The Tutorial Is Too Hard Chapter 261:
Editor: Tide, Rektsatan,
[Park Jung-ah]
“Ah, I don’t know!”
I shouted as my eyes opened suddenly, fixing themselves on the ceiling . I had woken up with a start, sweat drenching my back . The members who were working beside me looked at me in surprise . I raised my hand, signalling that everything was fine, and laid back on my chair .
I had been suffering for days already . The Korean rankers to the district committee and foreign rankers were all asking what the **** had happened on the duel stage . But it wasn’t only them; I, too, couldn’t help but feel perplexed about how to explain the incident .
Some unheard-of alien broke into the Earth’s server and took part in the duel stage, advancing to the top round and putting all the challengers he met in trouble . His target was Hochi . When the foreigner met and confronted Hochi, the foreigner had been showing a confident attitude . That was until he disappeared .
That was the extent of the information we knew . Any more details were unknown, but people kept asking me for information . Every time I had to repeat the same thing like a parrot . “I don’t know . ”
While wallowing in self-pity, I received several messages . Tired of answering back one by one, I decided to ignore it by pushing it roughly into the corner of my vision .
What should I do?
Figuring out the extent of Hochi’s powers was a more pressing issue than dealing with the dead . I hadn’t even thought of checking how much power he had in the first place . But other people thought I was aware, which wasn’t the case . Now, I had to bear the consequences of that incident .
In need of advice, I left the conference room and went into another room . I softly asked, fidgeting with the ring, “What should I do?”
[I don’t know . ] Ho-Jae answered in a clear voice .
I questioned again, feeling refreshed . “Will you die?”
[Oh, why would I die? Do you maybe want to kill me?]
Of course, I couldn’t kill him, but I had grown used to having such tit-for-tat conversations . We were over thirty now, yet we still talked like children .
[You know what, don’t answer that . I can’t bear to hear . I don’t even want to know . ]
“Tch . ”
[Hey, that doesn’t mean you can click your tongue . ]
Ho-jae was of no help . As always, it was up to me to deal with the accident . He didn’t get involved, nor did he want to .
“Hmm, I wasn’t expecting much from you anyway . ”
I was asking just in case .
“Oppa, how strong are you now?”
[What did you say?]
“How strong are you? Of course, it’s hard for me to comprehend, but explain it to me . ”
[No, the way you just addressed me . ]
“What? Oppa?”
[Yes . ]
What was the big deal? What else was I supposed to call him? When we fought, I called him a b*tch, but I couldn’t call him that now .
[I think this is the first time you’ve called me that]
That could be possible . However, the last time we met was ten years ago . How many times had I changed what I called Ho-jae? I thought back for a moment .
“No, I’ve said it before . ”
[When? Ah . Well . I remember . I’m sure that’s…]
He must have recollected it too, but he trailed off . It was a bit embarrassing to say when that incident had happened .
[Whatever, say it again . Again . ]
“What? Oppa?”
[Yes . ]
I don’t know what was wrong with Ho-jae, acting like a child even though he’s already grown older .
I felt embarrassed . Slightly breathless, I said what Ho-jae wanted me to . “…Oppa . ”
[Again . ]
“Oppa . ” Without realizing it, I had lowered my head and mumbled it again . I was the only one in this room anyway .
[Again . ]
“Ah, really?! Do you want to hear me call you Oppa that much?”
[No, it’s just fun when you get shy . ]
(Note from Imagine: I love these bits of Ho-Jae and Jung-Ah’s Chemistry)
At that moment, I had the impulse to take off the ring and hurl it as far away as I could .
I should calm down .
[Hoo . Haah . Hoo . Haah . Take a deep breath and calm down . ]
My anger, which was about to die down, resurfaced, but somehow I managed to regain my composure . It was a bad habit to get this angry . It would be a good idea to fix it .
As calmly as possible, I asked again what I had asked earlier . Fortunately, Ho-jae also answered thoughtfully, not teasing anymore .
[About my power?]
“Yes . ”
[Well- well, how should I explain it so that you understand?]
“How about your level?”
[Oh, yeah . There’s that level measure . It’s easy to understand using that, even though it can’t be called a standard method of measuring . ]
Ho-jae had always insisted that their level had nothing to do with strength . However, all the other challengers used the level as a criterion for strength .
“So what’s your level?”
I wanted to speed up this conversation because I was worried that Ho-jae’s lengthy lecture on levels would start at any moment .
[500 . ]
“500?”
That was an unimaginably high number . Of course, it was a high value, but that was not the reason I was surprised .
“Not level 501?”
[Yes . 500 . ]
Back after I had heard about level from Ho-jae, I had noticed that his level always increased by 50 levels every time we met . He soon reached level 101, level 151, level 201, and so on . But 500?
[Max level . ]
* * * * * *
[Lee Hochi]
“Well, what am I supposed to say?”
“What?”
What should I say to Yong-yong, who was looking at me with sparkling eyes? I didn’t know .
“Nothing . Well done . ”
Yong-yong said he would make his own money to buy what he wanted in the market . At that critical moment, I had to participate in the tournament and had gone away . I had been curious and anxious about how Yong-yong would make money, but he was doing better than I thought .
I thought Yong-yong would sell the things he made or make money with his magic skills . I was worried it could be dangerous for him, but Yong-yong was making money in a healthier way than I thought . He was looking at people’s fortune .
Their business was going very well . It was a shop inside a small, cosy tent with just a wooden desk, but there was a long line outside the tent .
<The fortune-telling shop of Benedictus Lericia Piacan Laucones Naupolion Niss Tiamart Carsearin Balakas Shanso Gardandes Necesario III>
The name made it seem like a pharaoh, who had laid inside a pyramid for millennia, had reincarnated, and was dabbling in fortune-telling . It was a surprise that Yong-yong could remember that name because I completely forgot it in a few seconds .
“By the way, when did you learn fortune-telling?” As far as I remembered, Ho-jae had never taught me anything like that .
Did he teach him when I wasn’t there?
“There was a store that did fortune-telling . I think Yong-yong got the idea from that store,” Baek Sung-woong said .
Baek Sung-woog said Yong-yong had been very interested in the shop and asked the fortune teller how to do this and that . It was a business secret, but the owner gave his secret away to our cute Yong-yong . Yong-yong was doing business based on what he had learned at that time .
“Thank you . Where is that store? I should go and say hello . ”
“Ah… that store is gone,” Baek Sung-woong said .
“What? Why?”
“Their original location was next to this tent . ”
When I heard what Baek Sung-woong said, I came out of the tent, and as he said, there was an empty shop next to the tent . I glanced at the people standing in a long line out of the tent again .
I see .
Yong-yong probably drew in all the customers from the neighbouring store .
Of course, Yong-yong must not have had any ill will; he was still too innocent after all . I felt sorry for the fortune-teller who had lost his business . Shop-owners at the tournament may not be very life-threatening, but the fortune-teller’s feelings wouldn’t be pleasant either . I should ask Park Jung-ah about his whereabouts later .
I went back into the tent . Inside the tent, Yong-yong sat on the floor with a small table in front of him . Behind Yong-yong was a thin sheet of cloth, and Baek Sung-woong’s role was to make an adult figure behind the fabric .
Of course, there was a lot of stale air inside the tent, but this was also a part of Yong-yong’s fortune-telling shop . No, this was also a part of Benedictus Lericia Piacan Laucones Naupolion Niss Tiamart Carsearin Balakas Shanso Gardandes Necesario III fortune-telling shop’s charm .
There happened to be a couple who came to look at their fortunes . Yong-yong shook his arm in the air, looking at them, and threw the dice . The number that appeared on the dice was three .
“How’s our compatibility?”
“It’s the best,” Yong-yong gave a thumbs up and said .
No, it was common sense that it was not the best result if you got a three instead of one or six . Also, shouldn’t this couple at least look at the dice after Yong-tong threw it? And Yong-yong could have asked for their names or date of birth, but he just rolled the dice .
Questions arose in my head, but the couple liked it . Rather than rejoicing over the fact that their fortune was good, they looked at Yong-yong, who looked extra cute today .
Even if he stayed still, he was a cute dragon, but the way he seriously rolled the dice and stated the fortune doubled his cuteness . Also, people seemed to keep coming to see the cute hatchling, as he told good fortunes .
I was watching Yong-yong, who was always looking at people’s fortunes when a message came from Park Jung-ah .
[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: I found your friend Lee Seok-hyeon . As expected, he couldn’t get out of the stage . He’s younger than I thought . Send him a message . ]
I could finally get in touch with Seok-hyeon; one of the reasons why I had entered the tournament . I wondered what had happened that he couldn’t reply . Happily, I sent him a message .
* * * * * *
[Baek Sung-woong]
Much to my relief, the store was booming with business all day . I had been worried a lot .
Ever since I saw Yong-yong explode and kill a bear, I wondered if this cute kid might hurt people because he couldn’t control his strength . I vowed to watch and take care of him more carefully, and fortunately, neither Yong-yong nor Lee Hochi hated me for interfering . Instead, I felt thankful to them, who had instead been grateful to me for taking good care of them .
It had only been a few days, but we went around together all day long, so we became very close . In the process, I learned more about them .
When Park Jung-ah told me I would be in charge of the two people, I felt annoyed, wondering why I had been forced to do this . But now I thought that I was lucky to have met them and get to know them .
I watched Yong-yong regularly presenting fortunes to the guests . In a way, he seemed to be role-playing as an adult and being cute at the same time, which reminded me of my child on Earth .
At that moment, a new guest came in . Unlike other guests, who came with their lovers or friends, he or she was alone . There were often such guests . Most of the customers wanted to see Yong-yong for fun, but some seriously asked about their fate . There were always groups who wanted to risk their lives on silly, hopeless whims and came to visit Yong-yong .
“Can I achieve my goal? Can I do well?” the guest asked .
It was a vague question, but the guest seemed to want to know the answer .
Yong-yong was still very young, but not a fool . He noticed that the guest didn’t just want words of comfort and thought for a moment before answering . Yong-Yong asked the questioner what he was curious about first, rather than telling their fortune .
“Who do you want to kill?”
<Tournament Chapter (8)> End