NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8 - A Fixture of the Beginner's Zone (5)
Chapter 8: A Fixture of the Beginner’s Zone (5)
Yeonwol entered the Lower Swordsmanship Examination Hall and chuckled at the system message.
‘Lower, huh. How adorable.’
The NPCs in this game were essentially living, breathing people.
Knowing that, Yeonwol had anticipated that they would behave according to their personalities.
In truth, he had entered fully aware of this.
Skipping the basics and completing the lower-level tests would grant him far greater rewards.
He opened his status window and invested all his remaining ability points into Strength, raising it to 99.
Though his total stats equated to a level of nearly 65, his combat-essential stats were only around 40.
However, his opponents were set to level 70 with a [Swordsmanship Mastery] skill reaching the lower tier. It would be challenging for Yeonwol to face them.
‘Doesn’t matter. That’s why I brought this.’
The combat alchemy kit gifted by the general store owner.
Though it was an old item, it was far more useful than the “beginner kits” sold at standard alchemy shops.
Its greatest advantage was that it could be used with one hand.
While inexperienced alchemists might fumble with it on the ground using both hands, Yeonwol was adept at handling it.
Among various crafting skills, alchemy was quite useful in combat, so he had used it frequently.
Holding the Blue Sea Blade in his right hand and a metal alchemy case in his left, Yeonwol walked forward slowly.
Whooosh…!
A gust of wind blew.
The space transformed into an open field.
Unlike the basic test of hunting 30 monsters, the lower-tier exam required breaking through a generated dungeon.
In his past life, he hadn’t possessed swordsmanship skills and had never entered such spaces, but he strode forward without hesitation.
[First Gate: Defend!]
Whoosh! Thunk!
Arrows flew from somewhere.
The sound they made as they flew suggested that the test required using the guard skill of a swordsman to block the arrows by leveraging increased agility.
Instead, Yeonwol dodged with a simple tilt of his head.
He lacked counter-skills.
‘Hmm… Should I just try deflecting them?’
When the next arrow flew, he deflected it with his sword.
Moments later, a second arrow followed.
With a defensive skill, it would’ve been easy to block, but Yeonwol had none.
Unfazed, he raised his alchemy case with his left hand to block it.
Thump!
The sturdy case proved to be a decent substitute for a shield.
Of course, being a machine, it would break if subjected to too much force.
‘So, this is the deal. No matter how good your reflexes are, you’ll suffer without skills.’
Thunk! Thunk, Clang!
Arrows began raining in greater numbers, even from behind and the sides.
Some came simultaneously, making defense skills seemingly indispensable.
Yet Yeonwol expertly spun his sword, deflecting them all.
A guard skill would’ve automatically controlled his sword to block projectiles.
With low proficiency, even pebbles wouldn’t be stopped, but a level-70 user attempting the lower-tier test would have sufficient proficiency.
The goal of this test was to encourage players to improve their skill mastery and filter out low-level users.
Even without a guard skill, Yeonwol progressed smoothly.
In fact, he was faster than the swordsmen.
Activating the guard skill required standing still and letting the system take over, but Yeonwol walked leisurely, deflecting arrows as he went.
‘Still, I should learn some defensive skills later. One mistake could end me.’
Without a class, Yeonwol had no defensive skills, low HP, and low mana.
Every moment for him was essentially a crisis.
An arrow that would barely scratch the HP of a typical swordsman would be a critical hit to Yeonwol.
[Second Gate: Break Through!]
The field transformed into two hills.
Small goblins appeared atop each hill, aiming arrows at him.
On the narrow path ahead, stood gnoll-like wolf monsters wielding swords.
These creatures, which scavenged human weapons and fought with bestial agility, were formidable adversaries.
‘So, I’m supposed to fend off arrows while sword fighting these guys?’
As a single arrow shot towards him, Yeonwol tilted his head to dodge.
‘So, that’s the speed.’
Although fewer arrows came at once, the challenge lay in evading them while engaging in combat with gnolls.
At around level 60, gnolls were tough enemies, especially because of their pack tendencies.
Fortunately, they were spaced out individually.
[Sky Thunder Flash]
Yeonwol activated a skill that allowed him to dash 8 meters instantly.
Whoosh!
He shot forward like an arrow, striving to wrest control of his movement back from the system to perfect his motion.
Experienced players could override system assistance to perform even more precise actions!
[Executed the skill perfectly! Power increased!]
Clang!
Upon colliding with the gnoll, Yeonwol triggered the second form of the Blue Wave Ascension Blade.
[Sea-Splitting Blade]
Leaping high into the air, he swung his sword as if cleaving through waves, crushing the gnoll’s skull.
Splat!
With all his might, he slashed, reducing the gnoll’s HP by 30% in an instant.
Considering the overwhelming level difference, the damage was absurd.
The downside?
Sky Thunder Flash consumed 50 MP, and Sea-Splitting Blade consumed 250 MP.
With a maximum MP of 310, he could use these two skills in succession but no more.
‘I just wanted to test my damage, but this is pretty decent.’
As he stepped back, the gnoll swung its sword where he had stood moments earlier.
Whoosh! Thunk!
Arrows followed his retreat, fired by the goblins.
‘Still, if I study their blind spots…’
Charging at the gnoll again, Yeonwol kept his body low.
Thunk! Thunk!
He baited the goblins into missing their shots, forcing them to misfire repeatedly.
Grrrr…!
Some arrows even hit the gnoll, as Yeonwol skillfully maneuvered between the enemies, dodging arrows while slashing with his sword.
Slash—!
The gnoll’s tough hide resisted the blade, but his high-quality sword gradually wore it down.
Thunk! Thunk!
With goblin support fire continuously peppering the gnoll, it wasn’t long before one gnoll was left on the brink of death.
Slash—!
Finishing the gnoll, Yeonwol stepped back a few paces.
Whoosh! Thunk!
More arrows came raining down.
Although exploiting goblin arrows had been both fun and effective, it was becoming tedious.
Grrrr…
Noticing its comrade’s death, the next gnoll drooled as it stepped forward.
A brief moment of opportunity.
He surveyed the hills on both sides.
The hills were steep cliffs, making it quite a hassle to climb up and take out the goblins directly.
The gnolls wouldn’t just stand by idly either.
However, Yeonwol had a solution.
He tapped the metallic alchemy case in his left hand with his fingers, manipulating it.
Click! Click!
A section of the case unfolded, forming a simple alchemy array.
Yeonwol extended his sword into the air.
Crackle!
With a red flash of lightning, small beads appeared at the tip of his sword.
[C-Boom]
Known as the “C-Type Bomb,” or “C-Boom,” it was a bomb Yeonwol frequently used due to its simple ingredients and convenience for quick crafting.
After firing the C-Boom into the air, he struck it with the side of his sword, sending it flying toward the goblin.
Boom!
-Ack!
The goblin collapsed without even letting out a proper scream.
Being a high-level goblin, it wasn’t possible to instantly kill it with a bomb made by a level 10 alchemist.
However, the C-Boom wasn’t designed to kill but to stun.
Bang! Boom!
The powerful shockwave and the subsequent flashbang left the goblins disoriented and unconscious.
Thinking about how the bomb cost almost 10 golds, Yeonwol felt a pang of regret—practically the price of a hearty meal!
Spending so much just to incapacitate a few goblins seemed wasteful, but he couldn’t afford to be delayed.
With all the goblins incapacitated, it became a one-on-one fight with the gnoll.
That was manageable.
Yeonwol had overcome far greater disparities in ability with sheer control in his past life.
-Graaa!!
The gnoll charged with a roar, swinging its sword, but Yeonwol was already out of its attack range.
He moved as if predicting its every motion, dodging fluidly while delivering multiple strikes to accumulate damage on the gnoll.
[Sea-Splitting Blade!]
As his MP regenerated, Yeonwol interwove skills into his attacks, and the gnoll soon fell.
Around that time, the goblins began to stir, blinking their eyes open.
Boom!
[C-Boom!]
He stunned them again.
Repeating this process, Yeonwol defeated about ten gnolls and cleared the second trial.
Yeonwol’s eyes welled with tears of blood.
He had spent 300 golds just to incapacitate a handful of goblins.
All the money he had scraped together during two weeks of grueling hidden quest work was now gone.
“This damn C-Boom…”
Alchemy was, in many ways, an expensive profession.
The instructor, Gelex, crossed his arms as he observed the crystal panel.
On it was the image of a level 10 novice venturing into the Lower Swordsmanship Examination Hall without a clue.
‘What an arrogant fool. He must’ve gotten lucky learning a swordsmanship skill somewhere, but to dare aim for the honor of a swordsman?’
The Swordsmanship Certification wasn’t granted to just anyone.
Especially not to novices!
Only those who advanced into sword-related classes and followed the path of the blade were deemed eligible.
This sacred examination hall was no place for some errand boy dabbling in alchemy.
Although an NPC, Gelex had access to stories from beginner towns worldwide through the “Communication Panel.”
From what he’d heard, nearly ten thousand players had passed the “Basic Examination” immediately after advancing to level 10.
The player with the best record was undoubtedly Song Yeon-Ju.
The recommended level for the basic test was in the 30s, so the feats of these players were self-explanatory.
Ten thousand.
It seemed like a lot, but considering the world had over 3 billion players, it wasn’t much.
‘And… no one has ever passed the lower-level test at level 10.’
Even the prodigy Song Yeon-Ju couldn’t do it.
Despite advancing into a sword-related class and gaining a boosted attack stat, the lower-level test was an insurmountable wall.
Among the “geniuses” renowned for exceptional swordsmanship talent, there were records of them passing the lower-level test in their 40s, with Song Yeon-Ju holding the lowest record at level 39.
Passing a level-70 difficulty test at level 39 was extraordinary!
A true genius among geniuses.
But even such a genius failed at level 10 and only succeeded after reaching level 39.
Gelex anticipated that this novice wouldn’t even pass the first gate.
Without defensive skills, he’d become a pincushion from the barrage of arrows.
However.
“What the—?”
The arrogant novice deftly blocked and dodged arrows.
Mixing perfect evasion with manual defense, he progressed without needing a guard skill.
The arrows didn’t even graze him.
“Wait, was it always this easy? No, this is definitely normal difficulty!”
True mastery often appeared simple and effortless, which is why Gelex hadn’t realized the truth yet.
Though the novice passed the first gate with ease, Gelex wasn’t worried.
The gnolls at the second gate were impossible to defeat at level 10!
-Screeech!!
“What in the world!?”
The novice moved like the wind, reducing a gnoll’s HP by 30% in an instant.
If he spammed that skill, he could’ve killed the gnoll instantly, but he didn’t.
“I see! It’s an absurdly powerful skill beyond his level. He must be running out of mana!”
However, the novice skillfully manipulated the gnoll into becoming a target for goblin arrows before taking it down.
“Stupid goblins!”
They shot poorly, but it wasn’t their fault.
Gelex didn’t yet realize that Yeonwol had orchestrated their movements.
Using his alchemy case to toss bombs, Yeonwol repeatedly stunned the goblins while dealing with the gnolls.
“A level-10 alchemy bomb has that kind of power…?”
There were no equipment restrictions inside the test hall.
Players could use bows or magic as they pleased.
While low-level swordsmen lacked many skills and equipment options, no one had thought to utilize their arsenal like this novice did.
What shocked Gelex even more was how this level-10 player defeated level-60 gnolls in one-on-one combat with ease!
It couldn’t be dismissed as coincidence.
The novice moved with such mastery that he didn’t take a single hit, taking down gnoll after gnoll.
By this point, Gelex knew.
‘A master.’
Among the otherworldly players, some appeared like novices but carried the scent of mastery.
Song Yeon-Ju at level 39, swordmaster Aldeon at level 40, and Masato at level 43 were such examples.
‘But this person is beyond comparison. Without a doubt, they must’ve been a top-tier swordsman on Earth.’
The third gate appeared.
Its challenge was to defeat a level-70 boss monster in the swordsman class.
This time, it took longer.
Since Yeonwol faced the boss head-on, his lower damage output made the battle drag.
Still, he miraculously avoided all fatal attacks and defeated the boss in 30 minutes.
The final gate.
A level-85 boss monster, the [Steel-Plated Knight], appeared.
Standing 3 meters tall and clad in impenetrable steel armor, the knight was impervious to blades.
The goal wasn’t to defeat the boss but to protect hostages tied behind a cliff.
Faced with the towering knight emitting a terrifying aura, the mission was clear:
‘Don’t run. Fight and hold out for 10 minutes!’
This test assessed adaptability against monsters resistant to blades.
Many failed here, even high-level swordsmen.
Gelex was certain the novice’s journey would end here.
This time, evasion alone wouldn’t work since the hostages needed protecting.
With no defensive or offensive swordsmanship skills, the novice couldn’t block or counter.
‘Let’s see… How will he handle the Steel-Plated Knight?’
By now, Gelex was gripping his fists tightly, sweating as he watched the novice’s test.