Chapter 3: Tutorial boss (3)

I pushed open the door and stepped outside.

-CRUNCH!

Stepping out of the mysterious room where I had first opened my eyes, I was greeted by a colossal axe.

To describe the size of its blade, it was as tall as Cyan, who stood slightly above the average height for a woman.

An ordinary person would likely have been startled speechless.

Yet, I had more or less anticipated this.

The Tower of Exile was a place where countless high-level monsters massacred any novices who dared to pass through.

I had fallen victim to them countless times myself.

[ Guardian – Colossus Lv.100 ]

A colossal statue of a knight clad in steel armor.

“Hah, this insane level remains unchanged.”

When I first arrived at this magic tower, I must have been around Level 70, yet all the monsters here were Level 100.

Considering the top-level players at the time were hovering in the mid-to-late 80s, this was simply absurd.

What’s more, the Demon’s Blessing quest could no longer be undertaken once one surpassed Level 75, and ironically, if the level difference exceeded 20, most attacks would simply miss.

In other words, these monsters were never intended to be defeated from the outset.

-Intruder detected.

“Ugh, my head…”

Perhaps it was due to those past experiences, but a slight headache throbbed in my temples, feeling almost like a trigger for PTSD.

Just consider how many times I had been sliced apart by that thing; even when I barely managed to take down nearby monsters thanks to the Demon’s Blessing, I was instantly killed countless times.

-THWACK!

Consequently, a flicker of anger ignited within me.

Out loud, I cursed at the creature, ‘You son of a b*tch, perfect timing for you to show up,’ even as I snatched the axe hurtling toward me with one hand.

However, what I actually uttered was somewhat different.

“…You dare to look down upon me?”

My tone seemed a little off.

But there was no need to dwell on it; regardless of my phrasing, my immediate task was simply to deal with this damned foe.

I wrested the axe from its grip.

Then, hoisting the axe, I brought it crashing down upon the creature’s head.

-CRASH!

“Huh?”

With a casual swing, I drove the creature into the ground using an axe twice my own height.

Unlike seeing it in a game, witnessing this firsthand, as if in reality, from a first-person perspective, was quite astonishing.

While it wasn’t entirely surprising if the in-game stats were genuinely reflected, I was nonetheless impressed by the unexpectedly vivid visual depiction.

“What is this? Is this my strength?”

With the shattered Guardian lying at my feet, I repeatedly clenched and unclenched my hands, trying to comprehend the current situation.

To wield a massive axe, easily over three meters long, against an even larger Guardian and shatter it in a single strike…

It certainly felt quite distant from the image of Cyan, with her delicate appearance.

In truth, Cyan was a mage.

Demons typically possessed double the base magic stats compared to most other races, often leading them to adopt the mage role.

Consequently, physical damage dealers were incredibly scarce among demons.

‘But I was different.’

[ Demon’s Blessing ]

[When equipped, it increases HP and MP natural regeneration by 40% each, and all other stats are doubled.]

While the inability to equip other accessories was a drawback, even accounting for that, this accessory’s function was truly overpowered.

Quite literally, all stats, excluding HP and MP—like Strength or Agility, which mage players typically ignored—were doubled from their base values.

As an aside, the item also named Demon’s Blessing, which was re-released alongside Cyan as a tutorial boss, was merely an early-game item that only increased natural regeneration by 30%, without any other stat boosts.

Furthermore, even its regeneration ability had been nerfed upon its re-release.

Honestly, even if its acquisition difficulty was high, if multiple such items were released, the game’s balance would surely collapse.

“Even so, I didn’t even use an enhancement spell…”

Regardless, thanks to this, I was an all-rounder.

I was both a mage and a strength-mage, whose physical damage didn’t significantly lag behind other combat classes.

Of course, since HP and MP weren’t increased, I was vulnerable to defense-piercing attacks, but that was something I could generally manage to cover.

“Should I just attribute it to the level difference?”

For now, the recent event must be due to the overwhelming level disparity.

My Cyan was a max-level character, while this creature was merely a high-level monster from the game’s initial launch.

Given that there had been level cap expansions and numerous major patches since then, the difference in power was undoubtedly stark.

“Still, disarming a monster and defeating it with its own weapon feels a bit different. It’s quite entertaining, actually.”

This brings back old memories.

During my school days, I used to ‘grind’ (TL Note: A Korean slang term, ‘ppaengppaengi,’ referring to repeatedly fighting monsters for experience or items.) these creatures, waiting for my health to regenerate after each hit, repeating the process endlessly until I could barely manage to defeat one.

“…By the way, is this a library?”

I dusted off my hands, stood up, and surveyed my surroundings.

The ceiling seemed to be about ten meters high.

Considering the Colossus was five meters long just moments ago, this size seemed appropriate enough.

Aside from that, there were an incredible number of books all around.

Bookcases, as tall as the ceiling, were packed tightly with books, leaving no empty space.

[ The Twilight Forest: A place where a hero from another world confronts their previous life. ]

“These are characters I’ve never seen before, yet I can read them all.”

Perhaps this was an effect of inhabiting Cyan’s body.

The discrepancy between my thoughts and my spoken words might also be attributed to this.

Well, I might as well try reading some other books.

[ The Tower of Exile: A place disconnected from the world, created by a transcendent being who attained enlightenment in the past. ]

[ The Twilight Forest: A garden created as a hobby by the transcendent being who built the Tower of Exile. ]

“Is everything here related to this place…?”

Upon examining other books, they all appeared to be the same.

While there might be one or two books with different content if I searched, the sheer number of books here seemed tens—no, thousands of times more than all the books I had ever read in my life.

It was as if every book in the world had been gathered here.

“Hmm.”

Let’s try moving elsewhere.

As far as I knew, the Tower of Exile was divided into a total of ten stages.

Each floor had a monster called a Guardian, and all of them were uniformly Level 100.

In my current state, I could probably defeat them with ease.

****

…How much time had passed?

“…”

I decided to sit down for a moment and rest on the shattered remnants of a Guardian.

I wasn’t exhausted from fighting the Guardians here.

It was simply that the Tower of Exile was far too vast.

I had been descending stairs for an hour now, and I had no idea if an end even existed.

‘According to the lore, this place should be several times the size of Lotte Tower (TL Note: Lotte Tower is a very tall skyscraper in Seoul.).’

The room where I had first awakened was not at the very top, but somewhere in the middle.

When I briefly looked up, its summit was obscured by clouds, making it impossible for me to grasp just how tall this tower truly was.

In any case, to think I tried to walk all the way down such a place—it was an incredibly foolish endeavor, even if it was my own doing.

[ Guardians: They are the tower’s sentinels, created by the transcendent being to protect their legacy. ]

“The contents of the books are all the same too.”

I found myself wishing I could use Teleport, one of Cyan’s skills.

But there was no way I knew how to use it.

Up until now, I’d only ever used it in the game with a single designated hotkey; how could I possibly know how to activate it in this situation?

I recalled there being incantations in the lore, but I couldn’t remember those details.

“What should I do?”

I opened a door nestled between the bookshelves and stepped inside.

There, I found a room similar to the one I had been in, and a window that opened to the outside.

‘What if… from there?’

…This was, by all accounts, a crazy idea.

Yet, knowing that, I still walked toward the window.

“It’s high.”

Once again, a magnificent landscape unfolded before me; I had thought I’d descended quite a bit from where I’d awakened, but I was still incredibly high up.

Perhaps looking down from the top of the 63 Building (TL Note: A prominent skyscraper in Seoul, known for its height and views.) would evoke a similar sensation?

One could see a landscape where dense trees appeared like mere blades of grass.

“Hmm.”

I climbed a staircase, whose purpose I didn’t understand, and ascended onto the railing.

Now, if I took just one step forward from here, I would plummet into the dizzying abyss below.

This was, by all appearances, an act of suicide.

It was a method no sane person would ever attempt.

No, this wasn’t it.

Even if it was Cyan, falling from such a height would surely not end well.

“Let’s go back. If I keep descending, I’ll eventually reach the first floor…”

I turned my head, intending to head back to the stairs.

Honestly, jumping off when I couldn’t even use magic was something I simply couldn’t bring myself to do.

-BOOM…! BOOM…! CRASH…!!!

“Hm?”

Just then, with a sudden roar, the room’s entrance crumbled, and a colossal shadow emerged.

“Intruder… detected…”

[ Guardian – Colossus Lv.100 ]

“These things never get tired of showing up!”

It was another monster, a Guardian.

This one was similar to the one I’d dispatched earlier, and it, too, swung its massive axe toward me.

But I had already dealt with over twenty of them, and even the first one hadn’t required much effort to handle.

-CRUNCH!

Now, I effortlessly disarmed the creature, then returned its own weapon, cleaving it in two with a single strike.

“If you’re going to keep attacking, why don’t you drop some items like in the old days, instead of just being a pointless nuisance?”

Honestly, just a moment ago, I had been worried about being ambushed by high-level monsters, especially since I couldn’t use magic.

However, all the monsters here were low-level, making them easy to defeat even bare-handed, so it seemed unlikely any true crisis would arise.

For now, staying here might be safe, perhaps…

“I think it’ll probably be fine.”

-CRACK. CRACKLE.

Oh, but what was that ominous sound?

It sounded like something was cracking.

“No way?!”

I snapped back to reality and surveyed my surroundings.

Was it because I had swung the axe too hard just now?

Cracks began to spiderweb across the walls near the window.

In other words, it was collapsing.

Why was it that ominous premonitions were never wrong?

-CRASH!

“Gah…!”

Ultimately, the railing gave way, and I plummeted.

Fortunately, the entire tower didn’t collapse, but I began to fall hundreds of meters downward.

****

For the first time, I felt the sensation of pain.

Even when attacked by the Tower Guardians, I hadn’t felt anything distinct, but this was a genuinely painful sensation.

Once my consciousness had somewhat returned, I slowly pushed myself up.

Sure enough, various parts of my body ached.

With every slight movement of my body, I heard the rustling and brushing of broken twigs and grass.

“…It took longer to fall than I expected.”

Perhaps one or two minutes?

Given the immense height, it seemed I hadn’t just plummeted instantly, as one might expect.

“Hah, I somehow survived.”

I brushed the leaves from my clothes and examined my body.

While it stung a bit, seeing no broken bones or major injuries indicated that this body was surprisingly durable.

It seemed my base defense was doubled, and the physical defense of the armor I was wearing was also quite substantial…

“I managed to get down somehow, but going back up is another problem.”

While I wondered if there was even a need to go back up, if I did decide to, it would likely present another challenge.

For now, I decided to think about that later.

“If my prediction is correct… a player undergoing the tutorial should appear here.”

Currently, I couldn’t exit this tutorial stage.

More precisely, I didn’t know the way out.

Originally, in the tutorial for Novel Online, upon entering the map, players were given an item called the Crystal of Guidance (TL Note: The Korean term uses the Hanja for ‘guidance’ or ‘leading’, 引導, pronounced ‘indo’.).

Following the path indicated by that crystal would lead them to a portal exiting the Twilight Forest; otherwise, acting arbitrarily would result in getting lost.

Even so, with the Crystal of Guidance, one could eventually find the way out, though it would take time.

But what about me?

“I can’t open my inventory, and even if I could, that item was discarded ages ago.”

I had no item to guide me out.

I couldn’t stay in a place like this indefinitely.

While it was fine for now, this was a forest devoid of living creatures, filled only with vast expanses of trees and those golem-like Guardians—a perfect place to lose one’s mind.

Furthermore, although it might be somewhat dangerous, it wasn’t as if I had no desire to explore the outside world…

“Hmm.”

In that case, the only way to leave this place was to wait for a player undergoing the tutorial to appear, which I expected to happen soon, given how popular the game was.

Though I couldn’t be certain if this was truly the game world of Novel Online itself.

“Surely, not a single one won’t appear, right?”

I said, forcing a smile.

Whether I actually smiled or not, I didn’t know, but since I had managed to descend the tower somehow, I decided to explore the forest.

…And yet, even after half a year had passed, no player ever came to this place.