Chapter 5

Former Ranker's Newbie Life - Chapter 4 (5/271)

4

Everyone watching Dojin held their breath.

Not only the users in the safe zone but even Kruger, who was watching through the crystal ball outside, were all tense.

They knew what would happen the moment his feet left the safe zone.

'Is this guy a newbie?'

'Even if he is, he should know better. Can't he see the people gathered here?'

'If a guy like that comes back and messes around, we shouldn't let him join our party.'

'If there's one guy who doesn't think before he acts, it puts us all in danger.'

Those who had already experienced the Forest of Trials clicked their tongues and shook their heads.

Many of them, anticipating the obvious outcome, turned their heads to do their own thing.

The moment he left the safe zone, the slimes, which had been moving slowly, would suddenly rush at him, causing him to panic. Then, realizing that the slimes were too squishy to hit effectively, he would flail around and game over.

This was what most of the experienced players thought as they watched Dojin run out of the safe zone.

But their predictions were completely off.

Pfft.

The slimes did indeed jump at Dojin as he approached.

But the next scene was different.

Smash.

Dojin shattered the core inside the slime with a single attack.

The slime exploded in mid-air, scattering sticky jelly pieces, and the scene was enough to shock everyone watching.

'A, a slime in one hit?'

It's true that breaking the core can instantly kill a slime.

The problem is the difficulty.

It's like breaking a walnut in the middle of a bag filled with cushions with a single strike.

To do that in one hit, it's no wonder they were surprised.

'It must be a fluke. He just swung wildly and got lucky—'

Overwhelmed by surprise, the onlookers tried to dismiss the scene as mere 'luck.'

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Until they saw Dojin sending the rushing slimes to the afterlife one by one.

His movements were not flashy but efficient.

He swung just enough, and his attacks were precise and non-wasteful, targeting only the slimes' cores.

The perfect harmony of his blunt weapon meeting the charging slimes.

'Was this the slime I was dealing with...? Last time, our party was wiped out by other monsters because we were too slow with the slimes...'

'Is he a pro gamer from another game?'

'Or maybe a baseball player or a hired thug...?'

The ridicule and mockery disappeared.

Instead, admiration, curiosity, and shock filled the air.

Some even felt inferior when comparing themselves to Dojin.

"That's... a goblin?"

"Why is there a goblin at the entrance? This area should only have slimes."

As the number of slimes clearly decreased, people began to murmur and stir.

A few goblins, which were rarely seen near the entrance, emerged from the bushes.

Slimes, while tough, are not particularly powerful in terms of attack.

However, goblins are armed with stone knives, stone axes, and sometimes rusty blades.

For a beginner user who hasn't equipped any armor, each of their attacks can result in significant injuries.

No matter how experienced he seemed in combat, he was still a newbie.

Since there was no significant difference in stats, it was clear that this would be the end for him—

That's what many people thought.

But one man said to a friend he had started the game with, "Hey, let's help that guy."

"What's with you? You never cared about anyone except girls."

"Anyway, that's why stupid guys don't work. If we team up with him, passing the Forest of Trials will be easier. He's definitely a veteran of the Forest of Trials. He's not a first-timer. Or at least, he must have been good at another game."

"Ah."

"Are you impressed by my sharp reasoning and social skills?"

"No, I'm impressed by your ability to smell a good deal like a leech."

The two, who were quite close friends, naturally exchanged banter as they picked up their weapons and ran towards Dojin.

They wanted to recruit a skilled player into their party before others did.

Not just for this area, but also to build good connections, which could be valuable in the future.

"Wait, step back—"

"We'll help too, so—"

But the two men swallowed their words in unison.

Their eager steps came to an abrupt halt.

They were shocked to see the goblins that had attacked Dojin being slaughtered even more brutally than the slimes.

"Whoa!"

With a short breath, Dojin swung his blunt weapon horizontally, striking the side of a goblin's head, which was smaller than a human's.

The timing of the goblin's charge and the perfect hit made the goblin fall like a broken doll.

Dojin didn't stop there; he mercilessly pounded the fallen goblin's head repeatedly.

The gruesome sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking echoed far and wide.

"Kyaaah!"

Stimulated by the sight of their kin being turned into mush, the goblins charged at Dojin.

But to Dojin, it wasn't a threat.

'This is much easier than I thought.'

Perhaps because he was used to fighting in a game where a single touch could mean death.

The goblins' movements seemed too monotonous and slow to him.

Swish. As a goblin's stone axe cut through the air.

Smash. The blunt weapon came up from the direction the goblin's body leaned during the attack.

The goblin's jawbone shattered, and its teeth flew into the air.

Once on the ground, the goblin received merciless finishing blows to the face and back of the head.

By the time four goblins had been brutally killed, the frenzied goblins began to hesitate.

Seizing the opportunity, Dojin boldly charged at the goblin formation.

The goblins, trying to scatter to avoid the sudden mace attack, ended up getting tangled up and one of them was grazed by the mace.

The goblin, hit on the side of the skull, staggered and fell flat on its back, knocked unconscious.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

Savage sounds came from the goblin's face.

Even after the goblin was dead, Dojin continued to strike its face several times.

This was a show of force to exploit the goblin's characteristic of being intimidated by a much stronger opponent.

The more intimidated goblins, waving their weapons, looked for a chance to escape.

But Dojin didn't give them a chance to run and thoroughly massacred them.

A few slimes that appeared from somewhere attacked Dojin's back, but—

"Ugh..."

With a short groan, Dojin grabbed the charging slime, pinned it down, and crushed it with his mace.

'Sure enough, investing all my points in health was a good idea. It doesn't hurt much.'

The reason was simple.

Unlike other players who invested in strength to boost their attack power, Dojin had invested all 10 bonus points in health.

Of course, this was possible because Dojin had the skills to maximize additional damage through perfect posture, weight distribution, and counter judgments.

For a regular newbie who had equipped a miss swing as an unofficial passive, trying to do this would likely turn them into a sturdy punching bag.

'If I thought dodging would be difficult, but it wasn't. This level of investment in health is fine.'

Dojin

Level: 3

Strength: 6

Agility: 6

Health: 16

Intelligence: 5

Checking his status window, Dojin smiled in satisfaction.

His strength, agility, and health had each increased by 1 from beating up scarecrows, slimes, and goblins.

In the past, it took a lot of time and effort to level up, and a lot of money and time to increase stats.

But now, with the low-level experience, levels and stats were increasing rapidly, making the game enjoyable.

The excitement of leveling up, which he had forgotten while chasing rankings, was coming back.

And most importantly, the way people looked at him.

The gaze that treated him like a monster was very satisfying to Dojin.

'Come to think of it, I'm quite a show-off.'

A fact he had known for a long time, but it was a realization that came again.

Maybe that's why he chased rankings.

'Not all attention is good, though...'

His thoughts, which had been trailing one after another, reached a dark memory.

Damn, that won't happen again. Clicking his tongue, Dojin wiped the blood and flesh off his mace and moved towards the deeper part of the Forest of Trials.

This was a new life, a chance to start over.

He decided to shine brightly without any darkness.

There was no need to be stained by the regrets and unhappiness of his past life.

This time, he would enjoy and have fun.

And be happy.

Dojin moved to find the stimulation that would bring him happiness.

That stimulation was, of course, combat, killing, and the growth that came from it.

* * *

Passing through the Forest of Trials was not difficult.

By quickly finishing battles, he avoided the time it took for monsters to gather in groups, and his growth was fast.

With minimal potion consumption, he had already reached level 6 by the time he used 2 out of the 5 healing potions given for the quest.

Not playing in a party, he could monopolize the experience points.

Eventually, even the most dangerous monster in the Forest of Trials, the orc, was no match for Dojin.

"Oink—"

The orc died several times, leaving a pig-like death cry.

Dojin finally passed the Forest of Trials alone and found the portal.

But as he approached the portal, an unexpected achievement notification appeared.

Blinking at the holographic window floating in front of him and the words written on it, he asked, "What's this?"

He had just tried to clear it in one go as a challenge and didn't look for party members because he thought they would only be a burden, but to receive an unexpected achievement and reward was surprising.

'I didn't know there was such an achievement. Could it be that no one has achieved it?'

No, that's unlikely.

LOST is a game with countless monsters.

It might be true for the early open period, but not for 15 years.

That means—

'They must have achieved it but didn't reveal it.'

There's no need to go far.

Dojin himself didn't plan to share the method of getting additional stats in the tutorial.

Pain is reduced when shared, and happiness is sweeter when kept to oneself.

"This is really... a great start."

The unexpected reward relieved the fatigue he had accumulated while passing through the Forest of Trials.

His steps towards the portal to the outside were much lighter because of it.

Now, it was finally time to finish the tutorial and start the real game.