Tomato was waiting for him near the entrance of the third floor. She looked sleepy and bedraggled. Her hair was a mess, and her eyelids were lowered. As soon as she saw him she sprang into attention.

“Congratulations, Player, on making it to the third floor,” she said, without any emotion in her voice.

“Why weren’t you on the second floor?” Bon asked. “I thought you had quit your job.”

“I only appear on floors in the multiples of three.”

“So, you go to those floors before me and stay there?”

“Of course not,” Tomato huffed. “I have my own house here. Whenever you get close to completing a certain floor, the Tower teleports me to my assigned spot.” She yawned loudly and stretched her arms.

“What now?” Bon asked.

“Do you want to buy anything? No, you shouldn’t have gotten any gold coins yet.”

“I do,” said Bon. “What can I buy? Can I buy food?”

“How did you get money?”

“The Tower is gracious and kind.”

“We have all kinds of food,” Tomato said. “What do you want?

A display appeared in the air before him, and Bon used hand gestured to navigate through the menu.

“Bacon and eggs, and an ice cream sundae.”

“That will be five gold coins. Are you sure you want to buy them?”

“Yes.” One dish and a bowl appeared on the ground, filled with the food he had ordered.

“Oh my,” said Tomato. “You’re rich.”

“Stop looking at my balance.” It wouldn’t do if Tomato was to spread the word about him. Tian Bu Ru had said that it was unwise to attract attention.

“Why is the Tower treating you so nicely?”

“How do you get rid of lazy tomato employees?” Bon asked. “You can them.”

“Very funny. Har har!”

“How many floors are there in the Tower?”

“A hundred.”

“And we go back to the real world after clearing the hundredth floor?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a search function to find other players in the Tower? I want to find my fiancee and friends.”

“There’s no such function, but the floors thirty and up are all group stages. If you’re lucky you might find them there.”

Tomato looked at the sundae longingly as Bon ate it. She licked her lips and there was drool dripping from her mouth,

“Do you want some too?”

She nodded with so much eagerness that Bon was scared her neck would break.

“Buy one from the store, on me.”

Another ice cream sundae appeared on the floor and Tomato devoured it within seconds.

“You’re actually very nice,” she said. “If you buy me a few more ice creams, I will give you some hints for the next few floors.”

“Don’t need hints,” Bon grinned and walked towards the door. “I’ll see you on the sixth floor.”

The third floor was more of the same—dodging darts and arrows, jumping over obstacles, outrunning rolling boulders, the whole Indiana Jones shebang. This time, the arrows came from every angle and at great speed. The obstacles were bigger and deadlier than before. To Bon, this was nothing. He broke the boulder into little pebbles with a poke, dodged the arrows and darts with ease, and broke every obstacle in his path.

The fourth floor was a massive hall filled with sleeping snakes. The inside was very dark. This floor was probably there to test stealth. One wrong move and the snakes would wake up and attack him. Bon could have killed all the serpents with a single swing of his sword, but he decided to play by the rules, just to see what would happen. He was as silent as a ghost, careful not to step on any of the snakes, and careful not to tread too hard on the ground out of fear of making vibrations and sound.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill Basic Stealth

Bon could feel himself become nimbler and his senses heightened. At the entrance of the fifth floor he found a rack of weapons against the wall, a training dummy and a table with a bell. The weapons rack even held some musical instruments, guitar, guqin, flute, violin, accordion to name a few.

There was a card near the bell saying, ‘Please ring the bell to call the Trainer.’

Bon pressed the button on the bell. It rang, but nobody came. Bon pressed it over and over again. Was this another bug in the Tower? This Tower seemed to be full of bugs. They should have tested it more thoroughly before launching it.

After a good five minutes, a man teleported into the room.

“You can stop ringing that infernal bell now,” the man said, looking very unhappy. His frown made him look so miserable that Bon immediately felt sorry for him. “So much technology and they still need real people to man the Tower. They could at least hire more staff,” he muttered.

“Hello,” said Bon.

“Hi! I’m Kukra the Trainer. I will be demonstrating the skills of all the various classes to you. You newbies have to pick one before venturing any further.”

“I can only pick one class?”

“Well, you can pick skills from any of the classes, but I recommend you stick to one. It’s better to master one than to be a Jack of all.”

“I see. I’m more of a Jack person though.” He had so many skill points that he doubted one class could contain it all.

Kukra shrugged, “Have it your own way. I’m just doing my job. Watch!”

“Fighter,” he said, picking up a sword. He gave the training dummy a few simple strikes, and then activated a skill that made his sword move so fast that it became a beam of light. The skill made the sword hit the dummy in three consecutive strikes. The dummy hit the ground. A new dummy appeared in its place.

“Rogue,” he picked up a dagger and began stabbing and cutting the dummy. He activated a skill that made the dagger shine blue and eviscerated the dummy,

“Archer,” he used a bow to turn the dummy’s head into a pin cushion. He activated a skill that made the next arrow explode.

“Mage,” he used a wand to fire little blue beams at the dummy. He then hurled a fireball at the dummy.

“Gunslinger,” he shot the dummy with two pistols. The bullets turned into little orbs of lightning that electrocuted it.

“Berserker,” he took a great ax and swung it at the dummy. The skill made the ax turn red and every hit became twice as powerful as before.

“Priest,” he took a staff and hurled a golden orb at the dummy. A bright light shone on it from above and it exploded. “More of a support class, but it can be deadly in combat as well.”

“Necromancer,” he took another staff, this one black and with a skull on top. He summoned two skeletons who ran to the dummy and hit it with all they had.

“Summoner,” he took another staff, this one golden and etched with crystals. A portal opened and a bear came out. It ran to the dummy and mauled it until there was nothing left.

“Lancer,” he took a spear and with a skill, charged at the new dummy. He hit the dummy normally and then charged a skill that made him thrust five times in rapid succession.

“Bard,” he took a flute and began to play. A light appeared on the dummy, like a laser sight. The dummy then just crumbled. “Not much to see,” said Kukra, “but lots to hear.”

“Druid,” he transformed into an eagle and flew just below the ceiling. He then struck the dummy with his talons and flew back to the weapon’s rack once more. He transformed back to his human form. “Not my favorite class,” he said, spitting out some feathers.

“And lastly, Paladin,” he took a big hammer and swung it at the dummy. With a skill, the entire hammer turned golden. When the golden hammer hit the dummy there was an explosion of light.

“Just think ‘Skill Tree’ and the skill tree will appear. They are all neatly arranged by class. Choose whatever you want. The tower will give you two skill points after you complete the quest. I have to go now. Somebody else is ringing, and just won’t stop.”

This Kukra was a little unreliable. Bon doubted that the demonstration was meant to be done this quickly and concisely. Where was this quest that he had talked about?

Skill Training Quest

Destroy the dummy with a weapon from each class

Bon picked up the guitar first. He wondered how different it would be from using qi resonance. He felt an energy course from his hands into the instrument. Was this mana? It felt cold, while qi felt warm. As soon as mana entered the instrument a laser sight appeared wherever Bon pointed the bridge. He aimed it at the dummy and played a note. He felt the cold mana leave his hands and issue from the guitar. The dummy blew up into smithereens. This was a little too much! Kukra had to play for much longer before he destroyed the dummy. Bon tried his hand at each weapon, having fun at holstering and drawing the guns.

Congratulations on completing the Skill Training Quest

You have earned two Skill Points

Skill Tree unlocked

He looked at the skills carefully and started adding skill points to the Rogue branch. He liked the idea of sneaking up on monsters and killing them before they had a chance to react. Of course, he was most probably going to one hit kill them, so it didn’t make much of a difference. The main thing was the invisibility this branch provided. He maxed out every combat class and still had a lot of skill points to spare. He maxed out the lifestyle classes—Blacksmith, Alchemist, Tailor, Artificer, Herbalist, Jeweler, Chef, Enchanter, Engineer, Leather Worker, Miner, Skinner, Fisher and Sailor.

It took Bon quite a while to finish. He had to read up on every skill and some of them required a transfer of knowledge, just like the basic weapon proficiencies. A skill called Mana Sense let him sense the flow of mana within his body and in the outside environment. The mana within him moved in particular circuits, just like his qi during Qi Condensation and Formation Building.

Bon met Tomato on the next floor, and ate some tacos and flan with her.

“Tell me about the group stage floors,” he said to her.

“It will cost you.”

“Fine.” A hundred gold left his inventory’s wallet.

“The group stages require you to form a party. The floors are actually mini worlds within the Tower, filled with real live people. If you harm these people you will be penalized accordingly. Your goal is to find the Boss and slay it. There might be side quests along the way. These will reward you with gold and items. Look for the fisherman called Babo in the thirtieth floor and you will receive something special.”

“The people are real! Does that mean everything else is too, like the animals and plants?”

“Some are real, and some are created by the Tower. Why?”

“Just curious.” He had been wondering about his hunting in the Alpha Test. What exactly had he filled his stomach with back then? It seemed that the Tutorial Tower had the power to create life. It had the power to create thousands of new bodies for him after all, so it wasn’t that surprising.

“Tell me about yourself, Tomato. What were you doing before you started working for the Tutorial Tower?”

“I had just finished my studies and was living with my parents. Then I met a boy,” Tomato sighed.

“Was his name Potato?”

“What? No! His name was Ben.”

“Bean?”

“Buh-en. Anyway, we wanted to get married, but my parents were against it. We decided to run away together, but my family caught up with. They forced me to work here until I came to my senses.”

“So, you’re stuck here as well,” Bon sighed. “I guess we aren’t that different after all.”

“This is the worst punishment,” tears fell from Tomato’s eyes. “As soon as I get out, I’ll show them all!”

“Hey! Don’t do anything too drastic. You might end up in worse trouble.”

“Hmph! Mind your own business. Go on. You’ve finished eating. I’ll see you on the ninth floor.”

Tomato vanished.

The sixth floor was a quest.

Wilderness Training

Stay in the forest for three days and two nights

No rations will be given to you during this time

The forest felt like home. It was a tropical jungle, and filled with life. A tiger tried to stalk him, but Bon saw it coming. He could sense everything for thousands of miles around him using his qi, if he wanted to. This stage was just a circle of forty miles diameter. Everything was within his sight. He chose a nice spot and meditated. Three days passed in a flash. A portal opened for him and he entered the seventh floor.

The seventh floor was a place for people to get used to heights. It had long rope bridges connecting tall mountains.

Get to the exit portal within ten hours

Bon casually walked on the bridges. Some places had devices attached to the top of ropes, connecting adjacent mountains. He could hold on to them and travel downwards quickly. They would slide down the rope at rapid speeds as he hung on. He reached the exit with two hours to spare, and went to the eight floor.

The eight floor was a lava pit. There was a narrow stretch of land in the middle, joining entrance and exit. There were lava monsters in the pit. As Bon walked forward, they shot fire at him. He jumped into the pit and began massacring the lava monsters, his sword cleaving them into two. He didn’t get any Fire Resistance by walking in the lava, which was too bad. He already had Advanced Fire Resistance LVL5. Had he been meant to dodge the lava monsters’ fire instead of killing them? Anyway, it was too late to make amends.

Bon met Tomato again at the ninth floor. He bought a tomato smoothie. Tomato glared at him while he drank it.

“Don’t worry,” he said to her. “You’re not going through liquidation.”

“You and your stupid jokes,” she turned her head away. “Did you assign all your stat and skill points? I should have reminded you earlier.”

“Almost forgot about the stat points,” Bon slapped his forehead. He divided them equally into strength, agility, wisdom and intelligence. He didn’t need any more constitution.

HP

MP

30,000,100 / 30,000,100

3,709,120 / 3,709,120

STR

AGI

CON

INT

WIS

1,897,285

1,717,130

2,000,000

1,854,560

1,592,590

Unassigned SP

Unassigned Stat Points

27

0

After Bon finished his drink he got up. Every step he took left deep pits in the ground. He had still not gotten used to his new strength.

Tomato gaped at him, “That should be impossible. The Tower’s environments are built to be impervious to all damage.”

“This room must be bugged,” Bon said. His footfalls were getting lighter and lighter by the second. Soon, he was able to walk normally.

The ninth floor required him to climb up a tall mountain. Bats attacked him on the way up, but aside from that it was easy. Bon was tempted to just fly on his sword to the top and be finished with this floor within a few minutes, but he decided to be patient in the end. Tian Bu Ru had told him to hide his power. When he was strong enough, Tian Bu Ru would announce him to the universe.

Bon meditated on the mountain peak instead of going through the exit. He was close to breaking through. He swallowed some pills. Qi filled his body, getting compressed over and over again until he formed a soul spot. The soul spot grew within his dantian as he nourished it with more and more qi. After a few more days, its appearance transformed into a miniature imitation of him. This was his nascent soul. It was tiny now, but it would grow.

Bon could feel so much power in his body now. He could probably fly without using a sword. He tried it, and floated into the air. Tian Bu Ru hadn’t told him what came after Nascent Soul. He would be stuck in this cultivation stage for a while, but now he was as good as immortal. He wouldn’t die of aging, and even if his body was cut open his nascent soul would survive on. As long as it could escape undamaged he would have the chance of making a new body, or possessing someone else’s body if he was evil enough to do it.

What was the use of immortality? All he wanted was to be with his Sarah and family again, to go back to that mundane life in academia, writing programs for analyzing amino acid sequences, eating a steak for dinner every now and then, and going out for his early morning run on the beach. He wouldn’t have minded slaying a Boss every now and then for the excitement. Everything was so boring here. He hoped the proper Tutorial’s Bosses would be stronger than the Alpha Test’s ones.

The Tenth Floor was an obstacle course once again. This time there were moving blocks floating in the air. He had to jump from one to the other until he reached the top. Bon yawned and then jumped from one block to the other. At the top he met his first Boss in the proper Tutorial.

“Identify.”

BOSS Count Wreckula HP 10,000/10,000 MP 2000/2000 A vampire count who was exiled by his peers from Transylvania for being too bloodthirsty. Powers Blood Drain Absorbs HP Bat Transformation Transforms into a cloud of bats

It was time to test his skills. He wanted to draw out this fight for as long as possible. Bon fired a simple fireball. It wouldn’t do too much damage, right?

You have killed (BOSS) Count Wreckula