He heard voices in the distance—whispering cruel words that his mind quickly tried to ignore. Yet there was one thing he couldn't silence…
Laughter, laughter echoing through the halls of his high school.
The sound of those mocking voices suddenly exploded.
Then he opened his eyes. He found himself staring at the old, dusty carpet of that room in the castle. Behind him, rays of morning light struck his face.
Confused, he sat up on the floor.
"Agh…"
Bringing a hand to his head, he felt the pain from yesterday's blow. The blood had dried on his face.
'Yeah… This definitely isn't a dream.'
He struggled to his feet. He staggered a couple of times before managing to steady himself.
"All the muscles in my legs hurt," he complained, limping toward the window.
He stood there, staring silently at the scenery, reflecting.
'I need to get out of here fast.'
He turned around, looking at the door. Fearful, he pulled out all the objects he had used to protect himself.
Finally, he grabbed the iron lamp and opened the door.
There was nothing on the other side.
'They're not here.'
That made Mitsuki feel relieved. He smiled arrogantly, as if he had won something.
"See how it is, you stupid statues? I'm invincible."
But even as he said that, he dropped to his knees, laughing. The expression on his face twisted into a grimace of fear and despair.
"I'm invincible… I am…"
No, he wasn't. His feet were injured, just like his face. Not even he knew how he had managed to run that far without passing out along the way.
This wasn't a game; his life was truly in danger.
He kept laughing after that—as if trying to hide the fact that he was on the verge of crying from sheer helplessness.
This wasn't the isekai adventure he had expected.
He had played so many incredible fantasy games that gave him an idea of how amazing it would be to become a character with superpowers, magic, and all kinds of combat tools.
All the stories he had lived through while staring at a screen ran through his mind, longing to replicate them in real life—but he was alone.
He was weak, pathetic, and powerless. And yet he still had the arrogance to call himself "invincible."
It hadn't always been like this, but ever since he became the best at every video game he touched, he thought he had the right to look down on others—just because he was "the best" at something.
"I am… I am…"
Minutes passed. Mitsuki finally calmed down.
He took a long breath and stood up. He wiped away the small tears forming at the corners of his eyes and put on a serious expression.
'I need to become stronger.'
With that thought, he began exploring the castle.
This time he walked more slowly, analyzing every corner of each room.
The hallways were long and the ceilings quite high. Worn banners, decorative suits of armor resting against the walls, torn carpets, and gloomy stonework were scattered everywhere.
He tried putting on the helmet and gauntlets from one of the armors, but the helmet was too heavy for his weak body. In the end, he kept the gauntlets.
"You'd probably need super strength to defeat a colossus while wearing armor and swinging an axe the size of two people."
There were plenty of similar scenarios in video games.
After a couple of minutes, in one of the rooms farthest from the entrance, he found a pair of leather boots with beautiful black stitching.
"They're a little big, but it's better than tearing up my feet running over stone."
He glanced at the statue lying on the bed—it was an adult woman.
"You sure know how to enjoy life, huh?"
He shook his head and moved on.
'These places always have a throne room, but I can't find it. It's almost certainly right in the center of the castle, but I'm still exploring the side corridors. I'll go there after I make sure I have everything I need.'
During his search, he found a short sword lying on the floor next to one of the ash statues, which wore plate armor.
The weapon was surprisingly light and didn't seem damaged by time.
As soon as he took the weapon in his hands, the tattoo on his left arm shifted.
"Hm?"
[ Makari Iron Short Sword ]
He frowned.
"Makari Iron? Maybe it's a metal native to this world. It's pretty good. I'll keep it."
Further ahead, he managed to find a sheath for the sword near an ash statue that had dropped it on the ground.
Slightly better equipped, he searched for the throne room—not because there was anything specific he wanted there, but because he was curious to see it.
"After this, I'm getting out of here," he said, checking his stats on the tattoo.
[
❖ Level: 1
❖ XP: 0 of 50 → 2 of 50
❖ HP / MP / Stamina:
10 / 0 / 5 → 11 / 1 / 6
❖ Strength / Agility / Intelligence:
2 / 1 / 20 → 3 / 2 / 20
❖ Skills:
Desperate Sprint
]
'The XP section is new. My stats are better now, but they're still trash.'
He sighed, tired.
'But the Desperate Sprint skill seems extremely useful. What I don't understand is how the XP system works. Do I have to do something specific to level up? Killing monsters seems the most logical, but I gained two points after the chase.'
He turned the next corner, reaching the first entrance to the throne room.
'What I do understand is how my stat points work. If I train my body or my magic, they go up. I need to keep that in mind if I want to get stronger so I don't get killed.'
He suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The walls around him had grown darker, covered in ash. Statues were frozen mid-flight, desperate expressions locked on their rigid faces.
Farther down the corridor, the ash grew thicker and more prominent, like moss devouring concrete.
'Did all of this start in the throne room?'
As a precaution, he touched the ash with the sword. It didn't turn to ash itself, so it was relatively safe to step on the ground there.
He advanced until he reached two gigantic broken doors, consumed by ash. However, unlike the corridor, parts of the ash inside glowed crimson.
As he passed through one of the holes in the doors, his eyes widened in surprise.
A vast hall, lined with large cylindrical columns in succession, stretched gloriously into the distance. Massive stained-glass windows along the walls decorated the place with vibrant colors depicting crowned figures and dragons. Dozens of suits of armor were arranged in the corners, raising their swords, axes, shields, and spears elegantly.
The sight was beautiful as far as the king's white marble throne—but also ominous, for everything was covered in ash, glowing faintly in places as though the consequences of that disaster had never been paid.
In front of the king's throne lay a golden double-edged sword embedded in the floor. Around it, as if a meteor had struck, was a small crater.
"A final boss room, no doubt about it. This is incredible."
He took a few steps toward the sword, but heard a strange crack.
A chill ran down his spine, followed by a deep killing intent.
'Shit…'
He knew exactly what was about to fall.
He turned and bolted.
Before he could cross the doorway, a gigantic knight in heavy dark plate armor crashed down from the ceiling in front of him. It stood nearly thirty feet tall.
Above, a dusty portal groaned like a specter, sealing itself as if by magic.
'Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!'
He ran the opposite way, searching for another exit—but the colossus leapt and landed in front of him again, this time conjuring with magic an immense double-edged sword made of stone and ash.
"Sshh…" the knight whispered.
Ash seeped like mist from the openings in its armor, while its ghostly eyes burned crimson like flames in the dark.
With a knight's elegance, it drove the sword into the ground, triggering an explosion of ash that blasted everything backward.
Mitsuki's feet slipped, and he fell to his knees.
He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, the flat side of the sword was already descending toward him.
He had no time to react.
BOOM! CRASH!
A blow so powerful it sounded like an explosion sent Mitsuki flying against the wall above the throne room doors. Then he collapsed, face-first onto the floor.
His body was now a mass of flesh, bone, and blood.
His one remaining eye, the only thing that survived the impact, watched the knight take its place before the throne.
'How?' he thought.
The flames of life were fading.
'Why?'
He hadn't even been given a chance. This Tutorial Boss had to be a joke from the developers.
'I don't want…'
His mind went dark.
'I don't want to die…'
And silence flooded the stage.
The tattoo on his left arm shifted, releasing purple sparks. A written and whispered message appeared.
[ The Void offers you its help. Do you accept? ]
[ (Yes) (No) ]
"…"
[ The Player cannot respond. An automatic answer has been selected. ]
[ (Yes) ]
Suddenly, everything went dark.