Pick Me Up!

Deep into the night.

The clock points to dawn.

Aaron gazed at me with a tired expression. Dark circles had formed under his eyes. It was a natural change, considering he hadn’t rested from morning till night.

Aaron spoke,

“Aren’t you going back, Hyung-nim?”

“I have things to do.”

“You’re working harder than me. I should work harder too.”

“If you push too hard, you’ll ruin your body. Take it easy.”

“You’re…”

“I’m fine.”

Aaron forced a bitter smile and left the training ground.

I looked around the training ground.

Just half a day ago, the training ground had been bustling with people, but now it was eerily empty.

With my sword drawn, I approached a wooden statue. A human-shaped doll. As the training grounds reached Level 2, the practice equipment evolved from scarecrows to wooden statues. I activated the switch in my mind.

[“Han (★★)” has entered a frenzied state!]

My mind instantly heated up.

A sense of omnipotence, like I could do anything, surged through my body’s nerves. After adjusting my stance, I began my forms. Right eye. Left shoulder. Heart. Lower abdomen. Ribcage. Groin. Calves. With each dance of the sword, the wood was shaved away, and splinters flew.

About 3 minutes later.

The wooden statue was damaged all over.

This wooden statue was impervious to most sword cuts. Aaron had to put all his strength into his thrusts to even leave a slight mark. But now, it had fallen to a mere piece of wood.

“My strength has definitely increased.”

Even from the status window, the changes were clear.

Except for intelligence, all stats had increased by 5.

I approached the wooden statue closely and carefully observed it.

I was checking if the sword had gone into the intended spot. Accurately thrusting the weapon exactly where I wanted was one of the fundamental skills I had mastered most faithfully. However, after a while, I could only let out a disappointed sigh.

“As expected, it’s incomplete.”

The sword’s thrust is slightly off from the intended point.

It lacked accuracy. In a normal situation, there shouldn’t be any deviation.

When I trigger frenzy, though my rationality wouldn’t be lost due to composure, there was still a penalty.

As I turned off the switch in my mind, the heat quickly subsided. Instead, a dull ache spread throughout my body.

“If the skills synergize with each other, they should merge into one, ideally.”

Just as Lesser Swordsmanship and Lesser Shield Technique changed to Lesser Sword and Shield Technique, if two skills are properly harmonized, they should merge into one skill. I tried an experiment just in case, and it was confirmed.

“When you trigger frenzy, the body gets stronger, but skills decline and you lose composure.”

Light erupted from the wooden statue that had turned into shards, and it began to reform.

I activated frenzy once again and resumed practice.

Suppressing the heat in my mind, I didn’t lose control of my body. The goal was to merge skills. The two skills needed to merge into one. I wanted to complete it, at least before reaching the 15th floor.

Since it wasn’t something pleasant to show to others, I was practicing alone. But after a while, I realized someone was watching me.

“…”

I stopped my movement.

Turning around, I saw Edis leaning against the wall, looking at me.

When our eyes met, Edis waved her hand with a slight smile.

“Working late into the night, huh?”

“And you what made you stay up late?”

Unlike Aaron, who’s a training fanatic, Edis often finishes training quickly. It wasn’t common for her to stay until late evening. Edis stepped away from the wall and slowly approached me.

“I have something to say.”

“Something to say?”

“We’re soon heading to the 12th floor.”

“That’s right.”

Edis is originally part of the 2nd party, but she’s temporarily in the 1st party.

At first, she stumbled somewhat, but through battles upon battles, she was now providing more than her fair share. Edis hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a firm voice.

“Have you ever killed a person?”

‘What a strange question.’

After sheathing my sword, I turned to Edis.

“Why are you asking that?”

“I heard you guys aren’t combat-oriented. Jenna is a hunter, Aaron is a forester, and you were a farmer, right? Hard to believe, but still.”

“So?”

“Killing a person is different from killing a monster.”

Edis’ focus seemed to blur.

She appeared to be recalling distant memories.

“From the 12th floor onward…”

“The enemies become human, huh?”

Edis nodded silently.

‘So that’s it.’

The 2nd party that tackled the 12th floor first.

Asher and Dica had gone right up to the point of dying on the 12th floor, which became a crucial reason for the 2nd party to join the strike.

It seems that their struggle wasn’t due to the difficulty of the mission, but due to its nature.

“Are you asking about our determination?”

“Yeah, to survive.”

“I guess you know the answer better.”

I chuckled and replied.

My life here was already established through the deaths of others. Shay. Toby. Avant. There were already three synthised in me. The number would only increase in the future. Edis let out a bitter laugh.

“That’s true. The Fangwolf members were practically killed by you.”

“Are you trying to blame me?”

“No, I’m just… well, I don’t even know what I’m trying to say.”

“Whatever comes out, no matter how they look, to me these creatures are monsters.”

“You might think that way, but your party might be different.”

“They won’t be different. But if they have other opinions, I won’t be the one saving them.”

Humanoid monsters undoubtedly existed.

And quite a lot of them. Not just humanoid, there were also plenty of normal humans among the enemies.

I didn’t expect that after the skeletons from the 11th floor we will have to fight humans at the 12th floor, but I knew it was something I had to face sooner or later. I continued.

“In short, it’s an unnecessary worry. Does that answer your question?”

“Fine, I got it.”

Edis hesitated briefly before disappearing from the training area.

‘Murder.’

Considered one of the worst crimes in modern society.

Judging from Edis’ reaction, it didn’t seem to be treated much differently in Townia.

‘Ridiculous.’

I had slaughtered hundreds of goblins, torn apart things that looked like humans in the 10th-floor’s Black Priest and walking corpses. I had grown tired of seeing people die. The color of blood, its scent, and its heat remained vividly imprinted.

“…”

I drew my sword.

There was still much to do.