Level Up Machine

Chapter 8 To the Continent (1)

“Where is this?”

Yeong-sik frowned at the suddenly changed scenery and looked around.

It was a gigantic cavern.

The cavern, covered in hard navy blue walls, was filled with over a thousand people. They were looking around with bewildered expressions, just like Yeong-sik.

“Has the tutorial… ended?”

Gil-soo recalled the message window he had seen before arriving here and asked.

Yeong-sik, who had quickly regained his composure, nodded slightly and answered him in a low voice.

“Yes. Since the Orc Chieftain has died, it seems the tutorial ended before the time limit.”

“If that’s the case, then everyone here…?”

“Yes. They must be the ones who were summoned for this tutorial.”

At Ara’s words, Yeong-sik examined the surrounding people with sharp eyes.

They were in a state of confusion, showing a mix of relief that the tutorial had ended and anxiety about what would happen next.

“But when we first arrived, there didn’t seem to be this many people…?”

Ara asked cautiously, implying that many people must have died as well.

Yeong-sik nodded in agreement to her words.

“It wasn’t just us. There must have been more people who came along.”

Hearing this, Gil-soo and Ara’s expressions hardened.

Even at a glance, there were over a thousand people in this cavern.

So, how many people had died?

Yeong-sik’s group had managed to adapt to the tutorial space exceptionally well, thanks to Yeong-sik’s unusual abilities and quick judgment, Ara’s excellent role as a decoy, and Gil-soo’s easygoing personality that alleviated tension and stress.

But it had been different for others.

Especially those who moved in small groups of one or two were likely to have been slaughtered by the Orcs or succumbed to starvation.

“That aside…”

Yeong-sik narrowed his eyes as he looked at a young man holding a rough sword.

Cheon Tae-hwang.

The man who had ended the tutorial early by defeating the Orc Chieftain.

He was lost in thought, standing alone, apart from the others, just as he had been when Yeong-sik first saw him.

“Could he have defeated Krol by himself?”

Yeong-sik looked at him with a disbelieving gaze.

Up until the message stating that the chieftain had been defeated appeared, he had assumed that Tae-hwang must have joined forces with others to fight the chieftain.

But seeing him now, it didn’t seem like that.

If Tae-hwang had defeated Krol alone, then he was a monster far beyond Yeong-sik’s expectations.

“I don’t really have the right to think of someone else as a monster.”

Yeong-sik gave a bitter smile, thinking he had no right to judge anyone as a monster.

In fact, the person who best fit the description of a monster in this place was none other than himself.

Other people were also glancing at Cheon Tae-hwang, murmuring among themselves, likely having seen the message that he had defeated the Orc Chieftain.

Kendo, the sport in which Tae-hwang excelled, wasn’t particularly famous in Korea. However, his exceptional looks and the fact that he broke numerous world records had made him quite well-known among people.

Yeong-sik watched him for a while before eventually turning his head away.

As he did, Ara approached him and spoke.

“What happens now…?”

Looking around, Ara asked in a worried voice.

“Who knows…? They just gathered us here, so I have no idea.”

Yeong-sik frowned as he looked at the people gathered in the massive cavern.

According to the message, after the tutorial ended, there would be a period of ‘adaptation’ before heading to the mainland. However, he had no idea what adaptation entailed or where the mainland was.

“Please, let us out of this damn place! The tutorial is over! Send us back home!”

A man shouted desperately.

He looked emaciated, with sunken eyes, suggesting he had suffered quite a bit during the tutorial period.

His words stirred the crowd.

“Yeah, that’s right!”

“Send us back home quickly!”

“I don’t want to stay in this place any longer!”

People started shouting into the empty air, as if venting all the sorrow and resentment they had bottled up while desperately trying to survive the past two weeks.

The murmuring grew louder and louder.

In response to the growing noise, a massive ball of light appeared in the center of the cavern.

[Greetings, summoners.]

“What, what is that?”

A low voice emanated from the huge sphere of light.

The voice carried an undeniable sense of power.

‘This is…?’

Yeong-sik looked at the sphere of light, feeling a sense of familiarity. No, ‘familiarity’ didn’t quite capture it.

It was a strange feeling, as if he were looking at a part of himself.

While Yeong-sik was pondering over this peculiar sensation, the voice from the sphere spoke again.

[We extend our respect to all of you who have successfully completed the tutorial. From now on, the summoners will undergo a period of adaptation before heading to the mainland, the continent of Ernoir.]

“The continent of Ernoir?”

“What, is this really a fantasy…?”

People muttered the name of the continent, which they had never heard before, with confused expressions.

Regardless of the reactions of the people, the sphere of light continued to speak in a calm voice.

[During the adaptation period, you will be granted the concepts of ‘level’ and ‘class’. Levels are an essential system that forms the foundation of the continent of Ernoir, accepted by natives, monsters, and previously summoned individuals alike.]

As the sphere continued to speak, everyone wore a uniformly dazed expression.

Levels and classes?

It felt as if they had truly fallen into a game.

[Level limits are determined by a combination of factors such as individual talent, ability, and luck. Summoners with higher level limits have growth potential that cannot be compared to other summoners.]

“This is somewhat different from a typical game.”

Yeong-sik thought, his eyes sinking deeply.

The most important aspect of an RPG game was the ‘equal starting point’ for all players.

While there might be differences in talent based on control, everyone started at an equal level system-wise, and it was possible to level up the same way.

However, if the initial level limits varied from person to person, it meant that those without talent could never advance beyond a certain stage, no matter how hard they tried.

This was a system more fitting for reality than a game.

[Classes will provide summoners with a direction for their future path and grant them powerful weapons called skills.]

“I don’t care about any of that, just send us back home!”

A man who had been listening to the sphere’s words shouted in a rough voice, almost having a fit.

People nodded in agreement to his words.

They didn’t need nonsensical talk about levels and classes.

All they wanted was to return to their warm homes.

[Summoners can return to their original world only after completing their objectives.]

“…Objectives?”

People looked at the sphere with bewildered expressions.

[Your objective is to defeat the monsters invading from the north of the Ernoir continent and to kill the creator of these monsters.] A more intense light radiated from the sphere.

[The summoner or summoners who kill the creator of the monsters will be granted the power to freely move between worlds and will rule as the sovereigns of any world.]

“What, what is this…”

People gulped at the sphere’s continuing words.

It was hard to grasp the reality of these statements.

Defeat the creator of the monsters and rule as the sovereigns of the world?

To those who had lived ordinary lives, it sounded like nonsense.

However, among them, there were some whose eyes gleamed with greed at the words ‘sovereign of the world’.

These individuals began to imagine themselves as the protagonists of a novel or comic, gaining immense power and embarking on thrilling adventures, acquiring numerous beauties, wealth, and power.

The events that had transpired in this world were so absurd that such fantasies felt achievable.

“Stop this nonsense and just send us back to Earth!”

The man with sunken eyes, who had first shouted, cried out in a desperate voice.

The intense stress from repeatedly facing death had left him incapable of indulging in any rosy fantasies.

The sphere of light ignored his plea and continued speaking.

[Then, let the ‘adaptation’ begin.]

Paaaah!
With those words, a powerful light began to envelop the surroundings.

The intense light from the sphere started to flow into people’s bodies.

“Ugh!”

“What, what is this…!”

People flailed their arms and legs in a panic, watching the light penetrate their bodies.

“Yeong-sik… this is…”

“Yes, it seems this is the adaptation.”

Yeong-sik watched the light steadily enter the bodies of those closest to the sphere, his eyes gleaming sharply.

He felt that the sphere was neither spouting nonsense nor lying.

‘Does this really mean we will gain levels and classes through this?’

Thinking this, Yeong-sik felt a peculiar sense of anticipation swelling within him.

He gave a bitter smile at this feeling and watched as others began to undergo ‘adaptation’.

Then, it happened.

Paaaah!
An enormous amount of light flowed into one young man. The light was far more intense than what the others received.

“Cheon Tae-hwang…?”

Yeong-sik muttered the name of the young man absorbing the powerful light.

Even as he took in the light, Tae-hwang wore a calm expression, staring at the sphere.

[Summoners with special talents can gain even more through adaptation.]

The sphere’s low voice seemed to explain the phenomenon happening to Tae-hwang.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to Tae-hwang.

They realized their fantasies were mistaken.

They were not the protagonists.

The title of protagonist could only be applied to those like Cheon Tae-hwang, who possessed extraordinary talents.

“Hmm… if that guy shines that much, I wonder how bright you will be.”

Ara looked at Tae-hwang, who was radiating intense light, with a derisive expression.

She knew he had defeated the Orc Chieftain single-handedly and that he possessed talents incomparable to others.

However, no matter how exceptional he was, he couldn’t compare to Yeong-sik, who could use Rocket Punch, pull a Gatling gun from his back, and shoot laser beams from his eyes.

In Yeong-sik’s case, it was no longer a matter of talent.

Ara believed that for Yeong-sik, levels and classes were meaningless.

What he had shown was that astonishing.

“Haha. If it’s Yeong-sik, the light should be bright enough to shock everyone here, right?”

Gil-soo nodded in agreement with her words.

They looked at Yeong-sik with expectant eyes.

Yeong-sik, feeling slightly burdened by their gaze, smiled awkwardly.

As time passed, it was finally Yeong-sik’s turn.