Chapter 31 - Too Good at Grinding (2)

“The system will explain the details, so... let the tutorial begin!”

Immediately after the fairy scattered the weapons and left:

“Hello there, Mr. Scrawny.”

“Hello to you... What did you call me?”

I approached Mr. Scrawny and offered him a handshake. This was the guy who had once provided me with the incredibly useful Awe [C] trait.

Now I was about to test whether I could extract traits from him more than once.

“Now, I have something to show you. Would you come with me for a moment?”

Anyone would hesitate if some suspicious man suddenly showed up and told them to follow him right after they were summoned to the tower.

A stranger asking you to follow him in an unfamiliar place? Being suspicious was only natural.

But...

“... Sure, why not?”

After a moment's consideration, Mr. Scrawny obediently followed me.

The reason was simple.

- Curiosity [A]

- Opposites naturally attract. People feel an inexplicable curiosity about you and instinctively take notice of you.

It was thanks to the Curiosity trait I had obtained from Choi Jiwon.

Traits named after emotions basically served to amplify those emotions. And this one was a whopping A rank. Turning the faintest flicker of curiosity into something substantial was well within its capabilities.

And so, just as Mr. Scrawny followed me to the pile of weapons...

SWISH!

I drew a sword at tremendous speed and launched into my own sword dance.

As flashy, stylish, and sexy as possible.

This was on an entirely different level from the swordsmanship I had once demonstrated to the men gathered around the weapons. I was far stronger now, and my swordsmanship had improved as well.

“...!”

The people around me backed away, overwhelmed by my presence. My Swordsmanship trait was only F rank, but by an ordinary person's standards, I was a master swordsman.

It probably felt like watching a martial arts movie. I knew the feeling. That was how I felt watching Choi Jiwon.

“... That's!”

I could see Choi Jiwon's eyes widen in the distance, but I didn't pay her much mind. I was planning to regress soon anyway.

“Well? What do you think?”

I asked Mr. Scrawny after finishing my sword dance.

“...”

He couldn't answer, sweat pouring down his face. His eyes darted around, avoiding mine, and his mouth hung so wide open that a fly could have flown in without him noticing.

“That... that was incredible. Fast, fluid, and above all... cool.”

Despite the stream of praise pouring from his mouth, he was inching backward without even realizing it.

Apparently, Awe had activated. But no emotions flowed into me from him.

So I couldn't obtain the same trait twice.

All right, fair enough. Moving on.

“How about sticking with me? Even outside this clearing?”

I held out my sword-free hand to him.

“I can tell just by looking at you. You have a good trait, don't you? I'll protect you.”

“...”

“I promise. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe. What do you say?”

A sense of security. Or reassurance. Or exhilaration.

Any emotion would do. All those positive feelings would feed my Hero trait.

Come on, Mr. Scrawny. Take my hand.

You've just been handed a golden lifeline. I trust you're not stupid enough to throw away an opportunity like this...!

“... I'd like that.”

He gently took my hand. His face was flushed red.

“...?”

Why was he blushing?

“I feel... really safe. I used to be a bit of a delinquent myself, so I've seen plenty of guys who could handle themselves... but they were nothing compared to you.”

He spoke with his red face lowered.

“I'm counting on you... boss.”

“U-uaaagh...”

Something about that final “boss” sent such a chill down my spine that I let go of his hand without thinking.

“Ah...”

He reached toward me with a yearning look in his eyes.

This wasn't right. No, no...

Before I knew it, I'd slapped myself hard across the face.

SMACK!

[You have taken damage.]

[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 0.]

* * *

The process had gotten a little strange, but I'd confirmed that I couldn't obtain traits from the same person repeatedly.

I'd successfully drawn out not only awe but relief as well, yet I hadn't felt myself absorbing either emotion.

So, what was next on the agenda?

Killing the Minotaur while practicing my swordsmanship.

Was there a way to do all three things at once, you ask?

There was.

“I'm from the future.”

“... Where did that come from? Who are you?”

“First, take a look at my swordsmanship.”

All I had to do was recreate the run in which I'd lost to the Goblin Shaman as closely as possible.

The only real difference was that I started by telling Choi Jiwon about my regression.

I rescued people, practiced swordsmanship with her, and patiently waited for firefighter Park Cheoljin to find us.

Everything that followed was the same.

SPLASH!

“GRAAAAAAH!”

The Minotaur sank into the swamp, and as the exhausted Goblin Shaman trudged toward the base of the tree...

SLASH!

I cut its head off from behind.

You backstabbed me once, so now I've backstabbed you.

Let's call it even, Goblin Shaman.

“I-is that... a portal?”

“W-wooooo!”

This time, I was able to watch everyone enter the portal without a hitch.

If only I'd been able to see this in the previous run.

The disappointing part was that killing the Minotaur again hadn't raised my achievement level.

Apparently, I couldn't earn achievement levels repeatedly from the same source either.

That meant... there was a limit to how strong I could get on each floor.

Not good news, in my opinion. It meant I couldn't grind levels and then steamroll the upper floors.

“... Kim Junho.”

“Go.”

“... All right.”

After making sure Choi Jiwon had passed through the portal, I regressed.

[You have taken damage.]

[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 0.]

* * *

Next up: trait grinding.

I knew I couldn't obtain traits repeatedly. But that didn't mean I'd already gotten trait EXP from everyone.

There were still gaps here and there, so to speak.

I memorized each person's face, keeping track of whom I'd rescued and whom I hadn't as I ground for traits.

Putting it into words made it sound like an enormous grind, but it only took four regressions to obtain traits from everyone.

I'd already gotten traits from over a hundred people when we pushed the Minotaur... so getting them from the rest wasn't particularly difficult.

For the record, every emotion I obtained fell under the Hero trait, but its rank didn't increase even after I finished grinding.

Disappointing, but... well, there was nothing I could do about it.

Finally, I decided to test a trait's effect.

Which trait?

- Hero [C]

- In moments of crisis, people think of you. You grow stronger when fighting to protect someone.

This one.

In fact, I'd never activated Hero even once. Since obtaining it, I hadn't had any occasion to fight to protect someone.

Right after getting it, I'd followed Choi Jiwon around hunting mutant goblins... and when we defeated the Minotaur, my job had been to guard the Goblin Shaman.

So I wanted to pin down exactly what “You grow stronger when fighting to protect someone” meant.

What do you do when you're curious?

Experiment.

“A-aaaargh!”

While roaming the forest, I heard a piercing scream and ran toward it.

A terrified man lay on the ground, facing a drooling mutant goblin with a large club.

A familiar situation.

Now, if I stepped between them...

[The Hero trait's effect activates!]

“Oh...”

I could feel a slight improvement in my physical abilities.

SLASH!

“KREEEEEK!”

When I cut down the mutant goblin in an instant, the trait's effect melted away like snow.

I see. The effect seemed to last only as long as there was an enemy.

“Th-thank you...”

“Aaaaaah!”

Another scream rang out in the distance.

Without even answering his thanks, I ran toward its source.

“... Oh.”

The conditions were different this time.

Two women were running for their lives, with a mutant goblin chasing after them.

What if I stepped between them...?

[The Hero trait's effect activates!]

[The Hero trait's effect activates!]

Just as I'd expected, the trait activated twice, stacking its effects.

“... Nice.”

With this...

I should be able to defeat the Minotaur.

A fair amount of time passed.

I kept grinding until I was on the verge of getting so sick of it that I wanted to quit everything.

I obtained traits from every single person in the clearing.

I explored every nook and cranny until the island's layout became familiar, and concluded that there were no hidden rewards I'd missed.

Maybe there were still some... but I didn't want to keep searching just to find them. I felt like throwing up.

I'd finished every bit of preparation I could.

Now all that remained was to throw myself into it.

If my plan succeeded... I would be able to defeat the Minotaur single-handedly.

Everyone in the clearing would survive.

And the Minotaur would die.

At my hands, and no one else's.

THWACK!

[You have taken damage.]

[Regressing to the moment you first entered Floor 0.]

* * *

“...”

I'd regressed, but I didn't act rashly. I didn't even talk to myself.

Because of Curiosity.

Even a trivial action on my part could attract unnecessary curiosity and derail my plan.

“Fuck! Where the hell am I?”

I calmly waited for the right moment.

“Hello, you inferior humans busily wasting your lives away! Lovely to meet you!”

I kept quiet and simply stared at the dirt.

“The system will explain the details, so... let the tutorial begin!”

And finally, the Tutorial fairy left the clearing.

As a bewildered silence settled over everyone, I slowly rose and picked up a sword from the pile of weapons.

A familiar weight. A familiar grip. A familiar texture. Holding the sword made me feel at ease.

Then I turned to find Choi Jiwon. I already knew where she appeared when summoned.

“...?”

She looked at me with a hint of puzzlement in her eyes.

Watch closely. See what I do.

“Everyone.”

I began speaking in a voice calmer than ever.

I knew what I needed to say.

After all, I'd repeated these words countless times before.

“My name is Kim Junho. Please look this way for a moment.”

Choi Jiwon.

“I don't know who's behind this... but in a crisis like this, we need to stick together.”

This is my answer.

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 30 has been revised, so if you haven't seen it yet, please go back and take a look...

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