Everyone had heard of Wolmido Island. It was located about a kilometer off the northwest coast of the country, next to a city called Incheon. In the early 70's, the government expanded the island and built a sustained concrete bridge populated with business and homes, connecting it to the mainland. For a time, it was a tourist destination for locals. There were roller coasters, carnivals, and a Ferris wheel that became a permanent fixture in the region's skyline.
After the World Break, the island became a refuge for those who had lost their homes. There were only a limited number of access points to the island which made it easy to defend. A fort was established and players settled in large enough numbers to encourage a thriving player economy. The island had never thrived more than it had in those early months.
Then came the Second Wave. One year after the World Break, a second round of dungeon breaks occurred across the globe in sudden and overwhelming numbers. This time, the breaks targeted areas of high player concentrations.
The break happened somewhere near the Wolmido theme park. It was the largest dungeon break anyone had ever seen. Even with an army of players, the masses of monsters that poured out of the gate crisscrossed the island like a plague. It was three full months of fighting before an outbreak quest was announced. Locals tried their best, but were unable to fulfill the requirements.
One year, three months and seven days after the World Break, the Society called for a full evacuation of the island. Wolmido was lost.
***
Training at the Academy was separated into lower and upper class divisions. Once a cadet mastered basic skills and knowledge, they could engage in field training as an upperclassman. But lowerclassmen had to engage in physical exercises like weightlifting, running and basic weapons handling in addition to class lessons. It was exhausting, but a necessary step for the growth of a player before they headed into the field. In short, field training was dangerous but fun while on-campus training was monotonous and exhausting, but safe.
Jinyoung's training was the worst of both worlds. In order to help him complete his skill quests, Dae had tied training weights to his legs. He tried to protest, concerned about how it would affect his mobility.
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"Good! That's the point, boy. If your quest requires you to use [dash+] to move, then you need to use it as much as possible!" Then he laughed, a foul guttural sound. And secondly, the onion knight was tasked with using [charge] as much as possible.
Any concerns the novice had were confirmed in their first encounter of the day. Hana spotted four lizardmen by a river. Rather than take up positions around the small group, Jinyoung was tasked with engaging them in close quarters while Willow would rely on her basic spells to provide cover from afar.
“Any tips, old man?” Jinyoung asked mockingly.
Dae shrugged his massive shoulders. “Don’t die. And don’t take too long.”
Willow and Hana took up positions upriver while Jinyoung was downriver, just inside the treeline. Quickly, he burst from cover and pumped his legs hard, trying to cut down the distance between himself and the monsters. The rocks under his feet alerted the monsters immediately who turned to face him.
It was only a few seconds before Jinyoung could feel the burn in his calves.
This isn’t going to work.
From a distance, he could see Willow gathering her mana to cast a spell. Sparks of light flew from her fingers and he could see brief flashes of light, but nothing that was going to kill a monster.
Once he was about 10 feet away, he [dashed]. Perfectly timed and executed, the [dash] placed him in the center of the four lizardmen. Immediately, he activated [charge] and swiveled on his heel to execute a wide slash. It felt exactly as it did at the marketplace dungeon in the city. Except for one thing. He felt the resistance as his sword blew through two of the lizardmen, but two others dodged. And the extra weight on his legs caused him to lose balance and splay out on the rocks.
On the ground, dizzy and exhausted, he was completely open to the remaining two lizardmen. Jinyoung turned around to look back at Willow who was still struggling to weaponize her mana and knew immediately she wouldn’t be able to. Not before the lizardmen gouged out an eye or ate part of his liver.
Jinyoung barely had a glimpse of the hulking mass of grizzled, angry, Korean man grab the two lizardmen before throwing them overhand into boulders by the river. The monsters landed with a disgusting splat and crack as they mangled bodies came to rest in the water.
Dae smiled, satisfied with his throw. “Maybe this training thing won’t be so bad afterall.”