The DLC, shaped like a game cartridge, dissolved into a corona of light.

Then a clamorous System chime rang out.

[You have acquired a Beginner-Exclusive Skill Catalog.]

[You have acquired a Beginner-Exclusive Equipment Set Box.]

[You have acquired the Starter Package Perk.]

A single Catalog page and a black box materialized in front of Gangwoo.

“Hoo…”

He inspected each item, his face taut with tension.

First, the Package’s Perk.

He crossed his arms and read its effects.

[Starter Package Perk]

Grade: E

Description: A Perk obtainable from the DLC – Starter Package.

Effects

– Adds 2 Inventory slots.

– Grants 10 unallocated Status points.

‘Hmm…’

Gangwoo rubbed his chin, arms still crossed.

The Starter Package Perk wasn’t bad. It just fell far short compared to the ‘Jumping Character Perk.’

‘Well, the price difference speaks for itself.’

It was ridiculous to compare a measly 100,000 Gold product with a 100 million Gold one.

A thin smile spread across Gangwoo’s lips.

‘Not bad for 100,000 Gold.’

Inventory slots he’d been short on, plus a full 10 unallocated points. On second thought, it was an excellent effect.

He’d been running out of room—even his pockets were stuffed with bullets and the dagger from the Goblins—so this came at the perfect time.

Gangwoo immediately opened his Inventory and stowed the items.

[Lowest-Grade HP Potion x3][Lowest-Grade MP Potion x2][Lowest-Grade Mana Bullet x11][Crude Dagger]

With the clutter gone, moving felt ten times easier.

Ha Gangwoo opened his Status window immediately.

[Ha Gangwoo]

Level: 11

HP: 510/510

MP: 50/50

Strength: 61

Agility: 40(+16)

Vitality: 51

Mana: 50

Sense: 20

Luck: 20

Unallocated: 17

Innate Ability: [DLC]

Skill: [Straight Punch]

Numbers so satisfying they almost felt like a feast just to look at. Ha Gangwoo smiled, pleased with his Status spread.

Then he got to investing his points.

Agility: 50 (+10)

Strength: 68 (+7)

‘Better spread them out for now.’

Every Stat had its value—nothing was worthless. So he aimed for balance and poured 10 into Agility, the Stat he felt was lagging behind.

Strength already seemed plenty, but in a fight, there was no Stat as effective, so he invested there too.

‘Good.’

Done distributing, Gangwoo dismissed the system window and checked the remaining reward items.

[Beginner’s Exclusive Skill Catalog]

Grade: E

Description: Grants 1 random skill from a pool of 30 beginner-exclusive skills.

[Beginner’s Exclusive Equipment Set Box]

Grade: F

Description: Obtains 3 pieces of beginner-exclusive equipment.

‘Grade E and Grade F, huh.’

The Skill Catalog was an E-grade item, which was impressive.

It was a shame the equipment box was only F-grade, but considering it was worth 100,000 Gold, it was already more than generous.

Gangwoo picked up the Catalog first. The white cover shimmered with a checkered pattern, with a bold ‘E’ printed on the back.

[Beginner’s Exclusive Skill Catalog]

Grade: E

Description: Grants 1 random skill from a pool of 30 beginner-exclusive skills.

“Thirty kinds…”

He wondered what skill was inside. After seeing Straight Punch’s power, his anticipation for an E-grade skill was at its peak.

Gangwoo used the Catalog immediately.

[You have used the Beginner’s Exclusive Skill Catalog.]

[You have acquired Fireball.]

[Fireball]

Grade: E

Type: Active

MP Cost: 10~ (More mana consumed increases destructive power.)

Action: Open your palm.

Effect: Creates an orb of flame attribute.

‘There it is.’

Ha Gangwoo clenched his fist.

The attack skill he’d been hoping for had appeared—and an elemental one at that.

The Fireball’s activation action was opening the palm.

Gangwoo spread his hand flat.

‘Fireball.’

Whoooosh—

The moment the Activation word crossed his mind, a ball of flame the size of a ping-pong ball blazed into life above his palm.

‘That’s… too small.’

Disappointment hit him. At this size, a single punch would probably pack more punch. Literally.

Then he remembered the mana orb Antero had shown him earlier—how the blue sphere had swelled to fill the space above the white-haired man’s index finger.

‘He said mana’s like muscle.’

Antero had said mana was like muscle. That meant casting the skill wasn’t the end of it—he could grow it, just like a muscle.

In other words, the more mana he fed in, the bigger it would get.

Ha Gangwoo stared at the Fireball cupped in his palm—no bigger than a ping-pong ball.

‘Mana, huh…’

He closed his eyes and slowly let his Sense unfurl. Something like smoke coiled around his entire body, a faint embrace he could feel.

‘So this is Mana.’

Gangwoo focused, drawing that sensation toward his palm, gathering it as tight as he could.

The orb lurched—

—and lurched again.

[MP: 40/50]

[MP: 31/50]

[MP: 20/50]

His MP drained in a rush, and the Fireball swelled, bit by bit.

‘Interesting.’

It fascinated him—that a single, measly Catalog could conjure a sphere of fire like this.

‘Okay, I think I get it.’

The existence of Mana still felt foreign, but he was starting to find the rhythm.

Before he knew it, the Fireball had grown big enough to fill his whole palm.

‘That’s enough testing.’

Gangwoo stood there dumbly, staring at the ball of flame in his hand.

He’d confirmed how the skill worked, but now he had no idea what to do with the Fireball he was holding.

Scattering it into the air like Antero did would’ve been ideal, but this Fireball just blazed in his grip, fierce and unmoving.

‘Throw it.’

No other option came to mind. Besides, there wasn’t a single person around.

Gangwoo fixed his eyes on the torch straight ahead.

The distance was roughly a hundred meters—felt pretty far. The torch looked smaller than his pinky nail.

‘Hmm…’

He frowned at the torch.

‘Guess a skill isn’t a cure-all.’

He’d realized that both range and accuracy of a Fireball depended entirely on the caster’s ability. No matter how good a skill you got, if the caster was shaky, it turned into garbage.

Life didn’t hand out freebies—Gangwoo felt that lesson sink in as he hurled the Fireball with everything he had.

*Whoosh—*

It flew in a fierce straight line, slammed into the wall right beside the torch.

Flame burst outward in a wide arc, turning the surroundings into a sea of fire in an instant.

‘…’

As expected, hitting it wasn’t easy. But the power was undeniable.

It wasn’t quite the punch of an Explosive Round from a pistol, but it looked strong enough.

Gangwoo brushed his hands off and picked up the box—his second reward.

A black box. As he lifted the lid, a *puff* sound escaped, and—

[You have acquired Gray Leather Armor Top.]

[You have acquired Gray Leather Armor Bottom.]

[You have acquired Gray Leather Armor Boots.]

Three pieces of armor popped out with a soft thud.

They didn’t look great—just from the name and appearance—but he checked each one carefully.

[You have acquired Gray Leather Armor Top.]

Grade: F

Durability: 20/20

Defense: 21

Vitality: +9

Description: Exclusive armor for the Starter Package!! Superior performance compared to average armor.

*Set Effect (0/3)

-All Status +10

[You have acquired Gray Leather Armor Bottom.]

Grade: F

Durability: 20/20

Defense: 19

Vitality: +11

Description: Exclusive armor for the Starter Package!! Superior performance compared to average armor.

*Set Effect (0/3)

– All Stats +10

[You have acquired the Gray Leather Armor Boots.]

Grade: F

Durability: 20/20

Defense: 16

Agility: +9

Description: Exclusive armor from the Starter Package!! Superior performance compared to average armor.

*Set Effect (0/3)

– All Stats +10

‘Nice.’

A smile spread across Ha Gangwoo’s face.

The item’s effects were better than he’d expected. The set bonus in particular exceeded his hopes.

All Stats +10—that was a straight 60 stat boost when you just crunched the numbers!

‘Perfect timing, too. My clothes were filthy.’

Gangwoo’s outfit was so caked with blood you could barely make out its original color.

The stench of goblin blood had been giving him a headache—right when a good item dropped into his lap.

He changed on the spot. It was a shame he had no underwear, but what could he do? He just wanted to clear the Tower and get cleaned up as fast as possible.

Once he was fully dressed, Gangwoo patted the leather tunic and gave a satisfied smile.

‘Comfortable.’

The leather gear was surprisingly easy to move in.

The snug fit against his skin wasn’t bad at all.

One supply box left.

[Tower of Tutorial Supply Box (A)]

Grade: F

Description: A supply box from the 2nd floor of the Tower of Tutorial! Contains items useful for the climb.

It was the supply box he’d gotten for clearing the 2nd floor. Gangwoo tore it open immediately.

Ding—

[Sero’s Ring]

Grade: C

Durability: 5/5

Description: A ring once worn by Sero. Crafted from Elon Stone, a gem that attracts luck. Imbued with tremendous power.

(Caution!! Durability is low. Beware of item destruction!!)

Effect

– Consumes all durability to activate the ‘Elon Stone.’

A shabby ring popped out. A green gem set into a rusted metal band.

“Oh~!”

A Grade C item! An Artifact, no less. But it didn’t look all that impressive. It seemed like a one-use item that would break the moment he activated it.

‘Elon Stone?’

Gangwoo stroked his chin, studying the ring.

‘What kind of power does it hold?’

This ring was Grade C. Yet its only effect was activating the Elon Stone.

Meaning its grade came entirely from the Elon Stone’s ability.

It had to be something incredible. But the Elon Stone’s effect wasn’t written anywhere.

The only way to find out was to use it. Based on the description, it seemed tied to luck—but the moment he used it, the item would shatter.

‘Too bad.’

He had no idea what it did, but selling it would be tough. Who’d buy an item that broke on first use?

Gangwoo equipped the ring anyway, resigned.

[You have equipped Sero’s Ring.]

All preparations were complete. Time to get ready for the 3rd floor quest.

‘A party…’

Ha Gangwoo moved toward the crowd.

The space he stood in was enormous — like standing at the center of a baseball stadium.

The strange part was how many people filled it.

Why would so many gather in a barren place with no food and nowhere to sleep?

Easily over five hundred. The crowd spilled past counting.

They all looked grimy, like they hadn’t washed properly. Many, like Gangwoo, were caked in blood.

“Looking for a party!!! One minute left!!”

“Just grab anyone, how long are we gonna stay here?! I’m starving!!”

“Hey~! You could die, and you’re saying ‘anyone’? You kidding??”

“What’s there to be so picky about going into a D-rank Dungeon!!”

Sure enough, amid the self-promotion, he caught a group’s conversation.

‘D-rank Dungeon??’

So party-play dungeons had ranks. And he was starting to get a vague sense of why so many people were here.

‘Well, it is life or death.’

A System that forced parties — it had to be tough. The moment one person slipped, three people were at risk. That’s why everyone was cautious.

‘This kind of thing is poison for me.’

He’d never been one to blatantly sell himself. Not the type to step forward. He had no idea how to handle it.

He was scanning the surroundings, gauging the situation, when—

Thump—

Something massive blocked Gangwoo’s path. A huge shadow swallowed him whole.

“So you’re here too, huh?”

A raspy voice rang out.

Gangwoo lifted his gaze to the figure’s face.

A man’s face came into view, twisted into a nasty scowl.

‘Choi Jangbok…’

The man he’d met at the entrance to the Tower of Tutorial. Choi Jangbok stood before him.