Chapter 6

I Became a Newbie Favored by the Transcendents Chapter 6

[Constellation, ‘Poison King of the Sixfold Eyes,’ offers you a contract!]

[Constellation, ‘Butcher Above the Clouds,’ offers you a contract!]

[Constellation, ‘Tyrant of Madness,’ offers you a contract!]

[Constellation, ‘Praying Priest,’ offers you a contract!]

...

[If you become an Apostle of a Constellation, you can unlock a special class and new unique privileges.]

“Crazy.”

Faced with a feast of system messages piling up as if they were about to pierce through the ceiling, I was left speechless.

So this was that thing called countless handshake requests or whatever.

‘Because I broke the tutorial ranking?’

The tutorial was a place where one’s future growth potential was determined.

And that potential could also change depending on which Constellation you formed a contract with.

If you achieved good results, a high-ranking Constellation would become a powerful backer.

If your results were poor, you would either contract with some mediocre Constellation or not be chosen at all.

But me?

The protagonist who took first place in the world ranking.

It was only natural for countless handshake requests to come flying in, but...

‘I didn’t think there’d be this many.’

How many messages are there?

Even the ‘Tyrant of Madness,’ who had Quentin De Niro as his Apostle, offered me a contract.

“...”

It was an enormous opportunity.

Enough to make other Players sick with envy.

The reason Quentin De Niro could still reign at the summit?

Of course, his innate ability was incredible too.

But on top of that, his patron Constellation had given him wings.

Overpowered Authorities impossible to obtain unless you were an Apostle, awakening a rare class, torrents of item and skill sponsorships...

In other words, it was like getting a whale sponsor.

And I was someone who had surpassed Quentin De Niro’s tutorial record.

‘For the <​Tyrant of Madness>, he must be as desperate as a professor who just discovered a grad student.’

If I became his Apostle, I could probably enjoy even greater benefits than Quentin De Niro had.

I set down the Soul Stone for a moment and fell into thought.

...No.

Is this even something I need to think about?

My answer was already decided.

“Reject them all.”

The moment I expressed my intention of ‘Contract, no thanks.’

All the contract proposal messages that had practically wallpapered the air vanished at once.

Refreshing.

‘Even if I get a whale sponsor, fundamentally it’s still a slave contract.’

In truth, the relationship between a Constellation and an Apostle was closer to exploitation than mutual benefit.

You had to throw yourself into a pit of fire if necessary to satisfy the Constellation’s needs, and even the direction of your growth was forced upon you.

Then what if, one day, you happened to offend the Constellation?

Every sponsored item, skill, stat, and so on would be confiscated.

Even if you were rising steadily, you could become completely ruined overnight.

‘On top of that, you have to suffer under the pressure of always being watched.’

Losing your freedom.

How fatal was that to a man?

Even going to the bathroom would feel uncomfortable, you couldn’t freely date women, and even happy time... Ahem.

Anyway, in exchange for becoming stronger, you ended up as a slave worse than a clown.

Even so, most Players hoped to become Apostles of Constellations.

After all, if they endured a few inconveniences, they could become several times stronger than before.

If things had been normal for me, I probably would have performed a full bow and eagerly joined hands with the ‘Tyrant of Madness.’

‘If I didn’t have the ability to access the gallery, that is.’

I realized it from the moment I massacred the orcs with Ernia Imperial Swordsmanship.

If I made good use of the gallery, I could gain several times more benefits than becoming the Apostle of a high-ranking Constellation.

There was no need to force myself to cater to anyone’s whims.

No need to suffer from anxiety about being watched.

And I could obtain power even greater than a Constellation’s sponsorship.

...Now that I say it out loud, isn’t it just a straight-up superior version of a Constellation contract?

[Many Constellations become dejected and express their disappointment!]

[A small number of Constellations express anger toward you!]

The Constellations threw fits at my ironclad refusal.

What can you bastards do even if you huff and puff?

No matter how powerful a Constellation is, they can’t exert influence over a Player who isn’t their Apostle. It’ll be fine.

[Constellation, ‘Tyrant of Madness,’ glares at you and warns you not to think this was his only offer!]

...It’ll be fine, right?

‘I wasted time because of these guys.’

Let’s get back to what I was doing.

I sat cross-legged, calmed my mind, and closed my eyes.

And-

Crack!

I crushed the Soul Stone given to me by SaviorOfTheEmpire.

[You inherit the memories contained within the ‘Soul Stone.’]

“...!”

A flood of information rushed into my mind in an instant.

It was none other than the knowledge concerning the ‘Ernia-style Mana Cultivation Method’ that SaviorOfTheEmpire had mentioned.

The flood of information was violently hammered into my head.

How to circulate mana, and how to regulate the rhythm of my breathing.

In my case, it would be Divine Power rather than mana.

It was a process requiring precision on the level of threading a needle.

But it wasn’t difficult.

Step by step, one stage at a time.

Don’t make a mistake.

Focus until the very end―

“Huh?”

At that moment, a puzzled sound unconsciously escaped my lips.

It wasn’t because my concentration had broken.

Even though my eyes were definitely closed, I could see an enormous wall that looked like a black stone coffin standing vertically.

That wasn’t the only strange thing.

The location had changed too.

From my studio apartment, to an unknown place that was pure white in every direction.

‘No. It isn’t an unknown place.’

Perhaps because this too was information inherited through the Soul Stone, I knew where I was.

This was the world of my consciousness.

And that wall was.

‘The thing I have to destroy.’

The ‘Ernia-style Mana Cultivation Method’ was a cultivation method for breaking through one’s limits.

The enormous wall blocking my path was like a symbolic embodiment of the limits I possessed.

When I unconsciously stroked the wall,

《This is your mental realm, and a place through which all those who wished to protect the Ernia Empire once passed.》

《O you who pursue the pinnacle of martial arts.》

《Though the destination may be one, the crossroads leading there are countless.》

《Carve out your own path, destroy the wall, and transcend your limits.》

An echo that sounded as though dozens of men and women were speaking at once resounded throughout the world of consciousness.

Was it some sort of guidepost the Soul Stone was giving me?

There was no way to know right now, and probably no need to.

After all, there was only one thing I needed to do immediately.

‘So basically, I have to break this thing.’

Don’t tell me with my bare fists?

...No sooner had I thought that.

Shiiing―!

A finely sharpened sword appeared in my hand.

Was it something like a Mind Sword?

Anyway, what a relief. I wasn’t confident I could break it with my bare fists.

“Hmm...”

For starters, I swung the sword with all my strength as a test.

KABOOOOM!!

...As expected. I hadn’t really expected anything, but it didn’t budge in the slightest.

Forget not budging. It didn’t even get a scratch.

‘What is this, Vibranium?’

I had only hit it once, but I was certain.

If it was this hard, forget a Mind Sword, even if I summoned a nuclear missile here, I wouldn’t be able to break it.

‘Wasn’t there supposed to be a warning about this?’

Why didn’t SaviorOfTheEmpire say a single thing to me about a Vibranium wall?

She could have at least given me a heads-up. I’ll have to say something to her later.

But for that, I need to smash this damned wall by any means necessary― wait a second.

‘There are... scratches?’

The wall was so pitch-black that I only noticed now.

Looking closely, the entire surface of the wall was filled with scratch marks.

They weren’t marks I had made.

Then what were they?

If there were scratch marks, that meant someone other than me had faced this wall before.

After thinking and thinking about it.

“...A place through which all those who wished to protect the empire once passed.”

I recalled the words the echo had spoken to me earlier.

The pieces roughly fell into place.

These marks were traces left by those who had comprehended the empire’s Mana Cultivation Method before me.

They had to be footprints.

By passing her memories on to me, SaviorOfTheEmpire had also allowed the sword scars left on the wall by Ernia’s swordsmen to appear before my eyes.

‘They must have broken this wall.’

If so.

Bzzzzzt-!!

Once again, I drew up Divine Power and tightened my grip on the Mind Sword.

Then, just like before, I unleashed a full-power sword strike toward the wall.

But this time, it wasn’t a reckless swing like before.

Kagagagak!!

I traced precisely along the sword scars engraved into the wall.

Kang! Kagagagak!!

Without even a fraction of deviation or misalignment, continuously.

After repeating that dozens upon dozens of times.

Crack...!!

At last, a welcome sound echoed from the wall that hadn’t budged at all.

[The skill proficiency of ‘Ernia Imperial Swordsmanship First Form’ increases by 1%!]

[‘Strength’ increases by 1!]

“...!”

Messages announcing an increase in skill proficiency and stats appeared, neither of which I had expected.

When proficiency rises, a skill’s power increases.

But skill proficiency normally only increases when repeatedly using that skill against enemies such as monsters.

I had never imagined that hitting an inanimate wall could increase my proficiency.

And even my stats?

“This is why records left by seniors are so important.”

I found a clue to breaking the wall.

Of course, it wasn’t enough to just roughly swing along the sword scars.

If there was one thing I realized after dozens of swings, it was that I had to swing the sword ‘exactly’ along the sword scars without even a 1mm error.

If the distribution of force was even slightly wrong midway through, or if I deviated from the traces, then it was all for nothing.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve done something like this before.’

There was this game where you had to avoid things with a mouse...

Simple, but difficult.

Still, let’s do it.

I had no choice but to try.

______________

“Still no contact?”

“No, none.”

“...Is there any possibility he doesn’t even know he has to register his identity?”

“For now, we sent an informational text nationwide earlier.”

“It’s already well past eight. It seems he won’t show up today.”

The Player Management Bureau.

Director Kim Hyeonuk sighed while repeatedly massaging between his eyebrows.

Despite it already being well past the time he should have gone home from work, there was one reason he was still anxiously pacing around the director’s office.

Park Junbeom.

For several hours already, he had been desperately waiting for the holder of first place in the Tutorial World Ranking to appear.

Unfortunately, it seemed today would be a wasted effort.

“It’s obvious they’re going to come up empty-handed, but those people too... I don’t know whether to call them foolish or truly Koreans of determination.”

Kim Hyeonuk looked down at the entrance of the management bureau through the window.

Quite a few men in suits were sitting on mats like customers waiting outside a restaurant.

They were scouts from guilds who had likewise rushed over in hopes of securing Park Junbeom first.

In fact, for most small and medium-sized guilds, it wasn’t even scouts who had come. The guild masters themselves had personally shown up.

“At this point, you’d think they’d withdraw for today, but their stamina is impressive. This is why youth is nice.”

“If they succeed in recruiting Park Junbeom, a promotion is practically guaranteed.”

It wasn’t an entirely unfamiliar sight.

Whenever new awakened people appeared each month, guild scouts would often stand by in front of the management bureau like that.

It was just that this time, both the crowd and the atmosphere were on a completely different level from before.

Everyone looked ready to camp out in tents if that was what it took to snatch up the golden legendary card named Park Junbeom.

“Well, we’re just as desperate, so I can’t criticize them. Anyway, he’ll most likely contact us sometime tomorrow, so let’s be patient and wait calmly.”

“Yes, Director.”

And two days passed.

“...Any contact?”

“...None.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure about that either...”

Before they knew it, it was the third day.

The man named Park Junbeom still hadn’t appeared.

Why on earth?

“Hmm, let’s not get impatient. There are still four days left.”

Another day passed after that.

“...I’ll just go smoke one cigarette.”

“D-Director, you’re already almost on your second pack. Please calm down. He’ll definitely contact us today.”

Kim Hyeonuk, who had remained calm until yesterday like Zhuge Liang waiting for the southeast wind, was now.

Unable to hide his panic like Cao Cao staring at the burning ships at Red Cliffs.

There were only three days left in the seven-day deadline, yet Park Junbeom had not shown even the tip of his nose.

In the worst-case scenario, if he failed to register his identity with the management bureau...

‘Do we have no choice but to make an exception to the law?’

During the early days of the Great Cataclysm.

After incidents in which unidentified awakened people carried out indiscriminate acts of terrorism in city centers.

The international community established laws requiring awakened people to report their awakening to their respective countries and register an ID within seven days.

And now, Kim Hyeonuk was considering giving Park Junbeom a grace period for that requirement.

Because perhaps he might show up a month later, or even a year later.

‘What am I even thinking...’

Hoo―

Kim Hyeonuk exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke.

Making an exception to a clearly established law for a single individual.

As the head of the management bureau, it was a dangerous thought he should never entertain.

“But it’s not like we can start visiting every Park Junbeom in the country one by one now either. Hoo, in the end, if we continue hearing nothing like this...”

“What should we do?”

“We’ll just have to give up.”

“Hmm...”

If Park Junbeom ever appeared, there was one thing he desperately wanted to ask him.

Just what the hell had he been doing all this time?

______________

“...What the hell am I doing?”

I feel like I’m going insane.

I couldn’t even estimate how many times I had swung the sword over and over since coming here.

Because this was a space disconnected from reality, the perceived passage of time here was vague.

Perhaps rather than ‘hours,’ enough time had passed that it should be called ‘days.’

For dozens of hours, I had continued swinging the sword with barely any rest.

My wrist ligaments felt like they were about to snap, and my sense of touch had grown faint.

I had no idea how many times I had been tempted to give up along the way.

But what drove me crazier than the physical exhaustion was―.

‘It’s been a long time since my stats or proficiency increased, and now even the cracks won’t deepen.’

I had been stuck in place ever since a certain point.

After swinging my sword along the sword scars tens of thousands of times, the cracks in the wall had become quite deep...

But that was as far as it went.

There was no sign whatsoever that it would break.

It looked like it would collapse if I merely poked it with a finger, yet it stubbornly refused to fall.

That fact made me even crazier.

Even more impatient.

‘I’m misunderstanding something.’

Following the sword scars and tracing my sword along them may have given me some benefits.

But it wasn’t the ultimate answer.

Could I enter the gallery and ask SaviorOfTheEmpire directly?

Fuck, of course I tried that ages ago.

But perhaps because this wasn’t a real physical space, I couldn’t access the gallery here.

In the end, I was still bashing my head against the wall alone, damn it.

‘Following the sword scars doesn’t work, and swinging randomly doesn’t work either. Then what the hell am I supposed to do?’

I had checked behind the wall, and I had even tried running past the wall like a madman. Anyway, I had tried every ridiculous thing I could think of.

But nothing changed.

Or maybe SaviorOfTheEmpire had actually screwed me over with some gigantic prank...?

Hmm. If I have enough energy for useless thoughts, I should keep using my head.

“Isn’t there some kind of hint?”

If I had to choose something that could serve as a hint.

Was there anything besides the echo I heard when I first came here?

In fact, thanks to that echo, I had managed to raise my stats quite nicely and increase my skill proficiency.

Maybe the answer was hidden somewhere among the things that echo had said.

‘Right.’

Let’s not overthink it.

People say the darkest place is under the lamp, and in situations like this, the answer usually isn’t far away.

Let’s recall it calmly.

What did it say again?

“Something about crossroads, carving out your own path, and... carving out my own path?”

There’s something meaningful about that phrasing.

...Let’s get to the root of it.

This wall is a symbolic embodiment of my limits.

In the end, it is an obstacle I must destroy with my own power, by myself.

‘Can I really break it by swinging my sword while following traces left by others?’

Just because I blindly follow in someone else’s footsteps.

Does that make it the right path to breaking through my own limits?

...No.

To pioneer something means walking a path no one else has walked before.

If I merely follow someone else’s footprints, that is nothing more than wandering.

I would never reach the true destination I wished to arrive at.

“...”

I finally felt like my head was clearing.

What I had misunderstood.

What I needed to do from this point onward.

I gripped my sword and stood before the wall again.

And.

KABOOOOM!!

I swung the sword.

Not along the sword scars,

but along a trajectory that did not overlap with any of them.

Then.

Crack...!!

‘That’s a welcome sound.’

The sound I had missed so desperately, of a crack being carved into the wall, rang in my ears once more.

It felt like my halted footsteps had begun moving forward again.

Avoiding the sword scars and carving out a sword path that belonged only to me.

This was the answer.

A burst of exhilaration exploded within me.

‘Focus again.’

It probably wasn’t enough to simply and blindly avoid the existing sword scars.

Only when movement connected to movement could it truly be called a path and a trajectory.

I forced my exhausted body, which felt ready to collapse from fatigue, to move and unleashed another barrage of sword strikes.

Crack, crack!

Craaaack―!!!

Now the wall went beyond the cracks growing deeper and began to be carved away.

Everywhere I swung the sword, chunks were gouged out, fragments scattered, and the wall crumbled.

I stopped thinking and focused solely on swinging the sword.

After drawing those trajectories dozens, hundreds of times.

At last.

Finally.

Rumble―!!

The wall that had blocked my path completely collapsed.

______________

Before I even had time to shout in joy over the fact that I had finally smashed that goddamn wall.

I escaped from the room of time and mind and opened my eyes once more in my studio apartment.

‘I can’t do that a second time.’

I’d rather fight the Giant Orc one-on-one again.

If I had known it would be this fucking awful, I would have at least steeled myself before breaking the Soul Stone!

Just as I made a firm resolution deep in my heart to give SaviorOfTheEmpire a stern piece of my mind later for not saying a single word about any of this.

[The ‘Ernia-style Mana Cultivation Method’ perfectly harmonizes with your body!]

[O you who have broken through your limits! In response to the achievement you have accomplished, portions of your status window and skills undergo a drastic transformation!]

[New effects are added to the existing effects of the ‘Ernia-style Mana Cultivation Method’!]

System messages appeared one after another like a fanfare exploding.

“...What?”

And when I saw the message that followed.

I couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.