Season 2: Chapter 232: Developer’s Power Level (2)
Almond wore a look of resignation inside the capsule after starting the game.
"Ah, what's this?"
It turned out that unless it was a special server with a special account, any new account had to go through a mandatory tutorial by default.
[Tutorial]
[Loading…]
The tutorial was mandatory since this was a characteristic of all capsule games. Depending on a person's physique or specific conditions, the game's brainwave interference method could be unpleasant. In some cases, it could cause errors and necessitated a preliminary test.
"Ah, right. I can do the tutorial. That's good."
For Almond, this was a fortunate turn of events. It was better to go through a tutorial than dive straight into the challenge after watching a brief video, especially since Almond had a habit of letting instructions go into one ear and out the other. Hands-on experience was more beneficial for him.
However, he was the only one who thought the tutorial was a stroke of luck.
"Ah, what tutorial!! Are you kidding me?"
"Wow, a complete newbie?"
"Ah... what kind of attention-seeker is this?"
The JetPumped challengers felt thoroughly annoyed. They had limited time to challenge Kim Yi-Seo. That was to be expected since Kim Yi-Seo wasn't someone so easily handled.
"Ah... crazy. What a waste of time. We need to quickly get to Kim Yi-Seo..."
It felt frustrating enough that they hadn't even been able to get Kim Yi-Seo onto the challenge stage.
"Is this for real? Who does he think he is? A nutcase? He's doing the tutorial here? And then he plans to beat the developers?"
Anyone would be infuriated if they had to wait for a challenger to complete the tutorial. Expecting to win against the game's developers while playing for the first time today was preposterous. It wasn’t just any developer, but the infamous Kim Yi-Seo.
"Ahahaha! What to do, everyone~?"
Kim Yi-Seo seized the moment and grabbed the microphone to taunt them again.
"This gentleman here! It’s his first time playing the game today! It will take quite a while since he has to start with the tutorial, right? But he’s a challenger nonetheless. I must duly face him, right?"
The challengers wanted to scream in protest.
"Errrgh..."
In reality, they could only groan and couldn’t even utter any words because there was nothing wrong with Kim Yi-Seo's statement.
"This, this, the tutorial for the finishing move takes almost seven hours as far as I know. Right?"
A secretary beside him nodded in agreement.
"Yes. Among streamers, Mr. Bubblegum has the record at five hours. Many others took a long time."
“Ah.”
A collective sigh passed through the crowd.
"Will the finishing move take an hour, perhaps?"
"Ah, it’s Almond. Surely he’ll finish it in under twenty minutes."
"Twenty minutes is still a long time..."
A tutorial in JetPumped usually didn't take more than twenty minutes to complete given its simple structure. The only tricky part was learning the finishing move. It could take half a day for those who couldn't get it. Of course, the average duration wasn't half a day. If that were the case, the game wouldn’t operate properly.
"The average time taken to learn the finishing move in the tutorial is about thirty-one minutes."
Thirty minutes, while lengthy for a tutorial, wasn’t considered cruelly long. However, thirty minutes was indeed a long time during this crucial challenge. In that span, two to three challengers could have completed their attempts.
"Everyone! Why don’t you go have a meal? You must be hungry, right?"
***
Unaware of the external circumstances, Almond stood in a stark white cubic space with a rather serene expression.
[Tutorial Mode]
When he entered the capsule, an NPC assigned to instruct him appeared.
Swoosh.
"Hello?"
"...?"
He had darkly tanned skin, an imposing muscular body, pink hair and long eyelashes, and wore an overwhelmingly kitschy aerobics leggings outfit. The man who introduced himself possessed all these features.
"I'm André, boy~!"
His appearance alone was extraordinarily unusual.
"I'm here to pump! Your jet, girl~!"
[He will probably enhance your jet.]
— What kind of concept is this? LOL
— Oh wow
— I thought he said something else for a moment :O
— Boooooy~ LOL
— LOL
"Ah... yes," Almond responded as briefly as possible and eagerly wanted to finish the tutorial.
"First, welcome to the world of jetters, handsome boy~!"
"Jetters?"
"Yes, jetters are beings who use jets. More precisely, virtual beings who interact with reality, boy~?! Get it?"
"Ah…"
"It's okay if you don't get it, André's here! We jetters are virtual combat avatars sent to the real dimension, you know. We call that transmission."
Snap!
André snapped his fingers and his body suddenly became a comical low polygon graphic.
"When transmitted to reality as a jetter, we look a bit different. Reality can't interpret our data correctly."
"Oh…"
"Funny, right? But! This jet, this mass of data, can be directly integrated into our bodies, boy~!"
Almond roughly understood that he was supposed to send his virtual avatar into reality to fight. That avatar was a jetter, which made him a jetter.
"Ah, I should know what a jet is first, right?" Almond asked.
"A jet? It's a combat skill part that we attach to our bodies, boy~!"
"Ah."
"For example, even if we're virtual avatars, fragile girls like us can't suddenly fight using Muay Thai, right? When that happens, just use a Muay Thai jet~"
— Oh…
— Like a memory chip?
— So where is this fragile girl~ exactly??
— Ah, that's the setting LOL
— Here, girl means 'tough'~
Ding.
[Please attach a jet.]
As André finished explaining, an instruction appeared.
Where were the jets to attach?
Creeeek.
The floor split open and metal capsules popped out.
"Choose well, boy~!"
[You may choose one of these five jets to start. More can be purchased from the store later.]
Along with this text, five jets appeared in front of him.
[Muay Thai Jet]
[Boxing Jet]
[Jiu-Jitsu Jet]
[Judo Jet]
[Taekwondo Jet]
These were familiar combat sports jets.
"It seems different."
However, this felt different from the JetPumped that Almond watched in the video.
"There was all sorts of weird stuff."
The JetPumped he watched didn’t seem to use any martial arts. It was more like fights using superpowers, yet the first options given were realistic martial arts.
He thought he would be Iron Man after being promised a Marvel movie experience and felt more like he ended up as Hawkeye.
"There are not only Earth's combat techniques, but all sorts of bizarre things. With boy's skill level, this is as much as you can get for now."
André winked at him.
Almond ignored his flirting behavior and chose the taekwondo chip.
'Judo looks fun too...'
At first, he thought about trying something different.
"You measure distance well. Focus on that."
He recalled the tip he heard earlier. If he measured distance well and wanted to strike from long range, that was definitely it.
'It's definitely taekwondo.'
Almond chose taekwondo.
[Taekwondo Chip]
Swoosh!
The shaking box emitted a bright light and burst open with a bang!
"Oh! Taekwondo? I like it, boy. Give it a try."
André twisted his body and encouraged him.
'... It's shoes?'
The taekwondo chip from the capsule came in the form of shoes. Perhaps it represented what was most commonly used in the martial art.
The shoes would attach themselves as soon as they touched his feet.
Clatter!
"You chose the taekwondo chip, boy~? Then your kicks will become special from now on."
[Try kicking freely]
Freely? Wondering what that meant, Almond swung his foot any way he could. If looked at generously, it could be considered a kick. However—
"!?"
Whoosh!
Zoom!
Swoosh!
A ghostly kick flew out.
'Wow.'
The attacking foot grew incredibly large and its reach extended much longer.
— LOL
— What's with the big foot? LOL
— Wow, this is the jet charm
"Oho! It works well? Kicking carelessly, but understanding perfectly is the power of the chip~"
[The kicking demonstration is the basic three kick combo of the taekwondo chip.]
In fighting game terms, this triple hit combo consisted of light kick → heavy kick → light kick.
[The taekwondo chip has two more techniques.]
[Refer to the technique chart in the upper right corner.]
Just swinging his legs any way would produce the basic three hit combo. Beyond that, specific postures or timing were needed for other combos and techniques.
'Only two.'
Unlike other fighting games, there weren't many command techniques. The combos were designed to continue on with the simplest of motions.
"Alright! That's the basic combo. Now it's time to learn the chip's finishing move, boy~"
It was time to learn the finishing move.
"Like most chips! The finishing move is very simple, you see? It has to be usable even in extreme situations!"
Chuck.
André assumed a posture as if to demonstrate.
"The most basic movement in taekwondo is the finishing move. But!"
He raised his index finger with great emphasis and exaggeration.
"A perfect spinning kick! You need to know how to do a perfect spinning kick, boy~"
André demonstrated a perfect spinning kick as if he were a drill instructor. His foot moved with sharp distinct motions and ultimately kicked the air as if cutting off the opponent's breath.
Boom!
'That's it?'
Almond tilted his head.
'It’s hard to grasp with just one look...'
Mimicking André's demonstration after just watching it once seemed difficult.
He recalled the past when he had learned this before. A senior toying with him once asked to spar under the guise of teaching. After that, he asked the senior to become an archery target because he nearly got hit by a flying kick.
‘What goes around comes around.’
Nevertheless, Almond remembered the movements from that time. He didn't really need to refer to André's posture.
'It was like this.'
He pulled his right foot back, lifted it stealthily, and tensed his supporting left leg. As the rotation passed through his waist and shoulders, his right foot naturally became the front foot. At the moment of extending his knee...
Whizz!
The top of his foot sliced through the air.
Boom!
Thanks to his high VNS score, he could execute it in a much more perfect posture than if he tried in reality.
'Oh.'
Suddenly, a taekwondo uniform appeared over Almond. This was the effect of executing the finishing move. It was evidence that he had properly activated the finishing move.
"Booooooy!? Where did you learn that!?" André exclaimed in shock. "To activate the finishing move in one go! Amazing!"
— Wow, is this Almond in a capsule!?
— Is this also Taekwondo??
— Raina, Luna... Next, André?
André looked enamoured and the viewers enjoyed it. Almond didn’t quite feel the same way.
"Ahem. Let's move on."
"Then, try that finishing move on me, boy~!"
"Yes."
Almond tilted his head to ask if it was really okay to hit André directly.
'I’ve been waiting for this.'
"Of course, I won't just take it. I'll dodge, so it won't be easy—"
In an instant, Almond unleashed a spinning kick.
Bang!
An illusion like a taekwondo uniform appeared as the kick struck André's chin. André trembled as his eyes rolled back.
"Rrrrrrrrrr...!?"
— ??
— LOL
— Nut technique! Interrupting!
— "Nut" got hit LOL
— Another bug? LOL
"???"
Almond thought a glitch had occurred. Fortunately, his worry was quickly resolved.
Ting!
A clear sound echoed out.
[Finishing move activated!]
Suddenly, his body moved independently and he started kicking André at a speed barely visible to the naked eye.
Fufufufu!
Almond didn't need to do anything.
Thwack!
Thud!
Boom!!!
André, struck by the last kick, flew up in the air and spun about thirty times. He crashed loudly back to the ground.
— LOL
— Flying off like Team Rocket LOL
— This game is hilarious LOL
André spoke with his head buried in the ground, "Wow~ boy~? You really went to the other world and came back, huh? Hahaha! There's nothing left to teach you! Just get out into the real world!"
— Hey André. That must be where Hades lives.
— Right, the underworld LOL
— LOL
The tutorial ended even though it usually took thirty minutes. For skilled players, it usually took twenty minutes. Exceptional professionals who actually practiced martial arts usually finished in ten minutes.
However…
[00:07:12]
Almond finished the tutorial in seven minutes and twelve seconds.
Yenmazing's Thoughts
All this Jet Pumped action reminds me of a phone game I used to play long ago called "Jetpack Joyride." I don't know if you guys know what it is, but that was my peak in-class entertainment.