefs.’

Thinking this, she felt ashamed for not respecting someone’s beliefs due to her preconceived notions.

So, Rami decided to be considerate of this trainee.

If he couldn’t use a weapon, she would replace the reward with something else.

“However, we need to decide which weapon to give you… If it’s inconvenient due to religious beliefs, we can exclude the weapon and replace the reward with something else—”

But her considerate words were cut off.

“No problem.”

“Pardon?”

Before she could ask what he meant, Dojin continued.

“While knocking down the dummies, I thought about whether not holding a weapon was truly meaningful. The conclusion was that it wasn’t.”

“What kind of nonsense….”

Perhaps due to her astonishment, a vulgar word slipped out of Rami’s mouth, something she would never normally say.

Shocked by her own harsh words, Rami closed her mouth.

Seizing the opportunity, Dojin continued his argument.

“Every time I slammed a dummy’s head into the ground, my heart ached.”

“……”

Rami narrowed her eyes suspiciously. ‘It didn’t seem like it. You looked like you were enjoying it.’

But it was impossible to see through Dojin’s thick skin with just that.

“If I had given up my beliefs and held a weapon, the dummies could have had a more peaceful end. They could have met their end more intact.”

“……”

Rami wanted to deny it. She desperately wanted to deny the words of the man in front of her.

But even though it sounded absurd, it was hard to deny because it made sense.

‘It’s definitely nonsense. But why does it sound logical?’

“Not holding a weapon must mean to strive for peace. But if a fight is unavoidable, isn’t it better to show at least a minimum of mercy?”

Rami felt a headache coming on from the continuous logical nonsense.

She clenched her teeth and fists and asked,

“…So, what’s your conclusion?”

Dojin confidently extended his hand to Rami, a charming smile on his face.

“Give me a weapon. A heavy blunt one.”

Rami finally gave up on thinking rationally about the man in front of her.

* * *

Dojin received a beginner’s mace and other rewards from Rami, who looked enlightened.

Naturally, his experience points increased, and he leveled up.

Having already meticulously planned his early growth path, Dojin invested all bonus points into his health without hesitation.

Meanwhile, he moved to receive the next quest.

It was a quick and efficient progression without wasting time or steps.

“Quest: Trials of the Forest—”

“Yes!”

Dojin cut off the NPC as soon as he started speaking, just like skipping a cutscene in a classic game.

The middle-aged instructor who had spoken to him pursed his lips and cleared his throat.

“Cough, cough. What a spirited kid! Good! I’m Kruger, in charge of trainees challenging the Trials of the Forest.”

Kruger flexed his large muscles and stroked his impressive beard.

“Of course, you can’t challenge the Trials of the Forest right away. There are basics you need to know. If you’ve already completed the dummy-killing task, you must have leveled up and received bonus points—”

“I’ve already distributed the bonus points. I asked Instructor Rami about the stats, so I know about them.”

“What, what?”

Surprised, Kruger extended the instructor’s crystal ball toward Dojin.

The crystal ball displayed Dojin’s status window, showing that he had indeed distributed his bonus points.

Kruger’s mustache twitched.

He already didn’t like Dojin, who had cut him off so abruptly.

Now, Dojin was claiming to have done some prior learning and cutting him off again….

But what could he do?

He couldn’t penalize someone for coming prepared.

So, Kruger reluctantly moved on to the next part of the explanation.

“Since you’ve already learned, there’s nothing I can do. But you probably don’t know this: the first shining star, the Genesis Star Bella, prepared this arrangement for you, the foreigners.”

Dojin tried to act like he knew and skip the explanation again.

But he stopped when he saw Kruger’s hand move toward the sword at his waist.

He felt that if he talked back any more, he might receive ‘alternative education.’

“Listen carefully. You, the foreigners, are called Regenians here… or in Rosania. It means ‘those who come back to life.’”

“I see.”

“…Aren’t you surprised?”

“I am.”

An awkward silence fell between them.

“Tsk, just listen to the explanation and get it over with. You’re a boring guy.”

Kruger shook his head as if annoyed and began speaking as if reading from a textbook.

‘Regenians, who are both biological and elemental beings, can resurrect when they die. The Genesis Star Bella recreates their bodies because of her power of creation.’

‘However, their souls are injured during the death and resurrection process, so they are not completely free from death.’

These were cliché but necessary settings to help players immerse themselves in their roles.

After the explanation, Kruger pulled out a quest healing potion and threw it to Dojin.

“Catch. This is the potion you’ll use for the Trials of the Forest quest. It’s a simple quest: enter the forest and find the exit. But don’t think it’s easy just because it’s simple.”

Kruger smiled as he explained the quest, as if looking forward to Dojin’s struggles.

Indeed, he was eagerly anticipating the sight of this brash foreigner suffering.

‘Haha, the more arrogant they are, the more they squirm in real combat. If you think the shock of death will be lessened just because you can resurrect, you’re in for a big surprise, kid. Let’s see how you handle it.’

But Dojin, whose only goal was to quickly complete the tutorial and receive the rewards, had no interest in the middle-aged man’s intense gaze.

Trials of the Forest

Level: Tutorial

Objective: Successfully pass through the Trials of the Forest

Reward: Experience points, gold, beginner’s armor set, recommendation letter

As soon as the quest window appeared, Dojin ignored the furry middle-aged instructor and ran straight toward the portal.

“By the way, most of the trainees I’ve sent to the Trials of the Forest have had to retry an average of eight times, and the fastest one had to retry three times. In other words, you’ll experience the shocking experience of death at least three times….”

Dojin’s movement was so unhesitant that Kruger, who was trying to intimidate him, was taken aback and stuttered.

“Cough, cough!”

While Kruger was coughing, Dojin had already jumped into the portal.

“What, what kind of guy is that!”

No matter how many times he had said they could come back to life, he had never seen someone so recklessly jump into a portal.

Most people would tense up in front of the portal, make a plan, or try to get some information from the instructor, Kruger….

“Is he fearless…?”

Or is he just crazy?

To confirm, Kruger took out his crystal ball.

* * *

In the safe zone at the entrance of the Trials of the Forest.

When Dojin arrived, the first thing he saw was a group of users gathered there.

“Looking for someone to do the Trials of the Forest quest together. Welcome those who received a sword or a healing staff as a reward for the dummy quest.”

“Looking for level 6 or higher semi-experienced party members who have done the Trials of the Forest at least three times.”

“Looking for party members who will definitely clear the Trials of the Forest. Those who have progressed to the point where the portal is visible or have reached level 8 are welcome.”

They were looking for party members to clear the Trials of the Forest together.

Some users were hesitantly loitering nearby, trying to tag along with experienced players or at least get some information.

Those who had already experienced the Trials of the Forest were cautious because they knew it was difficult, while those who were new and hadn’t experienced it yet were cautious because they didn’t know anything.

Turning his eyes away from these users, Dojin surveyed the dense forest in front of him.

At the end of the safe zone, at the entrance to the forest, he could see slimes gathered.

They were loitering, waiting for users to enter the Trials of the Forest.

They were well-behaved now because no one was outside the safe zone, but the moment someone stepped out, they would attack.

‘There are about 15 slimes wandering around the entrance… fitting for the Trials of the Forest.’

The Trials of the Forest was nicknamed the ‘Newbie Blender’ because so many newbies were ground up in it.

This was inevitable because, as the dummy quest showed, even beginner monsters in LOST were not easy opponents.

The Trials of the Forest was packed with monsters.

For a user who had barely reached level 3 from the dummy quest, the structure was such that they would die from continuous battles.

However, there was an easy way to clear it.

By hunting until the quest healing potion ran out, returning to the starting point, and then giving up the quest and re-entering, known as a ‘reset run,’ it was relatively easy to clear.

But Dojin had no intention of finishing the tutorial this way.

‘I’ll clear it in one go.’

Every user was given only one chance to clear the Trials of the Forest.

Dojin had no intention of completing a content he couldn’t challenge again with such a boring method.

The thrill of breaking through a difficult challenge head-on.

Dojin thought it would be foolish to waste that opportunity.

And most importantly,

‘Technically, this is my second time… but if I can’t clear it in one go, it’ll look like I can’t play the game.’

He didn’t want to hear that he couldn’t play the game, not only from others but also from himself.

That was the true mindset of a gamer.

Determined to do his best, even if no one would recognize it, Dojin solemnly slung his mace over his shoulder and ran toward the Trials of the Forest.

To others, it looked like he was charging into the monsters wandering around the entrance.

In short, he was just a crazy guy.