Everyone Except Me is a Newbie - Chapter 18

Game Life

**Non-Mainstream Swordsmanship.**

This refers to any form of swordsmanship that doesn’t follow the conventional techniques. It involves using different parts of the sword, or using the sword as a feint while overwhelming the opponent with physical combat techniques. The possibilities are endless, meaning it’s a skill with a lot of potential—especially in duels where psychological warfare is crucial.

‘Can’t believe I obtained it like this.’

Non-mainstream swordsmanship isn’t the type of skill you gain by just swinging the sword’s side a few times. 

‘And this sword… it’s incredible.’

A needlessly large greatsword. It’s something Kim Iseo couldn’t obtain during his playthrough. ‘How many routes to legendary achievements are there at the 2-star level?’

‘It’s perfect.’

The sword’s ability was exactly as Ji Ho-tae had described. The added attack power when striking with a greatsword was a feature that synergizes excellently with the acceleration gadgets.

‘And now… 2 stars!’

The sword evolved to 2 stars. The difference in stats was palpable.

‘It’s definitely different.’

Reaching 2 stars boosts the damage and reduces the cooldowns of all constellation skills. More importantly, it unlocks the level cap for basic skills.

[Intermediate Swordsmanship Lv. 10 → Advanced Swordsmanship Lv. 1 upgrade available. Would you like to pay the cost?]

[Warrior’s Body Lv. 10 → Skilled Warrior’s Body Lv. 1 upgrade available. Would you like to pay the cost?]

Kim Iseo’s skills received the upgrade notifications. From Episode 1 onwards, skill upgrades required payment. The prologue was easy for free-to-play players, but not anymore.

[2 Gold (20,000 KRW) has been paid.]

[Upgrade complete.]

Paying 1 gold (10,000 KRW) per upgrade wasn’t cheap, but Kim Iseo, who had plenty of money, didn’t mind.

[Player Info]

▻ Name: Kim Iseo

▻ Rank: Red ★★ / Blue ★★

▻ Category: Black

▻ Skills: Advanced Swordsmanship Lv. 1+5, Skilled Warrior’s Body Lv. 1+6 (Rank Up), Keen Senses Lv. 2+3, Agile Movements Lv. 1+3

▻ Mana: Red 50/50, Blue 50/50

▻ Interested Constellations: 6,842

▻ Perk: Creator’s Eye

A simpler layout, but the content was substantial. Mana had increased to 50, and all skills were upgraded to higher levels.

“Team leader, is the food ready?”

“I’m starving!”

While Kim Iseo was lost in the status screen, his team members shouted at him. He had promised to get food and had brought the team here for that reason.

“Picked this up on the way. Eat up.”

Kim Iseo pulled out a well-grilled chunk of meat from her inventory.

[Grilled Pork ×10]

* * *

Chomp. Chomp.

A hunk of meat with a bone, like something out of a comic book. Each bite was chewy, and the rich flavor and juicy meat surpassed anything from the real world.

“Wow! This is delicious!”

“I always dreamed of eating something like this while watching comics.”

The members gathered around, chatting and devouring the meat. It looked like a scene from a caveman era, but no one seemed to care.

“…Delicious.”

Even the usually silent Haewon was muttering that it tasted good. It was a peaceful scene, everyone sitting around enjoying their meal.

But the one who broke that peace was Kim Iseo.

“Now that you’ve eaten, go hunt some more.”

Kim Iseo wasn’t the type to settle for peace. He was the kind who had to squeeze out every bit of gain he knew was possible.

“Sure!”

“You’re doing this for a side quest, right, team leader?”

Choi Seoyeon hit the nail on the head. She had a pretty good grasp of the quests.

“That’s right.”

Kim Iseo nodded. When a new episode starts, it’s the season for side quests. The early quests are usually simple tasks like ‘Collect 20 Goblin Ears!’ The fire monkeys are one of the monsters for such quests.

‘Some of these side quests chain into bigger ones.’

He wanted to start gathering fire monkey tails because chained quests often offered good rewards.

“Let’s work hard and catch some more. Get more meat and tails.”

* * *

“Don’t go near the trees. There’s no good outcome from that.”

Following Kim Iseo’s coaching, the We Plug members were learning how to hunt fire monkeys. After all, none of them had as much combat experience as Kim Iseo.

They all listened attentively.

“If those guys get near a tree, they’ll shoot fire and run, since they’re more dangerous than a 3-star monster.”

Thud. Thud.

Kim Iseo tapped the grassy ground with his giant sword as he spoke.

“So put the tanks in front, and Seoyeon, you can hit and run. You should be fine. Most of you have moved on to intermediate swordsmanship, right?”

It was true. Most of the Weplug members had reached intermediate swordsmanship.

“Alright then, roll out!”

Kim Iseo kicked Heo Won-moo’s butt, sending him to the front.

“Oh no…!”

Suddenly thrust to the front lines, Heo Won-moo found himself face-to-face with the fire monkeys.

Ukkiki!! Ukkiki!

The fire monkeys were thrilled to see the easy target instead of the terrifying Kim Iseo.

Ukkiki! (That guy’s a pushover! Get him!)

Ukkiki? (Isn’t that other one fighting? He’s scary!)

Kiiieeek! (He’s just standing back with his arms crossed. Now’s our chance!)

The fire monkeys communicated in their way, planning their attack as they approached Heo Won-moo.

At that moment, Ji Ho-tae jumped in from the side.

“Hyaaa!”

Now that there were two easy targets, the monkeys were confused.

Ukkiki? (What do we do? That guy looks weak too!)

Uhnng… (Hmm…)

Kiiieeek! (Just get them both!)

The fire monkeys abandoned their ambush strategy and split into two groups.

Ukkiki! Ukkiki!

One of the leading fire monkeys spewed fire at Ji Ho-tae.

Thud.

Ji Ho-tae activated his newly acquired constellation skill, “Earth Shield.” As he planted his sword in the ground, the earth rose, forming a barrier. The fire monkey’s attack was rendered ineffective.

They decided to close in for a direct fight.

At that moment, Heo Won-moo used his new skill, “Ground Tremor.” The skill briefly lifted all nearby monsters into the air.

Boom!

The monkeys, now hanging in midair without any trees, panicked and even started breathing fire at each other.

Cutting through the flames, Choi Seoyeon dashed in.

She activated her skill in the middle of the airborne monkeys.

[Skill: Whirlwind Slash (Hero Grade). Activated!]

[Red Mana -1 per second]

As she extended her sword and spun, a storm of red mana erupted.

Slaaash!

Her sword was more than enough to slice through all the monkeys hanging in the air.

Ukkieeee…!

Kiiiieek!

The fire monkeys, caught midair, had no choice but to land on the ground after being repeatedly slashed by the whirlwind attack. By the time they hit the ground, they were already dead.

“Seoyeon! Over here too!”

Meanwhile, Ji Ho-tae and Heo Won-moo were holding their ground against the remaining monkeys.

Slaash! Slaash!

Choi Seoyeon swiftly cut down the monkeys. Despite their agility, her sword strikes never missed their mark, showing her considerable skill and control.

“Ukki!!” 

One monkey, not yet killed, managed to get behind her. It grabbed onto her head and climbed up, breathing fire downward. 

Fwoosh!

Choi Seoyeon tried to stab upward to kill it immediately, but it wouldn’t come off easily.

“Kyaaah!” 

Suddenly, Lee Haewon, who had been healing Heo won-moo, appeared above Choi Seoyeon’s head. It was thanks to a new skill called “Rescue Squad,” which allowed her to instantly teleport to an ally who was rapidly losing health.

Swoosh!

Lee Haewon’s sword quickly pierced the monkey. Despite being a member of the green star, her sword control was quite good. In fact, in Kim Iseo’s eyes, she was the most skilled, with Choi Seoyeon coming next. The only difference was that Lee Haewon lacked Seoyeon’s aggressiveness.

“Screech!”

As the monkey died, a healing wave equal to the monkey’s lost health was applied to the entire party—a unique ability of the green star. When used effectively, it allowed the party to fight like zombies, never dying. This was also why a green star was essential in a party.

“Wow… Thank you, senior Haewon!”

“Of course…”

Lee Haewon blushed for no reason.

“My hair is intact, thank goodness.”

Choi Seoyeon checked to see if her hair had been singed, but it was untouched, perhaps thanks to the healing.

“Let’s take down the next one! We can do this!”

Heo won-moo, having just knocked down a monkey, shouted with newfound confidence.

“I think we can manage.”

Ji Ho-tae also seemed to gain courage, showing his enthusiasm.

“We’ve collected a lot of tails! We have twenty now, hehe.”

The task of keeping the tails was assigned to Choi Seoyeon. For the first time in a while, all members of the WePlug team felt a sense of achievement. They felt they could manage without Kim Iseo, with a firm resolve that they didn’t need the dirty help of the Literature Department.

“Look, there are more over there. Let’s go!”

They started hunting down monkeys on their own, without needing orders from Kim Iseo. That’s right, it was no longer a battle but a “hunt.”

The difference was significant. They were no longer fighting for survival but fighting for life.

“Let’s collect all the tails!!”

The real game life of the WePlug team had begun.

* * *

 They became increasingly adept at handling the fire monkeys. Everything was going smoothly.

[Colorless / 7784: Wow, they’re all super strong now?]

[Colorless / 27475: Why are these guys so skilled?? Is this their second playthrough?]

[Red / Indomitable Warrior: There’s no regression in this universe.]

[Colorless / 7784: That was a joke, old man.]

[Colorless / 80183: Hey, they’ve made a contract, so don’t mess with them, lol.]

[Red / Indomitable Warrior: Ahem…]

Kim Iseo did nothing but watch the chat from the stars. Yet, the tails were still being gathered.

[Party Member Acquired]

[Monkey Tail ×58]

‘Of course, they’re engineers. Just grind it out, right?’

The other members, unaware of his devious thoughts, continued to hunt enthusiastically. There was now a sense of ease in their combat.

“Hahaha! Rise, monkeys from hell!”

Boom!

Heo won-moo gleefully cast “Ground Shaker,” causing the monkeys to flail in midair. Choi Seoyeon jumped up and delivered a spinning slash. Since none of the members were getting injured, Lee Haewon helped deal damage. Even as a green star, with good control, she could fulfill the role of a damage dealer.

The four of them completed the damage cycle perfectly, even without Kim Iseo. That was expected, considering Choi Seoyeon’s skill set was already close to a 2-star level in terms of destructive power. With Lee Haewon’s support, there was no need for additional damage from Kim Iseo. His strength was in burst damage, but he fell short in sustained damage compared to pure red stars.

“Wow, I’ve maxed out my Intermediate Swordsmanship!”

Choi Seoyeon’s basic skills were now reaching the limits of a 1-star rating.

“I’ve reached Agile Movement.”

Lee Haewon, too, had reached the final stage. Her role was to quickly assist allies, so her agility skill had improved rather than her swordsmanship.

“Good, good. Everything’s going smoothly.”

Kim Iseo watched from a distance, satisfied. Everyone was performing better than he had feared. The real reason Kim Iseo had them collect monkey tails wasn’t just for a side quest or food.

‘The real challenge starts now.’

The real danger was approaching. Clearing just the prologue was no reason to relax. They also needed to abandon the comfortable ethical standards of the civilized world they once lived in. 

‘To survive, they need to treat this as a game.’

Yes, paradoxically, it was more realistic to treat reality as a game. If you kill a monkey, you get grilled pork. Your sword evolves, and people die like flies. What part of this is reality? How can you live in this world as if it were reality?

‘Absolutely not.’

That’s impossible.

To live, they needed to treat reality like a game. That was the realistic thing to do now.

‘They should start by killing monkeys and building up their resolve.’

The reason Kim Iseo chose the monkey quest was not only because of the high rewards but also because monkeys are mammals most similar to humans. Killing them would help build their courage gradually because Kim Iseo couldn’t carry the burden forever.

“…Hmm?”

While he was lost in thought, he heard a scream-like shout from Choi Seoyeon in the distance.

“What, what is this!”

“Who the hell are you? This is our spot.”

A group of men with hostile expressions began surrounding Choi Seoyeon.

Kim Iseo slowly stood up.

‘Looks like we’ve found even better monkeys.’

It was time to show them how to live in this game world.

* * *

[Beginner Tip: In Mana Sword Online, repeatedly hunting the same monsters results in a penalty and becomes inefficient. Explore various monsters and regions to gain experience!]