How To Use Regressors

4 – Episode 4 – Tutorial (4)

“Oh my… they’re young students. Byungok, it’s nice to have new people here, but… aren’t they too young?”

It seems like she has a complaint about the new people being children.

One thing is for sure, no matter how young those siblings are, they would be much more useful than that lady.

The information displayed on the status window is not fake. Compared to the two siblings, that lady’s stats are trash.

No, there’s no need to evaluate the stats. With a mindset like that, tainted from the start, I can be sure that when a dangerous situation arises later, she’ll pass the risk onto others.

If Jo Chanho were to select his murder target here, I believe there’s a high probability he’d target that lady first. She’s utterly useless.

“Hmm… Lady Kyungshil. Even if the two of you are young, you should be plenty helpful. I told you this before, didn’t I? It’s better to have more people than fewer.”

“Well… I don’t mean to oppose it… I’m just worried.”

“Please trust me. Let’s start with a meal. Shouldn’t we start moving soon? Since new people have arrived, let’s discuss our plans while having a meal.”

Everyone sat down and began their meal, taking out food from their bags.

Still bothered by the conversation she had with Jo Chanho before he arrived, she initiated a conversation while chewing on bread.

“Um… Is it okay if I call you Yurim?”

“Yes, feel free to. Should I call you Yoonseong Oppa, then?”

“Yeah, call me whatever is comfortable. Anyway, earlier you mentioned that the monsters haven’t reached this far yet, and you said it’s unknown after some time. What does that mean?”

“… I escaped from that building pretty late. People who came out later had monsters following them.”

‘… If that’s the case, ultimately, this open space we’re in isn’t safe either.’

While the open area was hidden in a remote location, they couldn’t stay here indefinitely.

‘From the beginning, it was said that we had to clear the tutorial inside the guidance. So, does that mean we’ll have to fight the monsters no matter what? In the end, do we need to defeat the monsters to become stronger?’

My mind grew complicated. If this were anything like a game, then Jo Chanho had a high chance of obtaining a profession by killing monsters.

“I have to go hunting. There are people around, and I’m not alone. Jo Chanho may be dangerous, but with so many people here, he won’t be able to attack openly. No matter how good his skills and abilities are, he can’t handle this many people.”

“Oh… and it’s not just the monsters we need to be careful of. We brought food and water, but some people ran away in a hurry and didn’t take any supplies with them.”

“Well… that’s true. Since we’ve all stocked up on food and water, we could become targets for others. People do unpredictable things when they’re hungry.”

“Right, Byungok oppa. Of course, we have a decent-sized group, so we should be okay for the most part, but it’s still something to consider…”

“Better safe than sorry. Okay, let’s discuss where we should head next. Yurim, do you have any more information?”

“I only know what I’ve told you. But even though they called it a tutorial and said we need to strategize, do you think there might be something like a dungeon? If you think about it, our situation right now is similar to a game.”

“A dungeon, huh? That makes sense. After all, in games, it’s common to defeat monsters, gain experience, and clear dungeons.”

“Byungok oppa, I agree with what Yurim and Soyoung said. I think there might be something like a dungeon. Even if there isn’t, wouldn’t we become stronger if we try to fight the monsters for now?”

“Yurim and Soyoung make a good point. So, let’s explore in a different direction for now and engage in a fight if we encounter any monsters. If there are too many, we can always retreat.”

“Yeah… it should be doable, hyung. When I think about it, those monsters seemed slower than us, and we could have escaped yesterday.”

That’s right. We didn’t think of it yesterday since we were all panicking, but the reason we were able to escape was that the monsters were slower than us, and they got distracted while feasting on the corpses.

“Do we really have to… kill the monsters? Can’t we just… I mean, I don’t know if there’s a dungeon or whatever, but even if there is, someone will figure out how to clear it. It might be safer for us to just hide…”

‘Ugh… this woman is not helpful. We should get rid of her. She’s just a foolish woman.’

Yes, if we’re only thinking about immediate safety, it might be safer to hide rather than trying to kill the monsters or tackle the tutorial.

However, we must keep in mind that this place is a tutorial.

It may feel like hell right now, but after the tutorial, it might feel even more hellish than it does now. If that’s the case, choosing to hide may seem safe in the moment, but when you think about the future, it’s no different from suicide.

Just like on Earth, if we don’t develop ourselves, we will become obsolete. In a place where powerlessness is central, if we don’t grow stronger, what awaits us is nothing less than death or worse.

“I already said during the instructions. Choose carefully whether to fight or run away. That means ultimately, you have to fight. I don’t know what the guide is doing, but they clearly told us to strategize the tutorial. There’s no guarantee that they will just leave someone who is hiding alone.”

“Haha… Madam, not everything is resolved by just staying still. If you’re afraid or don’t want to fight, you can stay. I won’t force you. But for now, we have decided to move.”

“No… Byung-ok, my point is not just that I’m scared or anything. It’s that I’m worried about your safety!”

“Well, then I assume you’re coming with us.”

“Oh my~ alright then!”

Reluctantly, the woman agreed. Judging by her expression, she seemed very reluctant to move. It seemed like she agreed out of fear of being alone.

Jo Chan-ho brushed off his clothes and stood up from his seat.

“Alright, let’s move. Let’s go straight for now.”

******

How long had we been moving? It felt like roughly an hour. Even though this place was a forest, luckily the terrain wasn’t too steep, so it didn’t exhaust our stamina too much.

“Shh, let’s stop for a moment. I see monsters about 30 meters ahead.”

Due to tension, everyone’s bodies stiffened and they held their breath. It was the first time they had encountered monsters after escaping from the building.

“There are a total of three of them.”

“With three, we can fight… Since we have a group of seven, as long as no one makes a big mistake, we can easily kill them.”

These monsters are small in size and stature, so if one calm adult male handles them, they can easily defeat them alone.

However, the problem is that this is our first time fighting against these monsters.

Cho Chan-ho has probably killed one before, but I don’t think this guy will help us when we’re really in danger.

“Let’s give it a try, Byung-ok. Since we have a group of seven, how about dividing it into two, two, and three?”

“Well… Are the others okay with that?”

“Yes, hyung.”

“I’m fine, Byung-ok oppa.”

“I’m fine too… but can’t we leave it to the three of us for my sibling…?”

“Nuna… I’m fine. It would be better if you three…”

“I will respect Yurim’s opinion. It’s true that Yuhyeon is young. Then let’s split into Seoyoung and I as a team, Yoonseong and Gyeongsil ajumma with Yuhyeon as a team, and Hyunjin and Yurim as a team. Is that okay?”

“Yes. Let’s do that, Byung-ok.”

“Good. Then let’s move closer to the monsters we will each take care of…”

“Kieeeek – !”

Everyone was unable to react, taken aback by the sudden sound of the monster coming from behind.

“Damn it, there were more behind the bushes we were in!”

Because their figures were small, we didn’t see the ones behind the bushes and ended up near these creatures. Everyone froze in the sudden situation.

“Aaah!”

“Damn it, we’re screwed!”

Suddenly, Kim Soyoung had her arm ripped off by one of them. In pain, she began screaming.

Soon, it was clear that the others would also come rushing in. Looking at Jo Chanho’s expression, it was evident that he also realized we were in a crisis. It seemed like he didn’t know there were more monsters behind the bushes.

With a desperate expression, he shouted.

“Everyone, run for your lives!”

“Aaaah! Help! Don’t abandon me! Aaah! Stop it! Stop!”

“Kiyaaah!”

+Thunk!+

I desperately swung my weapon towards the monster charging at me, hitting it and causing it to fall back.

The problem was that the five monsters behind the bushes were not the only ones. The ones that were further away heard the noise and started rushing towards us.

If we fought calmly together, we might have had a chance, but if we fought in this panicked situation where one person was injured and the others were taken aback, at least a few of us would die. I grabbed the arm of the sibling next to me and ran.

“Damn it, snap out of it! We need to go back the way we came! Run!”

“Yes, yes…”

Yurim managed to respond, and Yuhyun’s expression was completely terrified. Being 15 years old, it’s not easy to quickly pull oneself together. On the other hand, it was fortunate that Yurim could at least respond and run.

While running frantically, no other people were in sight. Everyone seemed to have scattered in various directions in confusion.

Crash!

Thunk!

“Argh…!”

A monster from another direction sprang out, knocking me down and climbing on top of me.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

The creature opened its mouth to bite me, and I pushed a blunt object into its mouth, holding it with both hands to resist.

Fear of the possibility of death made my heart tremble. As the creature tightened its grip on my arm, I felt pain shooting through.

“Ughhh… damn it…”

“Yoonseong oppa!”

Swoosh!

“Kkkeeeaaak! Aaargh!”

Thud!

When Yurim stabbed the monster’s back with a dagger, its grip loosened, and she kicked it away.

“Huuk… hoo… thank you.”

“Oh, no. How are you, oppa…! You’re hurt on your arm…!”

“We have to treat it quickly and run away… Other creatures might come.”

Even though his injured arm was painful, he approached the struggling monster with a weapon in hand and struck its head.

Crunch!

[You have acquired a new profession. Please check your status window.]

As the monster’s skull exploded, bits of brain scattered in all directions, and a nauseating smell made him gag.

Despite the trembling in his hands and feet caused by the experience of directly taking a life, he couldn’t stay here. Apart from his shaking body, he needed to get away from here quickly.

The notification about acquiring a profession wasn’t a pressing matter at the moment.

“Yurim, I survived because of you… Let’s go quickly. More creatures might come.”

“No, oppa. If it weren’t for you, both Yoo-hyun and I would have been in danger earlier. I’m the one who should be grateful.”

“Alright… Let’s go first. Can Yoo-hyun run too?”

“Yes… yes, hyung.”

I returned to the path I had come, enduring the pain radiating from my arm.