Chapter 3

I Became a Newbie Favored by the Transcendents Chapter 3

Whoooooosh―!!

The moment the location changes, a fierce wind slaps me across the face.

And it isn't even ordinary wind, but yellow dust thick with dirt and sand.

“Cough! Ugh, shit.”

Covering my nose and mouth with my hand, I looked around.

Round, grayish-white stone walls blocked off every direction.

And even the hard-packed sandy ground.

A stereotypical medieval colosseum.

This was the ‘Tutorial Battlefield,’ known as the introductory course for Players.

‘It’s way more magnificent than I heard.’

Actually, information about the Tutorial Battlefield had already been revealed as much as it possibly could, so I wasn't particularly bewildered.

Besides, I already knew roughly how the tutorial proceeded.

Of course, whether I knew or not.

[Welcome to the ‘Tutorial Battlefield.’]

[In this trial, an innumerable number of Orc Soldiers and one Giant Orc will be summoned.]

[During the time limit, hunt Orc Soldiers while avoiding the Giant Orc’s attacks.]

[When the time limit expires or upon death, you will return to your previous location.]

[You will earn 10 points for each Orc Soldier defeated. Your ranking will be determined according to the points acquired.]

The system still did an excellent job of being a helpful exposition machine.

“It’s all stuff I already know.”

As I skimmed over it roughly with my eyes.

Flash! Flashflash!!

Light burst out, and cold weapons such as a short sword, spear, and bow appeared in midair.

[The trial will begin once you select a weapon.]

They were none other than the basic weapons I could use to fight the orcs.

What was there to think about?

I had just learned the ‘First Form of Ernia Swordsmanship’ from the gallery, so naturally I should take the short sword...

Before grabbing it, hold on.

‘Is this Ernia Swordsmanship actually useful?’

When I tried following it back in my room, it hadn't felt too bad, but that was just my opinion.

Shadowboxing and actual combat were completely different things, after all.

If it turned out to be a swordsmanship that couldn't be used in actual combat, I'd be completely screwed.

I needed more definite verification.

“Access gallery.”

Wouldn't I be able to learn something if I asked the guys in the gallery?

The tutorial wouldn't start until I chose a weapon anyway.

I had plenty of time to browse the gallery.

=====

[Title: You fucking bastards, is this Ernia Swordsmanship from the tip post actually any good?]

Author: Anon (111.111)

I got scolded pretty harshly earlier for using honorifics

so I hope you understand why I’m talking like this you fuck1ing bastards it hurts me too yeah

Anyway I’m thinking of trying out this Ernia Swordsmanship, how is it?

The bastard who wrote the post said nothing else in swordsmanship even comes close, is that true?

=====

Humans are, by nature, creatures of learning.

This time, I posted my question in a manner befitting the etiquette demanded by the gallery.

Then, surprisingly enough, quite a lot of comments quickly appeared.

-Come on, you don’t have to curse this much...

-IMadeExcalibur) Why are you doing this to us...

-HolyQueen) Pantheon Gallery-style questioning pretty high-tier

-Necromancer) Hoehh,,, Newbie-chan still hasn’t left the gallery,,,??

-Ernia Swordsmanship probably is tier 0 among sword techniques yeah

-That Pantheon bro from the empire is famous for having a daily routine of eat shit sleep sword, so his swordsmanship is definitely legit

Oh.

From the look of things, it seemed to be an even more superior swordsmanship than I'd thought.

Good, if it was receiving this much praise, there was no longer any reason to doubt it.

Just as I reached for the short sword with confidence.

-NinthCircleArchmage) But how much experience do you have handling swords, by any chance?

A comment suddenly appeared that was difficult to ignore.

Why was he asking about experience?

└Author) Dunno much about swords but I’ve sliced carrots with a kitchen knife a few times

└NinthCircleArchmage) Ah.

└HolyQueen) Him just sighing without saying anything else is fucking hilarious lol

└Kitchen knife he says lol

└IMadeExcalibur) Then just go back to the kitchen and finish slicing carrots, newbie

“What?”

Their reactions were seriously annoying.

-NinthCircleArchmage) Unless you’re born with considerable talent for the sword, it’s difficult to properly learn even the First Form of Ernia Imperial Swordsmanship...

└ Author)??? The tip post definitely said it was easy enough to learn even for magic one-tricks who spent their entire lives waving staves around

└NinthCircleArchmage) It’s no secret that I fell for that line and wasted my precious points;_;

└WaiterOnePastaHere) For real, even I’m from the Central Plains and when I tried learning it my hands got tangled and I ended up tap dancing and making a complete fucking mess lol

└Keep in mind that SaviorOfTheEmpire’s standard for what counts as a beginner is different from ours

“Hmm, is it really that bad...?”

Apparently Ernia Swordsmanship was something even fairly talented people couldn't easily master.

But when I tried it earlier, it hadn't seemed worth making this much of a fuss over?

No, to be completely honest, it hadn't even been difficult.

Since something didn't seem to line up, I uneasily added another comment.

-Author) It wasn’t that hard, what the hell are all of you talking about

└NinthCircleArchmage) Ah... I see...

└HolyQueen) What the fuck, this wasn’t a question, you were baiting us?

└By mouth alone I’m a Chief God and Sword Master too lol

└(Emoticon of a green ghoul posing just before punching someone in the face)

└Bragging as expected from a newbie lol

└Post proof before you start acting smug, newbie

“Would you look at these bastards?”

They don't believe me.

Believe it or don't.

Just as I thought that and was about to close the gallery window.

The last comment suddenly caught my attention.

“Proof, huh...”

That sounded like a good idea.

It definitely wasn't because these paranoid bastards had gotten under my skin.

‘If I upload a proof post, I might be able to rack up quite a few upvotes.’

And upvotes directly meant an increase in Assimilation Rate.

The system had definitely said I needed to collect at least 300 upvotes to raise my Assimilation Rate again.

Right.

While I’m at it, I’ll give these paranoid bastards a good smack and upload proper proof.

‘But how am I supposed to prove it?’

As I said before, equipment like cameras and smartphones doesn't work inside gates or dungeons.

The ‘Tutorial Battlefield’ was no exception.

Besides, I'd left my smartphone back in my studio apartment in the first place.

“Hmm?”

However, this problem was immediately solved.

When I brought up the post-writing window and examined it carefully, I found a button labeled ‘Video Creation’ among the various functions listed at the top.

The moment I selected it, feeling like this had to be it.

Beep~

A small hologram shaped like a camera appeared above my head.

Since •REC was displayed beside the camera, it seemed recording had already begun.

‘Looks like video recording is possible as a gallery-exclusive function.’

Well, I could check the details later after everything was over.

Without delaying any further, I grabbed the short sword.

At that moment.

Flashflashflashflash!!

Pillars of light began erupting all around the colosseum.

“Graaaaaagh!!!”

“Human... kill!”

“Snort! Squeeeal!!”

Where the pillars of light faded, huge grotesque figures that looked half pig and half human appeared.

Every one of them easily exceeded 2 meters in height, monsters clutching clubs or axes in their hands.

Those were the Orc Soldiers I had to defeat.

And as the finishing touch, at the center of the colosseum...

“Human, snort! Hate humans!!”

“Ugh.”

An orc three or four times larger than the others roared, flaunting its massive body.

That must be the Giant Orc I was supposed to avoid.

I could see why they told me to avoid it.

How was a Player who had only just awakened supposed to fight something like that?

“Let’s go! Comrades!!”

“Squeal!”

“Snort!”

The enraged orcs charged toward me, radiating murderous intent.

Even though, within the tutorial, dying wouldn't result in death in reality.

The pain you felt was real.

It was a situation that someone who had been an ordinary person only a few hours ago couldn't possibly handle.

It should have been.

‘Why am I like this?’

Strangely enough, I wasn't particularly afraid.

I even felt a sense of familiarity, as though I'd fought battles like this countless times before.

Of course, I was nervous.

But it wasn't tension born from fear. It was closer to exhilaration.

And that wasn't all.

‘I can see it.’

With my senses sharpened to the extreme, the flow of time seemed to slow.

I could see where and how I needed to slash those orcs to take them down in a single strike.

Rather than saying I could see it, perhaps saying I instinctively knew would be more accurate.

Whoooosh!!

The orcs’ axes and clubs came crashing down toward the top of my head.

At the same time.

Wooooooong-!!!

Golden Divine Power erupted from the tip of my sword.

‘Ernia Swordsmanship, First Form.’

Slash!

With a single sword strike swung as if possessed.

The heads of three orcs in front of me flew through the air.

Thud!

Their headless bodies collapsed helplessly to the ground.

“...”

“S-snort?”

The other orcs, who had been brimming with murderous intent, flinched.

I was just as dumbfounded.

Did I really do that?

‘Those guys in the gallery were telling the truth.’

I swung the sword exactly according to the movements I'd seen in the tip post and killed three of them in one strike.

I'd definitely heard that an orc's hide was about as hard as an average chunk of rock.

Yet I sliced through it as easily as paper.

The guys in the gallery had been right when they said Ernia Swordsmanship was tier 0.

There was just one thing those bastards had gotten wrong.

“This is easy?”

What the hell was so difficult about it that they made such a fuss?

I shrugged toward the camera that was probably recording this scene right now.

Bang!

Then I charged toward the stunned orcs.

[Time remaining until the trial ends: 4 minutes 20 seconds]

There was plenty of time.

Since I was doing this anyway, I might as well give it my best.

______________

Slash-!

Crack!!

“Snort, squeal, what kind of mon-monster of a human is this...”

“Kyaaaagh!!”

“I-is that really a human?!”

“Spare me, squeal!”

“Guhk!”

Blood and screams filled the colosseum.

But none of them belonged to a human.

The ones getting decapitated, screaming, and collapsing were all Orc Soldiers.

Slaaash!

Junbeom darted in every direction, indiscriminately cutting the throats of the panic-stricken orcs.

He became a storm like that,

and in just one minute after the tutorial began, he had hunted a staggering twelve orcs and accumulated 120pt.

“Grrrr...”

Meanwhile.

The Giant Orc watching its soldiers get massacred growled in displeasure.

What kind of disgrace was this?

If anything, the orcs should have been the ones toying with the human!

“Snort- Quite an extraordinary human has come in...”

It wasn't that he couldn't understand why the soldiers were being beaten like that.

Even in his eyes, that unknown human’s swordsmanship was quite vicious.

And what about his mentality?

Other humans were always busy running away like terrified mice.

Yet that bastard was happily slicing through the soldiers like a fish in water.

Eventually, unable to watch any longer, the Giant Orc shouted.

“Snooort!! Soldiers! All of you, get behind me!”

The soldiers hurriedly fled from Junbeom and hid behind the Giant Orc.

Normally, there was fun in toying with humans, so he wouldn't go this far.

That human was an exception.

He wasn't a toy to be played with, but an enemy who needed to be properly crushed.

And crushing him was the role of the Giant Orc himself.

“Snooort... You’ve rampaged enough. Now it’s time to die, human.”

Scrrrrape―

The Giant Orc approached Junbeom, dragging its massive halberd across the ground.

In an instant, a gigantic shadow loomed over Junbeom.

‘Isn’t this a bit much?’

Junbeom became slightly troubled.

He hadn't expected it to so blatantly pull the soldiers behind itself.

Normally, a Giant Orc supposedly kept a reasonable distance and only swung its halberd around a few times to harass the Player.

He'd never heard of one stepping directly to the front like this.

‘How am I supposed to kill the orcs like this?’

Not unless the Giant Orc moved out of the way.

At this point, whether he liked it or not, he had no choice but to fight the Giant Orc.

‘But according to Quentin De Niro, it’s impossible for a Player who just entered the tutorial to fight a Giant Orc and win...’

Countless hot-blooded Players had tried fighting the Giant Orc up until now.

And every single one of them, without exception, had lost their head.

Why?

Because not only was it absurdly strong and agile, it also possessed defenses that the stats of a newly awakened Player could never penetrate.

“Where did that spirit from earlier go, human!”

Whoooooosh―!!

At that moment, the Giant Orc’s halberd came crashing down like a thunderbolt.

“Damn it!”

KABOOOOM!!

The instant Junbeom barely managed to throw himself sideways, a tremendous shockwave erupted.

A single ordinary downward smash was enough to shake the entire magnificent colosseum.

Before Junbeom could even get back up after breaking his fall, the second attack came flying.

‘I physically can’t dodge this.’

In that case.

Kagagagak!!

Deflect it.

He angled the short sword and disrupted the trajectory of the halberd falling diagonally.

The blades scraped violently against one another, sending crimson sparks flying right up to Junbeom’s face.

“Snort! You deflected that? As expected, unlike the other humans, you’re a warrior!”

The Giant Orc laughed heartily, as though it had finally encountered a worthy opponent after a long time.

Of course, Junbeom couldn't care less about being a worthy opponent when he felt like he was about to die.

‘Fuck, this is some bullshit among bullshit!’

Having a full-on deathmatch with the Giant Orc had never been part of the plan.

This thing was an enemy officially designated by the system as something to ‘avoid,’ not something to ‘fight.’

“Snort! This cannot be the full extent of your power! Burn everything you have! Entertain me more!”

The Giant Orc continued one-sidedly pressing Junbeom for a while.

Thud!

“Hm?!”

The halberd Junbeom knocked aside with force slammed into the ground.

But perhaps that exact spot had already been gouged out too deeply, because the halberd wouldn't come free easily.

‘Now!’

Taking advantage of the Giant Orc struggling to pull out its halberd, Junbeom tried to run toward the Orc Soldiers, but.

“Squeal! Where do you think you’re going!”

The Giant Orc was smart.

It coolly abandoned its weapon and tried to grab Junbeom with its bare hand.

“Damn it...!!”

Junbeom instinctively swung his sword toward the Giant Orc’s grasping hand.

Even in that instant, his movement perfectly embodied the principles of the exemplary ‘First Form of Ernia Swordsmanship.’

Then, the moment Junbeom’s sword collided with the Giant Orc’s right hand.

Slice―!!

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

A dumbfounded sound escaped both Junbeom and the Giant Orc.

The Giant Orc’s right hand was flying through the air.

“Squeaaaaaagh!!”

Splaaargh!!

The Giant Orc screamed while clutching its wrist, from which blood sprayed like a fountain.

Junbeom blinked as though he himself was surprised.

‘It cuts this easily?’

Statistically speaking, a tutorial Player should have been incapable of cutting through a Giant Orc’s hide.

At that moment, the skill effect of ‘Ernia Swordsmanship’ suddenly flashed through Junbeom’s mind.

-The stronger the opponent, the stronger the swordsmanship becomes.

‘Don’t tell me it’s because of that?’

‘Ernia Swordsmanship’ was a swordsmanship of reversal that narrowed the gap even against an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.

At times, it even brought about miracles that made the impossible possible.

For example.

‘If its hand can be cut off, that means its neck can be cut off too.’

Like defeating an opponent the system had explicitly declared should be avoided rather than fought.

Tap!

Junbeom stepped on the kneeling Giant Orc’s thigh and leaped high into the air.

Even then, the Giant Orc couldn't come to its senses and continued screaming.

It was only natural, since this was the first time it had ever experienced having a hand cut off.

The moment Junbeom reached the height of the Giant Orc’s head.

Slash-!

Thump, roll roll...

A flash of golden sword light gleamed once.

And the Giant Orc’s head rolled across the ground, its eyes still wide open.

“Fuuuu...”

Junbeom landed and let out a long breath.

Behind him, the headless body collapsed with a thunderous boom!

At the same time.

Saaaaah―

The Orc Soldiers gathered in the corner of the field all transformed into fine particles at once and completely vanished.

[You have defeated the ‘Giant Orc’!]

[This is an unprecedented and astonishing achievement!]

[Congratulations. You have cleared the ‘Tutorial Battlefield’!]

[Reward calculation will take some time. Please wait a moment.]

[The ‘Tutorial Ranking’ will be updated!]

______________

Around that time.

A penthouse located in Las Vegas, United States.

“No matter how many times I see it, what a beautiful night view.”

A handsome blond man with his bangs swept back gave a soft chuckle.

A shower robe hung over his muscular body, still steaming from a shower, and in one hand he held a glass filled with top-quality red wine. The man’s name was Quentin De Niro.

He was a living legend who had maintained the number one position in the worldwide Player rankings for ten years already.

‘Come to think of it, is today the day new awakened people are born?’

There was a fixed cycle for the appearance of new awakened people.

The 15th of every month.

A day just like today.

By now, countless Players all across the globe were probably suffering through the ‘Tutorial Battlefield.’

‘When will someone capable of threatening my throne finally appear?’

Sigh.

Even reigning at the summit is quite a lonely thing...

Thinking that, Quentin elegantly crossed his legs and, using the Las Vegas nightscape as accompaniment, raised his red wine―

[An urgent notice is being delivered to the Players of Earth.]

[As of this moment, first place in the ‘Tutorial Battlefield’ has been updated!]

[1st: Park Junbeom – Unmeasurable]

[2nd: Quentin De Niro – 160pt]

[3rd: Komatsu Asuna – 150pt]

...

“Pffft.”

He spat it out.