Chapter 5

The streamer EasyLife was sitting in the village square, interacting with his viewers.

“I’ve got the best specs you can possibly get in the Tutorial Tower. You admit it, right?”

– Ikr

– EasyLife is the only lunatic who’d dump 50 mil into the Tutorial Tower.

– Honestly, even if his mechanics aren’t at the level of that wooden sword god, he’s still pretty damn good if he can clear the Elite Goblin while only getting hit a few times.

– Seeing how even that god-tier player took over 5 minutes, I guess Gear Power really is king.

– The debate over mechanics vs. money is officially over lol

– Honestly, it’d be weird if pure skill could overcome 50 million won.

He was the current number-one player in the Tutorial Tower, a user who had spent 50 million won to buy every possible thing before Level 5 and then climbed the tower.

He was the user who had defeated the Elite Goblin on the 5th floor in 3 minutes and 16 seconds, obtaining the Title [Ruler of the Tutorial Tower (Legendary)].

[Ruler of the Tutorial Tower (Legendary)]

A glorious Title bestowed upon the first person to conquer the 5th floor of the Tutorial Tower in the fastest time.

※ If the record is broken, the Title will be transferred to the new number-one player.

● All Stats +3

● ‘Legendary’ Effect manifests

“Looks cool, right?”

Damn.

Doesn’t that disappear if someone takes 1st place?

It’s a temporary Title lol

Who could even take it? They’d have to spend over 50 mil.

The All Stats +3 was great, but the yellow light glittering around the equipped Title like the sun was dazzlingly brilliant.

EasyLife was extremely satisfied.

“This is the thrill of spending money. Honestly, buying Gold on the Exchange was more of a pain than crafting the gear and climbing the tower. It felt like gathering coins to make a bank check.”

He chuckled as he enjoyed the gazes around him.

Even the viewers typing in envy were just another audience for him to flaunt his wealth to.

In the middle of passionately boasting about the weapon, Armor, and Title he had spent so much effort obtaining, and about how no matter how good someone’s mechanics were, they couldn’t beat money—

[The Tutorial Tower record has been updated.]

[The Title ‘Ruler of the Tutorial Tower (Legendary)’ will be extinguished.]

“Huh?”

Along with the message, the Title floating above EasyLife’s head vanished.

Naturally, the yellow light Effect that had brightly illuminated his character disappeared as well, along with all the Title’s effects.

– What was that?

– The record got updated?

– 3 minutes 16 seconds?

– Did the wooden sword god try again?

– lololol He was talking so much trash, maybe the other guy paid up and took it back?

– Fr, he did say his time would’ve been way shorter if it weren’t for the wooden sword.

No one knew the truth.

EasyLife immediately headed for the Tutorial Tower.

He had already reached Level 6 after setting the record, confident he would stay in first place, so although he could no longer enter the tower, he could still check the records from outside.

[Tutorial Tower Clear Records]

● 1st Place: Han Youngwoong (3s 17)

● 2nd Place: EasyLife (3m 16s)

● 3rd Place: Sword God (5m 24s)

“What the, my record is faster, so why am I in second place? Is this a bug?”

Clutching his pounding heart, he checked the record and cried foul.

– You’re right. What is this? A bug?

– You should report it.

– What bug? This is Fantasia lol

– Bugs don’t exist in a virtual reality made by AI. That’s common sense in this world.

Half the viewers mocked him, while the other half wondered whether it really was a bug, but those who looked at it rationally noticed something strange.

– It’s not 3 minutes 17 seconds, it’s 3 seconds 17.

└ Huh? lolololololol

└ You’re right. 3 seconds? What, isn’t that the real bug?

There was even a video recording of the 5th floor of the Tutorial Tower.

It was a system where anyone could click and watch the video of the run that had set the record, unlike the streamer’s own footage.

That meant even people who had never reached the 5th floor of the Tutorial Tower knew what kind of creature the Elite Goblin was, even if EasyLife had only just revealed the rewards.

“The Elite Goblin in 3 seconds? Is he a hacker?”

Three seconds was barely enough time to enter the 5th floor and even approach the Elite Goblin, which stood some distance away.

The only possible conclusion was that the Elite Goblin had died in a single strike the moment combat started.

“Does that make any sense?”

EasyLife denied reality.

He had spent 50 million won.

Not just on his weapon. His Armor was also the best he could obtain in the village.

It wasn’t that he lacked money. There was simply nothing left to buy.

Even though the game had just launched and there were no Items for Sale, he had managed to buy the Gold that appeared on the Exchange, scraping together every last bit of Silver and Copper, to the point where people mocked him as the main reason currency prices kept rising there.

He had even used additional buffs.

“I ate the Castella that gives +5 to all Stats, and I even bought and used three Blessed Potions to get 3 minutes and 16 seconds, and he killed it in one hit? I seriously have to report this as a bug.”

He pleaded his case, but the result didn’t change.

The Title was gone, and everything he had invested to get it had gone up in smoke.

Though the weapon and Armor he had poured 50 million won into were still left.

– lololol He said money beats mechanics, then got instantly clapped!

– Guess it doesn’t work against even bigger money.

– Didn’t you spend enough? Go spend more and come back ^^

– 2nd place is still good.

Leaving the exploding chat behind, he pressed the 1st-place record with a trembling hand.

A hologram expanded, showing the familiar background of the Tutorial Tower’s 5th floor.

The Elite Goblin, seen from the first-person perspective of the player in 1st place.

At the same time, the body shot forward, and the Boing Hammer swung.

“Fast.”

The distance closed in an instant.

Ignoring the rusty sword the Elite Goblin swung reflexively, the Boing Hammer had already smashed into its head.

Boing!

The Boing Hammer was faster.

A brilliant golden light swallowed the world.

At the same time, the Elite Goblin’s head exploded beyond recognition and its body slammed into the floor.

Boingboingboingboingboingboingboingboingboingboing—!

The chilling, endless sound of the Boing Hammer striking at 0.000000001-second intervals rang out in a short overlapping burst.

The video ended.

A mere 3-second video.

“……”

…….

…….

In the profound silence—

– That guy must’ve spent about 500 million. Cheer up.

The chat message, meant to comfort him, only made EasyLife’s heart ache more.

===

I was lucky.

Whether it was the ‘Lucky Strike’ with its 1% activation chance or the ‘Lucky Attack,’ I decided to just call it all ‘Luck.’

It felt like the ‘Luck’ that had followed Han Youngwoong his whole life, regardless of probability, had taken form as a golden light.

Thanks to that, I saved time and earned about 2 Gold.

The Title’s bonus of All Stats +3 was just icing on the cake.

Even if it was a temporary Title that could be taken away at any moment, a record of 3 seconds was unlikely to be broken unless someone used an actual bug, so I felt relieved.

When I headed to the village entrance after that, the guard NPC who had been blocking the gate stepped aside.

“Ahh, finally out of the village.”

It had taken half a day just to get out.

The starting village, Moina, was so huge that people said you could spend an entire day just wandering around inside its massive castle.

The world outside the village was much wider and vaster. The road was well paved, and the stream flowing near the castle was so beautifully landscaped that it looked like a perfect place for a walk.

Maybe because of that, the hunting grounds were a little distance away from the village.

By the time the castle looked far away, I could already see many users chasing harmless Monsters like rabbits and deer across the broad meadow.

“This isn’t the forest.”

I had no intention of joining those beginners in their playground.

The Lucky Hero.

Having completed a Class Change into a Unique-grade Hidden Class, equipped a Mythic-grade piece of Equipment, and gained an additional +10 to all Stats, I planned to head straight for the Corrupted Monsters and gather the Quest materials.

“I can’t rest.”

And I couldn’t die.

I had to carefully ride that line without dying while diligently scooping up as much good stuff as I could.

Fortunately, finding Moina Forest wasn’t difficult.

All I had to do was follow the golden arrow.

Soon, a forest full of tall, dense trees came into view.

The darkness pooled thickly between the tightly packed trees, making it look incomparably more dangerous than the bright open meadow and making one hesitate to enter.

“Looks like not many people have made it this far yet.”

It was still only the first day, after all.

Leveling up is surprisingly hard;;

I think the plan is to level in the meadow first, then head to the forest while doing the Class Change Quest.

– Can’t you just go straight to the forest?

– If you’re good enough to kill the wolf in the Tutorial Tower, you can probably hit level 5-6 and maybe handle the entrance? The mobs there are around level 7-8.

Even for users from the so-called gaming nation, the difficulty didn’t seem low.

I headed toward the forest with light steps.

“It’s easy for me.”

That had nothing to do with Han Youngwoong’s skill.

The joy of venturing onto ground others hadn’t yet reached.

The many advantages that came with it.

[Moina Forest]

A vast forest in front of Moina Village. Various beasts, Monsters, and dungeons exist here.

● Recommended Level: 7 ~ 11

There were already reviews popping up about people making money by selling the hides of rabbits and deer caught in the beginner hunting grounds.

Then what would it be like in a high-difficulty forest?

What kind of expensive materials would be lying around?

Filled with anticipation, I stepped into the dark forest with my Boing Hammer in hand.

===

Fantasia Life had shared all kinds of information even before the game’s launch, and it had grown into the largest gaming community, frequented by many users.

Organized information was neatly piled up in the info boards, videos in the video section, and in the free boards, posts on all sorts of topics constantly Respawned, creating a virtuous cycle of information.

As a result, getting a post onto the trending page in Fantasia Life was much harder than in other communities. On top of view count, a post needed more than 100 recommendations to make it onto the popular list, a system designed to stop simple clickbait from rising to the top.

That was why, despite Fantasia Life’s massive floating population, the popular posts were generally well-filtered, and many people only read those.

– [Info] Route to secure 1 Silver + food in the starting village

– [Video] Tutorial Tower 5th Floor Guide Video (Rank 11 → 12)

Most of these posts had over 200,000 to 300,000 views and were enough to build someone’s reputation, but one by one, posts about Han Youngwoong started appearing on the popular list.

– Tutorial Tower 5th floor fastest record broken. 3 seconds, insane;;; wtf;;;;

Because the game was still in its early stages, it was hard for any ordinary individual’s content to make it onto the popular list.

Everyone’s gameplay was more or less similar, and unless the content was especially relatable or helpful, it was hard to get much support.

You had to do something others couldn’t do—like not just clear the 5th floor of the Tutorial Tower, but one-shot it—to earn admiration and recommendations.

And he had actually done it.

As people fiercely argued over whether it was a bug or not, a new post was enough to throw oil on the fire of everyone’s curiosity.

– Found the Tutorial Tower 1st-place player.

Since Fantasia Life was flooded with posts asking who Han Youngwoong was and whether the game company needed to investigate, that post immediately took the express train to the popular list.

– Anyone who saw the replay will know. The Boing Hammer Han Youngwoong was using is the only clue. I wasn’t trying to track him down or anything, I was just fooling around at the entrance to Moina Forest and happened to spot him. What are the odds?

The post included a simple explanation, several screenshots, and a few short edited gifs.

– The moment I saw some guy in nothing but his underwear carrying a Boing Hammer and wearing what was obviously a veteran’s Title, I started recording. I’m 99% sure it’s him.

– Holding the Boing Hammer, Han Youngwoong let out a yell, rolled on the ground with a wolf, pinned it down, and then smashed it from above with the Boing Hammer.

– Boing—! Boingboing!

– The wolf struggled violently but couldn’t escape, and under the almost rhythmic hammering, it eventually went limp.

He was strong, but was he really that strong? The impact alone seemed questionable.

But the reason the post became popular was the final gif.

– This is the legendary part.

– Han Youngwoong swung his Boing Hammer at a charging wolf.

– Just as its sharp teeth were about to reach his face, the Boing Hammer flying in from the side struck the wolf.

– Boing-KABOOM!

– It was hard to tell whether that sound belonged to a Boing Hammer or a bomb, but a golden light exploded outward and the wolf’s head burst apart.

– The sight of the wolf’s body spinning 360 degrees as it flew far away left a deep impression.

– After seeing this, I became sure ㅇㅇ; It’s some kind of Skill, right? The Elite Goblin’s head exploded the same way. After that, like he wasn’t satisfied or something, he looked around and went deeper into the forest. I’m following him for now, and if the reaction’s good, I’ll post another update.

===

The post received many comments.

– That one Skill must be insanely strong.

– Compared to EasyLife, EasyLife kills wolves faster.
└ That guy spent 50 million won lol
└ That golden light explosion Skill is obviously a bug, right?

Along with analytical comments—

– Separate issue, but it’s hilarious watching him do all that with a Boing Hammer.

– The Boing Hammer butcher ㄷㄷ

– The leopard-print panties and Boing Hammer combo is crazy lol. Where did he even get a Boing Hammer that looks like it has zero attack power?

– He can only do that because it’s a beginner hunting ground.

Little by little, more people began taking an interest in the name Han Youngwoong.