Tutorial

[Welcome, refugees taking part in the selection process.]

[From this moment on, you must prove through various trials that you are useful bugs. The method is simple. Survive until the end. Then, good luck.]

The black screen suddenly flared bright.

[You have entered the tutorial area.]

The first sensation I felt was touch.

Cold air slapped my skin, and my whitened vision gradually came into focus, revealing the scene before me.

'I'm back in this damn Tower of Trials.'

A tower.

I didn't know whether this place was actually a tower. It was simply a term commonly used in web novels, and I had grown accustomed to it, so at some point I started using it too.

That was a way of saying there were many trials arranged across multiple stages.

'Just as I expected, the tutorial area was here.'

Once my vision had fully recovered, I saw a snow-covered mountain as white as fresh paper.

Big, fluffy snowflakes fell from the sky, while trees covered entirely in white snow rose sparsely all around me.

And some animal was running around in it.

'The way to move on to the next area is simple.'

Overcome the trial assigned in the area, and you can move on to the next one.

[A trial has been assigned.]

[Catch 2 foxes.]

Just like that.

Usually, whether the environment was fucked or the target was fucked, the difficulty was vicious in one way or another.

Even so, since this was the tutorial, it was letting me pass simply by catching two foxes in the dead of winter.

I closed my eyes and reviewed my plan once more.

'Even if it takes longer, gather everything I can while growing stronger. Build momentum thoroughly so I can breeze through the final trial.'

If this had been my first time facing the trials, it would have been an impossible plan. But I had already overcome every trial once, so things were different for me.

'Save as many people as possible and move on. No—bring people of good character, good disposition, and genuine usefulness along as companions.'

There was no need to go out of my way to save many people.

After all, once the Destroyer Dragon was defeated, every survivor would be granted the right to become a resident of another world.

My job was to grow strong enough to beat the Destroyer Dragon to death with ease and, as a bonus, make sure my people didn't die before the final trial.

'What I need for that is to take everything for myself.'

Some might call it selfish, but I had no intention of denying it.

I had regressed solely for my own sake in the first place.

'Shall we begin, then?'

As I was thinking that, a notification appeared.

[A problem has been detected.]

Huh?

[A 'resident' has participated in the selection process, which is open only to refugees.]

[Checking for errors….]

[A record exists for player 'Kang Minjun'. Proceeding with the update.]

What? An update?

This was a different development from the past.

[Update complete.]

[The 'resident' in question has been confirmed to be on a second playthrough. Modifying the content to meet the requirements of the higher dimension.]

[A special benefit will be granted to player 'Kang Minjun'.]

Then a status window suddenly swooshed into view in front of me.

<Status Window>

Name : Kang Minjun

Level : 0

Strength : 8

Agility : 10

Vitality : 10

Intelligence : 5

[As a special benefit, +10 will be added to all stats.]

I was at a loss.

"+10 to all stats?"

For the record, levels meant nothing in this world.

They were merely decorative, indicating how many stages of trials a player had reached.

Entering the stage-one trial meant level 1, and entering the stage-two trial meant level 2, and so on.

You might wonder why they bothered including levels, but leveling up granted ten bonus stat points for each level gained.

In other words, I could put ten points into stats however I wanted.

'But the difficulty would rise by that much again when I moved on to the next area, so in the end, whether I assigned the stats or not, I'd still be back where I started.'

Even so, they were important in the long run.

Which stats a person invested in determined their style of overcoming the trials.

'In my previous run, I focused on agility.'

I had been fast, but unfortunately, my limitations had been clear. In the final trial, I had been unable to do anything except run around dodging magic.

Anyway, returning to the original point.

Giving me +10 to every stat meant that I could clear the trials with overwhelming ease compared to everyone else.

'That's a total increase of 40 stats.'

Ha, this is insane. Forty stats means I'm four stages ahead in the trials, doesn't it?

'It feels like I'm the only one who changed genres.'

Feeling my body grow suddenly lighter, I clenched and unclenched my fists.

A smile naturally spread across my face.

'Not a bad start.'

Of course, a mere forty bonus stats wouldn't even let me cut off the Destroyer Dragon's tail. But I had regressed because I was confident I could clear the trials again even without something like this.

[Updating additional benefits.]

[Progress : 0%]

Apparently, they were even giving me another perk.

Maybe this was what it felt like to play a console game with cheat codes.

"W-where is this?"

Just then, while I was grinning like a madman on the snowy mountain, signs of people began to appear one after another.

"Tutorial? We're supposed to survive here?"

"It says we have to catch foxes."

The foxes scampered around between the trees.

People who had never hunted anything in their lives looked uneasy.

"Ha, shouldn't they at least give us some kind of weapon before telling us to catch them?"

"Ugh, my hands are cold."

The people shivered and shoved their hands into their pockets.

Those who had dressed in thick clothes were at least fine, but since it was late spring, most of their clothing was rather light.

The women in skirts let out shrill cries and shivered violently as the wind blew across the snowy mountain.

'Still, they're all better off than that guy.'

There was even a hardcore-player outfit consisting of nothing but underwear, presumably because someone had pressed 'Yes' on a whim while at home.

"Ah, fuck. It's fucking cold."

When another icy gust howled past, the nine people huddled and shivered, then one after another turned to look at me.

"I'm jealous of that guy."

"He looks warm."

Yes, I was warm. Fucking warm.

I had come fully prepared for exactly this.

Because I had taken thorough precautions against the cold, the wind merely felt cool to me.

"Ah, if I'd known this would happen, I would've prepared too before coming."

Society was rife with disregard for safety, but not much time had passed since the selection process began.

It was safe to assume that most of the people who had crossed over by this point had accepted in a fit of anger, as a joke.

'That's why the survival rate of the early arrivals is so low.'

The truly outstanding people.

Those who were excellent at handling people and highly capable, and had already succeeded on Earth, had not crossed over yet.

They still had attachments to Earth, so they weighed everything carefully and entered later. As a result, the later entrants had overwhelmingly higher survival rates.

So there was no reason for me to take an interest in them.

But perhaps that wasn't true of these people.

"Excuse me."

"?"

"Do you happen to have a spare pair of gloves?"

One woman approached and asked, and that prompted everyone else to approach me one after another.

"It's so cold. Could I borrow your coat?"

"Do you have any equipment besides the axe you're holding? I'll use it for a moment and return it."

"Do you have any extra clothes in that backpack?"

To people who assumed they'd naturally be allowed to borrow things just by asking, I answered flatly,

"I don't want to."

"Come on, don't be like that."

"I said I don't want to lend it to you."

After I turned them down about five times in a row, the faces of the people pretending to be pitiful turned vicious.

"What a stingy bastard."

"Seriously, it's not like it'll wear out from being used for a moment. What the hell is wrong with this guy?"

"He looks young, but he certainly has no manners."

Yes, I'm rude and stingy. So turn around and leave already.

"What harm would it do to lend us just one? People are supposed to help each other survive."

"Exactly, exactly."

But the people refused to leave, as if they'd left their own possessions with me.

Some of them changed their strategy and came at me from another angle.

"Young man. Is this how you treat fellow Koreans? We're asking because we're freezing and don't have any equipment, so please be understanding."

Among those cursing me, there were also people who approached after cultivating an image of themselves as courteous and considerate.

"Yes, I refuse."

"You fucking bastard."

Of course, after I refused him once, the man immediately transformed into a foulmouthed bald man.

"Let's go. This is pissing me off."

"Let's see how long he lasts."

"A person has to live like a person to count as one. Tsk, tsk. To think someone like that is human too."

"He's worse than a beast."

I laughed.

'You won't be far behind.'

As the selection process continued, the soft, complacent humanity of modern people would disappear.

Robbery, murder, and rape would run rampant.

I alone would become the top priority, and other humans would be nothing more than nourishment for my sake.

'People would band together and cooperate with those who shared their goals, and things would improve later. But by then, fewer than five hundred million would remain out of the four billion people.'

That meant everyone here except one or two would end up dead. And even if they survived, they would become worse than beasts.

'But do I have any reason to treat them well?'

They were going to die anyway, so whether I cursed them or talked behind their backs, it was more comfortable to ignore them.

I gripped the axe I'd brought and looked at the foxes.

Hop. Hop.

Foxes leaped across the snow-covered mountain. Those who wanted to escape this situation even a little sooner frantically chased after the foxes' tails.

"Damn it! Why is that thing so fast?"

"Aah!"

Falling over while chasing them was par for the course.

One woman fell into the snow and flailed helplessly.

'The barriers surrounding this place prevent them from getting too far away, but chasing them like that will take forever.'

Chasing them one by one was foolish.

That's why I had prepared.

I gripped the axe handle tightly. Then I threw the axe at a fox hopping past.

Whoosh—thunk.

The axe missed and buried itself in the snow.

'The stats are different from before, so there's a slight error.'

But it didn't matter.

A rope was firmly tied to the handle of the axe I'd thrown, connecting it to my left hand.

I pulled on the rope and retrieved the axe.

'Let's try this time.'

Whoosh—thunk.

'Again.'

Whoosh—

The axe sank squarely into the fox's torso with a thud.

'I'm getting the hang of it now.'

I approached the fox that had fallen after being struck by the axe.

It was still alive and tried to get up and run away, so I grabbed the axe and struck it once more.

Whimper.

The animal immediately went limp.

Touching it made a notification pop up.

[Would you like to use the carcass separately?]

[Yes / No]

When I pressed No, the fox's carcass and bloodstains emitted white light and disappeared.

Unless I intended to use the carcass separately, this was the better option.

'That way, the respawn will be faster.'

Once the carcass disappeared, something remained on the snow-covered ground.

<Item>

Name : Fang of the Snowfield

Grade : Common

Description : Increases magic defense by 10.

'I'm lucky. I got a drop right at the start.'

An earring shaped like a beast's tooth.

It had a low drop rate, and it would prove useful in many ways later, making it an essential item for my plans.

'As I said earlier, levels are decorative.'

Since people received bonus stats whenever they moved on to the next area, a common mistake was to focus solely on raising their level, hit their limit one day, and only then realize their mistake.

'The most important thing in the selection process is farming items.'

But by the time they realized that, it was already too late.

Once you passed through an area, you could never return to it.

And the snowfield accessories were items that could only be obtained in the tutorial area.

'One for now.'

This would become the first source of funds for my selection process in the future.