The Master of the Tutorial is Overpowered in a New World

Ubeta, Long Ago

The pillar of black stone sat silently on a hill. There were no runes carved into its hexagonal shape and no archways surrounding it that flickered through scenes of other worlds. It was out of place there, clearly crafted by someone, yet nobody had ever claimed to be its creator. It was likely because nobody knew of its existence other than its creator, as it was so far away from any sort of civilized life. Despite the distance, everyone knew that the obelisk had activated that day when the red light had connected the sky and the land.

The young man who had appeared at the foot of the obelisk had awoken with a headache so painful that his first thought was the desire to die. He could do nothing as he grasped at his head, screaming in a primal fashion as every memory that both was and was not his flooded his every sense. Eventually, his voice failed to continue and the scream continued in silence. Days of constant agony wracked his mind and body, leaving him unable to focus on anything around him. He was fortunate enough to be avoided by everything that may have otherwise sought to kill him. Then, one day, it finally ended and left him so exhausted that he immediately lost consciousness. More days would pass as he slowly healed, long before he would have a skill to expedite the process.

“I am Chariel,” he said, once he regained function, “No. I am someone else. I don’t want to be him. I am… Charlie? Think, that can’t be the answer. It’s just his in a different order.”

He would agonize over what to call himself for days as he progressed away from the obelisk site, in search of something he was unsure of. Along the way, he found himself picking up skills and fighting against monsters for survival, causing him to level up. Days turned into weeks, and then into months with no signs of civilization. He was relieved the day that he crested a hill and saw the riverside village in the valley below.

At this village, its inhabitants were a race of beings who looked much like otters. They possessed long bodies with a tail and short limbs, which featured webbed digits for enhanced swimming ability. Their faces took after their animal ancestors, so were it not that many walked upright he might have mistaken them for simply oversized otters.

“Greetings, human. Who are you?”

“I am Char… less… whaaa…?” he had slurred out as a wave of fatigue had overtaken him on the spot.

He would later realize that he had been forcing himself beyond all limits, which was why upon reaching a modicum of safety, he had released so much tension that he had slipped back into a state of unconsciousness.

“Charles?” a voice would break through several days later.

He awoke to find what he thought to be a vision at first. Standing slightly over him was a human woman who had been utilizing healing magic on him. Her long, brown hair was tucked back behind her ears as she smiled at him.

“Hello there, Charles. Welcome back to the living,” she had joked.

By the time you read this letter…

Charles had dreaded the letter when he first read those words. Sister Therese, the woman who he had first met all that time ago in the otterfolk’s village, had been reassigned. It was a dangerous prospect to move between settlements, and even sometimes to live in them, because of the various monsters that prowled the landscapes. Many were, as he knew from looking at the inherited memories, overtuned for use in the System under development. This world was the testing ground for all of them, with the denizens of this world being nothing more than playthings to Chariel. They had little access to System options, if any, and were constant victims of monsters, spells, and whatever other glitches and bugs existed.

He had rushed back to the otterfolk village upon receiving the letter, but was too late to be her escort. Instead he was forced to follow the trail, finding the caravan not even three days away. Every traveler had been killed, but none impacted Charles as much as when he had found her. It was a grief greater than the pain upon his birth into this world. He had hunted down everything in retaliation, getting stronger and stronger. As no creature could stand in his way any longer, the realization that it was not the creature’s fault set in. It was his fault. He had not taken care of what mattered to him. Instead he had tried to fulfill his duty, encouraged by Therese, so that he could return to her side. Except his duty never ended. There was always a monster to be slain, a spell to test, a skill to acquire. There were moments that he even seized control, taking over Charles’ movements for some purpose. He only remembered the blank voids in those moments.

Eventually, even his anger subsided, leaving nothing for him to strive for. That was when the taunting had started. Memories and dreams featuring Therese flitted through his mind. Someone he could never have. He made a vow to himself to end Chariel’s reign. It was at that moment that his power, his strength, and even his reason began to be stripped away. Charles was left imprisoned in the empty husk that was his body. He performed actions and spoke, but he had no control. He found himself stuck at a cart, selling mundane items to those chosen by the now functioning System. Then she appeared before him.

He would later learn her name was Theresa, and went by Tess, but she was undoubtedly Therese, or perhaps an alternate version of her. She was real and before him, yet he could not reach her. He lamented that she would leave in such a short time again, only to find himself tormented as she was stuck within the Tutorial. He wanted to help her, he had to. Then came the moment when she finally was going to escape, and she came to say goodbye to him! He thought of the letter, lost so long ago, and wept as she walked away from him again.

Ubeta, Present

“I’m not sure what I expected, but it seems fairly normal,” Tess commented.

They had arrived at an area clearly meant to be set up in a similar fashion to the obelisk in the Tutorial. The archways that flashed through different scenes before locking in on one were absent, which had been the initial sign that they had escaped. The obelisk here was hexagonal instead of square and lacked runes carved into its surface.

“So where do we go now?” she asked.

Charles, however, was hunched over on the ground. She was rapidly growing concerned as he seemed to shake and quiver. In that concern, she cast a healing spell. She brought her hand back after completing it, only for Charles to reach out and grab it.

“It’s the same as you did then.”

“What?” Tess asked.

“I missed you so much.”

Tess felt conflicted. The sensations she had felt before were excited, yet she was confused by his statements.

“Charles? I’ve never been here.”

His smile faltered as she said that. She saw the recognition pass through his eyes as he realized his mistake.

“I’m sorry, Tess. There’s a lot to being here again.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“In time. But right now there are other things we should discuss.”

Tutorial

“Daddy, I’m sorry,” Olivia murmured.

Viktor sat at the table in the cabin, sipping at a glass of whiskey. Shrapnel was being pulled from the wounds on his leg at the moment, so that his healing skill would function properly.

The duel against the merchant was fierce. He had been genuinely impressed that the merchant had kept up with him. Then the merchant had even taken the upper hand in their fight and Viktor felt the trouble begin. He had started to lose his composure as the merchant pressed on, losing focus on his surroundings. So when the girl had called out for the merchant, he had almost expected to die as he saw Olivia’s rampant spell out of control and aimed at him.

Origin had seen the inevitable outcome of the situation and had already started moving by the time the girl had called out. As a result, Viktor had been knocked out of the way, meaning Origin had taken the blow from Olivia’s spell. It had ended up cutting right through to his core, which exploded and sent the fragments in every direction. Viktor’s proximity meant he had been peppered by the fragments, which were now being removed.

Viktor hardly felt the blame was entirely Olivia’s, since he had lost sight of things too. However, it was her loss of control that had nearly been catastrophic. She was not ready to take over from him, and honestly would likely never be capable. He had considered another heir, but the strain it had put him under when he created Olivia was too great for his form. Although perhaps now that this System had bolstered him to a degree far beyond what he had ever been before, there was an opportunity.

“Leave us,” he ordered.

Olivia ran from the cabin.

“Is it time to replace her, Origin?” Viktor asked.

Origin, having commandeered a new physical form since the explosion, had been the one removing the fragments from Viktor. He emerged from his crouched position and stood silently nearby.

“It is possible. Should I begin searching through the database for a donor requiring the least number of alterations to the genetic sequences?”

Viktor pondered as he looked around, his eyes landing on the biographies on the bookshelves.

“Do that. But let’s also take a look at those. Maybe instilling my mindset into the strongest combination of these will give the results I want.”

“Right away sir.”