"So why exactly were you banging on my door at six a.m.?" the sleepy Luna groaned, side-eyeing the two men beside her. Wearing the same clothes as yesterday, she was riding the city's subway, which was already packed with people. And although it was the world inside the tower, she still spotted normal students and office workers—without wielding a giant sword or possessing polished armor. If someone had told her that she was back in her original world, she would have actually believed it.
"Hey, I didn't want to wake up that early, either! I'm also a victim!" Jay said.
"Don't be so noisy in public." Erik sighed, appearing the most awake out of the three.
"We have a lot to do today, and because we're using the normal route to the hunting fields, it'd be better to start as early as possible." he added.
Luna went only once to the hunting field using Jay's teleportation crystal, which was destroyed by the police yesterday. Therefore, she did not know what the normal route was, or how long it would take to get to their destination.
"A lot to do...?" Luna wondered. She initially thought that the matter between them was resolved and that she could make today a fresh start, so why did they treat her like she was a part of them?
"Yeah. The two of us will teach you about the tower and how to clear quests, until you've become good enough to survive on your own."
"But... Why?"
"The Jay you met yesterday was your guide. Someone who was responsible for teaching you all the things you needed to know for your life here. And because this one right here killed and absorbed that Jay, their memories, personalities, and sense of duty merged. In other words, Jay just wants to take responsibility and complete his duty to guide you." Erik explained, glancing at the yawning Jay.
Luna also took a short look at Jay, who looked nothing like the Jay she encountered yesterday. Still, they were now the same person.
The subway halted as it arrived at its next stop, allowing new people to enter. Among them were teenagers with equipment fitting for an adventure. They could barely hide the excitement on their faces as if they were about to go on their first class trip.
"It takes roughly 30 minutes from the dorm to the hunting fields, so we have enough time to do some preparations." Erik stated, hinting for Luna to sit down on the only free seat in front of them.
"Luna, have you played video games before?" he asked.
"Yes, if I had some free time, then I would play some games, I guess." she answered, unsure why he asked her that out of the blue.
"Good. Then, explaining the basics may be a lot easier now." he muttered.
"Then, say [Status Window] while imagining a screen you're used to in games." he instructed.
"S-[Status Window]...?" she repeated, feeling a little bit embarrassed to say it out loud in public.
However, a bright screen with different kinds of information popped up right in front of Luna's face. She flinched before she could get a grasp on what happened.
[Name: Luna Park
Title: (no title yet)
Level: 0
Current Quest (1/100): Defeat five slimes.
-----
Exclusive Ability: Magic Maniac
Skills: (no skills yet)
-----
Endurance: 40
Strength: 19
Speed: 14
Dexterity: 43
Mana: 20
Intelligence: 56
Luck: 24]
"I guess you could say that it's as essential as your phone back in the outside world. Once you get used to it, you'll find yourself checking it every few minutes." Erik chuckled, shortly staring at his own status window.
"Amazing...!" Luna murmured, completely baffled. While Erik was talking, Luna did not pay any attention. She was too absorbed by her status window.
It was not the information about her that impressed her, but the fact that something like a status window common in video games really existed.
And in this manner—with Jay trying his best to stay awake, Luna staring at her status window, and Erik giving an explanation without anyone listening to him—they arrived at the last station.
"...do you follow me, Luna?"
"Hm? What?"
The gentle expression on Erik's face was replaced with a terrifying one. It was the same face whenever he was about to scold Jay.
"Don't judge her, Erik. You must have been as taken aback as her when you saw your status window for the first time, right?" Jay saved Luna, although he still sounded sleepy.
Erik sighed.
"Whatever... Let's move." he gave in.
With the two following him, they headed to the exit. Besides them, dozens of other people also wanted to enter the hunting fields, so they had to push themselves to the front while not getting separated.
"Your status window, please."
However, before they could actually enter the fields, they were controlled by fully armored people.
"Knights...?" Luna muttered pensively.
"People who live here can choose different paths besides being a Challenger. Becoming a knight and serving this section's king is one of those alternatives. The knights stationed here are responsible for controlling those who want to enter. They check your status and register your name." Jay told her.
That way, they could also notice if someone went missing or died in action, in case someone did not return for a long time.
"There's even a king?!" Luna gasped. Because the city seemed so modern and familiar to her original place, she was even more surprised to hear that there was a king.
"Yes. The king is also a descendant of a Conqueror, but because the family was weak, they weren't acknowledged as a Conqueror Family and decided to settle in the Tutorial Section to govern it as the royal family."
"Seems like you can do almost anything as a Conqueror, huh?" Luna commented.
"I have to agree with that." Jay said, heaving a sigh.
Erik stepped forward to one of the knights.
"[Status Window]."
Luna observed the interaction, but she could not see Erik's status window pop up.
"Is the status window invisible for other people, Jay?"
"Usually yes, but you can allow others to see it if you give permission."
"Then can you show me yours?" she asked with curious and beaming eyes.
"Well..."
"P-please take your time, sir!"
"?"
Hearing the knight suddenly raising his voice, Luna turned to them, only to see the previously bored knight becoming pale and scared—almost as if he saw something so terrifying that it shook his core.
"Thank you." Erik replied. However, before he passed the knight, he closed in on his ear.
"If you were so kind, could you let my friend pass without checking his status window?"
Erik's face remained gentle, but his tone did not match and sounded a lot scarier than usual.
"Y-yes...!" the knight whimpered.
Thus, Jay and Luna passed the knights' control, with only Jay not having to show his status window.
And now, they were in an open grass field with forests varying in size. Other Challengers were already scattered around and also engaged in combat with different kinds of monsters.
"Can you show us your status window, Luna?" Erik asked.
Luna opened her window for Erik and Jay to see. They were giving kind of reactions—sometimes indifferent and sometimes impressed.
"Except for your endurance, your physical stats may be below average, but you have impressive mana stats." Erik analyzed.
"Mana...? Does it mean I can use magic?!" Luna asked, with her face lit up. Based on her gaming knowledge, she could tell that those stats showed the numerical values of the listed traits, like strength and speed. She may not know exactly yet what average stats looked like; however, the mana trait was a more pressing issue for her.
"Y-yeah..." Erik replied, taken aback by Luna's sudden energy burst.
"Mana indicates how much magic you can use." Jay stated, still reading through Luna's status window.
"But 20, huh?"
"Is it so much?"
"The average person coming from outside often only starts at 5 in mana, so 20 is pretty huge."
"But without skills, it doesn't matter." Jay added with a smirk, before signaling the other two to move.
"Skills...?"
"We'll tell you the other things later. You don't need to know yet. What you need right now is first-hand practice!" Jay said, staring at the nearest bushes.
"According to your status window, your first quest is to defeat five slimes, so let's do exactly that." Erik suggested.
"Oh, so I can always see what quest I have to do in my status window?"
"Not always. Sometimes you can, but many other times your quest will be given by the section's Supervisor. You could say that they're the gods of their sections." Jay replied, laid-back.
"G-gods?"
"They may appear occasionally, but due to their aura and strength, they're seen as untouchable." Erik said.
"So even stronger than Conquerors?"
"The average Conqueror couldn't even hold a candle to them, haha!" Erik chuckled, as if Luna asked an obvious question.
"You'll get it once you see this one's Supervisor." Jay commented.
Putting an end to their conversation were two slimes that jumped out of the bushes.
"Well, it's up to you now, Luna."
"You can do it." Jay cheered, enjoying the show from behind.
"W-wait, are you guys not helping me?" Luna wondered nervously.
"Use your dagger to kill them." Erik responded, asking himself what there was to explain.
"Those are just slimes. No need to be so tense." Jay added, smiling widely.
"Ugh... What did I even expect...?"
After taking a deep breath, Luna pulled out her dagger and grasped it tightly with her hands. The slimes were moving slowly toward her, but Luna was vigilant. Screaming vigorously, she rushed at one slime first. Using her entire weight, she stabbed the dagger into that slime deeply, until it exploded and scattered into pieces.
"I-I did it...!" Luna celebrated quietly, ignoring that she got partly covered in slime.
"The fight is not over yet. Stay focused." Erik instructed her.
The moment Luna realized, it was too late. She turned around when she felt something slimy touching her ankle.
"Uwah!"
A slime usually moved slowly on the ground; however, if it touched a living being, it would instantly wrap itself around the being.
"..."
Dumbfounded, Erik and Jay watched Luna getting covered in even more slime. It looked like she was drowning in a small puddle filled with slime.
"I'll go help her." Jay sighed, not able to bear the sorry sight of Luna carelessly swinging her dagger around.
Jay crouched down and moved his hand toward the slime.
"Stay still, Luna."
The slime detected Jay and was about to cling to him as well, but the moment it touched Jay's approaching hand, it halted.
"C-cold!"
The whole slime was frozen in ice and shattered into fine particles shortly, leaving Luna unaffected. On her body were no traces of frostbite, nor was there slime.
"Was that... magic?" she asked, looking up at Jay with widened eyes.
"This is what the skill [Ice Magic] looks like." Erik elaborated, joining the two.
"Teach me that skill, Jay! I want to use magic, too!" Luna begged, pushing herself on Jay.
"Can you only use ice, or do you have any other magic skills? Wha- Ouch!"
Jay flicked his finger on her forehead to calm her down.
"First of all..." he began with a smile that did not reach his judging eyes.
"Congratulations on killing your first slime and getting humiliated by a slime!" Jay said, clapping with his hands.
"..."
Luna returned to her usual demeanor, although she began to blush out of shame.
"We still have a lot of time, so let's search for the next slimes. This time, we will give you some tips for combat." Erik advised.
"Hey. Why aren't you looking at us?" Luna asked, glaring at him.
"I don't know what you're tal- Pfft."
"You're clearly laughing at me!"
"Slimy, less talking, more hunting." Jay said, already walking ahead of them.
"Don't call me that!"
Even though she knew that she had messed up, she could not stand being mocked by those two.
"Don't you two have anything else to do than teaching me the whole day?" she asked, still pouting from their earlier remarks.
"Hmm... I guess so. We have information on another Jay, but we still need more to track them down." Erik answered, casually leaking information to Luna.
"Wait, isn't that huge?! Shouldn't you search for that information then?!"
"Nah, it's fine."
Despite the importance of catching the other Jays, Erik seemed relaxed.
"True... It's only Jay who wants to search for his other selves. You're climbing the tower because there's something you want to obtain, so I can kind of understand it if you're prioritizing yourself." Luna concluded, slapping herself mentally for naively thinking that he would also be eagerly searching for Jay's parts. After all, every Challenger had the tower ascension as their priority.
"Hm? What are you talking about? Finding his parts is my priority, though?" Erik replied, clueless about what Luna just said.
Luna was surprised. From her perspective, those two had only known each other for just a while, but here was Erik, stating that helping Jay was his priority instead of his own wish.
"E-Erik..."
"Yes?"
"If it's possible... Can you tell me why you're climbing the tower...?" she asked nervously. It was not a question she should be scared of asking, but she felt that the situation was somewhat strange.
Erik looked at Jay, who was still walking ahead of them. He glanced at Luna and put his index finger on his smile.
"It's a secret."