I'm the Only Wizard Climbing the Tower - Chapter 2
Chapter 2
TL: DDTL
Am I seeing things right now?
I rubbed my eyes for a moment, then checked the message floating in my vision again.
It was still there.
[You have been selected as a Climber of the Tower.]
[Prepare for the Trial.]
[Time Until Entry – 09:53]
“This is crazy…!”
A curse slipped out on its own.
Selected as a Climber?
Against those astronomical odds?
‘Why me, of all people?!’
Climber. In other words, a Hunter.
It’s a profession people envy, one that pays well, but it’s also extremely dangerous.
Tutorial survival rate: 85%.
Five-year long-term survival rate for Hunters who passed the Tutorial: 63%.
With safe hunting grounds secured and all kinds of strategies developed.
I’d heard the survival rate was higher than it used to be.
Even so, being a Hunter means never knowing when death might come.
But of all people, it had to be me who became a Hunter.
‘First, I should call Noona.’
Brrring. Brrring.
The line rang. But she didn’t pick up.
She really must be swamped at work.
I’d wanted to at least leave a final goodbye, since I might die. Is even that too much to ask?
[Noona. I just got selected as a Climber. I don’t know if I’ll make it out of the Tutorial alive, but I’ll try my best.]
I dashed off a quick text.
Then I logged straight onto Hunter Gallery.
‘I’m sure there was a Tutorial guide pinned in the Hunter Gallery notices.’
These days it’s mostly people trash-talking Hunters there, but back in the Tower’s early days, Hunter Gallery was where actual Hunters hung out.
Thanks to that, I remembered the old notices held all kinds of info posts, including Tutorial guides.
‘Found it.’
A look through the old notices, and the Tutorial guide turned up without much trouble.
I read down through it fast.
[Title : (Notice)(Must-Read) Tutorial Guide]
So you got the notification saying you’ve been selected as a Climber?
10 minutes after the notification, you get teleported to the Tutorial site.
You don’t have much time, so I’m only covering the essentials. Memorize as much as you can.
First off, when you enter the Tower, you’ll spawn butt-naked inside a Safe Zone made of a translucent barrier.
The Safe Zone lasts 10 minutes, so hurry up and grab a weapon, get your head straight, and loosen up with some stretches or whatever.
Meanwhile, the Goblins outside the Safe Zone will try to threaten you, scare you, and psych you out
Just ignore them.
They can’t do shit while the barrier’s up anyway.
For weapons, I recommend sword-and-shield (one-handed sword + shield).
If you’ve trained with some weapon before, use what you know. Otherwise, grab a one-handed sword and a shield, no exceptions.
You know you spawn naked, right?
Forget armor, you won’t even have a pair of underwear, so a shield is non-negotiable.
With sword-and-shield, you can block or shove with the shield, and the one-handed sword is easy to handle, making it the most recommended combo for beginners.
The meta exists for a reason, so don’t grab anything weird; please just be good and take sword-and-shield.
FYI, any weapons you’re not holding vanish the moment the Safe Zone drops
so don’t even think about picking up weapons later.
After 10 minutes the Safe Zone deactivates and the barrier disappears.
That’s when the fight starts.
There are three Tutorial monster patterns in total.
The Tower assesses a Climber’s potential and assigns the Trial accordingly
and we just call them Easy, Normal, and Hard.
Easy : one Goblin (dagger)
Normal : four Goblins (3 daggers, 1 archer)
Hard : one Goblin Warrior (longsword)
Easy is easy.
The second it starts, charge in shield-first, knock it down, then stab it in the throat or gut.
As long as you don’t panic or freeze up, you just win.
You got a basic Physical Enhancement buff when you became a Climber, so even if you’re some scrawny twig who couldn’t qualify for active duty, you’ll win every time if you just muscle through.
Fr, just don’t choke.
Easy survival rate is over 90%. Keep your wits about you and you’ll Clear it no problem.
Normal, you need to take seriously.
The moment it starts, put your back to a wall, raise your shield, and hold your ground.
Block the incoming arrows with the shield and methodically carve up the three Goblins coming at you with daggers.
Keep your field of vision wide.
Watch both the arrows and the daggers.
FYI, the arrows are coated in Paralysis poison, so getting hit slows your body down.
You can barely tough out one or two arrows, but take three or more and your body stops moving, so be careful.
That said, don’t get so fixated on the arrows that you lose track of the daggers.
You can survive an arrow or two, but one dagger to the thigh or the side and you’re done.
Watch the arrows and daggers, kill the three Goblins, then rush down the last archer, and that’s a Clear.
Decent chance you die, but never, ever give up till the end.
Survival rate: 50%. Coin flip, but totally doable.
Hard… rest in peace.
Honestly, there’s no answer.
The greatsword a Goblin Warrior swings is fucking strong; it’ll split a Tutorial shield in one hit and wreck your arm along with it.
Its strength is beyond imagining too, so grappling isn’t even an option.
It’s way more agile than it looks; it dodges arrows and everything else while charging you.
It runs stupid fast too, so you can’t flee or open up distance.
I’m currently climbing Floor 9 and even I get the shakes every time I face a Goblin Warrior; no clue how anyone’s supposed to win with Tutorial Floor 0 stats…
Estimated survival rate in the 1% range… it’s rough, but hang in there…
Honestly, if you’re the type to land Hard, you should trust your own ability and instincts over a guide like this.
Kim Tae-seok and Choi Ye-jin, the two who Cleared Hard, supposedly did it with a greatsword and a bow respectively.
Look that up yourself.
Though both of them are pretty unique cases, so dunno if it’ll help.
Anyway, I hope you get through the Tutorial in one piece.
They say the odds are 90% for Easy, 9% for Normal, and only 1% for Hard.
So don’t stress too much about landing Hard.
See you on the other side, alive!
└What about a spear instead of sword-and-shield? Isn’t a spear better than a short-reach one-handed sword?
└└Goblins are short and quick on their feet; beating them down with sword-and-shield works better than a spear.
└└I cleared Normal with a spear and the thing got lodged in deep and wouldn’t come back out, scared the shit out of me fr… Dropped the spear right away and survived by snatching a Goblin’s dagger. Take sword-and-shield, no exceptions. Stab deep with a spear and pulling it out is a bitch.
└└Wow, and you survived that
└What happens to glasses wearers if you teleport in naked? I’m severely nearsighted, basically blind without my glasses;
└└You get the Physical Enhancement effect entering the Tower, so your eyesight improves. You’ll see just fine without your fucking glasses, no worries
└Seriously though, who tf dies on Easy? Tutorial survival rate is 85%, right? I get Normal or Hard, but who dies on Easy? It looks stupid easy lmaooo
└└It looks easy, but you’d freak out if you were actually there.
└└When that Goblin bastard’s gripping its dagger, drooling everywhere, with murder gleaming in its eyes, your fucking heart about stops.
└└People get scared when a neighborhood dog so much as barks and chases them. A monster coming at you with a blade? No way you don’t choke… Don’t overestimate yourself.
└I’m heading into the Tutorial soon. Thanks for the guide, I’ll post a survival check-in if I make it back alive!
└└Godspeed.
└└Bro it’s been an hour, where’s the survival check-in?
└└Ah… they’re gone.
└└RIP
“Easy, Normal, Hard… shield and one-handed sword for weapons…”
I sped through the post and comments, cramming it all into my head.
I already knew all of it, but just in case.
Thankfully, there was nothing new I needed to learn.
Then again, whatever else, the government never stopped pushing Tutorial info at every opportunity.
No way I’d have forgotten it.
A glance.
I checked the message floating at the edge of my vision.
[Time Until Entry – 00:13]
While I’d been hunting down the guide, the clock had run down to barely ten seconds.
I squeezed my eyes shut, pressed my hands together, and prayed.
“Please be Easy, please be Easy, please be Easy…!”
Please, let it be the Easy Difficulty!
There’s no way someone as frail and cowardly as me could Clear Normal or Hard.
The Easy Difficulty is my only way out alive.
And so I prayed with everything I had.
[Time Until Entry – 00:00]
[Entering Tower Floor 0.]
Flash!
With a burst of brilliant light, I was teleported into the Tower.
* * *
Blink.
I opened my eyes and looked around.
It was exactly the scene every form of media had described.
A dim underground space.
Lights embedded sparsely along the walls cast a faint glow, and damp, faintly fishy air brushed against my skin.
I looked down at myself; naked, sure enough.
The Tower only allows in items made from materials that came out of the Tower, so most people start their first Tutorial naked, or so they say.
[Survive the Trial and prove your worth.]
[The Safe Zone will deactivate in 10 minutes.]
[Time Until Safe Zone Deactivation – 09:52]
As expected, I was given ten minutes to prepare.
Within these ten minutes, I had to choose a weapon and pull my body and mind together.
-Huff! Huff! Huff!
I took deep breaths, forcing my pounding heart to settle.
Cold sweat soaked the small of my back, and a chill crawled up my spine.
I clenched my teeth.
‘The Difficulty. Check the Difficulty first.’
I forced my eyes wide and glared straight ahead.
‘It’s gotta be Easy, right? I don’t have any potential to speak of… Of course it’ll be Easy.’
The prevailing theory is that Tutorial Difficulty is determined by a Climber’s potential.
No talent for fighting: Easy.
Some degree of talent: Normal.
Exceptional talent: Hard.
I’d been frail since childhood and never stood out in sports.
Surely I’d been assigned the Easy Difficulty. Or so I expected.
-Tromp. Tromp.
Footsteps echoed from beyond the darkness.
I swallowed dryly and stared at the faintly visible silhouette.
First off… it was bigger than expected.
I’d definitely heard an ordinary Goblin was about the size of a young grade-schooler.
‘Why is it almost as tall as me?’
Our eyes were nearly level.
And then there was the sword in its hand.
Not a dagger. A longsword.
On top of that, the bulging muscles and veins. And armor made of leather, to finish it off.
No doubt about it.
“A Goblin Warrior?! Hard? This is crazy, why am I on Hard Difficulty…!”
A Goblin Warrior had appeared as my Tutorial opponent.
I’d been assigned to Hard Difficulty: the hardest, the rarest of them all.
‘I can’t win. There’s absolutely no way I can win. How am I supposed to fight a monster like that?’
Twenty-seven years of life, and I’ve never once been in a fight.
No real athletic experience either.
Timid and faint-hearted by nature.
There’s no way someone like me could beat that muscle-bound monster.
What’s more, the Goblin Warrior wasn’t the only enemy I’d be facing.
-Krrgh. Krgh.
Plod, plod.
Another figure, following out behind the Goblin Warrior with light footfalls.
It was short.
About the height of a young grade-schooler. The build of a typical Goblin.
But its outfit was different.
It was draped in a sagging leather cloak.
Around its neck hung a necklace strung with beast fangs.
Grimy tattoos were etched all over its body.
And in its right hand, a crude wooden Staff.
Far too bizarre an outfit and kit for an ordinary Goblin.
I know exactly what that thing is.
‘A Goblin Shaman…!’
A Goblin Shaman had appeared.
I could hardly believe it.
‘A Goblin Warrior, AND a Shaman? No way. The Tutorial is supposed to top out at a Goblin Warrior?!’
Three Tutorial Difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard.
Not one of them featured a Goblin Shaman.
Of course not.
The Goblin Warrior, which doesn’t show up until Floor 5, is already an absurd difficulty spike.
A Goblin Shaman, which appears from Floor 10? That’s just telling someone to drop dead.
And yet, for whatever reason.
Right before my eyes stood not only a Goblin Warrior, but a Shaman as well.
‘Don’t tell me… Hard wasn’t the highest Tutorial Difficulty after all?’
Then what am I supposed to call this Difficulty?
Extreme? Lunatic? Hell?
Whatever the name, this is an extreme, crazy, hellish situation.
Am I the first person to ever see a Goblin Shaman in the Tutorial?
Or did no one survive to report it?
No way to know.
But one thing was certain.
“…I’m going to die here.”
No chance of winning.
No way I make it out alive.
Hollowed out, I stared blankly at the things beyond the barrier.
-Krrgh. Krgh. Kek!
-Heh heh heh heh…!
Maybe they could tell I’d lost the will to fight.
The Goblin Warrior and Shaman, snickering and jeering for all they were worth.
-Thump! Thump!
The Goblin Warrior came up and pounded on the barrier.
Its hideous face twisted into a sadistic grin.
Its yellowed eyes glared at me, brimming with bloodlust, as if it meant to hack me to pieces the instant this barrier vanished.
-Krrgh. Kurrgh. Karkk…
Behind the Goblin Warrior, the Goblin Shaman.
It made a show of preparing its Shamanic magic.
As it mumbled something, the blue dots in the air began to shimmer.
Then they gathered at the tip of its Staff, tracing strange, intricate patterns.
-Fwoosh.
A Fireball rose at the tip of the Shaman’s Staff.
It looks like nothing more than a fist-sized ball of flame.
But supposedly, the spell triggers a violent explosion on impact.
The moment the barrier drops, that Fireball will come flying and blow me apart in an instant.
“…”
My hands trembled.
No, not just my hands; my whole body trembled.
I’m so scared I could lose my mind.
My heart hammered wildly, cold sweat pouring without end. My eyes shook so badly nothing would come into focus.
I checked the time remaining.
[Time Until Safe Zone Deactivation – 07:12]
Had I really zoned out that badly?
Three whole minutes had already slipped away, wasted.
“A w-weapon… I need to grab a weapon first. Sword and shield…”
Forcing my shaking body to move, I scanned the floor.
At my feet lay a messy heap of all kinds of weapons.
From common weapons like longswords, spears, and bows.
To rarer ones like nunchaku, clubs, and maces.
Somewhere in that countless heap, I had to find a shield and a one-handed sword.
That was the safest recommended loadout, after all.
I reached out and rummaged through the weapon pile.
“Shield… where is it… I can’t see it…”
My vision blurred.
Tears had welled up.
Wiping at my eyes, I kept hunting for the weapons.
While my hands sifted mechanically through the pile.
Faces drifted through my mind, one after another.
‘Mom, Dad, Noona… I think I’m really going to die here. I’m sorry.’
My mother, who passed away when I was young.
My father, killed in the chaos of the Tower’s early days.
Noona, who’d spent so many years looking after her hopeless little brother and paying off debts…
Ah.
I don’t want to die.
“Fuck! The shield! Where the hell is the shield!”
I screamed as I tore through the weapon pile.
It was my own desperate way of shaking off the fear.
-Krrgh! Kekekekek!
-Karrrgh!
The Goblins, beyond mere sneering now, bursting into outright laughter.
I didn’t bother looking their way.
If our eyes met, I felt like my body would freeze up all over again.
Facing a living monster was more terrifying than I’d ever imagined.
And these weren’t even ordinary Goblins, but elite classes: a Warrior and a Shaman.
They felt like beings of an entirely different order, as if my very soul were shrinking before them.
I forced myself to ignore them and kept digging through the pile.
[Time Until Safe Zone Deactivation – 05:47]
I found a worn, grubby wooden shield.
I strapped it onto my left forearm.
Now for the one-handed sword.
[Time Until Safe Zone Deactivation – 04:36]
Maybe it was the tension narrowing my vision.
Or maybe it was the gloom, everything just gray hunks of metal, hard to tell apart.
A one-handed sword simply refused to turn up.
[Time Until Safe Zone Deactivation – 03:21]
Three minutes left. I grew frantic.
I dug through the pile even faster.
I’d definitely heard the Tutorial spawns a few dozen weapons at most.
Yet for some reason, the pile in front of me looked like several hundred at least.
Did I just get extra weapons?
Or is it because of this goddamn Difficulty?
Fuck.
Forget all this junk, just give me a one-handed sword.
[Time Until Safe Zone Deactivation – 02:11]
There’s no time.
With no one-handed sword anywhere in sight, I need to grab something, anything, right now.
I snatched up the first thing my hand closed on.
‘A Staff?’
What I’d grabbed was, of all things, a Staff.
A wooden shaft reaching roughly up to my solar plexus, with a fingernail-sized crystal set in its tip.
A worn, shabby wooden Staff.
‘No, come on, not this. It needs to at least have a blade.’
Without a second thought, I moved to toss the Staff aside.
With chunks of metal lying everywhere, there’s no reason to go swinging a stick.
But at that very moment.
-Hummm…
I saw the crystal at the Staff’s tip glow blue.
And then…
‘The blue dots.’
The blue dots that lay dissolved in the empty air.
Those mysterious particles only my eyes could see.
All at once, they began streaming toward the tip of the Staff.
“Huh?”
-Krgh?
-Kek…?
My bewildered cry and the Goblins’ rang out at the same time.
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