Chapter 5 of 100
Chapter 5
7 min read1,679 words
<Chapter 5: The Warrior Who Regressed to Level 2>
‘Leveling up during the game.’
Seong Jihan was quite surprised when he saw the message.
Usually, the most experience points were gained after the game ended, so leveling up mostly occurred all at once after the battle was over.
‘Is it because I’m at a low level?’
It wasn’t unreasonable, considering he had accomplished a hunt that a typical level 2 character could never achieve.
Seong Jihan opened the status window to check his stats.
[Strength - 5]
[Magic - 5]
[Remaining Stat Points - 1]
Seong Jihan invested the remaining stat point into Strength.
‘When Strength reaches 30, the path to the Nameless Art will open.’ The Nameless Art is the SSS-grade martial art that once placed him at the top of the world.
Therefore, his current top priority was to increase his Strength, which was the requirement for learning the Nameless Art.
However.
Despite taking a step closer to his goal, Seong Jihan’s expression remained calm.
‘Strength won’t increase, but I have to invest the point anyway.’
Even if he invested the point, his Strength wouldn’t actually increase.
Strength stat.
This unique stat encompasses Strength, Agility, and Vitality, transcending the three individual stats.
‘That’s not all.’
Strength 5 and Strength 5.
If the two stats were compared in a physical contest, they should be similar since the values are the same.
However, in reality, the Strength stat could produce overwhelmingly more power.
In terms of ratio, at least double.
In other words, Strength is a crazy stat that combines all three abilities and performs at least twice as efficiently.
‘But it has a weakness.’
It’s extremely difficult to increase.
In his previous life, he initially thought it was a bug.
He clearly invested points, but his Strength didn’t increase.
Later, he discovered that the points merely extended the growth limit of Strength.
After participating in the league and engaging in numerous battles, and after intense personal training, his Strength gradually increased.
Ultimately, Strength was a stat that required immense effort to develop.
“Why...”
Seong Jihan rubbed his eyes.
He rubbed them and looked at the stat window again.
“Why?”
The number looked strange.
[Strength - 6]
Why does ‘5’ look like ‘6’?
After blinking several times, Seong Jihan finally felt a surge of power in his body.
Only then did the reality sink in.
‘Strength... just increased?’ This has never happened before.
For a moment, he was taken aback by the unexpected luck.
“Not bad.”
Since the system immediately increased his Strength, he should be grateful.
He smiled deeply and looked around.
Strength 6.
He wanted to test this newfound power.
[There are 60 survivors.]
[The tutorial is about to end.]
At that moment, the system’s voice echoed.
The tutorial, where only 60 survivors remained.
Perhaps because the map was an arena with no hiding spots, the game progressed quite quickly.
Seong Jihan opened the scoreboard to check his ranking.
1st: Seong Jihan - 4 kills - Independent
2nd: Lim Gayoung - 3 kills - Rational
...
Seong Jihan, who had 4 kills from killing 30 Urks, was in first place.
And a player named Lim Gayoung was closely following behind.
‘Lim Gayoung?’
It sounded familiar.
Seong Jihan tried to recall but couldn’t remember who she was.
It was understandable, given that he had lived in exile in the United States for quite a long time.
He could hardly remember names other than the prominent ones.
‘But 3 kills. If I’m not careful, I might lose first place.’
Seong Jihan decided to put thoughts of Lim Gayoung aside for later.
The most important thing now was to secure first place in the tutorial.
He needed to get one more kill to solidify his position.
Just as he made up his mind.
Swoosh!
An arrow flew from the left.
Seong Jihan easily dodged it and looked to the side.
“That guy, he dodged!”
“Lucky.”
Two people wearing hexagonal-patterned armor, resembling turtle shells, approached.
‘They’re from the same guild.’
Survival map.
The original intent of this map was for individual battles, but there were no rules against cooperation.
The system prevented the same guild members from being summoned to the same map, but that was it.
‘They must have joined forces somehow.’
In places like Gangnam 1, where fewer groups participated, such alliances were common.
‘And they have a good combination.’
One male warrior with a sword and shield, and one female archer.
A simple but effective combination.
The two approached with a look of unexpected fortune.
“Let’s quickly kill him and improve our ranking.”
“Sure. Anyone can take the kill.”
“Alright.”
Seong Jihan, covered in Urk blood and holding multiple weapons, looked like an easy target in his tracksuit.
‘He must have been summoned incorrectly.’
‘He couldn’t log out in time... This is a chance to get one kill.’
Two people from the Turtle Guild, one of the top 10 guilds in Korea.
They rejoiced when they noticed each other during the tutorial summoning and joined forces.
Warrior and archer. Melee and ranged.
With this combination, survival was guaranteed.
‘I was planning to pass the tutorial without much effort, but...’
‘It would be foolish not to take this newbie.’
They must have thought Seong Jihan was a sitting duck.
“Hey, if you buy me a meal, I’ll let you have this kill.”
“Haha, no need.”
They approached him more carefree than cautious.
Seong Jihan, however, was smiling.
‘They’re letting their guard down. This is good.’
It’s perfect since time is short.
Seong Jihan threw his hand axe like a flash.
Whizz!
The hand axe, faster than when he slaughtered the Urks, flew through the air.
“Huh...”
The archer, momentarily stunned by the terrifying speed, tried to dodge.
Clang!
Her right arm, holding the arrow, was cleanly severed and fell to the ground.
“Aaah...!”
The archer, grimacing in pain, frowned deeply.
Seong Jihan sneered.
‘He must be using the BattleNet Connector, so it’s just an act.’
The BattleNet Connector significantly reduced pain.
While it wouldn’t reduce it as much as Yun Sejin’s, it would reduce it by at least 70%.
Yet, she couldn’t endure the pain and hesitated in battle.
‘He’s still far from ready.’
Seong Jihan made his judgment based on this.
“S-Stop!”
The warrior, holding his shield in front of him, tried to block Seong Jihan, who passed by him and aimed for the archer’s head.
As the spear tip extended, the archer tried to dodge.
Thud!
Her head was pierced by the spear, turning white and disappearing.
“H-How could you...”
The warrior, watching the archer die, trembled.
Seong Jihan looked at him as if he were a madman.
“What, a woman? Are you here to play?”
Distinguishing between men and women in the arena.
This is the level of the Bronze League.
“You need to roll around a bit more here.”
A person with such a mindset shouldn’t be allowed to pass the tutorial.
Seong Jihan immediately charged at the warrior.
“G-Gah...!”
[There are 52 survivors.]
[The tutorial is about to end.]
Now, only two more deaths would end it.
The warrior hid behind his shield.
‘Don’t think about fighting. Just survive. There’s not much left!’
When Seong Jihan passed by, the warrior assessed his abilities.
If he fought, he would definitely lose.
But he could hold out.
The weapons the monster carried were so crude.
Wearing full plate mail and a solid helmet, hiding behind a shield.
No matter how strong he was, what could he do!
Meanwhile.
“Hmm. No fighting spirit.”
Seong Jihan, seeing the warrior crouched, understood his thoughts.
“Then, let’s see how long you can hold out.”
Clang!
Seong Jihan’s figure moved behind the warrior, and his spear pierced the back of his neck.
“Gah...”
The armor dented, and the warrior staggered.
Snap.
The crude spear couldn’t withstand the impact and broke.
‘Of course, I can block it!’
B-grade armor!
The Turtle Guild’s exclusive full plate armor for warriors, indeed reliable!
[There are 51 survivors.]
[The tutorial is about to end.]
One more death, and he could survive...!
As the warrior, relying on his armor, tried to hold out.
Clang! Clang!
Consecutive impacts hit the back of his neck.
‘Gah! This guy has many weapons...!’
Carrying a club, hand axe, and crude weapons, he used them all now.
‘But... he’s hitting the same spot again and again!’
The warrior wasn’t idle.
He turned to block the likely direction of the attack.
But Seong Jihan persistently moved behind him, striking the back of his neck.
The enemy, skilled in handling various weapons like his own hands, made the warrior’s back sweat.
The more the impacts came, the more the armor dented.
And finally.
“Gah...”
Crack!
Four weapons broke, creating a gap.
Through the gap, a broken sword blade pierced.
Thud!
The warrior’s neck was pierced, and his consciousness faded.
The system’s voice echoed in his ears.
[There are 50 survivors.]
[The tutorial has ended.]
I was the 50th to die.
The warrior regretted it until his last moment.
‘I shouldn’t have messed with this guy...’
He should have felt something was off when the man didn’t log out and carried weapons.
The warrior’s body turned white and disappeared.
In front of Seong Jihan, the scoreboard appeared.
1st: Seong Jihan - 6 kills - Independent
2nd: Lim Gayoung - 4 kills - Rational
...
He was firmly in first place, two kills ahead of second place.
[You have achieved 1st place in the tutorial.]
[You have obtained the title, ‘Master of the Tutorial’.]
[You have completed the limited quest, ‘Achieve 1st place in the tutorial’.]
[You have earned 1,000 achievement points as a reward.]
‘Good.’
A satisfied smile naturally formed.
‘I gained 1,600 achievement points and a title in one game.’
Additionally, when he returned to the real world, he would receive experience points based on his ranking.
He looked forward to how much his level would increase.
* * *
“1st place, Seong Jihan... Independent?”
And regarding the results of that day.
A strange atmosphere spread among the guilds that participated in the tutorial.