Chapter 15
Thud—
YuWon tossed his inventory pouch onto the floor as if he no longer required it. JooYeon was shocked. She picked up his pouch and verified that there was really nothing inside.
“Y-You’re serious?”
JooYeon and SeongChan were dumbfounded. They had assumed that he had kept some for himself.
“Wha-What are you going to do now?”
“You should have kept 50 for yourself!”
YuWon shrugged his shoulders.
“I told you. I’m not going.”
After hearing YuWon repeat himself, the two finally understood what he meant. By not going, he meant that he had no intention to move onto the next Tutorial.
“What are you going to do…?”
“If you remain here…”
They were left speechless.
YuWon’s eyes went back and forth between his empty box and the people who were unable to purchase essence from him.
“Cross over already. This place is going to be a madhouse soon.”
JooYeon and SeongChan hesitated for a moment longer before entering the gate.
Done doing business, YuWon got up while stretching his arms. There was about an hour and a half left.
‘I think the next Tutorial was defense?’
The Tutorial wasn’t called the Tutorial for no reason. It was actually laid out in a simple structure compared to the various missions required to climb the Tower.
The first was survival.
The second was competition.
The third was hunting.
And the fourth was defense.
‘Quite a few people crossed over… So the next Tutorial shouldn’t be too hard.’
The 4th Tutorial was set up in a way where more participants were better. The participants would have less stats from buying essence, but with how many people crossed over, it shouldn’t be too difficult.
“Uhm… Are you all sold out of essence?”
Even though one could easily see that there was no more essence, a middle-aged man wearing small-framed glasses came up and asked YuWon.
YuWon nodded his head and replied, “Store’s closed.”
The man slumped to the ground after hearing his response. Other people had a similar reaction. After watching them for a moment, YuWon left. There was no longer a reason for him to remain there.
‘It’ll start soon.’
There were approximately 20 people left. YuWon knew they would start fighting each other to steal essence from one another. About half of them would survive while the other half died, and YuWon had no intentions on intervening and deciding who would live or die. That’s why YuWon left.
As soon as the major player in the center of the crowd vanished, people started moving, but YuWon had no time to pay attention to what they were up to. There was only about an hour left.
“Shop.”
Crack—
YuWon’s words created a rupture out of thin air. This was a normal phenomenon when a Lackey appeared during the Tutorial. However, this rupture was much larger than YuWon expected.
Guuuuuh—
Kk-Crack—
‘No way…’
It was exactly what YuWon thought it was. From inside the massive rupture, a familiar tall hobo came out. It was the Tutorial’s Administrator.
“▷ You called?”
“I wasn’t calling for you, sir.”
What YuWon needed was the Shop, and for that, he needed a Lackey’s help. Unlike inside the Tower, it was impossible to use the Shop during the Tutorial without a Lackey.
“Why did you come instead of a Lackey?”
“▷ I’m currently hiring some newbies because we lost a lot of guys. Though we still need to lose a few more.”
“Were you able to weed many of them out?”
“▷ About one in three had a connection. Many of them took quite a lot of bribes.”
After leaving the management of the Tutorial to the Lackeys, the Administrator hadn’t intervened in the Tutorial for a long time. But after the latest incident, the Administrator was likely going to be busy for a while.
“▷ And thanks to you, quite a few of my men got tied up in this sector. To the point that other sectors are facing delays.”
“Why is that my fault?”
“▷ Because over a hundred people used the Shop simultaneously to trade with you.”
The Administrator wasn’t wrong. It was rare for two or more participants in a sector to use the Shop at the same time. Coupled with the fact that there were far more survivors in Hongdae compared to the other sectors, it wasn’t odd that there weren’t enough Lackeys to meet the demands of all the people wanting to use the Shop at the same time.
“Isn’t that a good thing? Business was booming.”
“▷ Well, that’s certainly true.”
“But are you really that short on men? Coming here yourself just because someone wanted to use the Shop.”
No matter how short on men he might be, an Administrator was the highest authority of the Tutorial. Operating the Shop should be the job of a lowly Lackey, so it was highly unusual that the Administrator appeared in person for such a task.
“▷ It’s not just because of the Shop.”
“Then what is this about, sir?”
“▷ Are you really unaware of the position you’re in?”
It took a second, but YuWon nodded his head, understanding what the Administrator meant.
Special Administrative Target.
YuWon assumed that to be the position he was in right now. Special Administrative Targets referred to participants that needed supervision for really standing out and displaying strange behaviors.
‘But when an Administrator can’t prove anything, they usually just let it slide.’
This Administrator clearly had no intentions on letting YuWon’s existence slide. It would have been weirder if he didn’t find YuWon suspicious, especially now.
“▷ It’s the end of the 3rd Tutorial, and you currently hold over 160,000 points, not to mention your levels. You have enough power to destroy the entire ecosystem of the Tutorial.”
Points were as good as power in this world. Even if you lacked levels, you could bridge the gap in power through high-grade items and skills. Normally participants only gained around 1,000 to 3,000 points at most by the end of the 3rd Tutorial. And in order to survive, they would have to buy items from the Shop as well as skills once they hit level 20.
Under normal circumstances, one should constantly feel like they don’t have enough points during the Tutorial because that was the only way to discern whether or not one had the qualifications to enter the Tower.
However, the amount of points YuWon held far exceeded that of any other participant.
“That’s exactly it,” YuWon said while nodding his head, “That’s what I want.”
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“▷ What?”
“There’s no problem, since that is the path I’ve chosen.”
“▷ …”
The Administrator was at a loss for words, seeing YuWon’s brazen attitude. Saying that he wanted to destroy the ecosystem of the Tutorial…
“▷ I have managed the Tutorial for a truly long time… But I have never encountered someone quite like you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
YuWon checked the time. While conversing with the Administrator, ten minutes had already passed.
“I want to use the Shop.”
He no longer had time to continue chatting. Even if he was the Administrator, he couldn’t go against the rules of the Tower and deny a participant the usage of the Shop.
“▷ Tell me what you need.”
The Administrator held his hand out to YuWon, and opened his palm. From his palm that was the size of YuWon’s head, the Shop’s catalogue opened up.
YuWon browsed through the catalogue.
‘Is this the extent of items I can purchase in the Tutorial?’
After looking through the catalogue for 30 minutes, YuWon nodded his head. Because he was still in the Tutorial, the Shop didn’t have all the skills and items YuWon knew about. So after having seen most of the things on sale, he had a pretty good idea what he should purchase.
“Well, to start with…”
YuWon pointed his finger.
“I’ll take this, please.”
* * *
[You have spent 10000 points.]
[You have obtained 「Mid-Grade Personal Inventory」]
[You are able to activate the item by saying ‘Inventory.’]
A whopping 10K points. It was nothing compared to the money that YuWon currently possessed, but it wasn’t an amount of points that should have been possible to obtain during the Tutorial.
Though YuWon purchased an item, there were no changes except the consumption of points. The personal inventory wasn’t a visible item. Instead, it was like a convenient dimensional pocket where you could store items.
“Next…”
YuWon flipped through the catalogue and selected his next item.
“I’ll buy the Arctic Steel Sword.”
[You have spent 50000 points.]
[You have obtained 「Arctic Steel Sword.」]
Woosh—
In YuWon’s grasp, a pure white sword appeared. It cost a total of 50K points. It was the first proper item that YuWon purchased, but instead of trying out his new sword…
“Open Inventory.”
YuWon put his sword in his inventory in a hurry, and the Arctic Steel Sword vanished into thin air. The personal inventory was large enough for YuWon to store the few items he wanted and still have space remaining.
“▷ The Arctic Steel Sword… You picked quite the challenging weapon.”
The Administrator narrowed his eyes and stared at YuWon. He was clearly suspicious, but YuWon simply shrugged his shoulders and continued shopping.
“Pyromancy Robe and a Magic Nullification Shield.”
[You have spent 60000 points.]
[You have obtained 「Pyromancy Robe.」]
[You have spent 20000 points.]
[You have obtained 「Magic Nullification Shield.」]
A crimson silk dragon robe* and an azure-tinted round shield appeared above YuWon’s head.
*TL/N: A robe with a dragon design on it. It was commonly worn by Chinese and Korean emperors.
YuWon draped the robe over his shoulders and wielded the shield. He had now spent a total of 140,000 points.
They were all pretty valuable items. Items that cost more than 10K points were even usable pretty far up the Tower, so these items were more than enough to disrupt the Tutorial’s ecosystem.
“Also, four Ice Crystals.”
[You have spent 20000 points.]
[You have obtained 4 「Ice Crystals.」]
And in YuWon’s hand, four crystal balls appeared. They were the width of a finger, and just like the 「Arctic Steel Sword,」 they were pure white.
YuWon put the 「Ice Crystals」 into his inventory. Now he only had 7,000 points remaining.
“Lastly, please give me a Well-Sharpened Sword.”
[You have spent 2000 points.]
[You have obtained a 「Well-Sharpened Sword.」]
Within YuWon’s grasp, a cool-looking sword with a black hilt appeared. It was a pretty average sword and didn’t have any special characteristics. Yet the reason why such a plain sword cost 2,000 points was because it was exceptionally sharp and durable.
“▷ A sword that covers all the basics… That’s quite the contrast compared to the overtly magical items.”
“I quite like it.”
YuWon put on his crimson dragon robe and then tried out his new sword. It fit perfectly in his hand, and it seemed like it had decent mana conductivity. Although, basic mana conductivity was expected from items in the 2,000 points range.
“▷ Not a single participant in the Tutorial should be able to pierce that robe. No one can touch you now,” the Administrator said with a questionable smile.
“▷ Or at least the participants can’t.”
YuWon didn’t say anything.
The Administrator stared at YuWon for a while before turning away and walking back into the rupture.
“▷ I have high hopes for you.”
Kk-Crack—
The rupture swallowed the Administrator.
And that was the end of the trade with the Administrator.
YuWon recollected the face the Administrator made and the words he said.
‘Did he notice?’
It should have been expected. It would be strange if an entity like the Administrator still hadn’t caught on to YuWon’s plans.
‘I guess it doesn’t matter.’
YuWon sat down to rest for the remaining time. It was crucial that he was in the best condition possible.
And so, some amount of time passed.
Tick, tock—
A ticking noise could be heard. It was truly a cruel sound. Tutorial stages with a time limit always tormented participants with the sound of the clock ticking right before it ended.
There were now 10 seconds remaining.
YuWon looked up at the sky.
‘So it’s starting.’
It was the long-awaited moment.
[FINALIZING THE 3RD TUTORIAL.]
[You have failed the Tutorial.]
[THE ANNIHILATION OF THE SECTOR WILL NOW BEGIN.]
