Zero took another step.
The sensation was alien. For one thousand years, his existence had been a single pose. Arms spread, chest out, the perfect target. Now his joints creaked and the wood groaned and he MOVED.
Min-ho pressed his back against the stone wall. His eyes were white and wide. He clawed at the air, pulling up his interface.
"[EMERGENCY ESCAPE]," Min-ho screamed. "[DUNGEON ABORT]. [ADMIN OVERRIDE]."
Nothing happened.
The heavy oak doors of the tutorial chamber remained sealed. The torches on the walls flickered, casting long shadows that danced like they were laughing at him.
"[ERROR]," the [SYSTEM] announced, the text appearing in Zeros vision and his. "[ENCOUNTER IN PROGRESS. TUTORIAL TARGET STATUS: UNDEFEATED. EXIT PROTOCOL DENIED]."
Zero kept walking toward him. Each step sent vibrations through his wooden chassis. He could feel the grain of the stone floor through his soles. He had never felt texture before. He had only felt pain.
"You cant," Min-ho said. He was sliding along the wall, trying to put distance between them. His perfect hair was matted with sweat. "Youre a mob. Youre supposed to stand there and take it."
Zero raised his hand. The fingers were splintered from catching Min-hos blade, but they functioned. He willed them to move, and they obeyed. He pointed at Min-ho.
"You gave me ten million lessons," Zero said. "Let me show you what I learned."
Min-ho attacked. Not with skill or grace now. With desperation. He swung [HEAVENFALL] in a wild arc, no technique, just screaming terror.
Zero remembered the angle. 47 degrees. He ducked. The blade passed over his head and buried itself in the wall. Min-ho tried to pull it free. It was stuck.
Zero used [CLEVE].
The skill activated. It was weak. 0.01% of what it should be. But his arm moved in the exact trajectory Min-ho had used against him seconds ago. His hand, rigid as an axe, caught Min-ho across the ribs.
Min-ho grunted. Blood sprayed. Real blood. Red and wet and warm.
He stumbled back, clutching his side. "Impossible," he gasped. "You dont have stats. You dont have strength."
[SKILL PROFICIENCY INCREASED: CLEAVE 0.01% >>> 0.02%]
Zero looked at his hand. The wood was stained with Min-hos blood. He had never shed blood before. He had only received it.
Min-ho healed himself. A golden light washed over his body. **[REGENERATION].** The wound closed. He drew a dagger from his boot, a backup weapon.
"I am Sung Min-ho," he snarled, trying to reclaim his arrogance. "Rank 1. I have cleared the Demon Kings Castle. I have soloed the Abyssal Dragon. You are a BUG. A GLITCH. I will delete you."
He lunged.
Zero did not dodge.
He let the dagger enter his chest, right where the paint formed a target circle. The blade sunk deep. It hurt. It hurt beautifully. It hurt like AGENCY.
**[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: BACKSTAB]**
**[Current Proficiency: 0.01%]**
Min-hos eyes widened as he realized his mistake. He tried to pull the dagger out. Zero grabbed his wrist. His fingers were wood and stone and ten million bruises. Zero squeezed. Bones cracked.
"Every time you hit me," Zero said, pulling him closer. "I get stronger."
Zero headbutted him. His forehead, hard oak reinforced with accumulated density, smashed into Min-hos nose. Cartilage crunched. Min-ho screamed.
Zero kneed him in the stomach. Zero elbowed his spine. He moved like a puppet with cut strings finally learning to dance. It was messy. It was inefficient. It was VIOLENT.
Min-ho tried to cast a spell. His hands lit up with fire. Zero slapped them down. The fire sputtered out.
"No," Zero said.
He picked up [HEAVENFALL] from where it was lodged in the wall. It was heavy. Too heavy for his wooden arms. But he had [BASIC SLASH] at Level 999. He had been hit by it ten million times. He understood its weight.
Zero swung.
It was not the ultimate skill Min-ho had used. It was just steel and hatred.
The blade caught Min-ho in the neck.
Min-ho stopped screaming. His eyes looked at Zero, then past him. The light in them, the arrogant glow of the Rank 1 player, flickered and died. He slid down the wall, leaving a red streak.
He hit the floor. He did not respawn.
[KILL CONFIRMED: SUNG MIN-HO]
[REP: -10,000]
[STATUS: PLAYER KILLER]
Zero stared at the body. He felt nothing. Then he felt everything. He felt the cumulative weight of ten million hits lifting. He felt oxygen that he did not need filling his nonexistent lungs.
Zero looked at [HEAVENFALL]. The sword was his now. The System could not stop him from taking it.
The walls of the tutorial room began to glitch. The stone pixelated. The torches froze in mid flicker. The [SYSTEM] text went haywire, filling his vision with gibberish code.
[ERROR ERROR ERROR]
[SUBJECT ZERO LOCATION UNKNOWN]
[TUTORIAL ZONE COLLAPSING]
The wall in front of him dissolved. Not the door. The wall itself. It melted like wet paper, revealing the outside world.
Zero saw the sky.
It was blue. Bluer than he had imagined. It went on forever. There were clouds. There was wind that he could feel against his splintered face.
Zero stepped over Min-hos body. He walked through the hole in the wall.
The starter village spread out before him. Cobblestone streets. NPC merchants with their repetitive dialogue loops. Buildings with thatched roofs. And players. Dozens of them. They were shopping. They were laughing. They were swinging practice swords at target dummies that were not him.
One of them, a girl with a staff, turned to look at him. She saw the wooden mannequin walking out of the broken tutorial hall. She saw the golden light leaking from his cracks. She saw [HEAVENFALL] in his hand, dripping Rank 1 blood.
She screamed.
Zero ran.
His legs were stiff. His gait was wrong. But he ran faster than any player. He ran past the market stalls. He ran past the quest givers. He ran toward the tree line at the edge of the village, where the wild zones began.
Behind him, the [SYSTEM] finally found the right alert.
[WARNING: ROGUE NPC DETECTED]
[ALL PLAYERS: ELIMINATE TARGET ZERO ON SIGHT]
[REWARD: LEGENDARY CLASS CHANGE]
Zero did not look back. He ran into the forest. The trees swallowed him. The shadows hid him. For the first time in one thousand years, he was free.
Zero looked at his hands. They were still holding the sword. They were still covered in blood.
He smiled.
[NEW STATUS: FUGITIVE]
[CLASS: TUTORIAL TARGET (EVOLUTION PENDING)]
[SKILLS: 10,048]
[INFAMY: 10,000]
[LOCATION: THE WILD WOODS]