“Joint Warfare is one of the basic tests, but it's always offered last. Once you complete Joint Warfare, you’re done with all the basic tests.”

“What’s the Starting Room?”

“After the basic tests, the Starting Room prepares you for gameplay within DIO.”

The Starting Room was where players would choose their path, the spiritual force area they specialized in, and they would also acquire their basic equipment here. Essentially, it was a place where users would become fully qualified within the world of DIO. Mari further explained.

“Since you’re different from other users, I’m sure Kyle has something special prepared for you. In any case, I don’t think you’ll run into any trouble.”

“Kyle?”

“He’s also a guide like I am, but he outranks me. Also, I can’t follow you into that room, so you’ll have to go in alone.”

“Huh? You can’t follow?”

“Yes. You’re close to the end of this tutorial.”

Mari mumbled the last few words. She seemed to be wistful about something, but Yongno didn’t notice her fleeting show of emotion. He soon opened the door to the Starting Room and walked in.

“This place…”

It was a small room, about 100 square feet. There were weapons displayed on the walls, showing off various types of swords, a bow and arrows, leather armor, magic staffs, and even mystical books. Though Yongno was only a Level 2 user, he could recognize that all the equipment within the room was of high quality. 

“Oh, a customer.”

Previously having been dozing off at the counter, a man spoke up.

“Uhm, you see….”

“I notice you’ve already determined your spiritual power area. It seems you made that decision by yourself rather than have Mari help you.”

“Huh?”

“Great Strength Vajra Hand Level 8 and Golden Pill Immortal Technique at Level 7… considering that there’s no user who has reached a cultivation level above five, these specs seem far beyond what’s expected of a beginner. Of course, based on play time, it’s not absurd that you’d reach these levels, but I wonder if it’s okay for a guide NPC to have given you so much help….”

Kyle closed his eyes and briefly sank into thought before shaking his head.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not like she went against any of the company’s rules.”

DIO’s main policy was to support and encourage user growth. Of course, it was prohibited to show preference and support a specific user’s progression, but Kyle decided that the assistance Yongno received didn’t go against this policy. He might have come to a different conclusion if he knew that Yongno hadn’t truly learned Great Strength Vajra Hand but essentially had it implanted into him. Yet, he’d already decided not to pursue this matter any further. It wasn’t his job to find problems in the general gameplay.

“Choose.”

“Choose what?”

“Your basic spiritual power. You can choose to further specialize in internal energy or go down a path of magic, chakra, life force, divine force, or aura as a secondary Channel.”

Yongno had never considered this opportunity, as he’d already utilized his basic spiritual power to reinforce his internal energy.

“Uhm, I’ve already used up the basic spiritual power that was allotted to me.”

“You did that of your own volition using your wit, so it doesn’t count. Either way, you’re not finalizing your ultimate spiritual power path at this moment, and you can choose to change or delete it in the future. You’re a bit farther ahead than the others, but that doesn’t really make any difference.”

After explaining his thoughts, Kyle went into detail about each area of spiritual power.

“There are six different areas of spiritual power in DIO. Actually, to be specific, there’s actually seven.”

“Seven?”

“There are six areas which users can pursue, but if a choice is not made, then the default is selected. This is the seventh area of spiritual power: pure spiritual power. This is the path that Summoners and Spiritualists/Elementalists take, as well as the source of their power. Since these two types of specialists can deal with raw, unrefined, and unprocessed power, they’re better equipped to trade and make deals with otherworldly existences.”

Based on the spiritual power a player chose, they would specialize in and deal with starkly different areas. For instance, without needing to use any other abilities, life force allowed users to reinforce their physical bodies, and chakra granted powers through a deep ‘understanding’ of a ‘property.” This also extended to divine power, which created miracles through the power gained from the ‘reflection’ of other dimensions. Those who used aura could materialize the inner power of their consciousness. Then, there were internal energy and magic users.

Since each area had its strengths and weaknesses, it was impossible to state that any one field of spiritual power was better or worse than another. 

“What’s the most popular area of spiritual power?”

“It’s stupid and idiotic to decide one’s spiritual power path based on popularity.”

“Hmph. Why so serious? Anyway, I’ve already decided on my path.”

“And that is?”

“Magic. I’ve always wanted to cast magic spells.”

After meeting Ivan Jester during the rescue portion of his basic tests, Yongno had been smitten with the idea of using magic. The overwhelming power and flashiness that he’d witnessed had a significant impact on Yongno, and he felt that martial arts, which he had been using, was less formidable than magic.

“Fine. Then, your areas of spiritual power shall be internal energy and magic power. You may choose to change these paths in future quests, but you must keep in mind that the more fields you decide to learn, the slower your overall growth will be. Moreover, your progression gets more difficult as you gain levels.”

“Fine.”

After seeing Yongno nod in acknowledgement, Kyle continued to speak.

“Alright then. Which school of study do you want to enter?”

“School of study?”

Kyle handed over a small booklet to Yongno, who had a confused look on his face.

“Similar to how the divisions or sects have various cultivation methods that set internal energy users apart from each other, magic power has different schools of study as well. They utilize distinct magic techniques and magic storage solutions. This is what you’re deciding right now.”

Yongno perused the small booklet that Kyle handed him. There were over 100 schools of study, and each one was given one page to describe itself.

“Miletus, Wicalein… the Red Hawk school of study? Heaven without Immortals and Reverse Heaven Eight Methods? There doesn’t seem to be any consistency in these schools.”

“They’re all outstanding schools that possess unique strengths and weaknesses. None is better than the other. Choose whatever you wish.”

“Hmm.”

Yongno fell into thought. There were over 100 schools of study. Since Mari had chosen the Golden Pill Immortal Technique for Yongno, it was difficult for him to make a choice by himself.

“Don’t be too concerned with your choice. While they all possess different qualities, they’re equal in power. Furthermore, you can reset your decision and start over later.”

“I can choose to do a reset?”

“Sure. You’d need to use some gold and experience points, but it isn’t so expensive that it would be too cumbersome or difficult.”

Yongno nodded. If there was an option to reset or have a do-over, Yongno had no reason to over concern himself with the decision. Additionally, there was no wrong choice, as all the options were said to be equally formidable and effective.

“Alright, then I choose the Lucky 77 school of study.”

Yongno was handing over the booklet when he had a change of heart.

“Wait, no. I think it’s better if I close my eyes and choose one at random.”

After saying this, Yongno closed his eyes and thumbed through the booklet’s pages, finally settling on a random page. 

“Okay, this one. The Seven Jewel school of study on the seventy-seventh page.”

After stating the school of study that he had chosen at random, Yongno noticed that the page number of this new, randomly-chosen school was the same as the number of the previous one. Was this just a coincidence?

“… Coincidence?”

Yongno fell into thought once more as he let out a contemplative hum. He closed the booklet and randomly shuffled through its pages. This wasn’t just for fun. Yongno was being serious. He was planning on choosing his school of study based on whichever one he landed on.

“The seventy-seventh page, the Seven Jewel school of study.”

It was the same as what he had randomly landed on before.

“… So, this wasn’t a coincidence.”

“Hey, you.”

When Yongno’s expression hardened as he unbelievably chose the same school of study twice in a row by chance, Kyle spoke out. It seemed Kyle wanted to say something, but Yongno beat him to it.

“This is destiny! My destined school of study!”

“…”

“Good! I choose this. Seven Jewel!”

“… Uhm, okay. Whatever.”

Whoosh.

As soon as Kyle agreed, a hexagonal magic image appeared on Yongno’s hand, causing a slight tingling sensation. Within the magic image was a small amount of magic power, and notifications started to appear in the air.

/Spiritual Power (Type: Magic Power) has increased by 20 points!/

/You have acquired the school of study, ‘Seven Jewels!’/

“Hmm, so this magic image contains my magic power.”

With the opening of his new Channel, Yongno was left amazed. A book called [Understanding Something New] magically appeared in front of him, and the text underneath the title read, [The Representative 25 Spells of the First Level].

“It’s an introductory book. The basic resources will be provided to you free of charge, so you don’t have to fret about that. Oh, and also….”

A tall, pointed hat, a blue robe, and a 1.3-meter wooden staff appeared before Yongno.

“Those are also part of the basic resources provided to you. Put them on.”

“Wow, you’re just handing these out? I don’t have to start from scratch and acquire items as I play this game?”

“If that were the case, life force users would be at too much of an advantage, as they start with nothing since they utilize their physical bodies. They can crush boulders with their bare hands, but magic users can’t do anything without some basic items. Even internal energy users who practice martial arts need to have some basic items to be effective.”

“Then these are basic items too?”

“Yes, that’s one of the basic items given to fighters.”

Yongno looked at the longsword that hung on the wall. The longsword’s blade reflected a blue hue. Looking at the sword, Yongno recognized its craftsmanship and artistic beauty. Although its design was basic, it was definitely not something that had been mass-produced. It was unbelievable that such a weapon would be given out as a basic item to new users. With this thought, Yongno looked at the equipment he was given.

Yongno felt his robe and let out an admiring whistle. The robe was made of some unknown high-quality material. This material was firm enough to withstand a sword strike but simultaneously soft and supple as it touched the wearer’s skin. It wasn’t too thick, and it was light enough for Yongno to wear without any discomfort. Then, Yongno looked at his new hat.

The hat was made of the same material as the robe. The brim of the hat had a diameter of about a meter, so it looked relatively large, but it was as light as a feather and fit his head snuggly.

“Wow, I feel like a real mage.”

Yongno felt satisfied as he looked at himself in the mirror with his items equipped. The wooden staff was his final piece of equipment. Yongno held up the 1.3-meter-long wooden staff. Though it was made of wood, the staff gave off a mystical quality. Moreover, it was engraved with tens of foreign, unreadable lines of text.

“All of these seem top-notch. These are all 8th tier items?”

Responding to Yongno’s look of confusion, Kyle nodded.

“DIO’s item rankings are strictly based on their performance. Take that longsword, for example. Despite being made by an expert, it’s still just an 8th tier item. Even if a sword is made by a master craftsman with a great deal of experience, it’s still just a basic weapon, something sharp and sturdy. As such, it wouldn’t reach a tier greater than seven.”

This was because ‘tier did not equal value or worth.’ Take, for example, an expensive sword crafted by a master craftsman versus a mass-produced handgun. If one only took value into consideration, the sword would be the indisputable winner. Comparing a master-crafted sword to a mass-produced handgun was silly. Yet, what would happen if someone wielding the master-crafted sword fought the person with the mass-produced handgun? Would the person with the irrefutably higher-quality sword be any match for the person carrying a handgun?

Thus, DIO’s item ranking system ranked swords up to the 7th tier and handguns at the 6th tier. It didn’t matter how much an item was worth. Handguns were more useful and destructive, so they were ranked higher. Of course, the availability and craftsmanship of an item would impact its price. So, some items might have a higher tier but be cheap, whereas an item with a lower tier might be considered priceless. 

“Wow! Then what about 1st tier and A tier items?”

“They possess equivalent levels of [Function] and [Power].”

After hearing this explanation, Yongno recalled the sword he had seen in the underwater dungeon. It had shimmered with mystical silver light and had jewels encrusted on its handle. It had also been covered in a stylish blue hide.

It was a sword that originated straight from a legend. It was like the mystical sword that had felled dragons of yore, the SS tier magic sword named Ascalon.

“Then what about SS tier items?”

“SS tier… that’s not something that you’ll be approaching anytime soon. An SS tier item is in a class of strategic weapons that can single-handedly change the outcome of a war. In terms of your world, a hydrogen bomb would be comparable to an SS tier item.”

“A hydrogen bomb?”

“Theoretically, a hydrogen bomb’s destructive property is infinite. It is only restricted based on the range of its chain reaction. I wouldn’t say an SS tier item’s power is infinite, but I will say that its destructive qualities are comparable to a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb warhead.”

“…”

Yongno stood speechless, dumbfounded, as Kyle gave this explanation with a somewhat bored face.