Chapter 6 - The Ponytail Woman Is Too Strong (2)

<Tutorial Stage>

-Clear Condition 1: Swallow a ‘golden orb’ hidden somewhere in the forest to advance to the next stage. However, only 50 golden orbs exist.

-Clear Condition 2: Defeat the boss, the Goblin Shaman, to generate a portal to the next stage.

“Everyone! I don't know who's behind this, but a crisis like this is precisely when we need to stick together!”

“... What's with that guy?”

“... Beats me.”

I hear quiet murmurs. Yeah. They must think this is ridiculous.

But I've already seized the initiative. Willingly or not, they're at least prepared to hear me out.

“Even at a glance, there are far more than fifty people in this clearing. That means we can't all swallow golden orbs to advance to the next stage. This tower is trying to divide us.”

I clench my fists and continue.

“But it says defeating the boss will create a portal. That means there is definitely a way for all of us to survive together. It's a boss, so it won't be easy... But if we all work together, I'm certain we can defeat it!”

I finish a speech so passionate that I worry my throat might bleed and trigger a regression.

The response to my magnificent speech is remarkably unanimous.

“... What's this dumbass on about?”

Utter dismissal.

But while their reactions are the same, their reasons fall into two categories.

First: they don't believe me.

“Let's be realistic. A boss? A portal? Do you think this isn't the real world? You're not actually buying all their talk about status windows and fairies, are you? Instead of wandering around and taking unnecessary risks, let's stay put. Let's wait for rescue.”

“... But something did just appear in front of my eyes...”

“They must have slipped some kind of contact lenses into your eyes. Are you going to believe everything just because something's floating in front of you?”

The firefighter reassures the people gathered around him... Was his name Choi Cheolsun? Anyway, the middle-aged firefighter.

Since he hasn't seen a goblin with his own eyes yet, he seems to be denying that we're inside a tower.

If he can't even accept the idea of monsters or a tutorial in the first place, my speech must have sounded like nonsense.

And second:

“... Work together? For whose benefit?”

“If we fight the boss, who's taking the front line? Is he volunteering to be cannon fodder?”

“Has that fucker never read a webtoon? Sticking together here will get us all killed. Doesn't he know you have to be selfish to survive?”

People with absolutely no intention of working together.

They do have a point. The tower is a place where only the fittest survive, where the selfish devour the selfless.

They're busy enough figuring out how to survive themselves. Spouting idealistic nonsense, I must look like a clueless idiot who knows nothing about the world.

And so, in the end, not a single person comes over to join me.

“... Hah.”

I sink listlessly to the ground.

After gazing up at the sky for a moment, I slowly hang my head.

Everything has gone according to plan, and I can barely keep the corners of my mouth from curling up.

* * *

Why am I suddenly acting so out of character?

A man with a righteous heart, but without the strength to act on it... That's the persona I'm going for.

Proposing that we join forces to defeat the boss was the first step.

Of course, I didn't say it because I thought it would work.

Unless someone was exceptionally stupid, they weren't going to agree to a sudden invitation to hunt down the boss.

We don't even have a sense of how strong these ‘monsters’ are yet, and these people are novices who've never touched a weapon in their lives.

The name ‘Goblin Shaman’ has a violent ring to it, while ‘golden orb’ conjures up a hopeful image.

And there are only fifty orbs? What if everyone else escapes using the golden orbs while we're wasting time trying to kill the boss?

It sounds like a lot of hardship with a good chance of throwing our lives away for nothing.

Any normal person would lean toward searching for an orb. In a way, my proposal was bound to fail.

But even that failure was part of the show I was putting on for the ponytailed woman.

I figured the kindhearted, somewhat foolish guy I was envisioning would act recklessly like this.

You could say I'm playing Captain America before he got his superpowers.

What if the ponytailed woman can't stand me? I'll just regress. No big deal.

I have unlimited attempts, so there's absolutely no need to hold back.

Now, back to the present.

How would this brave ordinary citizen behave after his proposal to fight the boss together was rejected?

I spent about thirty minutes pretending to agonize over it, waiting for enough time to pass.

“...”

That should do it.

I stagger to my feet and slowly start walking.

My destination is the pile of weapons in the middle of the clearing. People have already picked through it, leaving it rather sparse. I grab a sword at random.

As for my stance, I make it as idiotic as possible.

My feet are awkwardly placed, my balance is all over the place, and my hands grip the sword in a terribly uncomfortable position.

Holding the sword like an obvious beginner, I swing with all my might.

WHOOSH.

Compared to the ponytailed woman's powerful swishes, it's an utterly feeble sound.

But I give a small nod as though that's good enough, then head toward the grass where the others went.

One step.

Two steps.

Stop me. Hurry up and stop me. If I actually go into the grass, I might accidentally regress.

I'm pretending to be calm, but the closer I get to the grass, the more frantic I feel.

Finally, just as I'm about to step into it—

“Wait.”

The ponytailed woman steps into my path.

“You... What are you going off to do?”

The fish has taken the bait.

* * *

“You. What are you going off to do?”

Choi Jiwon, the woman Kim Junho had arbitrarily dubbed the ponytailed woman, was extremely irritated right now.

The reason was simple.

“... Sorry?”

It was the man standing in front of her, responding like an idiot.

The moment the ‘announcement’ appeared, he'd started going on about joining forces to defeat the boss.

She could tolerate him getting dejected and holing up in a corner when no one supported him.

But when he picked up a sword and trudged off as though he'd made up his mind about something, she couldn't just stand by and watch.

“The sword. What were you planning to do with it?”

She gestured toward the sword with her chin, and the man gave a sheepish smile.

“... I was going to kill the boss.”

“Alone?”

“It's called a Goblin Shaman, right? Who knows? It might be surprisingly weak. It's still a goblin, after all.”

His explanation was exactly what Jiwon had imagined.

This fool intended to recklessly throw himself into battle, determined to defeat the boss even if he had to do it alone.

He'd only get himself killed for nothing. Didn't he realize that?

‘I don't like this.’

An unwelcome surge of irritation rose within her.

‘... Jiwon. Just let him go. You can't save everyone. You've already done your duty by deciding to protect this clearing.’

It was her beloved sword, Whoosh, trying to dissuade her. Its name was somewhat childish because she'd inherited it at the age of seven.

You might be wondering why a sword had suddenly started talking.

The reason was simple. It was the power of one of Choi Jiwon's traits.

-Unity of Body and Sword [SSS]

-A state in which the person becomes the sword, and the sword becomes the person. To the person, the sword's sharpness and strength; to the sword, human wisdom.

In martial arts novels, unity of body and sword usually referred to wielding a sword as freely as though it were part of one's body. Jiwon's case was a little different.

The sword had literally become part of her. And it had a consciousness of its own.

Jiwon could feel what the sword felt. The sword, in turn, could feel what she felt.

It truly was unity of body and sword. Each had drawn closer to the other's essence, becoming one.

Her sharper senses and increased strength were all thanks to her trait.

The reason she'd seen through Kim Junho's act in the previous run was that the sword had told her.

‘He really is a good person. But there are plenty of good people. You can't save every one of them. Right now, getting used to your changed physical abilities comes first. You haven't fully adjusted yet, have you?’

As though it knew what Jiwon was thinking, Whoosh tried to reason with her.

Rationally, she acknowledged that it was right.

Thanks to her status window, her physical abilities had improved dramatically, and she still wasn't used to what her body could now do.

That meant she couldn't control her body as freely as she wanted, significantly diminishing her fighting strength.

And that wasn't all.

Now that her trait had heightened her senses, she could tell.

Far in the distance, she could sense the presence of an absurdly powerful monster.

If that was the ‘boss,’ even she would have to give up on defeating it and search for a golden orb instead.

But...

“You. You'll get yourself killed.”

“Haha... I'll be fine. Probably.”

If she escaped that way, what would happen to this man smiling foolishly in front of her?

Was he thoughtless, or simply too brave for his own good?

He kept reminding her of someone, and it left her deeply uneasy.

‘... Sigh. You've made up your mind.’

Whoosh sighed. Since it could read her thoughts, it knew what had just crossed her mind.

“... Swordsmanship.”

“Sorry?”

“I'll teach you a little. Follow me.”

It was a mere whim. An act of hypocrisy born solely out of her own discomfort.

A small kindness, like tossing a coin to a beggar on the street.

But even such a small kindness...

“... Really? You're going to teach me swordsmanship?”

Could be the greatest kindness of someone's life.

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