The Second Trial (2)

「 Floor 2 trial starting in – 1hrs 47min 」

Kang Sunwoo: Ayy. I just woke up from the best nap.

Oh Choonsuk: Wtf, my body aches from sleeping on this cheap ass bed.

Hyuk Sukjin: I mean… You can just buy a nice one from the marketplace.

Oh Choonsuk: I'd rather get a nice ass bowl of soup and rice with that kind of money.

Hyuk Sukjin: Damn, you're making me hungry.

Oh Choonsuk: Legit. We don't have any other urges. Why am I still hungry?

Kang Sunwoo: Y'all really talking about food at this time. Just go buy some jerky from the marketplace. It's the cheapest thing you can get. 

Oh Choonsuk: Tyty. Good advice.

Snap!

"It's already time."

I stretched while looking at the Community.

20 hours had already passed while I'd been rolling around the waiting area training.

I learned a lot during that time.

The cheapest food in the marketplace, and how the waiting area works.

'I learned the most about the waiting area.'

You cannot feel most biological urges besides hunger in this area.

I also learned that the healing in the area isn't omnipotent.

'You can barely call it healing.'

As an experiment, I cut my hand a while ago and the spilled blood went back into my wound before closing.

Spilled blood going back to where it came from isn't normally 'healing.'

It's closer to restoration. 

However, it does not restore you to a point in time when you were not hungry anymore. 

That means it's probably possible to starve to death. 

'I also learned how to switch the healing on and off.'

There wasn't anything else particularly useful.

I have yet to try them out because they cost points.

Turning the healing on and off cost 100 points total. 

Seeing that I only have 373 points, I have to limit my spending.

Although when I do gain enough points, I'll have to try them out.

I finished my train of thought and bought a jerky.

Chomp chomp.

"It's hard and tasteless."

I toiled through the jerky that didn't even have salt on it.

But at 10 points per piece, it was the most efficient use of your points. 

Anything cheaper could barely be consumed by humans. 

They said that you couldn't even chew through the black bread, made from flour and sand, as well as other cheaper foods.

It wasn't really edible. Just something to fill your stomach with.

'I wouldn't be able to survive on that."

So the jerky was the best choice at the moment. 

Still chewing on it, I bought some water and first aid items. 

I had to be ready for anything. 

「 Points remaining – 40 」

"I barely have any left."

I wouldn't have had any left if I didn't get the bonus award.

I could tell that was the case from looking at the Community.

Lee Heejin: I can't buy any medical supplies because I don't have any points; Why are magic items so expensive;

Kim Seunghoon: Magic is op in the beginning. Of course it's expensive.

Hyuk Sukjin: Am I the only one who got a bonus reward? I have a decent amount of points from that.

Kim Seunghoon: I got one but mine was a skill and not points. What? 

Oh Choonsuk: I didn't get anything like that. What? Did you give the admin money or something? 

Lee Heejin: Huh? I didn't get it either.

Only a small minority received the bonus award. 

Most people in the Community seem to be hearing about the bonus award for the first time.

'Does it depend on how well you did in the tutorial?'

Everyone who got a bonus award said they only received either points or a skill.

But…

"I got both?"

Hm…

Maybe there were special requirements to unlock the bonus rewards.

Like if you killed the enemy when the goal of the trial was to survive. 

'Maybe that's why I got two bonus rewards.'

That means I had to figure out what those requirements were in the upcoming trials.

I needed to figure it out if I wanted any advantage over the other people climbing the tower.

The difficulty I chose was also the highest of the three. 

If an E-rank monster appeared in the tutorial, the chances are, it was only going to get worse.

'Good thing I trained nonstop.'

I felt like the sword and shield were a part of my body.

At this point, even a sand golem shouldn't be too much of a problem for me.

'I have a shield now too.'

Storing all the equipment into my inventory, I checked the time.

「 Floor 2 trial starting in – 17min 17secs 」

Quite a bit of time passed while I was training and looking through the marketplace.

The messages in the Community slowed down as well. 

Oh Choonsuk: The tutorial was hard as fuck… How hard is the 2nd floor gonna be? 

Hyuk Sukjin: I don't need to awaken or anything. I just wanna go home.

Kim Seunghoon: Stop pissing in your pants and get ready to fight. 

Lee Jinwoo: Fuck, I really don't wanna go. Why did I pick the hardest difficulty… Can't I change it?

Hyuk Sukjin: Would you let a fish go after it took the bait? 

Oh Choonsuk: You're right. I wouldn't let that dumbass go. 

The Community seemed grim as the timer counted down.

I wasn't an exception.

'Will I be able to survive? Me?'

My hand shook and my heart beat fast at just the thought of the upcoming battle.

If I didn't fight, the only thing left for me would be natural selection.

At the end of that path, all that was left was a nameless, honorless death.

That's why everyone was fighting to survive.

「 Floor 2 trial starting in – 10secs 」

10, 9, 8, 7…

As the clock counted down, the community was completely silent. 

It was calm before the storm.

And…

「 Floor 2 trial starting in – 0secs 」

「 Time up. 」

When the time ran out…

"Trial."

I immediately uttered the command. 

「 Do you accept the 2nd-floor trial? 」 

「 Y/N 」 

I selected 'Y' without hesitation, and the same portal from yesterday appeared. 

I stepped in without thinking, and the portal enveloped my body.

Because if I hesitated now, I might have never been able to take a step forward.

Let's go.

「 Entering Tower of Trials floor 2. 」 

「 Difficulty – Hard 」 

「 The objective of the following trial is 'assassination.' 」 

「 We wish the challenger a satisfactory ending to their choice. 」 

"A forest?"

A luscious green forest greeted me on the other side of the portal.

「 The 2nd-floor trial is starting now. 」 

「 Remaining time – 3days 」 

「 Trial success condition – Killing the orc chief before the timer runs out 」 

「 Trial fail condition – Challenger's death or time out 」 

「 Trial success reward – Assassin's Cloak(D),  Obsidian Dagger(E+)」 

「 Trial fail penalty – Death 」 

"Assassination...."

It seems that the 2nd floor's trial is assassination. 

'I have to assassinate a monster now?' 

I'd never done it and I'd never thought about it.

I mean, what kind of hunter assassinates a monster? 

They just walk up and kill them. No one plans an assassination…

It's probably happened once or twice but…

Doesn't seem very common.

This didn't bother me much though.

It didn't change what I had to do.

"Whatever they want."

That's how this tower works. 

Then—

「 Opening the map of the 2nd floor's trial. 」 

「 Indicating the orc tribe's location on the map. 」 

Following the message, a map popped up in the corner of my eye.

I thought the hard difficulty would be merciless.

I guess the tower had a smidge of a conscience.

After looking at the map, I understood why I needed a map. 

 An obscure location in the middle of the woods.

Without the map, it would have taken a week to find them.

The tower didn't see locating the orcs as a part of the trial.

"That gets rid of the need to go explore the forest." 

This was already a huge positive. 

I had a couple of days worth of food and water in the inventory so I didn't have to worry about that either.

I had some potions for emergencies and a bunch of things prepared. 

"Let's go."

I moved slowly with the sword and shield in my hands.

*** 

About halfway to the marked location, I laid low and started crawling. 

I can't call this a hunter's strategy, but it's what I came up with after thinking for a while.

'The orcs might notice me if they had any scouts.'

If the trials were mimicking dungeons, that was completely possible.

It would be difficult to avoid the scouts unless you had a special item or a skill.

Although a normal hunter would be sure to have one of those… 

Since I had neither, this was my best bet.

'I should be cautious if I don't want to get caught.' 

I kept low and crawled forward.

"Shiek, shieek."

My body froze as the sound landed on my ears.

The breathing of an E-rank beast, an orc.

"..."

With slight hesitation, I continued to go forward. 

Farther up ahead, a scene opened up through the edge of the grass.

A roughly sharpened wooden fence, and two monsters guarding it.

'Orc guards.'

The breath I heard earlier was probably also from a guard. 

"Shieeek."

Covered in leather armor, equipped with a greatsword, they looked tough. 

"I want to keep observing them but…."

Since I finished my examination, I should retreat and strategize. 

If an orc guard discovers me, I'd be forced to fight.

And that decreases my chances of survival. 

I slowly distanced myself from their village and stood up to inspect the nearby area.

Now that I had found the orcs, I needed a place to observe them without being caught. 

'Mana dense enough to host monsters and this humidity… It should be here… '

「 Heavenly Mud 」 

「 Grade: F 」 

「 Mana-filled mud that's generated in mana dense areas. 」

「 Rubbing it on your body prevents you from being discovered by smell and sight. 」 

「 The effect only lasts for 12 hours and has a terrible stench for the duration. 」 

…found it.

'I guess this is here too.'

I'd only ever heard about mud that was integrated with mana in dungeons. 

The tower was indeed pretty similar to dungeons. 

'I can use some of my knowledge here too.'

Scooping mud from the nearby puddle, I covered myself in mud.

The scent reminded me of a rotting piece of meat, but that didn't matter. 

I didn't know about other monsters, but this would be enough to get past the orcs.

'Monsters like goblins and orcs can't detect you past this mud.'

'Now, what should I do…'

Normally, if orc guards were dispatched in a dungeon, that means there would be 'hunters' and 'workers.'

Guards, hunters, workers, and the chief.

Orcs had clear and distinct roles.

'Orcs that know how to coordinate, at least an E-rank trial.'

It's not at a level that I can clear easily.

I might not be able to beat it even if I risked my life.

As long as the orc hunters were stationed, I would never be able to overpower them.

'You need an E-rank party to kill an orc hunter, so there's no way I can do it alone.'

Objectively, because I was physically weak, I had no chance of winning a direct confrontation.

One thing that could work for me was my innate ability. 

But even that wouldn't activate unless I killed something.

'How can I kill the chief?'

At that moment, something crazy popped up in my head.

No, there was one way.

As long as I don't limit my target to just the 'chief…'

"…There is a way. To kill all the orcs."

__