Chapter 9. Tutorial (7)

Yeonwoo stared intently at the young man.

His gaze seemed to ask, "What's wrong with that?"

The young man looked like he had a lot to say, but he tightly shut his mouth.

And then he thought this was the opportunity.

The only chance to escape this tiresome place.

A firm resolve appeared in the young man's eyes.

"Alright. I'll help you. What do I need to do?"

* * *

The young man revealed his name to be 'Yul.'

"Yul?"

"Yeah. Yul. Everyone calls me that."

Yeonwoo noticed that the guy was using an alias but didn't press further.

After all, they were just going to part ways once they got what they needed from each other.

"Alright, Yul. I'll open the way, so follow closely behind. If you fall behind, I'll leave you behind."

"Got it."

"And."

"Hmm?"

"Use polite speech. I don't give special treatment just because you're a kid."

"......"

Yul, perhaps realizing that there was no point in acting tough since his age was already known, replied, "Understood."

Still, his stubborn nature showed as he refused to display any weakness.

Yeonwoo started walking at the forefront, following the path indicated by the Dragon Eye's result sense.

Every time they passed a checkpoint, a copper puppet blocked their way. It would assume the same posture as Yeonwoo and attempt to attack, and each time, Yeonwoo would push it aside and forcefully stab it with his greatsword.

Bang!

Crash!

Every time Yeonwoo swung his sword, one or two of the copper puppet's limbs would fly into the air.

Occasionally, broken pieces of its head would scatter on the ground.

Up until now, they had focused on speed, but now, he was using the opportunity to train by facing the copper puppets head-on and knocking them down.

He even thought it was for the better.

His strength had increased more than he had expected, and he found clues to the new uses of his senses.

Yul couldn't close his mouth the entire time he followed Yeonwoo.

Each time the copper puppet, which seemed monstrous, was shattered by a simple swing of a regular greatsword, he wondered if it was really the same thing they had been facing all along.

Then, Yeonwoo glanced back and gave him a look.

A look that asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Yul finally snapped out of it and began to speak.

"You might not believe me, but I can see mana innately."

"Innately?"

Yeonwoo paused in his steps and furrowed his brow.

"Is it a Bloodline ability?"

"Something like that."

While it was almost non-existent on Earth, such cases were common in other worlds.

Cases where the genetic factors contained the seeds of special abilities or superpowers.

These people usually had a great ancestor, and their abilities were passed down through bloodlines to their descendants.

The descendants would then awaken their abilities at a special time, make them their own, and pass them down to their own descendants.

Yul said he was one of those cases.

"The ability I inherited is more about sensing, seeing, and tasting mana, something close to affinity. That's how I knew the copper puppets were connected to sensors."

Yeonwoo pondered for a moment.

'Is this similar to Jungwoo's case?'

His brother's characteristic, Manthong (萬通), meant that everything was connected, including mana.

Naturally, his brother, unlike most Earth-born people, had no difficulty sensing mana.

In fact, he handled it as if he had regained something precious he had lost.

His teammates were reportedly amazed by this.

Being chosen by the ancient dragon Kalathus was also due to these characteristics.

Since he could communicate with all things, it was possible for him to inherit the abilities of a dragon, which ordinary humans could never accept.

Therefore, the descriptions of mana in his brother's diary were not very helpful to Yeonwoo.

Rather, they felt like vague, abstract stories.

Yul was the same.

Whether it was the inheritance of abilities through bloodlines or the awakening of abilities through characteristics, it was the same to Yeonwoo.

'In a sense, both of them are geniuses. It doesn't apply to me.'

Yeonwoo thought that the deal with Yul might not be very helpful.

But then, Yul's next words caught his attention.

"Mana can be seen as a kind of river. Magic power is like water drawn from that river into irrigation ditches or reservoirs."

Yeonwoo repeated it softly.

"Reservoirs?"

It kept swirling in his mind, something he could almost understand but not quite.

Meanwhile, Yeonwoo had already dispatched the last remaining copper puppet and reached the iron gate leading to Area B.

* * *

[You have solo cleared Area A.]

[You have achieved an accomplishment that few can easily accomplish. Additional merit points are awarded.]

[You have earned 500 merit points.]

[You have earned an additional 300 merit points.]

[Your health and mana are restored.]

[All abnormal statuses are restored.]

'At least it wasn't recognized as a team play.'

Yeonwoo smiled slightly at the messages that appeared.

Since he had dealt with the copper puppets without Yul's help, the interface system credited everything to Yeonwoo.

'800 points.'

In the tower, the concept of merit points was very important.

Merit points (Karma).

A scoring system given based on the achievements and accomplishments of players.

The tower and its administrators used these points to provide rewards, and players could use them like currency to buy and sell necessary items.

It was a point system that every player aimed to accumulate as much as possible.

And he had already accumulated this much just by clearing Area A.

Others would have been astonished if they knew.

'But this is still not enough. I need to accumulate more. As much as possible.'

Yeonwoo closed the window displaying his merit points and stepped into the waiting room of Area B.

A refreshing breeze filled his lungs.

"What, who is that person? What's with that mask?"

"Did he just clear Area A?"

"What? At this time?"

"Wait. Where are the others? Is he the only one?"

In the dusty area beyond the iron gate, about a dozen people were looking at him with surprised expressions.

It was surprising that someone had cleared Area A a week after the tutorial began.

Logically, by this time, most people would be aiming for the next round, not jumping in midway.

But what shocked them even more was that the person who entered through the iron gate was just one person.

Could he have cleared the brutal Area A alone?

"What are you doing, not coming in?"

Then, Yeonwoo looked back and said.

Yul, with an expression of disbelief, crossed the iron gate. He muttered softly, his lips trembling slightly.

"Finally, I'm out..."

His voice was a mix of various emotions.

[You have entered Area B.]

The waiting room of Area B was quite large.

The dome-shaped plaza was so vast that it could accommodate thousands of people.

There were many people, and they were all doing different things.

Some were sharpening their swords on grinding stones, others were doing warm-up exercises. Some were sprawled out in a corner, sleeping, while others, with amputated limbs and a sickly appearance, were patients.

These were the first 'people' Yeonwoo met after crossing over, excluding Yul.

But Yeonwoo ignored all the gazes directed at him.

'They're just dropouts, after all.'

People who, after barely clearing the brutal Area A, couldn't muster the courage to move forward.

They were all waiting for the 30-day deadline promised by the tutorial to end, having given up on further challenges.

The tutorial, contrary to its meaning as a 'user manual,' was a dangerous place where one could die at any moment.

Many people in the waiting room of Area B had barely made it through such dangers, only to have their wills broken.

They had lost their comrades, their lovers, and faced death, only to give up. And they were just as exhausted as he was.

The tutorial's difficulty increased significantly as it progressed.

Naturally, there would be many dropouts, so paying attention to each one would only drive one mad.

Yeonwoo moved to a less crowded area. Fortunately, he found a bench nearby that was unoccupied.

Then he called out to Yul, who was standing rooted to the spot.

"Yul."

"Yes? Yes!"

The guy was glaring at something. He turned to Yeonwoo, startled.

"Finish the story you were telling."

"Ah, yes!"

Yul glared at the same spot again and quickly approached Yeonwoo, sitting opposite him.

Yeonwoo glanced at where Yul had been looking.

A group of about four players. Their expressions were stiff.

"Teammates?"

"They 'were.' They're not related to me now."

Yul's expression was cold.

People who had abandoned him in the depths of death.

It was natural for him to be angry.

But Yul seemed to have no desire to involve himself with them any further.

Garbage is just garbage; getting entangled with garbage would bring no good.

Yeonwoo was quite pleased with Yul's attitude.

Resentment and recklessness are only a paper-thin line apart. Being able to see that line clearly meant he could continue to grow.

"Where did we leave off?"

"About the Mana Stream or something."

"Ah, that's this."

Surprisingly, Yul knew a lot about magic power.

Specifically, he was well-versed in the theory.

While most people born with magical abilities were weak in theory, Yul had to study a lot of theory from a young age due to his family's policy.

Thanks to this, Yeonwoo was able to grasp the basic concepts of magic power and mana.

He still found it difficult to understand most of the content.

But with a basic framework in place, he could start to accept what Jungwoo had written in his diary.

"So."

"Yes?"

"I get the general idea of what magic power is. But if I can't use it, it's useless. Is there an easy way to handle it? Or, to feel it?"

"Hmm. That's..."

Yul scratched the back of his head.

"I'm not sure. A refreshing feeling? Actually, I could use it from the beginning, so it's hard to explain."

"I see. Well, can't be helped."

Yeonwoo nodded as if he had expected this.

He had already guessed as much when he felt Yul's case was similar to his brother's.

But it wasn't a complete waste.

He had clarified what had been vague.

That alone was a significant gain.

The deal was essentially just bringing Yul along on the way, so it wasn't a loss.

"Let's part ways here. You're probably going to wait for the tutorial to end and then go out, right?"

"Ah, yes."

Yul, watching Yeonwoo stand up, seemed to want to say something but soon nodded silently.

Even if he wanted to go to the tower, only those who ranked in the tutorial would be qualified to enter, so Yul had no way to proceed.

Still, he looked a bit reluctant.

But Yeonwoo turned around after a brief farewell.

He had just barely cleared Area A. There were still six more areas to go before reaching Area F, so he needed to quickly close the gap with the leaders.

Just as he was about to leave,

Four players suddenly approached him.

They were Yul's former teammates.