Genius Regressor Makes Mythic Items

Chapter 3.Tutorial (1)

TL: xLordFifth
ED/PR: The reader

Sparks shot up incessantly.

The sparks, flowing from a white rod stuck in the ground, instantly threw the interior of the dorm room into chaos.

However, Kim Shimun could not afford to be surprised by the sudden appearance of this rod.

To be precise, he didn’t have the chance to be.

Why, you ask?

[The constellation Hermes shows interest in the sudden arrival of Olympus’s lightning.]

[The constellation Athena shows interest in the sudden arrival of Olympus’s…]

[The constellation Ares shows sudden…]

Unimaginable sentences sprang forth one after another.

‘Constellations?’

Kim Shimun’s eyes widened in astonishment.

‘Why are the constellations suddenly taking an interest in me?’

The thing is, this wasn’t the end of it.

[The constellations of Olympus are astonished by the traces you’ve left.]

[The constellations of Olympus hastily distance themselves from you.]

[Only three Constellations maintain their composure.]

[Among them, the ruler of Olympus, the constellation Zeus, shows great interest in you.]

The consecutive appearance of these notification windows left Kim Shimun with no choice but to be astounded.

It was only natural.

Constellations were entities that began to actively play their part after being incorporated into the official arena.

Before that, only a handful of players would receive the constellations’ attention.

Moreover.

‘The constellations of Olympus are backing away because of the traces I’ve left?’

Kim Shimun couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion at the constellations’ reaction.

Given that Olympus itself was comprised of relatively high-ranking constellations.

Then.

‘Could it be! Is it because of that title?’

He realized that the title ‘He Who Attracts the Gaze from Beyond’ might have had some impact.

However.

The title only managed to astonish the constellations and make them retreat.

The real reason for Olympus’s gaze was something else entirely.

Through the particulate!

The rod at his feet, exuding a strong presence.

It turned out that this lightning rod, which appeared along with the sparks, was the cause of all this chaos.

‘What on earth is this that’s causing such a commotion?’

Like the CG in a famous movie.

Blue and white lightning continuously struck without rest.

But Kim Shimun wasn’t scared.

Although the fierce sparks were destroying the few pieces of furniture, they had no effect on Kim Shimun himself.

Kim Shimun immediately approached and grabbed the lightning rod.

Crack.

“Ah.”

A thrilling sensation coursed through his arm as he picked up the rod.

It was not pain, but rather an incredibly subtle thrill.

‘So this is why SM has those kinds of plays… Ah, no! Stop thinking weird thoughts.’

Shaking his head vigorously, Kim Shimun focused on the white rod in his hand.

Then, with the information that came to mind.

[Astrape]

Grade – Replica (10%)

The spear of Zeus, ruler of Olympus.

It can wield lightning but for some reason, it fails to express its full power.

“Cr, crazy! Is this Astrape?!”

He was astounded.

Naturally.

The weapon of the constellation Zeus, Astrape.

That was the primary weapon of Alexander the Thunder Emperor, a promising Greek contestant who entered the high ranks as a latecomer following the regular season.

‘Of course, Greece fell and he sought asylum in the USA but…’

The Thunder Emperor Alexander was a powerful figure just like the Heavenly Demon Go Malsuk, maintaining his position among the high-rankers despite losing his affiliation.

‘Especially his attack power was monstrous.’

Despite being part of the combat circle, wielding Astrape, a mythological weapon allowed by Zeus himself, boasted attack power comparable to a magical circle ranker’s lightning attribute spells.

And now that weapon.

“I forged this?”

Was in Kim Shimun’s hands.

Of course, it wasn’t the real Astrape.

Kim Shimun remembered clearly the Astrape wielded by the Thunder Emperor Alexander that he had seen on broadcasts.

‘Merely wielding it burned everything around it to ash.’

If one wasn’t at a ranker level, they wouldn’t even be able to stand against its lightning energy.

The real Astrape could effortlessly emit such a lightning energy just by its mere existence.

Crack.

Kim Shimun looked at the replica producing pathetic sparks in comparison.

“So, as its grade suggests, this is just an replica.”

Even Zeus only showed interest without proposing to support him, right?

‘Well, it’s not strange.’

Astrape was a mythological weapon used by a constellation.

Even if he had used the Philosopher’s Stone for alchemy, creating a perfect replica would’ve been impossible.

“Wait.”

Moving the replica around, Kim Shimun suddenly stopped.

‘I definitely reduced the alchemy method to match my level.’

Moreover, he had consumed up to 500 achievement points for the Philosopher’s Stone and the insufficient alchemy energy.

As he thought up to here.

A possibility crossed his mind.

‘The system never said alchemy was impossible, did it?’

The very first notification window that popped up when he tried to forge was definitely.

[Your alchemy energy is absolutely insufficient for a successful alchemy to meet the requirement.]

There was no mention that the item was ‘impossible to forge.’

Furthermore, wasn’t there a 10% figure next to the replica?

‘Then, that horrific pain must have been a rebound.’

The nearly soul-snatching agony.

The backlash from attempting to forge with the unstable Philosopher’s Stone and below-required level alchemy.

It was clearly a rebound, a common occurrence in alchemy.

This meant, conversely.

‘If I just perfectly meet the alchemy requirements, I could actually forge the real Astrape.’

Thinking about it, it didn’t seem impossible.

The basis of alchemy was equivalent exchange.

Even he, who was afflicted with a level 1 magical disability, could make the Elixir and the Philosopher’s Stone because of equivalent exchange.

“Ha, haha…”

He couldn’t help but collapse, legs giving out beneath him.

It was surprising enough that his magical disability healed and he returned 11 years into the past, but now?

As long as equivalent exchange is established, he could even forge mythological weapons?

“Alchemy, this ability is really insane!”

Potion maker, repairman, the only trap in the magical world, etc.

Who would have thought that alchemy, encompassing all these negative titles, held such potential?

However, Kim Shimun’s joy was short-lived.

Crack.

“Huh. ”The weight of the Astrape had become lighter. Lowering my gaze, I saw the Astrape gradually disintegrating into particles. There was only one instance when a bonded object would exhibit such a reaction.

“I see. A rebound of the bonded object.”

Rebound was not a phenomenon exclusive to the bonded wielder. It occurred when a proper bonding or equivalent exchange was not achieved, causing the bonded object itself to rebound, leading to its disappearance or even explosion.

This was a common occurrence, even when creating lower-tier potions. Any alchemist with a decent amount of experience should easily get over such incidents. However,

“Wait! What about my achievement points?”

For Kim Shimun, who had invested a whopping 500 achievement points, this was an unexpected blow. Though 500 points did not seem like a lot at first glance, to someone of merely level 1 and yet to be assigned an arena rank, it was significant. But, ruthlessly, the Astrape vanished into a shimmer of light without the slightest delay.

“…Forget what I just said.”

Alchemy. It was a maddening ability in more ways than one. In the surge of emptiness,

[The Philosopher’s Stone minimizes the rebound.]

[Based on the grade and level of the Philosopher’s Stone, 50 of the consumed achievement points are returned.]

As if it were some kind of a payback.

‘The bonded object’s achievement points are returned?’

An irresistible message popped up before Kim Shimun’s eyes. Hurriedly, he accessed his status window and tapped on his Philosopher’s Stone.

[Philosopher’s Stone]

Bound to: Kim Shimun Level: 1 Grade: F A mythic product of alchemy. Capable of bonding anything if the equivalent exchange is met.

-Receives absolute correction in all aspects related to alchemy. When I first created the Philosopher’s Stone in my previous life, the initial status window had no level, and the grade was marked as ‘?’. Well, I roughly guessed the reason.

“Because of its binding and my return…”

Hmm. As if responding to those words, a faint tinnitus rang deep within my chest.

“Philosopher’s Stone, just two questions,” Kim Shimun mused, looking down at his chest.

“If this change is due to it being bound, your growth depends on my influence, right?”

Hmm. An affirmative resonance echoed, which meant, just like a growth-type item, the Philosopher’s Stone would also become stronger as Kim Shimun grew. A small smile appeared on Kim Shimun’s lips.

“Is that so?”

A swift change of mindset. It seemed unnecessary to curse alchemy after all.

* * *

Snap.

The sound of a finger flicking. Followed by, whoosh. A small flame sparked to life within the confines of the dormitory room. Kim Shimun, the perpetrator of this ignition, looked down at his hand with satisfaction.

‘I never imagined performing alchemy without drawing a bonding circle would be this efficient.’

I understood why the Philosopher’s Stone had so disdainfully considered drawing bonding circles primitive.

‘It’s on a whole different level from bonding with circles.’

Kim Shimun felt as if he were humanity discovering fire for the first time.

‘This is a revolution in alchemy, no, the magic world.’

Casting was one of the weaknesses magic wielders had. While there were exceptions such as battle mages or elementalists, most magic players necessarily went through casting. For alchemists, bonding circles and ingredients for bonding were essential, weren’t they?

But, ‘If all it takes is a snap of my fingers to complete a bonding, that changes everything.’

Kim Shimun looked around his now-pristine room. So much for the cheap replica of the Astrape. The sparks emitted from the thunder staff had utterly destroyed the desk, chairs, wallpaper, and the few pieces of furniture he had.

And yet, “Thanks to this, I’ve been able to properly practice a new method of bonding.”

Alchemy was known for its exemplary ability to repair items, earning it the nickname. ‘repair bug.’

Of course, this was limited to simple objects without special abilities. Fixing furniture or wallpaper was an easy task for Kim Shimun. Looking around the now-spotless room, Kim Shimun smiled contentedly.

“With this level of alchemy, I should have no problem in the tutorial.”

This practice session was nothing else but, “It was definitely today at 5 p.m., right?”

He knew the date and the exact time by heart. And for a good reason. January 17, 2030, at 5 p.m. The day he was to be recognized as a true arena player in his first summon to the tutorial.

‘Ironically.’

The very day he returned was slated for the tutorial summoning.

“The tutorial was supposed to be a conquest match, right?”

Winning by occupying a certain area in the conquest match. Although tutorials usually focused on breaking through objectives in an Offensive mode, defending in Defensive, or surviving within a certain rank in Survival modes.

Unfortunately, Kim Shimun was assigned to a conquest match, only matched with players of Gold rank or higher. The reason was simple.

‘Because of my demonic energy stat at 10.’

Galaxy Arena used a Matchmaking Rating system (MMR) to match players of similar levels as closely as possible. Naturally, in Kim Shimun’s previous life, despite possessing a demonic energy stat of 10, he was effectively a non-magic wielder and was promptly eliminated.

‘I didn’t even set foot in the contested area before getting my head pierced by an arrow.’

A magic wielder who couldn’t use magic was essentially no different from an ordinary person.

‘Well, if I had decent equipment, who knows.’

That was an impossible dream for his past self. But now, he wasn’t afraid. Instead, he was filled with anticipation. ‘Because I have alchemy.’

Smiling confidently, Kim Shimun picked up his phone.

[January 17, 2030. 4:40 PM]

[Kim Shihyuk: +99 Unread Messages]

The smile that had been curving his lips stiffened as he scrolled through the notifications.

‘That’s right. Starting from this moment, Shihyuk, you…’

Until the day phones vanished from the Earth, his ever-competent younger brother had not missed a single day to reach out. Eventually, they reunited, and Kim Shimun even handed over the Elixir for curing magic incapability, but at this moment, he wasn’t there yet.

“Looking at it now, it’s a bit embarrassing. After all, I’m supposed to be the elder brother.”

My younger brother was completely blameless in that incident.

Shimun opened the message from Kim Shihyuk.

[Kim Shihyuk: I got into the Awakening Academy! LOL]

[Kim Shihyuk: Reached Diamond rank and got one more special ability. Now I have as many as 3? But I have no idea how to use this one.]

[……]

[Kim Shihyuk: Did you go see the sunrise? I’m a senior now, so it’s hard to go places.]

[Kim Shihyuk: I got my class assignment today, Yujeong is in the same class. She hates it? I hate it too……]

“Kid, you’ve sent quite a few.”

Still bright and cheerful.

It wasn’t because of his innate abilities.

Kim Shihyuk himself was just such a bright person.

That’s why one could not know.

How much his cheery disposition was festering inside.

But.

‘Not anymore.’

The one who saw his status window knows.

That the goal of the Galaxy Arena was because of this bright and naive, to put it crudely, this dumb younger brother.

‘I can change it from now on.’

Improving their relationship would be the first step.

Shimun placed a finger on his phone.

Then froze for a moment.

‘But what do I send? I’ve got nothing to say.’

Before arguing whether there would be anything for brothers to text about.

The lack of contact over the past few years was the situation at hand.

Shimun was deep in thought.

Soon enough.

“Tch. Why do I even have to think about this? It’s bothersome.”

Clicking his tongue, Shimun decided to encapsulate his current feelings into:

[Kim Shimun: Yeah. Congrats.]

Then he closed Kim Shihyuk’s message window.

Below that.

The same number of messages was visible from Kim Shihyuk.

The face of Shimun hardened in an instant.

[Lee Yujeong: Unread Messages +99]

“Right. You would still be alive at this time.”

Lee Yujeong.

The more he looked at that name, the more his hand holding the phone slightly trembled.

“Sigh…”

Biting his lips tightly, Shimun covered his phone for a moment.

“Calm down. It hasn’t even happened yet.”

Right.

It hasn’t happened.

So.

“I can change it.”

No.

I must change it.

Especially the fate of Lee Yujeong.

Because she can’t become a refugee again, losing her belonging.

With that resolve.

[Congratulations. You have been selected for the Arena Tutorial.]

[You will be summoned to the tutorial shortly, please prepare.]

[09:59 seconds until summon. If you possess an Arena Accessory, please equip it before use.]

Was it time?

Shimun glared at the floating message windows.

“This time…”

Even the miserable life of being a mana-disabled.

And all the misfortune that was yet to come.

‘I will completely revamp it all.’

Jumping up, Shimun shouted into the air.

“I apply for early entry.”

[Your application for early entry has been accepted. Please wait a moment.]

[Approval complete. You will be summoned to the tutorial.]

Wrapped in a blinding light.

Flash!

He vanished with a single burst of brilliance.

* * *

[Welcome to the tutorial.]

[This tutorial’s mode is ‘Capture the Flag’, and the number of participants is 100.]

The moist humidity drenched his entire body.

Though he couldn’t move, he could turn his head, allowing.

Shimun to slowly scan his surroundings.

“Just like before, it’s a jungle map.”

The tropical jungle’s humidity and heat, and the dense forest obstructing sight ahead.

‘It really feels like I’dve returned.’

The very same environment he first faced in a tutorial.

It was a strange feeling to experience it again.

[Earn points by capturing territories or eliminating other players.]

A square outline appeared a bit far away as the message window announced.

It was the indicator for capturing territory.

[The tutorial will now begin.]

“Arena participation really has been a while.”

Even as a level 1 mana-disabled, it wasn’t that he hasn’t faced real combat.

Due to the risks of official Arena, numerous outbreaks occurred.

Regardless of being level 1 or mana-disabled.

Not fighting meant certain death in this world.

‘Let’s just navigate carefully and aim for a high rank.’

Since, even in his previous life, his participation in the Arena was just the tutorial and a few initial matches.

Kim Shimun aimed to gradually proceed through the tutorial.

[The gaze of the Constellation Zeus observing you grows more intense.]

[Constellation Zeus has issued a mission to you.]

If not for the window that appeared right before him.

[Mission window is activated.]

[Support window is activated.]

‘A mission?’

For a mission and sponsorship to open so soon when they are supposed to be accessible after passing the tutorial?

Shimun opened the mission window to check the mission given by Zeus.

[Mission]

-Constellation Zeus, intrigued by ‘his’ gaze upon you, shows great curiosity.

Achieve 1st place in this tutorial. ‘Capture the Flag’ mode.

Reward: 1,000 achievement points.

‘As if he weren’t the ruler of Olympus.’

It’s either first place or nothing, huh?

Yet, he didn’t think the mission was unreasonable.

It was rather appealing.

‘Just for a tutorial, to give away 1,000 achievement points.’

From his past life memories, completing the tutorial would only give about 50 achievement points, right?

‘This is a must-do.’

For the alchemy of mythic-grade weapon replicas, achievement points were essential.

Moreover, for the stat purchases that would open in the achievement store later, it was truly spine-breaking.

‘First place, I must achieve it!’

While Shimun was motivated, he paused for a moment and then sneakily looked up at the sky.

“But Zeus, sir? If you threw in an extra 100 points, it would be even more thrilling…….”

Boom!

“Haha! Just kidding. Oops.”

With a hearty chuckle, Shimun licked his lips.

For someone supposedly ruling Olympus.

‘Turns out to be quite the tightwad.’

TL’s Corner:

‘His’ here is not Zeus, it’s pertaining to Beyond