Streaming of the Absolute

Absolute’s Streaming – Episode 6

“Wait, what? Did Karen just decide to start speaking formally all of a sudden?”
“Bruh, what’s with the discrimination? That dude used to cuss me out and talk down to me all the time.”
“Same here, lol.”
“Dude’s actually using honorifics now?? Damn.”
Minseong couldn’t help but be confused by the viewers’ reactions.

Because to him, Karen had always been like this.

‘Wait… was he not always like this?’

While Minseong was lost in thought, Karen walked toward the edge of the circular colosseum-like wall.

Then, he pressed against the wall.

Clunk!

A sound like a lock clicking into place rang out.

Rumble…

The wall spun like a revolving door.

After half a turn, a set of swords was revealed.

They didn’t look particularly great, but they were real steel swords, not just wooden practice ones.

Karen pulled one out and handed it to Minseong.

“When you leave this place, you’ll enter a forest called the Zone of Silence.”

To sum it up—

To reach the next village, they had to pass through the Zone of Silence.

And in that Zone of Silence, there was a beast called “Baekya.”

To move forward, they had to kill these creatures as they encountered them.

“Baekya is blind, but its hearing is extremely sharp. The key is to take them down as quietly as possible, one by one.”

Karen then went on to explain some precautions.

“Baekya has relatively long arms. And if you include its claw length, its reach is even longer. So, you have to manage the distance carefully—”

Then, he suddenly stopped talking.

He turned to Minseong.

“…Are you even listening to me?”

Anyone could see that Minseong hadn’t been paying attention.

That’s why Karen asked.

“Huh? Oh, you done talking?”

“…Yeah. I’m done.”

“Then that’s all that matters. Let’s go.”

“… all right.”

Karen placed his hand on the wall again.

Rumble…!

This time, the wall lifted.

Revealing the outside world.

At the same time, a new holographic window popped up in front of Minseong.

[Tutorial begins.]
[Entering the Zone of Silence.]
[Rewards will be distributed based on the number of Baekya you defeat.]

The scene revealed through the lifted wall was a dense bamboo forest.

Tall, slender bamboo stalks stood closely packed together.

Then, something else caught Minseong’s eye.

At the bottom left of his vision, two colored bars appeared—one red, one blue.

They were status bars.

One for HP and one for MP.

[HP: 100]
[MP: 100]

If HP hit zero, he’d die. If MP hit zero, he wouldn’t be able to use his skills.

At that moment—

“I’ll follow you.”

“You too?”

“Yeah. I’ll just watch from behind.”

“…Do whatever you want.”

Minseong shrugged and started moving forward.

As he walked, he happened to glance up.

There, high above, was Karen.

He was hopping between the bamboo stalks, grabbing onto them to move from one to another.

It was almost… monkey-like.

“LMAO, Karen looks hilarious.”
“Dude really left the ground so he could move safely up there?”
“Is he a monkey or what, lol?”
Even the viewers found it amusing.

It was clear that Karen had never done something like this in a tutorial before.

Meanwhile, Minseong kept walking at a leisurely pace as if out on a casual stroll.

That’s how their journey began.

“Hey, is Baekya stronger than Karen?”

Minseong asked the chat.

“Nah, it’s weaker than Karen.”
“If it was stronger than him, that’d be broken as hell.”
“The current record for most Baekya kills in a tutorial is 10 out of 20.”
“So, exactly half?”

“Yeah, that’s the world record right now.”
Since there wasn’t much to do before encountering Baekya, Minseong kept the questions coming.

“Wait, so those 10 kills… were they all taken down one by one?”

“Of course. What kind of dumbass question is that?”
“Yeah, 10 individual fights.”
“From this point on, HP matters. If you get hit, you actually lose HP. So if you want to survive without losing too much health, you have to take them down one at a time.”
That made Minseong think.

HP usually just represented the amount of damage a character took.

But—

‘If this is a virtual reality based on real-life… wouldn’t it work differently?’

He asked the chat.

And his guess was right.

[‘Newbie Detector’ has donated 100 won.]

“It’s not like a normal game. Just think of it as real life. If you get stabbed in the head, neck, or heart, you die instantly. The same goes for enemies.”
Minseong nodded.

It was exactly as he expected.

“If I hit a vital spot in real life, it’d be a fatal wound. So, the same thing applies here, right?”

“Yup.”
“At least you catch on quick.”
The chat kept explaining.

[‘Newbie Detector’ has donated 100 won.]

“But it’s not always that simple. Some monsters have different weak spots. And between players, it depends on their stats and equipment.”
Minseong nodded again.

He’d already considered that possibility.

‘It’s just like back then.’

He knew this concept better than anyone.

Because he’d already experienced it countless times in another world.

He’d fought his way through it.

As he continued chatting with viewers, he kept walking.

“By the way, how exactly do the tutorial rewards work?”

Before entering the Zone of Silence, he had seen a message about rewards.

But it didn’t list any exact numbers.

It just said rewards would be given based on how many Baekya were defeated.

“Each Baekya kill increases all stats by 1.”
“Stats?”

“Yeah. After the tutorial, stats are awarded based on performance.”
“Dude’s a total noob, isn’t he? He probably doesn’t even know what stats exist, lmao.”
And sure enough, Minseong had no clue.

“What kind of stats are there?”

The chat was stunned.

Was he actually clueless or just messing with them?

“Bro, are you serious?”
“I told you, he doesn’t know shit.”
“There are six stats: Strength, Agility, Stamina, Endurance, Mana, and Magic.”
Minseong didn’t bother asking for details.

He could already make some educated guesses.

Besides, there was no need to worry about it right now.

He’d only be able to check his stats once the tutorial was over, anyway.

Instead, he asked something else.

“Do I get rewards immediately after killing a Baekya?”

“Nope.”
“You only get them once you reach the starting village.”
That meant the tutorial ended when they arrived at the village.

Which led to another thought.

‘So, does that mean I can just avoid fighting altogether and still finish the tutorial?’

“Yup, that’s why this game is still alive, lol.”
“For real. If fighting was mandatory, the game would’ve died ages ago.”
“Most players just skip the tutorial entirely and go straight to the village.”
So basically—

The average player didn’t even bother fighting Baekya.

They just took a shortcut to the village and ignored the whole thing.

‘Well… that’s actually pretty smart.’

It was way more efficient than wasting time-fighting.

But—

At some point, Minseong suddenly turned off the marked path.

“Where the hell is he going??”
“Dude, the path is literally marked.”
Minseong knew exactly what he was doing.

Karen, watching from above, suddenly had a bad feeling.

Then—

CLANG! CLANG!

Minseong slammed his sword against a giant rock.

The deafening noise echoed through the forest.

Karen’s eyes widened in horror.

He could already see the Baekya charging straight toward them.

“YOU CRAZY BASTARD!!”