Chapter 15

Max Talent Player

Chapter 15: This is When I’m the Cheapest (2)

Kang Sunhwa could definitely feel it.

‘If I take that hit instead, I’ll die.’

The chances of that happening were high. She didn’t have Kim Hyukjin’s ‘Sixth Sense’, but she was indeed a talent worthy of being called a ‘genius’. She could at least feel very clearly that if she took that attack, she could die.

‘I have to block it.’

She didn’t think about it for long. She merely thought that she could lose her life, not what would happen if she didn’t or what she could gain by doing such a thing. She had to block it. If she didn’t, Kim Hyukjin’s head would be bashed in.

‘I’m going to block it!’

It wasn’t a calculated action. She didn’t stop to weigh the pros and cons. She was simply going to block it.

‘I will!’

At that moment, all she thought about was protecting Hyukjin. And so, she extended her hand.

Clang!

A clang as loud as two hollow aluminum baseball bats colliding burst out. It was the sound of the troll’s meaty fist glancing off Kang Sunhwa’s thin arm.

[‘Platinum Shield’ has detected an ‘excessive physical force’.]

[The skill Platinum Shield has evenly distributed the impact.]

Sunhwa blocked the magic troll’s fist with her thin arm. To be exact, she slightly redirected the fist’s ‘trajectory’.

She lost consciousness before she could even scream. Hyukjin didn’t look behind him to see what happened. He had no time to do so. He just ran, hauling Sunhwa along while clenching his teeth.

* * *

‘Sunhwa used a new ability.’

I didn’t know what it was, but it seemed like a Tutorial bonus, as well as a skill she hadn’t used before.

[You have escaped the ‘crisis of death’ while ‘Sixth Sense’ was in an active state.]

[You have overcome the ‘death sentence’ of ‘Sixth Sense’.]

[A condition for the fusion of ‘Sixth Sense’ has been fulfilled.]

Even amidst my desperate scramble to flee, I came to a conclusion.

‘It must be one of the beginner skills given by the Lady of the Scales.’

The Lady of the Scales happened to be watching the Intermediate Administrator ‘Senia’s’ channel. That meant she was watching this scene just like the others. From that, I could guess what kind of ability had just blocked the magic troll’s attack.

‘Platinum Shield.’

Kang Sunhwa had protected him by using Platinum Shield.

‘For a regular Player, even if they used Platinum Shield… no matter where they were hit, it would be instant death.’

It was because it was Sunhwa. Because it was Sunhwa, a girl whose talent for tanking exceeded genius. She was still at an age where her ‘talent plates’ had probably not yet bloomed, and yet despite that, she managed to block the magic troll’s attack. This could only be seen as a miracle achieved by Sunhwa’s talent.

‘We’re almost at the Safe Zone!’

The archer Player’s helpful but also not helpful kill steal earned me some time, and Sunhwa’s Platinum Shield earned me some more. To me, all of this was a miracle, a miracle that allowed me to leap over the Lion King’s evil scheme.

I displayed a burst of superhuman strength, dragging Sunhwa along.

‘We just have to get past that glass door.’

Once we were past the glass door, it would be the ‘parking lot’ field, a place that was still valid as a Safe Zone. That was the Safe Zone only I had heard about. I hurled myself forward, Sunhwa in my embrace.

The glass shattered, and I rolled on the ground, holding onto Sunhwa.

Kuooooogh!

As if blocked by a transparent wall, the troll was unable to come in. Infuriated, it battered the invisible wall with its fists like crazy, but it wasn’t at the level of a ruthless monster that could break through a Safe Zone setting.

“Hey, Sunhwa! Get a hold of yourself. Kang Sunhwa!”

Her arm was limp. She had taken on that crazy troll’s destructive force with such a slender arm. It appeared the shock of impact had traveled up her shoulder into her insides.

“Hey!”

I tried putting a potion into her mouth, but it was no use. She remained in a state of just barely breathing.

Kuoooooogh!

The magic troll continued to batter the barrier. The look in its eyes was like blazing flames.

‘It’ll die in a few minutes.’

I bit my lips. The monster had about ⅓ of its HP left. A berserking magic troll would be able to release tremendous power, but it wouldn’t be able to handle that power for long and would die. The more intensely it moved, the faster its HP would drain.

“Dammit.”

Sunhwa was still as unconscious as ever.

Through Sixth Sense, the exact trajectory had been drawn out in my head. I had perceived it mentally, but my body simply hadn’t been able to react. Sunhwa hadn’t been a factor in that trajectory—she had forcibly butted in, slightly redirecting the troll’s fist. Thanks to that, I had survived and Kang Sunhwa ended up on the verge of death. She had put out her arm for my sake.

I glared at the berserking magic troll.

‘You piece of shit.’

The magic troll’s HP was nearly completely drained. To the very end, it burned the flame of its lifeforce with frenzied rage.

Oooooooooghh!

With a terrible shriek, the troll rampaged outside the Safe Zone it could not trespass. And then, it bravely died a natural death.

[The berserk Magic Troll has died.]

[The Player closest to the Magic Troll under level 20 within the same Field will be recognized as the hunter.]

There was no way a Player under level 20 could possibly kill a berserking magic troll. As long as you could survive purely out of luck, the System would recognize you as killing the magic troll. In the past, that person was probably So Yoohyun.

Senia appeared.

“Player Kim Hyukjin. You have been recognized as the Player who hunted the magic troll.”

“…”

I didn’t feel very happy. Without realizing it, I glared at Senia. The Streamer Senia, and the Guardians who turned the world like this so they could watch for their amusement, they were all on the same side.

At the same time, field-wide notices rang out.

[In accordance with the death of the Tutorial Field Boss Monster, the Tutorial Field will be deactivated.]

[The Tutorial Quest has been cleared.]

[Subsequent difficulty will be determined by the number of Tutorial Field survivors.]

[Checking the number of Tutorial Field survivors.]

I didn’t know if that number was important, but it was the #1 recurring question in the civil servant exam. I knew exactly what that number was.

‘5087 people.’

[The number of survivors is 5087.]

[The difficulty has been set to ‘Low’.]

I heard the number while cradling the unconscious Sunhwa.

‘It’s the same.’

To my surprise, it was exactly the same as the past. I had survived, and although she was unconscious, so had Sunhwa. That meant there should at least be two more survivors. But the number of survivors was exactly the same, down to the last digit.

[Initiating the Tutorial rewards calculation.]

[The general system reward, as well as the individual rewards sent through Intermediate Administrators, will be distributed to each Player.]

I administered emergency treatment, feeding Sunhwa healing potions so that she could hold onto the ember of life for just a few seconds longer.

‘I can save her.’

I could do it. I had to.

[As a general reward, all survivors have been given a ‘Player Qualification’.]

[1,000 Coins acquired.]

[‘Beginner Armor Set’ acquired.]

[The level cap is lifted.]

The general rewards were given out, but I didn’t pay much attention to those notices. Right now, the collapsed Sunhwa required my attention more. My mind whirled, drawing out the next events and how exactly I could save Sunhwa.

[In accordance with the successful clear of the Tutorial Field, the ‘Tutorial Ender’ title will be given.]

[The ‘Tutorial Ender’ is a title given to the surviving Player remaining in the ‘D-Tower 2nd Floor’, the Tutorial Main Field.]

[The ‘Tutorial Ender’ title has been given to ‘Player So Yoohyun’.]

[Player So Yoohyun has been registered in the ‘Hall of Fame’.]

I already knew this would happen. I knew how to get the Tutorial Ender title. I had planned on not making the troll berserk by slowly shaving away at it until it died, but my plans had gone slightly awry. However, I didn’t regret not getting the title.

‘On the 2nd floor of the D-Tower… the only survivor is So Yoohyun.’

Everyone else had died, even the man who had yelled at me to run away.

‘It’s the same as the past.’

That was okay.

“Senia. We agreed to make a deal, didn’t we?”

We hadn’t negotiated the deal yet. After killing the miniboss monster, the Goblin Soldier, the deal had been delayed. But now, I intended on settling it.

* * *

* * *

I said, “I’m sure many prominent Guardians have entered your channel. They must also be paying attention to you, the one who snagged a mutant Player like me.”

Aside from the Nameless Observer, a Guardian even I didn’t know.

“The Lady of the Scales. The Courageous Lion King. The two of them alone are Guardians with plenty of capital.”

What’s more—

“The Nameless Observer personally sponsored me with more Coins than the Lady of the Scales.”

Senia was probably well aware of that.

“…”

“From the very start, I have proven my value.”

Senia didn’t say anything. She had no choice but to acknowledge my words as the truth. No one, not even So Yoohyun, who had gotten the Tutorial Ender title, had been able to show a Play as exciting as mine.

“Even an Intermediate Administrator as talentless as you should be able to survive… if you have good quality content.”

“…Though I do not agree with your evaluation of me as talentless, I do acknowledge that I need good quality content to survive.”

Senia stared at me with her usual expressionless face.

“The Tutorial Field has ended, and the opening act is finished. Now, the true Tutorial mode will begin. Correct?”

“Yes.”

Senia was unperturbed. Although this was something no regular Player should know, and I had been acting like I had a strategy guide on hand, she didn’t show much reaction.

“I want you to raise the grade of my Item Shop. Right now. The Tutorial is over, so I don’t think it’s an excessive request.”

After a short moment of silence, Senia said, “I do not think that is a very sensible method. You have proven your worth. You have the right to demand more from me. Also, the Item Shop—”

“Will naturally have its restrictions lifted with time?”

“Yes. It is a problem that time will solve.”

Currently, it was restricted to the ‘Tutorial-grade’. However, with the passage of time, the Item Shop’s grade would naturally rise.

In my eyes, I saw the barely breathing Sunhwa.

“I will buy that time.”

The Tutorial Field had been deactivated. As such, changing the Item Shop’s grade from ‘Tutorial’ to ‘Beginner’ with the authority of an Intermediate Administrator wasn’t all that hard.

‘The reason I want to save Sunhwa is…’

Because she had an unprecedented talent for tanking? Or because she was a jewel in the rough with incredible hidden potential? No, my reason for saving her was nothing that grand. Right now, it was ‘because I want to save her’. Sunhwa would have done the same for me, without any calculations of profit and loss.

I faced Senia.

“I’ll make an exclusive contract with you. For one year, no other Intermediate Administrator will be able to observe me. The Guardians will only be able to watch me through you, no matter what.”

Senia’s eyes grew wide. Of course she did, since I had already offered a ‘Player-Intermediate Administrator exclusive contract’ as a card.

“Player Kim Hyukjin. Just exactly how much do you know?”

“That’s not important. What’s important is—”

Senia’s wingtips trembled.

“That I have caught the attention of many Guardians. That I’m the only Player to have already received thousands of Coins. And that I’m a Ranker who lifted the Tutorial Field’s level cap ahead of time. I’m sure the rumors will spread amongst the Intermediate Administrators as well.”

“…”

“Remember this.”

“…”

“Right now. This is when I’m the cheapest.”

I hammered in the final nail.

“If you don’t take me up now, there will be no next time.”

I was confident, confident that Senia would have no other choice than to accept my proposal. Sure enough, I heard a notice.

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