Chapter 157. Tutorial (2)With the red crystal, I worked on making equipment to use in the next tutorial stage.
Using a tenth of Stigma"s magic power, I separated the red crystal into three equal parts. The sharp crystal was for a spear, the wide crystal was for an axe, and the remaining was for a fishing line.
The spear, axe, and fishing rod were simple. I just had to take apart the waiting room"s wooden board, trim it, and put the crystal on the tip.
The problem was the fishing line. I wasn"t sure what to do at first, but it ended up being easy using Stigma"s magic power. As soon as I infused the red crystal with it, the crystal transformed into a squishy, semisolid substance. After some tinkering, the substance became a long, st.u.r.dy fishing line.
“…Hm.”
I looked at the spear, axe, and fishing rod I made.
With my Dexterity"s proficiency grade being so low and with Aether being absent, they didn"t look all that aesthetically pleasing. Still, they were most likely better than most ma.s.s-produced goods. At the very least, they were good enough to be used in the tutorial.
At that moment, a system window popped up.
[You obtained the technique, "Lv.1 Crafting".]
“Oh right.”
The Tower had a technique system as well.
===
[Crafting Lv.1]
*You can easily craft Lv.0 items.
===
The Tower of Wish was kind of like an RPG game. Performing certain actions awarded Players with "unrealistic" bonuses. The Crafting technique should let me craft items instantly, skipping all the intermediate steps. This also included a leveling system like most RPG"s..
[There are 10 minutes remaining until the second tutorial begins.]
[Try accessing the Community.]
While I was practicing swinging my axe and spear, the system gave me another recommendation.
I thought about one of the Tower"s most important systems, the "Community".
===
[Tower Community]
「Public Forum」
「Auction House」
「Group Creation」
…
…
「Messenger
「Player Profile」
===
As expected, the Tower Community had many functions.
The auction house was exactly as what it sounded like, and group creation was for creating parties. The player profile was similar to Facebook but far superior.
「Player Profile」
Players could create two profile pages, one using their nickname and one anonymously. Each Player had full control over how to decorate their profiles.
They could turn it into a shop by putting up items for sale or use it to buy and sell information.
I tried clicking on each function.
[Player Profile can be used after the tutorial.]
[Auction House can be used after the tutorial.]
[Messenger can be…]
As I thought, the public forum was the only function that was currently available.
「Public Forum」
=
[Am I the first poster? (3)]
[Wow, this is interesting. Someone comment on this thread! I need to know if anyone else is alive. (6)]
[Has anyone cleared the tutorial yet? (2)]
=
There were only three posts on it. It seemed everyone was busy trying to clear the tutorial.
I created a post as well.
[Let"s share information.]
The view count went up as soon as I posted it, and someone commented on the post.
—?? Extra7-nim? Why are you here? Wait, are you the Extra7 I know?
“…How does this guy know me?”
I tilted my head and checked the commenter"s nickname.
The commenter"s nickname was… "Nayunjajangman".
The "Nayun" part of the name made me a bit uncomfortable, but because I was so familiar with it, I was surprised more than anything else.
“He"s here too?”
[The second tutorial stage, "Way of Survival", will begin at any moment.]
[Please get ready.]
I tried to comment, but another system alert popped up.
I turned the Community off and got up with all the equipment I made.
“I"m ready.”
[You will now be transferred to the second tutorial stage.]
“Yes.”
Along with the system alert, a burst of white light erupted. I closed my eyes. I could feel the warmth from the particles of light enveloping my body, as well as a strange sensation as though I was floating in the air.
Tssss.
Soon, I could feel that I landed on a soft surface.
I opened my eyes.
“I"m here.”
Chwaaa…
The sound of a serene wave rang out.
Standing still, I looked in front of me. A boundless ocean was spread out across the horizon.
I was standing on a sandy beach. Behind me, numerous palm trees were forming a dense forest.
This place was a tiny uninhabited island.
[Tutorial Goal – survive for 14 days.]
[From the second tutorial, you will be ranked based on your performance and will be rewarded accordingly.]
The goal of the second tutorial was survival.
To stay alive in this boundless area for 14 days.
However, it was worth risking more danger in this tutorial. Its "performance-based reward" was something that surpa.s.sed the standard of a tutorial.
[Try thinking or shouting "Status Window".]
Another system alert popped up.
I did as it said.
“Status window.”
===
[Nickname – Extra7]
○Vitality – 43/100
○Magic Power – 30/30
○Skill Count – [1]
○Skill – Bonus Skill 「Random Dice」
===
My vitality and magic power, effectively my HP and MP, were numericized. My magic power wasn"t 0 most likely because I lost my Magic Dysfunction Physique.
But why did the system want me to see this?
[Vitality is affected not only by damage but also hunger and fatigue.]
[When your vitality reaches 0, Player Extra7 will die. Players who die in the tutorial cannot revive.]
I see, so it was telling me to eat something. It must have been worried about me, a kind, polite… kuhum.
“Thank you.”
I answered energetically and took a look around.
Although I was standing on land, there wasn"t anything to eat in the highest difficulty island. In other words, I had to find food in the ocean.
That was the reason I crafted a fishing rod and an axe. To fish and to craft a boat.
Growl—
My stomach growled. I was starting to get hungry.
Before creating a boat to set out onto the ocean, I took out the fishing rod from my inventory. Since I could use coconuts from the palm trees as my source of water, finding food was my first priority.
“Let me think…”
I stared at the fishing rod in my hand, then held it with both hands.
Before coming into the Tower, I practiced fishing for this exact purpose.
“…Huup!”
I swung the fishing rod with a big motion.
Whish—
The fishing line drew an arc in the air.
It felt more natural than I thought. It was partly because I practiced fishing beforehand, but it probably had more to do with the fact that Dexterity and Master Sharpshooter helped with fishing.
Plop!
The hook sank into the ocean.
…Time pa.s.sed in silence. I was getting hungrier, but the fishing rod remained unmoving.
I didn"t use any bait, but because the hook was made with the red crystal, I didn"t need one. Sea monsters should smell the scent of magic power and come.
“…Haam.”
I continued to wait. I had a firm belief in my luck.
After about 30 minutes, the surface of the water showed a hint of change.
“Ah!”
The fishing line tensed up. Something had clearly bit it.
Whatever it was, it was incredibly powerful. The wooden fishing rod was bending.
“….”
After repeatedly trying to reel the fish in, I picked up my spear. With my vitality low, doing this was a waste of time. In the end, killing it then reeling it up was the same as reeling it up then killing it.
Holding my spear firmly, I calmly observed the fish moving underwater.
Then…
Chweek!
I threw the spear.
Although my strength stat was 65% sealed, it was still above 2 points. Struck with the spear, the fish stopped moving, and I easily reeled it in.
[You obtained the technique, "Lv1. Fishing".]
*You have an increased chance of fish biting your hook.
[You spotted a glossy seafish. Its information has been recorded in the Player Encyclopedia.]
“…A sea monster.”
○Monster Encyclopedia
[Glossy Seafish] [Low-rank grade-7 sea monster]
—A sea monster that tastes like a mackerel.
I retrieved the spear sticking out of the fish"s back then started a campfire. Starting the fire was easy. I only had to rub some wood I collected with the red crystal axe. Once the fire was up, I strung the glossy seafish over it.
Tssss.
The glossy seafish dripped with delicious fish oil as it was cooked.
**
Same time.
Boss, who cleared the first stage of the hardest difficulty tutorial in the blink of an eye, was sitting on a sandy beach in meditation.
“….”
Repeating deep breaths, she tried to move her shadow to the water. However, the shadow didn"t stretch far, only swirling around her before disappearing. It was because of the 93% stat restriction she was under.
“…Huu.”
She tried over a dozen times but failed each time.
In the end, she gave up on trying to fish with magic power.
Growl.
She pondered, "I"m hungry. I have to eat something. Should I have saved the orange ticket"s emergency food supply?"
She got up and began to walk around. Soon, she found a large boulder. She immediately hoped to find some crabs underneath it.
She slowly approached the boulder. Then, she picked the rock up and threw it aside. There was a startled hermit crab underneath it. Boss quickly moved and grabbed the hermit crab.
“….”
Now, she needed to cook.
She opened her inventory. Although she already ate all the food that came with her ticket, she still had the burner and frying pan that came as a set.
Tak, tak.
She turned the burner on and put the hermit crab on the frying pan.
“…ssp.”
Food.
Food.
Food.
As she mumbled, the sun began to set.
**
18 hours pa.s.sed since the start of the second tutorial.
Koong, koong, koong.
I was striking down a tree with my axe. As the red crystal axe was a fire attribute weapon, the tree didn"t last all that long.
Kiiik—
With just five swings, the tree fell.
“That should be enough…”
That was the thirtieth tree. They were all used to craft a boat.
The highest difficulty island had no food, and from the second tutorial, there was a performance-based ranking system.
How far I adventured, how many sea monsters I hunted. These things all contributed to the ranking, so leaving the island was a must.
“Inventory.”
My inventory was currently filled with useful materials, like bones and skins of sea monsters.
I took out an item labeled by the system as "Red Fish"s Tough Skin".
“Craft.”
Then, I used Crafting to make a string.
[Red Fish"s Tough Skin has been used to produce a twine.]
[Trait "Dexterity" applies to crafting.]
[You crafted a Lv.1 Tough Twine.]
Using Crafting, I could skip intermediate steps of crafting like in a real game.
“Whew.”
Now that that was done, I picked up my axe and went to where all the logs were gathered.
Ssk, ssk.
With Dexterity"s help, I began to shave the surface of the logs. To create a proper sailboat, I needed to make the surface of the logs as smooth as possible.
Sssk, sssk.
After about an hour of hard work…
[Yggdrasil Leaf is impressed by your effort.]
I received another system alert.
[Try checking the Yggdrasil Leaf.]
“Ah, hold on a bit.”
I immediately put everything down and opened my inventory.
===
[Yggdrasil Leaf]
—Blessing of Adventure
*Your body becomes lighter while you have this item in your inventory. (minor improvement to your physical ability)
*You can grant small blessings to items. Blessings will get stronger the more they have to do with adventures.
===
Just like the system said, Yggdrasil Leaf had a new effect.
“Nice.”
Although the first effect gave a "minor" improvement, I liked how it had a wide range of applying to my entire physical ability.
The second effect just seemed good since it said "blessing".
“Thank you.”
I closed the inventory and went back to working on the boat.
Ssk, ssk.
The sound of logs being cut.
Chwaak, chwaak.
The sound of logs being tied together with a string.
“…Uuu!”
After three hours of hard work, I was finally done.
I got up and stretched. I felt a bit lightheaded.
“Next up is…”
Coconuts.
I began to throw coconuts on my boat to use as water.
One, two, three, four, five… twenty-three. Almost half the boat was filled with coconuts.
[Try granting the vehicle a small blessing.]
“…Oh right.”
I almost forgot.
This was why it was nice to be friendly to the system. There was a high chance that the Yggdrasil Leaf got a new effect because I"ve been so polite to the system.
I took out the Yggdrasil Leaf from my inventory and waved it over my sailboat.
[Yggdrasil"s Blessing envelopes the sailboat.]
[The surface of the sailboat becomes coated with magic power.]
[You will now have a smoother adventure.]
“Status window.”
I opened up the status window and checked out the sailboat"s specs.
===
[Lv1. St.u.r.dy Sailboat with Lv.2 Yggdrasil"s Blessing]
—Lv.1 St.u.r.dy Sailboat
○Durability Lv.1
○Speed Lv.1
○Safety Lv.1
—Lv.2 Yggdrasil"s Small Blessing
Increases all effects of the St.u.r.dy Sailboat by one level.
===
“…Oh?”
Levels were an important aspect of equipment. Yggdrasil"s Blessing raised items" levels? This wasn"t a small blessing at all!
“Thank you ve~ry much.”
"I won"t forget this grat.i.tude. Until I conquer this Tower, that is."
Now, it was time to set sail.
I pushed the sailboat into the water. Then, I hopped up with a paddle. A pleasant breeze blew over me.
I paddled forward.
The sailboat began to press forward.
My goal for the second tutorial was simple.
Going as far out as possible and killing as many sea monsters as possible.
Although things might get a bit dangerous, that would only serve to increase my ranking.
“…Huh?”
But after about 30 minutes of paddling, I caught a glimpse of another island.
That wasn"t the problem.
There was a silhouette of a person on the beach.
“Am I seeing this correctly…?”
Narrowing my eyes, I focused on the distant island.
Instantly, my vision expanded, and the view of the island became clear.