Hero picked up the wooden bat that laid amidst a mass of weapons in the center of the gymnasium.

“Everyone, pick up a weapon.”

He ordered then loosened his neck tie and took off his jacket, dropping it on the ground to allow himself more breathing space when moving. He swung the bat two times to check its weight and estimate the amount of damage he could cause.

After confirming it would be descent enough, he finally noticed the stares that were being directed at him.

“Huh? What’s you guys’ problem? Get your bats unless you want to die at the hands of monsters. Don’t worry, the next set are going to be a bunch of easy to kill bastards.”

He took another swing. The others started to get restless after hearing that. Park Chul got closer to him.

“Oi. How do you know any of this?”

Hero swung his bat again and whistled.

“This should be enough to blow their brains out.”

Veins popped out on Park Chul’s forehead as he was ignored. Having a mixed emotions about the current situation where he found people dying, he had no idea how to react, other than lashing out.

“That’s enough you little shit! Who the heck are you anyway?!”

Park Chul grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. Hero struggled a bit under Park Chul’s collar.

“Kuk!”

“How do you know any of this?!”

The others were starting to get restless while seeing the scene. Hero’s legs started to wiggle in the air, while he tried to free himself from his captor.

“If… I told ya, I’d hav- have to kill ya.”

“What kind of shitt-“

Hero kneed Park Chul in the chin, forcing the student to let him down. As soon as he landed, he kicked Park Chul’s balls, forcing the delinquent on his balls. He picked up his bat and wacked Park Chul’s stomach, making him fall over in pain.

“My name is Hero, and right now, I’m the only one who knows the way out of this hell.”

He straightened his collar and glared at everyone present.

“Next person to come at me will be beaten to death, got it?”

Suddenly, Hero possessed a terrifying presence that sent chills down all those present. They all started to shake.

“Now, pick up a weapon and prepare for the next tutorial.”

One by one, they all flocked over to pick up weapons. Hero picked up a dagger from the pile and threw it at Youngsoon’s feet.

“Use that.”

He told her and she glared at him. This sent shivers down his spine again, but he did not show it for the others to notice.

‘W-Was she this intimidating so early?’

After a while, they all picked up weapons and the grouped up in a circle.

DING!

[You all picked up your weapons? Took you long enough!]

[The Weapons Tutorial is about to start! Prepare yourselves for the monsters in 5…]

The countdown began.

[4…]

The locks on the doors were released.

[3…]

The doors burst open, revealing a dark hall. It was nighttime after all.

[2…]

The present members started to get antsy about the situation. Shaking and fidgeting behind Hero who gripped his bat intensely.

‘Quick, hard to hit, but simple to trick with terrible defense.’

Hero was thinking of the monster that was supposed to burst out right through the door. A single sweat trickled down his face.

‘I’m currently weak, but if I plan this right, I should be able to get stronger faster.’

Red eyes shone in the darkness, followed by a fast shadow.

‘Now!’

He swung with all his might at what came from the darkness, gritting his teeth and making sure to have put his back into it.

CRACK!

The sound of the monster’s neck being cracked resounded in the quiet gymnasium. The others observed this abnormal scene with horrified expressions. Following this was the annoying pinging of the system screen.

DING!

[You have received the achievement [First Blood]! Congratulations!]

[You have received 10 XP]

[All your physical stats have gone up by 1 as an extra bonus]

‘First blood, huh? I never got this back then. I didn’t even know this was a title.’

He started to flex his hand.

‘My body feels a bit lighter. Not a lot, but it’s a noticeable difference. Wow, I really did start out with single digits, didn’t I?’

“EEEEK!”

The girls couldn’t contain their disgust at the gory scene.

“Oi, Bully. Keep the girls in check.”

He ordered Park Chul who stared wide-eyed at the dead monster. It had green skin with only a loin cloth covering its disgusting features. Hero noticed that this was what they were all staring at.

“Oh? It’s just a goblin. Don’t pay attention to it.”

Park Chul gulped and moved to the girls in an attempt to calm them down. Hero turned his gaze to the dead goblin.

“Hey, Youngsoon. Can you pass me your dagger for a sec?”

She walked hurriedly towards him and handed over the dagger nervously.

“W-What are you going to do?”

She bashfully asked as she crouched next to him. He took a glance at her from the corner of his eye and felt a sort of familiarity. She was a bit back to normal now, meaning she had managed to shove aside her sadness for the moment. That was good.

“I’m about to gut this thing for mana crystals.”

“E-Excuse me?”

“You like video games, right?”

She nodded.

“Well think of this like some sort of video game. Yes, the world has become a video game where we all become players. So, when you kill a monster…”

“You get drop items?”

“Exactly.”

“But is now a good time to gut it for drop items? Won’t there be more monsters coming?”

She asked, actually nervous since the system said so.

“Oh yeah, but it will take at most thirty minutes to spawn a new one.”

“Huh? How do you know?”

RIIIP!

The goblin’s skin was ripped open from the abdomen up.

“The system was programmed to throw a monster that would take quite a bit of time for us to trap and kill. This is to ensure only the smart or desperate make it out. Either way, only those with top notch survival instincts will make it out into the real hell.”

After sometime of searching through the goblin’s stomach, Hero managed to find a red crystalline gem and brought it up.

“T-This looks like a ruby.”

“A ruby, huh?”

He stood up and raised it above himself for all to see.

“It’s actually pretty worthless. Don’t let it fool you.”

“Worthless?”

He shoved the crystal into his pocket and moved to the others.

“Ok, everyone! Listen up. You have rest period for the next five minutes.”

They all sighed and slumped down to the ground.

“Park Chul, come over here.”

Hero grabbed the delinquent’s shoulder, triggering some newfound trauma.

“Please don’t knee my balls again!”

“Sheesh, I’m not some kind of brute. I need your help with something.”

He brought Park Chul’s ears closer and whispered some words into them. After hearing them, Park Chul stood up straight and nodded.

“You can leave it to me, boss.”

“Don’t go calling me that.”

“What did you tell him?”

Youngsoon came up from behind, having observed the mysterious conversation between the two.

“It’s nothing important. Anyway, are you ready? We’ve got another monster incoming in like twenty minutes.”

He handed over the dagger to her. It was covered in the goblin’s blood, making her reluctant to accept the dagger. Hero noticed this and wiped it on his pants before handing it over to her again. Although disgusted by his lack of tact, she accepted it and went to join the others.

‘Some of them will die… but I’ll try my best to save as many as possible. This world will not end up like the last one did.’

He looked at the darkness in the corridor. He could feel gazes on him which sent shivers down his spine. They weren’t supposed to appear so early on yet. Were his memories foggy?

“Everyone! Get up! The monsters are coming for more!”