Chapter 6 : Leveled Up Before It Even Started

Chapter 6: Leveled Up Before It Even Started

The level increased.

.

.

.

The level increased.

The level increased.

“…….”

What was this?

What kind of situation was unfolding right now?

When the first messages had filled his vision, he had only felt dazed.

And after a little time passed, the current situation began to sink in directly, against his skin.

‘So all this time, the data was just on hold?’

Standing there blankly, reading the messages over and over, Dohyeong…….

‘This is insane!’

He shouted in triumph inside his head.

As expected, the choice he had made at the convenience store had been the best possible decision.

After all, the act of hunting monsters for the first hunting achievement had come back to him as this kind of reward.

Before he could even calm his swelling excitement, the rabbit fairy’s explanation continued.

“Pishit! Since all players’ data here has been stabilized. From now on, you’ll be able to view your status windows. Everyone, try checking them once.”

Had the fact that the people who caused a disturbance were driven out of the safe zone left fear behind?

Despite the rabbit’s words, the people around only glanced at one another, showing no other reaction.

“Don’t just hesitate—try checking it once? Ah! You can just say or think ‘status window.’”

With a meaningful smile, the rabbit added a final remark.

“……For reference, there are bonus stats given at the start, so you can use them right away.”

As if that statement had been the trigger, the people who had only been watching each other began calling up their status windows one by one.

“S-status window. Gah!”

“What is this? Bonus stats? ……It really feels like a game.”

Following them, Dohyeong also muttered ‘status window’ softly.

Ttiring!

Name : Jin Dohyeong (LV.6)

———————————

§Strength : 1

§Agility : 1

§Stamina : 1

§Mana : 1

Bonus Stats : 20

———————————

§Owned Skills : None

After checking his status window, Dohyeong clenched his fist tightly.

‘Just as I thought.’

With his level raised to 6, the bonus stats that should have been fixed at 5 had increased to 20.

Dohyeong’s heart pounded wildly.

‘Hoo, stay calm.’

While everyone else stared at their status windows in confusion,

Dohyeong, based on information from the countless sub-characters he had raised before, pondered how he should develop himself.

‘Who would suit me best? Let’s set Jin Aragorn aside for now…….’

Just as Dohyeong was racking his brain.

“Suho, what’s your mana stat like?”

“Huh? Noona, what are you talking about?”

From beside him, he heard the conversation between the convenience store part-timer and her younger sibling.

“No, it’s just……, everything else is ‘1’, but the mana value is a bit different.”

“What? How much is it?”

Pretending not to listen, Dohyeong’s eyes widened.

‘The mana value is different?’

All of Colossus’s base stats were fixed at ‘1’ with almost a 100% probability.

That was a fact he had learned after deleting and rerolling countless characters.

However, in extremely rare cases, there were times when a base stat was higher than ‘1’.

‘Cases where a holy stigmata was engraved from birth.’

Could it be that this rare probability had actually hit?

Swallowing hard, Dohyeong focused on their conversation.

“……5.”

“5? Really? Your bonus stats are 5? Ah, no! For now, noona…….”

The younger brother cautioned her to be careful with her words, conscious of their surroundings.

He seemed to have noticed her specialness—different from his own.

In conclusion, the actions of the sibling called Suho were the correct answer.

If one were to clumsily flaunt being ‘special’, it was obvious that all sorts of troublesome things would follow. That aside…….

‘This is huge.’

If her mana value was ‘5’ from the very start.

Then her status window would definitely contain the words “Mana Womb — Blessing of Mana,” something others did not have.

With that, not only now but even into the late game, her growth potential was essentially guaranteed.

‘Should I say it’s fortunate I left a good impression on that woman earlier.’

Dohyeong began to take interest in her as an un-scratched winning lottery ticket.

Right at that moment.

“……W-whoa!”

A man in his forties nearby jumped up and down, marveling.

A middle-aged man with a protruding belly and thin limbs, an average build by Korean standards.

For such an ordinary man, his movements were extremely nimble.

‘He used his bonus stats.’

Otherwise, his physical abilities couldn’t have risen so dramatically.

As if someone nearby had thought the same, a voice was heard.

“Suho, shouldn’t we use our bonus stats too, like that person?”

Just as she said, starting with the tadpole uncle, most people had already begun using their bonus stats to raise their abilities.

It was only natural to feel impatient when others acted first, but.

‘We can’t use the bonus stats right now…….’

Because Dohyeong knew what kind of situation would unfold next, he stared intently at the siblings, who looked like they might raise their bonus stats at any moment.

He was just about to give them a small hint, thinking they might be of help later.

“No, noona. I think it’s better to watch the situation for now.”

……Oh?

The younger brother called Suho stopped his sister first.

“Why? It looks like everyone’s raising theirs.”

“Either way, it’s not like we have to raise them right away. There might still be……, something we don’t know yet.”

The younger brother’s voice was clearly trembling, but.

The eyes visible beyond his glasses shone with sharp intelligence.

‘Brat, you’ve got pretty good instincts.’

In truth, the rabbit had gone out of its way to say, ‘You can use the given bonus stats right away,’ but.

Using bonus stats immediately was by no means a good choice.

After all, there was no telling what might come out of the starting skill draw.’

The ‘skill draw’, which could be called the flower of ‘Colossus’, had not yet taken place.

In the game, once a character was created, the official route was to select a random skill first, then move on to the tutorial.

After that, adjusting and setting early-game stats according to the first skill you possessed was the most ideal starting method.

‘It doesn’t seem like he said that knowing all this beforehand……. Is he just sharp by nature?’

The older sister possessed a special power called the ‘Blessing of Mana’ from birth, and the younger brother possessed keen awareness, the most essential trait for survival.

It was as if each of the siblings had been born with one good talent.

‘These two……, I’m pretty excited about them?’

It was just as he was looking at the two with interest, thinking that.

“Now! Next up, it’s finally time for the skill draw you’ve all been waiting for. Pishit!”

At the rabbit’s words, the noisy surroundings quieted down.

At last, it was the moment Dohyeong had been waiting for.

“S-skill draw?”

“Yes, no matter how much you raise your physical abilities through bonus stats. Once the tutorial starts, every single one of you will die like dogs. So from now on, you should draw a skill suited to yourselves and use it to proceed with the tutorial!”

As the rabbit fairy said, facing monsters in Colossus without ‘skills’ was not a sensible thing to do.

Especially in the very early stages, when physical stats were depressingly low.

Dohyeong thought of the man who had slaughtered the goblins earlier.

He had faced monsters using nothing but pure physicality, without a single skill.

Excluding Dohyeong himself, a Colossus veteran, he was someone with greater talent than anyone else here.

Dohyeong turned his gaze to the tightly shut gate of the Community Center.

‘……He’s dead, right?’

Nearby, the only safe zone was this place, the Seogyo-dong Community Center.

Given that the long-haired man was nowhere to be seen, he had most likely been killed by another powerful monster after the goblin massacre, or had missed the time limit and been lynched by monsters released from the barrier.

Dohyeong quickly shook his head.

‘What does it matter what happened to that guy. For now, focus on the situation at hand.’

After taking a deep breath, he looked around the chaotic surroundings.

The convenience store siblings felt relieved that their decision not to touch the bonus stats first had been correct, while some who had rashly raised their bonus stats realized their mistake and stiffened their faces.

Among them…….

“Um! Is there any way to undo the bonus stats I raised earlier? I-I raised them by mistake, so I want to redo them…….”

The large male student who had cleverly tripped Suho in front of the Giga Snail and run away stepped forward to ask.

Dohyeong saw Suho’s face nearby harden stiffly.

And the rabbit, having heard the request, asked back indifferently.

“A mistake? What exactly was a mistake?”

“Pardon? Uh……. Well, you see.”

“You say that so easily? You made a mistake? So you want me to undo the stats you raised of your own will, with your own hands?”

“N-no, that’s not it. I just listened to what you said and…….”

“Hah? Now you’re even trying to dump responsibility on me……. Anyone listening would think I forced you to raise your bonus stats.”

When the rabbit growled lowly, clearly displeased, the large male student staggered back with a flustered expression.

“Honestly, this is why I hate dealing with newbies. If you keep whining, I’ll let you have some intense skinship with the monsters outside, just like those people earlier, so keep that in mind.”

At the rabbit’s sharp threat, the guy became as silent as if he’d swallowed honey and dropped his head low.

Having quieted the surroundings, the rabbit once again smiled playfully and spoke.

“Now then, things were delayed a bit. In any case, we’ll start right away. This will be your first and possibly last skill draw!”

When the rabbit spread its short arms wide.

Along with a blinding light, several vividly colored cards appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Paaat!-

“What’s this now. Red and green……, and yellow?”

“No, there are only pictures and no explanations? Then how are we supposed to know what kind of skills these are?”

Faced with the incomprehensible cards, they didn’t know what to do.

“What should I do……? Which one should I pick?”

“I-I’ll take this one! I don’t know what it is, but it looks the best out of mine.”

A young man selected a red card with a fire orb drawn on it from the thirteen cards laid out before him.

Paaat!

Then, a powerful light settled into the man’s body.

Instinctively checking his status window, he shouted loudly, eyes blazing.

“Fire Ball!”

Hwaaahk!-

A blazing mass of fire about the size of a human head appeared in his grasp.

The man’s eyes were filled with elation as he confirmed his new power.

Watching the scene while swallowing their saliva, the people around him also began selecting cards, each for their own reasons.

Paaat……!

And Dohyeong calmly scanned the thirteen cards laid out before him.

‘Nine active skills, three passive skills, and one special summoning-type.’

Out of a total of 572 types of skill cards, they were picture cards whose meanings ordinary people couldn’t discern.

But to Dohyeong, they were extremely familiar.

Knowing even every single hidden piece, Dohyeong began narrowing down the skills.

But just at that moment.

‘For now, among the thirteen, these four are the best……. Hm?’

Ttiring!

A message appeared before his eyes.

============================

A gift sent by developer BUST DOWN exists. Would you like to check it?

============================

‘Ah, right. The gift the developer sent.’

What on earth could it be?

With a slightly expectant expression, Dohyeong nodded. Then…….

Paat!

Along with a bright light, cards other than the original thirteen appeared before his eyes.

Two of them, at that.

And upon seeing one of those cards, Dohyeong couldn’t hide his excitement.

‘T-this is……!’

A brilliantly shining, resplendent golden card.

The moment he saw that card—one any Colossus veteran couldn’t fail to recognize—Dohyeong was filled with ecstasy.

‘Return of the Sovereign!’

Among the cards obtainable from the first skill draw, it was the single most outstanding one.

And the other card that appeared alongside it was…….

“……What is this?”

Dohyeong tilted his head as he examined the card closely.

That was because the card was exceedingly ordinary.

No, it was an old card that even looked a bit worn from use(?).