Chapter 157.

With the red crystal, I worked on making equipment to use in the next tutorial stage .

Using a tenth of Stigma’s magic power, I separated the red crystal into three equal parts . The sharp crystal was for a spear, the wide crystal was for an axe, and the remaining was for a fishing line .

The spear, axe, and fishing rod were simple . I just had to take apart the waiting room’s wooden board, trim it, and put the crystal on the tip .

The problem was the fishing line . I wasn’t sure what to do at first, but it ended up being easy using Stigma’s magic power . As soon as I infused the red crystal with it, the crystal transformed into a squishy, semisolid substance . After some tinkering, the substance became a long, sturdy fishing line .

“…Hm . ”

I looked at the spear, axe, and fishing rod I made .

With my Dexterity’s proficiency grade being so low and with Aether being absent, they didn’t look all that aesthetically pleasing . Still, they were most likely better than most mass-produced goods . At the very least, they were good enough to be used in the tutorial .

At that moment, a system window popped up .

[You obtained the technique, ‘Lv . 1 Crafting’ . ]

“Oh right . ”

The Tower had a technique system as well .

===

[Crafting Lv . 1]

*You can easily craft Lv . 0 items .

===

The Tower of Wish was kind of like an RPG game . Performing certain actions awarded Players with ‘unrealistic’ bonuses . The Crafting technique should let me craft items instantly, skipping all the intermediate steps . This also included a leveling system like most RPG’s . .

[There are 10 minutes remaining until the second tutorial begins . ]

[Try accessing the Community . ]

While I was practicing swinging my axe and spear, the system gave me another recommendation .

I thought about one of the Tower’s most important systems, the ‘Community’ .

===

[Tower Community]

「Public Forum」

「Auction House」

「Group Creation」

…

…

「Messenger

「Player Profile」

===

As expected, the Tower Community had many functions .

The auction house was exactly as what it sounded like, and group creation was for creating parties . The player profile was similar to Facebook but far superior .

「Player Profile」

Players could create two profile pages, one using their nickname and one anonymously . Each Player had full control over how to decorate their profiles .

They could turn it into a shop by putting up items for sale or use it to buy and sell information .

I tried clicking on each function .

[Player Profile can be used after the tutorial . ]

[Auction House can be used after the tutorial . ]

[Messenger can be…]

As I thought, the public forum was the only function that was currently available .

「Public Forum」

=

[Am I the first poster? (3)]

[Wow, this is interesting . Someone comment on this thread! I need to know if anyone else is alive . (6)]

[Has anyone cleared the tutorial yet? (2)]

=

There were only three posts on it . It seemed everyone was busy trying to clear the tutorial .

I created a post as well .

[Let’s share information . ]

The view count went up as soon as I posted it, and someone commented on the post .

—?? Extra7-nim? Why are you here? Wait, are you the Extra7 I know?

“…How does this guy know me?”

I tilted my head and checked the commenter’s nickname .

The commenter’s nickname was… ‘Nayunjajangman’ .

The ‘Nayun’ part of the name made me a bit uncomfortable, but because I was so familiar with it, I was surprised more than anything else .

“He’s here too?”

[The second tutorial stage, ‘Way of Survival’, will begin at any moment . ]

[Please get ready . ]

I tried to comment, but another system alert popped up .

I turned the Community off and got up with all the equipment I made .

“I’m ready . ”

[You will now be transferred to the second tutorial stage . ]

“Yes . ”

Along with the system alert, a burst of white light erupted . I closed my eyes . I could feel the warmth from the particles of light enveloping my body, as well as a strange sensation as though I was floating in the air .

Tssss .

Soon, I could feel that I landed on a soft surface .

I opened my eyes .

“I’m here . ”

Chwaaa…

The sound of a serene wave rang out .

Standing still, I looked in front of me . A boundless ocean was spread out across the horizon .

I was standing on a sandy beach . Behind me, numerous palm trees were forming a dense forest .

This place was a tiny uninhabited island .

[Tutorial Goal – survive for 14 days . ]

[From the second tutorial, you will be ranked based on your performance and will be rewarded accordingly . ]

The goal of the second tutorial was survival .

To stay alive in this boundless area for 14 days .

However, it was worth risking more danger in this tutorial . Its ‘performance-based reward’ was something that surpassed the standard of a tutorial .

[Try thinking or shouting ‘Status Window’ . ]

Another system alert popped up .

I did as it said .

“Status window . ”

===

[Nickname – Extra7]

○Vitality – 43/100

○Magic Power – 30/30

○Skill Count – [1]

○Skill – Bonus Skill 「Random Dice」

===

My vitality and magic power, effectively my HP and MP, were numericized . My magic power wasn’t 0 most likely because I lost my Magic Dysfunction Physique .

But why did the system want me to see this?

[Vitality is affected not only by damage but also hunger and fatigue . ]

[When your vitality reaches 0, Player Extra7 will die . Players who die in the tutorial cannot revive . ]

I see, so it was telling me to eat something . It must have been worried about me, a kind, polite… kuhum .

“Thank you . ”

I answered energetically and took a look around .

Although I was standing on land, there wasn’t anything to eat in the highest difficulty island . In other words, I had to find food in the ocean .

That was the reason I crafted a fishing rod and an axe . To fish and to craft a boat .

Growl—

My stomach growled . I was starting to get hungry .

Before creating a boat to set out onto the ocean, I took out the fishing rod from my inventory . Since I could use coconuts from the palm trees as my source of water, finding food was my first priority .

“Let me think…”

I stared at the fishing rod in my hand, then held it with both hands .

Before coming into the Tower, I practiced fishing for this exact purpose .

“…Huup!”

I swung the fishing rod with a big motion .

Whish—

The fishing line drew an arc in the air .

It felt more natural than I thought . It was partly because I practiced fishing beforehand, but it probably had more to do with the fact that Dexterity and Master Sharpshooter helped with fishing .

Plop!

The hook sank into the ocean .

…Time passed in silence . I was getting hungrier, but the fishing rod remained unmoving .

I didn’t use any bait, but because the hook was made with the red crystal, I didn’t need one . Sea monsters should smell the scent of magic power and come .

“…Haam . ”

I continued to wait . I had a firm belief in my luck .

After about 30 minutes, the surface of the water showed a hint of change .

“Ah!”

The fishing line tensed up . Something had clearly bit it .

Whatever it was, it was incredibly powerful . The wooden fishing rod was bending .

“… . ”

After repeatedly trying to reel the fish in, I picked up my spear . With my vitality low, doing this was a waste of time . In the end, killing it then reeling it up was the same as reeling it up then killing it .

Holding my spear firmly, I calmly observed the fish moving underwater .

Then…

Chweek!

I threw the spear .

Although my strength stat was 65% sealed, it was still above 2 points . Struck with the spear, the fish stopped moving, and I easily reeled it in .

[You obtained the technique, ‘Lv1 . Fishing’ . ]

*You have an increased chance of fish biting your hook .

[You spotted a glossy seafish . Its information has been recorded in the Player Encyclopedia . ]

“…A sea monster . ”

○Monster Encyclopedia

[Glossy Seafish] [Low-rank grade-7 sea monster]

—A sea monster that tastes like a mackerel .

I retrieved the spear sticking out of the fish’s back then started a campfire . Starting the fire was easy . I only had to rub some wood I collected with the red crystal axe . Once the fire was up, I strung the glossy seafish over it .

Tssss .

The glossy seafish dripped with delicious fish oil as it was cooked .

**

Same time .

Boss, who cleared the first stage of the hardest difficulty tutorial in the blink of an eye, was sitting on a sandy beach in meditation .

“… . ”

Repeating deep breaths, she tried to move her shadow to the water . However, the shadow didn’t stretch far, only swirling around her before disappearing . It was because of the 93% stat restriction she was under .

“…Huu . ”

She tried over a dozen times but failed each time .

In the end, she gave up on trying to fish with magic power .

Growl .

She pondered, ‘I’m hungry . I have to eat something . Should I have saved the orange ticket’s emergency food supply?’

She got up and began to walk around . Soon, she found a large boulder . She immediately hoped to find some crabs underneath it .

She slowly approached the boulder . Then, she picked the rock up and threw it aside . There was a startled hermit crab underneath it . Boss quickly moved and grabbed the hermit crab .

“… . ”

Now, she needed to cook .

She opened her inventory . Although she already ate all the food that came with her ticket, she still had the burner and frying pan that came as a set .

Tak, tak .

She turned the burner on and put the hermit crab on the frying pan .

“…ssp . ”

Food .

Food .

Food .

As she mumbled, the sun began to set .

**

18 hours passed since the start of the second tutorial .

Koong, koong, koong .

I was striking down a tree with my axe . As the red crystal axe was a fire attribute weapon, the tree didn’t last all that long .

Kiiik—

With just five swings, the tree fell .

“That should be enough…”

That was the thirtieth tree . They were all used to craft a boat .

The highest difficulty island had no food, and from the second tutorial, there was a performance-based ranking system .

How far I adventured, how many sea monsters I hunted . These things all contributed to the ranking, so leaving the island was a must .

“Inventory . ”

My inventory was currently filled with useful materials, like bones and skins of sea monsters .

I took out an item labeled by the system as ‘Red Fish’s Tough Skin’ .

“Craft . ”

Then, I used Crafting to make a string .

[Red Fish’s Tough Skin has been used to produce a twine . ]

[Trait ‘Dexterity’ applies to crafting . ]

[You crafted a Lv . 1 Tough Twine . ]

Using Crafting, I could skip intermediate steps of crafting like in a real game .

“Whew . ”

Now that that was done, I picked up my axe and went to where all the logs were gathered .

Ssk, ssk .

With Dexterity’s help, I began to shave the surface of the logs . To create a proper sailboat, I needed to make the surface of the logs as smooth as possible .

Sssk, sssk .

After about an hour of hard work…

[Yggdrasil Leaf is impressed by your effort . ]

I received another system alert .

[Try checking the Yggdrasil Leaf . ]

“Ah, hold on a bit . ”

I immediately put everything down and opened my inventory .

===

[Yggdrasil Leaf]

—Blessing of Adventure

*Your body becomes lighter while you have this item in your inventory . (minor improvement to your physical ability)

*You can grant small blessings to items . Blessings will get stronger the more they have to do with adventures .

===

Just like the system said, Yggdrasil Leaf had a new effect .

“Nice . ”

Although the first effect gave a ‘minor’ improvement, I liked how it had a wide range of applying to my entire physical ability .

The second effect just seemed good since it said ‘blessing’ .

“Thank you . ”

I closed the inventory and went back to working on the boat .

Ssk, ssk .

The sound of logs being cut .

Chwaak, chwaak .

The sound of logs being tied together with a string .

“…Uuu!”

After three hours of hard work, I was finally done .

I got up and stretched . I felt a bit lightheaded .

“Next up is…”

Coconuts .

I began to throw coconuts on my boat to use as water .

One, two, three, four, five… twenty-three . Almost half the boat was filled with coconuts .

[Try granting the vehicle a small blessing . ]

“…Oh right . ”

I almost forgot .

This was why it was nice to be friendly to the system . There was a high chance that the Yggdrasil Leaf got a new effect because I’ve been so polite to the system .

I took out the Yggdrasil Leaf from my inventory and waved it over my sailboat .

[Yggdrasil’s Blessing envelopes the sailboat . ]

[The surface of the sailboat becomes coated with magic power . ]

[You will now have a smoother adventure . ]

“Status window . ”

I opened up the status window and checked out the sailboat’s specs .

===

[Lv1 . Sturdy Sailboat with Lv . 2 Yggdrasil’s Blessing]

—Lv . 1 Sturdy Sailboat

○Durability Lv . 1

○Speed Lv . 1

○Safety Lv . 1

—Lv . 2 Yggdrasil’s Small Blessing

Increases all effects of the Sturdy Sailboat by one level .

===

“…Oh?”

Levels were an important aspect of equipment . Yggdrasil’s Blessing raised items’ levels? This wasn’t a small blessing at all!

“Thank you ve~ry much . ”

‘I won’t forget this gratitude . Until I conquer this Tower, that is . ’

Now, it was time to set sail .

I pushed the sailboat into the water . Then, I hopped up with a paddle . A pleasant breeze blew over me .

I paddled forward .

The sailboat began to press forward .

My goal for the second tutorial was simple .

Going as far out as possible and killing as many sea monsters as possible .

Although things might get a bit dangerous, that would only serve to increase my ranking .

“…Huh?”

But after about 30 minutes of paddling, I caught a glimpse of another island .

That wasn’t the problem .

There was a silhouette of a person on the beach .

“Am I seeing this correctly…?”

Narrowing my eyes, I focused on the distant island .

Instantly, my vision expanded, and the view of the island became clear .

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