Leveling with the Gods

Chapter 4

“Guwooooooh—!”

“Gyaaah—!”

The cries of the zombies echoed below.

It was quite pleasant, watching the zombies cry in agony. Normally, they wouldn’t let out a peep, no matter how much you stabbed them or severed their limbs.

[You leveled up.]

[You leveled up.]

[You leveled…]

A stream of notifications.

YuWon mumbled to himself, pouring out the next sack of salt, “Is this the last one?”

At the 20 minute mark, when the number of zombies had peaked, YuWon brought the salt he had prepared to top of the building.

Jumping between the rooftops of the buildings, he dumped salt over the hoard of zombies.

Swoosh—

The final sack of salt was unleashed.

The salt crystals dispersed far away, falling on the zombies like rain drops. Once again, the zombies’ heads and bodies started disintegrating.

Countless level-up notifications popped up. A pleasant smile dawned on YuWon’s face.

“This feels great.”

YuWon wondered how many zombies he massacred. He knew it had to be at least in the thousands.

YuWon’s question was soon answered.

[FINALIZING THE 1ST TUTORIAL.]

[SURVIVORS : 4077]

[Rewards for defeating enemies are being distributed.]

[Defeated Enemies : 1427]

[You have obtained 500 points.]

[You have achieved an unbelievable feat.]

[You have obtained 1000 points.]

[Distributing 1427 points.]

[You have obtained additional random stat points.]

[Strength increased by 1.]

[Constitution increased by 2.]

[You have obtained 1 unallocated stat point.]

[The 2nd Tutorial will start in 10 minutes.]

‘A lot of people died, huh.’

After seeing the number of survivors, YuWon let out a sigh. Since the Hongdae sector’s starting population was approximately 12,000, it meant 8,000 people died in this sector alone.

‘I guess 4,000 survivors isn’t too bad.’

Before, in the 1st Tutorial, more than 80% of the people hadn’t made it. Especially in sectors like Hongdae, where there were a large number of zombies, it wasn’t out of place for there to be no survivors.

Taking that into account, 4,000 was a lot of survivors.

‘… And I sure killed a lot.’

1,427. That was the number of zombies YuWon killed.

If he had just mindlessly cut down zombies with a knife, it would have been impossible to slaughter that many in 30 minutes.

‘100 for taking the first kill, 500 for highest kill count, 1,000 for the unbelievable feat, and 1,427—one point for each zombie.’

In total, it was over 3,000 points. That was an amount that should have been impossible to obtain in the 1st Tutorial.

Most Tutorial participants only managed to kill one or two zombies, ten at most. So most of them started with 1-10 points.

‘I think I started with seven points before.’

Since he had done sports and because he had the guts, he remembered having hunted a few zombies.

Compared to back then, this was an unbelievable starting point.

[Name : Kim YuWon]

[Level : 16]

[Strength : 23]

[Dexterity : 20]

[Constitution : 24]

[Perception : 21]

[Total Points : 3027]

[Unallocated Stat Points : 4]

Level 16.

The total value of his stats was 88. And if you counted the unallocated stat points, his stats totaled 92.

‘This is a ridiculous amount to earn in the 1st Tutorial.’

Zombies don’t give a lot of experience. No matter how many you killed, Level 3 or 4 should have been the limit in the 1st Tutorial.

‘The next Tutorial was…’

As YuWon stood back up…

“— Hello, everyone!”

A cheerful voice in stark contrast to the situation could be heard. The voice caused the commotion below to die down, freezing people in their steps, including YuWon.

“Who—who was that?”

“What, did you hear that as well?”

“I heard it too.”

“Where is it coming from?”

The voice wasn’t loud, but everyone could hear it clearly.

It was different from the system’s message. Unlike the robotic, toneless message, this voice felt like it belonged to an actual person.

YuWon raised his head, realizing who’s voice this was.

‘A Lackey.’

The voice belonged to the Administrator’s Lackey in charge of the Tutorial.

Unlike real Administrators that were in charge of an entire floor, they were merely gophers for the Administrator, overseeing one of the tens of thousands of sectors. However, they still had to be regarded as powerful supernatural beings for now.

‘I don’t remember them appearing in the 2nd Tutorial.’

The reason why they weren’t actually showing themselves is probably because of that person. Before, Lackeys would have started appearing only during the start of the 3rd Tutorial.

“— Congratulations on your survival! There are a lot of survivors here, aren’t there? I’m honestly shocked at how many survived.”

The 1st Tutorial had two objectives. The first was to get rid of those unqualified to move onto the next Tutorial. The second was to test those qualified to move on.

However, more people survived in Hongdae than the Administrator intended. The reason was simple.

‘It’s because of me.’

YuWon killed a zombie before everyone else, inspiring a mob mentality.

There are different ways to overcome fear. One of them is watching someone else overcome it, and seeing YuWon fight gave the courage for others to also fight.

There was also YuWon’s massacre of the zombies with salt.

‘At least in the places where I spread the salt, there should be a lot of survivors.’

Was that why, perhaps? The Lackey’s voice was filled with excitement, as if they had just found a new source of entertainment.

“— I have an announcement for the survivors. Normally, I would make this announcement after the 2nd Tutorial, but… this will be an exception because someone met the requirements too quickly.”

The word “announcement” brought hope to the people.

“An announcement?”

“What is it?”

“Can—can we go home now?”

Of course, everyone desired the same thing.

To return home.

Unless you were a psychopath with a few screws loose, no one would ever want to run from zombies, fight against them, or watch people die in front of them.

“— There is only one announcement. It is how to use your points! Now, everybody clap!”

They clapped obediently, feigning excitement, but you could tell their hearts weren’t in it. It wasn’t a way to return home. Their disappointment was immeasurable.

Still, some people were paying very close attention to what the Lackey had to say. These were your typical survivors, the people who were fast to adapt.

“— There are two main methods to use your points. The first is by utilizing the Shop. Now this is a really amazing thing! There are items beyond your imagination available!”

The Shop.

The name sounds very underwhelming, but the Shop that the Lackey mentioned had a very important role in this world.

‘They say that you can even become a god as long as you have enough points for a reason.’

Levels and points.

From here on out, it would be a battle for those two.

“— The second way is to use it as currency. You all like money, don’t you? You can give or receive points by shaking hands with someone.”

You could spend your points at the Shop. Additionally, you could surrender your points to someone in exchange for their cooperation or some other compensation.

So, as stated by the Lackey, points were this world’s currency, as well as its power and authority.

“— Time’s up! Wasn’t that a sweet break? That’s it for the announcement. Now…”

[THE 2ND TUTORIAL WILL NOW BEGIN.]

“— It’s time for you to struggle again.”

Those were the last words from the Lackey.

It was now the start of the 2nd Tutorial.

* * *

[In the center of the sector, a safe zone has been created.]

[Please enter the safe zone.]

[Once every 3 hours, 100 points will be distributed.]

“Safe zone?”

“Is that it?”

People gathered in the oval that had appeared on the ground. The safe zone was a long oval divided into multiple colors. The center was purple, and the outer ends were red.

“Hey, let’s go.”

“Fucking hell… What in the fuck is going on?”

“Where’s ChangHo?”

“Hell if I know. He probably died.”

MyungHoon and his friends started heading to the safe zone while chatting.

Luckily, the safe zone was pretty close. They happened to have been near the center of the sector.

Kim MyungHoon looked around in confusion.

“What’s up? What are you looking for?”

“It’s, uh, nothing.”

“Now that I think about it, I don’t see that bastard, YuWon.”

People started gathering in the safe zone.

It wasn’t the strangest thing, not being able to find him in a crowd of thousands.

“He wouldn’t have died…”

“No way. That guy definitely survived.”

“You’re right. He was fighting like an absolute beast.”

“Maybe that’s his calling?”

YuWon’s skill was definitely the real deal.

That’s why Kim MyungHoon and his buddies searched for YuWon. They thought that they would be safe if they followed him.

“Huh?”

That’s when MyungHoon saw YuWon in the distance, cutting through the crowd. After a short hesitation, MyungHoon waved his hands.

“Hey, hey! Kim YuWon!”

Having heard his name, YuWon stopped in his tracks, turning his head towards him.

“Kim MyungHoon?”

“Where are you going? That’s the wrong way. Didn’t you hear that we’re supposed to stay in the safe zone?”

MyungHoon spoke in a friendly tone, unlike before. Things were different now. He knew that nothing good could come from being at odds with YuWon.

‘I don’t want to admit it, but being next to this bastard is the safest option.’

Fortunately for him, Yuwon didn’t seem like he was in a bad mood.

‘Even a guy like that should know that nothing good can come from being mad at me right now,’ MyungHoon thought.

YuWon should also be in need of a team. Two was better than one, and three would have a better chance of survival than two.

‘If I just reach out to him like this…’

“I know.”

“Huh?”

“I have somewhere I have to go,” YuWon said, tapping MyungHoon’s shoulder.

“If you want to survive, don’t try to latch onto someone. Be a good boy and wait over there. Know your place.”

“What? You fucking…”

YuWon walked away, not concerned with what MyungHoon had to say. He was headed in the complete opposite direction of the safe zone.

MyungHoon was conflicted. Should he really let YuWon go?

‘I have a feeling it’ll be safest sticking with him…’

After watching YuWon walk further away from him, MyungHoon made up his mind, heading into the safe zone.

‘I mean, there’s no way it’ll be safer than the safe zone, right?’

And just like that, Kim MyungHoon returned to the safe zone.

At that moment…

Bonk—

“Ugh!”

The man that was walking behind MyungHoon hit his head on something, knocking him back a few steps.

“Wha—what is this?”

“It’s blocked off!”

“I thought you wanted us to go in there?”

Bang, bang bang—!

The people who weren’t able to make it into the safe zone banged on the invisible wall.

And right at that moment, words popped up on the invisible wall of the safe zone.

[CAPACITY : 2038 / 2038]

2,038.

It was exactly half the number of survivors from the 1st Tutorial.

MyungHoon, one of the last people to make it into the safe zone, became lost in thought, looking out through the invisible wall.

The safe zone was created at the start of the 2nd Tutorial, and that safe zone had a maximum capacity.

That would mean—

“O-Over there!”

“It’s a monster!”

—Clearly, it meant that it was dangerous outside of the safe zone.

“Ahhhhh!”

“Wha—what is this… aaaaaagh!”

Munch—!

Only

Crunch, crunch—

Kim MyungHoon shook in fear, staring at the absolute chaos that unfolded outside the safe zone.

Squirm—

Crunch, snap—

Countless bugs with gargantuan mouths shot their heads out of the ground and feasted on the people.