From a hidden dimension accessible only to the administrator, Ari'mir watched over everything unfolding in the Tutorial Tower.
"Aaargh! Dammit! How am I supposed to clear this?!"
"I give up! I quit! Get me out of here right now!"
"The bureau definitely said to go right from here…"
Most challengers followed the exact same pattern.
Driven by fear or governed by caution.
Some approached it strategically, armed with prior knowledge of the Tower.
Others charged in recklessly on pure bravado.
Slight variations aside, every Awakener's reaction fit neatly within these bounds.
Except for one child.
"Just what is that child…?"
There were countless Awakeners, but there was only one that Ari'mir watched closely.
Down below, Taeho Shin hammered away tirelessly, crafting something just as he always did.
To say 'just as he always did' sounded strange, yet it was undeniably accurate.
Taeho had been performing that exact same action for six months without pause.
Clang! Clang! Hisss!
He heated the metal in the fire, hammered it into shape, and plunged it into the quenching tub—sending up a thick plume of steam.
Though Ari'mir didn't know the craft as deeply as a true blacksmith, she understood the basic process well enough.
Quenching rapidly cools newly shaped metal in water or oil—a crucial heat-treatment step that gives steel its strength and hardness.
However, the Tutorial Tower did not provide food.
Therefore, it was impossible to obtain drinking water, let alone oil.
Yet Taeho was quenching in an innovative way that Ari'mir had never even imagined.
"To utilize the core's coolant… his thinking is remarkably flexible."
A core naturally contained fluid to keep it from collapsing due to overheating.
However, everything in the Tutorial Tower was just common-grade.
A single core yielded barely enough liquid to fill a mouth.
Yet Taeho had used that tiny reserve of fluid for quenching instead of ordinary water or oil.
He spent over several weeks gathering the few drops of coolant produced by each Common-grade core.
Back then, Ari'mir thought it was a foolish, useless endeavor.
But—
"To actually succeed in making something in the end. I do not know whether to call him remarkable or foolish…"
Ari'mir sighed.
Taeho's persistence was astonishing, but her belief that it would be a waste of effort remained unchanged.
After all, this was the Tutorial Tower.
A place climbed only by Awakeners who had not even received a class yet.
"No matter how hard he tries to craft it, he won't be able to make even an Uncommon-grade item without a class. How unfortunate."
Item grades were determined by a wide range of factors.
These included the influence of materials, skills, techniques, and even classes.
But right now, Taeho possessed none of those things.
At most, he was drawing on whatever trade experience he had before his Awakening.
Staking six months of his life on nothing but prior experience and sheer stubbornness was borderline insane.
"I want to stop him, but it is truly frustrating that I cannot."
Ari'mir sighed.
The only saving grace was that this obsession wouldn't last forever.
Awakeners often assumed that one felt neither hunger nor thirst within the Tutorial Tower.
But the truth was far different.
"Half a year would be about six days in reality. If he doesn't intend to starve to death, he must start the tutorial now."
Ari'mir looked at Taeho.
She could see his stomach hollowed out from starvation and his arms trembling.
As she looked at that pitiful sight, the administrator clicked her tongue.
"I pray that whatever you worked so hard for turns out to be worth it, child."
* * *
Growl—
A loud sound demanding food echoed from his stomach.
The hunger he had felt constantly for some time now churned once again.
But having lived with the ache for so long, Taeho brushed it off and kept working as if it were nothing.
Wetting his throat with the coolant extracted from the core, he moved his arms without rest.
Ever since his first month in the Tutorial Tower, Taeho had been experiencing extreme hunger.
The only thing capable of filling his stomach was the coolant that served as a substitute for water.
With nothing to eat, his body had burned through its fat stores, leaving his ribs sticking out sharply.
Though his overworked body screamed in agony, Taeho's gaze remained steady, reflecting the flickering fire with every blow of his hammer.
It's almost done. Just a little more. Hold on. I can endure this.
Taeho swung the hammer with trembling arms.
Though his technique had improved significantly over the last six months, his hammering was still clumsy and unrefined compared to his past self.
The regressed Taeho possessed the memories of his days as a Blacksmith.
But those were just memories.
Having returned to the past, his current body lacked the raw strength and muscle memory he had built up over decades as a Blacksmith.
His mind remembered exactly what to do, but his body simply wouldn't follow.
On top of that, the atrocious crafting environment stretched his work to a full six months.
Yet there were no regrets.
Once I leave this place, it won't be easy to use this many materials to my heart's content.
Taeho looked to his side.
So many items were destroyed during the crafting process that the scrap literally formed a mountain.
Thanks to that, even if the quality was poor, he could use materials infinitely.
Click.
With the metal quenched for strength and tempered against brittleness, assembly began.
After six long months, the fabrication was finally complete.
Taeho took a step back and looked over his completed masterpiece.
It was a set of full-body armor tailored perfectly to his physique.
Unfortunately, since he lacked a class at the moment, he couldn't check the item information.
However, since he had made it himself, he could infer its grade to some extent.
I don't have a Blacksmithing skill or high dexterity, so the craftsmanship was clumsy. Plus, the quality of the materials was only Common-grade… It's probably around Rare-grade.
Grades were divided into eight tiers, including Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Special.
Taeho set his sights on Rare-grade, a tier above the Uncommon outcome Ari'mir anticipated.
Although it had jumped by only two tiers after six months of effort, Taeho knew a two-tier difference in the Tower was as vast as the difference between a tree branch and a handgun in reality.
Clank.
Taeho moved his starved body and wore the armor.
It fit perfectly.
Furthermore, instead of being forged from a single sheet of iron plate, it was constructed like interlocking scales, allowing for firm yet flexible movement.
There's no issue with the range of motion in the joints, and no parts of the armor clash. Breathing is easy too.
Moving his body to confirm there were no defects, Taeho was satisfied.
This would be more than enough to rely on when climbing the Tower later.
Taeho lifted the hammer resting beside him.
He had forged a war hammer to take along as a weapon while making the armor.
It had a well-balanced center of gravity and a slip-resistant grip.
Satisfied with its weight and balance, Taeho nodded.
Preparation is complete.
He lowered his arm and rested the hammer on his shoulder.
Now it was truly time to climb the Tutorial Tower.
Taking a deep breath to soothe his exhausted body, Taeho shouted into the empty air.
"I will begin the tutorial!"
As soon as he shouted, the system responded.
The pure white space transformed in a flash, revealing a dark passageway.
Starting the tutorial.
Floor 1 Clear Condition: Break through the traps and reach the opposite side.
A bright light could be seen at the end of the dark passageway.
Knowing that was the destination, Taeho took a step forward.
Before he could even take a few steps, a metallic sound rang out.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Ten arrows fired from the traps flew toward Taeho.
A vicious trap that made every Awakener cower and curl up in fear.
Yet Taeho pressed on without pause, showing not the slightest hesitation.
Ping! Ping!
The arrows flying at his armor failed to pierce it and fell helplessly to the ground.
When he passed the midpoint, over thirty arrows rained down all at once.
But those numerous arrows failed to leave even a scratch on the armor.
As Taeho reached the opposite side, a message window popped up.
You have successfully cleared Floor 1.
Clear Rank: SSS.
The path to Floor 2 has opened.
As the message appeared, the passageway that had been blocked by a wall opened up.
He climbed the stairs unfolding inside until a wide cavern appeared.
A single goblin standing alone in the center glared at Taeho while making a threatening sound.
Floor 2 Clear Condition: Defeat the weakened goblin.
Taeho's steady march paused for a brief moment.
Memories surfaced—of a time when he had confidently chosen a sword and shield to challenge the tutorial.
Back then, I couldn't defeat the goblin and failed to clear the tutorial.
He had risked everything in that fight, putting his life on the line.
Yet, he still lost, taking a spear straight through the neck.
If this hadn't been the tutorial, he would have perished miserably right then and there.
Of course, that was now nothing more than the distant past.
"Keeak!"
The excited goblin rolled its eyes back and thrust its spear toward Taeho.
Its iron blade targeted the abdomen of a human lost in sentimentality.
Clang!
"…Kek?"
Dropping its spear, the goblin looked back and forth between the fallen weapon and Taeho in sheer disbelief.
The attempted ambush was perfect.
Yet even the goblin's decisive strike couldn't leave a single scratch on the armor.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Taeho looked down at the goblin.
"Nice try."
Taeho swung the hammer he had been resting on his shoulder.
Pop!
It made a sound like a balloon bursting.
The headless body of the goblin collapsed onto the floor a moment later.
Although he had taken down the goblin in a single blow, Taeho frowned slightly.
As expected, it's heavy.
The hammer's high density made it immensely heavy—cumbersome to swing even under normal circumstances.
Weakened by days of starvation, Taeho found every swing a brutal struggle.
Yet he had no complaints.
For blunt weapons, mass equals raw power.
His goal was to climb to the very top of the Tutorial Tower.
To even stand a chance, he needed to reach a level where he could one-shot a goblin.
If it could produce that much power, a little extra weight was a non-issue.
You have successfully cleared Floor 2.
Clear Rank: SSS.
The path to Floor 3 has opened.
Having earned two SSS-ranks, Taeho smiled with satisfaction.
Achieving a rank he'd never seen in his past life made fresh strength surge through his body.
On top of that, inside the Tutorial Tower where even the passage of time was unknowable, enduring months of hunger and isolation to craft his gear finally felt worth it.
"Let's go."
Like a swordsman sheathing his sword, Taeho shouldered the hammer.
Not a single shred of hesitation could be seen in his steps as he moved up to the third floor.
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