Chapter 8: 8 – Return Kindness with Kindness, Malice with Malice

More of the dead stood in my way, but I made quick work of them as I ran back to the gacha machine.

This time, I didn't bother trying to hide my abilities and used my mana to shove the coins in. I ran through half my coins to grab at least one of all the medical supplies in the machine and then I ran back.

Thankfully, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

The safe room wasn't far from the stairs, and even then, it would work out.

That was what I thought. After all, they were all capable people.

But when I arrived-

"You motherfuckers!"

"Language now. You aren't going to convince me to enter like that- Oh. Well if it isn't Mister Mighty-Gold Stamp himself."

Kang Seok and his goons were sitting inside the classroom. Meanwhile, Hyun Sangmin and the others were standing outside of it, slamming on thin air.

"You fucking- Argh!" He turned to me and said, "Those bastards blocked the safe room!"

Kang Seok raised his hands. "Well, it's for my own protection, you see? I'm glad I did too. Seems like your trip was eventful... and you were a bit violent too."

At that time, a guttural roar echoed in the distance. Not only that, but the floors started to tremble.

Shin Sang-Ah flinched. "Th-That... The monster's coming!?"

Kang Seok laughed. "Well now. How unfortunate." He glanced at Yun Seora's collapsed body on the floor and said, "If only she cooperated..."

"Boss!" Hyun Sangmin looked at me. "What do we do?"

I stared at Kang Seok and his goons. As I did, yellow light flickered. Seeing that...

"I see."

Fury. My heart felt like it was trembling.

Unable to save Yi Seol-Ah.

Failing to remember that Yun Seora would be attacked.

I stepped forward and swung my fist at the air. It bounced off, glancing off an invisible wall.

Kang Seok laughed. "You're wasting your time. You see, I got this as a starting bonus. No one can enter without my permission." He held up his hands, revealing a torn piece of paper. "You haven't forgotten that my Mark was silver, right, Mister Gold?"

"A 'barrier', was it? And you must be the one who opened the door to the sixth floor, aren't you?"

He held up his hands. "Guilty as charged. But what of it?" His face twisted into a sadistic smile and said, "Too bad for you though. Unlike this time, you aren't on this side of the barrier to force me to do anything."

"Is that so?"

"That's right! Now if you're planning to-"

I drew my blade and slashed at the barrier. Light bloomed and sparks flew.

Kang Seok flinched. But seeing the barrier unscathed, he laughed. "See? I don't know what kind of magic weapon you got with your coins, but-"

"You talk too much."

I swung my sword again. But this time, instead of mana, I drew out a thin line of divine power.

"It's-"

The sound of shattering glass echoed through the room.

"...Useless?" Kang Seok's eyes grew wide and he stepped back in fear, stumbling off the chair he was on.

"U-Uh? Boss?" One of the thugs turned towards him.

I stepped forward, calm slowly filling my mind. At the same time, the anger in my heart chilled, becoming rage.

"H-Hey! Stay back!" Kang Seok pulled out a knife. "I'm warning you!"

My eyes flicked to the side. Yellow, flashing from each of them. Attention required.

I thought it was just harm to me that the colors meant. But instead... Attention required meant something that could impact others. That they were slippery characters.

I should have realized it.

Mana surged.

"W-What?!" An ominous pressure filled the room. Bloodlust.

It took me a second to realize it was me.

Kang Seok staggered back, collapsing on the ground.

I raised the sword in my right hand. "Do you know-"

"Now!"

"Mister Seol!"

Sungjin's voice called out.

Spell balls flew through the air towards me. The ones from the goons.

Light exploded. Magical energy blossomed, turning into acid and poison.

Kang Seok's face turned into a sinister grin... That quickly froze.

"No... way."

I held up my left hand hand, light blossoming in it, gathering all of the mana used for the spell balls inside.

I stepped forward and continued talking. "There is a saying. Every dragon has a reverse scale... Or in other words, every man has a bottom line that shouldn't be crossed." I crushed the mana and then stepped forward again.

"D-Do it again! You two-!"

I kicked off the ground.

Was it because of the divine blessings? Or the mana? Either way, I blurred forward at an impossible speed and then grabbed Kang Seok's neck.

He gasped and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could-

"Dead men tell no tales. Right?"

I crushed his neck. Warm blood oozed in my hands, as well as hard bone fragments.

I tossed his body away and looked to the others.

Everyone instinctively stepped back. But the two men that were with Kang Seok were in fear.

I looked to the one that mimed stabbing Yun Seora. "It was you, right? The one who hurt a defenseless person- No, who attacked her from behind and ripped her arm apart."

"N-No! It wa-"

I stepped forward and then grabbed his arm. At the same time, I strengthened the ligaments in my finger and then squeezed.

Flesh tore and my fingers went without resistance until I reached the bone. When I did, I pulled it down, stripping the flesh and fat off his arm.

Screams echoed and he tried to step back.

But he couldn't.

My other arm lashed out and ripped out the man's heart.

I tossed the corpse aside and looked to the last. The fat guy.

"M-Monster! MONS-!"

His words cut off. Of course. That was inevitable after having bone piercing his throat.

Silence.

I stared at the three corpses and sighed before grabbing them and dragging them over to the door.

Shin Sang-Ah noticed first and flinched, stepping back. "A-Ah. Mister Seol, th-that was a bit-"

Hyun Sangmin walked over and helped me drag one out. "Necessary. It was necessary." He looked to Shin Sang-Ah and said, "Or did you forget what Miss Seora looked like earlier?"

"That's... true..." Shin Sang-Ah muttered.

Yi Sungjin helped lift Yun Seora up and said, "Well I think Hyung did the right thing. Those bad guys would have just hurt more people later."

Shin Sang-Ah sighed and then went over to help Yun Seora in.

"Ah." I tossed my bag onto the floor and said, "I got at least one of everything. Treat Miss Seora well, would you?"

"I will."

xxx

Hyun Sangmin and I shoved the corpses into the middle of the hallway.

When we did, he looked at me and said, "That was pretty vicious of you, Boss."

"Vicious, huh? I guess so. But people like those..." I remembered the future that Jinhee almost went through and then shook my head. "They don't get second chances."

"...Good thing I'm on your side, Boss. I don't think I'd like to be your enemy."

I nodded. "I agree. I'd hate to be my enemy too."

Hyun Sangmin gave me a wry smile but then said, "But now what? That monster should be coming up, ri-"

Tremors coming from the distance. Not only that, but sickening thumps and ominous footsteps.

Hyun Sangmin froze, staring down the hallway.

"...Get back inside." I drew my blade.

"Boss?"

"This guy's the only dangerous part left. After this... Well, I have to fix a mistake I made earlier too."

The monster rounded the corner, its sinister maw and glowing eyeball flickering with malice. But it froze when it saw me.

I narrowed my eyes. "You won't escape this time."

Did it sense mortal peril? The monster flinched and started to retreat.

"What the-?"

I ran after it. "I'll be back soon!"

xxx

A game of cat and mouse... No. If it was realistic, it looked like a mouse chasing a cat.

Sword in hand, I ran after the monster. Unfortunately, it was faster than I thought.

The dead rose around me and tried to interfere. A few survivors screamed and fell victim to the monster's frantic escape, cut down in its flight.

"Tch. Since it's like this..." I flooded mana into my retractable blade and then swung it.

Sparks screeched as the invisible blade clashed with the edges. But then-

"Keheeeeee!" The monster screamed and collapsed on the ground, one of its hind limbs falling apart. A brief opening.

I didn't hesitate and swung my sword again. This time, I didn't miss.

A faint resistance, then the sound of collapsing flesh. The monster slowly turned around to look at me, fear in its eyes... and then it dissolved in a pile of black smoke.

"Hmph." I put my sword away and then said, "Bastard."

Since my objective was finished, I headed back to the classroom.

xxx

Early dawn.

I stood guard at the door just in case, letting everyone else get some sleep.

They all tried to force me to rest, but considering that unknown events could still occur, I convinced them otherwise.

And then, as the sun rose...

Someone woke up.

Yun Seora blinked and slowly raised her body. Her pretty eyes were dazed and then she instinctively jumped to her feet, eyes frantic. As if suddenly remembering, she clasped her left arm to her right... And then paused in shock and disbelief.

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"You should get some rest, you know?"

I whispered to her.

She blinked again and looked to me. Seeing the others fast asleep, she frowned.

Seeing that she was still confused, I opened the door and walked out, beckoning for her to follow after me.

She did.

I slid the classroom door shut and then glanced at Yun Seora. "How's your arm? Can you move it?"

"This..." She glanced at her right arm and slowly clenched it. "I... can. But... How?" She glanced at me and said, "No. Why?"

"Why what?"

"...It cost a lot, didn't it?" Yun Seora muttered and then looked at her arm. "The damage... Even with Sinyoung's resources, it would have been hard to heal. So... Why?"

I stared at her and then said, "Isn't it obvious? Hard work like yours, the determined struggle to keep on going... How could I just let a bright light like that be snuffed out?"

Yun Seora blinked, still confused. "Bright... light?"

I nodded. "That's right. Besides... I'm a bit to blame for your situation. After all, if I didn't scoop up the coins first, they wouldn't have hunted you down, right? So think of this as compensation."

Yun Seora stared at me with a look that said she didn't believe me.

I coughed and then looked at her arm. "More importantly, how do you feel over all? Mobility fine?"

She nodded and then moved her arm to show. But as she moved it too far, she flinched in pain.

"Thought so." I sighed and said, "The worst is mostly healed, but there's still a lot of internal trauma. Potions and the like won't work since it's too fine damage and spread out... Mm."

"...Thank you."

"Hm?" I glanced over to see Yun Seora give me a soft stare. "What for? This is an investment, an investment. After all, you're pretty talented to have done so well by yourself, right?"

"But-"

I shook my head. "No buts. I didn't even use that much to heal you, so just take it slow and get better if you really want to repay me. It'd make me feel bad after if I knew that your future was ruined because of my mistake."

A strange emotion flickered through Yun Seora's face. But before she could speak or react on it, a yawn echoed through the air, followed by a young male voice.

"Hyung? Oh, and Miss Seora too?"

xxx

"Are... Are you sure this will work, Hyung?"

"It's Jihu, and of course. If not... Well, I have a plan B in mind too."

After the brief talk with Yun Seora and Yi Sungjin's appearance, we went back to the gacha machine and tried to pull the revival elixir.

It took a few tries, mostly because there seemed to be enhanced security against using my eyes to pull desired outcomes. As a result, I got a weird [Quill of Consciousness] and a set of elemental spell balls before grabbing the elixir.

-Well, I wish I could say that I managed to grab the elixir. But with my blatant cheating in messing with the RNG, I started getting unwanted attention.

Fortunately, Yun Seora managed to get it and was willing to trade me for some medical supplies.

But anyway...

I held the elixir in my hands and watched the scene unfolding in front of me.

"Sung...jin...?"

"Noona!" Yi Sungjin walked forward towards the crouching figure in the corner of the room. "We got it! You can live again!"

"Li...ve...?"

I had to admit, it was a bit of a surreal sight. Yi Seol-Ah, as a result of being revived as a monster, looked like something straight out of a horror game. A missing head, stretched out fleshy tendrils for limbs, rotted blood dripping down over a shredded dress...

Terrifying.

Even so, Yi Sungjin was smiling in front of her. In fact, it looked like the only reason he didn't go hug her was because of my explicit warning earlier that there could be some complications the Tutorial could throw out.

Yi Seol-Ah looked at me, tilting her... well, not quite head, but the part that would be a head. "Mi...ster...?"

I nodded. "That's right. Now..." I uncorked the bottle and said, "This should work. But if it doesn't... Well, let's talk about it if that happens."

A splash of light emerged from the bottle. It wriggled in the air like a slime before shooting towards Yi Seol-Ah.

"Ah!" Yi Sungjin flinched, the teenaged boy ducking out of the way.

Yi Seol-Ah didn't react in time and was struck. But then, that was what was supposed to happen.

The white blob wriggled over Yi Seol-Ah's body, quickly enveloping it. At the same time, grotesque fleshy noises echoed.

"N-Noona?" Yo Sunjin stared at his sister, concern in his eyes.

As for me, I watched the process to analyze it.

[Resurrection?]
A portion of divine energy authorized by the god. Enters the deceased's body and reconstructs from the record stored within by the gods upon entry.

Does not work beyond the Tutorial (lack of divine power)

...Mm. So it wasn't a true resurrection, only a loophole available from dying in a location controlled by the gods.

That was a bit unfortunate, but somewhat useful information.

If I had a body, a soul, and energy, it seemed to be possible to grant, or at least restore, life.

Maybe that was the next step up from restoration? And then-

"Thank you!" A pair of arms wrapped around me before followed by muffled sobs. I glanced down to see Yi Sungjin hugging me, crying his eyes out.

Not far behind him, with watery eyes of her own, was Yi Seol-Ah. "T-Thank you, Mister Seol! This... We'll never forget this! Never!" She bowed her head in thanks.

I started to wave her off and pulled Sungjin away. "It's nothing... And really, you should be thanking Miss Seora. But for now... let's reconvene with the others."

xxx

The rooftop. Or rather, the 'sixth floor' to complete this Tutorial.

After dealing with the thanks from Seol-Ah and Sungjin and making sure everyone had what they needed to pass, we all arrived on the roof.

It was an ordinary setting, some loose gravel and open area.

But there was still an oddity present, namely a round portal glowing with faint red light. Not only that, but a pair of familiar people stood there.

"You've all finally arrived!" Han smiled, the elderly gentleman looking content and amused. "There is much I would like to say... but you've been through enough. Allow me to officially announce the completion of Area 1's Tutorial!"

Soft applause. The blonde maid from before silently clapped her hands.

It was supposed to be a celebration, but...

Glancing around, there was only the six of us. Myself, Yun Seora, Shin Sang-Ah, Hyun Sangmin, and the Yi siblings.

Silence.

Perhaps realizing the mood, Han sighed and said, "Well, let's just carry on then. First of all, let us commence with evaluating your level of cognition."

As soon as he finished speaking, a message popped up in front of my vision. Judging from everyone else's reaction, it seemed the same for them as well.

Han continued speaking. "This is how it should look for you: From the left, Actions, Emotions, and Disposition. "

[5. Level of Cognition]

Actions/Emotions/Disposition

I stared at the columns, watching them with a curious gaze.

"The first section reflects how you appear to others through your actions and speeches."

I watched as words scrolled through the left column, like wheels on a slot machine.

Domineering, Extreme, Monstrous... all sorts of words flashed before my gaze. But eventually, it stopped.

Domineering (One whose actions allow no compromise or defiance.)

Off to the side, I heard Shin Sang-Ah exclaim in surprise, but I focused my attention more on my own screen.

Domineering, huh? I suppose that made sense considering how I took care of Kang Seok and the others, as well as leading Hyun Sangmin around.

Han laughed and then explained the second column. "The middle column, 'Emotions', reflects your thought process or what you feel from facing certain events or phenomena. Out of the three, you could say it has the most variability."

The middle column spun, but didn't go very far. Almost immediately, the word 'Contemplative' appeared.

Han clapped his hand and said, "And finally... The last column, Disposition." He paused and said, "This one has been raising a lot of controversy for a long time now. Supposedly, this column indicates your inclination according to your overall personality. There have been numerous cases where this part simply repeats what has been shown on your temperament. But there have also been a few cases where the disposition and temperament didn't match."

The last column started to spin as Han continued his explanation.

"How could this be? After many debates and research... we arrived at a temporary conclusion based on the fact that Temperament was listed on traits while Disposition was listed under the level of cognition."

Evil. Altruistic. Selfish. Monstrous. Tyrant. Rational... Countless words spun before my eyes.

"If your Temperament is a personality trait formed by interacting with the world at large..."

The column slowed down, teetering between Evil and Altruistic.

"...Then your Disposition should indicate your true nature. In other words, the foundation that forms the core of who you are."

I frowned and stared at the column.

As if sensing my gaze, the column started spinning again, rapidly blurring through words.

Han continued explaining the column, explaining how dispositions were hard to change.

I ignored him and focused on the column. Just as I was wondering if I would even get one, it came to a stop.

Karmic Rule (Kindness is returned with kindness, malice with malice. Through this rule, all is connected.)

Hm?

That... was similar to the golden rule, but different. Seol's rule was to treat others like you wanted to be treated, based on that old adage. But this... my disposition was different. Similar in that good would be returned with good and bad with bad... but what was that last part about all is connected?

I frowned, not sure what to think of it.

"Well then." Han clapped his hand again and said, "Shall we get on with the points calculation? Let's see... Hyun Sangmin."

One by one, the people were evaluated and then led through the portal.

Yun Seora received 317 points. Shin Sang-Ah, 116. Hyun Sangmin, 302. Yi Sung-Jin, 114. As for Yi Seol-Ah, she could only get 46 for what she did in the assembly hall.

And then it was my turn.

Han looked at me and groaned. "Really now, I thought I was going to die trying to calculate your points. Although it wasn't as difficult during the first mission, the second and third missions were really, really problematic for me. Especially so during the second mission when things became really, completely nonsensical."

I crossed my arms. "...And?"

Han shook his head. "To not only break the all-time clear record, but to do it with such a large margin as well as destroying all of the traps and mechanisms..." He gave me a strange look. "Honestly, are you even an ordinary human?"

I shrugged. "You tell me."

"Hm. Well in any case, here is your tally." Han waved his hand, pulling out a sheet of paper from thin air and then said, "Mission 1, 200 bonus points for successfully chasing away the Gaekgwi. 50 bonus points for taking in Mister Hyun Sangmin and providing proper guidance. 100 for immediately recognizing the need for supplies. 50 for rescuing Miss Shin Sang-Ah."

I nodded. 400 points for the first mission then.

"For the second mission, there's a basic score of 150. 300 bonus points for the fastest clear in history, and another 100 for creating such a wide gap between the previous record. 300 for destroying every trap and mechanism found. Total of 850 points."

"Mm."

"For the third mission, the base points are 150. 300 bonus for finding as many coins as you did. 300 extra for killing the Gaekgwi. 200 points for reviving Miss Yi Seol-Ah. 100 extra points for giving some of your coins to others. And then 300 points for healing Miss Yun Seora's arm." He paused and then stared at me.

"Speaking of that... How did you accomplish such a feat? We saw that you obtained the Healing skill, but-"

"Trade secret."

Han stared at me, shocked for a moment. But then he sighed. "I suppose that is fair. In any case, summing everything together... 2600 points. Finally, possessing the Mark of Survival adds a ten times multiplier... So your total Survival points tally is 26000." He smiled and said, "Congratulations. With such a total, yours is the highest in history. In fact, you may even be able to use the VIP store."

I nodded. "Thanks for the information."

Han laughed. "Such a composed individual... Well, I suppose that would make sense considering your feats. I would hazard that a person like you was tailormade for this world... In any case." He tucked his paper away and said, "My role ends here."

"Good work." Giving off that casual response, I stepped forward through the portal. As I did...

"I wish you the best of luck in the Neutral Zone."

...Han bowed his head, as polite as always.

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