darkness.
Not the comforting kind found in the quiet of night, nor the suffocating kind that pressed against one's skin like a deep abyss.
This was different.
Lanterns floated aimlessly around him, their golden glow flickering in the void like scattered stars. They drifted without pattern, some distant, some near enough to almost touch. There was no ground beneath him, no walls, no sky.
Yet, he was standing.
Then, a voice, mechanical yet angelic, echoed from nowhere, vibrating through the space around him.
…
[System Notification]
Welcome to the Tutorial.
Objective: Survive the Gauntlet. Defeat all eight monsters to proceed.
…
"I never imagined the trial floor would be like this."
The scenery before him was nothing like the words he had read in Orvathis—It was stark and strange, alien in its stillness.
Then, out of nowhere, a skeletal warrior appeared.
Noah barely had time to react before the skeleton lunged.
It was clumsy—rusted sword swinging with slow, jerky motions—but Noah was worse.
His stance was wrong. His grip was weak. His body refused to move fast enough.
The blade nearly grazed his side before he twisted, barely dodging in time. He countered, swinging wildly—shattering its skull.
[Stamina increased.]
[Dexterity increased.]
[Strength increased.]
Noah stumbled back, breathing heavily. That was close.
Then—
A shadow loomed over him.
He turned—just in time to see an orc towering above him, mace raised high.
"Oh, shi—"
CRACK.
His world turned black.
[You died.]
[Innocent shall receive a Second Chance.]
Noah gasped, blinking back into existence.
He was back in the void.
The lanterns still floated in their random order. The skeleton stood before him, as if nothing had changed.
He exhaled.
"…I understand now."
…
[System Window – Ark]
NAME: Noah Orthar
AGE: 20
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTE:
Innocent (Divine)
PERSONAL SKILLS:
None
STIGMA:
Innocent Shall Receive a Second Chance (497)
OVERALL STATS:
Stamina: F (5-->6)
Strength: F (4-->5)
Dexterity: F (4-->5)
Vitality: F (8)
…
Despite how he regressed, the stats increase remained put.
I just need four more chances, at most.
…
[System Window – Ark]
NAME: Noah Orthar
AGE: 20
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTE:
Innocent (Divine)
PERSONAL SKILLS:
None
STIGMA:
Innocent Shall Receive a Second Chance (491)
OVERALL STATS:
Stamina: E (20-->23)
Strength: F (15-->17)
Dexterity: E (21-->22)
Vitality: F (8)
…
Noah stood, panting, beside the hulking corpse of a minotaur.
His body ached. His breath was ragged. His legs felt like lead, his arms numb from overexertion. Every nerve screamed for rest, but there was no such thing here. Not in this place.
He had died eight times.
Eight.
Each time, he fought. Each time, he improved. Each time, he pushed himself beyond what he thought possible.
Yet, here he was—still one mistake away from death.
His fingers twitched. He could feel the strength in them, the sharper reactions, the way his body adapted with every battle. His stamina had grown, his speed had sharpened.
But—
His vitality remained the same.
F.
No matter how much he struggled, no matter how many times he was cut down, it never changed.
He gritted his teeth, a bitter thought clawing at his mind.
"How the hell does anyone clear these tutorials?"
The first "Trial Floor" was never explicitly described, only mentioned in passing. A formality. A necessary step to start climbing.
He had imagined a starting area, a place for beginners to gain footing. Not this.
Not a gauntlet designed to break him.
"This is just the first step?"
His stomach churned with frustration. How many more times would he have to die?
A deep, guttural snort yanked him back to the present.
The minotaur wasn't dead.
Not yet.
It planted its hooves, gripping its massive axe. The sheer weight of it made the air tremble. If it landed even one blow—Noah would die.
Again.
His breath hitched. His hands trembled.
Then—
He turned and ran.
His body burned, his muscles screamed, but stopping wasn't an option.
The minotaur wasn't just strong. It wasn't just fast. It understood battle.
"How the hell am I supposed to win?"
He had tried everything. Every reckless charge, every desperate maneuver, every half-baked strategy that barely worked on the monsters before—none of it mattered here.
The skeleton? Slow, brittle—yet even that thing managed to wound him. The orc? Stupid. Slow. Easy to bait. The moment his dexterity increased, avoiding its clumsy swings became easier. The kobold? A damn fluke.
He had spit his own blood into its eyes out of sheer desperation.
He could still feel the raw, instinctual rage as he stabbed it over and over, trying to erase the memories of how the guards had killed him.
The werewolf? The living armor? They should have been impossible. But in the chaos, in his mad scramble for survival, he had found a way.
But the minotaur—this was different.
"I can't even get close."
Its physique was monstrous. Its intelligence was refined. It was not some mindless beast—it knew exactly how to kill him.
He needed one strike. One long-range hit to its weak point.
But—
"I don't have the ability."
His fingers tightened into fists. His breath trembled.
His fingers tightened into fists. His breath trembled.
And then—
"HRAAAAGH!!"
A guttural, raw scream tore from his lungs as he pushed himself forward, forcing his legs to move even as they threatened to give out. He didn't care anymore.
He had survived eight deaths. But against this thing—
This was the closest he had ever felt to true hopelessness.
"Ah—why would this memory come to my mind now?"
Noah clenched his teeth, his body still moving on pure survival instinct, yet his mind suddenly drifted—back to a childhood he barely remembered.
—A playground. Faint laughter. A broken swing creaking in the wind.
He was no older than six. Back then, he wasn't Noah Orthar. He was Aaron. Just another orphan, one among many.
That day, the orphanage playground had been filled with screams. Not the kind from playful games, but real, raw fear.
A sick, angry dog had somehow slipped inside. Its ribs stuck out from under matted fur, its mouth foaming slightly as it snarled at the frightened children. The adults hadn't come yet.
Everyone ran.
Everyone hid.
Everyone except… him.
Aaron hadn't thought. Hadn't hesitated.
His game had been interrupted, and in his childish frustration, he had grabbed a pebble from the dirt and thrown it—not even aiming, not even thinking.
Just get lost already.
The small stone struck the dog's eye.
A sharp, pained whimper filled the air. The beast stumbled back, tail tucking between its legs before it turned and fled.
The other kids stared at him in silence.
He had no idea what he had done.
And now, as he ran from the unstoppable force of the minotaur, that memory surfaced, unwanted, unbidden.
A stupid moment of luck.
And so, luck struck again.
A sudden flash appeared before Noah, a notification from the system. His breath was ragged, his body aching and on the brink of collapse. Yet, somehow, the system persisted, offering him a strange blessing.
[New data synchronization complete. A hidden skill is about to bloom.]
It felt... unnatural, like a floodgate breaking loose.
As the information streamed through, Noah felt a strange connection forming within him, pulling his mind and body together.
The feeling was almost like an instinct, a buried talent finding its way to the surface, one he never knew existed.
He couldn't quite explain it, but something inside him was shifting.
[Like a spear forged in forgotten depths, unyielding and sharp. A promise born from desperate souls and unwavering will.]
The skill bloomed inside him like the end of a poem he never knew he could finish.
And then, another notification.
[You have awakened a new skill: "Gaebulg".]
For a fleeting second, Noah felt the rush of power flood into his body—a rush so intense it nearly overwhelmed him.
Power. Skill. But then, the strain of his previous injuries, the fatigue of the relentless trials, finally took its toll. His body, despite the power blooming within him, was simply too worn.
[Warning: Fatigue detected. Critical exhaustion imminent.]
Noah barely had time to register it before his lungs burned, his vision blurred, and his body collapsed mid-stride.
He was exhausted. Completely, utterly spent.
The last thing he saw was the Minotaur's shadow looming over him, raising its massive axe—
And then—
CRACK.
His world snapped into darkness.
[You died.]
[Innocent shall receive a second chance.]
…
[System Window – Ark]
NAME: Noah Orthar
AGE: 20
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTE:
Innocent (Divine)
PERSONAL SKILLS:
Gáe Bulg (New)
STIGMA:
Innocent Shall Receive a Second Chance (490)
OVERALL STATS:
Stamina: E (20-->23)
Strength: F (15-->17)
Dexterity: E (21-->22)
Vitality: F (8)