Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The training grounds manager was dozing off with his chin resting on his hand. There were training grounds on every floor, and even though there was a 1st floor, the 2nd one was often considered the lowest floor. Few players visited the training grounds there.

On top of that, more players were using the virtual training ground, even though it was more expensive, which left the 2nd-floor training grounds largely deserted.

Thanks to that, the manager there was often able to nap in such a manner.

Tap—

“Khu-?” The manager, startled by the sound of someone approaching, coughed and raised his head. It wasn’t a new customer... Instead, he heard the customer who’d entered training ground four about 10 minutes prior staggering away.

‘It isn’t time yet.’ Seeing the customer’s unsteady footsteps, the manager clicked his tongue as he watched the customer leave and muttered, “That’s why you should have listened to me.” He got up from his nap and headed toward the training ground.

Though only 10 minutes had passed, it was his job to clean up every training ground after use.

Creak—

Still not fully awake, he opened the door to training ground four and took a look inside. ‘It’s probably clean. What could a newbie who just cleared the tutorial do here...?’

The manager’s tiredness slipped away when he saw the state of the training ground. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, thinking he might have seen it wrong, but the sight was just as shocking.

“Huh?” He took a step back in surprise, lost his balance, and fell.

Paf—

Instead of standing back up, he sat there for a while, thinking of what he was seeing. Arrows were scattered all over the floor among broken crossbows, the spears rising from the floor were all cut apart, and the walls were marked with sword slashes.

In short, training ground four was in a complete state of ruin. It seemed like it would take him the next few hours to clean it up.

“Wh-what happened here?” Rather than someone running through, it was the sight of someone who’d methodically smashed every trap in their path. It meant the player who’d been there hadn’t found it a challenge at all.

‘Just who...?’ No matter how much the manager thought about it, he only knew of one person who’d recently entered training ground four. “There’s no way...”

* * *

Su-hyeok immediately collapsed after entering his lodging. Maybe it was because he’d used the magic sword and taken his Fatigue to the limit, but his whole body ached, and he was a mess.

In his exhaustion, he ended up sleeping for half a day straight. After waking up, he hurriedly washed himself and went outside.

‘I’m still a bit stiff.’ He’d taken things too far the day before, and sleeping for a night wasn’t enough to make a full recovery. Kindre’s swords were sometimes known to kill their users, after all.

‘Should I be thankful that it ended with just this since the sword is considered a failed product?’ He stretched his stiff neck and walked to a cafe, where he paid 30 points for a coffee and sat down.

‘I can’t believe it actually worked.’ The quiet morning settled around him, and Su-hyeok recalled his session at the training grounds the day before as he took a sip of his steaming coffee.

[Status Window]

[Name: Lee Su-hyeok]

[Affiliation: Earth]

[Level: 10]

[Strength: 17]

[Agility: 17]

[Stamina: 16]

[Concentration: 18]

[Magic Power: 8]

[Fatigue: 61]

His stats were definitely higher than they should’ve been for someone who’d just passed the tutorial, but trying to use one of Kindre’s magic swords with 16 Stamina was still too much.

Under normal conditions, he wouldn’t have been able to hold the sword for even a minute.

‘There’s nothing useful.’ The only method he could think of was climbing the tower. As long as he passed the trials and climbed the tower, he could receive points, just as he had after the tutorial.

Of course, from the 2nd floor, you also had to pay points to participate in each trial.

“So there’s no other way...?” Just when he was about to close his player kit, a certain article caught Su-hyeok’s eye.

[This is the age of ‘Playerz.’ 1 out of 10 players reveal that they have tried streaming before.]

‘Streaming...?’ When he thought about it, he had heard of it before. 20 years prior, back when he was active, he’d heard of players transmitting their personal streams on a certain site. Even his new self seemed to know about it a bit.

‘Playerz is a major website recognized by the system,’ he thought to himself, roughly understanding the structure after researching more information. It wasn’t hard to understand since it was similar to something he knew from his past life.

‘This is very similar to YouTube.’ After he read more about streaming, he could smell the money. No, in that world, it was called ‘points’.

Su-hyeok’s eyes sparkled. Although it was a bit bothersome, it seemed like he’d found a way.

“Oh, what? Su-hyeok?” A customer entered the cafe and happily called out to Su-hyeok as he approached. “Did you come up too?” The man’s long, blond hair reached his shoulders. He had distinct features and a delicate-looking face, but his eyes were fierce.

Su-hyeok’s excited heart suddenly sank as he realized the man before him harbored hostility.

“It’s good to see you. I didn’t think I’d find you here. It seems that you’re staying nearby.” Without even asking for permission, the man sat in front of Su-hyeok.

‘How rude.’ Feeling the situation was unpleasant, Su-hyeok frowned and examined the man’s face. ‘Where have I seen him before?’

It felt like it was just on the edge of his memory. Of course, it wasn’t really ‘his’ memory—it was the memory of the man who’d originally owned his body.

* * *

“Why... Why are you doing this?”

“I just don’t like your name, you bastard. Okay?”

“My name?”

“Yes, your name. Lee Su-hyeok? You have the same name as that bastard who died.”

* * *

A scene flashed in his mind along with the name of the man sitting before him.

‘Isaac.’ Su-hyeok awkwardly scratched his head as memories surfaced. Although he hadn’t done anything wrong, he felt some guilt. ‘Was it because of me?’

Since Isaac didn’t like the name, whether he was a fan or hater, the man had bullied the original owner of Su-hyeok’s body.

His hands shook slightly.

“I’m staying in the building next to this.” Su-hyeok looked into Isaac’s eyes while his hands involuntarily shook. The guy was still smiling. When had he last received such a look? It was a look of disdain.

“Really? That’s interesting. I didn’t think a buffoon like you would be able to pass the tutorial. I figured even a single goblin would be too much for you.”

Isaac had gone to the same educational institution as Su-hyeok, inherited a great talent from his famous ranker father, and received ample support.

“I was lucky,” Su-hyeok answered in annoyance. Considering his age, he couldn’t afford to waste his breath arguing with a young kid.

Had he taken his words at face value? With a self-satisfied expression evident on his face, Isaac started to boast. “I went up to stage 20. I even surpassed my father’s record. Hugo praised me a lot.”

“Ah, really?”

“As a reward, I learned a skill...” Isaac kept chattering.

Su-hyeok pretended to listen, the words passing through one ear and out the other. He had no intention of taking revenge for something that didn’t happen to him. Anyway, he had already graduated from the institution, so there wouldn’t be many opportunities to get involved with Isaac in the future.

“Hey, I got thirsty after talking so much. Buy me a cup of tea.”

That was the line. Su-hyeok, who’d been listening to Isaac with a nonchalant expression, suddenly sharpened his gaze.

“Aren’t you rich? Buy it yourself.” Every point Su-hyeok had was very precious to him.

____