Chapter 21: Chapter 21 - The Tutorial - Part 2
As everyone was sitting down, they heard a voice.
"Well, well, well. I'm truly shocked."
"I couldn't have imagined you'd pass the second mission that quickly. Thanks to you all, my prestige has gone up a level in the meantime."
Standing behind the podium in the classroom, stood the 'Guide' from the assembly hall. Still wearing the butler outfit. Everyone but Jake stared at Han as if he was a phantom.
"I congratulate you on successfully arriving at the second floor. I have to ask, did you enjoy the proceedings of the first and second periods?"
Because of his light hearted and easy going tone, everyone but Jake and Yun Seora was furious. However as they knew that nothing could be done, everyone had to hold it back.
"I'm here to give you all great news. There is only one mission remaining in the Tutorial."
"There's another one?"
"Yes. But there is genuinely no reason to fret. The reason being…"
The ends of the Guide's eyes arched upwards.
"…The remaining mission, it can actually become quite easy and enjoyable for everyone."
"Easy and enjoyable…?"
"Yes. As long as you stick to the rules. All of you."
When the guide emphasised the words 'all of you', a dangerous smile crept up his face.
"Shall I start with the explanations, then? Ah, the mission this time is a little more complicated, and that is why I'm here. Besides, those announcements are so robotic and impersonal, no? Ahaha!"
For some reason, the Guide seemed to be in a really good mood.
"Overall, this mission's goal is similar to the ones you had to go through until now. You are tasked with reaching the sixth floor via the fifth floor. However there are a few more additional rules to consider this time."
The Guide picked up a piece of chalk and drew a small circle on the blackboard.
"This is a coin."
"…"
"…I am beginning to truly appreciate the greatness of the teachers who teach those unresponsive students."
The Guide's shoulders slumped forward rather theatrically, then, he played with his monocle.
"Fine. I shall finish the explanation and disappear from your sights as soon as possible. On the fourth and the fifth floor, there are many such hidden coins waiting to be found. You all are required to find and amass as many coins as possible before nightfall."
He then began writing on the blackboard again.
.1. The usages for the coins:
-Entry fee
-Lucky draws
"There is a place on the sixth floor where the gate leading to the Paradise is scheduled to open."
The mere mention of entry to Paradise cause a small commotion to rise up.
Unfortunately, there are no free lunches in the world. You will have to enter the gate, you will need one hundred coins as the usage fee."
"One, one hundred? You need that many?"
"Actually, it depends on the situation."
Han shook his head.
"The total number of hidden coins is 3000. With a lot of leg work and some luck, finding 100 should be a cinch, however if you only do a little leg work and don't have any luck, finding 100 will be near impossible."
Han spoke up to here, before letting out a gasp of "Ah!"
"Now that I think about it, there are coins hidden in this classroom too…"
Suddenly, the sound of a chair being slid across the floor could be heard. A woman stood up and took a quick stride towards the podium, the began rummaging through it. It was none other than Yun Seora. Soon, she straightened her back and sure enough, four yellowish coins rested on her palm.
Han showed some surprise after seeing a stack of papers clutched in Yun Seora's hand.
"I see that you have searched through the staff room on the first floor. Those documents were useless until past the third floor, but from here onwards, they should prove to be quite helpful"
Still carrying an indifferent expression on her face, Yun Seora returned to her seat.
'Did she find the map I left that shows where the coins are?'
If that were the case, then Yun Seora held an overwhelming advantage on this mission. Jake thought with a subtle smirk on his face.
"Hey, little girl, you can give the coins and the documents to me for safekeeping."
"No."
Yun Seora was asked by a middle aged man.
Han continued on in the meantime.
"On the fifth-floor library, you will find an item draw machine."
'Item draw.'
The expressions of the people present except Jake became confused after hearing an unexpected announcement.
"Those of you who manage to amass lots of coins must use this machine! You will definitely be able to acquire many things that will aid you in your journey."
"L-Like what, exactly?"
"You'll find out once you get there, but they will be things like food, consumable goods, etc, etc…"
For some reason, Han quietly stared at the person who asked the question, causing Shin Sang-Ah to lower her gaze in a hurry and cross her legs in a defensive manner.
"…Well, if your luck is good, then you might even receive a protective item of some kind. Also, weapons and spell balls as well…"
"Or, when you pour in a lot~ of coins in one go, you might find unique and special items. Items such as…"
Han deliberately stretched his sentence trying to create a sense of anticipation.
"…A legendary elixir that can bring the dead back to life."
"If that's true, it must have a lot of restrictions then, such as only can be used in the tutorial, you probably have to find some sort of remains of the dead person, and can only take effect in a certain time frame."
"H-How did you know?"
Jake said to the Guide, startling him as he said almost all of the requirements.
"I have a frightening intuition."
"You won't find any coins even if you leave now. The treasure hunt will only commence precisely 30 minutes after I finish my explanations."
Han's words were simple to understand, and he noticed someone with a raised hand.
"Please speak."
"Why are things like weapons, defensive items, and spell balls available from the item draw machine?"
"Hmm? Conversely, is there a reason they shouldn't be available?"
"Why would we need items in a mission that"s supposedly easy and enjoyable?"
"…Fufufu. I like these kinds of questions."
The expression of the Guide softened considerably.
"Such questions mean that the listener isn't taking things at face value and is constantly evaluating the situation… For now, here is the answer to your question."
Han winked once, pulled out his smartphone, and tapped on the screen.
[A message from the Guide has arrived.]
"I'm not lying to you. If all of you can cooperate together, this mission will become much easier to clear. And you will even get to enjoy it. I guarantee this."
Hand dropped the chalk and raised a finger.
"And also, if I were to provide you with one more helpful hint… Keep an eye out for the Hour of the Deceased, please. The Deceased carry an unending hatred for all living things, after all."
'The Hour of the Deceased, sounds interesting, seems like the Deceased is what the resurrection elixir is used on.'
Jake pulled out his phone to check the message.
[Sender: The Guide]
[1. Rules of the treasure hunt]
-Classroom 3-1 will be set as your safe zone from here onwards.
-The period between midnight till tomorrow midday will be designated as the Hour of the Deceased.
-The phantom, 'Gaekgwi', and the Deceased are unable to enter the safe zone.
[2. Requirements for gaining access to the sixth floor]
-Access will be granted with the 'sixth-floor key' that can be drawn on the item draw machine using 199 coins, or by paying 499 coins at the door.
[3. Requirements to activate the gate]
-The gate will appear in the middle of the sixth floor, 30 minutes after the access has been granted.
-When the access to the sixth floor has been granted, the metal barrier on the second floor will be removed immediately.
When Jake raised his head, he saw Han slipping away.
[The treasure hunt will begin in 30 minutes.]
Jake quickly went to the metalworking area, with his bag containing almost all the things in the extra areas, and all the things of the Gaekgwi.
When he got there, it has been a minute or two. Jake quickly took out some of the older hooks from the unevolved Gaekgwi, before using a hammer to start turning them into viable weapons. This is because his intuition is telling him that the Gaekgwi will continue to spawn as soon as the treasure hunt starts.
Jake spent about 15 minutes turning the hooks into viable equipment. He has created a 3-section staff, a spear, a sword, he has turned the threads attached to the hooks into a very strong rope. Using the leather armor of the Gaekgwi's first evolution, Jake made a very good leather armor, he has also used the leather combined with the metal from the hooks and the threads attached to the hooks to create a very powerful shield.
In the time after he finished making the equipment, Jake quickly scouted the area of the 4th and 5th floors. After he did that, he had 2 minutes left before the treasure hunt begins.
In this time, Jake got all his weapons ready. At the end of the time, a mechanical announcement sounded.
[The treasure hunt will now commence]
[Remaining time before midnight: 05:29:30]
Jake activated his Six-Eyes to the limit, instantly taking in the whole school building, instantly finding all the coins. At the same time as he did this, 54 Gaekgwi appeared. Jake has figured out that the Gaekgwi will sort of evolve every 10 rounds that he kills, and currently he has killed 50 rounds of Gaekgwi, so these Gaekgwi look almost completely different.
They have almost exactly the same body frame, however they are now completely covered in extremely excellent quality iron armor, with the defense being bullet proof with the strength of the gun being like an Ak47. Their hooks are now extremely sharp and have turned into extremely excellent quality iron hooks, being able to easily pierce through 10 centimetre metal plates, and they can stretch for extremely long distances. They have an exoskeleton that strengthens their body many times, being able to have it take much more damage as it increases defense, can move much quicker as it increases their agility, can strike much harder as it increases their strength, and can last much longer as it reduces the strain from movements increasing its endurance.
Jake used his spear, swiftly approaching them as the Gaekgwi attack him with their hooks. Jake uses the spear perfectly, dodging, parrying, and blocking all the hooks as he reached them. Jake quickly thrust the spear forward easily piercing one of their heads, he then swept it out knocking a few of them away, before he continued to rampage among them killing them all in 1 minute.
Jake manipulated the wind element to take everything valuable of the Gaekgwi, such as the hooks, armor, and their exoskeleton. After this he began to quickly shuttle through various rooms and hallways, manipulating the wind element to grab all the coins he detected. After about 5 minutes, Jake collected 150 coins, and he began to head to the item draw machine.
It took Jake 5 minutes to get there because he kept fighting appearing Gaekgwi. After he got there Jake manipulated the wind element to put 100 coins into the machine extremely quickly, this is because this is the coin amount to have a chance to get random coin boxes, which contain 1-499 coins.
Jake used the machine and got a random coin box which he opened and got 499 coins. Jake did the same thing again as Gaekgwi appeared, so he fought the Gaekgwi while manipulating the wind element to put the coins in the machine, getting another random coin box. Jake opened the random coin box after he killed the Gaekgwi and got another 499 coins.
Jake continued to do this for about an hour, and Gaekgwi had stopped appearing after about 30 minutes, which was after there was 64 of them at once, and their final evolution. In the rest of this time, Jake continued to open random coin boxes and opened a total of around 100, getting him another 49900 coins.
He stopped opening the coin boxes at this point and put 50,000 coins into the machine, because his intuition is telling him to. After 10 minutes, Jake had put 50,000 coins into the machine which made it start automatically, and there was a mechanical announcement.
[Congratulations Mister Jake Gojo for finding a hidden event, 'Too many coins', and getting the unique item of the 'item draw machine']
Jake was stunned because the item that came out of the machine was a badge that said 'Multi-Class Badge 1'. After being stunned for about 10 seconds, Jake began to continue drawing and opening random coin boxes again.
He did this for about another 30 minutes, amassing a large number of coins again, around 40,000 coins. He then began to draw the special category which requires 300 coins for each draw but can only be drawn 4 times.
After drawing for about 3 minutes, Jake had gotten the 4 items, which are: Box of 10 Spell Balls, Potion of Revival, Mirror of Understanding, and the Quill Pen of Flowing Consciousness.
Box of 10 Spell Balls: a box that contains 10 spell balls
Potion of Revival: a potion that can revive someone
[Requirements for Usage]
1. To be used on the Deceased only
2. A portion of the Deceased's body part
3. The death of the Gaekgwi
Mirror of Understanding: a mirror that kills Deceased
Quill Pen of Flowing Consciousness: a quill pen that can be controlled by souls.
Jake then drew multiple other categories, getting a few useful items, which are: a note from the guide, a letter from the maid, sixth-floor access key. Jake also decided to get all the maps so that he can see if he somehow missed a location of the school.
After this he started to draw more random coin boxes, increasing the amount of coins he had by a lot.
Jake then went back to the safe zone, and began to eat to pass the time. Time has passed and the Hour of the Deceased will begin in about an hour. At this time, Jake's intuition made him start to feel sick, which only happens when someone close to Jake or is in the vicinity is being tortured or injured.
Jake used his Six-Eyes to find where it was and teleported there. It was in the girls bathroom, and Kang Seok and his goons are torturing Yun Seora by destroying her arm.
Jake appeared and was very angry, he quickly came in front of Yun Seora grabbing the knife and gently taking it out, even while Kang Seok was trying to continue stabbing her. After Jake took out the knife, he clenched his fist and completely destroyed Kang Seok's face killing him, before doing the same to his goons.
Jake came to Yun Seora and tried to let her let go of her defense.
"I'm sorry that this happened while I was resting, I didn't realise until my intuition made me feel sick, I should have not relaxed my eyes for a while."
"I need to heal you, can you show me your arm, I promise it won't hurt."
Yun Seora was shaking and convulsing from the pain but still wouldn't let down her guard.
Jake sighed before saying, "Look at me, this is what I am going to do to heal you."
Jake took out the knife before he stabbed his own arm, dragging the blade down creating a big wound, as blood spilled out falling all over the floor. When Yun Seora saw this she had her eyes open in shock, before she struggled to speak.
"W-Why do you cut yourself so badly?"
"It's so that I can show you how I will heal your wounds."
Jake's hand lit up with green light as he put it on his bleeding arm, as the green light made contact with the wound it healed the contacted section of the wound and the surrounding area 10 centimetres around the contacted section.
"Are you fine for me to heal you now?"
"Y-yes."
Jake asked Yun Seora before he healed her after she responded. After he healed her wound he gave her 20,000 coins, before telling her.
"I'm going to open the door to the 6th floor now, if you want to come you can, however if people come up to the 6th floor without having enough coins, can you please give them the remainder?"
"Sure. Thank you very much. By the way, how old are you Jake-Oppa?"
"Me? I am 16 years old, however most people think I look much older."
"What! You are 16? Shouldn't someone of your height be at least in your 20s? I mean I know that your face looks immature, however how do you grow?"
Yun Seora asked Jake a question with red ears, before being shocked at his answer.
"Well, I have a heavenly restriction, which is basically a binding vow given to someone at birth. A binding vow is a restriction that someone puts on themself or that someone makes with themself, my heavenly restriction drastically cuts my cursed energy reserves for an absolute insane increase in physical strength and growth potential. Cursed energy is what some people from my world possess, and it's primary purpose is to be used to exorcise curses which are sort of like the parasites of paradise in my world."
Jake told Yun Seora the truth because his intuition told him it would be safer to say it, as well as to give the gods watching him an answer to why he is so strong.
"Why are you telling me this, aren't you afraid that I will tell someone else?"
"My intuition told me that you will keep it a secret and also that the gods that are watching us are getting wary of my strength that doesn't have an explanation."
As they were walking and reached the 6th floor, Jake has manipulated the wind element to pick up all the coins that haven't been collected, before he used the key to open the door.
[The lock on the sixth-floor entrance has been disabled.]
[The gate will be activated in 30 minutes time.]
[The second-floor metal barriers have been disabled.]