That should do it.

The flow of mana stabilized. The orb made of mana was no longer shaking violently. Its registration as a skill meant that YuWon successfully created a full fledged Mana Blast.

Woom, woooom

The fist-sized Mana Blast howled violently, asking for its power to be unleashed. As he expected, he wasnt able to fully control it yet.

Still

YuWon aimed the palm of his hand towards the monsters that were getting closer.

This should be enough.

Woooooom

The mana blast shone brightly.

Flash!

A powerful beam of light shot out from YuWons hand.

Crumble

The stairway leading to the deeper parts of the station collapsed.

The heads of monsters that were running towards YuWon were blown to pieces, and their scorched bodies littered the floor.

The blast didnt cover that large of an area, but its firepower was nothing to sneeze at.

I cant fully control it yet.

YuWon felt the mana leaking out of him like a deflating balloon. The mana consumption for this skill was just too high. It took all of his mana to create a single Mana Blast.

I need more Arcane Power and higher proficiency before itll be usable

When climbing the tower, Mana Blast was one of the most basic of essential techniques. All it required was gathering mana into a single point and releasing it. It was simple but highly destructive.

Due to its simple nature, it was a technique that allowed one to measure the users Arcane Power and ability to control mana.

This technique really isnt my type.

There were plenty of people that specialized in using Mana Blast, but despite being able to create one, YuWon seldom used Mana Blast in battle.

Plop, plop

Roll, roll, roll

Two essence fell and rolled onto the floor.

Not every monster dropped an essence. They dropped from perhaps every one in ten monsters. It didnt have a very high drop rate.

Taking that into account, YuWon had been pretty lucky up to this point, having already collected this much essence.

Yuwon picked up the essence from the ground and put it into his inventory pouch. Then, observing that the monsters were cautious of him after seeing the power of the Mana Blast, he pulled out his knife.

Whats wrong?

Tmp, tmp

YuWon started walking down a flight of stairs.

Why are you so afraid of me?

The 3rd Tutorial was all about hunting. 72 hours remained, and YuWon had no intention of wasting a single minute of it.

Two days had passed since the start of the 3rd Tutorial.

The 1st Tutorial might have killed the largest number of people, but proportionally, the 3rd Tutorial ended up being far more lethal than the last two.

Out of approximately 1,400 people, only a little more than 400 people remained after two days time. The rate of survival wasnt even 30%.

Arent we too far in?

Yeah. I have a bad feeling about this place.

Theres nothing we can do about it. Hopefully, we can find a hiding place here. But was Hongdae Station always this large? Am I imagining it?

Who knows. The entire world changed. Why would this place be an exception?

Three people entered Hongdae Station. It was one woman and two men.

The woman was named JooYeon. She was guarding the groups rear when she opened her mouth.

Hey, hey! Over there.

What? What is it?

A convenience store?

The groups faces lit up. Theyd been concerned about their depleting rations, so the convenience store was like discovering an oasis in a desert.

Theres probably ramen, right?

Theres no hot water. Why would you want ramen?

I can just eat it raw.

Lets go in already. Im starving.

While thinking about filling up their inventory pouch with rations, something fell on the head of the guy running ahead of the group.

Thud

Ssss

Aaaaagh!

JoonHo!

It was a large green spider.

The man assaulted by the spider let out a painful cry before dropping dead.

His head melted off, creating a puddle of poison and liquified flesh. In reaction to the gory sight, JooYeon raised her knife and the other guy, SeongChan, prepared to swing his large hammer.

Grrrrr

Chweeeek, chak!

A horrifying cry.

One by one, the monsters around the convenience store started revealing themselves: one zombie, two Moss Spiders, and three Man-Eating Rats.

Theres

Why are there so many?

Theyd already lost one of their companions.

Can we kill them all?

JooYeons heart was pounding. During the last two days, the three of them had been through thick and thin. They had flirted with death multiple times, hunting the monsters outside. They even leveled up quite a bit. All three of them were above Level 10, meaning they possessed far greater stats than before.

However, it was uncertain if the two of them could face off against all these monsters.

There wasnt a lot of time to think. The three Man-Eating Rats jumped towards them.

Screek, hiss!

Squeak!

Man-Eating Rats were the size of German shepherds, and they were the most nimble among the monsters that inhabited the subway station.

JooYeon swung her knife at the Man-Eating Rat charging towards her. It was a knife she had bought from the Lackey for 200 points.

Eek!

Slash, slash

The knife was unable to cut the rat. Unlike sluggish zombies, the Man-Eating Rats were easily dodging her attacks.

It was the same story with the Moss Spiders that melted their companions head with poison. They crawled at her at a breakneck pace, getting up in her face.

Ge-Get away!

SeongChan!

JooYeon tried to push the Man-Eating Rats away from her.

Gnaw!

Slice

Though she got bit by one of them, she successfully managed to get one of the Man-Eating Rats. Meanwhile, SeongChan, who was busy facing off against two Moss Spiders, let out a scream after getting bit by a zombie from behind.

Ahhh!

No!

Maybe it would have gone differently with three people, but it was impossible to defeat six monsters with only two.

To die like this here

She did everything she could to survive til the 3rd Tutorial. She just wanted to struggle a bit more and live

In the short moment she was distracted by SeongChan

Squeee!

JooYeon gasped. One of the Man-Eating Rats jumped, aiming for her face.

In that moment

Woosh!

Burst!

Something flew through the air, popping the Man-Eating Rats body like a balloon.

Huh?

JooYeon was confused by the sudden turn of events.

She was covered in the blood and flesh of the rat that exploded in front of her, but she had no time to find that unpleasant. She quickly turned her head towards the convenience store.

Creeaak

The broken door opened.

Dont be loud when someones sleeping

From inside the store, a person stepped out.

Now, Im up.

* * *

Yuwon was taking a short nap. No matter high your stats were, not sleeping for days built up fatigue, slowing your body down.

Taking the 1st and 2nd Tutorial into account, it was the first time in four days he had slept.

He chose the storage room inside the subway station convenience store as his resting place. There was only one reason he was able to safely get some rest in a station full of monsters.

It was thanks to the Scentless Powder.

Yuwon had bought it from the new Lackey for 100 points. Scentless Powder could completely erase the smell of whatever it was applied to, protecting it from monsters that had sharp olfactory senses.

When YuWon woke up, the first thing he did was check the time.

[22 : 58 : 12]

There were about 23 hours remaining. A few hours had passed.

So I slept for about six hours, huh.

YuWon let out a big yawn as he got up.

Six hours was just enough time to relieve his fatigue. But, unrelated to his fatigue, he felt the desire to sleep a little more.

I guess I did over do it.

Four days.

Perhaps he was a bit too overzealous about hunting. He had pushed himself a bit too far because he thought he had to level up as much as he could in the early Tutorial stages, especially before the 3rd Tutorial ended.

I want to sleep more.

The thought would not leave his mind.

Thats when

Ahhhhh!

JoonHo!

Loud noises.

YuWon slapped himself awake right away. The screams completely quashed his desire to get more sleep.

It was whatever. Any more sleep than this would only make him sluggish.

YuWon stood up from his spot.

As soon as he exited the storage, he noticed the two people fighting against monsters in front of the convenience store.

He heard three voices earlier, but seeing how one person was laying on the ground, he assumed that the guy must have died already.

If I leave them alone, theyll probably die too.

What were they thinking, coming all the way here with such a small group? It would have been better for them to hunt at the entrance of the subway station. There wouldnt be that many monsters there since Yuwon had already culled their numbers significantly.

Why dont I check out the situation.

YuWon looked around. Inside the convenience store, the closest objects to him were soda cans. He grabbed one in each hand.

[Activating Monkeys Eyes]

Using a skill with a higher proficiency was always a mystical experience. As soon as the eyes were activated, he could feel all his senses evolving. He could hear sounds more clearly and became hyper-aware of his surroundings. He could feel everything. Their footsteps, presences, and even breathing. He could easily follow the movements of the Man-Eating Rats that were darting around the place.

YuWon raised his arm and flung the can with all his might.

Wooosh!

Shatter

Pop!

The can smashed through the glass window and hit a Man-Eating Rat. The resulting impact made the can and the rats head explode.

Splatter

Thud

YuWon threw the other can in his hand.

Pop!

The zombie that was biting the man also ended up with its head blown off.

That took care of the immediate threats.

YuWon grabbed another can from the stack near him and walked out of the convenience store.

Dont be loud when someones sleeping

YuWon looked back and forth at JooYeon and SeongChan.

Now, Im up.

Woosh, tup

YuWon tossed the can up and down in his hand.

Suddenly

POP!

In an instant, the can flew from YuWons hand, blowing apart another rats head.

Slash, slice

Stomp!

A Moss Spider and a Man-Eating Rat got sliced in half, and the other Moss Spider got crushed under Yuwons boot.

Gurgle, gurgle

Poison leaked out from the crushed Moss Spider and bubbled on the floor.

It all happened in a flash.

JooYeon was speechless, unable to even voice her gratitude. She just stared blankly at the soda can that laid on the floor.

He killed those monsters? With that?

They were hard to kill even with a knife. And Man-Eating Rats were so nimble, it was difficult to even get a clean attack on them up close.

Yet Yuwon defeated them just by throwing some cans around and cut down the rest at a speed she couldnt even perceive. She knew that levels and stats were a thing that existed now, but

Thats actually possible?

JooYeon pushed her amazement aside, as she realized that she still hadnt properly thanked the man for saving their lives.

Th-Thank you. You saved us.

Ugh Thank

The bite from the zombie must have been excruciatingly painful because SeongChan couldnt even properly finish his sentence.

Yuwon rummaged around his inventory pouch, pulling out an ointment and tossing it over to SeongChan.

First, put some of that on. It should be quite effective. Whats your Constitution at?

Huh? Right now Should be 17

So you wont die, then. You might not be able to use the arm that was bitten anymore, though.

Uhm, say again?

Rub it on right now. It might not be too late.

SeongChan was shocked at being told he might not be able to use one of his arms anymore. He quickly applied the ointment on the bite.

Meanwhile, JooYeon sighed in relief and sat down on the floor before asking, Have you been hunting here this entire time? Isnt the station pretty dangerous?

The subway station was an off-limits area for most people. Monsters appeared there more frequently, and though it rarely appeared, the Subterranean Snake was so dangerous, even a decent-sized group of participants would have a hard time against it.

I wasnt here the entire time.

After hearing YuWons response, JooYeon made a face that said, Thats what I thought. The subway station was so infested with monsters, there was no way he had been there for long.

Only

YuWon continued talking. This is just my rest area-slash-restaurant.

What?

A rest area?

YuWon stood back up.

My hunting ground is elsewhere.