Max Talent Player

[You have fulfilled the conditions for the Hidden Piece.]

Was there always a Hidden Piece in the Tutorial Field? Not that I was aware of. Even the man who had taken the lead in clearing the Tutorial Field, So Yoohyun, hadn’t said anything about a Hidden Piece, nor had any other survivor. In other words, I was the first person to discover it.

‘It’s not necessarily something to be happy about.’

The Hidden Piece reward was sure to be big. But it came with just as much liability for risk. Moreover, this ‘Hidden Piece’ wasn’t something I knew about, so it was an unknown risk.

The notices continued.

[The King of the Wolves, a Lycanthrope, has appeared.]

‘What?’

I urgently yanked Sunhwa’s hand.

“Sunhwa. Run!”

“What?”

Sunhwa was taken aback, but she nodded, starting to run, as if determined not to lose track of me.

[The King of the Wolves, a Lycanthrope, is enraged.]

The bodies of ‘City Wolves’ were littered all around it. That was probably the reason for the Lycanthrope’s rage.

‘Why is a Lycanthrope showing up in a Tutorial Field?!’

The Lycanthrope, simply put, was a humanoid wolf that ran around on two feet. Its level was normally around the 20~25 range. It wasn’t a monster that should appear in the Tutorial. In terms of just physical ability, it was toe-to-toe with the monster on the 2nd floor of the D-Tower. Actually, just looking at the attack power, there was a chance it was even more powerful than him.

‘Dammit.’

With just Sunhwa and I, we couldn’t defeat the Lycanthrope.

“Sunhwa. You hide behind that car over there.”

“What about you?”

“Hurry!”

I pushed Sunhwa away, eyeing the distance. Whether it was survival instinct or a rational thought process doing whatever it had to do to survive, I couldn’t say. I finished making my decision.

‘It’s all or nothing.’

The Lycanthrope was fast.

‘In any case, I can’t run.’

The Lycanthrope was already looking this way, meaning it had already targeted us. Even if I ran with all my might, I would probably be caught in five seconds. Hiding behind the car I pointed out, Sunhwa trembled.

‘Sunhwa won’t be able to defend herself from the attack of an animal-type monster over level 20 yet.’

The Lycanthrope’s teeth and claws were sharp, incomparable to the knives of a baby Goblin. I took a deep breath.

[Your heartbeat is rising excessively.]

[‘Calm Observer’s Eye’ is taking effect.]

Calm Observer’s Eye kicked in as usual.

‘Control the mind.’

Stay calm, I urged myself. I took in another big breath, then used one of the items in my Inventory.

[High Strength Elixir]

The Courageous Lion King’s gift. An Open Beta Bonus, it will take effect for ten minutes.

Temporarily increases Strength by 6.

The effect of the High Strength Elixir was like 3 level ups. 

“Come at me, you shitty dog!”

I couldn’t defeat it with the High Strength Elixir alone. I was well aware of that, but it wasn’t as if the situation was completely hopeless.

* * *

A distance away, Kang Sunhwa could only watch the wolf-human through the car window in horror.

‘It’s so different.’

So much that it felt like a creature in a completely different dimension from all the other monsters she had seen so far.

Lycanthrope LVL?

She clearly saw red letters above the Lycanthrope’s head. Even its name looked extremely dangerous. It was like the System was screaming at her that he was a monster she couldn’t yet face.

‘Oppa…!’

She didn’t have a clue about what he was planning to do.

‘I beg you. I beg you, God. Please, help us.’

Even though her mom had abandoned her and run away, Sunhwa still wanted to see her. She wanted to live.

‘I’ll be good. I’ll study hard.’

But just then, she heard Kim Hyukjin yell something.

“Come at me, you shitty dog!”

It was as if the sky darkened. Whatever oppa was thinking, that shout at least succeeded spectacularly in irritating the Lycanthrope more than any effect of Sunhwa’s ‘Taunt’ skill could.

Awoooooooo–!

The Lycanthrope howled.

[Howl has taken physical effect.]

[The abnormal status Paralyzation has taken effect.]

Kang Sunhwa fell to her knees with a thump.

She trembled, and her teeth clattered together, completely at the mercy of the Lycanthrope’s howl. The Lycanthrope went from two legs to all four and began to run like a wolf.

* * *

‘It’s too fast!’

The 2-meter large, muscular monster sprang forward, instantaneously drawing near. I felt sweat run down my back.

‘How can it be so fast despite being so big?’

I had seen it often on Youtube, but seeing it on the screen and experiencing it in person were two different things.

I counted in my head.

‘3.’

The Lycanthrope was right in front of me, just five meters away, a distance so short it could be traversed in the blink of an eye.

‘2.’

The Lycanthrope’s golden eyes glowed brightly. They were the eyes of a predator eyeing its prey, and those glowing orbs were fixed directly on me.

‘1.’

I clenched my fists hard.

‘Now.’

The Lycanthrope jumped into the air. I instantly rolled forward, just one rotation. I only imagined the movement, but my body followed through more fluidly than expected.

Meanwhile, the Lycanthrope was high in the air.

‘Its first attack is always a jump.’

I made use of that habit. A few seconds was a short period, but I used every second.

‘And then—’

As if planning on making use of explosive strength, the Lycanthrope’s leg muscles expanded.

I saw it all in my mind. The Lycanthrope would shoot forward towards me as soon as it landed.

‘Now!’

I took out the item in my Inventory.

‘Aim for where those feet shadows are forming.’

My eyes flicked towards that spot, every movement as natural as if I had experienced and learned all of this before. Then, I raised the reward I had coerced from Senia.

[Quality Lubricant]

Good quality lubrication oil. It can sharpen the blade of an item with an edge, or be applied to a part that requires lubrication.

I splashed the lubricant on the ground, and in the very next moment, the Lycanthrope landed.

‘Now!’

I threw myself at the Lycanthrope, pushing the beast with all of my strength.

Sliiiide!

It slid backwards, losing its balance, and fell into the Cheonggyecheon River.

‘I-I did it!’

This was the Cheonggyecheon district.

‘He’s in.’

And the Lycanthrope fell into the river flowing through it.

Aroo?

The Lycanthrope proceeded to produce sounds that didn’t match its threatening aura, yelping like a drowning puppy.

The ‘Great Explorer Jackson’ said the following about this method: “Any low-level Players who attempt this method might need to be prepared to lose their life. However, this is also the only method that would, if successfully done, allow a low-level Player to kill a Lycanthrope.”

‘It really worked?’

The only method available to me was to dunk the Lycanthrope into water. Method aside, I successfully achieved that. It had only been made possible by the geographical location, Cheonggyecheon, the ‘Quality Lubricant’ item, and perfect timing. 

‘I really… did it.’

It was simply unbelievable. Even I, myself, was stunned. I carried it out on the small possibility it might work, but it actually did. In all actuality, a war between logic and instinct had raged within me just now. My logic said, ‘You’ll never win’, but my instinct said, ‘You can win’.

‘It was definitely dangerous, but…’

Strangely enough…

‘It was easier than expected.’

If you broke it down, drowning the Lycanthrope was absolutely not easy to do. Everything had to line up perfectly in order for it to work. Even a well-trained Player would be hard-pressed to break the Lycanthrope’s balance and push it into the river with such precise timing.

The gap between my logic and instinct was simply too big. Strangely, it felt far too easy compared to the difficulty.

“O-Oppa. Are you alright?”

Sunhwa approached me, looking down upon hearing the yelping from the water.

“I-Is that the Lycanthrope?”

Lycanthrope LVL?

It was indeed the Lycanthrope, but it had become so much smaller, smaller than a City Wolf. It was like a puppy. I walked down the bank and killed the Lycanthrope as easily as if I were facing a City Wolf. Weakened and turned tiny by the water, the Lycanthrope was a breeze to kill, and I finished it off with his Iron Sword. It couldn’t even move, much less resist.

‘I really killed it.’

I killed a Lycanthrope, a monster over twice my level.

‘I saw it.’

Everything had played out before me, showing me exactly how I should move. It was as natural as if someone were showing me, as natural as breathing.

After killing it, I was absolutely certain.

‘I’m sure of it. This is the influence of talent.’

Talent, that innate value that one was born with and could not be attained by any amount of effort. I had it, although I still couldn’t rule out the possibility that I might be an early bloomer Player.

‘In any case, I survived.’

I had certainly escaped the jaws of death. Sunhwa came closer and expressed her admiration.

“Oppa. You didn’t do any kind of martial arts before, right?”

I hadn’t had time for something like that.

“It was like a movie or something. How did you pull that off?”

“Did I look a bit cool?”

“Not just a bit, a lot cool.”

Sunhwa looked more excited than the person who dealt the finishing blow. She was like, “You went whee” and then “kasham” and then “whoosh!”

‘This is reality.’

It wasn’t a dream. I, an eternal civil servant student, killed a Lycanthrope. With my own two hands. My level instantly went up.

[Lycanthrope has been killed.]

[Level increased.]

[30 Coins acquired.]

[Current level: 13]

‘A level up, already?’

It didn’t end there.

[Level increased.]

[Current level: 14]

[Level increased.]

[Current level: 15]

I went up a whopping three levels in one go.

[You have successfully hunted the Hidden Piece monster, ‘Lycanthrope’.]

[You are bestowed the Hidden Piece reward, the ‘Excellent Hunter’ title.]

Even before Hyukjin could check his new title properly, yet another notice came in.

[The ‘Courageous Lion King snorts in disdain at your cowardly tricks.]

That meant the jerk was still in Senia’s channel. I laughed inwardly. It looked like the Courageous Lion King was still gawking at me. However, the notices of other Guardians came in as well.

[The ‘Nameless Observer’ is shocked by your combat sense.]

[The ‘Nameless Observer’ hopes to sponsor you.]

[+1200 Coin]

The Nameless Observer sent in 1200 Coins, and—

[The ‘Lady of the Scales’ is in awe of your spirit of sacrifice.]

[The ‘Lady of the Scales’ hopes to sponsor you.]

[+700 Coin]

—the Lady of the Scales sent in 700 Coins. By spirit of sacrifice, she probably was referring to how it ended up looking like I protected Sunhwa with my life on the line. It was a bit off the mark, but who cared? As long as the result was good, it was fine. In any case, I acquired 1,900 Coins in a matter of moments.

‘1900 Coins…!’

Currently, the Tutorial was still underway. Before the battle, I was only level 13 and had about 6,000 Coins. But with the gifts from the Guardians, I got a lump sum of 1,900 Coins in one fell swoop.

‘Which means, my Coins amount to…’

I booted up my Inventory Window and looked at the number at the very bottom.

[Held Coins: 7,942]

I had earned nearly 8,000 Coins, and all in the Tutorial. I was now level 15, with almost eight grand in Coins. I achieved something that no theory or strategy ten years in the future had ever imagined.

‘Plus.’

That wasn’t all. Something truly important was next.