"… Damn."
I thought I had lasted longer this time.
Just when I thought I could get some crucial information about the ponytailed woman, I found myself regressing.
I was too hasty. She clearly looked sensitive. Taking things slow would've been better.
"Hello there! To the worthless humans who are currently wasting their lives, nice to meet you!"
But it's okay. There are plenty of opportunities.
I just need to escape this place before I lose my sanity amidst these repetitive regressions.
In the previous loop, I did nothing but swing my sword.
If I just bear the hunger, recreating the same scenario shouldn't be difficult.
"Let the system provide the detailed explanations... Let's start the tutorial!"
A fairy dropped the weapon with a 'pop' sound and vanished.
When I picked up a random sword, it felt much more comfortable than before.
My stance felt balanced too.
Indeed, one needs to learn.
Whoosh!
When I tried swinging the sword as a test, the trajectory, though not perfect, wasn't shoddy either.
I felt satisfied. My efforts weren't in vain.
"Excuse me...?"
A man gently tapped my shoulder.
"It looks like you know how to handle a sword. Can you show us as well?"
It seems my stance appeared stable even to others. A sense of satisfaction welled up inside me.
But contrary to how I felt, I slowly shook my head with a stern expression.
"I apologize. I'm not skilled enough to teach anyone."
Technically, I was telling the truth. I've only wielded a sword for about 10 hours.
But to them, it would seem different.
"Come on, don't be like that. We're all stuck in this tower together. We should help each other out."
A man displaying humanity, perhaps because the rules of the tutorial haven't been announced yet.
"Hmm..."
I pretended to contemplate and then gave a slight nod.
"Alright. I can help with the very basics."
"Wow!"
"But, there's a condition."
"... A condition?"
Snap.
I pointed at the thin jacket the man was wearing.
"Your outerwear. Hand it over to me."
"… My jacket? It is warm here, so I was thinking of taking it off anyway..."
The man seemed puzzled but still handed me his jacket.
"Everyone else too, hand over your jackets."
I collected jackets from all five of them.
This should be enough.
"Now, this is the basic stance. The hand that's holding the sword should be in front..."
I earnestly taught them as promised, but the men seemed confused, tilting their heads.
It's understandable, in a way.
I, too, knew next to nothing about swords.
A man approached, scratching his head.
"Um… can you explain a bit more...?"
"Status checkkkkk!"
"Huh?"
Luckily, Status Man diverted their attention with his loud voice, giving me the chance to wrap the jackets around my arms, legs, and neck.
I was fortunate not to have changed my clothes. My long sleeves and pants covered a substantial portion of my skin.
"... Ugh."
With jackets wrapped around, I looked rather bizarre. From a distance, I could see firefighter Park Cheol-jin giving me a disapproving look.
He's probably thinking, "Are there so many idiots these days?"
I can't even hold a weapon in this state, and running is difficult. The jackets inside my shoes make it uncomfortable.
But it's okay. I'm a regressor.
I cautiously pushed through the bushes and walked out of the clearing.
"Ooh..."
Whether it was the effect of the wrapped jackets or not, there wasn't any sign of regression.
But there's a problem... It's unbearably hot.
The resistance from the grass made walking strenuous, and the wrapped jackets prevented any escape for my body heat.
On top of that, the place is inherently warm.
In short, it's an ideal environment for my body temperature to rise.
I felt sweat dripping from my forehead, but I couldn't stop here.
After about 30 minutes of walking...
"Grr... keek..."
A faint whimpering sound from somewhere in the tall grasses.
It was an eerie sound, as if a child who smokes three packs of cigarettes daily was clearing their throat...
"It's a goblin."
The sound was unmistakably a goblin's cry. Suddenly, a message window popped up before my eyes.
< Tutorial Stage >
- Clear Condition 1: Swallow the 'Golden Bead' hidden somewhere in the forest, and you can proceed to the next stage. However, only 50 Golden Beads exist.
- Clear Condition 2: Defeat the boss, Goblin Shaman, and a portal to the next stage will appear.
From Condition 2, it's clear that the boss is the Goblin Shaman.
If there's a Goblin Shaman, that means there are regular goblins as well.
Is this my first real fight? I'm up against goblins.
It's time to prove that all the sweat I've shed wasn't in vain.
I naturally went to draw my sword...
... draw...
"Ah."
I didn't bring my sword.
To be precise, I had thrown it on the ground while wrapping myself with clothes.
All I had was a fist wrapped like Doraemon's.
Fighting now doesn't seem wise.
I tried to cautiously avoid the source of the crying and move forward, but…
"Kiyaack!"
"Wowaaack!"
Something jumped out of the bushes! Damn!
Something with sharp teeth lunged at me.
"Get lost! Damn!"
Instinctively, I swung my fist and hit whatever was lunging at me.
Although I couldn't feel it through the cloth, I managed to push it back.
"Kiack! Kueeck!"
It took me a moment to realize because both the grass and its body were green.
It was a goblin.
Seeing a goblin in reality for the first time was far more grotesque and chilling than I imagined.
Its skin was all wrinkled, its teeth were covered in blood and unidentified flesh, and its eyes were filled with malice...
"Die!"
I stomped hard on the chest of the fallen goblin.
Crack!
"Keeeeck!"
It sounded like snapping corn, and the goblin's ribs shattered.
After wriggling a couple of times, the goblin lay still.
"... Is it dead?"
I nudged it with my foot, but it didn't move.
At that moment,
Swish.
A cluster of light gathered from thin air and began to converge above the goblin's head.
It formed a small hexagonal shape, then flashed and disappeared.
Where the light once was, a small wooden box remained.
With my hands wrapped in clothes, I awkwardly picked up the box. Ugh, this is really inconvenient.
"Buzz. Buzzzz."
When I managed to open the box with my tongue, what revealed was…
"... Lip balm?"
Cheap lip balm.
Was the goblin too weak? Or is this the typical reward for defeating monsters?
While I stared at the lip balm with a sour face...
"Kieeeck!"
Another goblin jumped out from the bushes. Perhaps it heard the noise when I killed the first one.
"Too slow!"
I managed to dodge its bite this time, but...
"Kieck!"
"Hehehehe!"
Surprisingly, there was another one behind me. They had surrounded me.
I tried my best to dodge the second attack...
Slash!
I couldn't avoid the claws that grazed my side.
"Ah."
[You've taken damage.]
[You will regress to the initial moment of entering the 0th floor.]
I tried again, this time armed with a sword.
It was better when I fought with my fist.
With Doraemon's fist, wielding a sword was too difficult.
[You've taken damage.]
[You will regress to the initial moment of entering the 0th floor.]
This time, I decided to gather allies and go out.
I explained that I had wrapped myself in clothes due to an allergy to the grass, and they seemed to believe me.
Of course, the outcome was the same.
It was impossible to fend off 6 goblins attacking at once without getting hurt.
[You've taken damage.]
[You will regress to the initial moment of entering the 0th floor.]
ž
"Damn! Damnnnn!"
Goblins are weak.
Weaker than a 5-year-old child.
Their bones are fragile, they have no weapons, and all they possess are teeth and nails. Yet, even those aren't particularly sharp.
They're typical tutorial monsters. Any adult with a will to fight could stomp on them.
But to me, they felt like an insurmountable wall.
Goblins are persistent.
They resist until the brink of death and ambush humans with some semblance of a plan.
There are many goblins.
It's impossible to win without getting hit when they attack from all sides.
Goblins are small. The tall grass made it hard to detect their presence until the very last moment of an ambush.
But all these are mere excuses.
The decisive reason is singular.
I'm simply not strong enough to win without getting hurt.
To be honest, if it weren't for the regressions, I could have easily gotten through this patch of grass.
I could have just laughed it off thinking, 'This much injury is fine.'
The root of all problems is the excessive regression.
Because of the regression, I can't even get out of this tutorial's tutorial, this open field.
I have two choices here.
First, keep persisting in the goblin-infested grass.
Challenge, challenge again, and continuously challenge until someday I succeed.
However, there's a significant issue here.
Facing the goblins, it's hard to use the sword.
The need to wrap myself in clothes is one thing, and the tall grass hinders movement.
It's the worst environment to get accustomed to a sword.
So, the second choice.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
My gaze turns to the ponytailed woman, consistently swinging her sword.
Somehow, I need to become friends with that woman.