Translator: Wan ED/PR: Solarin *revised*
2. Tutorial of unnamed supporting character (3)
‘Category[1]’ meant the foundation or root by which a living being is sustained and formed.
And types of Enemies were represented as ‘species’.
Rinoseron’s ‘Pet category’ meant it was a perfectly trained pet, and ‘Demonic Beast species’ stood for an animal tainted by evil energy.
The Pet category Demonic Beast species Enemy.
Rinoseron’s overall stats level was 38.
The average overall stats level of the four of us was around 10.
If Rinoseron used its skill a few times, everything inside this gym, including us, would be turned into pup as if taken out of blender.
There was no time to delay.
“Jang Namuk, throw it!”
“Here it goes!”
After I gave a signal, Jang Namuk threw the ‘oat flowers extract medicine[2]’ at the barrier with a spirited shout.
Chink-clang!
Hearing the sound of breaking bottle, a faint scent of grass spread out.
In an instant, the inside air, which reeked of the nauseating smell of demonic beast, became refreshing.
Woooo…..Woooooaaaaa!
Rinoseron stopped the skill activation and staggered towards the broken bottle.
And it started to bang its head against the broken bottle’s content, which scattered around.
Clang, clang-clang-clang, clang-clang!
Because the bottle broke on the barrier, every time it smashed its head against it, the dull sound would ring out and sparks would jump out.
The demonic beast repeated this action, seemingly unbothered.
I heard Jang Namuk’s cheers.
“Done…!”
First half of the start of Player Maister Highschool’s service.
A user, who obtained ‘Oat flowers extract medicine’ from ‘Exam random item box’ posted on the community, suspecting a bug.
The content was as follows:
They sustained damage but didn’t die, so they used an item to recover their vitality.
However, just after they recovered, they were maimed by Rinoseron, who suddenly went crazy, and their corpse was mutilated as if they went through the post-mortem capital punishment[3].
Naturally, it was treated as one of the countless bugs and was buried.
I, who at the time finished exams and was an idle 3rd year highschooler and was completely absorbed into PMH, immediately made a new account to test it.
Then, the exact same thing happened.
I, who judged that an item was the cause, attempted the throw action.
Rinoseron ran towards the thrown item straight away.
After a certain period of time passed, it would aim for the characters again, but some kind of effect was certain.
‘At the time, I didn’t know the cause, but understood it after reading the setting book.’
Rinoseron was a result of the synthesis of rhinoceros demonic beast and lion demonic beast.
This demonic beast had the body of a carnivore and a head of a herbivore.
If besides a complete brainwashing, its instincts were strengthened, then it would react to concentrate smell of grass.
Because of the Oat flowers extract medicine’s potent volatility, it would immediately disperse, but if you caught the timing well, you could buy time.
In the case where the game had a high degree of freedom and the NPC could be controlled, you could buy even more time.
I considered such things, but such an attempt was impossible in the smartphone game famous as a game wreck, and in the tutorial event, which was fine even if it wasn’t cleared.
‘I can do this now. I’m the game’s character, and it’s possible to communicate with Jang Namuk, Son Mingi and Yu Sang-hun.’
I made a suggestion to the three.
First, move to the fixed location, while waiting until Rinoseron starts to act crazy.
Second, when Rinoseron starts acting crazy, Jang Namuk, Yu San-hun, Son Mingi and I, in this order, each of us will throw the ‘Oat flower extract’ towards the fixed points on the barrier.
Third, when all Oat flower extracts are consumed, we will tie its feet[4] with Son Mingi’s ‘Spider string net trap[5] (can tie the target up to 5 seconds)’.
Fourth, with Rinoseron’s feet tied, I …
“Ah… Aack!”
When I ruminated over my role, Son Mingi screamed.
The spilled bottle was right beside him.
He wasn’t covered in the content, but if he didn’t stand up right now and flee, he would be smashed together with the floor.
“Son Mingi!”
I ran to Son Mingi, who lost strength in his legs and couldn’t stand up, but Rinoseron was already under Son Mingi’s nose.
Rinoseron’s nose was about crash Son Mingi.
Chiink, clang!
“Aack….!”
With the ‘swish’ a long line of blood splattered on the shattered floor.
As if Yu Sang-hun covered Son Mingi and ran to the side, Rinoseron’s horn dug into his back.
On Yu Sang-hun’s back, a deep and wide red line was engraved.
“Yu Sang-hun!”
“Crazy demonic beast fucker, that hurts like dogshit…”
“So-… Sorry!”
“It’s fine. Let’s quickly escape.”
Yu Sang-hun pretended to be calm, but it was visible that even standing was too much for him.
Son Mingi was nervous like before, but he wasn’t injured.
“That was scary. Ah, I’m glad…”
As if he rushed to their side at some point, Jang Namuk was standing just at their side and made a relieved face.
The injured person appeared and the number of Rinoseron’s contacts with the barrier decreased compared to the plan.
Even so, it was progressing as I expected.
‘No way…’
Something bothered me.
I recalled the worst scenario, the worst blunder[6] in my head.
However, looking at Yu Sang-hun’s back, which didn’t stop bleeding, I shut my mouth.
* * *
A few minutes long confrontation continued.
I once again returned to my point and succeeded in grabbing the attention of Rinoseron on the brink of skill activation.
Rinoseron slammed its nose into the barrier.
Clang, clang-clang. Ujing, clang!
Sparks jumped between the barrier and Rinoseron’s nose.
“… The barrier is intact. Even though it’s R+ rarity, it can’t be broken?”
Yu Sang-hun, whose face turned pale, because of the contentiously pouring out blood, became overly talkative.
In my eyes, it looked like nothing but him attempting to reassure the other kids.
He was an absurdly good punk.
“The barrier won’t break. Step back.”
I had the same idea as Yu Sang-hun, but because the barrier was under the Jin tribe’s influence for 15 minutes, it couldn’t be broken by the related Jin’s familiar for 15 minutes.
“Son Mingi, it’s your turn. Prepare!”
Jang Namuk shouted.
Jang Namuk was moving the best according to my commands.
Now he also accurately judged the timing of Rinoseron’s skill activation.
“…”
Son Mingi quietly took out ‘Spider string net trap’.
The number of cards in Son Mingi’s hand was three.
Each item could immobilize the target for 5 seconds.
Therefore, Rinoseron could be immobilized for 15 seconds in the future.
With the current conditions, there was a chance of winning.
If we cut off the time again on the brink of Rinoseron’s skill activation….
“Son Mingi?”
Son Mingi aimed the item card not at Rinoseron, but Yu Sang-hun.
“What? Are you joking right now….?”
“Son Mingi?”
Jang Namuk was confused and Yu Sang-hun staggered while looking at Son Mingi with a face saying he couldn’t understand.
Son Mingi wasn’t bothered by those gazes.
He was trembling and nervous like before, but the hand aiming with the item card didn’t flatter.
“I-I- I like to be safe.”
“What?”
“If I endure for just the four remaining minutes, the barrier will be released.”
There was a villain here, who couldn’t see the light because he was slaughtered in tutorial.
Jang Namuk shouted with a face like he couldn’t understand.
“Are you crazy?! If it’s R+ Demonic Beast, the 50m radius will turn into scorched earth within one or two minutes. Do you know how much will be left!?”
It seemed that Jang Namuk still didn’t quite get Son Mingi’s intentions.
The sound of sparks coming from the barrier subsided.
Rinoseron would soon use the skill.
“It’s different if there is a living and moving bait, right?”
Son Mingi took out a bottle with half of the content remaining from his pocket.
He pretended to pour out all of the content and save it.
Looking at the two who stiffened, Son Mingi grinned.
“Won’t the Jin and that familiar will be satisfied if three people die? Baits-ah.”
Son Mingi was thinking of tying us with this item and sprinkling the oat flower extract on us to use as baits or meat shields to avoid the demonic beast.
Looking at the remaining content of the bottle, it seemed he would do it.
Even so, I thought he would stop after he saw Yu Sang-hun cover him and get injured, but my thoughts were wrong.
“Ack…!”
Yu Sang-hun tried to move to distance himself from Son Mingi.
However, he groaned as if the wound worsened and staggered, and then he sank with a thud.
It probably was because it overlapped with the mental stress of Son Mingi’s betrayal.
“Yu Sang-hun!”
Jang Namuk tried to run towards Yu Sang-hun, but Son Mingi raised the bottle containing the oat flower extract medicine as if taking him hostage.
“Come if you want to die first.”
“You’re thinking of using Yu Sang-hun as a bait? Yu Sang-hun was hurt to save you. You fucker who doesn’t know gratitude[7]!”
“Gratitude? Get real. Were you playing in the middle school? You too are a winner bastard came this far by stepping on others’ grades. And now it’s not grades but life!”
“What is that sound?! How can you compare a fair competition with stabbing someone in the back[8]?!”
Son Mingi shouted with glossy eyes.
After Jang Namuk didn’t have a way to properly say anything back to him, he corrected his grip on the item card and the bottle and just let out a sneer and shut his mouth.
After he revealed his true colors, his appearance that didn’t tremble or stammer any longer was disgusting.
“Son Mingi, stop it here. It’s still not too late.”
I, who was only observing the situation, spoke up for the first time.
“You’re talking like a geezer[9]. Are you in a position to say anything to me right now?”
As expected, words weren’t effective[10].
Only Son Mingi’s sneer returned.
I saw him wave the bottle in one hand and the item card in the other as if showing off.
I felt a sense of deja vu.
There were a few similar scenes in PMH.
A character like Jang Namuk, who acted sternly but was sincere and took care of others.
A character like Yu Sang-hun, who you usually didn’t know what he was thinking, but if needed he would throw his body and sacrifice himself.
Anyhow, they weren’t bad bastards and were characters who had good roles who died in the wicked scenario.
‘I died many times because I was stabbed in the back by a bastard like you.’
Hundreds of faces of my dying Playable Characters, NPCs I developed good feelings for came to mind and disappeared.
The stand-off couldn’t be maintained.
As if the time-dragging effect of the last thrown item ended, Rinoseron burst into shrieks.
Whoaaaaa!
⟨Warning, Enemy ‘Rinoseron’ is about to use the skill ‘Heavy Rush’.⟩
Son Mingi, who was aiming the item card at me, finally used the item on Yu Sang-hun, who was injured and the easiest.
Chink!
Spider string net trap came out of the item card and tied Yu Sang-hun in place.
“Son Mingi!”
Son Mingi ignored Jang Namuk’s cry and poured the bottle content on Yu Sang-hun.
Chiink!
It was a small amount, but the Oat flower extract medicine’s effect appeared.
“Darn it…!”
Yu Sang-hun, who recovered a little, belatedly struggled to free himself from the trap, but the trap didn’t let go.
The demonic beast canceled the skill activation and turned its head towards Yu Sang-hun.
Son Mingi abandoned Yu Sang-hun, who couldn’t move and started to flee into the distance.
Five seconds passed and Yu Sang-hun was able to move, but Rinoseron was approaching, heading precisely towards Yu Sang-hun.
“Yu Sang-hun, run!”
Even though he knew it had no meaning, Jang Namuk shouted at Yu Sang-hun.
Son Mingi grinned as he ran.
‘I was waiting for this moment.’
After I materialized the item card I hid in my hand, I aimed it precisely at Son Mingi.
Peuk, wajangchik!
“Keuk!”
Together with the sound of hitting the target, I heard Son Mingi’s scream.
As if he reflexively raised his right arm to block it, the content of the broken item soaked Son Mingi’s right arm.
The item I threw was a bottle of ‘Oat flower extract medicine’.
* * *
It happened after everyone agreed to my strategy and Jang Namuk distributed the item cards.
When each of us received one item card and was about to move to the designated location, a system announcement rang out with a ‘ping’.
⟨Skill ‘Power of Fate’ activated.⟩
Power of Fate?
I recalled the skill’s content.
[Skill name] Power of Fate
[Rarity] EX (measurement impossible)
[Skill level] 3
[Effect] Causes transcendental interference.
[Description]
Guides the skill user’s fate based on experiences, expectations, thoughts, goals, convictions, etc.
Power of Fate drops or raises based on the life the skill user walked and will walk.
Occurs randomly.
To summarize the content, it randomly caused transcendental interferences to guide fate.
‘What? What is happening?’
I couldn’t find any different point.
The Rinoseron didn’t sense us as before and the other three were nervous, but nothing looked out of ordinary.
However…
The instant I saw Son Mingi, I felt a prick of electrostatic discharge at my fingertips.
When I reflexively looked down at my fingertips, I saw what surely was one card was overlapping with one more card underneath.
* * *
Because of the broken bottle, Son Mingi’s arm was ripped here and there, but the wounds immediately closed thanks to the medicine’s effect.
However, as if knowing what he was covered in, Son Mingi’s complexion turned dark.
I added a word.
“Make sure to run diligently if you hate dying. Bait-ah.”
The Rinoseron ran towards Son Mingi, who had a stronger scent of grass than Yu Sang-hun.
*~*~*
[1] Category — could also be system. It also means ‘world’.
[2] oat flowers extract medicine — to be precise it’s ‘recovery medicine’. 귀리 (kwiri) which means oat, can also mean ‘all kinds of insignificant and indecent ghosts’.
[3] post-mortem capital punishment — refers to punishment performed on corpses during the Joseon period. The corpse would be dug out, all limbs would be cut off and the rest of the body would be hung or destroyed. Either way, it was about terribly mutilating the corpse.
[4] its feet — there is actually no subject to ‘whose feet’ will be tied here.
[5] spider string net trap — ‘spider strings’ are an analogy for preparations made to imprison/restrain others, similar like in English.
[6] blunder — a terrible move in chess or go.
[7] gratitude — 은혜 (eun-hye) refers to a favor done for no benefit or a ‘love of god’. So what Jang Namuk is asking is if Son Mingi doesn’t know kindness/ benevolence.
[8] stabbing someone in the back — literally ‘hit in the back of the head’
[9] You’re talking like a geezer — Jo Uisin used an imperative tone, which is usually reserved to someone of a higher position than the listener. So a parent might use it towards their child, but it won’t be used between peers unless there is some kind of hierarchy between them.
[10] words weren’t effective — literally ‘seeds weren’t eaten’ or ‘eggshell wasn’t peeled’.
Translator’s note: I hope everyone is enjoying masterful sound effects. Especially those ‘Son Mingi’ sounds.
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