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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Unexpected Number One
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The Tower of Babel's progress score could be checked even in the outside world.
Every day at midnight, with a one-day delay, the progress of each floor was broadcast to every country.
There were two broadcast lists that people were most interested in.
-The Tower's Vanguard Competition.
-The Tutorial Score.
Among them, the tutorial score received the most heated attention at the beginning of each month.
"Everyone, the day you've been waiting for has arrived."
A self-proclaimed tutorial analyst.
Known to his viewers as the 'Newbie Gambler', the streamer BJ Raccoon rubbed his hands together as the broadcast began.
-Hey, Raccoon.
-Skip the greetings and get to the analysis of this batch.
-Bro, who should I bet on this time?
As soon as he started the stream, the number of viewers rapidly increased.
BJ Raccoon's main content was tutorial analysis.
When the tutorial stage began, famous guilds would release the stats and equipment of the prospects they had sent in as a form of promotion.
The tutorial analysis content involved comparing the specs of these revealed prospects and predicting who would rank highest.
"You all know this batch is going to be a bit of a bloodbath, right?"
-Why? Did the Hwarang Guild send someone in?
-Didn't you see the news? Hwarang and Phoenix overlapped.
-They're not one of the top three guilds, but there's also a prospect from the famous Shadow Guild.
-Yeah, right. Shadow Guild shill.
-Hey, it's not an ad.
-Yeah, whatever. Never heard of that no-name guild.
BJ Raccoon brought up the data released by the guilds.
"Wow, so Hwarang and Phoenix are clashing this time."
-Bro, we already said that.
-Racc-bye.
-If you keep stalling, I'm turning off the stream.
"Ahem, Hwarang's prospect is Player Park Jongwon, and his unique ability is Master of Armaments."
-Master of Armaments?
-Ah, it's a unique ability that enhances the power of equipment.
-I'm a newb, so I don't know. Is that good?
-Waaah. I'm just a baby bettor.
The chat was split between those surprised by Park Jongwon's ability and those expressing doubt.
BJ Raccoon smiled with satisfaction.
"According to the Association's classification, it's S-rank. It's a unique ability that enhances the stats of equipped gear."
-Item stat amplification? Seems kind of underwhelming.
-This is why newbs are hopeless. Jude Law, the world's 105th ranked player, has that ability.
-Welcome, old-timer.
Before the viewers could get too heated again, BJ Raccoon displayed the next set of data.
"The Phoenix Guild's prospect is Oh Jiwon, and this guy has 'Iron Man'. Wow, they're all stacked."
-Iron Man gives a 20% stat bonus, right?
-That's insane.
-Another S-rank after Master of Armaments.
-Is today's content supposed to be national pride instead of betting?
-Hell yeah!
-Raccoon, in your opinion, who has the advantage?
"It's Park Jongwon from the Hwarang Guild."
BJ Raccoon answered without hesitation.
[Iron Man] was a late-bloomer type of unique ability.
Receiving extra stats with every level up provided greater benefits at higher levels!
The Iron Man ability had additional effects, but the opponent was just too unfavorable.
'Hwarang went all out supporting him.'
A unique item, the Sound Blade.
In addition to that, they provided him with at least [Rare] grade gear.
All to maximize the effect of Park Jongwon's unique ability, 'Master of Armaments'!
"Ah, this is no fun. If I have to pick one of the two, it's obviously Park Jongwon."
*Ring- ring-.*
Just then, the alarm he had set for 11:59 PM went off.
"One minute left."
BJ Raccoon and his viewers all waited for it to turn 12 o'clock.
[12:00 AM]
The moment it became midnight.
The progress status of each floor of the Tower was released online.
BJ Raccoon rubbed his hands and checked the results.
[Tower of Babel Tutorial - Korean Channel]
[1st Place - Yoo Jinho]
....
"See, I was right? It's Park Jong… huh?"
A flustered BJ Raccoon.
Before his eyes, a result completely different from his prediction unfolded.
-Yoo Jinho?
-Who's that newbie?
-Doesn't seem to be from a guild. I looked him up, but there's nothing.
-A newbie without a guild got first place? For real?
-All the bettors are crying in unison.
The heat in the chat exploded to a level incomparable to before.
At the same time.
It wasn't just BJ Raccoon's stream; people from all walks of life were shocked by the first day's tutorial results.
The first to act were the guild officials.
"He took first place without the support of a major guild?"
"Look at the score. It's insane. This is a record-breaking performance!"
"We have to find out who this Yoo Jinho is."
"A Player who beat the prospects from Hwarang and Phoenix. Our guild must recruit him."
The guild officials had compiled more objective metrics than BJ Raccoon's analysis.
Park Jongwon - 67%
Oh Jiwon - 32%
Others - 1%
The probability of taking first place on the first day of the tutorial.
The probabilities calculated by the Association and various guilds were more or less the same.
The 1% was a figure that existed only in theory.
But that small probability had hit the jackpot.
Various domestic guilds began to track Jinho's movements.
"Secure the CCTV footage first."
"Find out his age, school, and who he's close to."
"Start by digging through all his social media!"
The media, having caught wind of the unexpected news, was just as busy.
The three syllables, Yoo Jinho, set the night in South Korea ablaze.
* * *
A dense forest.
Densely packed coniferous trees greeted me.
[Your current location is the Forest.]
[Forest - Vision reduced by 10%]
The moment I set foot in the wooded area, a black border enveloped the edges of my vision.
A penalty like this is fine.
I walked leisurely through the forest with my hands behind my back.
The shadows of the conifers stretched across the ground.
Even though the sun was high in the sky, the dense leaves blocked the sunlight, making it dim.
'It's fine. There are no dangerous enemies in the forest.'
I wonder how long I walked.
A rustling sound tickled my ears.
A very faint sound.
If I hadn't obtained the [Ultrasound] ability from the Big Bat, I wouldn't have been able to catch it.
I changed direction toward the source of the noise and quickened my pace.
After walking for about a minute, long antlers came into the corner of my vision.
A Mana Deer. A monster that appears in the forest.
It seemed to have noticed my presence as well, staring at me with its bright, clear eyes.
At that moment, the Mana Deer lowered its head at a 90-degree angle.
A bluish energy gathered between its branching antlers.
[Energy Bolt]
*Swoosh!* A blue sphere flew straight at me.
"What a fierce greeting."
I charged forward with [Thorn Carapace] covering my forearms.
A straight path.
If I kept running like this, I'd be throwing my body right into the Energy Bolt.
Thanks to the considerable distance between us, I could easily dodge it if I wanted to.
But I chose to face it head-on.
'A Mana Deer always flees after attacking.'
A trait that makes it avoid combat.
Attacking with an Energy Bolt from a distance and then fleeing with all its might is the Mana Deer's pattern.
They're fast, too, so catching a fleeing Mana Deer is quite tricky.
[Thorn Carapace durability has decreased by 4%.]
The impact on my arm wasn't significant.
[Energy Bolt] is a 1-star skill commonly learned by magic-type Players.
In other words, it's not very strong.
"Chime?"
When its first attack failed, the Mana Deer turned without hesitation.
I knew it would do that.
[Using Agile Hind Legs.]
Using Agile Hind Legs consecutively.
I closed the 100-meter distance in an instant.
The Mana Deer's eyes widened.
It belatedly tried to kick the ground to create distance, but.
"The game's already over."
I swung my claws, enhanced with [Sharp Claws].
*Swish!* A blue trajectory cut through the air, and contrasting red droplets of blood splattered in all directions.
The Mana Deer collapsed to the ground.
This creature was focused on speed, so its durability was low.
As long as I could get close, taking it down wasn't difficult.
'It's just that getting close is the hard part.'
Mana Deer are prey that Players tend to avoid.
An absurdly high hunting difficulty.
They would dodge magic from a distance, and if you got close, they would flee with all their might to maintain distance from the Player.
If I hadn't used [Agile Hind Legs] repeatedly, I would have had to sweat quite a bit to hunt it.
[Using Predation.]
[You have predated the essence of the Mana Deer.]
Since I hadn't taken any damage, I immediately moved on to find the next prey.
"Chime."
"Chime."
The moment the Mana Deer recognized my presence, they all used Energy Bolt without fail.
If they had run away in the time it took to cast Energy Bolt, their chances of survival would have been a little higher.
But of course, they wouldn't know that.
I ignored the [Energy Bolts] flying straight at me and hunted the Mana Deer one by one.
[You predate the essence of the Mana Deer.]
[Essence Predated: 100%]
[Essence Grade: Normal]
[You have completely absorbed the essence of one species.]
[Skill - Energy Bolt has been added.]
[Energy Bolt]
Grade: ★
Classification: Active
Condenses mana and releases it in the form of an arrow.
Consumes a small amount of mana upon use.
*Can be charged with mana
A 1-star skill, as expected.
I didn't have high expectations from the start.
'Still, at least I have a ranged option now, right?'
The first magic skill I've learned since regressing.
As I absorbed the essence, the method of rearranging mana was imprinted in my mind.
I used [Energy Bolt] as a test.
The mana in my body condensed through a simple rearrangement process.
It took about 1 second for the [Energy Bolt] to form.
With a flick of my hand, the blue sphere flew toward a conifer.
*Boom-* With a small explosion, the point of impact was gouged out.
It was more powerful than a Mana Deer's.
Thanks to my high magic stat, the Energy Bolt's attack power was also boosted.
"It's not strong enough to be my main skill."
My strength stat, including items, is over 80.
If I protect my hand with [Thorn Carapace] and strike, I can even break a tree.
Should I be satisfied with just having a ranged attack?
'Wait, it had a charging function, didn't it?'
I used Energy Bolt once more.
As the completed sphere shimmered around my palm, I infused more mana into it instead of releasing it.
The Energy Bolt grew little by little.
After about 4.2 seconds, the sphere's size had grown to about three times its original size.
[Energy Bolt is in an overcharged state.]
[You can no longer infuse mana into this skill.]
Just like before, I released the Energy Bolt toward the conifer.
*KABOOM!*
This time, even the sound of the explosion was different.
The point of impact was shattered to pieces.
The conifer tilted to the right with a *crack*.
"This is pretty useful, huh?"
I muttered while looking at the broken conifer.
This much power is enough to send a chill down the spine of a distant enemy.
It would be harder to hit from farther away, but the mere existence of [Energy Bolt] allows for psychological warfare.
The essence of the Mana Deer, which I couldn't obtain before my regression.
It's more useful than I thought.
'Then the Rage Ape… ah, it's already been hunted.'
That guy, Park Jongwon, beat me to it.
To think he'd defeat a boss monster on the first day of the tutorial.
His skills weren't bad.
Hmm, I don't mind coming back in a week, but it felt like a waste to leave the forest just like this.
Wait, now that I think about it, 'that guy' was deeper in the forest.
The boss monster with a difficulty ranked among the top five on Rainbow Island, the Blood Mountain Lord.
'If I hunt it, I can obtain a martial arts manual.'
I clenched and unclenched my right hand.
I had originally planned to challenge it in the second week.
However, my stats have already far surpassed the level I had initially anticipated.
In that case, it wouldn't be a bad idea to challenge it now, so I can learn the martial arts even a moment sooner, right?
'Let's test my limits.'
*Squeeze.*
I clenched my right fist tightly and turned my gaze deeper into the forest.