It was a dramatic difficulty spike. If it was a game, there would surely be thousands of people complaining online about the unfairness of it all and the impossibility.
But Jinhee didn't mind. While she saw the messages sent by the Guide, it was perfectly fine by her.
After all...
[Seol Jinhee]
Coins: 1,523,000
Abilities:
> Character Design (Lv. 1)
> Energy Manipulation (Temporary)
> Hell Flames Ignition (Unranked)
> Draconic Might (Lowest)
> Draconic Mana (Lowest)
> Draconic Regeneration (Lowest)
[Item Box]
> Ancient Dragon's Divinity (Twisted Kindness): 1% assimilated
> Retractable Blade of Pure Faith (Equipped)
> Necessary Box x2
> Golden Bag of Holding
> Mark of Survival
> Orichalcum Mana Core (Equipped)
...Why be worried when she was stronger than Kang Jinhyuk from The Sole Max-Level Newbie?
A Demonic- No, it was definitely just a zombie now with that disgusting wriggling worm sticking out of its face.
Something to note for whenever she wanted to start writing that zombie apocalypse story... Maybe a cross between a Murim world and zombie apocalypse? Food for thought.
But anyway.
[<Mirror's Edge Swordsmanship> is temporarily borrowed from Oppa Jihu.]
A pure white blade and a transparent slash that seemed to split and reflect space itself.
The parasitized zombie instantly fell apart, landing on the ground in halves. But it wasn't dead, quickly crawling towards Jinhee.
She wrinkled her nose and held out her hand, amplifying the sunlight and sending a blast of pure heat.
The zombie screamed for a split second before it was reduced into ash.
[You have gained 10 coins.]
[Your sponsor 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire' cheers for you.]
[Your sponsor 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire' is happy you took so well to <Hell Flames Ignition>]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' pouts and says that your draconic nature would have been perfect for his stigma.]
[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' has reached an epiphany. He says he will sit back and just watch.]
Jinhee sighed and retracted her lightsab- her 'Blade of Pure Faith' and spun the hilt around on her right hand while taking a look around.
Constellation messages aside... this was a mess.
The sky had turned pitch black, revealing the starry expanse above. Shimmering and unrecognizable creatures were starting to float down and appear all over Seoul. And probably the world judging from how far in the horizon the sky seemed to be blurred.
Monsters of all sorts were spawning in. Literally and figuratively in some cases with the appearance of disgusting giant egg nests.
There were people running around in a panic or hiding in subway stations.
There were a few ambitious people who were moving around in groups and trying to hunt monsters.
Emphasis on 'try.'
Jinhee hadn't met a single person other than herself for the past hour who managed to stay alive more than five minutes against a monster.
Mostly because killing one tended to have others mob you for revenge.
"SKREEEEEE!"
Like now.
The surroundings immediately darkened (and how was everything still bright anyway with the sky black?) before the air was filled with the sound of chittering and buzzing wings.
A horde of black chitin locust things raced towards Jinhee.
[Your sponsor 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire' bites her fingernails in anticipation.]
[Other constellations are curious how you will survive.]
"Hmph." Jinhee casually expanded her sword again and said, "After everything you've seen, you think this will be enough?"
One step. A single swing.
[<Mirror's Edge Swordsmanship> temporarily evolves into <Resonant Harmony>.]
[All attacks are now area of effect.]
???
Oi! Oppa! What kind of cheat character are you?!?!
xxx
I sneezed and glanced at the messages that popped up in front of me.
[Your sister has requested to use a few of your innate abilities.]
[You have granted carte blanche to her usage.]
[Your swordsmanship skills will be temporarily sealed as she borrows them.]
"Glad that someone is having fun."
I swiped the messages away and flicked my wrist, summoning Gae Bolg while looking out at the endless sky.
[Many constellations are shocked at the appearance of Outer Gods.]
[A number of constellations have left the channel.]
[A number of constellations protest at the unfair result and deaths of their incarnations.]
[A number of constellations demand compensation.]
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' feels his blood boil upon seeing the Outer Gods.]
[<Secretive Plotter>: It was an interesting time. I didn't expect it was possible to become a god unto one self to surpass the Final Wall. Thank you for the lesson.]
[You have been given qualified to receive a story.]
[<A God unto Oneself> has been obtained upon recognition by the Outer God <Redacted>]
[Due to incompatibility with the systems, <A God unto Oneself> has become an alias.]
[<A Reader's Wish> has integrated the abilities from <A God unto Oneself>]
[You may now see the true form of Outer Gods.]
Another flurry of messages. I glanced at them before brushing them aside. And the moment I did that, the blurry sky sharpened, revealing the true forms of the beings descending on the Tutorial.
The closest was an octopus looking thing with dragon wings and claws. Its skin... scales? Shimmered between green, black, and rainbow.
In the distance, more humanoid figures emerged, wreathed in oily tendrils.
A cold-looking petite angel with black armor and long, wavy platinum hair.
A heroic looking man with a large, bear-like body. Although his face should have been friendly and likeable, time seemed to have turned him to steel, sharp and ready.
A harsh woman with black hair tied in a ponytail, a sword sheathed at her left side, and a horde of demonic looking monsters floating behind her, including a towering stone dragon.
And then a man with white hair, a black eye patch, and black flames wreathing his entire body.
...
Hey Gula. When you said unexpected variables, you didn't say anything about A HORDE OF ARMY COMMANDER LEVEL ENEMIES!
[ADMIN GULA: This is your fault to begin with. Who told you to break causality and kill an actual Army Commander in the first place with skills that go beyond Paradise's scope?]
How was I supposed to know?!
And wait. We can talk about that now?
[ADMIN GULA: Since you've realized your true nature, causality is non-existent for you as you have 'just cause' for whatever action you desire. However, the consequences are inevitable. Like this.]
TELL ME THAT BEFORE THINGS GO CRAZY!
[Master of R'lyeh gazes upon you.]
[<A Reader's Wish> contains the uncontainable.]
[Master of R'lyeh is reduced to operating on physical limitations.]
[Master of R'lyeh is surprised.]
<You. Are you also a Great Old One?>
"...Fuck it." I activated Gae Bolg and said, "Foreigners take neutral damage from Knight Classes anyway, so this should be doable-"
Wait.
...How do I know that again?
"...Argh, whatever! Gae-"
The crimson spear in my left hand trembled. At the same time, the already dark sky turned pitch black as the inevitable demise of all the targets emerged.
"BOLG!"
[The Grand Architect chuckles.]
[The Good Win says that swinging for the other team won't stop the consorts you already have.]
[The Foxy Wife suddenly ponders if it's a case of overcompensation...]
!@#@#!@#!@$
xxx
"Ugh." Jinhee flicked off some bug chunks that landed on her shirt and said, "Why can't you have a cleaning skill or something, Oppa?"
A few hours had passed.
The sky was filled with fireworks as a crazy bastard... Probably Oppa, fought off the Outer Gods trying to descend on the Scenario.
The fact that he could made Jinhee wonder why she had been so worried about him being hurt in the first place. Especially since he was CLEARLY holding some crazy skills close to his chest that she couldn't borrow.
...Was that why he had two entries in her Character Design list?
Probably.
Ooh, maybe it was because one was him as a human and the other was him as a god? Food for thought.
But right now...
Jinhee casually flicked her sword. At the same time, she amplified the friction it created from cutting through the air into a chained explosion of white flames from the skill Uriel gave her.
"SKR-"
A towering cockroach... thing fell over and turned into gray ash.
Jinhee wrinkled her nose and muttered, "Should have been doing that from the start."
[Your sponsor, 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire' agrees. Flames are useful to clean up things.]
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' nods and says that those words are fitting for a pyromaniac.]
[Your sponsor, 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire' says that it's a misunderstanding. She is a pure and just individual, she swears.]
'...Considering I'm the one who wrote you, I doubt it, Uriel...'
But anyway.
Jinhee had wandered through a good chunk of Seoul looking for other people, be it the characters from the story, or other people from the Tutorial.
It was getting annoying though.
Seoul was hard to cover on foot, and it didn't help that the random encounter rate was through the roof.
If only she had a way to talk to either Yuri or Seunghae and track them-
Wait.
Jinhee snapped her fingers to create a ring of white flames to prevent annoying enemies from bothering her and then pulled out her golden bag of holding from her item box.
...She had a question on why that was possible and didn't just implode into a mess of spacetime, but better to not think about things you don't want to happen.
Anyway, she pulled out her bag and reached inside (after making sure it was safe) to pull out her cellphone.
You know, the one handed out at the start of the Tutorial.
And when she clicked through the apps...
"Ugh. You have GOT to be kidding me."
Yuri, Seonhwa, Seunghae, and Oppa were saved contacts. Not only that, there was a navigation app that not only showed her location, but also the locations of everyone else.
Seeing that, Jinhee shook her head and started walking, muttering, "Note to self. Common sense is the best way to go, even in a fantasy apocalypse setting..."
xxx
A/N: Yes. In case you haven't noticed, this whole arc is indeed because I noticed the names of certain characters were similar/overlapped, aha.
