[Highest Difficulty Tutorial Town]

A new morning arrived. I left the inn after waking up and began stretching. Then a loud voice struck my ears.

“Oi, what are you doing?”

I turned around and saw a topless Cheok Jungyeong. He seemed to have been working out since his body looked red and his muscles bulked up.

“Just some morning workout.”

“Workout? Ha, you call that a workout?” Cheok Jungyeong sneered as he approached.

“Listen, newbie, doing push-ups is for kids.”

“Pardon?”

“Breathing is the most important thing when it comes to training your body. Got it? To breathe properly…”

Cheok Jungyeong began to lecture me about breathing. I half-ignored him, but my mind also grew clearer. He pushed his face closer.

“Listen, breathing isn’t just done with your body. It’s done with your mind.”

The man who stood in front of me was the famous Cheok Jungyeong of the Goryeo era. No one could argue against his understanding of martial arts as the most powerful general in the history of Korea.

“Look, this is what’s known as inner core breathing.”

Ssp, haa… Cheok Jungyeong began to breathe. It might look like normal breathing, but was completely different. I carefully observed his body as his muscles moved with every inhale and exhale.

“I’m moving the muscles in my body by breathing. Get it? We’re on a completely different level!”

Cheok Jungyeong proudly stood after finishing his demonstration. I watched his muscles for a bit before muttering.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it.”

“It’ll be hard for sure. Lots of rookies swing their swords claiming they’ve achieved oneness with the blade, but remain ignorant that becoming one with your mind and body is the hardest thing in the world. Do you know why I can do it?”

I gave him an apathetic look, but Cheok Jungyeong continued without minding my disinterest.

“The strongest man in all of Goryeo, the martial god who could uproot trees with his bare hands and change the fate of countries alone.”

Cheok Jungyeong proudly banged his chest.

“That’s who I am.”

He smiled with an expression that contained ineffable pride and self-conviction. I silently stared at him.

“Are you starting to respect me now?”

“No, I’m just cringing. Isn’t that your past life?”

“What? I dare you to say that again.”

I obtained a good hint about breathing with the entire body. I couldn’t do it now, but I should be able to imitate it using stigma’s magic power.

“Hajin.”

Jain peeked her head out of the third floor window.

“Yes?”

“Do you know how to cook? I think Boss is hungry from all the training she did last night. She wants you to cook for her.”

— Jain! W-When did I say that!

“Boss says you’re a good cook. She wants bulgogi rice.”

— Jain! Y-You!

I could hear Boss as well. I chuckled and looked at Cheok Jungyeong.

“Let’s go shopping, Mr. Cheok Jungyeong.”

“Mister? Just call me Cheok Jungyeong.”

“Alright, Cheok Jungyeong.”

“… You wanna die?”

Cheok Jungyeong and I went out into the busy streets.

“Isn’t it interesting?”

“What is.”

“The scenery here.”

This place looked exactly like a town from a fantasy novel. Most houses were made of bricks or wood, they only used horses and carriages, and shops sold potions and magic supplies.

“I guess so.”

Eventually, we arrived at the town’s market district, a long stretch of alleyways filled with street vendors that sold food. I looked up at the vendor after picking the freshest ingredients.

[Lower limit – 30 TP]

“How much for all this?”

“Let’s see. Onions, mushrooms, pork… That should be about 100 TP.”

“I think 35 TP should be enough.”

In this town, talking politely meant you were a pushover.

“35 TP? That’s a bit…”

“Make it 35 TP.”

“Then you can go elsewhere. I doubt you’ll find any place with such dirt-cheap prices.”

The vendor tried to refuse, but he was only an NPC with low haggling skills. It didn’t take long to crack him.

“Sigh, fine. Take it.”

I successfully haggled the price with the help of Cheok Jungyeong’s intimidating aura behind me.

“Are you done?”

“Yes, let’s go back.”

Boss and Jain welcomed us with our hands full of bagged ingredients. Boss sat at the table before I even started cooking.

“Wait just a bit.”

Grade 8 Dexterity should be enough for cooking. I quickly made a 4 person meal with a recipe I had memorized.

“Wow.”

“Oh, you’re a good cook, newbie!”

Cheok Jungyeong and Jain expressed their surprise while Boss quickly ate like a vacuum.

***

The four of us blankly stared at the ceiling after our meal.

“Oi, newbie, what are you doing next? Gambling?”

“No, we went yesterday.”

I already beat the casino hard. I should be on their blacklist since they knew my face. They wouldn’t allow me to enter or would probably kidnap me the moment I showed up.

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to open up a street stall.”

“Street stall?” Jain’s eyes widened.

“Yep.”

The Tutorial Town’s NPCs had a lot of money. Of course, this town didn’t provide any Lv.3 equipment or items as part of the tutorial. NPCs were at least Lv.2 or Lv.3 and the captain of the vigilante corps could potentially be Lv.10 or more. The Tutorial Town was located at the base of the Tower of Wish and every NPC should have lived here for at least 5 years.

“Why a street stall? Aren’t you just going to get scammed?”

“No, opening a street stall is the easiest way of making money as long as you sell above the lowest price. NPCs can’t force you to sell something.”

“Mmm, then what are you going to sell?”

“This.”

I took out my red crystal axe and spear. They came in handy during the second tutorial, but I no longer had any use for them.

“I’m also going to make more.”

The random dice would provide me with plenty of materials. I wouldn’t be able to use stigma’s magic power, but I could make up for it with this special leaf.

[Lv.3 Yggdrasil leaf] — Lv.3 Blessing of Adventure: Your body will become lighter with this item in your inventory. Will improve your physical abilities. You may grant minor blessings to items. Blessings will grow stronger the more they relate to adventures.

“Jain, I need you to do something.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?” Jain tilted head as she pointed at herself.

***

I set up a stall at the end of a street leading to an inn where not too many, but not too few passed by. I made sure to wear my mask and hooded robe in case I ran into other players.

[General Store] [We sell everything from weapons, armors, herbs, fruits…]

I set my sign down and sat on the ground. Before I could even pull out my items…

“Hey, who are you?”

Five thugs from the street vendor union on the same street surrounded me, but I maintained my composure.

“I got permission to sell here.”

“What? Whose permission…”

“Mine.” A deep voice rang out at just the right moment. The thugs all turned around.

“Ah, Boss!”

The NPCs immediately bowed at a 90 degree angle. Tak, tak. The man they called boss walked up imposingly and stood in front of me.

“I gave this person permission.”

“Ah, our apologies, we didn’t know…”

“It’s fine.”

The boss frowned. His eyes of contempt showed that he didn’t want to bother himself with trifling matters. As expected, her acting always felt superb.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to in the first place. Why don’t you buy something from him.”

“Y-Yes, understood!”

The five NPCs faced me once again with a single command from their boss.

“This looks nice. How much is…”

The first NPC pointed at an armor I took out without much thought. However, his eyes suddenly widened.

“Whoa, h-hey, isn’t this a Lv.3 armor?”

“Lv. 3?”

“Ha, as if that’s possible.”

Their attention all fell on the armor.

“This is Lv.3?”

“I think so.”

NPCs couldn’t check item descriptions like players, but their discerning eyes could appraise the level of most items.

“But there aren’t any Lv.3s around here!”

They remained doubtful and suspicious.

“This isn’t a Lv.3 armor.”

I explained.

[Lv.3 Leather Armor with Lv.3 Yggdrasil’s Blessing] Lv.3 Defense, Lv.3 Durability, Lv.3 Ease of Movement — Lv.3 Yggdrasil’s Minor Blessing: Will increase all effects of the leather armor by 1 level. This blessing will disappear after 24 hours. However, the owner of the Yggdrasil leaf can choose up to 5 armor to receive permanent blessings.

“See, he says it isn’t. I’ve never seen a Lv.3 equipment in my life.”

“It’s almost Lv.4.”

“Exactly, it’s only… what? Lv.4?”

“Yes, you should be able to tell if you look close enough.”

I made this armor in the waiting room with stigma’s magic power. It felt a bit wasteful to sell it, but gaining TP was currently more important.

“Here, let me see.”

“Ah, let me see too.”

The five NPCs took turns looking at the armor.

“Ah, fuck, stop being so selfish!”

“You don’t even have money!”

“I do, you fuck!”

They even began fighting amongst themselves. I looked past their shoulders at Jain, who silently mouthed.

— Hajin, don’t forget to give me 5%.

I nodded.

“This, I’ll buy it! How much?”

“Mmm… it’s going to be a bit expensive.”

“How’s 500 TP?”

“8! I can do 800 TP!”

“1400!”

The sudden auction caught the attention of others in the streets. More people began to wander over in curiosity. After hearing about the Lv.4 item being sold…

“3000!”

“3000. Is that the final bid?”

“…”

“Good, 3000 it is.”

The leather armor I made sold for 3000 TP. The NPC who bought it seemed quite wealthy. I gave him the armor after checking the TP wasn’t fake. The NPC happily left, but the other customers had no plans to leave yet. They began to ask all sorts of questions about the other items for sale, some of which were Lv.3. Cheok Jungyeong caught the fools who tried to steal any items and taught them a lesson.

A familiar voice rang out as I dealt with the influx of customers.

“What’s going on here?”

This faint voice immediately caught my attention as I turned towards it.

There, I saw a girl on tiptoes, trying to peek at what was being sold.

“A general store?”

I knew her all too well. I could never forget her face and my heart almost skipped a beat when I saw her. It was… Chae Nayun.

“Argh, move over if you’re not buying!”

Chae Nayun worked her way in front of me. I couldn’t say anything. I quietly thanked the mask and hooded robe before lowering my head.

“Red crystal spear? Um, do you have a red crystal sword?”

I shook my head at her question. Her voice still sounded the same.

“I see… then how much is this spear?”

I had no choice but to speak now, so I cleared my throat and changed my voice.

“250 TP.”

“250 TP?”

“I’ll give you a bonus too.”

“Uh…”

Chae Nayun fell in thought. She didn’t seem to find anything suspicious about my voice. Once again, I thanked my charming voice.

“Hm… I really want this, but I only have 200… no, 150 TP.”

“…”

“I-It’s true. I’ll just go to another shop if that’s not enough.”

Her haggling made no sense with zero logic, technique, or emotion behind it. I pretended to be tricked.

“Then you can take it for 150 TP. Here, have this too.”

I threw in a money pouch with a bento box I made for lunch along with the red crystal spear.

“Oh, I don’t need the bonus. How about you shave off another 50 TP instead?”

“… Are you crazy?”

She made an absurd offer.

“… I’m kidding. Thank you. Have a nice day.”

Chae Nayun turned around with the red crystal spear in one hand and the leather pouch in the other. She left just like that with light steps. She must be thinking her haggling technique had cut down the price. I watched her leave for a long time. Her hair was still short, but dyed black. I grabbed my chest and felt my beating heart refusing to calm down.

“Oi, answer me.”

Some man walked in front of me and blocked my line of sight. His face looked oily and unpleasant.

“How much is this?”

He pointed at the red crystal axe.

“1500 TP,” I briefly retorted.

“What? You just sold the spear to that girl for—”

“1600 TP.”

“What? Why did it go up by—”

“1700 TP.”

“You…”

***

Five minutes later. Chae Nayun sat at a nearby bench.

“Let’s see… Oh? It even has a blessing.”

[Lv.2 Red Crystal Spear with Lv.3 Yggdrasil’s Blessing] Lv.2 Burn Damage, Lv.2 Fire attribute — Lv.3 Yggdrasil’s Minor Blessing: Will increase all effects of the red crystal spear by 1 level.

“Huhuhu…”

What’s this, I bought a half Lv.3 item for 150 TP? Chae Nayun smiled as she read the item description.

“Looks like NPCs can’t read item descriptions. Should I sell it? No, why would I sell such a good item?”

She tightly hugged the red crystal spear.

“Oh right.”

She suddenly recalled the leather pouch from the street vendor NPC. Chae Nayun opened it without much thought and found a warm bento box inside.

“A bento box?”

First, she checked the item description. Thankfully, it wasn’t poisoned. She felt hungry and took it out with a smile.

“Oh?”

However, the pouch contained even more. Five gold coins. It had 500 TP.

“…”

Chae Nayun blankly stared at the coins. She thought about it and concluded that the street vendor NPC must’ve mistakenly placed their sales inside. However, greed filled Chae Nayun’s heart as she looked at the shining gold coins. Five gold coins were worth 500 TP. She only had 150 TP on her.

“N-No.”

It’s only right to give it back. You already received such a great item for 150 TP. Don’t lose your conscience, Nayun. She shot up and went back.

“There he is.”

Thankfully, the street vendor hadn’t left yet. Chae Nayun worked her way through the crowd to return the gold coins.

“Um, here. You left 500 TP inside the leather pouch.”

“What?”

“I came to give it back. Take it.”

However, the NPC refused to take the coins and glanced at the giant man behind the stall.

“Oi.”

The giant walked in front of the confused Chae Nayun.

“Screw off if you’re going to argue with what you got.”

“N-No, I’m not arguing with what I got. I just found 5 extra gold coins inside. These are yours.”

“Hmm?”

The giant glanced at the street vendor NPC. Chae Nayun couldn’t hear what the vendor said, but the giant only sneered back at her.

“Screw off, idiot.”

“What? Idiot? Say that again!”

“Just leave, brat.”

The giant man raised his arm to threaten her. He must’ve thought he could intimidate her.

“What? Are you crazy!”

Chae Nayun kicked his leg without cowering away. Kwak! Her foot dug into his calf.

“Uk!”

A sharp pain coursed through the giant’s body, causing him to fall on one knee. Then Chae Nayun quickly ran away.

“Y-You crazy bitch—!”

“Hmph, I was doing you a favor!” She stuck up her middle finger at the giant.

“I, I’ll remember your face! You little—!”

Cheok Jungyeong’s angry roar echoed throughout the streets.