The two who escaped from the castle’s underground prison came upon a fierce battle unfolding on the first floor between the cult soldiers and the castle soldiers.

‘This is complete chaos. I expected this when the Overseer accepted my proposal, but still.’

Unlike Seong-Min, whose expression didn’t change, Bell Gibson looked genuinely surprised.

It wasn’t just Bell Gibson.

The viewers watching the same scene through the dimensional broadcast grew lively as well.

[This is the first time I’ve seen the cult and the Overseer’s soldiers fighting in the tutorial.]

[ㄷㄷ How do you even trigger something like that?]

[That didn’t happen when I played.]

Seong-Min briefly explained the current situation to Bell Gibson.

“It seems the cult that came here has had a falling out with the Overseer. That’s good news for us.”

As Seong-Min took a few steps forward, someone blocked their path.

It was a castle soldier.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

The soldier shouted boldly, but it seemed he’d heard rumors about Seong-Min, as he didn’t dare to attack right away.

After all, hadn’t Han-Saem himself tried to fight him and ended up losing the ability to reproduce?

When Seong-Min took another step forward, the visibly nervous soldier backed off.

“Th-this guy’s escaping! He’s escaping!”

But the soldier didn’t forget to alert the surroundings about his escape.

Seong-Min noticed the cult soldiers converging on their location.

He asked Bell Gibson.

“Think you can handle it? You were part of the cult, weren’t you?”

Bell Gibson responded with action rather than words.

He rushed forward and struck down a charging cult soldier with the blunt weapon in his hand, splitting the man’s head like chopping firewood.

As the soldier with the shattered head collapsed to his knees, some of the other charging cult soldiers hesitated.

Seeing this, Seong-Min smirked faintly.

‘Still the same. That guy didn’t get along with the cult either.’

Bell Gibson, who had grown disillusioned with the corrupt cult, was one of the rare genuine clerics in the game.

Seong-Min narrowed his eyes at the cult soldiers converging on them.

‘The cult is a troublesome faction, but compared to others, they’re not the worst.’

The cult faction in the tutorial had intense hostility toward the protagonist, becoming a constant source of trouble throughout the game.

But there were those far worse than the cult.

‘The cult is essentially under their control.’

The ones currently pulling the strings of the cult were not gods.

It was money.

Issuing indulgences and greedily amassing wealth, they had long since become loyal debtors of the Infernal Bank.

‘The later I clash with those Infernal Bank bastards, the better.’

Finishing his thoughts, Seong-Min clenched his fist.

His piercing gaze focused on a soldier running toward him.

The soldier, armed with a sword and shield, was panting heavily from the prolonged battle.

‘Conveniently exhausted.’

No matter how well-trained a soldier was, once their stamina was depleted, they couldn’t fight at full strength.

‘This is the 105th time I’ve seen something like this.’

When Seong-Min stepped forward, the startled soldier hastily raised his shield.

‘There are three possible patterns after this.’

The first was to charge clumsily with the shield raised.

The second was to throw away the shield and attack with the sword.

The third was to grab a spear from the ground and charge instead of using the sword.

‘Which one will it be this time?’

Perhaps too out of breath, the soldier discarded his shield and gripped his sword tightly.

In that instant, Seong-Min dashed forward like lightning.

He didn’t give the soldier a moment to recover his stamina.

‘If I strike now, it’s almost guaranteed victory!’

Even a trained soldier, once given time to recover, could become a threat. Seong-Min expertly exploited this weak moment, stepping on a nearby object to propel himself upward.

Before the soldier could properly defend, Seong-Min’s fist landed squarely on his face.

In an ordinary scenario, the soldier might have tried to block with his sword, but having discarded his shield, his exhausted body had no energy left for such a response.

The airborne punch carried incredible force, augmented by kinetic power, doubling its impact.

The soldier, hit directly, lost five front teeth and slammed the back of his head onto the ground.

• You have defeated a cult soldier. Experience points acquired.
• Your level has increased. Current player level: 3.

[ㅋㅋ Look at this low-level scrub taking on a seasoned player.]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

• ‘GangnamLandlord’ has logged in.

[Ah, finally got in. ㄱㅇㄷ!]

[Is this the guy who cleared BloodLand? Just saw the announcement ㄷㄷ.]

[For real?]

[ㅇㅇ Saw the notice, waited 30 minutes to join, and finally made it.]

[No way. He actually cleared it? Is he even human?]

• ‘ApgujeongMansour’ has donated 30,000 won.

[Wow, 30,000 won? Isn’t that like 300 balloons?]

[ㄷㄷ Such a rich guy.]

Unaware of the 30,000 won donation, Seong-Min clenched his fist amidst the burning castle.

‘Too easy. It’s almost laughable.’

After swiftly dealing with two more soldiers who attacked him, Seong-Min looked around for Bell Gibson.

“How’s it going on your end?”

Just like Seong-Min, Bell Gibson had dispatched a horde of cult soldiers. Gripping his blood-soaked blunt weapon, he approached Seong-Min.

As expected, he was a reliable ally.

“If we’re done here, let’s head out.”

The two immediately made their way outside the castle.

The moment they stepped out, an arrow shot toward Seong-Min as if lying in wait.

In that instant.

Kyaaaak~!

The divine raven, which had been perched silently on Seong-Min’s shoulder, flapped its wings to create a whirlwind, deflecting the incoming arrow.

Seeing the arrow embedded in the ground, Seong-Min quickly turned his gaze to where it had been fired from.

There, a soldier stood—a soldier who seemed oddly familiar.

If you’re a seasoned player, it’s a face you’re tired of seeing.

‘You again?’

The soldier who shot the arrow from the top of the wall frowned when he saw Seong-Min flipping him the middle finger.

However, as soon as his eyes met the one-eyed raven perched on Seong-Min’s shoulder, his entire body froze, unable to pull the bowstring any further.

‘W-what is this? Why can’t I move?’

It felt like he was being stared down by a demon.

The raven’s gaze was nothing short of terrifying.

• ‘Divine Raven’ has immobilized the enemy with Demonic Gaze.

One of the many abilities possessed by the special-grade Divine Raven: Demonic Gaze.

This was a power of cursed eyes that could paralyze one or more enemies simply by staring at them.

Seong-Min smiled faintly at the frozen soldier who couldn’t draw his bow.

‘This is why I don’t need to bother becoming a magician.’

A Divine Beast that not only controls the currents of air but also wields the power of cursed eyes as freely as this.

‘There’s a reason it’s special-grade.’

[That raven is so OP ㄷ]

[Is that some kind of cursed-eye ability?]

[ㅇㅇ]

[Whoa… a Divine Beast?]

[Yeah, that’s the Hell Raven. Later it burns everything to ashes. It’s amazing.]

• ‘GangnamLandlord’ donated 10,000 won.
• ‘逾期不候’ donated 60 yuan.

Seong-Min spoke to Bell Gibson, who was following behind him.

“The castle soldiers are too busy fighting the cult. Let’s use this chance to escape.”

Bell Gibson, unable to reply, stared intently at Seong-Min.

He seemed like he wanted to ask something, his lips twitching slightly as if itching to speak.

Noticing this, Seong-Min decided to scratch the itch for him.

“You’re wondering where we’re going next?”

They had agreed on escaping together.

But the steps beyond that weren’t as clear.

Bell Gibson, having effortlessly dealt with a charging soldier, nodded in agreement. In response, Seong-Min jerked his chin toward the massive mountain located behind Kolhen Castle.

“We’re heading there.”

The viewers began raising questions about the unexpected choice.

[??? You can go that way? Don’t most people escape through the main gate?]

[Isn’t that the direction where the Kobold King is?]

[The Kobold King? No way you can beat that, right?]

Valhalla Mountain was infamous across the continent for being particularly treacherous.

Not only was it hard to traverse, but it was also crawling with yetis.

Thinking it was impossible, Bell Gibson shook his head vehemently. Seong-Min, aiming to persuade him, explained further.

“If we go that way, we can shake off the soldiers here. And there’s the Steelstone Mine there. We’re not crossing the mountain; we’re going to cut through the mine.”

Upon hearing mention of the mine, Bell Gibson finally seemed to understand and began nodding in agreement.

Seong-Min, spotting more soldiers converging on them, took off running immediately.

---

Long ago, Valhalla Mountain was famous for its production of Steelstone.

However, as Steelstone production dwindled and better metals were discovered, the Valhalla Steelstone Mine became the Kobold King’s lair.

As Seong-Min ascended Valhalla Mountain, which loomed directly behind Kolhen Castle, numerous system messages flooded his vision.

• The global quest has been updated.

[Main Quest (1)]

• Valhalla Mountain (In Progress)
• You successfully escaped from Kolhen Castle, but it’s too soon to relax. Kolhen Castle will soon send a pursuit party once they discover your escape. Use the abandoned Steelstone Mine in Valhalla Mountain to cross the mountain and completely evade their pursuit.
• Escape the Execution Grounds (Complete)
• You successfully escaped Kolhen Castle with Bell Gibson.

Follow-up reward:

• Execution Grounds Escape has been completed. Experience points gained.
• Your level has increased. Current player level: 5.

[Congrats on the level up ㅊㅋㅊㅋ]

[Is it really okay to head toward the Steelstone Mine? I thought it was impossible to get through there.]

[You can get through, but only if you don’t follow the normal methods.]

• ‘VibraniumSpoon’ has logged in.

[Ah, finally got in. It’s ridiculously hard to join. The secondary broadcast has over ten thousand viewers, but why does the main one only allow a hundred people?]

[ㄷㄷ Since when did it get this crowded?]

[It’s chaos right now because the guy who cleared BloodLand is streaming his official broadcast.]

Ignoring the chat, Seong-Min focused solely on himself.

• The Trait List has been unlocked.
• The player can choose one of the available traits to adopt as their own.

‘Finally, the traits are unlocked.’

Unlike perks, which only provide advantages, traits came with both strengths and weaknesses, serving as true characteristics of a character.

While climbing the mountain, Seong-Min opened the list of available traits.

[Trait List]

◇ Bookworm with Glasses: Drastically reduced field of vision. +1 Intelligence.

◇ Fleet-Footed Illiterate: “Black squiggles mean writing, white space means background… what does this even say?” Cannot read. +1 Agility.

◇ I Am One With Nature: Overall stat boost of 30% in highland or mountainous terrain. -2 Leadership, -1 Affinity due to a tendency for social withdrawal.

Among the dozens of traits available, Seong-Min, in true seasoned player fashion, selected this one:

◇ Meditator: After one hour of uninterrupted meditation, +1 Spirit for 24 hours. Effect stacks.

‘It’s the perfect trait for a Kabbalah Heretical Monk.’

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