Insomniac Player

Level Two refused to end. The first hour had been terrifying.

The second was exhausting. By the third, everyone understood one truth:

The Tutorial wasn’t trying to teach them how to fight.

It was trying to teach them how to survive, a gift from the system to the first-generation players.

The forest had become a battlefield littered with broken branches, monster corpses, shattered weapons, and dried blood.

The goblins no longer attacked in scattered groups; they came in waves.

The wolves hunted around the edges, waiting for an opportunity to isolate someone before striking like living arrows.

Every mistake was punished, and the slightest hesitation invited death.

A scream echoed through the forest. A young man disappeared beneath three wolves.

A moment later, a beep sounded.

Beep.

He vanished in a flash of light. Several seconds later, he reappeared near his duo companion, alive once more.

Another woman was overwhelmed by four goblins.

She died, and she revived. Again and again.

Death had become frighteningly... common.

By Damien’s estimate, nearly half the twenty Players had already died at least once.

Only the strongest fighters remained untouched.

John was one of them. The giant moved through the battlefield like a fortress with legs.

His mace crushed bones, sent goblins flying, turned wolves into unpleasant memories.

Even so, sweat covered his forehead. The monsters simply kept coming.

"They’re increasing again!" someone shouted.

Another answered. "Oh wow, thanks for the obvious information."

John grunted as he blocked a wolf with the shaft of his mace before smashing it into the ground.

The beast whimpered; its ribs had clearly shattered into fragments.

"Damien!" John called.

"I’m coming!" Damien answered and sprinted forward.

The wounded wolf struggled to rise; his dagger flashed.

The Epic-class dagger pierced its throat.

Beep.

➤[Night Blood Wolf Lv.4 Eliminated.]

➤[Experience +35]

A warm sensation spread through Damien’s body.

Another notification immediately appeared.

➤[Congratulations.]

➤[Level Up.]

➤[Level 2 Reached.]

He smiled.

Finally, he had done it. Not accidentally or by luck.

An actual kill, an actual level. The happiness was still rising when something slammed into his side.

CRUNCH!

The impact lifted him completely off the ground.

His smile disappeared.

A massive wolf had burst from the bushes without warning.

Its jaws clamped around his shoulder; pain exploded through his body.

The wolf shook its head violently before dragging him across the ground.

"DAMIEN!" John’s roar echoed through the forest.

He charged after them, but it was too late. The wolf disappeared into the trees.

Damien’s vision blurred as rocks scraped across his back.

He desperately stabbed at the beast; the dagger glanced off its skull.

Before he could strike again, three goblins burst from nearby bushes.

Like scavengers waiting for a chance, the goblins pounced as the wolf threw Damien onto the ground.

The goblins immediately pounced. Stone blades rose.

Damien looked at the First Blood Dagger.

His mind became strangely calm; one thought flashed across it.

’Don’t lose it.’

Without hesitation, he opened his inventory.

The dagger vanished from his hand, just in time.

The first blade pierced his chest. The second buried itself in his stomach. The third struck his neck.

Pain swallowed everything and darkness followed.

Beep.

➤[You have died.]

After a brief pause, light returned.

➤[Tutorial Resurrection Activated.]

Light returned.

Damien gasped, his lungs filling with air.

His eyes snapped open. This time, he wasn’t where he had died.

Instead, he found himself several meters behind John.

The giant was still fighting.

Apparently, the System had decided reviving people inside monster piles was poor design.

"You’re back!" John shouted without looking away from the enemies.

Damien nodded while opening his Inventory. The First Blood Dagger rested safely inside.

He let out a long breath. "Thank goodness..."

If he’d dropped an Epic weapon after dying, he might have died a third time from heartbreak.

As another goblin flew past courtesy of John’s mace, Damien opened his inventory and then his profile.

➤[Player: Damien]

➤[Level: 2

Experience: 20 / 200]

"Twenty?" He frowned.

That wasn’t right. Before killing the wolf, he clearly remembered sitting at 90 experience.

The wolf had awarded 35.

That should have become 125.

Level Two required 100.

Meaning... twenty-five experience should have remained.

Yet his profile showed only twenty. Damien ignored the battle for a moment.

His mind immediately began calculating.

Ninety plus thirty-five equals one hundred twenty-five.

Minus... five.

Five experience points had disappeared. His eyes narrowed. "...Death."

The answer arrived almost instantly. Damien replayed everything and began calculating.

The wolf had bitten him, dragged him away.

But... the killing blow hadn’t come from the wolf.

The goblins had finished him.

Goblin experience reward... Ten.

Half of that is... five.

His eyes widened. "So that’s it."

Another player nearby revived after dying.

Damien immediately ran over. "Excuse me!"

The man looked completely confused. "What?"

"What killed you?"

"A wolf."

"How much experience did you lose?"

The man frowned. "I... don’t know."

"Please, check." Damien requested.

The player opened his profile.

A moment later, his expression changed. "Uh... 17.5."

Damien’s heartbeat quickened. Another confirmation.

He looked around frantically. "Did anyone else die to wolves?"

A tall Black man raised his hand as he caught his breath. "I did."

"How many points disappeared?"

The man checked. "...Seventeen and a half."

Exactly the same. Damien smiled. The pattern was complete.

He turned toward everyone still capable of listening. "I figured it out!"

Several Players instinctively looked over; even John paused for half a second.

"When you die..." Damien raised his voice. "You lose experience!"

The Players immediately became restless.

"What?"

"How much?"

Damien continued. "It depends on what kills you."

He pointed toward a nearby goblin corpse. "Goblins give ten experience. If a goblin kills you... You lose five."

Then toward the wolves. "Those wolves give thirty-five. If a wolf kills you... you lose seventeen and a half."

Realisation spread through the group.

"So..." A woman whispered. "...it’s half?"

Damien nodded. "I think death removes half the experience value of the monster that dealt the killing blow."

Silence followed, not because they doubted him, but because every calculation matched their own profiles.

Every calculation matched their own profiles.

One by one, Players opened their status windows, compared numbers, and checked memories.

Compared numbers. Checked memories. Every result lined up.

The conclusion was undeniable.

The System had never explained the rule, yet Damien had uncovered it anyway.

John laughed loudly. "I knew keeping the accountant around would pay off!"

"I’m not an accountant." Damien retorted

"Not with that attitude." John cackled, his moustache waving along

A few Players chuckled despite the danger.

Others looked at Damien with newfound respect.

Earlier, they’d seen him as the weakest member of the group.

The only Player who couldn’t even kill a goblin intentionally.

Now... they looked at him differently. Not because he was strong or brave.

But because, while everyone else was busy surviving, Damien was quietly solving the Tutorial itself.

And in a place where a single hidden rule could mean the difference between life and death,

That ability was worth far more than another swing of a sword.