It took about two hours. I even encountered monsters along the way.
Slime x3 / Recommended Level: 0
Goblin x7 / Recommended Level: 1
That’s mostly the order they came at me in. Naturally, they didn’t pose much of a threat since I already knew the basics of combat. Didn’t help that I beat them in order of the Recommended Levels either. Though, to be fair, putting my knowledge of the game to practical use was certainly hard. But my basic tactics of striking at their weak points with magic first, then slicing them with my blade seemed to be working as it did before, so all was well that ended well.
After I defeated the first goblin, I heard a voice in my head.
—You leveled up!
—A Recovery Orb will be sent via Present Box.
Recovery Orbs were bonuses you received from leveling up—typical stamina-recovery items found in mobile games. “Stamina” referred to how much movement you’d need for action sequences, such as fighting an enemy. The number would recover after a couple of hours, etc., etc.
In this world, however, there was no indication of how much stamina I had. Probably a technical change, because I’d been reincarnated here. Even so, the Recovery Orb would most likely still recover all of my HP and MP, as per its secondary effect.
Hm? Are you asking me why I said “most likely”?
Because I wasn’t going to test out a super rare full recovery item when I wasn’t in danger, duh. I couldn’t even die during the tutorial, so if I was going to use it at all, it would be after completing it.
Anyway, I proceeded to the final battle of the tutorial after crossing the mountains.
“The last boss isn’t the leader of the Goblins? It’s an orc?”
The end of the tutorial. I remembered it well—the difficulty spiked, and it threw a goblin leader at you. Every beginner had to go through it.
Thinking back on it, when I was reincarnated, the voice said it was loading the demo version of the tutorial... Right? It seemed like it was bugging out, so does that mean it used the data from the beta version (the public testing version before the game went live)?
I’d heard that the bosses in the beta weren’t too hard. “I was ready for a goblin leader, but...”
Orcs weren’t exactly noob-killers. The Recommended Level was only 2 too, so it would’ve been pretty ridiculous if I couldn’t beat this one considering all of my expert knowledge of the battle system.
Sure enough, I easily took down the orc by following up my magic with my short sword.
—You leveled up!
—A Recovery Orb will be sent via Present Box.
Name: N/A / Race: Human / Class: Summoner / Level: 1 🡪 3
HP: 225/225 🡪 265/265 / MP: 350/350 🡪 440/440
Power: 5 🡪 7 / Strength: 5 🡪 7 / Speed: 10 🡪 14 / Magic: 15 🡪 21
Acquired Magic: Grade 1 (Magic Class Bonus)
Nice, now I’m level 3. Though that’s still low enough to where it’s obvious that I’m a brand-new adventurer, typically called a “little chick that could die any second now” in-game.
“All right, it’s about time I end the tutorial.”
I began searching through a dilapidated mountain hut. On a table in the attic, I found a crystal ball that gave off a faint glow.
—Please retrieve the Transport Orb. Once you do, the tutorial will end. Great job!
Er, hold on. I was pretty sure that once you finished the tutorial, you got sent to a random area with low-level mobs. After that, just as promised, there were “as many lives to live as the number of players.” You could become a blacksmith, an adventurer, or even work your way up to becoming a king. You would start your new second life in this land and enjoy it to the fullest.
The usual play style would be to register with an adventurer’s guild and level up the normal way. But there was no such thing as a player who’d never seen the words “You Are Dead” when playing this game before.
So, as you’d expect, I wasn’t the least bit confident that I could live as an adventurer without dying.
What should I do...?
Thankfully, magic users can craft spells. I should be able to live somewhat comfortably if I register with a laborer’s guild.
I always ended up thinking of the “buts,” though.
Truthfully, there existed a way for me to level up without dying. I realized what it was when I got a taste of death that first time from the Undead Knight.
I won’t beat around the bush—you can’t die during the tutorial.
It was a well-known way to play the game among a certain subset of players. There was a walk-through video titled something like, “Doing a Zombie Attack during the Tutorial! Trying to Get to Level 99 by Killing Undead Troops and Dying Over and Over Again!”
Undead monsters were the only enemies that appeared during the tutorial, so the cost-return for EXP was supremely bad. Most people would prefer farming after the tutorial, but there was a reason as to why that certain subset of players existed.
If I recalled correctly, it had taken the uploader of that video three hundred hours to pull it off. Once you started the main story after the tutorial, you could get to the level cap in less than half that time. Plus you could buy from shops, get item drops, and do a whole bunch of other stuff. Really, the only people who would do a “Zombie Attack” were those with a ton of free time.
“But what about me?” I pulled my sword out and lightly sliced my fingertip with it. “It hurts... Grade 1 Recovery Magic: Heal.”
The pain started to dull as I watched the wound close up. I cut my finger again, then healed it.
It genuinely hurt the same as when I was in Japan. Even though I could now mend wounds in an instant, pain was still pain at the end of the day.
“If I died over and over... Wouldn’t that mean...?”
Once in Japan.
Once here.
I’ve died twice now. You’d be asking way too much of me if you wanted me to do that multiple times.
I’d never been tortured, but I was certain no one from any planet would willingly do that to themselves.
Besides, I was a summoner. Though I could use Attack Magic and Recovery Magic, my skills didn’t even come close to those who specialized in them.
For summons, I had to form contracts with my familiars, and then I would need certain events to happen or to pay for in-game skills. I couldn’t do any of that during the tutorial.