Chapter 6 …

[Max Affinity From the Start?]

• Grade: Rare

• Description: A title granted to those who max out an NPC’s affinity during the tutorial.

• Effect: NPC affinity increases more quickly.

All stats +2

Titles were among the hardest rewards to obtain even in Demrock.

That was only natural.

A title was only granted when a player’s results or actions were recognized as achievements worthy of one. In other words, you had to act more fiercely than others and produce clear results.

“A Rare title is valuable enough.”

Among them, a Rare-grade title was a satisfying outcome.

Normal, Rare, Heroic, Legendary.

The difference in power between grades was significant, and Rare was useful pretty much anywhere. Even back in Demrock, Rare was the grade Dohyun used most often.

And the same grade system applied in God of Ose.

The importance of Rare would likely be similar here.

“Not a bad start.”

From that perspective, obtaining a Rare title right from the tutorial was an excellent beginning.

And it even helped with affinity grinding.

While it wasn’t an option that directly aided combat, in the long run it might actually be better.

“Thankfully, God of Ose doesn’t make affinity rewards gacha-based.”

Surprisingly, the developers really had implemented some improvements based on feedback.

Well, that’s probably why God of Ose managed to take the world by storm. If it had been run like Demrock, it would have caused endless controversy, even as the first full VR game.

After finishing his reward check, Dohyun looked up.

“…Hmm.”

Charlie stood there with shining eyes and the warmest smile imaginable.

The impatient man who had practically dragged him along earlier was nowhere to be seen.

“Thanks to you, we arrived much faster than expected. It’s all thanks to you.”

Even his voice had noticeably softened.

“…All I did was fight. Is it really this easy?”

Thinking about it, he hadn’t really done anything special. Should he call this innocence…?

Then again, it was wartime. Naturally Charlie would be grateful to someone clearing monsters so efficiently.

In the now somewhat friendly atmosphere despite the battlefield, Charlie pointed ahead.

“Now we just need to go there.”

He was pointing to a door beyond the corridor.

Finally, the tutorial was nearing its end. Beyond that door awaited the final event.

“If we eliminate the dark mage inside, we can secure victory in this war—”

That was when it happened.

“…!”

With about 100 meters left—

Rumble—

The corridor behind them suddenly began to collapse.

And that wasn’t all.

An ominous black light seeped up from beneath the crumbling floor.

Charlie panicked at the sudden anomaly.

“My goodness…! Has the summoning already begun?”

The summoning was progressing faster than planned.

To make matters worse, grotesque monsters began crawling up from the collapsed floor—along with bat-like creatures among those he had seen earlier.

Someone had to hold them off.

“Damn…! I’ll handle things here—go on ahead! Just enter through there. You must stop the summoner!”

“…?”

“Normally I, the captain, should go—but I believe I can entrust this to you. No, rather… I wish to ask you. Hero… will you help us?”

Dohyun blankly pointed at himself, momentarily forgetting the situation.

Had he heard that right?

But perhaps misunderstanding his reaction, Charlie began offering a prayer of gratitude.

“May the blessing of Arren Castle be with the hero of this war…”

This was bewildering for Dohyun.

“…I’m going in? Not you?”

And reasonably so.

This was a scripted event that always occurred in God of Ose’s tutorial.

That thing would be summoned, Charlie would enter first to fight it—

—and after a scream, he would die, and that thing would burst through the wall.

Even Dohyun, who had only just started the game, knew this. It was an identical event for everyone.

But now the event had changed.

“I heard player actions could alter things a bit… but this much?”

It was strange.

Charlie barely participating in combat or clapping occasionally were minor details that shouldn’t affect progression…

…but this was supposed to be a mandatory event.

As Dohyun approached the door, a message appeared.

[Only one person may enter at a time.]
[If you die, the sealing formation will collapse and all boss status effects will be removed.]
[Do you wish to enter?]

A thoroughly intimidating message.

Seeing something like this in a tutorial was unheard of. Maybe some players knew about it—but at the very least, this wasn’t the normal route.

In Demrock, things like this were called—

Easter eggs.

Or…

“Hidden pieces.”

Mechanics intentionally concealed within the game.

And such mechanics usually boasted extremely high difficulty—and rewards that were on an entirely different level.

If God of Ose was similar to Demrock, the same would apply here.

He wasn’t sure exactly what triggered the hidden piece, but Charlie’s recognition and affinity likely played a big role.

“Lucky.”

That was the only way to put it.

Who would have guessed there was a secret like this?

At this point, he could gladly tolerate Charlie’s cringeworthy reactions.

[Do you wish to enter?]

“Yeah.”

There was no way Dohyun would refuse a hidden piece.

The moment he answered decisively and opened the door, a brilliant light engulfed him.

When he opened his eyes again—

A completely different scene unfolded.

ROOOAAAR!

“Gaaah! W-why are you doing this?! I’m the master who summoned you! Obey me! N-no—AAARGH!”

Something enormous, drenched in darkness, was devouring a man who appeared to be the summoner.

No—

It was hard to even call that thing human.

Its silhouette was vaguely humanlike, but the glimpses of its body were unmistakably monstrous.

[Dark Summoner Who Contracted the Abyss]

• Title: Contractor of the Abyss

• Type: Hybrid

• Traits: Dark Magic, Summoning, Curse

• Description: A dark mage who made a pact with the Abyss, the world of terror. He is attempting to conquer Arren Castle by summoning that being.

The revealed information already confirmed it wasn’t human.

But Dohyun’s gaze wasn’t on the summoner.

It was on the pitch-black darkness consuming him—

—and the reptilian crimson pupils glowing within it.

[Bound Ironblood Demonic Dragonkin]

• Title: Legendary Named Boss

• Type: Dragonkin

• Trait: Currently sealed

• Description: A demonic dragon species of the Abyss bearing the name Ironblood.

Little is known about them among humans, and they have long been regarded as the source of fear. Currently, all abilities are sealed by restraints, and its physical movements are restricted.

“…Legendary?”

After checking its information, Dohyun let out a hollow laugh.

* * *

God of Ose had borrowed many elements from Demrock.

One of them was the ranking system.

Normal → Rare → Heroic → Legendary.

Everything—from the title Dohyun obtained to items and skills—was assigned a grade.

And monsters were no exception.

Not all monsters had grades. Only those bearing the title Boss did.

Among them, the special ones were Named Bosses.

“Unique bosses that possess their own names.”

They were singular entities defined by their personal names.

Unlike bosses that respawned after death, once they died—that was the end.

Irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind bosses.

Because of that, they were given lore of having lived for ages, and even within the same grade, they were far more difficult.

“A Legendary Named…”

And this one carried the Legendary title.

Its name was so red it almost looked black.

“So that’s why they said it was impossible to kill.”

Now he understood.

This monster was never meant to be defeated.

It was a boss designed to guarantee the player’s death to advance the scripted event.

That was the true identity of the tutorial boss.

It wasn’t particularly unusual.

Games that insert unbeatable monsters into tutorials to drive events were familiar to any gamer.

However, one thing puzzled him.

“In the videos, everything except the name showed question marks…”

He had expected it to be strong—but not this monstrous.

Maybe no one actually knew what this thing was.

“Well… after a year and a half, maybe someone figured it out. Most hidden pieces would’ve been uncovered by then.”

Even so, no one would have dared try to kill it.

In any case, now that he was here, he had to choose.

Fight it.

Or give up cleanly.

As if helping him decide, the creature met his eyes and roared.

The roar of the ten-meter giant was chilling just to hear.

And the messages that followed were even worse.

ROOOAAAR!

• You have heard the roar of the Bound Ironblood Demonic Dragonkin.

• Your physical abilities are reduced by the overwhelming presence.

• Movement Speed −20%

• Attack Speed −20%

• Defense −30%

• Magic Resistance −25%

“…No sense of fairness.”

The already overpowered monster was stacking debuffs on top.

It was practically telling him not to even think about fighting it.

But in a way, the conditions were fair.

Clank— clatter.

Grrrr…

Its hands, feet, torso, and neck—

Every part of its body was bound in restraints, preventing it from leaving the wall.

Like a guard dog chained to its post.

If it tried to move beyond a certain range, the restraints stopped it.

Its arms had a bit more freedom, so it could still swing them—

—but the speed was slow.

HP: [1,000,000 / ???]

It was also covered in wounds, blood smeared across its body.

Perhaps because of that, its health seemed shabby for a Legendary Named Boss.

As the description said, all abilities were sealed.

In short, it was a severely weakened, dying version.

But even so—

That absurd HP pool and those massive arms that would clearly one-shot him.

Common sense said this was not a boss meant for a level-1 player.

“If I die, the seal and status effects are removed…”

In the original tutorial, Charlie must have died, releasing the seal and restoring the monster to full strength.

If that was the case…

“…Isn’t this doable?”

Maybe this was the only chance.

The one and only chance to kill an unbeatable boss.

Situations like this happened sometimes in Demrock.

Whenever he stumbled upon insane hidden pieces, he always stood at a crossroads.

And every time—

Dohyun made the same choice.

“Alright… let’s do this.”

Kaiser was not a man who backed down from a challenge.