“I can see that,” I said with a monotone voice. “You don’t have to point out the obvious. And even if you do, I can’t help them anymore.” Sighing, I could see her expression become more emotionless and darker at my statement.

I could see that she got sad, and though I’m usually not someone who cares about other people’s feelings—this time, I chose to go out of character and disregard any social fears I might have had.

I placed my hand on her shoulder, and I looked her deep in the eyes and said, “Listen closely because I’m only going to say this once. That monster is doing an AOE skill, and the blast area is about fifty meters, so if you don’t want to get hit, run now!”

A quick wink with my hair blowing to the side like a Greek demigod sitting on top of a white horse riding into battle. My appearance resembled that of a hero in a fantasy novel protecting the innocent lives of the people and the love interest so the story won’t go stale.

Though it seemed heroic, it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

I dashed towards the Goblin General, leaving behind the girl, hoping she would listen to my advice.

The boss monster was waiting for his AOE skill’s cast time to be completed before he could throw the big rock of his. And at the same time, the people closest to him struggled to stand on their two legs.

Earth Boulder is the name of the skill, if I remember correctly. It’s an area of effect kind of skill, and it has a long cast time since it’s one big attack. Though you can say, its cast time is an attack in itself since it causes an earthquake that tears up the ground. I thought back to my last time doing the tutorial as I was maneuvering through falling trees. But if people thought this was bad, wait for it to get completed. I giggled, not because I thought it was funny that people got massacred but because the faces of terror they would show would be kind of hilarious.

But I do plan to kill him before he gets to that part since it’s also a risk for my own health—

Ding—!

Something startled me because I wasn’t ready for a System sound to get played.

System: ‘Aera’ cast a spell on you.

What! A spell? I knew something was weird about her. But how? I turned around and looked at her, perplexed. Was this the feeling I got when she first approached me? My brain couldn’t fathom someone having a skill already. And the fact she told me about it before, and I just disregarded it as gibberish, made me feel a little down.

I thought I was good at appraising things. How couldn’t I have noticed this before? I got bummed, to say the least. And the only thing I thought I was a natural at somehow felt that it never existed, but only in my mind.

I turned my head to look at Aera trying to forget my mistake, and I got a surprise when I locked eyes with her.

She kept a stern face saying that I shouldn’t worry about her and continue forward into battle. However, something didn’t feel quite right about her.

“Status bar!” I said aloud in a hurry as I had a suspicion.

Health: 100 — Mana: 100

Status effect(s):

10% boost to all attributes. (94 seconds remains.)

Oh wow! My mind got blown away once again as I knew that the status effect could only be caused by one thing. Divine Protector? How has she earned that title? I got a little happy as my suspicion came to fruition.

Divine Protector is the best title a Support class player could ever get! Excited about her future, something once again bugged me. However, that could wait until after the boss fight. Definitely going to interrogate her later… I mean politely inquire about information—

Thunk—!

A smaller tree suddenly fell in front of me as I wasn’t paying attention. But I quickly slashed at the tree and delayed its path a little when I noticed someone lying underneath the tree nearly getting hit by it. However, my slash was enough to change its direction, and it barely went past him.

“If you can’t keep your balance, then your just dead weight!” I exclaimed and gestured to him to get the hell out of here.

He nodded and quickly crawled away, still scared for his life without saying anything.

Why even bother going into a fight? Are these people really that bad? I scoured my surroundings and quickly realized that things didn’t look up to me. I think my worst fear is becoming a reality. Looking around and seeing all the helpless people just awaiting death, something crossed my mind that no solo player has ever done before. Do I have to lead these people to victory somehow?

It was such a far stretch thought that even I got stunned by it. But I had to do it. I was too far into trouble now to regret any of my decisions. And as the hero of the tutorial, I took up the courage, and without any more deliberation, I chose to embrace the changed man I have become, even if it was only this one time.

“Daeshim, get your sh*t together! We are supposed to kill that thing, not get killed ourselves.” I looked over my shoulder and saw the big man struggling to stand straight, and it made me giggle a bit.

“What are you laughing at!” He yelled with a smile. “Took you long enough to join the battle. What about not prolonging this fight any longer? The girls can wait until after the boss battle.” He winked and gave me a thumbs up. Though I was visually confused about what he meant by the winking, he still continued.

“How are we supposed to get near him? It’s impossible to stand up.” He inquired about my plan as he thought I probably had one. “However, a more important question. Didn’t you say earlier that you weren’t suited to be a leader—”

“How is that more important than killing this Goblin General?” I interrupted his rambling with a stern tone after he had gone on for way too long. “You manage your team, and I will pick up the scraps and make them do a little work. Okay?” I continued with a harsh voice.

“I got your command loud and clear! Just tell us what to do, and we abide by your wishes.” He smiled weirdly at me right before he began to get his team together again.

Why did what he say feel a little kinky? I thought about the undertone he talked with, and it made me more uncomfortable the longer I dwelled in it. It doesn’t matter! I have a job to fulfill. With a bit of sadness in my expression, I couldn’t stop thinking about how difficult this tutorial had become.

I did think when the tutorial started that I could easily conquer it. But not calculating that others were also doing the tutorial, I realized that I couldn’t show all my strength, afraid of the implications it might have if I did.