‘Huh? I can alter stats? And someone else’s, at that?’
Dumbfounded, Rough pressed Confirm with trembling fingers.
[Strength: 18 → 17]
[Total Combat Power: 501 → 496]
The bandit’s Strength and Total Combat Power changed slightly.
‘So this is what it means to dominate something.’
The Advanced Status Window’s description had clearly included wording like this:
It allowed him not only to see through hidden essences, but also to understand—and even dominate—the nature of all things.
Here, dominate meant freely adjusting stats.
‘It would’ve been nice if I could adjust HP, MP, and levels too, but I guess that’s not possible. Well, that would be ridiculous.’
Even this alone was an absurdly overpowered ability.
Besides, there was no need to be disappointed. The Advanced Status Window was only Level 1 right now.
Its potential for growth was limitless.
[You are the first user in Dream World Online to use a personal trait!]
[You have acquired the title “I’m First!”]
[I’m First!]
[A unique title granted to the first user in Dream World Online to use a personal trait.]
[Effect: All stats +2%]
[※ Applies equally to special stats.]
[Total Combat Power: 320 → 320]
Perhaps because his base stats were too low, neither the personal trait nor the title’s effect changed his Combat Power.
Yet Rough was far from disappointed.
‘A unique title?’
Instead, his eyes gleamed in amazement.
‘An additional 2% to every stat? That effect is insane.’
For now, his stats were pitiful, so the effect was negligible.
But as he leveled up and his stats increased, the extra 2% would shine brighter and brighter.
The increase would snowball.
Only then did Rough become certain.
The personal trait he had received from the pre-registration coupon was an incredibly powerful ability.
At the same time, he became intensely curious.
‘It’s already this broken. What will happen once it levels up?’
Rough steeled himself.
He would definitely clear the tutorial.
For the reward that would raise his personal trait’s level.
“Hey, punk. When an elder asks you a question, you answer.”
The bandit addressed Rough again.
‘Ah, right. This guy was here too, wasn’t he?’
Only then did Rough turn his gaze toward the bandit, having been too busy examining his title.
“Huh? You’re not going to answer?”
Rough ignored him.
‘First, I’ll lower every stat I can. Just wait a little longer. I’ll show you hell.’
Regardless of the bandit’s babbling, he silently hammered the buttons on the Status Window, lowering every stat.
“Puhahaha! Look at his hands shaking because he’s scared! What a cute little coward!”
The bandit burst into laughter, having completely misunderstood the situation.
He had no idea that his own stats were dropping.
[Stats cannot be lowered below 1.]
[Would you like to apply the changes?]
‘Yes.’
Rough agreed.
The changed stats were immediately applied.
[Bandit A]
[Strength: 1 △▽ Agility: 1 △▽]
[Intelligence: 1 △▽ Luck: 1 △▽]
[Total Combat Power: 496 → 344]
[Duration: 30 seconds]
At first, the bandit’s Combat Power had been about one and a half times Rough’s.
And now—
With a single use of Rough’s personal trait, it had fallen to nearly the same level as his in the blink of an eye.
‘Huh? This is strange. Why does my body suddenly feel so weak?’
The bandit clearly panicked as he noticed the change in his body.
Rough smiled faintly at him.
“Well, you’ve waited long enough. It’s time for you to die.”
Without hesitation, Rough struck first.
“Huh? W-Wait—!”
Smack!
A sharp sound rang out as Bandit A turned gray and disintegrated.
With all his stats at 1, he had been unable to react at all.
***
‘What? It feels like the atmosphere has changed.’
The bandits’ leader sensed that something was wrong.
He stopped fighting and scanned the battlefield, soon realizing the cause.
“Is it because of that guy?”
The leader’s eyes fixed on Rough.
Judging from his beggar-like appearance, he was not a knight.
One might think he had to be an ally if he was not an enemy, but that was not the case.
When he distinguished friend from foe, Rough was unmistakably an enemy.
After all, he was selectively attacking only the leader’s subordinates.
At a glance, he looked like nothing special, yet every subordinate who allowed himself to be hit once turned gray and disintegrated.
Was it because they had been exhausted from fighting the knights?
No. Even the subordinates who were relatively uninjured were vanishing in one hit.
“Why is he constantly shaking one hand?”
The leader had no way of knowing that this strange action was how Rough adjusted stats.
While he observed Rough—
Crunch! Thud!
Rough killed every bandit except the leader and then stood before him.
[Bandit Leader]
[Lv: 6]
[Title: None]
[Classification: NPC]
[Affiliation: Nameless Bandit Gang]
[Disposition: Evil]
[HP: 372/540 MP: 93/160]
[Strength: 28 △▽ Agility: 19 △▽]
[Intelligence: 9 △▽ Luck: 7 △▽]
[Total Combat Power: 995]
‘Wow. Level 6, and his Total Combat Power is nearly four digits? That’s twice as high as his subordinates’.’
The leader before him was clearly different.
The bandits Rough had faced so far had merely had letters such as A, B, or C attached to their names.
They had been treated as complete extras.
Even their names had been displayed in gray.
But the leader’s name was displayed in white—and in bold, no less.
It was the game’s way of giving him special treatment as a boss monster.
‘Though it won’t matter anyway.’
Rough scoffed inwardly and activated his personal trait without delay.
[Total Combat Power: 995 → 764]
[Duration: 15 seconds]
Nearly one-fourth of the leader’s Combat Power was shaved away in an instant.
Even so, he was still a formidable opponent.
Rough did not know exactly what standards were used to calculate Combat Power.
But based solely on the numbers, there was still more than a twofold gap between them.
‘He has 372 HP left. That’s still a lot. And the duration is only fifteen seconds, so I’ll need to use my weapon.’
Shing.
For the first time, Rough drew his sword.
“You dare!”
Sensing danger, the leader pulled back his shoulder.
Just as he was about to put all his strength into his upper arm and throw a punch—
Slash!
Rough swung first, carving a deep cut into the leader.
His movements had slowed because his stats had dropped.
“Guh-urk!”
The leader let out a strangled cry and collapsed.
His limp body turned gray and disappeared.
“One hit? You’re nothing special, yet you were acting so high and mighty.”
Then system messages began to appear one after another.
[You have defeated a boss monster in a single hit!]
[An amazing achievement!]
[You have acquired the title “One Shot, One Kill”!]
[One Shot, One Kill]
[A title granted to a user who defeats a boss monster with a single attack.]
[Effect: Damage dealt to boss monsters +5%]
[Quest Complete!]
[You joined the Myel Regular Knights and annihilated the bandit gang!]
[As a quest reward, the personal trait Advanced Status Window has increased by 1 level!]
[Your affinity with Supply Officer Renof has risen greatly!]
[The next tutorial quest will follow.]
“Whoa...!”
Rough was half-dazed by the wave of rewards pouring in.
Meanwhile—
‘Gasp!’
Renof, who had been fighting the Bandit Leader, inhaled sharply.
‘Who is that man?’
The battle had gradually been turning against them.
Just as he was about to lose the will to fight in the face of certain defeat, an unfamiliar outsider had suddenly appeared and wiped out the bandits.
In single strikes, no less.
Even the leader, whom Renof himself had struggled to face.
‘I don’t know who he is, but he’s an expert capable of slaughtering everyone here if he sets his mind to it! But he only killed the bandits, which means he may be friendly toward us!’
After steadying his breath, Renof approached Rough.
“Greetings. I am Renof, Supply Officer of the Myel Regular Knights. Thanks to your assistance, we were able to escape this crisis safely. You have my sincere gratitude.”
Having just finished reviewing his rewards, Rough responded warmly.
“I couldn’t just pass by and do nothing. I’m glad I was able to help.”
“How could I ever repay this debt...?”
“Ah, then may I ask a favor of you?”
“A favor? Of course. You saved our lives—there is nothing I would refuse.”
After the first tutorial quest ended, Rough had waited eagerly for the next quest to appear.
But the system remained silent.
So Rough came up with a hypothesis.
‘It must be telling me to figure things out on my own. And the next tutorial quest will probably be determined by what I do here.’
Since Rough knew nothing about the world of Dream World Online, he decided to travel with them and build a friendly relationship.
That would allow him to obtain meaningful information and quests.
“Were you heading somewhere, by any chance?”
Rough casually tested Renof.
“Ah, we were headed east.”
“Is that so?”
With a calm expression, Rough spoke casually.
“Then we’re going in the same direction. I happen to have business there as well. How about we travel together for a while? It’s rather boring going alone.”
“Haha! Of course! I’d be happy to have you join us!”
Renof accepted without the slightest suspicion.
***
Inside Necton Up’s User Activity Monitoring Room.
Although it was long past quitting time, the room was extremely busy.
Since it was launch day, they were preparing for any unforeseen issues.
“Manager Choi, what’s the current concurrent-user count?”
Director Lee Dong-jun took a sip of coffee and asked an employee monitoring the system.
“The current global concurrent-user count is... a little over three million.”
“That’s about what we expected. What percentage of players have cleared the first tutorial quest?”
“Hmm. Based on the data so far, approximately 67%.”
“Non-combat players would have all cleared it anyway. What if we limit it to combat-oriented players?”
“Just over 20%.”
“Was the tutorial really that difficult?”
As Director Lee Dong-jun continued asking questions, he heard Assistant Manager Kim Myeong-in mutter to himself.
“Huh? That’s strange. Why has this appeared already? It shouldn’t be possible.”
Glancing over, he saw Assistant Manager Kim clutching his head as he stared at his monitor.
The monitor showed a beggar-like figure—no, Rough—traveling somewhere alongside the knights.
“Assistant Manager Kim? What’s wrong? What’s the problem?”
Director Lee Dong-jun hurried over.
“Director. This user...”
“What about this user?”
“His personal trait has been unlocked.”
“...W-What?”
Director Lee Dong-jun flinched.
“A personal trait? What the hell is th—show me!”