As he expressed his gratitude aloud, he checked the woman's Status Window.

[ Name: Seo Yu-ju ]

[ Age: 27 ]

[ Class: Intermediate Spearmaster (Rare Grade) ]

[ Title: Regresser, One Who Begins the Second Round ]

[ Unique Traits ]

???? (Not yet unlocked.)

Rapid Growth (Heroic Grade) - Accelerates the growth of abilities. You will grow faster than ordinary people.

[ Traits ]

Master of Spearmanship (Heroic Grade) - Significantly increases comprehension of spearmanship.

Understanding of Intermediate Hand-to-Hand Combat (Rare Grade) - Moderately increases comprehension of hand-to-hand combat.

[ Stats ]

Strength - 24 Agility - 28

Stamina - 26 Luck - 22

Magic - 19 Resistance - 20

'...What the hell?'

He was dumbfounded as soon as he saw the Status Window. He simply couldn't comprehend it.

While the stats and unique traits were shocking, there was one term that caught his attention.

'...Regresser?'

His brain froze at the absurdity of the word, making it impossible to continue his train of thought.

'...Regression? Is that really possible?'

Given what she had demonstrated so far, it would make sense if she were a regresser. After all, taking down three people in an instant was beyond ordinary human capability.

The revelation was so shocking that he even questioned whether the Status Window was wrong somehow.

His head was on the verge of exploding with confusion when she smiled and responded.

"No, of course I should have helped. There's no need to give me any food."

If... she truly was a regresser, he absolutely had to stay on her good side. The moment she deemed him an enemy or a hindrance to her plans, the likelihood of being eliminated by her would be high.

However, the strange thing was that she seemed oddly favorable toward him. No, she was blatantly favoring him.

"Would it be alright if I traveled with you? This place... is dangerous, and I'd rather not be alone..."

For her, traveling alone wouldn't be a problem in the slightest. In fact, any fool who tried to target her would be the one in danger.

The issue was that he couldn't understand why she wanted to join them.

'...Could it be... that I knew this woman in her first round?'

Her unusual kindness toward him made it a plausible assumption. There was also the fact that when he was on the verge of death earlier, she had intervened and somewhat wistfully told him to wait for her.

'If we had been enemies in the first round...'

No way…

If they had been enemies, his head and body would have already been separated the moment they met here.

'In that case, this is a relief. The fact that she, a regresser, is favorable toward me means there's a lot I can take advantage of.'

"Yes... do as you please, I have no objections."

"Thank you so much. Honestly... I was really scared alone."

Hearing her say she was scared nearly made him laugh. The woman who had slaughtered three men in an instant was scared of being alone? What nonsense...

"More importantly, you should treat your arm first. That wound must hurt..."

"Ah... This is..."

"Hyung! I'll heal you, I just... got a good class."

Yu-hyun's hands emitted a glow, and the wound on his arm slowly began to close.

"This is..."

The regresser stared at Yu-hyun in astonishment. It was the expression of someone who had just discovered a priceless treasure on the street.

'...Was Yu-hyun someone famous in the first round?'

Or... was it simply because his ability was healing-related?

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Seo Yu-ju, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, my name is... Lee Yun-seong, the pleasure is mine."

"Yes... of course.."

For some reason, she spoke with an air of nostalgia. Her expression was extremely complicated.

'...Was I more than just an acquaintance to her?'

For now, he could take his time figuring her out. Since they were traveling together, he had plenty of opportunities. He then opened Yu-hyun's Status Window, who’d apparently undergone a class change.

[ Name: Lee Yu-hyun ]

[ Age: 15 ]

[ Class: Priest of Protection (Heroic Grade) ]

[ Title: None. ]

[ Unique Traits ]

Guidance of a Fallen God (Grade Under Evaluation) - A once-radiant god has taken a liking to you.

[ Traits ]

Healing Light (Rare Grade) - Gathers magic in the hands to heal oneself or others. Healing speed and effectiveness depend on the user's Magic stat.

Shield of Protection (Heroic Grade) - Creates a spherical barrier with a diameter of 3 meters. The user and allies within the barrier are protected from a certain level of impact. The barrier's size and the level of impact it can withstand depend on the user's Magic stat.

[ Stats ]

Strength - 07 Agility - 10

Stamina - 09 Luck - 25

Magic - 10 Resistance - 09

'Insane... His class is... Heroic Grade?'

Even the regresser's class was only Rare Grade, but his was Heroic Grade?

Not to mention, his Magic stat had skyrocketed.

Additionally, the new traits left him speechless.

'This is so unfair... Some people start with Heroic Grade classes, while others are stuck with Common Grade... Fuck.'

He absolutely had to hold onto the regresser and Yu-hyun. As someone without special abilities, his best chance of survival after the tutorial was to cling to them however he could.

Of course, he did have the unique trait that allowed him to see others' Status Windows, but that was something he could never reveal to anyone.

No one would ever tolerate someone who could peek into their Status Window. His ability had to remain a secret, no matter what.

'Not to mention, I barely have any combat ability.'

As he was sorting through his thoughts, Yu-hyun spoke up.

"Hyung... The weird thing is, when I got my class, I wasn't given a selection. It just... got assigned to me."

"Hmm... Well, let's just see it as a good thing. Your healing ability was amazing just now. From now on, if we get hurt, Yu-hyun can heal us, haha..."

"Hehe... Hyung, just trust me!"

Yu-hyun clenched his fist with determination.

"Noona! From now on, I'll protect you!"

"O-Okay..."

The regresser, who had been listening to their conversation, suddenly spoke to Yun-seong.

"Yun-seong-ssi, what do you plan to do now? Do you have a place to stay?" (-ssi is a very formal/respectful way to speak.)

"No, we don't have a shelter. Originally, we were hunting monsters so Yu-rim and Yu-hyun could change their classes, but... then we got ambushed by those guys."

"In that case, how about coming to the camp facility where I'm staying? I've set up a camp at the northern start point."

'What the hell? Northern start point?'

"...What do you mean by the northern start point?"

“Ah... you didn't know. There are buildings identical to the one where you woke up in the east, west, south, and north directions. The place where you woke up, Yun-seong, must be one of the four buildings.”

If what she said was true, and there were three more buildings identical to the one we had been in, then four times the number of people who had been in that plaza were being tested in this tutorial.

“So... there must be a huge number of people here.”

“Hmm... At the point where I started, I gathered people together, so most of them survived to some extent. But at the other starting points, almost all of the people were killed by monsters.”

“...How do you know all this, Yu-ju?”

Realizing that she had spoken too much, the regressor quickly tried to cover up her mistake.

“Ah... someone from another starting point escaped to the camp! Th-they told me!”

'Is this woman naturally a bit of an airhead? She's completely different from before...'

Well, it was much better than dealing with someone too sharp and ghostly perceptive. If she were too keen and thorough, she’d be much harder to use to my advantage.

“I see, I'm fine with it, but let me check with the kids. One moment...”

“I’m fine with it, Oppa. Anyway, she’s the one who saved us. I was too late in thanking you. Thank you for saving us, my name is Lee Yu-rim...”

“I-I'm Lee Yu-hyun, thank you for saving my Noona!”

The regressor waved her hand dismissively as if it was nothing.

“Haha... No, it was something I had to do. Um... can I call you Yu-rim and Yu-hyun?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You two can just call me unnie or noona comfortably.”

“Yes, unnie. Anyway, we're okay with going to the camp.”

“I'll guide you three then, it’s not too far. We should arrive by evening.”

Just as she said, we arrived at the so-called camp around evening. When I heard the word "camp," I had wondered what kind of place it would be, but it was actually inside one of the starting buildings.

Before long, a man came running frantically to greet us.

“Ah! You’ve arrived, Yu-ju!”

“Yes, I brought some others with me, were there any unusual incidents?”

“No, nothing in particular.”

The man glanced at us, it didn’t seem like he was exactly welcoming us.

'It's because more people mean fewer resources. Food is limited, after all.'

Judging by his gaze, he was probably trying to determine whether we were fighters or just extra mouths to feed.

I checked his status window.

[ Name: Ahn Tae-woo ]

[ Age: 28 ]

[ Job: Not yet assigned ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Trait ]

Survival Tactics (Grade Under Evaluation)

[ Stats ]

Strength - 10 Agility - 09

Stamina - 11 Luck - 17

Magic - 00 Resistance - 07

'Garbage.'

His stats were comparable to my initial stats. I wasn’t in a position to criticize, but the fact that he hadn’t even advanced to a class yet suggested that he had given up on fighting out of fear.

The man looked at us before addressing the regressor again.

“Haha... If you were bringing new people, you should have at least given us a heads-up... I was surprised.”

“...”

Sensing something off in Ahn Tae-woo’s words, the regressor quietly stared at him.

“Do I need to report everything I do to you, Tae-woo?”

The air suddenly turned cold. Ahn Tae-woo realized the shift in atmosphere and stiffened, hurriedly correcting himself.

“...No… I-I just meant... that I welcome them.”

So, he wasn’t completely clueless after all.

The cold tension quickly dissipated, and the regressor lightly patted his shoulder as she spoke.

“Alright then, keep up the good work, Tae-woo.”

“Y-yes! Of course! Everyone, follow me, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

“Take extra care of these people.”

“Yes! Come this way, if you’re hungry, I’ll have food prepared for you.”

As I followed him, I thought to myself. Through this series of events, I had learned two things. The regressor might act airheaded at times, but only toward us and in this place, her authority was absolute.