Chapter 9 : From the Start, Luck Was on His Side (2)

Chapter 9: From the Start, Luck Was on His Side (2)

Dohyeong organized the priorities of the items he needed to buy from the VIP shop in his head.

‘Would it be better to secure the strange pouch first? No, since it’s still the early phase, engraving a proper Holy Mark on my body would be the most worthwhile investment.’

As he continued his pleasant deliberation, a peculiar noise reached his ears.

Uuuuu……!

The unsettling howling he had vaguely heard earlier.

No, this time it seemed to be coming from a little closer than before.

Dohyeong glanced around and tightly gripped the spear shaft.

To an ordinary person, it would have been nothing more than an unpleasant noise.

But Dohyeong, a seasoned veteran, knew very well what this howling signified.

‘They’re nearby.’

Since he could be facing danger at any moment, he needed to prepare as quickly as possible.

Normally, it would have been standard to use bonus stats to raise survivability even a little.

[Bold Hero]

Acquisition Condition: Can be obtained by clearing the tutorial without using any bonus stats at all.

Reward Achievement Points: 4,000P

‘If I want to stack as many achievement points as possible, I can’t skip this one.’

Of course, not raising bonus stats at all was practically the same as being told to go die.

However…….

Dohyeong calmly set down the duffel pack he had slung over his shoulder and checked its contents.

Clatter!

“Whew…… I really packed a lot.”

For Dohyeong, who possessed various equipment items ranging from rare to epic grade, it wasn’t much of a problem.

[Slime Wrist Band (Epic)]

= Automatically protects the wearer by detecting danger

= Will be destroyed once cumulative damage exceeds the limit

Cumulative Damage 0/5,000

[Black Hound Fang Pendant (Rare)]

= When equipped, the following stats increase

Strength +1

Agility +2

Magic Power +1

[Young Orc Leather Belt (Rare)]

= When equipped, the following stats increase

Strength +1

Stamina +2

[Mole Leather Shoes (Rare)]

= When equipped, the following stats increase

Agility +1

Stamina +2

Just by equipping the items, his stats were more than twice as high as the bonus stats others possessed.

Clench-

The tightly clenched fist was filled with a strength incomparable to before.

His body itched with the urge to run anywhere.

He fully understood why that pot-bellied man had been running around so much earlier.

‘Good.’

As he pleasantly felt the changes in himself—

Pussssh!

The bushes in front of him shook violently.

A pungent stench assaulted his nose. And then…….

“Grrraaah!”

Some rotten corpse burst out from within the bushes.

Thud!

A monster scattered in numbers too great to count throughout the entire ‘Strange Forest’.

It was a zombie, a tutorial map monster.

Looking at the grotesque creature’s face, Dohyeong pulled up the corner of his mouth.

“Did you come?”

Then, with a different strength than before, he powerfully thrust his spear forward.

Puhk……!

Dohyeong pierced straight through the creature’s mouth in a single strike, his eyes shining.

‘The zombie slaughter begins.’

Slash!

“Guh……!”

After cutting off the zombie’s neck with his spear, Dohyeong wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a deep breath.

From the creature’s body, which had completely stopped moving, a faint energy slowly began to seep out.

Ssssss……

That gray energy was immediately absorbed into Dohyeong.

All of this was thanks to the skill Dohyeong had chosen, ‘Essence Absorption’.

Ding!

[Essence Absorption (Rare)]

= Collects and absorbs the souls of monsters you kill.

= When a substantial amount of souls is absorbed, the traits and characteristics of that soul can be projected onto your weapon.

Additionally, the more deeply a soul is infused into the weapon, the more monsters with similar wavelengths to that soul will feel fear.

Because one would need to kill thousands of monsters of the same type to see its effects.

In truth, [Essence Absorption] was a very awkward skill to choose as a starting skill.

However, its true value lay in the tutorial.

Because it was the only key to opening the tutorial ‘Hidden Piece’.

‘That’s why I need to gather as many of their souls as possible.’

Combat against zombies was extremely easy.

As he already knew, their attack patterns were simple and very slow.

‘The dangerous part is their endless numbers.’

Their group attacks brought to mind human wave tactics.

No matter how much of a veteran Dohyeong was, if he was surrounded by dozens from all sides, there was no answer.

“Well, I can just escape before that happens.”

Each time, howling rang out from the direction they were coming from.

By gauging the direction and intensity of the sound, he could roughly estimate their positions.

“If I grasp just that, breaking out of encirclement is a piece of cake.”

Using this method, whenever Dohyeong encountered a group too large to handle, he quickly pulled back, waging a guerrilla-style battle.

In that way, over the course of two hours, he managed to annihilate multiple zombie groups.

He even became so accustomed to combat that handling four zombies at the same time posed no difficulty at all.

Dohyeong checked the achievements he had acquired over that time.

「Killed a zombie in a single blow」

Achievement Points Acquired 10P

「Annihilated a group of 5 or more zombies alone」

Achievement Points Acquired 30P

「Successfully ambushed without making any noise」

Achievement Points Acquired 5P

「Annihilated a group of 10 zombies alone」

Achievement Points Acquired 50P

「Cut off all of a zombie’s limbs, causing it to lose the will to fight」

Achievement…….

.

.

.

[Held Achievement Points : 1,449P]

Dohyeong hunted zombies like a madman.

The reason he hunted so frenziedly was to become accustomed to combat as much as possible before the actual game began.

“And while I still have leeway, I need to stockpile a lot of achievement points.”

The zombies in the tutorial ‘Strange Forest’ gradually grew stronger as time passed.

Therefore, it was rational to achieve as many accomplishments as possible before that happened.

“Whew, anyway. After moving around so much, I’m getting hungry…….”

After dealing with them alone for two hours, the fatigue was no small matter.

Dohyeong rolled his shoulders to stretch and walked toward a nearby tree.

The three essential elements for human living are food, clothing, and shelter.

Among them, food and a place to rest were absolutely necessary.

Leaving his belongings on the ground, Dohyeong stepped onto the base of the tree.

Thanks to his greatly increased physical stats, he was able to climb the tall tree with ease.

Thud!

The tutorial lasted a total of 7 days.

In this place swarming with zombies, he had to find food.

And he also had to find a place to rest while avoiding those things that could pop out at any moment.

And Dohyeong, a Colossus veteran, knew several such places.

When he climbed all the way up the tall tree, the system rang.

「You climbed a gigantic tree」

Achievement Points Acquired 50P

Dohyeong barely stepped onto a branch and cast his gaze far into the distance.

The first thing that caught his eye was the endlessly sprawling Amazon rainforest.

It truly lived up to its reputation as the largest rainforest on Earth.

And in the middle of it, he saw a huge temple that seemed somewhat out of place here.

Dohyeong’s expression grew rather serious as he stared at it.

‘Is that the place?’

The location where a powerful hidden piece lay dormant within the tutorial.

Of course, obtaining it would require taking great risks.

But whatever slept there was worth betting on.

“Of course, not now. Later.”

For now, finding food took priority.

As Dohyeong slowly widened his field of view, yellow fruit trees came into sight.

“Found it.”

After memorizing the rough location, Dohyeong quickly climbed down the tree.

Thud!

Then he hurriedly headed toward that spot.

How much time had passed?

Dohyeong discovered a gigantic tree emitting a sweet fruity scent.

Grabbing the massive tree, he shook it with force.

Ssssss……! Thud!

Fruits fell to the ground.

Dohyeong picked up one of the yellow fruits at his feet and gave it a sniff.

“…….”

A sweet fruity aroma spread deep into his nose.

Without hesitation, Dohyeong threw the yellow fruit away.

Whoosh

Then, nudging the yellow fruits with his foot, he began searching for something.

As he wandered around looking for it, Dohyeong’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“This is it.”

It was a green fruit that looked as if it was still unripe.

Unlike the yellow fruit, it gave off no scent.

As if that didn’t matter at all, Dohyeong brushed off the dirt and brought it straight to his mouth without hesitation.

Crunch!

Contrary to its appearance, the fruit held a considerable amount of moisture.

For Dohyeong, who was hungry and thirsty on an empty stomach, it was the perfect meal.

“Tch, it would’ve been nice if it tasted good too.”

Dohyeong looked regretfully at the yellow fruits scattered around.

Those yellow fruits were not meant to be consumed.

They looked appealing and smelled good, but the moment someone unknowingly ate one, they would be inflicted with a random status ailment.

‘Everything has its own use.’

While diligently chewing the green fruit, Dohyeong packed several good-quality yellow fruits into his bag.

By the time he repeated the process several times, his hunger and thirst had eased considerably.

“That aside…….”

It felt like it had been quite a while since he last saw another person.

There were a total of 32 people progressing through the tutorial at the same time.

He thought he would run into someone soon.

“But there’s no one in sight.”

It was then, as Dohyeong chewed on the green fruit and looked around.

“Uh, e-excuse me, is someone there?”

Speak of the devil.

At the sound of a human voice he hadn’t heard in a long time, Dohyeong’s eyes gleamed.

Keeping the fruit in his mouth, Dohyeong held his breath and carefully approached.

And there, he saw—

“Ugh……!”

The convenience store part-timer’s younger brother.

That bespectacled student called Suho was clutching his stomach.

Dohyeong quickly assessed the situation.

‘He ate a yellow fruit.’

He was sweating coldly and panting from severe abdominal pain.

And perhaps due to a random status ailment, he seemed to be afflicted with Blind, unable to recognize Dohyeong at all.

“I-is someone there? C-could you help me? I can’t see right now…… ah! Th-that aside, there should be fruits around here, but please don’t touch them.”

Even in the terrifying situation of not being able to see and suffering severe abdominal pain.

The fact that he worried others might suffer the same fate left quite an impression.

“Are you okay?”

Startled by Dohyeong’s voice, he flinched and staggered back as he continued speaking.

“S-so there really was someone. Ugh…… d-don’t eat the fruits! Ever since I ate one, my body’s been weird. Y-you didn’t already eat one, did you?”

“I almost ate one since they were lying around. I’ll be careful. Thank you.”

Of course, it was something Dohyeong already knew.

“T-that’s a relief. Um, if it’s not too much trouble, could I ask you to accompany me for a bit? I have companions nearby, but I can’t see very well.”

The convenience store part-timer came to Dohyeong’s mind.

‘This guy’s sister was definitely born with the blessing of magic, right?’

Even in Dohyeong’s eyes as a Colossus veteran, Suho’s sister was someone whose growth potential was worth anticipating.

Just being able to form a connection with such a woman was reason enough to help Suho.

‘For some reason, I keep getting tangled up with this sibling pair.’

Dohyeong offered his shoulder and supported him.

“I’ll help you. Where should we go?”

“Ah, thank you! Uh, but…… your voice sounds kind of familiar. Have we met before?”

Just as Dohyeong was about to reveal his identity without bothering to hide it.

……Uuuuu!

A zombie’s howling rang out.

At that moment, Suho’s face began to turn pale.

‘Looks like he knows that when you hear howling, zombies appear.’

Just like before, he clearly had a fairly good sense.

‘Maybe, when it comes to survival, this guy has more potential than his sister.’

As Dohyeong raised his evaluation of Suho inwardly.

The howling overlapped in a strange way.

Guuuuu……!

Guuuuuuu……!

‘Huh?’

Focusing on the sound while scanning his surroundings, Dohyeong’s eyes widened.

‘Two groups at the same time?’

Judging by how loud the following howls were, it seemed like there would be around twenty in total.

With numbers like that, even Dohyeong couldn’t help but feel tense.

Perhaps sensing the danger, Suho urgently called out to Dohyeong.

“Hey……!”

Seeing Suho tightly gripping his shoulder, Dohyeong thought.

‘Does he think I’m going to abandon him?’

In a way, it was a natural conclusion.

In dangerous moments, it’s instinctive to want to rely on someone.

However, the words that followed were quite unexpected.

“P-please run first.”

‘Oh, that’s surprising.’

Blinking, Dohyeong stared straight at Suho as the guy hurriedly rambled on.

“I-I don’t know if you know this, but that sound means zombies are coming. You always hear it before you run into them. I think I’ll just get in your way. So p-please, run first.”

He thought Suho would desperately cling to him as a lifeline.

Instead, he was telling him to abandon him and run because this place was dangerous…….

Even the sight of him smiling awkwardly with fear written all over his face felt rather likable.

‘Is it because they’re siblings? Even the way they act is similar.’

Remembering what happened at the convenience store, Dohyeong smiled faintly.

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

Momentarily dumbfounded by Dohyeong’s calm voice, Suho shook off the arm supporting him and said.

“T-that’s not the point. Ugh……! Hurry and get away!”

Of course, even just thinking about his sister with outstanding potential meant Dohyeong couldn’t leave him behind here.

‘And this guy’s got pretty decent potential too.’

Dohyeong opened his status window and looked at the exclusive skill he had obtained as a privilege, 【Giga Checkron – Manifestation】.

‘I was just wanting to try it anyway. This works out well.’

It was finally time to receive the benefits of his first alternate character.