Max Talent Player

Ten years ago, the ‘System’ spread across the world, starting from Korea. This phenomenon breathed new life into our civilization and gave birth to countless celebrities, like the Tutorial Ender ‘Fist King’ So Yoohyun and the ‘Flame Lord’ Choi Sung-gu.

Behind every famous Player was a ‘Guardian’. Not much was known about ‘Guardians’, just that they supported Players or requested something from them. Some Guardians made their Players strong, while others led their players to ruin. Guardians were regarded as beings who ‘observed’ our Playing.

‘I’ve never heard of the ‘Nameless Observer.’

I didn’t know a thing about the Nameless Observer. It seemed he was a Guardian who revealed himself at the beginning of the Playing. Considering that he wasn’t famous, the ‘nameless’ moniker suited him well. 

[The ‘Nameless Observer’ wishes to bestow upon you an ‘Open Beta Bonus’.]

[You have received an ‘Open Beta Bonus’.]

‘Suddenly?’

I didn’t even do anything, but I was given a bonus. Usually, you had to do something to a Guardian’s liking in order to receive such a thing.

‘Whatever. For now, it must be a good thing.’

It was known that the world’s countless rankers received the ‘Open Beta Bonus’. You could call it a sort of extra boon for the advance party that began first.

‘A 3 percent chance. This is a gift for surviving those odds.’

It was easier to think about it that way. Regardless of the reasoning as to why this Guardian was eyeing a talentless Player like myself, there was no downside to it.

[Due to the Open Beta Advantage, you have received ‘Calm Observer’s Eye’.]

[‘Calm Observer’s Eye’ has taken effect.]

My wildly thumping heart began to settle down.

‘Huh…?’

My chest felt as hot as ever, but it felt like my head was cooling down, and much of my fear was subsiding.

‘What a strange feeling.’

It felt like I was standing at the eye of a fierce battlefield.

‘This is the power of the system.’

I was scared, but also excited. Everything around me felt muted. Even though my surroundings were ringing with cries like ‘What’s going on?’, it felt like those noises were getting naturally filtered away. 

‘Calm Observer’s Eye, huh.’

That was a befitting title. It almost felt like I was watching over the situation with a third-person view.

[The Tutorial is beginning.]

[Conditional Safe Zones will be announced.]

‘It’s really starting.’

In the end, I heard a notice that the ‘Tutorial’ was starting.

[In ten seconds, the Tutorial Quest will begin.] [10] [9]

The bus was stuck in place, perhaps because an accident had occurred.

“To all passengers, I apologize. There is no way I can drive in this situation. I will open the door, so if anyone is willing to walk, please do so.”

This level of fog could be regarded as a natural disaster. The cars were completely unable to budge.

“Shit! What a way to start the day!”

Two men wearing aviator-style glasses walked towards the exit. It seemed they hadn’t received the ‘Tutorial Notice’, which meant they hadn’t been selected as Players.

[6] [5]

The timer counted down. I couldn’t just do nothing. I knew all too well what was about to happen. I jumped up and yelled at the two men.

“Don’t move!”

And then, I shouted at the bus driver, “Close the door right now!”

“W-What?”

“Close it right now!”

Startled by the strength of my demand, the driver reflexively closed the door. Although I felt a little sorry for the driver, ten seconds was not enough time to explain everything. I then directed a loud voice to the eight or so people on the bus.

“Don’t speak, don’t move, don’t even keep your eyes open. Just remain still.”

I spoke quickly, unsure if my words would have any effect. To them, I probably looked like a psycho, but I decided to give it my best.

“From now on, something unbelievable will happen. Everyone here could die. So please do your best to survive. First of all, staying still is your ticket to survival.”

That was the best I could do. There was no more time. I couldn’t risk causing a panic. I had done everything I could.

[The ‘Nameless Observer’ looks at you with interest.]

The clock ticked on.

[2]

[1]

The events I had only seen in history books and textbooks unfolded before my eyes.

[The Tutorial Quest is beginning.]

[ The ‘Intermediate Administrator’ is appearing.]

The space near the driver’s seat in the bus began to distort, and something took form from within.

‘The Intermediate Administrator.’

That was their official name, but the name most commonly used to describe them was ‘Streamer’, beings that acted as intermediaries between the ‘Guardians’ observing us and the ‘Players’.

The crowd’s first reaction was to be unsettled by the human-like shape coming from the distortion, and their second was to be astonished by that being’s incredible beauty.

‘Because most female Streamers are beautiful.’

The Streamer who appeared before us could be said to be so beautiful that she could contend for the top position among other Streamers. With her unnaturally silky silver hair and porcelain white skin, she transcended beauty into pure nobility, and the pair of white wings behind her back almost made her look like a real angel.

‘She really is extremely beautiful.’

I wasn’t that drawn in. However, one guy on the bus was unable to take his eyes off her, his expression screaming that he had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life.

“Wow…”

I saw him swallow his drool.

‘There’s more to them than their beautiful appearance.’

I didn’t know about this Streamer, but Streamers never stayed friendly to Players forever. They were obsessed with how they could connect Players and Guardians and how they could earn more ‘COIN’. Not all of them were that way, but most of them were.

The woman began to speak.

“My name is Senia. Everyone here will be participating in the Tutorial Quest.”

[Survive the Tutorial Field for seven days.]

[You cannot leave the Tutorial Field.]

[Subsequent difficulty will be determined by the number of survivors.]

Senia. A Streamer of such beauty should be memorable, but I had no recollection of her. I guessed she was one of the Streamers from very, very early on in the Tutorial. After all, I knew the famous Streamers in the future.

“W-What? Do you know what’s going on? Could it be that you’re filming a movie here?”

“…”

Senia stared at the man who initiated a conversation with her, her expression utterly unchanged.

“All you must do is use your abilities to the utmost to survive.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?!”

It would be best if he behaved himself. Our level was a pathetic 1, definitely not a position where one could be careless with a Streamer. Thankfully, this Streamer didn’t seem violent. If he’d been unlucky, that man would have been a corpse by now.

Entries like [An Intermediate Administrator who introduced themselves as ‘Leitra’ cut anyone who asked them a question in half, saying ‘I don’t recall permitting questions?’] showed up frequently in people’s narratives later. Personally, I wasn’t very interested in Streamers, despite their otherworldly appearance. I didn’t trust Streamers on a fundamental level, and that was because most of them only thought of us as their method of income.

‘Most of all…’

I wanted to live. I peered through the window, finding everything still blanketed by thick fog.

‘The Primordial Fog.’

This fog muffled sounds. According to the ‘Fist King’ So Yoohyun, the Tutorial Ender and later someone who became world-famous as a ranker, the fog inhibited sounds and simultaneously made you lose your sense of direction.

‘A trap that commonly appears in many other dungeons.’

Before the great explorer ‘Jackson’ identified a method of dispelling this fog, the ‘Primordial Fog’ was one of the most annoying traps.

‘Such thing appeared in a tutorial…’

It was different from what we typically associated as a tutorial. The purpose of a tutorial was to help adjust a new player to a game. In essence, it was there to help. However, the real-life Tutorial was different.

Ten years later, people believed that the true essence of the ‘Tutorial’ was this:

‘An opening act shown to the Guardians.’

This place, Jongno’s Tutorial Field, was the opening act shown to the higher beings reducing mankind to players inside a game so they could watch ‘from above’, the ‘Guardians’ that absolutely needed to be struck down one day. 

Suddenly, a man next to me screamed. He must have seen something outside the window. “H-H-Holy shit!”

My eyes opened, and I bit my lips.

‘It has begun.’

I could easily figure out why the man screamed. The windshield at the front of the bus was painted with a few lines of fresh red streaks. That was blood. Something covered in blood had crashed onto the windshield before falling to the ground.

“H-Heok…!”

“W-What’s going on?”

“W-What was that just now? That’s blood, isn’t it?!”

In the meantime, Streamer Senia had disappeared. It seemed she was hustling from place to place around the Tutorial Field, striving to draw the attention of the Guardians.

I also hadn’t seen what hit the windshield. It could’ve been a severed arm or leg, or even a head.

‘Even after I told them to remain still.’

But I understood that it was easier said than done. Who in their right mind would be able to stay calm if someone’s cut-up corpse flew over and struck the windshield of the bus they were in? They might have heard my warning to ‘stay still’, but how could they possibly adhere to that?

‘Stay calm.’

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

The notification appeared as my heart became a little calmer. Due to the Open Beta Bonus, I was able to keep my cool. I continued to sketch out the situation in my head.

‘The enemies that are coming now are Goblins.’

The first monster to appear was the ‘Goblin’, a small green humanoid monster. They were only 80-100 cm in size, but they were far stronger than an average male adult and more agile. Their distinctive features were their pointy ears and long tongues.

‘Monsters with sickening hobbies.’

They had a sickening taste for dismembering humans. They were probably enjoying that hobby to their utmost outside, slaughtering the weak humans coming face to face with monsters for the first time.

[A great deal of noise and movement has been detected.]

[The Goblin Legion is starting to get excited.]

[The 1st wave of Goblin attacks is beginning.]

[The Goblin Legion has begun to invade Jongno.]

Thump! Thump! Thump!

I could hear them.

It was very faint, but my ears were even able to pick up a peculiar kind of laughter that went kikik, kikikik, kikik! I was very familiar with that sound—I had heard it often on Youtube.

‘Goblin sounds.’

The thumping noises were probably from them clambering onto cars and stomping on them. 

Another notification popped up.

[The ‘Nameless Observer’ is observing your actions with interest.]

Following the start of the Tutorial, even more information flooded into my head. Things like how to use the ‘Status Window’ to check my stats and how to open my inventory slotted into place in my head like they belonged there.

I opened up my Status Window as naturally as a person who had been Playing for a long time. Strangely enough, everything was too easy, like I was someone who already knew how to do this.

‘Status Window.’

All I could do as of now was to find out exactly about myself. I had to use this precious time wisely.

I opened up my Status Window. There, something unbelievable was on display.