The Genius Programmer Turned Wizard - GPW Chapter 2: Tutorial (Part 1)

“A monumental day marking the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the Terrasia Empire ….”

A familiar voice echoed in my ears.

“To celebrate this special day, we’ve prepared a special game!”

Hundreds of times. No, maybe even thousands.
Anyway, I’d heard those lines more than enough.
After all, they were the opening lines from the tutorial of The Chronicles of Terrasia.

‘Did I fall asleep with the game running?’

But for something like that… the sound was way too vivid.

“A hundred prisoners will participate! Those who survive… will earn their freedom!”

Could earphones really deliver sound this crisp?
No, this was beyond vivid—it was practically real.

‘Wait, what…?’

My eyes flew open instinctively.
The moment sunlight pierced in, they almost shut again, but I forced them open into a squint and looked around.

‘No freaking way…’

Surrounding me were people in prison uniforms.
And watching us—a massive crowd that was almost suffocating.

‘Did I… actually enter the tutorial?’

This was insane.
There’s a limit to how unscientific something can be.
But what I was seeing in front of me was undoubtedly real.

“No point dragging things out in this heat! Let’s begin before our fresh prisoners turn into dried jerky!”

The announcer’s pacing was annoyingly fast.
A feature that earned praise in the game, sure—but now it was the last thing I wanted.
The pressure that the tutorial was about to begin hit me like a crashing wave.

‘I’m screwed.’

As if things weren’t bad enough already…
That’s when I noticed what was in my hand.

‘…A staff? Wait, is this a staff?!’

That could only mean one thing:
My class was Mage.

‘Why Mage, of all things?’

Mages only had an 8% survival rate in the tutorial.
There’s a reason people say, “Don’t try Mage without at least 100 hours of gameplay.”

‘…’

Yep. I was well and truly screwed.

“First up, we’ve got the weakest of monsters—goblins! Even your mother-in-law could take one down! If you die to something like this, then you clearly had no will to earn your pardon!”

The announcer revealed the first round’s opponents.
The prisoners’ reactions were explosive.

“Goblins? Seriously? Those things are weak as hell!”
“Hah, this is gonna be a walk in the park. Glad I signed up.”
“Sweet! Let’s wipe them out and grab a drink after!”

It was only Round 1, but the appearance of a weak enemy had the other prisoners buzzing with excitement.
But I knew better.

‘No…’

The goblins that appear in Round 1 aren’t ordinary.

‘Those things are…’

Then it happened.

Step. Step. Step. Step.

Steady footsteps echoed from the corridor of the arena.
And when the goblins finally emerged, it was clear at a glance—they were nothing like the usual kind.

“Huh?”
“Wait a sec… what the hell is that?”
“Were goblins always like that?”

They marched in rows and columns, perfectly in sync like a military unit.
As they approached, the prisoners instinctively backed away.

Grrrk! Grrrrk! Gyaaaaa!

A deep, eerie howl rang out from somewhere.
And with that, the formation of goblins charged forward.

KYAAAH!

Not a single one broke formation—they charged as one, with perfect discipline.

“R-Run!”
“AAAAHHH!!”

The prisoners, caught completely off guard, scattered in panic.
They weren’t prepared to fight. They weren’t even properly running.
Some tripped over their own feet and fell backward in a panic.

‘This… this is exactly like the game.’

The pattern was identical to the game—uncannily so.
And maybe because of that,
my frantic mind started to cool.

‘Exactly like the game…?’

That meant the knowledge I had of the game—its strategies and mechanics—they should all work here too.

‘In that case…’

My frozen legs finally moved.

‘Run.’

If I were a warrior class, maybe I’d consider fighting.
But as a Mage, this was the only option.
I was squishy as hell.
And the only spell I had access to was Magic Missile—a single-target spell embedded in my staff.
No way that could deal with this horde.

‘Head to the outskirts.’

Goblins always swarmed where the most prey was.
So the best plan was to move toward the outer edge, away from the others.

“Huff… huff…!”

My lungs were on fire, but I forced myself to run.
Eventually, I managed to escape the wave of goblins.

“Whew.”

Just as expected—they weren’t paying attention to the outskirts yet.
I took a breather and scanned my surroundings.

‘I’ve made it out for now…’

Time for the next step.

‘Now… where is he?’

Among the many goblins, there was one.
The reason they were moving in organized formation.
The ringleader of this chaos.

Hobgoblin.

The commander of the goblins—and a monster far stronger than any of them.
I needed to locate him.

But… I couldn’t see him anywhere.

‘Where the hell…’

That’s when I felt it.

A tremor beneath my feet.
I looked down—and saw a shadow.

A massive shadow slowly engulfing my own.

‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.’

My heart sank like a stone, and cold sweat ran down my back.
I was going to die.
I had to run.
No time to look back.

I stepped forward—

—but my head instinctively turned.

And I locked eyes with the Hobgoblin.

‘Damn it. Curiosity killed the coder.’

Grrrr…

Its massive body filled my vision.
Bloodshot eyes met mine.
Drool dripped from its exposed fangs.

KYAAAAAH!

It swung its giant, nail-studded club.
Whoooosh!
It grazed past my face with a terrifying gust.

Translatin_Otaku

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