“Hey, pull yourself together.”
TAP, TAP—!
Someone shook my shoulder as they woke me.
Forcing open my reluctant eyes, I looked around.
The scenery around me gradually came into view through my spinning vision.
“......”
The filthy, damp interior of an underground prison.
Dozens of slaves were crouched helplessly in rows.
The slaves’ miserable appearance, as though they had gone days without food, made it immediately clear just how wretched this place was.
“You’re finally awake. You were lying there without so much as a twitch, so I thought you were dead.”
I turned my gaze back to the person who had awakened me.
A sturdily built man.
Unlike the frail slaves, he had a relatively solid physique.
‘......Sven.’
That was his name.
He was the man who had slipped me bits of food while I was imprisoned.
Thanks to his help, I had managed not to starve over the past five days.
“By the way, you should start getting ready soon. It looks as though the match is about to begin.”
“......A match?”
“Yes. Can you not hear it? The spectators’ cheers?”
At Sven’s words, I listened carefully.
Just as he said, faint cheering seemed to drift in from far away.
‘Well, it’s been five days since I woke up in the prison. It’s about time for that event to begin.’
TAP, TAP—!
“Anyway, pull yourself together, friend. If we make it through this match, we can leave this living hell alive.”
After patting my shoulder, Sven gave me a broad grin and hurried off to wake the other slaves.
I watched his retreating back blankly, then let out a deep sigh.
“Phew......”
The Underworld Arena.
This was a place where horrific matches were held, where blood and flesh flew.
And within it, slaves were used as consumables.
Their human rights were trampled until their final moments, all to entertain the spectators.
‘......It’s no wonder Sven calls this place a living hell.’
Faced with that grim reality, I could not help but sigh again.
Not that it even mattered whether this place was a living hell or not. Until just three days ago, I had called it something else.
‘Tutorial Point.’
It was a space I had entered and left through the game screen hundreds of times.
“......”
Yeah.
Today marked five full days already. It was time to accept reality.
It seemed that I had fallen into the game I had enjoyed so much.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Strength : 1
Agility : 1
Vitality : 1
Magic Power : 1
Perception : 1
......
【Hidden Mastery】
Weapon Arts
Sword : Lv. MAX
━━━━━━━━━━━━
......And of all things, it was that trashy gimmick build I had made for fun.
‘At least the story seems to be unfolding according to the original flow.’
The Underworld Arena was the place where a swordsman character always first woke up whenever a new run began.
As a veteran who had gone through two hundred runs, I knew this place far too well.
But that only made my heart feel heavier.
‘......This is a place you can never escape from, no matter what you do.’
Impenetrable security.
A building designed to make escape absolutely impossible.
Even the cruelty of the overseers, who constantly maintained extreme conditions so that slaves could never dream of breaking free.
The Underworld Arena was an exceptionally brutal region in the original game, one from which escape was impossible.
Struggling here was meaningless. That was why I had spent the past five days quietly confined in the prison.
‘More importantly, I can’t even dream of escaping in this frail condition.’
That was the real problem.
There was no strength in my body at all.
My head felt as though someone had set a stone atop it, and my blurred vision spun at all hours.
Of course, it might have been because I had survived on nothing but the meager food Sven had given me over the past five days......
【Lv. 1】
......But looking at my level, that could not have been the only reason.
“......”
Slowly, I looked around.
Then, above the other slaves’ heads, translucent windows—the kind I had only ever seen on a game screen—began to shimmer into view.
【Lv. 7】
【Lv. 6】
【Lv. 8】
In Lost Elder, the average level of a healthy adult man was roughly 10.
Even those slaves, who were on the verge of starving to death, were all above Lv. 5.
In contrast, my level was 1.
When I checked my status window, not only Strength, Vitality, and Magic Power, but even every stat beneath them was covered in the same miserable numbers.
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1......
‘No wonder I have no strength in my body.’
Suddenly, a game message I had seen on the monitor a few days ago crossed my mind.
〔Warning : These character stats make normal gameplay impossible.〕
Why the hell had I ignored the system warning?
If I had known things would turn out this way, I would have distributed my stats evenly.
A deep regret washed over me far too late.
‘Still, this is the only thing I can rely on right now......’
Without a word, I looked to the very end of my status window.
More specifically, at the Twelve-Star Mythic Grade skill I had obtained by sacrificing every stat in this body.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
【 Soul of the Swordmaster 】
Grade : ★★★★★★★★★★★★(12-Star—Mythic Grade)
Category : On/Off Skill
Mana Cost : 100 Mana per second
━━━━━━━━━━━━
‘......Why is this unavailable too?’
For some reason, the Twelve-Star skill that should have been gleaming with a brilliant rainbow light had sunk into a dull gray.
Unavailable.
Ever since I woke up in the prison, 【Soul of the Swordmaster 】 had remained in that state.
‘Could it be because my maximum MP is 1?’
According to the description in the status window, the skill cost 100 Mana per second.
But my Magic Power was only 1.
Even by simple calculation, that would only let me use the skill for 0.01 seconds.
‘If the skill has been entirely disabled because I lack Mana......’
......Then it would mean that even the Mythic Grade skill I had obtained by gathering every stat in this body was impossible to use.
‘Fuck.’
A curse slipped from my lips before I realized it.
Because......
BANG—!
“Get up, you maggot bastards!”
The iron-bar door opened roughly, and five or six guards stormed into the prison.
Watching the guards handle the slaves while wildly swinging their whips, I thought to myself.
‘It’s finally starting.’
The tutorial.
An event that occurred on the fifth day after the player had been imprisoned in the Underworld Arena.
It appeared that Lost Elder’s true story was finally about to begin.
“What are you doing?! Move it, now!”
CRACK—!
A burst of pain suddenly turned my mind white.
I wondered what had happened, only to realize that one of the guards had swung a whip at my back.
“Ghk......!”
It hurt!
Fuck, it hurt like hell!
My body was already frail, and with that impact added on top of it, even my mind began to go numb.
But I could not remain still.
To avoid being whipped, the slaves and I began scrambling toward the side opposite the guards.
“Pant, pant......!”
At the end of the dark corridor, a faint light gradually came into view.
The closer we drew to it, the clearer the once-distant cheering became.
Before long, my vision brightened at once, and an open expanse greeted me.
WAAAAAAAH──!
I came to a stop and looked around in a daze.
“Ah......”
A circular arena surrounded by tens of thousands of spectators.
Perhaps a match had already taken place, because the dust-covered dirt floor was soaked in sticky blood.
A few corpses that had not yet been cleared away rolled and rolled across the ground.
Then, a man’s cheerful voice began booming throughout the arena.
─All right, then! Today’s second match begins!
I turned toward the source of the voice.
At the very top of the arena, a one-eyed man who appeared to be the announcer continued his loud commentary while holding a mana loudspeaker.
─On the first side, fifteen slaves affiliated with the Underworld Arena!
─Dragged into this living hell for failing to repay their debts, they have now become gladiators fighting for freedom!
─The slaves who survive this match will have all their debts forgiven, and will even receive the enormous sum of 100 million Shillings from the Ruins Merchant Company !
Rusty weapons were scattered throughout the arena.
Some quick-witted slaves snatched them up the instant the announcer finished speaking.
GRAAAANK—!
At that moment, the iron bars on the opposite side of the arena began to open.
At the same time, the announcer introduced the common enemy the slaves would have to face together.
─And here is the hero who will face these fifteen slaves alone!
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly.
For some reason, the announcer’s next words seemed to echo in my ears.
After all, I had seen this scene more than a hundred times while playing Lost Elder.
─......The Human Butcherrrr, Barba!
The scene I had only seen through the monitor began playing out before me in reality.
THUD—!
The ground rumbled heavily.
Well over three meters tall.
From the dark corridor, a warrior clad in massive armor emerged slowly, holding a pair of axes.
And above his head floated a translucent window.
【Lv. 71】
Level 71, no less.
Considering that those above Level 90 were always counted among the world’s strongest, Human Butcher Barba could truly be called one of this region’s foremost fighters.
Even in the original setting, he was known as the strongest among the gladiators of the Underworld Arena.
He was not a slave like us. Instead, he was a skilled free man hired by the Underworld Arena.
WAAAAAAH—!
With the entrance of the star gladiator who represented the Underworld Arena, cheers far greater than anything before engulfed the stadium.
“Ah, aaahhh......”
The slaves’ faces turned pale.
Some of them saw the gladiator approaching us with a murderous aura and completely lost their will to fight, collapsing to the ground.
“Pull yourselves together, you bastards!”
At that moment, one slave seized a spear that had been rolling across the ground and shouted in a powerful voice.
......It was Sven.
Staring directly at Human Butcher Barba, he growled boldly.
“We overwhelmingly outnumber him! If we kill that one giant knight, we’ll be free!”
Freedom.
The moment that word was uttered, the atmosphere among the slaves changed.
Hope had already begun to gather in their eyes.
Gripping the handles of their battered weapons tightly, the slaves once again ignited their will to live.
“......”
But upon seeing them, I had no choice but to bite down hard on my lip.
I knew far too well what ending this tutorial would ultimately reach.
‘......No one survives.’
Every slave who fought this match would die.
Without a single exception.
Even the player’s character would have their body split in two by Human Butcher Barba’s twin axes.
WHIRRRR—!
SPLAT—!
The noisy arena fell silent in an instant.
With a sound like a watermelon bursting, dark-red blood scattered in every direction.
I turned my head behind me.
An enormous axe had neatly cleaved Sven’s face in half.
THUD—.
The body collapsed helplessly.
A moment later, an explosive reaction erupted from the stands.
WAAAAAAAH──!!
After that, it was a continuous one-sided slaughter.
True to his moniker of Human Butcher, Barba swung his twin axes and continued the festival of slaughter for the spectators.
Fresh blood and entrails flew through the air.
The terrified slaves fled wildly from Barba, only to meet their deaths beneath his flying axes.
All I could do was watch the situation with uneasily trembling eyes.
‘My body...... won’t move!’
It was not because fear had frozen my body.
No matter how desperately I struggled, something outside the laws of physics bound me tightly.
The tutorial cutscene.
An unknown force was restraining my movements to perfectly recreate the perspective of the footage I had only ever watched through the monitor.
‘......Right.’
This was how the tutorial progressed.
Neither the player nor the slaves could ever defeat Human Butcher Barba.
It was not simply because of the difference in levels. The game itself had been made that way.
Countless veteran players had tried to hunt him.
But once Barba’s HP fell below a certain gauge, the screen would automatically shift to a cutscene where the player was executed.
......The system had been designed so that the player would inevitably die.
‘Ultimately, the player killed by the Human Butcher is thrown into a pit of corpses......’
And, with the aid of a 「Necromancer 」 who happened to wander nearby, they are revived as undead.
It was a narrative device meant to lend plausibility to Retry whenever the character died.
The player’s first death in the tutorial could be called Lost Elder’s true introduction.
“......”
But just because the original story unfolded that way did not mean I intended to simply give up on my life.
A game is a game, and reality is reality.
More than anything, even if I could be resurrected by a Necromancer according to Lost Elder’s story......
I did not want to meet death.
There was an “important reason” why I could not.
“Phew, hoo.”
Of course, I knew it too.
Under normal circumstances, there was no way that I, at only Level 1, could survive against that Level 71 monster.
As if to prove it, not one among the tens of thousands of spectators had any expectations for me.
‘Still, it isn’t completely impossible.’
Because......
Ding—!
〔Available〕
From the moment I grasped the hilt of an old sword that had been rolling across the dirt floor.
The Twelve-Star skill that had remained dormant until then gleamed with a brilliant rainbow light.
‘......So the condition for using the skill was holding a sword.’
The skill had not been disabled because my maximum MP was 1.
Nor had it been disabled because my Strength and Vitality stats were absurdly low.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
【Hidden Mastery】
Weapon Arts
Sword : Lv. MAX
━━━━━━━━━━━━
It was simply that, as befitted the reward I had obtained by investing everything into my talent for swordsmanship......
The skill only activated when I gripped a sword.
“Phew.”
FWOOOOOSH—.
At that moment, together with a notification sound, control of my body returned to me.
The tutorial cutscene had ended.
After taking a deep breath, I looked at the MP window floating before me.
〔MP : 1/1〕
0.01 seconds.
By simple calculation, the maximum time I could maintain 【Soul of the Swordmaster 】, which consumed 100 Mana per second, was exactly 0.01 seconds.
‘Is it possible......?’
Even if it was a Twelve-Star skill, could it kill that monster in the fleeting span of 0.01 seconds?
I did not know.
To find out, I had no choice but to use the skill directly against Human Butcher Barba.
“Ghhhhh......!”
I gripped the hilt tightly and pulled the one-handed sword embedded in the dirt from the ground.
Perhaps because my Strength stat was 1, even simply lifting the sword made my arms tremble violently.
Some spectators burst into mocking laughter as they looked at me.
Even Human Butcher Barba, who was hunting the other slaves in the distance, gave me a brief glance before immediately turning away.
He appeared indifferent, as though someone like me was not even worth being wary of.
“......”
Yeah.
Of course I looked ridiculous.
An emaciated slave dressed in rags no better than scraps of cloth, unable to properly lift even a single sword.
‘Still......’
Praying that this desperate struggle would mean something.
With the feeling of clutching at a lifeline, I activated 【Soul of the Swordmaster 】—
〔MP : 1/1〕
TICK—.
〔MP : 0/1〕
KABOOOOOOOM───!!
A deafening roar that seemed to rip apart heaven and earth.
A powerful gust of wind struck without warning, forcing my eyes shut.
The clothes on my body fluttered as though they might be torn away at any moment, while my hair whipped wildly in every direction.
After that momentary commotion passed, the arena fell utterly silent.
I opened my tightly shut eyes.
“......!”
My heart nearly stopped.
Human Butcher Barba, who had been far away only moments ago, was standing directly in front of me.
But that was not the only strange thing.
For some reason, both arms holding the one-handed sword were stretched straight out in front of me.
And the tip of that rusted blade......
SLICE, SLICE—.
......Had cleanly cut through Barba’s neck, where his head had vanished.