Chapter 24

Tutorial 2nd Floor (Part 5)

We'd like to apologize for the lack of updates for TITH, we will try to get chapters out like before from March onwards .

"Gasp, gasp . "

I kept on sprinting, progressing forward .

I had continued to run ever since I miraculously survived the heat stroke thanks to the Level up's effects .

I could feel my lungs burning with every breath I took .

This horrible temperature was akin to hell's furnace .

‘I thought it was the correct decision when I started running .

‘But is going forward really the right decision?’

‘Maybe it would’ve been better to run back to the Waiting Room?’

‘Even now?’

‘No . It's too late to go back . ’

Even at that very moment of my run, the Waiting Room was moving that much further away .

‘Let's just focus on running forward now . ’

I thought that to myself, and picked up my speed .

Then I was dumbfounded .

‘What is this?’

My speed was getting faster .

Abnormally faster .

This was not the effect of my strength or my dexterity .

I had already checked the effects of my stats before .

‘Wind Spirit’s Blessing . ’

‘It must be one of its effects . ’

An effect I had never been able to find, since I could never find an opportunity to run at full speed in the confined space of the Waiting Room .

‘What an outrageous effect . ’

‘This is not just added dexterity in effect here . ’

With such an increase in speed, the air began to lash at my face .

‘Thankfully, I can finally feel some cool…’

‘No . ’

‘The wind is so damn hot . ’

‘It's as if someone is blowing a torch in front of my face . ’

I could hear the violent turbulence of the wind .

The kind of sound you hear when you lower the windows while driving on a highway .

‘Is this something you should hear when a human runs?’

This was clearly not in the realm of human feat .

If my previous comparison was with Usain Bolt, the comparison now would be that of a cheetah or a scooter .

To top it off, even though I was sprinting at my full strength, I didn’t feel tired at all .

My muscles and my lungs were at peak condition .

I felt like I could run the entire marathon at this speed .

‘This is dangerous . ’

‘The skill is so effective that it's dangerous . ’

‘It's too fast . ’

‘And it's still getting faster . ’

‘Should I slow down a little?’

‘Do I have the time to waste?’

‘No . ’

‘Then, let's focus on running even faster . ’

‘Let's figure out just how fast I can run with this . ’

‘I must focus . ’

Although I had turned Battle Concentration off due to reaching my mental limit, I decided to use it now .

[Battle Concentration]

Everything in my vision passed quickly by me .

Just looking at how fast I was going was giving me the chills .

It was similar to the finals for my last year of highschool .

I woke up too late and had to call a quick bike service to take me to school .

The chill I felt now was the chill I felt as the motorbike weaved through the cars on the streets at ridiculous speed .

It's terrifying enough to just run with my eyes open and keep my centre of balance .

I could feel my hands, feet and my stomach go cold even in this scorching heat reminiscent of a desert during a heat wave .

‘Damn, am I scared?’

I clenched my teeth, and focused on my muscles’ movements .

‘Shit, shit!’

‘Big mistake . ’

I was running fine when I didn't think about the individual movements of my muscles .

But the moment I was conscious of each and every movement of my body, I had to think how each arm and leg had to move in my head .

Just like how your breathing or blinking suddenly becomes unnatural the moment you become aware of it .

‘Uaaah . ’

‘It feels as if my face is cooking from the hot wind . ’

‘Actually, it is getting cooked!’

For the first time, I was grateful for the Pain Resistance .

This Pain Resistance skill did not remove the pain .

It just made you tolerate pain better .

‘I have always been unsatisfied with it, but at this moment, I have realised just how great of a skill it is . ’

Even though I could feel my skin burning all over, I could ignore the pain while still being aware of it .

As a result, I could keep all of my senses intact while ignoring the pain, and run on .

Pain is not important .

What's important is the senses becoming dull or the body paralysed from either the cause of the pain or the pain itself .

And Pain Resistance helps to prevent it .

‘Anyway, it's about time for some arrows to come out . ’

‘There is no way this sinister tutorial will leave me alone . ’

Ping- ping-

It was as if someone was reading my mind .

Multiple arrows tipped with poison were fired at once .

Getting hit by an arrow while running at this speed would have been extremely dangerous .

But .

Whoosh-

The arrows could not keep up with the speed I was traveling at .

I managed to escape the traps before the arrows could even reach me .

I dodged one arrow coming straight at my face by just barely tilting my head to the side .

The remaining arrows from the front were from the ceiling being shot at a steep angle, so I could simply move through it without needing to dodge them .

The arrows from my sides and back couldn't even get anywhere near me .

To pass through a trap like this .

My head was filled with joy .

Even the burning pain from the hot wind could not stop this joy .

No matter how much it burned my skin . . .

‘Huh?’

‘The heat disappear . . . uh?’

‘Ah, shit!’

My legs got tangled .

The trip had much more severe consequences, since I was running at a speed closer to that of a scooter rather than a human being .

First, for a few seconds, I was in the air .

I believe I can fly-

I could see a light flash before my eyes as I felt the freedom of flying, just for a moment .

After the brief flight, I smashed, hit my head and rolled on the ground .

And lost my consciousness afterwards .

***

[Round 2, Day 3 . 2:20]

‘Damn . How long was I out for?’

The floor was wet .

Of course, it was my blood that made it wet .

I was not even surprised at this point .

I took out a healing potion from the inventory .

It was my last remaining healing potion .

And I swore to save it as much as possible when I was buying it .

I drank all of this expensive liquid .

‘Hah-’

‘I feel empty . ’

I just lied on my back and looked at the ceiling, with no enthusiasm in sight .

‘How many times did I almost get killed now?’

‘If I were to pick them individually, it would be at least 20 times . ’

‘I have managed to survive through those 20 near fatal events, but yesterday was especially dangerous . ’

‘It's abnormal that I'm still alive right now . ’

‘Thank god, the level up came when it did . ’

I slowly began to remember what happened before I went out .

Embarrassment rushed into my head .

To almost die from tripping over my own two feet .

All the confidence I had before plummeted to the ground .

‘I must really be a retard . ’

‘Uaah…’

The scorching heat had dissipated completely .

The metal plate on the armour which was hot as a coal had cooled down completely .

I sat up and began to check on my body .

The skin was burnt, with blisters, the size of my palm, sprinkled all over .

. . . It looked rather hideous .

Some of the hair was sticky and tangled with blood clot, while the remainder seemed to have burned away .

‘Did I catch fire as well?’

There were quite significant burns on my scalp .

To be so injured even after a Level up .

I thought I didn't get so damaged during the run, but I must had been mistaken .

Perhaps, I was too focused on the running part .

It seemed the healing potion had little effect on the burn marks and blisters .

I took out a burn healing potion from the inventory .

I looked at my status window as I slapped on some of the potion .

[Lee Ho Jae (Human)]

Lv . 7

Strength : 12

Dexterity : 32

Vitality : 18

Mana : 22

Skills : Battle Concentration Lv . 7 Willpower Lv . 3 Awakening Lv . 1 Night Vision Lv . 2 Brighter Sight Lv . 1 Sprint Lv . 1 Natural Regeneration Lv . 1 Heightened Senses Lv . 3 Basic Swordsmanship Lv . 1 Cut Lv . 1 Basic Shield Skill Lv . 2 Wind Spirit’s Blessing Lv . 1 Pain Resistance Lv . 10 Bleed Resistance Lv . 4 Stun Resistance Lv . 1 Piercing Resistance Lv . 1 Poison Resistance Lv . 2 Paralysis Resistance Lv . 4 Heat Resistance Lv . 2 Burn Resistance Lv . 2

Misc : The God of Adventure pities you .

‘The God of Adventure is taking pity on me?’

‘ . . . Is she thinking “I pity that foolish mortal, making things so difficult for himself” to herself, as she watches me making those stupid decisions?’

‘Ah, shit . . . It irks me, and embarasses me as well . ’

Only other noteworthy changes were Heat and Burn Resistance and Natural Regeneration .

‘Did I get that Natural Regeneration while I was fainted?’

I never saw the message for it .

[Natural Regeneration (Lv . 1)]

Description : Increases the speed at which your body recovers from injuries .

‘Mother, Father . Today, I have gotten 1 step closer to becoming a troll . ’

‘If this skill becomes stronger, will I be able to regenerate a hand or a foot even after it gets cut off?’

‘If it's that good then I wouldn't need to rely on the Waiting Room, Healing fountain or Level ups as sole opportunities for regeneration . ’

Waiting Room was ok, but relying on Level up for healing was too dangerous .

This Tutorial world was different from the nice and user friendly game with proper interface .

Since it didn’t show my experience bar, I had no idea when I would level up .

Plus, the amount of experience required to level up was increasing .

I mean, it was obvious that I would need more, but the amount of experience required was increasing too much .

From the way I felt it, each time I leveled up, it seemed like the experience required increased not by 2x, but by ^2 .

If I excluded the Level ups, then the sources of regeneration I could rely on were the Waiting Room, Healing fountain and my used up healing potions .

Although weak, having a regenerative ability was welcome at this point .

‘Now, with the potion fully applied, what to do?’

I stood up, stretched myself as I thought .

The heat had disappeared completely .

I walked back a few steps, but could not feel the heat again .

It seemed, from near the start when the heat began to pick up, to where I was a few moment ago, a distance which needed half a day to travel, was one big heat trap .

I walked forward a little, and could feel some chill ahead .

It seemed, it was a cold trap from here onwards .

‘Let's go back to the Waiting Room . ’

It was a clear decision .

My current condition wasn’t too bad, but I needed to prepare for the cold which would come next .

But before all that, I needed to improve my heat and burn resistance as well .

‘Let's take some time increasing that burn and heat resistance, so that it rises quite high . ’

‘Same goes for the poison . ’

‘I would assume that, until the 2nd floor ends, all the arrows are tipped with poison . ’

I was too excited from the newfound strength I gained from the 1st round .

I thought with such positive outcome, I would be able to navigate through this Hell difficulty .

My thinking was too lazy .

‘Let's be calm, thorough, think and think again before moving . ’

‘Let's not make the same mistake . ’

As I confirmed that to myself, I ran toward the Waiting Room .