NOVEL WEB Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Wouldn’t Everyone Be Able to Do This Much?
“ID?”
I tried to move my hand to press one of the two buttons floating before me.
“Oh.”
However, I couldn’t hide my surprise when I saw the cursor moving smoothly just by thinking about it, without needing to move my hand at all.
No matter how advanced virtual reality was, I had just entered the device, and yet I could control it with mere thoughts.
Doesn’t this feel almost… ‘real’?
“...Real?”
I swallowed hard.
No way, it couldn’t be real.
Shaking off those unnecessary thoughts, I focused on the two buttons before me.
A blue button for new players.
A red button for those with an existing ID.
“I don’t have an ID… right?”
This was my first time playing the game. Having an ID already would be stranger.
I pressed the blue button with just a thought.
As the cursor selected the blue button, it sank slightly, and a blue veil began to envelop my entire body.
[Welcome to Devil of Angel.]
[Initializing starting data… Data confirmed.]
[Generating avatar… Generation complete.]
[Entering tutorial mode.]
“Ugh.”
Before I knew it, I was standing in a grassy field.
I could see blades of grass rising between my toes, rustling gently.
A cool breeze blew past, and in the distance, I could hear birds chirping.
“Wow… this is virtual reality?”
It felt far too real.
[Link Avatar. Transferring customized avatar data.]
[Tutorial - 0.1]
Objective - Check your appearance.
Reward - 10 experience points.
‘Customization?’
Did I customize my avatar?
I thought I had just started the game.
In the middle of the field stood a full-length mirror, at least 50 cm taller than me.
An orange holographic arrow pointed towards it, marking my objective.
Following the arrow, I approached the mirror.
As soon as I did, a quest completion message popped up, and I saw my reflection.
“...It’s just me.”
Lily Elbrit.
The saint of a small village, with blue hair and sky-blue eyes, stood there.
Still as tall as ever.
In the mirror, I was wearing the attire of a saint.
A white garment, adorned with long sky-blue lines symbolizing the celestial race.
The only difference was that, in the past, my outfit had been a long skirt that reached my feet, but now it was somewhat tighter.
At least it wouldn’t be inconvenient for movement.
[Tutorial - 0.2]
Objective - Talk to the farmer ahead.
Reward - 20 experience points.
A new layer of space was overlaid onto the field.
Before I knew it, a dirt path had been carved into the once-endless grass, and a new breeze blew from beyond.
An orange arrow appeared again.
Following the dirt path at a slow pace, I saw a farmer working in a field riddled with holes.
An old farmer—almost elderly—was holding a sickle and patting his lower back.
“Hello?”
“It’s been a while since we’ve had an outsider… Tsk, tsk. Would you be willing to help me?”
[Tutorial - 0.3]
Objective - Fulfill the farmer’s request.
Reward - 30 experience points, a worn-out sword stored in the warehouse.
…All of a sudden?
I was used to receiving requests for help, but it had been a while since someone asked me for assistance so abruptly.
“What’s the problem?”
“I’m trying to farm, but those damned boars keep wrecking my fields. Could you hunt them down for me?”
“...Alright.”
“Thank you! There’s an old sword I used back in the day stored in the warehouse over there—just use that to deal with them!”
The farmer repeatedly expressed his gratitude.
I gave a casual nod and made my way toward the worn-down warehouse.
Receiving thanks still felt nice.
■
“So this is what they call a sword?”
Should I have realized from the moment I saw the worn-down warehouse?
Inside the warehouse was an old sword.
It was nothing more than a piece of scrap metal that should have been discarded, without even a single rank attached to it.
Even if I tried to sell it for its metal value, it wouldn’t fetch much.
Just in case, I searched the entire warehouse to see if there was anything else, but I couldn’t find a single proper weapon.
For a brief moment, I felt the urge to take back the gratitude I had received earlier, but I held back.
In the end, this was just a game.
It wasn’t reality, so I just needed to follow the tutorial.
This was a game, not real life.
“...Logout!”
Suddenly feeling uneasy, I immediately called for logout.
[Saving data… Logging out.]
A blue screen opened, and I lifted myself out of the device.
Back in reality.
I touched my face and body, feeling around, then quickly ran to the bathroom.
Lily was looking in the mirror, smiling slightly, but her expression was a bit stiff.
“...So it really is just a game.”
Fortunately, I hadn’t been possessed or anything this time.
I could relax a little.
Lily smiled more brightly.
I logged back into the game.
■
Following the arrow’s guidance, I headed toward the area where wild boars appeared.
The once lush, green forest was now a mess.
Many trees bore marks of impacts, and half-eaten crops were scattered all around.
Deeper into the forest, I spotted wild boars with brown fur sniffing around.
Each of them was quite large—at least twice my size.
Though, I am on the smaller side.
[Tutorial - 0.4]
Objective - Eliminate 3 wild boars.
Reward - 50 experience points, 50 silver coins.
As I approached a certain distance, one of the wild boars let out a growl and charged toward me.
When I moved, the boar ran even faster.
I gripped the rusty scrap of metal—no, the sword.
I wasn’t particularly skilled with swords.
I usually preferred long spears with greater reach, or massive hammers when raw power was needed.
“Kraaaah!”
“Hmph.”
But that didn’t mean I was bad with swords.
Since I had celestial blood, I received a significant innate boost when handling any melee weapon.
Just like how demons were naturally adept at all forms of magic.
The boar charged in a straight line, and I sidestepped slightly.
As I dodged, I placed the rusted old sword in its path and gripped it tightly.
Swoosh!
The blade sliced cleanly through flesh, spraying bits of hide.
If I hadn’t been strong enough and had simply placed the sword in the boar’s path, it would have either knocked the sword away or lodged it into its tough hide, leaving me weaponless.
But I had more than enough strength.
If demons were a race of powerful sorcerers,
Celestials were simply an overwhelmingly physical race.
…But why was my strength working like this here?
“Huh?”
A sudden realization struck me, and I retrieved the sword with a puzzled expression.
The wild boar, having been cut, tumbled forward and rolled across the ground before dying.
Since this was a game, its blood was green, and there were no visible entrails.
Unlike the corpses I was used to seeing, the boar’s body didn’t look gruesome at all.
It definitely felt like a game.
I prodded the body with my sword a few times before turning my attention to the remaining two boars.
They no longer seemed as aggressive as before.
Even in a game, could monsters feel fear?
In reality, they certainly did.
I gripped my sword and rushed toward them.
The two boars, realizing they had nowhere to run, charged at me together as if they refused to lose.
I had dodged earlier because I assumed my body in the game was at the same level as my body on Earth.
But what if that wasn’t the case?
There was no reason for me to avoid attacks while counterattacking.
Boom!
The boar’s tusks clashed against my sword, and with a crunch, its tusks shattered upon impact.
Its body was slightly heavy—just a little.
Yeah, I guess I’m not fully back to normal.
I felt a bit disappointed, but if other players in Devil of Angel had seen this scene, they would have jumped up in disbelief.
Wild boar hunting was designed to show the danger of early-game monsters and introduce the concept of “death.”
Normally, a level 1 player wouldn’t be able to defeat a boar at all, and they would die.
Afterward, they’d have to return to the farmer, triggering a new quest where he realizes his mistake and provides a better sword and armor.
However, since I was a celestial—a race that was essentially a broken overpowered existence—I had just hunted a level 10+ monster using a rusty scrap of metal.
The brief struggle between a delicate-looking girl with an old sword and a massive wild boar ended in the girl’s overwhelming victory.
With fluid movements, I cleaved through the boar, slicing it cleanly in two.
The second boar, which had tried to take advantage of the opening behind me, was also cut down instantly.
I had already predicted its position.
Before I knew it, three wild boar corpses lay before me.
“I won?”
I retrieved my sword, feeling a bit empty.
Despite that, I didn’t question the battle too much.
Most tutorials were designed to teach the basics of combat.
They were structured to help players understand how fights worked.
It wouldn’t always be easy, but if the difficulty remained at this level, it wouldn’t be hard to win.
Wouldn’t everyone be able to do this much?
I smiled and headed back to the farmer.
■
“What the hell…?”
Meanwhile, an employee of Nutri Company, Lee Jina (27), who had been slacking off under the excuse of “player monitoring,” accidentally spilled her coffee as she watched the screen.
“Manager! You need to see this!”