The Veteran Player Already Knows

Chapter 2 - Graduation Ceremony (1)

The job of the ‘Boot Camp’ that appeared in [Conqueror] was simple.

To nurture cadets to be dispatched to the guilds established to conquer the tower.

And right now, I was standing blankly in the auditorium of such a place.

How did I know this was that place?

Because this was a place I had seen countless times in the game, for fuck's sake.

“…”

I forced down the wave of nausea rising in my throat.

If it weren't for the crowd of people swarming around, I probably would have just let it out.

Well, let's just accept that I died.

It wasn't really something to just accept, but making a fuss about it now would be pointless, so it was better to move on for now.

On top of that, let's also just accept that I possessed a body in the game I was working on, without any context.

In the first place, questioning the reason for mysterious phenomena only gave you a headache.

But.

[Kim gyu-sik]

[Lv.1]

[ Strength: 1

Agility: 1

Durability: 1

Stamina: 1

Luck: 1

Magic: 1 ]

This, I couldn't stand.

I immediately dismissed the status window that made my blood boil just by looking at it.

The controls were familiar, as the design was completely identical to the interface I had always seen during development.

And the truth I had found hard to accept since a while ago felt all the more clear now that I saw this.

I possessed a body in the game I had made.

A world teeming with monsters that could tear people apart like paper, and superhumans who hunted those monsters for a living.

Fuck.

“…”

Proposition one.

Kim gyu-sik is a son of a bitch.

My life had ended because of this bastard, and now he was tormenting me even in my new life.

No.

If I was going to be transmigrated, there were plenty of good characters, but of all people, I had to possess the one in the worst condition.

‘I'm in real trouble.’

The world of Conqueror was a world where deadly attacks aiming for the characters' lives rained down every other day.

The standard stats for a truly ordinary person were around 3, so with garbage stats plastered with 1s like these, survival could never be guaranteed.

Although I was a crazy hardcore player who had been trying to see the ending by sticking with this guy, controlling a character in a game and actually becoming that guy were naturally two different problems.

A lament naturally flowed out in a mumble.

"Life sucks…"

"gyu-sik. Why are you suddenly cursing?"

With dazed eyes, I turned my head to look at the one who had whispered that.

I scanned him up and down.

His appearance was somehow familiar. Just like someone I had created.

I asked a question to confirm.

"Hey.“

"Hmm? Why?"

"Who are you?"

"It's already past lunchtime, are you still not fully awake? Should I kick you in the nuts or something?“

Seeing the smooth reply, it was clear that this guy was quite close to the Kim gyu-sik I had possessed.

Well, then there was only one person it could be.

"Are you perhaps Ho-jun?"

"Very good. Do you remember my last name?"

"Yoo?"

"Looks like I don't need to beat you awake."

Yoo Ho-jun. Kim gyu-sik's best friend.

A tall stature, handsome features, and flawless, cleanly shining square glasses.

Hmm.

For a weakling on a similar level as me, he was needlessly handsome.

I did put some effort into his modeling, but seeing him in person, for some reason.

“You look even more detestable than I thought.”

“…Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden?”

“Because life sucks.”

When I told him bluntly, Yoo Ho-jun looked back at me as if I were a crazy person.

What. I only stated a fact.

"It's starting now, so stop the idle chatter and look forward. It's graduation, and I don't want to get on anyone's bad side for no reason.“

Graduation, huh.

This was the part that was basically the game's tutorial.

And just as Yoo Ho-jun grumbled, I saw the cadets lined up nearby straighten their postures.

On the platform installed in front of the solemnly arranged students, an elderly man appeared.

Yes, a face I knew as well.

Though I wasn't sure if you could call it a face I knew when I had only ever read its description.

"Wow, it looks like it's really him."

Yoo Ho-jun, who was next to me, muttered.

"That's Kim Kang-in, right?"

"Didn't you just say to stop the idle chatter?"

"When the top Climber is right in front of my eyes, I can talk a little nonsense."

Of course, it wasn't that I couldn't understand.

In the story, the status of Headmaster Kim Kang-in was truly immense.

To the fledglings who were merely cadets, he was practically a being above the clouds.

Normally, he was someone who never appeared at official events, but the setting was that he made a special appearance only for the graduation ceremony.

Indeed, among the gazes directed at Kim Kang-in, many were mixed with a sense of aspiration.

"To the cadets of the 23rd class, graduates of our school, the Climber Training Facility Boot Camp. First, congratulations."

Kim Kang-in's low, deep voice echoed through the auditorium.

"And you guys are in big trouble."

He grinned and tilted his head slightly.

A smile sharp enough to send shivers down one's spine just by looking at it was on his face.

“The tower is not a place to be taken lightly, not a single part of it. The demonic beasts are basically monstrous freaks that can tear chicks like you in half even while dozing off.”

Well, one might feel it was a bit of an exaggeration.

But considering the starting point of the game, that was the perfect expression.

It was a time when institutions capable of confronting the demonic beasts were finally being established, thanks to the all-out efforts of the entire world.

It meant that even now, all sorts of unidentified, threatening demonic beasts lurked inside the tower.

Kim Kang-in chuckled and continued.

“Still, if you're guys who have endured enough to graduate from here, you should be able to act like a person against them. Got it?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good.”

Kim Kang-in smirked.

“Then go and do well. Don't die.”

The graduation address ended with that.

With those last words, Kim Kang-in tossed the microphone onto the platform and disappeared behind the stage.

Countless cadets wore dazed expressions at his storm-like appearance and departure.

“…So, what on earth did the Headmaster want to say? What was he thinking when he said that?”

“Something like, what should I eat for dinner tonight?”

“Not a thought that a rice-waster like you would come up with.”

No.

Considering his character setting, that was probably a very accurate deduction.

"Next, we will have the oath from the 23rd class representative, Ms. Seo Ah-in."

A name that made my ears perk up was heard.

Seo Ah-in. Seo Ah-in, huh.

I carefully observed the girl who was calmly ascending the platform.

Porcelain-white skin and, as if to match, long white hair. Neat facial features.

Among them, what stood out in particular were her ruby-like red irises.

She was clearly a woman beautiful enough to capture one's gaze.

However, the cold aura she emanated, enough to know without even speaking to her, didn't make her seem like someone one could easily befriend.

And her emotionless, flat, and toneless voice gave that impression even more of a push.

"Oath. We, the entire 23rd class of cadets…"

And then followed a parade of stale and ostentatious phrases.

At least Seo Ah-in's voice was so good that it was bearable to listen to, but it was a proceeding that made me roughly understand why Kim Kang-in had fled before it began.

"But do you know what.“

"What."

"They say her family is super rich.“

At the completely random and trivial piece of information, I turned a deflated gaze to Yoo Ho-jun.

Are you some adolescent girl obsessed with gossip?

“…So what?“

"On top of that, she's never once lost the top spot in practical or written exams, right?"

"Well, she's the class representative, so of course she'd be amazing."

"Wow, for someone like her, guilds would be lining up to recruit her, right? Her future is already set. She's in a position to choose where she wants to go."

“I don't think that's quite the case.”

"What?"

A puzzled question came back, but I didn't bother to explain in detail.

In the first place, the 'flaw' of Seo Ah-in that I knew wasn't something to be openly talked about in a place like this.

"This concludes the graduation ceremony. Cadets, attention."

While I was whispering and chatting with Yoo Ho-jun, a voice was heard, as if all proceedings had ended at some point.

One of the instructors had taken the microphone and was controlling the cadets.

"We will now proceed immediately with the graduation exam. Everyone, make sure to show what you have learned so far without any mistakes."

Hmm, what a bizarre schedule.

What kind of educational institution in the world holds a graduation exam after the graduation ceremony?

Considering the form of the exam, it was probably an unavoidable adjustment due to business reasons.

“…Things like this really show that the guilds are the ones in charge. One phone call from the scouts saying they're late, and they rearrange the entire schedule.”

Hearing Yoo Ho-jun grumbling next to me, it seemed he was more or less right.

The graduation exam was a system similar to an auction where the Boot Camp puts up the ‘products’ called cadets in front of the ‘customers’ called guilds.

The customer is king, no matter what.

“Ah, I even adjusted my biological rhythm specifically for the exam time…”

Yoo Ho-jun seemed to dislike that very much, as he was grumbling incessantly.

Of course, I just smirked.

Ho-jun, don't be a baby.

You're one of the members who survives until the very end, even in the hellish latter half of the original story.

Though your results in this exam will probably hit rock bottom.

"Hey, but why are you so unresponsive? Are you confident about the test?"

“I'm not.”

Would you be, if you were me?

With my current stats, I'd be lucky not to be humiliated.

Though even that would be close to impossible.

Thinking that, I looked at the status window again.

‘…Hmm?’

And I immediately realized something was strange.

The biggest reason stemmed from the item labeled ‘Skills’.

‘Why is everything unlocked?’

Skills that could be learned were displayed in white, and those that couldn't were displayed in black.

But in the window I was looking into, ‘all’ skills were displayed in white.

Strange.

Even the character who could learn the most skills in this game couldn't learn even 40 percent of the total number.

Because the world's lore had set a limit that way.

So, this was one of two things.

Either its operating principle was different from the interface I knew.

Or it was a bug.

“…”

And as soon as that thought crossed my mind, I remembered why I had been working on this guy nonstop before coming to this world.

That's right, a bug.

Kim gyu-sik was a character who had an unbelievable bug from the start.

A character who had access to every single skill that existed in this game.

“…”

And that was.

An unbelievable talent.

A feature that even characters with the potential to become the ‘protagonist’ did not possess, a cheat key in and of itself.

“…Hey, Ho-jun.”

“Yeah?”

Unable to control the smile spreading across my face, I continued speaking to Yoo Ho-jun.

“You asked me earlier if I was confident about doing well on the test, right?”

“I did? Why?”

“About that, I'm actually not confident.”

“What an obvious thing to say…”

I gave a full-blown smile to Yoo Ho-jun, who replied in a deflated voice.

"I'm not confident that I'll do badly."

"…"