Chapter 7. Tutorial (5)

[355:59:32_11]

Swish!

Steel arrows flew. Fifteen of them, more than usual.

This was the result of Yeonwoo deliberately zigzagging to expose himself to more traps.

Their positions and speeds varied.

In the past, he would have been unable to dodge these arrows by instinct alone.

Snap!

Yeonwoo swung his greatsword to knock away the one in front while simultaneously turning his body. He extended his hand.

A steel arrow that had narrowly grazed his chest was caught mid-air, and he swiftly turned his body to deflect another arrow coming from behind.

Then, he kicked up his left foot to send an arrow aiming for his ankle flying upward.

Clang!

Though the explanation is lengthy, these actions happened in the blink of an eye.

They were almost superhuman movements.

Despite this, Yeonwoo showed no signs of struggle. In fact, he seemed to be deliberately putting himself in more dangerous situations out of frustration.

He had progressed to the point where he no longer needed to consciously search for the direction the arrows were coming from.

His heightened senses instinctively detected the projectiles, and his reflexes moved unconsciously.

The pain in his palms when deflecting steel arrows, which used to feel like they would tear off, was now light.

Thud!

Yeonwoo stopped at the end of the path while still running.

From a distance, the noisy sounds of the boss room could be heard. The same scene had been repeating for days.

But Yeonwoo, who had little interest, checked the time.

[351:48:11_78]

"Phew! About 4 hours, I guess?"

This was the time it took to pass through Area A.

Considering that it initially took over 34 hours, this was an unbelievable improvement.

During this time, he used all ten tickets.

Yeonwoo had made significant progress by repeatedly traversing Area A.

The traps that activated at each turn were always different, with varying positions and intensities.

As a result, Yeonwoo had to constantly be on guard for steel arrows that could come from anywhere.

Additionally, he imposed constraints on himself to reduce the time it took to make round trips.

He faced several near-death situations.

Misjudging the number of simultaneously launched steel arrows almost got him hit in the head, and an arrow piercing his right hand almost cost him his arm.

He had to experience all sorts of situations.

But each time, he managed to escape and achieve his goal.

It had been six days since he started.

[Player: Cha Yeonwoo]

Trait: Cold-Blooded

Strength: 51 Agility: 56 Vitality: 55 Magic: 21

Skills: Dragon Eye (2.1%). Enhanced Senses (15.1%). Time Prediction (0.0%).

'Quite a bit of improvement.'

Yeonwoo smiled contentedly, seeing his stats, which had improved by an average of nearly 40 points compared to their initial values.

Although his magic stat remained unchanged, the others were incomparable to before.

'It's a bit disappointing that the rate of stat growth decreased significantly from the eighth attempt.'

Training with colored arrows had sharply increased his stat growth. As a result, Yeonwoo had to adapt to his drastically changed body.

However, his stats stopped growing significantly after a certain point.

It seemed there was a limit to the growth he could achieve with hidden pieces.

The fact that steel arrows no longer provided much stimulation to Yeonwoo also played a significant role.

'But now, I should be able to hold my own against most opponents. Catching up to the leaders will still be tough, though.'

His skills had also become very familiar.

He could now freely enhance his visual, olfactory, and gustatory senses, in addition to his auditory and tactile senses.

He had even mastered a unique method of opening all his senses at will to boost his abilities in a short time, akin to synesthesia.

'Dragon Eye was the same.'

Dragon Eye, a skill that allowed him to partially obtain the True Sight of the ancient dragon Kalathus.

When Yeonwoo first activated Dragon Eye, he was shocked by the new perspective.

In the field of vision provided by Dragon Eye, all colors disappeared.

Only a white background and black lines filled the view.

Objects were composed of black lines outlining their contours, and any internal structures were shown in miniature.

It felt like a sketch on a white canvas.

'No, it was more like a peculiar X-ray, almost like a透视眼 (Pinyin: tòushìyǎn, meaning "X-ray vision").'

Eyes that erased the surface appearance and projected both the form and the interior.

It seemed to reveal the 'true' appearance that objects should have.

The lines that formed the foundation of objects.

His younger brother called them 'defects (缺, Pinyin: quē).'

When Yeonwoo first obtained Dragon Eye, he was startled by the new world he saw and later realized the significance of seeing 'defects.'

Yeonwoo conducted an experiment.

He tried cutting a small rock.

At the end point, he observed the 'defects' of a rock that was originally placed for players to rest and stabbed it with his greatsword.

It should have been blocked, but it wasn't.

The rock was cut easily, as if slicing tofu.

He tapped it with his palm to check if it was soft, but it was as hard as the stone walls of Area A. The cut surface was smooth, like it had been sanded.

After that, Yeonwoo consistently trained with Dragon Eye and learned to identify the 'defects' that were easier to attack.

A growth he could be proud of, thanks to his relentless self-training.

But Yeonwoo was still not satisfied.

'The leaders must have already reached Area E by now. If I fall further behind, I won't be able to catch up.'

The gap in growth rate would naturally widen as the areas got higher.

Yeonwoo couldn't afford to delay any longer.

He turned his gaze toward the direction of the boss room.

He thought it was time for the real race to begin.

* * *

Just before leaving.

Yeonwoo took a moment to meditate and clear his mind.

A habit he always had before entering the battlefield.

A method he often used, learned from a colleague from India during his time in Africa.

This method had the advantage of clearing complex thoughts and allowing him to focus solely on the battle.

The same was true now.

Yeonwoo mentally reviewed what he had practiced so far.

Mainly, the changes in his body due to the improved stats and the corresponding adjustments to his senses and skills.

He wanted to understand how his muscles and bones moved with each action he took.

Until now, he had focused his senses outward.

He had to be aware of the outside to survive, as he never knew when an arrow would come.

But after gaining some leeway, things were different.

He kept some of his senses inward.

And he tried to understand the physical changes as much as possible.

The movement of muscles in response to external stimuli, the reaction of the nervous system, the sound of bones.

And the changes in his body in response to these, the differences when activating skills and not.

He tried to memorize the changes in response to subtle movements, one by one.

To escape a crisis in an extreme situation, he needed to control the movement of cells.

And to do that, he needed to understand and fully control the movement of his body.

Crack.

Crack.

Was it because of this?

At some point, Yeonwoo could sense something very small circulating within his body.

He knew what it was.

'Mana.'

Although very weak, mana was clearly present in his body and was affecting it slightly as it rotated.

When a skill was activated, the mana moved with it.

When using Enhanced Senses, it concentrated in the specific area. When using Dragon Eye, it gathered in his eyes.

Yeonwoo wanted to understand this movement of mana and try to replicate it as closely as possible.

But the mana would disappear without a trace at some point, like a mystery.

No matter how much he focused his senses inward, the trace of mana would disappear.

Yeonwoo felt a bit frustrated but decided not to force it.

He learned that mana was latent in his body and was the foundation of skill activation.

If so, he could take it step by step.

Eventually, he would be able to control mana freely.

* * *

[348:25:10_01]

Yeonwoo opened his eyes after meditating. He felt refreshed, as if he had a good night's sleep. His body felt light.

After all preparations were complete.

He slung his backpack over one shoulder and opened the iron door.

[You have entered the boss room of Area A.]

[The boss room contains 88 scarecrows and various traps that will obstruct your progress. Evade them and pass through the boss room.]

As the message appeared.

Swish!

Steel arrows flew at that moment, as if they had been waiting.

Clang!

Yeonwoo instinctively deflected the arrow with his greatsword.

The arrow, which had risen upward, returned to the trap it came from and stuck in it.

Broken trap pieces fell from the ceiling.

A movement he had practiced during his ninth attempt in Area A.

A method he liked because it allowed him to train both accuracy and technique.

Yeonwoo observed the scarecrows that filled the passage.

They looked like ordinary scarecrows commonly seen in rural areas.

But the scarecrows in the boss room were moving slightly.

Their two legs and two arms were free, allowing them to move at will and easily obstruct players trying to pass.

'They seem quite durable.'

A team had been trying to clear the boss room for a week.

Every time they reached the end of Area A, they were blocked by the scarecrows and couldn't advance.

The scarecrows didn't attack the players but only blocked their path.

But even this was enough to hinder them.

Every time the players tried to break through, it didn't work. Attacking them didn't make them fall, and pushing them didn't move them.

The only traces left on the scarecrows were burns and small cuts.

This meant that neither skills nor physical attacks were very effective.

Moreover, there were numerous traps set up everywhere.

The traps in the boss room were on a different level from those in Area A.

In addition to steel arrows, there were poison arrows, fire arrows, and traps that made the ground collapse or iron bars rise.

If you were too focused on avoiding the scarecrows, you could easily fall into a trap.

But Yeonwoo was confident.

'I will pass through to Area B in one go.'

Holding his greatsword in his right hand, Yeonwoo dashed out.

Swish!

Five steel arrows flew again. But Yeonwoo didn't even glance at them, lightly deflecting them with his greatsword.

Clank!

'Speed must be faster. I can't slow down.'

Yeonwoo put all his strength into his legs.

Snap!

Crack!

Suddenly, the ground in front of Yeonwoo caved in.

But this was something he had memorized and 'read' with his enhanced senses.

Thud!

Yeonwoo leaped high just before the ground caved in.

Below was a deep, bottomless pit.

'If I fall, it's instant death. So, I must—'

Yeonwoo gracefully skipped over it, moving freely as if performing a circus act.

Drawing a long parabola, just as he was about to land on the other side, two arrows flew from the left and right.

It would have been difficult to dodge the attack while exposed in mid-air, but Yeonwoo twisted his body like a top and easily deflected the steel arrows.

Clang!

The arrows aimed at him fell helplessly into the pit.

Thud!

Yeonwoo landed safely on the other side.

Then, he felt intense heat from the ceiling.

Flames followed a hidden wick and descended, trying to engulf Yeonwoo with red tongues.

Whoosh!

But Yeonwoo had already gained some resistance to burns with his Cold-Blooded trait.

He quickly covered his mouth with a handkerchief and passed through the flames.

Even if sparks landed on his collar, he shook them off and continued running without much concern.

In fact, when he tilted his dagger and swung it widely to the side, the wind created a brief path through the flames.

He didn't miss this opportunity and kept running.

Thud!

Various arrows, not just steel ones, rained down.

Arrows with flames, arrows with poison, and arrows with pointed tips.

Each time, Yeonwoo dodged, deflected, and blocked them.

Despite the arrows coming from all directions, not a single one grazed his collar.

It was as if he had eyes on all sides.

Despite this, Yeonwoo's speed did not slow down at all.

In fact, as his Vitality stat increased, his stamina and speed gradually improved.

The same was true for other traps.

Traps that made the ground collapse, traps that shot flames, traps that made iron spikes rise, and traps that rolled rocks all narrowly missed Yeonwoo.

It was at this moment.

The scarecrows began to appear.