D.I.O

“Interesting.”

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After putting the shovel and pickaxe in the inventory, Yongno opened and closed the box repeatedly as it was easier to operate than he thought.
Just by perceiving the objects inside the inventory, Yongno could simply take them out from the little space.
All he had to do was move his hand in and out of it.

He asked, “What's the next test?”

“Let's do the 'Clothes Making’ test,” replied Mari.

They left the 'Weapon Production' room and moved to the next one.
As they stepped into the test room, they were greeted by a great amount of fabrics.
Mari picked up one of them and handed it to Yongno with a pair of scissors. 

“Just cut it out,” she said.

“Okay.”

Is this also a quest? But Yongno suppressed his curiosity and heeded Mari's instructions.
The word 'Clear!' then appeared before his eyes.
For this stage, scissors and fabric were given out as quest rewards along with 10 Spirits added to his EXP. 

Mari uttered, “Next up, producing magic items.
Are you ready?”

“Whoa, do I get to use magical abilities?”

Mari sneered, “Know your place.
You don't even know how to handle mana,” then she gave Yongno a piece of paper that had a scramble of letters and words on the whole page. 

Yongno asked, “What is this?”

“It's a written test.
Just write down one letter from them.
That's all.”

After her suggestion, Yongno chose the letter 'Ys' that symbolized flame and warmth.
It was definitely so easy to remember a single word that even an elementary school kid could pass the test within a minute.

“So, a brief explanation follows when I see the message ‘You gained a new skill!’ I see,” nodded Yongno as he completed this test too.
He received 10 Spirits as EXP and earned a print written in runes for the quest reward. 

“What's next?” asked Yongno.

Once he noticed that the levels of the tests are ridiculously easy, he began to break through the rooms at a fast pace. 

There were four test categories: ''Manufacturing,' 'Daily Life,' 'Adventure,' and 'Battle.' Each of them was divided into five parts; thus, there were a total of twenty tests.
Yongno had cleared three among them, so now he had seventeen tests left.

'Art' was a drawing test.
He finished drawing a house within five minutes, which looked like a really rough draft, but he passed the test nonetheless.
For that round, Yongno was rewarded with a sketchbook, some watercolors, and a brush.
In 'Potions Concoction,' he had to crush some unidentified herbs and received crushed herbs and a porcelain bowl for completing the quest. 

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The tests under the 'Daily Life' category were also very easy.
'Cooking' required making fried eggs.
'Information Gathering' was about finding something in a book that Mari told him earlier.
The 'Search' test asked him to find a fairy tale book from the bush; 'Farming’ was planting a seedling; for the 'Medicine' test, Yongno had to bandage the cut on his finger, which he had no idea when he got injured. 

For the 'Adventure' category, 'General Knowledge' was a simple written test just like the 'Enchant' test, the one that measured Yongno’s abilities to produce magical items.
During 'Training,' Yongno tamed a dog.
By giving it some snacks, Yongno had the dog at his bidding.
While for the 'Theft' portion, he had broken through an unlocked window and brought out silver coins.

“The rewards are better than I expected! They are miscellaneous things but seem to increase my EXP.
Can I try them again once I finish leveling up all these?” asked Yongno.

Mari replied, “You can, but it's almost impossible.
Tests in Level 1 are like a taste of things to come, so they are extremely easy, but as you reach higher levels, the difficulty increases exponentially.
It might be excruciatingly painful.”

“Then how do I level up?”

“Once you collect a certain amount of EXP, you will be eligible to take the tests.
It's not free though; EXP will be consumed.”

Tilting his head in wonder, Yongno asked, “Does that mean I’m spending my EXP to take the test but still earning rewards and EXP once I pass it?” 

“Correct.
In fact, when you pass more than ten tests, you can ignore quest rewards since the gained EXP would be a good enough return.”

In other words, Yongno could simply gain EXP and challenge himself to the next level without going hunting.

He continued asking, “Then isn't it better to take multiple tests at once?”

“Didn't I tell you the higher the level, the harder the test? Later on, you'd be obviously struggling to clear every test for a level up, so don't be ridiculous for now.”

“Just to clarify, is it impossible to take all the tests at a higher level?”

“You know we aren't good at everything unless you're all rounded.”

There was no problem with taking the tests; the level of difficulty was so low that it was even hard to fail, so Yongno could clear the missions without any troubles.
What mattered was that Yongno was running a little late.
While he spent too much time asking Mari a lot of questions, some users already went out for a hunt after taking all the tests.

“Eh?” 

Mari asked, “What's wrong?”

“Um, nothing…
but…”

Yongno had no problem until he encountered the 'Transportation' test.

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SWOOSH…!

They were at a 20-meter wide river that had a gentle river flow, low water level, and a very quiet atmosphere.
Even the river bottom was visible through the clear water.

Yongno asked murmuringly, “So the test is about…”

“Transporting this money bag across the river.
It's very simple as the tests you have cleared so far…” replied Mari.

Yongno hesitated, “I can't…”

“What?”

Yongno shook his head, “I can't do this.
Um…
do you mind if I do something else?”

“What are you talking about? This is a very easy quest.
As you can see, there is the raft and stepping-stones.
Even if you fall into the river, the water level is as low as your chest, so it isn't dangerous at all.”

Mari tilted her head, wondering about his weird behavior, but in Yongno's eyes, even her captivating stare looked like a devil beckoning him to the fire pits of hell.

He uttered, “It isn't a matter of danger.
I just can't do it.
Is there any way I can transport the money bag by land? I don’t think it’s necessary to go by water.”

“You can, but giving up is only available from Level 2, where you start taking the tests by yourself.”

Yongno argued, “That's why I'm begging you.
Please, I really can't do it…”

“Gosh, so annoying!”

“Eh?”

Suddenly, Mari pulled his hand; Yongno resisted her in astonishment, but her grip was unbelievably tight for a slender beauty.
Compared to this teenage girl, Yongno was taller, bulkier, and stronger, but Mari’s physical strength was much overwhelming than his; their difference in muscle powers was larger than the gap between a tiger and a cat. 

Yongno couldn’t accept that this fragile-looking girl was so easily dragging him to the river.
It seemed like even bringing together dozens of big guys like Yongno wouldn't be able to overpower her.

She murmured, “Let's see.
Even if I put you into the water, you can always crawl out, so…”

“…
Hold on! Mari, calm down and listen to me…” begged Yongno.

“I made up my mind.
Let's go!”

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“Yikes?!”

Mari moved her hand backward and swung it to the front.
Yongno's body suddenly flew all the way to the middle of the river, then sank under the water hopelessly with a splashing noise.

Yongno shrieked, “No! Help me!!”

Then, he saw a hallucination of a black hand pulling his feet down to the deep bottom.
He felt suffocated by the horrifying illusion.
Irrational and illogical fear gripped him.

“…
Eh?”

Yongno stood up by stepping on the ground.
Just as Mari told him, the water was only up to his chest. 

“See? It isn't deep, right?” said Mari.

“No…
That isn't the problem…”

Yongno was bewildered to find himself okay.
Nothing was inside the river; there wasn’t any black hand pulling his ankle down into the water, and he felt no pressure on his entire body either.
He couldn’t find any traces of horror.
       

Oh my god! How am I so fine when I can't even go into the bathtub…? This wouldn’t work in the real world, but it does here.
Is it because I'm inside a virtual reality which means my aquaphobia is rooted in my physical body, and not from my mind…?

Yongno felt slightly confused and disconcerted, but he soon showed a bright smile.
This was something he didn’t expect but had been willing to achieve for a long time. 

Mari said, “I have no idea what's been disturbing you, but you made it anyway, right? Then come back and get this money bag…”

Splash!

Mari's eyes widened at the sight of Yongno suddenly sinking underwater.
He moved his arms to swim, then boasted a perfect dolphin kick, flip turn, and short and long waves.
His body performed the essence of modern strokes and bullet-like speed, moving through the water.

Splash!

Swimming to the rock near the river at a terrific speed, Yongno did the flip turn again, then he kicked the solid surface to shoot himself like an arrow to the opposite side.
Although it had been a long time since he last swam, Yongno's movements were still fluid and relaxed.

He exclaimed, “Ahahaha! I'm not afraid of water! I'm not scared of it anymore!”

“…”

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“Hurrah!”

Yongno moved his limbs excitedly.
Meanwhile, the message, 'You gained a new skill –  Swimming!' appeared, but Yongno just kept swimming and enjoyed his blissful moment. 

Feeling dumbfounded, Mari murmured, “Is he an idiot or what? Of course, he isn't afraid of water since he’s an excellent swimmer.”

Just as she said, most of the people who feared getting into the water weren’t able to swim.
As if her words reached his ears, Yongno quickly approached Mari, swimming upstream. 

“Hey, Mari! Is there a time limit?”

“Huh? Of course, not, but…”

“Then do you mind if I swim a little more?” asked Yongno with his face full of joy. 

Mari stared at him for a while, then heaved a sigh.

“There is no time limit here, so do as you like.”

She seemed to have no choice but to let him enjoy the moment.
As her face came into his view, Yongno realized that his actions could inconvenience Mari since she was just sitting on the ground doing nothing.
Wouldn't it then be a waste of time for her?

Yongno replied, “Ah, sorry.
To think of it, you must be busy handling a lot of newbies.
Why don't you introduce me to some good places to swim then…?”

“Nope!”

Mari cut him off and took a seat on the grass, looking somehow lighthearted.

With a grin, she said, “Enjoy as much as you want.
We have endless time; I'm kind of free right now.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yup.”

Yongno shouted, “Okay!” then got back into the river.
He kicked the rock under the water, swam to the middle of the river, then came to a halt as he found a new message appearing in front of him. 

/You have reached Rank 8 in Swimming!/

/You gained the title of Entry-Level Swimmer!/