Chapter 2: Tutorial
Yoon Se-a passed by .
I just held my stinging cheek and stared blankly ahead.
Seriously, that hurt like crazy.
Wait, but why did I even get hit?
The Han Tae-won of this era was pure innocence itself?
Huh? I'm the pure Han Tae-won!
A flicker of anger welled up.
Thanks to that, I snapped back to my senses and looked for Yoon Se-a.
But...... she had already left the auditorium.
I rushed out of the auditorium to find her.
Far off in the distance, I could see strands of brown hair fluttering......
It didn't look like I could chase after her.
She was already too fast and had vanished from sight.
If I chased after her now, our paths might just end up crossing for nothing.
Perhaps...... Yoon Se-a was overwheld with emotion by now.
In that case...... where she would go was already decided.
How do I know?
Sorry, but I'm an old-tir.
I know all the ways.
Without hesitation, I headed to that place.
Truth be told....... I need a bit more certainty.
Whether she had Returned or not.
I already think there's a 99.999% chance she Returned.
But it's not certainty.
If it's not 100%, I have to be skeptical.
Honestly, would going there now and hearing her out give 100% certainty?
Maybe not.
Still, there's sothing I want to confirm.
I walked for about ten minutes like that.
The cool shade cast by a large old tree.
A secluded corner of the Academy where almost no one ca or passed by.
On a bench with paint half-peeled off, a familiar silhouette sat with her back to .
Her shoulders were trembling faintly, as if her emotions hadn't fully settled yet.
I started walking toward her instinctively, then stopped mid-step.
How should I say this here?
Well, having walked a bit, my head had cooled down.
I was angry, but it wasn't easy to just lash out carelessly.
Right now, I had to approach this with complete rationality.
First. If Yoon Se-a had Returned, she could kill .
Of course, given Yoon Se-a's personality.
And her relationship with , Han Tae-won.
The odds were infinitely close to zero.
Even so, it wasn't zero.
It could still happen.
So I racked my brain as much as I could.
The Han Tae-won of the previous round...... what was he like?
Of course, he was a villain who made all of humanity rage.
But at the very least, within the Academy, he was formally just an ordinary person.
His grades were around the bottom of the class.
He had no friends, and simply existed as if he weren't there at all.
Sure, right now those guys are dismissing him as E-rank and giving him so attention.
But it's attention that will fade soon enough anyway.
So.......
I'll just go as Han Tae-won.
Mixing exactly half anger and half bewildernt, I called out.
"Hey! Yoon Se-a!"
I rushed over to the bench where she was sitting.
Yoon Se-a just kept her head hung down.
I sat down beside her.
I was about to say sothing.
Strike first, win first, as they say.
The mont I saw the tears still streaming down her cheeks.
I couldn't help but close my mouth.
I didn't feel like there was really anything more I could do here.
I just...... had to wait for her to speak first.
In silence, I sat on the bench and looked up at the sky.
A few scattered clouds. A blue sky.
It really...... was nice.
The mont I thought that.
Yoon Se-a grabbed my uniform collar.
Hmm...... actually, this feels more like she's got by the scruff of the neck.
Crrrk.
That's a pretty nacing sound.
"Why...... did you do that?"
A trembling voice unlike her.
"......."
I didn't answer.
Instead, I glanced at the other hand she was holding.
An old-looking pocket watch.
And then I looked into her eyes.
An indescribable whirlpool of emotions.
Relief, anxiety, anger, sadness.
All sorts of emotions were tangled together, and within those eyes that held everything—only I was reflected.
Looking at that, I spoke before I even realized it.
"......Sorry."
The strength slowly drained from her hand.
And her head drooped back down.
"You...... why did you end up like that."
I let out the characteristic easygoing laugh unique to Han Tae-won.
"Ha! What are you talking about? I'm the sa as always."
Then I tilted my head down slightly and t Yoon Se-a's eyes again.
"Hey, hey, stop crying. Why are you acting so unlike yourself."
But still there was no reaction.
Hmm...... what was Han Tae-won's script for a mont like this?
I dug through my mories.
But nothing in particular ca to mind as a script.
So I just shut my mouth again.
Honestly, I felt a bit sour.
There was the grand justification of saving the world.
But having a character I liked cry to this extent was a bit......
Watching it from outside a monitor versus seeing it like this in reality......
It was, well, sothing else entirely.
"Tch."
It seed Yoon Se-a had cald down.
She wiped her tears away with both hands.
"You......."
"? What about ."
"......Nothing."
"Ugh! That's the conversational style Koreans hate the most, you know?"
How could she start saying sothing and just stop!
But it didn't seem like she was going to say anything more.
"Hey, hey, hey! Setting that aside. My cheek! Why did you hit my cheek!"
I held out my swollen red left cheek right in front of her face.
"I need to hear an explanation for this! Ms. Yoon Se-a."
At my words, Yoon Se-a stared at for a mont, then spoke.
"Then, that apology from before. Did you apologize without even knowing what you did wrong?"
Her sharp observation left silent.
Well......
To be honest, I do know what I did wrong.
But...... I can't say it, can I?
The mont I say it, it could literally all be over.
I could have my head lopped clean off and have nothing to say.
So I just blurted out an excuse.
"Sorry. I...... have my own circumstances too."
"Ha......."
Yoon Se-a let out a small sigh.
Then, as if she had made up her mind, she fixed with a resolute gaze.
"Han Tae-won."
"Y, yeah."
"Don't do bad things."
W, what, all of a sudden?
"And don't do dangerous things either."
"......."
"Answer ."
She looked straight into my eyes.
I tried to avert my gaze, turning my head slightly.
But she grabbed my face with both hands and turned it back into place.
"Look at my eyes."
T, that's a lot of pressure!
But since it didn't seem like this situation would end without an answer.
I nodded with difficulty.
"Yeah...... alright."
Yoon Se-a finally let go of my face, then walked off sowhere.
I sat there blankly for a mont, then slowly headed to my dormitory room.
.
.
.
.
And so, perched on the edge of the bed in my dormitory room.
I glanced around the room for a mont.
Even though this was the lowest-tier dormitory.
It was better than the studio apartnt I used to live in.
There was even a bathtub in the bathroom.
Even a single room.
I lightly ran my hand over the neatly folded blanket on the bed.
Then closed my eyes.
Let sort this out for now.
This is reality.
Not a dream or anything like that.
It would be great if the ending was that this was all a dream, and "Big bro, this guy is laughing?!"
But that's not the case.
It hurts way too much.
Especially my cheek from earlier, which is still stinging.
Second.
Yoon Se-a Returned.
100%.
That pocket watch she was holding earlier.
And the way she spoke.
In that case...... I need to form a plan around that.
Honestly, I have no idea how much of what I know will change with Yoon Se-a as a variable.
So...... the early phase is all the more critical.
Variables tend to take effect and cause changes in the late phase, not the early phase.
Make the early phase even more perfect.
To do that...... I should first check my status window.
I swallowed hard.
My status window, now turned into reality.
Honestly, I have no idea what its contents will look like.
Will it be the sa as what I did in the previous round?
Or...... maybe there'd be so kind of bonus.
This was a tense mont.
Status window.
The mont I repeated that word internally.
I opened my eyes.
A blue window ca into view.
Na: Han Tae-won
Grade: ??
Main Trait: None
Sub Trait (0/1): None
I rubbed my eyes and looked at the status window again.
Possessed Main Trait: None.
"Hmm...... I must've gotten a bit tired and my vision went blurry or sothing."
I placed my finger on the status window and slowly began to read it aloud.
"Na. Han Tae-won."
Well, that part's right.
"Grade, ......question mark?"
Even up to here...... that's understandable.
That's fine, sure.
But unease was slowly creeping up.
"Possessed Main Trait....... ......None."
I blinked once.
"Why...... is there nothing......?"
And the unease enveloped my entire body.
A phrase that ca to right then.
"I'm done for."
The mont the thought that I was truly done for hit , and the sensation of those words crashing over —
Even the strength to make a fuss drained away.
This was just telling to lie down and die.
So this is what it feels like.
When they say your blood runs cold.
"Choooobiiiiii saaaang!"
What do I do! What do I do!
No, at the very least I need so kind of trait to do anything at all!
I lay on the bed, rolling around and screaming.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
Ding!
Magnificent Achievent! You have succeeded in causing another person to Return.
The conditions have been t.
A bonus will be granted to [Han Tae-won].
"......."
I slowly rolled my eyes left and right to check.
Thank goodness it was a single room—there were no watching eyes.
Oh, co on!
Hey! This kind of thing should've been announced sooner!
"Ahem! Hem! Mm-hmm!"
So what's the bonus then?
Trying to look like I wasn't expecting much, I glanced sideways at the status window.
—Wow! You are truly an incredible person! You have played a whopping 2,568 tis. Your actual playti cos to 35,032 hours, 42 minutes, and 59 seconds. How amazing!
What is this...... is it ssing with ?
—You, who devoted your life to one ga! This is a gift for soone like you.
—Main Trait: 10,000-Hour Rule Acqu—drdrdrdrdr-crunch! $#@%@#(&^%%
"W, why is it doing this?"
—System Error! System Error! System Error! System Error! System Error! System Error!
The ordinary status window gradually turned red.
Soon the status window glitched violently, like static.
Then, as if sothing burst.
The entire status window went pitch black.
It didn't disappear, didn't beco invisible.
It turned black and white, leaving only a difference in light and shadow perceivable.
Is this...... not going to let get the trait?
That anxiety hit hard.
A despairing scenario where I couldn't use the status window at all could unfold.
—Standard record of 30,000 hours. 2,568 rounds.
The conditions have been exceeded by a vast margin. The bonus will be enhanced.
Fortunately...... that didn't happen.
"Phew......."
So, if it's an enhanced reward...... just how insane a thing is it going to give ?
—Hidden Trait: The Extre Han Tae-won (??)
You are a human being who has pushed yourself to the extre. And so you are a human being—no, a Superhuman—who has stepped into the extre domain. This is proof of that.
—To begin the Hidden Trait tutorial, enter the Abandoned School Building = Mirror of the Other Side. The Hidden Trait will remain deactivated until then.
"......What?"
Wait a mont.
To use the ability I have to make a detour through the Other Side?
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
The main tutorial hasn't even started yet.
The opening just finished.
And you're telling to go sowhere that only gets dealt with in the mid-to-late stages of the Academy!
"Ha......."
Isn't that just forcing ?
But what can I do?
I need to have so kind of trait, or I can't survive.
Honestly, I really don't want to go.
I looked at the buff at the very bottom of the status window.
—Won't Collapse!
On March 4th, 2036, for that day only, you will not collapse.
I had to go while this was still active.
Otherwise, I'd have no hope.
The Abandoned School Building.
Just from the na alone, you could tell it was a horror spot.
The 7 Great Urban Legends that commonly appear in the Academy.
The Abandoned School Building, responsible for one of them.
"Hoo......."
Deliberating over whether to go or not was pointless.
Let head out.
.
.
.
.
I headed for the Academy's front gate.
Passing through that grand gate, shaped like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and crossing the crosswalk right in front of it.
A subway station appeared.
I rode the subway and cut straight across the Academy's vast grounds.
Through the window, the city center ca into view, then gradually gave way to dense vegetation.
Naturally, the number of people thinned out too, and sothing...... eerie crept in.
Then again, since it was the day of the entrance ceremony, almost no one was using the subway, so that might have been part of it too.
I got off one stop before the last stop, and walked for about 40 minutes......
"Huff! Huff!"
I climbed the hill, practically doing full-on hiking.
No, wait.
If it's 40 minutes, that's just straight-up hiking.
Why on earth would anyone build a structure at the very top of a mountain!
This is really hard to get to even once.
I need to build up my stamina or sothing.
And so, after barely, barely making it—the Abandoned School Building.
But, going in through the front gate wouldn't allow entry into the Other Side.
On top of that, the front gate was completely blocked off with wooden boards.
So from the start, I couldn't even get into the building through the front entrance.
Naturally, I passed the front gate and headed to the back of the Abandoned School Building.
The back gate was simply locked with a padlock.
Breaking that and going in would be easy.
But unfortunately, entering through that back gate wouldn't allow access to the Other Side.
So I looked up.
The only window not boarded up with wooden planks.
And it was about 30 centiters above my head.
Yes.
That was the problem.
First, even knowing it wouldn't work.
I tried jumping as high as I could from where I stood.
Nowhere near enough.
Hmm......
After that, I tried all sorts of things.
I picked up so branches in the forest and tried to fashion a ladder.
It snapped the mont I put weight on it.
I brought a long pole and tried pole-vaulting......
"Kyaaaa! My precious bits!"
I made up my mind never to do that again.
After struggling like that for about 30 minutes.
Before I knew it, the sun was setting.
In the mountains, the sun disappears even faster.
The darkness was already deep enough to call it night.
"Ugh! How am I supposed to get in!"
I have to get in today.
Otherwise, I have no chance.
But...... I don't know how to get in.
"Ha, damn. Should I go borrow a ladder?"
Truth be told, in the ga, by the ti I ca here it was already mid-to-late stage.
And just jumping was enough to get in, so......
I hadn't expected it to be like this.
If it had still been the ga, I could've used a bug to get in easily.
I tried several approaches, but all of them failed.
I was biting my nails and glaring at the window.
"Han Tae-won."
An all-too-familiar voice was heard.
A voice that sent a chill down my spine.
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