abcnovels
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
It was Su-hyeok’s belief as someone who’d been climbing the tower for years that it never presented an impossible trial. Countless other players had reached the same conclusion.
That belief also applied to the tutorial. Defeating multiple goblins wasn’t impossible. Goblin necks were much thinner than human ones, after all, so it wasn’t hard to slice through them.
Of course, avoiding so many poisoned weapons and darts was nearly impossible, but it was, in theory, doable. The King of the Orcs was a different story, though.
‘Such an opponent can’t be defeated in a direct confrontation at his level.” Hugo felt chills when he saw Su-hyeok confront the boss. ‘Is that the solution?’
‘Right, the corpses don’t go away until the trial ends, so it was all part of the trial…’ Hugo noticed that, the moment Su-hyeok realized what he’d be facing, he’d looked around at the corpses. In that short moment, he’d found the solution to the trial.
Su-hyeok’s strategic vision was broad enough to immediately connect the poisoned weapons to defeating the boss, and on top of that, he started by striking the boss’s legs with two of the poisoned darts.
‘He aimed for the legs from the start.’ After the first two darts, Su-hyeok continued to throw the poisoned weapons and darts at the King of the Orcs’s legs, instinctively realizing that the most critical aspect of the final stage was depriving the creature of its mobility.
‘He’s a genius…’ Hugo thought. Su-hyeok was able to do more than just wield a sword well.
Whoosh—
Thud, thud—
Su-hyeok threw poisoned fangs at the King of the Orcs’s eyes.
“Woah!” Hugo couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, seeming to forget about his dignity as a knight. When he realized he was acting like a child, he cleared his throat, seemingly embarrassed.
That’s simply how impressive Su-hyeok’s skills were.
‘He accurately hit the eyes of a moving opponent from such a distance.’ Had the candidate learned how to use throwing weapons from an assassin group? No, even if that were the case, it was hard to believe that not a single throw missed.
Screech—!
The King of the Orcs covered its eyes with both hands and screamed in pain. First, it was the legs; then the eyes. Su-hyeok planned to first deprive the boss of its mobility, then its sight, rendering it completely helpless.
He made judgment very quickly, and his throwing technique was almost miraculous.
‘A genius? No. Is this something that can be explained with such a word?’ Everything about the candidate was on an entirely different level, from his swordsmanship to his precise throwing technique.
Hugo’s mind fell into chaos. That day alone, he’d seen many people attempt the trial. Isaac was someone he’d call a genius, but what would that make the person before him?
‘Did Lee Su-hyeok really reincarnate?’
“GUOO-!” The King of the Orcs roared. The poison had spread through its legs, and it couldn’t see, so it was no longer a threat.
“So it’s over,” Hugo mumbled.
Swish—
The King of the Orcs swung the massive club in his hand, but it was in vain. There was no way it could catch Su-hyeok in that state.
Swish—
After dodging backward, Su-hyeok picked up more poison darts and held them between his fingers. Since he’d deprived the boss of its mobility and vision, there was only one thing left to do…
Paf—!
‘I’m turning you into a pin cushion.’ He just had to whittle his prey down.
He just had to cook that big prey slowly.
* * *
“You shouldn’t throw it like that.” Kim Yeryeong, a member of Blue Eyes, watched Su-hyeok as he practiced his dagger-throwing technique. “Should I teach you?”
She was a specialist in throwing daggers and other weapons. With her throwing technique that was even better than the ones from the famous Dang Clan’s rankers, she was able to take down many enemies before anyone noticed.
At first, Su-hyeok didn’t want to accept her help due to his pride, but in the end, he nodded. “Yes, please.”
He still remembered how Yeryeong’s expression distorted when she heard that.
After shuddering in disgust, she took a stance and picked up a pen. It only looked like a slight throw, but the pen pierced one of the steel plates on the targets.
She gave the target a look and said, “Anything can be a throwing weapon if you know its center of gravity.”
* * *
Thuck—!
The poisoned darks continued raining into the boss’s body. As he initially intended, Su-hyeok kept sticking more poisoned weapons into the King of the Orcs.
‘I remember she theorized that power is proportional to rotational force. The longer you hesitate, the more your accuracy decreases in proportion.’ Thanks to her, he’d been able to perfect his throwing techniques.
Thud—
Hitting the King of the Orcs with a poisoned dark wasn’t a difficult task. He didn’t need to worry about dealing any critical damage because the goblins’ poison would kill it in the end, not the little wounds it was accumulating from the weapons.
Thud—
Finally, the boss’s knees buckled. It didn’t matter how resistant he was—hundreds of poisoned darts were sticking from his body. Though they weren’t individually fatal, when the poison accumulated to such an extent, the story changed.
The boss collapsed and trembled on the ground.
Clank—
Su-hyeok picked up the sword he’d dropped on the floor.
The King of the Orcs tried to stand as he heard Su-hyeok approach, but he was too weak.
Su-hyeok neatly pierced his sword through the nearly dead boss’s neck.
Thrust—
“Khuu—” The King of the Orcs spasmed and let out a last, ragged breath before falling to the side.
BOOM—
[You’ve eliminated a boss: ‘The King of the Orcs’.]
The boss was truly dead, and Su-hyeok struggled to pull his sword from its neck as he muttered, “It’s damn hard to pull this thing out.” Its skin was so thick that his sword seemed stuck.
It was hard to imagine the tutorial had asked him to kill such a thing. If it weren’t for the goblins’ poison, it would have been impossible.
[You’ve perfectly completed the tutorial.]
[Your level has increased x9]
[You’ve earned 10,000 points.]
[You’ve earned 1,325 achievement points.]
[You’ve defeated the ‘King of the Orcs’.]
[You’ve earned 100 achievement points.]
[You’re the first to clear the final stage of the tutorial.]
[You’ve earned 1,000 achievement points.]
[You can spend the earned achievement points and choose a reward.]
“Woah…” Su-hyeok exclaimed in surprise. Nine levels… Since three stats were given per level, he’d gained a total of 27 stats. The rewards were better than he’d expected. On top of that, the 1,000 achievement points were even more of a surprise.
‘Mere goblins gave this much…’ He’d earned a total of 2,425 achievement points. Considering that clearing the 20th stage of the trial rewarded 210 points, it was an overwhelming amount.
‘I wonder what I can buy with so many points.’
The ‘Tutorial Shop’ displayed all of the items that the participant could buy with their points. The cheapest item was only five points, which was why participants who’d only cleared the first stage couldn’t earn any rewards.
He never imagined he’d earn 2,425 achievement points from the tutorial.
[Opening the shop.]
Swoosh—
A long shop interface unfolded with so many items on display that the page was almost as tall as Su-hyeok. Not even that was enough, and there were a few more pages.
The more pages he passed, the more expensive the rewards became.
‘The cheapest one is five points, and the one on the bottom of the first page is 200…’ He saw everything from normal-rank items to F-rank skills. There were even ingredients he couldn’t figure out the use for.
The previous record was the 28th stage, so Su-hyeok ended up looking at items no one had seen before.
“That’s amazing… Do they even sell this?!” he exclaimed in surprise after he moved to the next page and saw items all costing a thousand points or more.
[Nameless Magic Sword]
# Rank: Rare
# Type: Weapon
# An item made by the magic sword maker Kindre. Kindre doesn’t name his failed works. The sword consumes the user’s Stamina and mental health to enhance its cutting power and physical capabilities.
– Price: 1,000 achievement points
‘I never thought I’d see one of Kindre’s works here.’ Kindre was a fairly famous player known as a magic sword maker. He was one of the top three blacksmiths in the tower, but nobody knew if that was his real name or not.
Magic swords consumed the user’s stamina and mental health, but they were so overwhelmingly strong that many people sought them.
‘I can’t handle this right now.’ Unfortunately, magic swords weren’t compatible with Su-hyeok. ‘Considering the lightning I’ll get later, I need a holy sword… not a magic sword.’
Magic swords were powerful but consumed one’s Stamina. In comparison, holy swords were less powerful but protected the user. Since he was going for lightning, he had no choice but to choose a holy sword. He needed to increase his Stamina in every little way he could.
[Holy Sword Miranda]
# Rank: Rare
# Type: Weapon
# A mithril sword imbued with the blessing of the temple. It reduces the user’s Stamina consumption.
– Price: 1,300 achievement points
That was the second item that caught his eye. Made from expensive mithril, its strength and cutting power were probably good enough. Its effect also suited Su-hyeok, but…
‘It doesn’t feel like enough.’ For some reason, it didn’t feel satisfying. The magic sword he’d seen earlier and the holy sword were both good items for the tutorial, though.
Maybe it was because he’d used items that were too good in his past life, but he wasn’t interested in the holy sword.
‘How I use these points is my foundation. I need to choose carefully.’ At that moment, a skill caught his attention.
‘An F-rank skill?’ Higher-tier skills should’ve appeared on the next page, but the first one he saw was registered as rank F.
[Selfish Sacrifice]
# Type: Skill
# Rank: F
# LV: 1
# Suppresses the side effects of skills and items that harm the user.
# Points can be used to upgrade the skill’s rank and level.
# Required Points: 10,000P
– Price: 1,400 achievement points
“Huh…?” He doubted his eyes for a moment. It was merely an F-rank skill, and it required an incredible amount of points to upgrade.
‘This effect…’ A skill that suppressed the side effects of other skills? The fact it cost so many points despite its low level was actually welcoming news. It meant that, if he had unlimited points, he could overcome the side effects of any skill.
‘…Maybe even lightning.’ Su-hyeok’s eyes shone. Selfish Sacrifice had the potential to fix the only flaw with using lightning that he’d struggled with in his past life. When he saw the possibility, there was no need for hesitation.
“I need to buy it.” Su-hyeok moved his hand.
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