Chapter 6

The man, who had expected the outcome to be much the same, was momentarily speechless at the content displayed on his phone screen.

And for good reason…

The effect it had was literally like heaven and earth compared to the blood-splattered mess that appeared before. Was it because of the high grade? He couldn’t tell what kind of grading system these cards used, but seeing “Rare” with two pluses attached meant it was definitely not a low grade.

However, a question arose in the man’s mind. Frankly, he didn’t want to believe it, but considering that his current reality was similar to that of a game, it was difficult to understand why something of such a high grade would appear so early on.

“Perhaps… it’s because I killed all the saber-toothed tigers and wolves?”

The previous quest’s completion condition was simply to guard the campfire until morning. However, with a shortage of firewood, the man, as a last resort, had pitted the wolves and saber-toothed tigers against each other, causing them to fight to the death. As a result, he succeeded in killing all the beasts. Could this have influenced the reward somehow? Like a bonus stage clear, perhaps.

It would have been absolutely impossible for him, bare-handed, to take down all the wolves and saber-toothed tigers simultaneously. While it might have been possible to pit them against each other using the monster rat’s corpse, killing all the beasts required a lot of luck and opportune timing.

Could it be that because he accomplished such an impossible feat, the grade of the “Blood-Soaked” card, which was originally supposed to appear, dramatically increased as a reward?

“Certainly…”

The man nodded. If that were the case, then the appearance of this card wasn’t so hard to understand. The man thought again. If his hypothesis was correct, wouldn’t it be the same for other quests? In other words, every quest would have additional completion conditions, in the concept of a bonus stage, beyond the basic completion requirements. And clearing these would grant additional rewards, such as an increase in the grade of the original card.

“I’ll need to check this.”

The man first registered the Blood-Soaked (R) card in the card slot. A short warning message appeared.

Caution! When registering skill cards, if multiple cards of the same name but different grades are registered simultaneously, all but the highest-grade skill card will be invalidated. -Do you still wish to register the ‘Blood-Soaked (R)’ card? (Y/n) _

“So there’s a restriction like this.”

Well, it was a natural restriction. If there were no such restriction, it would be possible to register multiple Blood-Soaked (R) cards and achieve 100% fear provocation.

“But… what’s the effect of ‘Fear Provocation’?”

Just in case, he tapped the part that said “Fear Provocation” with his finger. A pop-up opened, displaying a help window.

Fear Provocation : Inflicts fear on the target enemy, rendering them unable to counterattack. -Base duration: 1 second -Duration increases with a larger difference between the character’s level and the target’s level.

“1 second is just a momentary flinch.”

In an online game, a 1-second flinch usually has little meaning. Even with 100% fear provocation, considering the opponent’s level and other buffs, there’s no guarantee that the counterattack-impossible state will be maintained even if additional hits land within 1 second. Furthermore, it’s difficult to match skill cooldowns to such a short 1-second time limit.

“I’ll need to think about this.”

While he was at it, the man also checked “Regeneration Rate.”

Regeneration rate refers to the amount of health and stamina regenerated per unit of time. 10% here doesn’t mean 10% of the maximum is regenerated per unit of time, but rather that the original regeneration rate is increased by 10%. This option truly shines when the original regeneration rate is high, but for now, even this much was a blessing.

Additionally, 5% attack power was added, meaning that using “Bite” would grant a maximum of 10% increased attack power.

The man removed the originally equipped Blood-Soaked card from the slot and inserted the Blood-Soaked (R) card. He still didn’t feel any immediate physical effect, but equipping a rare-grade card somehow made him feel a little proud.

As soon as he finished registering the skill card, a new quest arrived as if on cue.

Tutorial Begins. 5. Traverse the Forest. -Based on your experience so far, pass through the forest before you. The forest contains various unexpected obstacles and powerful beasts, so you must be sufficiently careful.

“…”

The man gazed at the dense forest spread before him. Even though it was daytime, the surroundings were still dim, and since the man wasn’t at a very high elevation, he couldn’t gauge how wide the forest in front of him truly was. If he blindly entered such a dark forest, encountering beasts like the wolves or saber-toothed tigers from last night, he would become prey without even a chance to use any skills.

However, the tutorial also offered a solution. It was the line…

“Based on your experience so far…”

Through his experience last night, he knew that the beasts in the forest avoided fire. This meant the quest was instructing him to use methods like torches to enter the forest with fire and find the exit. The key would be to keep the torch lit until he found the exit.

The man immediately began searching for resinous wood to use as torch material, but then he suddenly had a thought and stopped. The idea of a bonus stage had just popped into his head. In this case, what would constitute a bonus stage?

There were several possibilities.

The first possibility was the speed of reaching the exit. However, unless he knew the exit’s location beforehand, this would be a difficult condition to achieve. It would practically depend on luck.

What about the second? The quest description stated that there were various obstacles and powerful beasts in the forest. What if he eliminated all of them? No, what if he eliminated the biggest obstacle: the forest itself?

A smirk.

The man smiled, looking alternately at the roaring campfire and the dark forest. That settled his future course of action.

The man first took embers from the campfire and lit new campfires here and there at the forest entrance to prevent beasts from approaching. Then he looked for materials to use as kindling. Perhaps it was because he was thinking about making torches. There was quite a lot of resinous wood at the forest entrance.Resinous wood

The man gathered the resinous wood, placed it on trees around the forest entrance, and set it ablaze simultaneously. Was it because it was a high-altitude area with insufficient water, or was the firepower of the resinous wood stronger than he expected? Whatever the reason, the fire quickly gained momentum as the man intended, and carried by a timely gust of wind, it devoured the forest whole.

“Huh…”

The man was suddenly terrified by the unexpectedly fierce forest fire. This was because the actions of someone toying with him, calling it a “quest” or “tutorial,” had enraged him, making him feel as though he had committed something too big.

But the forest fire had already spread widely, and there was no way for the man to control it. The man calmed himself and returned to the original campfire, stripping flesh from the saber-toothed tiger and wolf carcasses. He wondered how it would taste… but he intended to prepare food in advance, just in case the forest turned out to be larger than he expected.

The knife was so crude that this alone was an uphill battle, but the man skewered the cut meat and roasted it over the fire. And then he carefully wrapped the somewhat crispy cooked meat in large leaves.

Once a considerably thick bundle of provisions was made, he then fashioned a wooden spear by trimming a long branch. Only after diligently working the unyielding knife to sharpen the tip and then charring it over the fire to harden it, did the man finally stand up.

“Phew… Shall we go then?”

The forest entrance where the man had started the fire was already blackened, with only charred skeletal tree trunks crackling and shedding embers. How quickly the flames had spread…

As he stepped deeper into the forest, he occasionally saw the scattered corpses of beasts that hadn’t managed to escape and had burned to death.

“Hmm…”

Smoke was still rising here and there, making his eyes sting and his throat feel rough, but the man tore off a piece of his clothing to cover his mouth and nose, and continued deeper into the forest. How long had he been walking like that? Suddenly, a message notification sound came from his phone.

The man quickly took out his phone to check the message.

Tutorial Begins. 5. Traverse the Forest. -Based on your experience so far, pass through the forest before you. The forest contains various unexpected obstacles and powerful beasts, so you must be sufficiently careful. ->Uncompleted. (Hidden) Eliminate all vicious obstacles hidden in the forest. ->Completed! (Hidden) Eliminate all vicious beasts hidden in the forest. ->Completed! (Hidden) As the obstacles and beasts disappeared, the entrance to an unknown dungeon, hidden in the forest, revealed itself. Explore inside and uncover its secrets. [Click here for dungeon location information.]

“…”

The man silently stared at the new message. It was fortunate that the forest fire had eliminated the obstacles and beasts, but a hidden dungeon out of nowhere? The man hesitated for a moment, but his indecision didn’t last long.

“Phew…”

Having made his decision, the man took a deep breath and checked the dungeon’s location information. And then he walked through the burned forest, still emitting smoke, towards the dungeon entrance.

The dungeon entrance was farther than he expected. After quite some time, the man arrived at the location indicated by the information and gazed for a moment at the cave entrance that appeared before him. It seemed to have been revealed as the trees and vines that had covered the entrance disappeared when the forest burned.

The man tied resinous wood to a branch along with some bushes to create a torch, then held it and entered the cave. The man, who had entered the cave where a musty, moldy smell stimulated his sense of smell, cautiously moved further inside. How long had he been walking through the winding cave? Suddenly, the narrow cave entrance widened, revealing a clearing.

“This is…”

Looking around for a moment, the man discovered a decaying wooden bed, a desk, and a wooden box. As he approached the bed, he was startled to see a mummified corpse lying there.

After calming his surprised mind from the sudden discovery of the corpse, the man first examined the desk but found nothing unusual. The man then turned his attention to the box next to it. It certainly looked like a treasure chest, but there was also the possibility of a trap, so the man held out his wooden spear and torch, then kicked the lid open.