Chapter 4

I Became a Newbie Favored by the Transcendents Chapter 4

An emergency notice suddenly appeared before the eyes of people all over the world.

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

[1st: Park Junbeom – Unmeasurable]

And the world was turned upside down.

“Park Jun... Park Junbeom? From the Republic of Korea?!”

“M-my God. I can’t believe it. To think Quentin De Niro’s record would be broken...”

“Korea must be in a complete festive mood right about now.”

Tutorial ranking updated!

A Player had appeared who shattered Quentin De Niro’s record, which had remained unbroken for eleven years.

And from the Republic of Korea, a country stigmatized as a ‘weak nation of Players,’ no less.

That alone was enough to stir the entire globe.

But there was something else that caught people’s attention.

“Unmeasurable? What does unmeasurable mean?”

“Does it mean he killed so many orcs that they couldn’t measure it?”

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s it... It feels more like this Park Junbeom guy did something that made measurement meaningless.”

It was the result field explicitly marked ‘Unmeasurable.’

Normally, the number of points made it possible to determine how many orcs a Player had killed.

But if it simply said unmeasurable, even that became impossible to know.

Just what in the world had happened in the ‘Tutorial Battlefield’?

“Hmm.”

“Huh...”

“Interesting...”

Player management agencies from various countries, Player columnists, major guilds, and so on.

Countless people began analyzing it.

Various inferences and hypotheses were exchanged, but among them, there was one theory judged to be the most credible.

“Don’t tell me he killed the Giant Orc?”

“What? Come on, no matter what.”

“Quentin said it was impossible. He even bet his wrist on it during that broadcast.”

“But that was only Quentin De Niro’s personal opinion.”

“True. If you think about it, the system never once defined the Giant Orc as a monster that couldn’t be killed.”

Until now, it had been accepted as established fact that a newly awakened Player could not fight and defeat a Giant Orc.

But think about it carefully.

Was it truly impossible?

The system merely ‘recommended’ that Players not fight the Giant Orc.

It had never explicitly stated that it was an enemy that could never be hunted.

In fact, though extremely few in number, there had been Players who succeeded in injuring a Giant Orc.

They just got completely smashed afterward.

Because of that, the argument that the chance of killing the Giant Orc in the tutorial was not actually 0% had been raised continuously for some time.

And perhaps, for the first time, a case had now appeared proving that argument correct.

“What kind of class did this Korean awaken as...”

“Either his class is absurdly overpowered, or his unique trait might be close to a cheat ability.”

“Whatever the case, he’s going to become a game changer who turns this industry upside down.”

“Everyone, stop what you’re doing for a moment and find out more about this Korean named Park Junbeom.”

Scouts from every guild on Earth, along with government officials, became busy.

The atmosphere online was just as heated.

NewTube, social media, internet forums... Wherever you went, there was nothing but the name Park Junbeom.

If it was this intense overseas, what about Korea?

It was on the verge of exploding.

“Listen carefully! Even if the sky falls, we absolutely have to recruit Park Junbeom!”

“We have to snatch him up before those other bastards pull some shit!”

“Contract terms? Tell him we’ll give him the absolute best terms in the industry!”

Korean guilds had truly become colts with their tails on fire.

Small, medium, and large guilds alike.

Every single guild was desperate to somehow secure this super-sized rookie named Park Junbeom before anyone else.

“But Guild Master. It’s not like there are only one or two people named Park Junbeom in Korea. How are we supposed to find him?”

“One of my friends is named Park Junbeom too. Should I ask him just in case?”

The problem was how to secure Park Junbeom first.

There was only one stance they could take right now.

“We wait.”

“...Wait?”

“Awakened people have to go to the management bureau and register their identity within a week. It’s the law.”

“Ah! So that’s what you meant by waiting. Understood!”

“You understand, but why are you still here?”

“What?”

“Put together a team right now and stand by in front of the management bureau. How do you know whether Park Junbeom will register today, tomorrow, or a week from now?”

“...”

____________

Were guilds the only ones in an emergency?

In truth, there was another side that was even more desperate.

“Park Junbeom...”

The Republic of Korea Player Management Bureau.

Director Kim Hyeonuk had already been unable to take his eyes off the three syllables of Park Junbeom’s name for five full minutes.

“Director Lee. What’s the current status of the penalties imposed on Korea?”

Kim Hyeonuk asked while still staring fixedly at the emergency notice.

Lee Useok, the bureau’s head of planning standing across from him, immediately answered.

“Players’ elemental resistance is reduced by 20%, and skill cooldowns are increased by 30%.”

“Serious.”

“It’s because we lost the ‘Arena’ against China in the fourth quarter...”

A world where reality had merged with games.

There were three categories of games in total.

‘Arena,’ ‘Gate,’ and ‘Tower.’

Among them, the Arena was a PVP format where Players from different countries competed against one another.

You could call it a kind of sport.

However, in ordinary sports, even a serious loss amounted to little more than humiliation.

The Arena was different.

Players from the victorious country received buffs.

Players from the defeated country received debuffs.

In other words, it was directly tied to a nation’s fate.

The Republic of Korea had been thoroughly crushed in the Arena against China held in the fourth quarter of this year.

As a result, its Players were suffering from the fatal debuffs of reduced elemental resistance and increased skill cooldowns.

“Come to think of it, aren’t we also cutting it close on this month’s Gate contribution?”

“...Yes. As far as I know, we currently haven’t even reached 50% of the quota required by the system.”

“There’s already only half the month left, and we still haven’t even reached 50%...”

If the Arena was PVP.

Then Gates were closer to PVE.

They were otherworldly spaces where Players overcame trials designed by the Constellations.

There were, of course, various rewards obtained for successfully clearing Gates.

But the most important thing was still the ‘Contribution’ earned through clearing them.

Because every month, the system demanded that each country collect at least a certain amount of Contribution.

And if they failed?

Not only would merciless debuff punishments be imposed, but outbreaks would also occur, causing monsters to spill into reality.

‘We have to prevent that at all costs.’

The Players nationwide were already suffering under debuffs after losing to China.

And if a second layer of debuffs from failing the Contribution quota stacked on top of that?

Just thinking about it sent a chill down Director Kim Hyeonuk’s spine.

Yet even in this desperate situation, a ray of hope flickered in his eyes.

“Even if it would be rash to judge based solely on the tutorial results, it’s a different story if he performed well enough to surpass Quentin De Niro.”

“You mean Park Junbeom.”

“Yes. He’s a card our government needs to secure.”

They absolutely could not hand him over to the private sector.

A prospect who might become a strategic weapon on the national level.

Kim Hyeonuk did not consider that evaluation excessive in the slightest.

_____________

Flaaash!!

The moment the tutorial ended and I checked the ranking board, I was summoned back to my studio apartment.

“Ugh...”

Facing the ordinary scenery of daily life made everything I experienced in the tutorial feel like a dream.

Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!

I tried drinking some cold water to relax first.

[1st: Park Junbeom – Unmeasurable]

“...I can’t relax.”

Looking at the ranking board still made my heart pound.

I only killed the Giant Orc because I had no other choice, and I got first place?

Of course, I had hoped for the best possible result, but I hadn’t hoped for this much.

Did I dislike it?

The only problem was that it felt burdensome. I didn’t dislike it.

[Reward calculation complete.]

[Your level rises significantly! Lv.1 → Lv.6]

[A blessing is bestowed upon you for achieving an unprecedented feat!]

[All experience you obtain from now on is permanently doubled!]

[‘Luck’ increases by 10!]

[As an additional reward, you obtain a ‘Luxurious Potion Bottle’!]

“Oh...!”

Why would I dislike it when insane rewards were pouring out like this?

I cleared the Tutorial Battlefield once, and my level rose by a full five levels.

Normally, it apparently rose by two at most, and in the worst cases, some people didn’t level up at all.

And what does power leveling mean?

=====

Strength (11) Stamina (11) Agility (11) Divine Power (11) Luck (11)

=====

It means your stats skyrocket too.

I was probably the only Player in existence whose base stats hit double digits from a single tutorial.

Maybe it was because my stats had shot up.

My vision became clearer, my body felt light as the wind, and I could feel strength surging through me.

But there was something else that thrilled me even more than these physical changes.

The Luck stat.

‘They said Luck is the one stat you can’t increase by leveling up, right?’

‘Luck’ could only be raised under special circumstances, such as using separate items or equipping artifacts.

Because of that, Luck-related items were extremely rare and valuable.

There weren’t many available in the first place, and even when there were, they apparently cost as much as a decent apartment.

But me?

I got a whole 10 points of Luck for free.

“My luck got better.”

Sometimes, when clearing a Gate, a ‘random-draw box’ is given as a reward.

The higher your Luck, the better the chance of getting a good item from one of those random-draw boxes.

Honestly, even this alone would already be beyond a jackpot.

‘But the real highlight is this.’

Permanent double experience gain!

Even if I go through the same hardship as everyone else, I alone get twice the benefit.

What more explanation could possibly be needed?

Even Quentin De Niro, the former first-place holder in the tutorial rankings, probably only had a 1.5-times multiplier at best.

Anyway, what Quentin said on that broadcast ten years ago had been right.

The tutorial was the beginning and everything.

Rolling around like a dog and fighting the Giant Orc had been worth it.

“...Hmm.”

But it wasn’t all good news.

[Having cleared the ‘Tutorial Battlefield,’ you may now formally participate in the ‘Dimension Battle Royale.’]

[The ‘Dimension Battle Royale’ consists of three types: ‘Gate,’ ‘Arena,’ and ‘Tower.’]

[You currently belong to the Republic of Korea. The penalties currently applied to that nation will be added to your status window.]

=====

Penalty: Elemental Resistance -20%, Skill Cooldown +30%

=====

“Sigh.”

So even being first in the tutorial didn’t let me escape the penalties?

Come to think of it, Korea got completely crushed by China in an Arena match a few months ago.

Penalties from failing Gate Contribution quotas or losing in the Arena applied to every Player without exception.

‘Well, there’s nothing I can do about this, so it can’t be helped.’

I could only pray that Korea would win the Arena next quarter.

Running my optimism circuit, I examined the final reward sitting alone on the floor.

‘A Luxurious Potion Bottle...’

True to its name, it was an extremely luxurious-looking bottle.

When I checked its information...

=====

<​Luxurious Potion Bottle>

-A high-end craft item fashioned from a mana stone.

-Contains a liquid capable of restoring a small amount of mana.

=====

“This is fucking useless?”

The bottle looked so fancy that I thought it might contain something like an elixir.

But apparently it was just a potion capable of restoring a small amount of mana.

What use was that to me?

I used Divine Power, not mana.

‘No. It’s not completely useless... Couldn’t I make a decent amount if I sold it for money?’

The design was pretty flashy, after all.

If I put it up for sale on some kind of market, I could probably get a decent price.

For now, I should store it safely.

Good, reward check complete.

Feeling satisfied, I flopped down onto my bed―.

“This isn’t the time to lie down.”

I still had the most important thing left to do.

“Access gallery.”

I had to upload the proof video.

At light speed, I opened the ‘Create Post’ window and selected the attach-video button.

Bzzzt―

A holographic video appeared in midair.

On the screen, I was shown massacring orcs like I had been possessed by a berserker.

There were even various camera angles, as though a professional cameraman had poured his soul into filming it.

“Fucking awesome.”

The Ernia Swordsmanship I displayed in the video was, frankly, perfect.

There was no way these paranoid bastards could resist smashing the upvote button after seeing this.

The moment I selected the upload button.

[Would you like to apply a mosaic to your face?]

“You can do that too?”

Maybe because it was an otherworld gallery. The convenience features were pretty impressive.

When uploading proof to an online community, thoroughly concealing your identity was basic etiquette, wasn’t it?

When I applied the mosaic, an image of a slime shaped like a dumpling was overlaid on my face in the video.

Good. Attachment complete.

=====

[Title: Proof of me using Ernia Swordsmanship, how good is it?]

Author: Anon (111.111)

(Video of orcs being brutally massacred)

(Video of me splitting open the crown of an orc sobbing while clutching its dead comrade, using flawless swordsmanship)

(Video of me giving a thumbs-up while drenched in orc blood after finishing the attack)

You guys refused to believe me so I recorded a video and uploaded it

I’m telling you, when I tried it, it was genuinely easy?

=====

Maybe because it was long, the video was uploaded in several separate clips.

Anyway, post.

How would the guys in the gallery react?

-It’s real

-It’s actually real

-HolyQueen) It... wasn’t bait?

-Fuck, what the hell is that movement lol

-WaiterOnePastaHere) How is this even possible;; Newbie, are you from Ernia by any chance?

└Probably not, judging by the dimensional coordinates

└WaiterOnePastaHere) Then how is that possible?

-(Emoticon of a green ghoul smiling and giving a thumbs-up)

-ILoveFur) Pantheon bros who called him a poser all collectively confused now lol

-Am I the only one who feels bad for the orcs

-NinthCircleArchmage) Sorry for doubting you;_;

-Damn that’s insane lol

‘They’re all shocked like cavemen who just discovered fire.’

As expected, nothing in this world was more convincing than proof.

All it took was uploading one video, and the collective paranoia afflicting the gallery guys was cured in an instant.

And that wasn’t all.

-Upvote lol starting with me

-All the bastards who doubted him should upvote out of conscience

-Archive this

-GreatestLightOfAllTime) Before.this.old.man.upvotes.I.would.like.to.ask.just.one.thing.

└Author)?

└GreatestLightOfAllTime) It.is.hard.to.tell.from.the.video.but.what.is.your.gender.by.any.chance?

└Author) I’m a man

└GreatestLightOfAllTime) KAAAAAH!!!!!!!!

Apparently they knew they were sorry, because the number of upvotes began rising like crazy.

As a result, in less than three minutes, the post not only shot into the featured posts.

I ultimately succeeded in collecting as many as 254 upvotes.

...There was exactly one downvote, though.

The culprit was that bastard GreatestLightOfAllTime, wasn’t it?

“Anyway, this definitely works.”

Only 46 more until the next increase in Assimilation Rate.

This was the kind of result I wanted, but I hadn’t expected such an extreme reaction.

‘Just what the hell is Ernia Swordsmanship?’

At this point, rather than me being exceptional, I was starting to wonder if these guys’ talent for swordsmanship was just catastrophically hopeless.

In any case, the proof post I uploaded became a hot topic and kept the gallery heated for quite a while.

There were even analysis posts dissecting my video frame by frame.

Just as I found myself grinning in satisfaction.

Ding!

[‘SaviorOfTheEmpire’ has requested a trade!]

“Huh?”

A trade request all of a sudden?

The nickname seemed somehow familiar.

“SaviorOfTheEmpire... Ah!”

I remembered.

It was the guy who had uploaded the Ernia Swordsmanship post on the Tips board.