The Tutorial Is Too Hard Chapter 59:
It took a while for me to get away from the scene of two fake dragons running wild .
Because their bodies were so huge, no matter how far I got from them, I could still see them clearly as if I was right next to them .
I was able to get away from the scene of violent battle after running for a long while through the bushes .
When I thought that I was finally and definitely out of danger, I sat while leaning on a tree .
“Ugh . ”
What should I do now?
This really feels hopeless .
I wouldn’t be feeling this way if I could just open the inventory . No, if I had the basic sword and shield at least, I wouldn’t feel so hopeless right now .
First, since I can’t bring out food or water, I need to worry about food .
This place is a lush jungle .
Since there are grasses and trees everywhere, I think I’ll be able to find edible fruits or vegetables .
However, if I carelessly pick and eat fruits out of hunger and get poisoned, that would be a serious trouble .
I don’t know when or where unexpected danger might come at me . If I get poisoned by chance, I cannot even bring out antidote potion .
Since the situation came to this, it was really fortunate that I got the Great Poison Resistance Skill after clearing the 11th Floor .
I should gather fruits when I see them . After securing minimum safety, I should eat them only when I feel like I’m dying from hunger .
The food that seems the safest to eat are meat…
If I could find raw meat and roast it on fire to eat, I probably won’t need to worry about poison .
Poisonous animals usually have the venom gland at the mouth, so I just need to cut off their heads instead of going through the difficult process of eliminating poison from the meat .
It is not perfect, but I think that should be enough as the bare minimum safety against the poison .
I am not going to do further measures against poison since I don’t know anything else .
Thinking about procuring food made me think about the two fake dragons that I ran into earlier .
They had humongous bodies .
If I can get even just a part of their meat, I probably won’t have to worry about food for a while .
The fight is probably over by now?
Um…
No . Let’s not get distracted by the thought .
Even if one of them is dead, the other one must be still there .
If I approach it carelessly, and if it attacks me because I am bothering it while it is eating, that would be a big trouble for me .
Also, there are probably other scavengers who are thinking the same thing I am .
Would I be the only one who is interested in that giant dinosaur’s dead body?
Probably not all of the living beings in this jungle are as big as those dinosaurs .
There probably are ones that are a lot smaller .
Maybe there are also ones as small as me .
To me, the smaller-sized enemies could be more dangerous than the giant ones .
Enemies like that are going to be hanging around the dead body . I shouldn’t even try to put myself in danger by butting in there .
Actually, I should get further away before such **** show up .
Let’s move again .
* * *
Having walked inside this tightly packed jungle for so long, and then for a little longer again, the sense of alertness I had initially had become dull . Instead, all I was left with was frustration .
It’s hot . Also, it’s too humid .
The grass that’s sticking to my skin… The grass that’s blocking my field of view… I hate them all .
I hate the bugs flying around near me even more .
Fuck .
After entering the 12th Floor, what I have seen so far are the two dinosaurs, ridiculous amount of trees, grass, and bugs . Those are all .
This environment is provoking extreme discomfort .
[Lee Hyung-jin, 3rd Floor: Big Bro, are you busy right now?]
It is a message .
… Since a message came, I might as well rest for a bit .
I’m pretty far from the starting point . Also, let alone any danger, I don’t see any organisms besides bugs around me .
[Lee Ho-jae, 12th Floor: No, not yet . I’ll get busy soon . ]
[Lee Hyung-jin, 3rd Floor: You are at 12th Floor . How is it?]
I thought hard about how to tell him and then decided to just be honest .
Afterall, Lee Hyun-jin is also in Hell Difficulty .
[Lee Ho-jae, 12th Floor: It is a real **** . The Inventory Window is closed . ]
[Lee Hyung-jin, 3rd Floor: Inventory Window is?]
I explained my situation in detail to satisfy his curiosity .
Lee Hyung-jin didn’t send any response for a while .
[Lee Hyung-jin, 3rd Floor: … I think I shouldn’t get that far, Big Bro . Actually, I guess it is just that I cannot get that far . ]
Um…
Actually, I was expecting a response like ‘As I thought, the difficulty is insane . Keep working hard, Big Bro . ’ Because of that, I explained with exaggeration . However…
Lee Hyung-jin was also a challenger in the Hell Difficulty . It seemed I took this fact too lightly .
It looks like this kid’s mental game is about to develop a crack .
Let’s divert the topic .
[Lee Ho-jae, 12th Floor: How are the newbies?]
[Lee Hyung-jin, 3rd Floor: They are doing okay . They seem frustrated because they are not able to get past the First Floor, but what could they do . If they carelessly rush the stage, they will die . ]
This guy is not usually gloomy like this . Usually, he has a bright personality . He laughs even at the smallest things .
[Lee Ho-jae, 12th Floor: What about you?]
[Lee Hyung-jin, 3rd Floor: I am thinking about postponing challenging the Third Floor boss room until the next round . Unlike you, it will be hard for me to not fall on the cloud bridge . Also, I don’t have any information about what’s below it, so I don’t want to challenge it when I don’t feel comfortable . ]
Could it be that he lost confidence when he gave up the Third Floor boss room?
[Lee Hyung-jin, 3rd Floor: For now, I am going to wait until I grow strong enough to have the confidence in getting through the floor . ]
[Lee Ho-jae, 12th Floor: All right . That’s safe . Well then, keep up the good work . ]
[Lee Hyung-jin, 3rd Floor: Okay, Big Bro . ]
Lee Hyung-jin had bubbly personality when it came to dealing with people . However, when it came to the stages, he was very calm and safety-oriented .
His play style was very meticulous and calm .
He thinks about a lot of things and makes the move after checking them .
To base it off of video games, I guess I could explain him as a thief or assassin class .
He was still at the Third Floor, so he had not had a real combat yet, but his tendency was like that .
He was the first challenger besides myself that got past the Second Floor in the Hell Difficulty, so that proved his abilities .
I asked why he entered the Hell Difficulty when he is so careful like that . He also said he was drunk at the moment and selected the Hell Difficulty out of whim under influence of the alcohol .
As I thought, alcohol is the cause of all evil and wrong .
Still, because he has a warm personality, he likes talking to people . Other people also likes talking to him .
Also, because he is very thorough and careful, he is taking care of all lower floor challengers, who were all at the First Floor, giving them advices and counsel .
Most of the advices he is giving are coming from me, but it is far better for them to come through Lee Hyung-jin than from me directly .
People are more comfortable with that, and Lee Hyung-jin is good at leveling the eyes with others when explaining things to them .
When it comes to psychological counseling, he is far better than me .
He is a friend I am thinking highly of in many ways .
He is a few years younger than me, but there are a lot I could learn from him as well .
Seeing a guy like that getting depressed is bugging me .
Now that I think about it, I’ve heard that there is going to be the day of the great harmony at the end of this round .
I should meet Lee Hyung-jin and talk to him for a bit .
If possible, I should ask Kim Min-huk to join us in the conversation .
Honestly, I am not confident at all about making someone feel better through a conversation .
With Kim Min-huk tagging along, he should be able to console Lee Hyung-jin by himself .
I realized Kim Min-huk was busy lately . Although the thought zapped through my mind, I ignored it .
Now, let’s focus on my own situation .
First, I need to find a place that could be used as my camp .
Since the clear condition is surviving here for a long time, I desperately need a camp site where I could rest and be safe .
I should gradually expand my territory with my camp as the main site .
The camp site candidates I can think of right now are…
Next to the river .
Cave .
Above a giant tree .
Are they all?
The area near the river has high likelihood of already being the predators’ territories . As for a cave, it would be hard to find .
That leaves above a giant tree as a camp site .
I should look for a tree that is significantly bigger and taller than others, one that’s big enough for me to make a tent above it and reside .
How do I find it?
… Do I need to walk around aimlessly until I find it?
Through this jungle?
If possible, I wish I could look around the area .
My field of view is too limited because of tightly packed trees growing everywhere .
The stage… . No, even if it is just the landscape nearby, I would like to confirm it with my own eyes .
To see my current position and the landscape around me, the easiest thing I can do is just flying up .
However, if I do, I’ll be exposed in midair .
If there are enemies who include the sky as the attack range, I’ll be attacked right away .
When I was concerned about my visual range, I could hear steps nearby .
It was a really, really quiet sound .
However, it was not the kind made by small bugs causing the leaves to swing .
They were footsteps .
They were sounds of intentionally cautious and quiet steps .
The feline predators at the Eighth Floor had this kind of footstep sounds .
I kept my pose steady and moved only my eyes to look around .
There is nothing .
I looked around at the direction where the footstep sounds came from, but I don’t see the cause .
Did I get the wrong direction?
No .
Although I am at the jungle with the sounds of leaves waving in the air and chirping of birds and bugs chaotically mixed in, there is no way my senses could be wrong .
The footstep sounds definitely came from my left .
[Battle Focus]
That means I just cannot see the opponent .
Everything was slowed down because of the Battle Focus . In that slowed down world, I patiently waited until the opponent showed up .
This is the first time for me to fight an assassin type .
Against an assassin, it’s probably the surprise attack that I should be cautious about .
However, if I know where it is before it happens, I will be the one who will deal the surprise attack .
There it is .
With the invisible enemy coming closer, I can feel its presence more clearly .
The sounds of quiet footsteps are coming toward me too .
Little by little . . .
I used the Mana Circuit to circulate the mana inside my body and focused a part of it on my left hand .
I swung my hand to the left side as soon as I became certain the invisible enemy was within my range .
The mana was focused on the tip of my hand like a sharp edge . I felt something was cut with it .
Slice…
[Kiiiiiaaaaak!]
“Now I can see you . Hello?”
The enemy in front of me was a monster that resembled the appearance of a long armed orangutan .
I thought this environment was like the Jurassic period, but this place even has mammals .
I called that **** a monster instead of just orangutan because it had gigantic scythes below its shoulders instead of arms .
They were like arms of a mantis .
Also, its mouth was a playful mix of a bird’s beak and sabretooth’s dental structure .
For the sake of convenience, let’s just call it an orangutan monster .
The orangutan monster was bleeding around its neck .
As I thought, my attack was dealt correctly .
I felt a little bit of satisfaction from having confirmed that .
It seemed the orangutan monster panicked from realizing it could understand my words . Perhaps it panicked because I attacked it when it knew it was invisible . Although I could not be certain why, it was hesitating to do anything .
“I’m so glad I met you . I wish we could chat for a while . I have a lot of things I would like to hear, you see?”
[Ki… . Kiiiaaaaack! Kiiiiack!]
“Why are you acting like you cannot understand me . I know you can understand me just fine . ”
The knowledge before the time of Babel was merciless .
Nobody can escape its effect, not the one possesses the skill nor the opponent in the front .
[Kuuurururu… Kuruoooaaaaa . ]
Anyway, this **** is too incorporative .
It seems there are plants that mesmerize other animals and eat them .
Is it like the ultimate evolution version of the venus fly trap?
“Why don’t you calm down a little instead? If the conversation goes well, I might let you live, you get it?”
[Kuuuuooooaaa!]
I don’t think this will work . Hostility is only deepening after each time I try to talk to him .
It cannot be helped .
They said the best medicine for those that don’t understand words is a good beating .
Let’s try talking to it a bit later .
I took a step in, and the orangutan monster charged in after another beastly roar .
It has invisibility cloaking, which is a cheat-like ability . However, its abilities are so-so besides that one thing .
Although it is completely visible now, it is just charging at me without any plan . I don’t feel so threatened by it .
It does have many violent looking things attached to it, but it is only on par with ordinary wild animals .
I blocked the swung scythe with the hand covered in mana . I swung my other hand and cut its shoulder .
The mana-covered hand could be shield or sword .
Of course, mana-covered shield and sword are far more powerful .
The difference in reach is substantial, and they are safer too .
The orangutan monster screamed in pain . I kicked its lower body to knock it over . I stepped on its chest so it could not move .
However, even in that state, the monster continued to struggle and resist .
To stop the scythe being swung at me, I cut off its other shoulder . Also, to stop it from struggling, I struck its stomach a few times .
Finally, the monster stopped for a moment .
I think I can finally interrogate it .
“Does it hurt? See? Wouldn’t it have been better if you acted like a gentleman from the beginning? If you answer my questions from now on, I will…”
Ah… I don’t have any potions .
In that case, I think this **** is going to die before long .
I was going to ask the monster before it stopped breathing so I could get some information even if it was going to be only a little bit . However, the monster opened its mouth first .
And then…
[Kiiiiaaaaaak! Kuuuuuaaaaaak!]
It roared loudly .
This is not good .
It spoke a simple language of wild beasts, so the meaning was not as detailed as beings of higher intelligence .
However, the beastly roar that it just screamed had one clear meaning .
Revenge .
[Kiiiiaaaaak!]
[Kiiiiaaaaaaaaak!]
I can hear similar kinds of roars from the distance .
They are not coming from just a few .
Ones I can hear are in order of several dozens .
I turned my head and looked at the monster crushed below me .
The monster already had stopped breathing . It was dead .
The situation is getting twisted in a really annoying way .
I thought about things as I listened violent sounds of footsteps from the distance .
I don’t know the enemies’ strength .
I don’t know their number either .
I don’t know the situation in this place either .
I don’t know the landscape .
I’m at a disadvantage on everything .
I should run for now