After clearing the fourth stage of the tutorial, I made my way to the final tutorial stage through a passage.
After passing through a passageway where the air was damp and dark, I somehow managed to arrive at a huge cave, lit here and there by torches.
The setting of this tutorial stage was originally a cave located outside of Jerusalem.
Passing through the huge rock wall at the end of the cavern would let me exit to the outside.
That meant the end of the tutorial.
“The last rookie has finally arrived.”
As soon as I entered the cave, a man wearing a hood revealed himself and spoke in a sinister tone.
The man’s voice echoed off the cave walls.
I lightly gripped the dagger in my hand and looked around.
From within the slightly subdued shadows, nine men emerged.
“There will be only one shadow to leave this place and carry out the temple’s glorious mission.”
[Prepare for the final test of Stage 5.]
– The atmosphere here is seriously no joke every time I see it.
– Grrrrr.
– A lot of people give up on AOA here.
As the viewers in the chat window said, the atmosphere inside the cavern was indeed fantastic.
Despite being a game, it really pushed the players’ tension to the limit.
A cavern where not even the slightest breath could be heard.
The last stage of the tutorial would end only when one survivor remained out of those nine assassins.
A battle royal in a confined space.
For experiencing real combat, nothing beat a battle royal.
As a game where assassination was the main content, combat skills were essential and the ability to judge situations was highly valued.
In my opinion, it was a fitting final tutorial.
“Chansik, you gotta clear the no-death run, so let me give you a tip in advance. This one is really tough. Even those who can jump high and low wouldn’t be able to beat it in nightmare difficulty in one try.”
Dongsu-hyung, who had been watching me in spectator mode, finally spoke up after a long time.
It seemed he was getting bored?
I nodded for now.
Considering Dongsu-hyung’s minimal involvement with his know-it-all concept, it seemed like a good idea to give him a chance.
As soon as I nodded, Dongsu-hyung immediately opened his mouth, which he had been holding closed.
“If you go to that stone wall in the right corner, there’s a place to hide. If you stay hidden there until it’s just the last two people… What are you doing now?”
They said people sought stability as they grew older.
The Dongsu-hyung I knew wasn’t like this.
He was always someone who challenged without compromise, but time was indeed scary.
At least, I should not end up like that!
“…Chansik?”
“Hyung, the point of playing games is to have fun. What’s the fun in hiding?”
“You crazy bastard! That’s how you’re supposed to beat it!”
“Ah, where in the game does it say that? You just need to clear it, that’s all.”
Actually, the guide I read also mentioned hiding between the wall spaces and waiting.
Fighting after becoming the last two was the only strategy mentioned.
But honestly, that was boring.
It didn’t suit my style.
– ㅋㅋㅋㅋThat’s actually a good point.
– We play games for fun, right~
– Why bring such a frustrating guest? Even if he’s physically strong, how can he beat nine people alone. Dumbassㅋㅋ
– If he were my dongsaeng, I’d have turned off the capsule and beaten the shit out of him.
– The fans are getting too immersed againㅋㅋ Please, just watch the broadcast as a broadcast.
– Remember that famous foreign streamer last time? Didn’t he shit bricks trying to do it like that in silent difficulty? He’d die in a second on nightmare difficulty.
– ㅇㅇYeah, the tutorial actually teaches you the hiding method too, officially according to the developers.
The public sentiment was quite hostile.
And for good reason.
Dongsu-hyung’s advice must have seemed very appropriate to them.
To them, it probably seemed like I was acting recklessly, being a newbie at the game.
It must have felt like eating a ton of sweet potatoes.
But I looked at Dongsu-hyung and smiled.
“Hyung.”
“…Why, you little.”
“I did my homework well this time too. Just trust me once.”
“I’m saying this because I don’t want to waste the mission!”
I appreciated his caring, but I was confident.
I had finished my analysis thoroughly through the videos.
Plus, with my current mood, I felt I could definitely try according to my plan.
What if I failed?
Since the mission had a limit of three tries, I could simply start over.
Dongsu-hyung sighed and waved his hand.
“Do whatever you want.”
– Just because you prepare, doesn’t mean it’ll work.
– ㅋㅋJust like studying for the SAT doesn’t guarantee everyone gets into Seoul National University.
– So, which university did you go to?
– Why is that coming up here, fucking idiot
– Message deleted by the administrator.
The chat was filled with viewers voicing their dissatisfaction, having stuffed their mouths full of sweet potatoes.
Until recently, people who were thrilled by my gameplay were now unanimously criticizing me.
This damned “pot syndrome.”[1]
But I didn’t really care.
If I were truly the one to achieve such a feat, I needed to show a turnaround right about now.
Having experienced this a lot even during Gaia Online, I wasn’t too burdened.
I tightened my grip on the dagger in my hand and lifted the corners of my mouth.
As soon as I finished preparing, a message appeared in front of me.
[The final test begins in earnest!]
[Become the last one standing.]
Let’s show the power of preparation.
***
Before I went to sleep yesterday, I was lucky enough to come across a video by some perverted streamer who had analyzed this game’s tutorial.
He was hiding in the place Dongsu-hyung mentioned earlier, recording the game scenes and analyzing each assassin’s characteristics one by one.
From Assassin Number 1 to Number 9.
The video detailed everything from the weapons they held to all sorts of patterns.
It was so long and boring that even heavy users would get sick of it, which is why the video didn’t have many views.
Who in the world would be crazy enough to pour so much passion into a tutorial seemingly designed by some madman to make you hide?
Of course, perverts like me were an exception.
Swoosh.
As soon as the test started, the closest assassin, Number 1, immediately threw a flying dagger at me.
And soon after, Assassin Number 2, who was positioned behind, swiftly moved toward me without making a sound.
Surprisingly, I couldn’t sense their presence at all.
Maybe because they weren’t designed to be cleared in the first place, I couldn’t even distinguish how they were attacking.
But these guys had a fundamental weakness.
Due to their status as tutorial NPCs, their AI wasn’t very good.
In other words, they could only fight according to the patterns preset by the game developers.
Exactly 1.2 seconds after the test started, I quickly ducked my head.
Whoosh.
I heard a chilling sound of cutting through flesh behind my head.
“Argh.”
With a dying scream, one assassin with a dagger stuck in his neck fell to the ground.
The dagger I had dodged had accurately lodged itself in his neck.
It was good that I had calculated the timing of the first dagger attack in advance.
One down.
[Current survivors: 9]
The attacks from the other assassins followed smoothly.
Was it because I didn’t hide?
Normally, the assassins would be fighting each other, but now they were blatantly running toward me.
However, their attack pattern didn’t change.
Then there was no need to alter my plan.
The key to my plan was the first assassin who threw the dagger at me.
He was the only one among them who had a throwing weapon in this shared space.
He had a total of four daggers.
According to the game settings, just a brush with the poison coated on the dagger meant death.
Since one was just used, that left three daggers.
The time it took to throw another dagger was 5 seconds.
Unless I cut my own throat, Assassin Number 1 would continue to throw daggers until he used them all up.
I slid toward the ground, ducking my head.
Vroom.
The sound of assassins’ weapons whizzing past overhead could be heard.
Then, the sound of a dagger slicing through the air was heard again.
Swoosh.
The sound of the dagger flying was so faint that one had to concentrate to notice it.
Should I say, only by concentrating could one barely catch it?
Anyway, as soon as I lured the dagger, I ducked, and another victim pierced by the dagger fell to the ground.
[Current survivors: 8]
The one who just fell was Assassin Number 4. And this guy had a very special item.
A deadly and effective item.
[You have acquired the special item Bottle containing poison mist!]
[You have acquired the special equipment Gas mask!]
According to the original tutorial, Assassin Number 4 would use this poison mist to kill the other four assassins instantly.
That’s how deadly the poison was.
Typical of assassins to carry around such terrifying things.
Anyway, as soon as I picked up the bottle, I immediately threw it forward and quickly put on the gas mask as I moved out of position.
As soon I did that, several message windows popped up in front of me.
[Current survivors: 7]
[Current survivors: 6]
[Current survivors: 5]
[Current survivors: 4]
Wow!
Four down in one go.
Given that no more poisoned daggers were flying my way, it seemed like Assassin Number 1 must had died from poisoning.
It was unfortunate, but now, including myself, there were only four assassins left.
In other words, only three enemies were left.
And as the number of survivors dwindled like this, another device installed in the cave would activate.
Fwoosh—.
The cave, which had been shrouded in darkness, was instantly flooded with light, and the voice I heard earlier resounded once more.
“You rookies, not even half of you remain! To achieve a great feat, sometimes you must step out of the darkness. Can you guys really show your pathetic skills even in the light?”
I had been thinking, for the only NPC capable of speech in the tutorial, he sure said a lot of useless things.
I frowned and looked around the cave.
My eyes, which had adapted to the darkness, were merely dazzled by the sudden light.
Such attention to detail must be why they called it a god-tier game.
If it were a first-generation VR game, it wouldn’t have been able to replicate such a sense of reality.
This realistic sensation made me even more immersed in the game.
A high immersion rate?
Setting aside such metrics, it felt so real I could almost believe my heart was actually beating.
Before I knew it, my vision returned to normal, and the first thing I faced was a sharp dagger.
The assassins, having recovered their sight faster than I did, were all rushing at me without a second’s delay.
Had four pressed me from all sides, I would have been killed without a chance to escape.
Unfortunately for them, there were only three, and I could easily twist my body to one side.
Then I immediately grabbed the one to my right.
The remaining two daggers accurately penetrated the body of the guy I had set up in front.
[Current survivors: 3]
Perhaps because the muscles were pierced too deeply, the dagger of one of the remaining two couldn’t be pulled out of the corpse, allowing me to easily slice the guy’s throat.
Whoosh—.
[Current survivors: 2]
[The final duel will begin.]
Finally, only one other person remained beside me.
The last survivor, who had been silently attacking me until now, suddenly sneered as if he had preloaded his line, saying,
“To kill you and become a rightful shadow…”
“What the fuck are you talking about, you digital scrap.”
No matter how perfect a game was, there were always loopholes.
Did they not consider that a player could be right in front of an assassin?
I simply inserted the dagger into the neck of the last survivor, who had frozen in place because of his lines, and then shook off my hand lightly.
“Why can’t you do something this simple? Geez.”
[Current survivors: 1]
[Tutorial successfully completed!]
[Hidden challenge Thousand Kills achieved!]
[Hidden challenge Bug Player? achieved…]
Just like in Excalibur before, my vision was filled with numerous messages announcing the completion of challenges.
“What the hell did I just see?”
“Ah, this is how games should be played for fun, you know? Hyung, why don’t you try clearing it like this next time? I’ll kindly teach you… ”
“You, how did you do this? Cheating? A bug? No, that can’t be.”
Dongsu-hyung was looking at me, stuttering in confusion.
In response, I just shrugged nonchalantly, implying it was nothing special.
“The power of preparation.”
“…Reactivate the dashboard.”
I had to focus quite hard during the fifth stage, so I had deliberately deactivated the dashboard.
Upon reactivating the dashboard as Dongsu-hyung suggested, I couldn’t help but frown at the flood of texts in front of me.
– What did we just watch?
– Sent a report straight to the headquarters.
– Khan-hyung, can you release the capsule report? Isn’t this a bug play?
– Really seems like a bug or cheat if you ask me.
– Explain.
– Abso.Lute.Ly. Explain.
– Explain!
– Explain!
I had no idea what they were asking me to explain.
However, I couldn’t help but gape when I saw the donation that came through next.
[“OfficialAOA” has donated 1,000,000 won!]
[Who’s that fucking awesome player??!?!?!?]
– WowㅋㅋㅋSickㅋㅋㅋ 1 million won?
– Isn’t that the official account of AOA’s developer?
– Insaneㅋㅋㅋ
– If the official account is donating like that, doesn’t it officially acknowledge SolidRock’s play?
– Is what we’ve seen so far even normal play?
– It has to be a fake official account.
– No, No, that’s really the official account. Seen it on other broadcasts too.
– Anyway, legend. Whatever it is, legend.
– Hi, me in a day! How is it there? I’m still screwing up my life watching streams. Hope you’re still a viewer……
I wasn’t sure what was happening, but one thing was certain.
“Is this the thrill of capitalism?”
“Chansik.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll introduce you to an MCN company, set you up with broadcasting equipment… No, just tell me your conditions first. I’ll match them for you. How much should we start with?”
Perhaps, just maybe.
This might be a new turning point in my life.
[1] 냄비근성. It describes someone who is hot-tempered or quick to change their opinions or feelings, much like how a pot heats up and cools down rapidly.
