Chapter 36

It was the same forest as before.

Kim Haemi thought as she looked around.

A forest still hiding a quiet cruelty within its peacefulness.

Her body trembled with tension, stretched taut as if it could snap at any moment.

The only difference was that it was a bit more humid.

Unlike the dryness of last time, this time humidity filled the air as if rain would fall soon.

She raised her head to look at the sky.

Instead of the vast, wide blue sky, a gray sky filled with dark clouds came into view.

She blankly stared at the sky that seemed to be whimpering like tears about to pour down.

Yet not a single raindrop fell, making her heart feel even more heavy.

She opened her inventory and took out a weapon.

They had suddenly distributed weapons the day before.

Was it intentional? Or did another reason arise to suddenly distribute them?

Either way, it was good for me.

It meant my survival rate would increase that much.

The weapon I chose was a dagger.

[Inventory▲]

[Weapon: Dagger]

∟[Attributes: Sharpness, Keenness]

The equipment itself doesn’t come with additional stat effects.

But there were supplementary effects hidden in what were called attributes.

For example, Sharpness gives a correction effect when stabbing.

When performing a stabbing action, it helps the action flow more naturally.

It also helps the blade penetrate more easily when stabbed.

Keenness gives a correction effect when slashing.

Similarly, there was an effect that naturally corrects the action when swinging the knife.

This time, when attempting to slash, corrections are applied to the destruction of each body part.

Of course, though it’s similar to the game, reality is reality, so there might be changes.

Still, the reassurance that a weapon gives couldn’t be ignored.

Just holding a weapon brings a strange sense of stability.

It was naturally more comforting to have at least a minimal means to protect oneself than to have nothing.

[Anonymous Constellation 1 says it’s nice to see you.]

“It’s nice to see you too.”

[Anonymous Constellation 2 enters the broadcast hurriedly.]

“Nice to meet you.”

I bowed in greeting.

[Anonymous Constellation 2 says there’s no need to be so formal.]

“B-but I should at least do this much. I h-heard that greetings are the basics of social life.”

[Anonymous Constellation 2 watches you with fond eyes.]

[Anonymous Constellation 2 encourages you not to be too nervous.]

[Anonymous Constellation 1 clicks their tongue, saying it’s sentimental.]

“Hehe.”

Looking at the messages coming up, I start to relax a bit.

-Don’t trust the Tower too much.

I shook my head at the suddenly recalled voice.

Why did that voice come to mind?

Who said those words, and with what intention?

It was a voice that felt only sweet, like the devil’s whisper.

A voice that seemed like it would enchant me.

[Anonymous Constellation 3 peeks in, asking what room this is.]

[Anonymous Constellation 3 settles in quietly, tilting their head curiously.]

[Anonymous Constellation 2 shows territoriality, asking who you are.]

[Anonymous Constellation 1 jeers at Constellation 2, saying jealousy is ugly.]

The messages sent by Constellations who seem somewhat lacking make my eyes dizzy.

Looking at those messages naturally brings a smile.

Tension naturally evaporates and flies away, leaving just the right amount of tension lingering.

Are those people lying? Are they even people to begin with?

A fish named doubt is caught on the hook of a curved question mark.

Before the doubt grew larger, the second tutorial began with a ding-dong sound.

In the suddenly quiet forest.

When the messages that were coming up disappeared in an instant, it felt awkward.

A forest dense with greenery, and above it, a sky with dark clouds dyed gray.

The forest, where not a single light properly entered, was darker than expected and exuded an eerie atmosphere.

The forest, enveloped in silence in an instant, was emitting an unknown pressure.

The stillness emanating from the forest, called the source of life, felt as if it contained death instead.

Breaking that stillness, a sudden roar was heard.

Kieeeeeek!

The forest shakes with just one sound.

The leaves shake in the incoming wind, and the silence that filled the surroundings breaks.

What revealed itself through the broken silence was a jellyfish-shaped monster.

It was different from the jellyfish I met in the first tutorial.

It was more gigantic and had a bizarre form.

The upper part of the head was like an umbrella, and the lower part looked like it was covered with a transparent plastic bag.

A strange liquid was contained in the part resembling a plastic bag. In the middle of it, a yellow light was positioned like an eye.

That liquid inside was a murky, dark blue color, reminiscent of the deep sea.

Long tentacle-like things hung down from under the umbrella.

Overall, it had a feeling similar to a jellyfish.

The jellyfish-like creature opened its mouth.

The mouth opens below the yellow light. Numerous teeth are densely packed inside.

The contained liquid flows out through the mouth.

The high-viscosity liquid slowly permeates the forest.

It had such high viscosity that it was hard to distinguish whether it was solid or liquid.

Slime-like liquids crawl around, wobbling, and permeate the forest.

The humidity that already filled the surroundings begins to fill even more.

“Shit.”

A curse naturally escaped.

How am I supposed to deal with this?

With each breath, the humidity sticking to the air naturally makes breathing rapid.

The massive body itself exuded pressure.

I felt like I would gradually suffocate and collapse under that pressure.

I acutely realize how powerless I am.

The slime-like liquids transform into hands and pull everything around them towards themselves.

Those that are helplessly pulled in are swallowed and dissolved inside.

“Am I supposed to face these things?”

* * *

“Am I supposed to face these things?”

I couldn’t help but respond to the sound coming from the phone.

“Nah, no way.”

Of course, I would face them later, but at this stage, it’s not even close.

Those were just means to explain the background setting. They were deployed for build-up.

At this stage, they too were merely background.

Since the Tower is not yet completed, we needed to gather more imagination from people.

It was a temporary measure arranged for that reason.

We have consciences too.

No matter what, we don’t intend to make newcomers fight such merciless beings.

“Hey, be quiet. I can’t hear well.”

“Wear earphones.”

“Don’t I not have earphones?”

“Exactly.”

I gave a casual reply to Time, who was complaining, and turned my head back to the screen.

“By the way, who is Anonymous 3?”

“I don’t know. Since it’s anonymous, isn’t it better not to look for them? Anonymity should be respected.”

“I already know you’re Anonymous 1.”

“Please pretend you don’t know.”

“Alright.”

It’s about to start now.

If I had to say, what Haemi has been seeing so far is like a cinematic video that appears before entering the proper tutorial.

The jellyfish quietly leaves.

It rises into the air and disappears.

The enemy Haemi must face appears now.

If in stage 1 she faced one enemy, now in stage 2, it was time to learn how to face multiple enemies.

The slimes that the jellyfish had spread around transform into human-like hands and extend in all directions.

The greenish, semi-liquid hands move by wiggling their fingers like legs.

Tock. Tock-tock. Creepy sounds play the forest with their own rhythm.

Though not a single drop of rain falls from the dark clouds, the forest was already getting wet.

Dozens of eyes growing on the hands roll around.

Then they discover their target and scream.

A grating sound like scratching a chalkboard echoes throughout the forest one by one.

Hands begin to gather around Haemi from all directions, one by one.

I could see that Haemi was flustered, suddenly surrounded by hands.

Just because it was modeled after a game doesn’t mean it’s completely like a game.

In the game’s tutorial, getting hit only reduces health, but reality isn’t like that.

The momentary pain felt when hit naturally stiffens the body.

The momentary gap created by that has both psychological and physical impacts.

Attacks are allowed through that gap, and thus the gap gradually widens.

Due to psychological anxiety, the body becomes increasingly stiff.

Due to the anxiety and fear of possibly dying, proper skills don’t come out.

Though it’s said to be created based on a game, it was reality in the end.

One could die at any time.

And it’s a form of death that ordinary people would never experience.

Dying alone and desolate presents more pressure than simple death.

It’s dying with the anxiety that no one will remember me, with the loneliness of being like an isolated island.

“Though it’s similar to a game, this is reality, after all.”