The Story is Told to the Protagonist.

I gripped the dagger firmly with [Grasp]. Then I struck at the swinging wooden hand as best I could.

Clang! Kang-

‘What kind of wood makes a metallic sound…!’

My shoulder and arm were scratched in succession.
The chilling sensation of flesh being torn made my movements stiffen.

‘Damn, is this right?’

Holding a weapon in one hand feels too awkward and unfamiliar.

Sometimes when it’s my turn, I can’t attack. I have to heal myself instead.

Moreover, my healing can’t keep up with the rate I’mat which getting injured. Blood flows all over my body.

‘Wasn’t this bastard supposed…!’

Finally unable to handle the wooden man’s speed, a wooden hand thrusts towards my face.

“Hup…!”

At that moment, a mana explosion occurred right behind me.

Boom!

My back is pushed, and the floor and air shake.

Both the wooden guy and I lost our balance from the impact of the mana sphere’s explosion.

But he quickly regained his balance and,

‘Balance… ugh…!’

I slipped on the blood on the floor.

As soon as my head hits the ground, a wooden spike falls towards my face.

Kang!

“Huk…!”

The wooden hand I blocked with my dagger stopped right in front of my nose.

“Kaaaargh-! Die!”

He lets out a dry scream that doesn’t sound human.

The wood right in front of my eyes is sharpened. If my arm gives way, that will pierce my face.

I can feel fear constricting my muscles. To shake off this unpleasant sensation, I yelled.

“You fucking bastard!! I thought I was gonna die! Do something else besides that crap!”

“I-I can’t fight!”

“Aaaaaargh!!”

With all my might, I push back my arm, letting out an enraged roar. But the wooden hand in front of my eyes didn’t budge at all.

“Protect Noah somehow! If Noah dies, we die too!”

“Master! You must kill him! If we kill just that one, we win!”

This time, a mana explosion occurred right next to me on the floor.

Kwang!

The wooden guy flinched and momentarily lost strength. Taking advantage of that gap, I kicked his stomach to knock him off.

“Hey, just don’t shoot, you idiot!”

At this rate, I’ll get hit first and die.

A brief lull in the battle.
Ein and the team leader are still tied up by crimson tree roots. The roots blocking the entrance seem to be quite sturdy, being the same color.

While keeping an eye on the tree guy, I looked at the dagger in my hand.
Is it because of the crisis of death? Some inspiration flashes through my mind.

“…”

Ah…. Is this right?

“…I don’t know.”

I threw the dagger at the wooden man and immediately ran straight at him. He naturally deflected the dagger without effort.

But it consumed his attention for a moment. I charged with all my might in that brief gap and smashed my fist into his jaw.

Bbeok!

Okay. That landed properly.

‘I’ll just fight the way I’m used to!’

When one hand was sealed with the dagger, I felt awkward, as if my body was creaking.

Of course, having even one weapon is obviously better than bare hands. But my body, which only threw punches on Earth, kept screaming that it wasn’t right.

‘I can’t win with dagger skills anyway.’

It’s a crazy choice, but for some reason, I felt certain this was the only way.

If I’m going to die either way, let’s just go with what feels right.

“Hup!”

Ppuk!

I landed another hit on his staggering jaw. Fortunately, even with a wooden head, the brain seems to be in the normal place.

He staggers and swings his hands around wildly. Of course, there was no way I’d get hit by such blind attacks.

I waited for him to drain his stamina, then landed a low kick.

Jjeok-

‘This is definitely right.’

It was much easier to control the distance than with dagger skills. This was the method I was familiar with.

I was about to kick the same spot several times, but the staggering wooden man suddenly stood upright and charged at me.

‘What, how already!?’

His recovery ability was not on a human level.
Fighting a different species for the first time, I had no choice but to be overwhelmed.

Wooden hands swing wildly. Bare hands were indeed disadvantageous.
Not thinking about blocking with the dagger made it easier to dodge, but there was absolutely no chance to counterattack.

Continuously pushed back, I finally hit the wooden wall.

‘Damn…!’

He grinned with his wrinkled face and swung his wooden hands, swoosh, in a barrage.

‘There’s no angle to dodge.’

With no choice, I blocked my head with my arms.

Kwajik!

“Aaaagh!”

For a moment, I thought my arm had been cut off.
The pain momentarily stops my thoughts. By the time I came to my senses, another hand was already coming.

Kwadeuk-

“Ah, agh…!”

I ended up giving up my other arm, too.

Not just my arms, but my head feels broken. I can’t concentrate because of the pain.

As I keep defending only my head and neck with my already rag-like arms, he stabs my side.

Kwadeuk.

The sound of something breaking inside. But it resonated through my body rather than my ears.

The bastard doesn’t pull his hand out and keeps pressing.

“Aaaaargh!!”

“Kuhahaha-!”

I grab his wrist with my trembling arms to stop him.

It hurts. It hurts so much that my strength is draining.

Before I knew it, I was barely holding on, grabbing the other hand aiming for my head. But the hole in my side keeps getting deeper.

“Ah, aah….”

A hoarse sound escapes. The strength in my hands is fading.

No. If I let go… it’s really over…

“Noah!”

Ein’s voice made me open my eyes.

“Don’t be broken by pain! Just accept it! And don’t be paralyzed by it. Maintain your focus!”

She shouted while tied up in tree roots.
It was the loudest I’d ever heard Ein’s voice.

“Don’t worry about injuries or death! Don’t be scared! Just fight! That situation you’re prematurely scared of will come for real when you surrender!”

Endure the pain. I learned the basics of fighting from Ein while passing through the second level.

I had forgotten. She said she’d tell me again when fighting, and now I’m hearing it like this.

‘…Right. My endurance stat is high, and I even have healing. There’s no need to be scared.’

The hole in my side? Healing will take care of it.
However, if I give in to the pain now and give up fighting, that’s when the fear of death I feel from this hole will become reality.

All that’s left is the sensation of pain. I just accept it.

Ding!

[Stat ‘Endurance’ increases by 1.]

Along with the elation of the stat increase, I feel something. I could tell instinctively.

‘…If it’s now, I can do it.’

The cliché of awakening at a moment of crisis to a comrade’s shout. That’s the privilege of protagonists, and I’m just an extra.

But I had a different privilege.

‘Content modification.’

If it’s now, I can do it. Modification into a new skill.

Ding!

[Sufficient plausibility.]
[Modifying content.]
[Modifying to .]

“Whew….”

“You human, your eyes…?”

This time, I grinned at him.

It’s amazing. How can it become this comfortable just by changing my mindset?
It hurts. But it doesn’t matter.

‘I can endure this.’

If my leg bones break, I’ll collapse. If I get hit in the jaw, I’ll stagger, and if my heart is pierced, I’ll die.

But this trivial sensation called pain can’t break me.

Confidence wells up. From now on, anyone who wants to stop me will have to break my legs or pierce my heart.

‘Grasp.’

There’s no skill, but I recited it internally.

Kwaak-

Strength enters my hands. I gripped the wooden guy’s wrists, not to prevent his nails from digging in but to keep him from escaping. The other hand too.

“What!”

As the direction of force changed, the wooden man hurriedly tried to pull his hands away, but they didn’t move.

‘As expected, his strength is low compared to his high endurance and agility.’

Probably the same level 1 as me. I noticed earlier when we were wrestling on the ground.

And even without the skill, ‘Grasp’ was originally my talent recognized by the system.

As the situation unexpectedly dragged on, the swordsman urgently shouted.

“Master! End it quickly!”

“…Boss! The situation has changed!”

“What?”

“This human, he’s weird. His eyes changed just from hearing some cheering. He’s not some novel protagonist….”

The guy couldn’t continue.
Because I smashed his nose with my forehead.

Baak-

“Kaaak!”

Okay. That definitely felt like splitting wood.

The guy’s head snaps back. But I firmly grabbed both hands so he couldn’t fall.

Our weapons are mutually sealed. Except for injuries, the situation has become exactly the same. But.

‘Now I’ll be tougher.’

I’ve switched my skill to tank mode, and my stats have increased, too.

Baak!

Unlike before, I couldn’t feel my nose. It seemed out of line as well.

“Wh-what… How is your head… so hard….”

The wooden guy staggers in pain and lowers his head. Seems he’s afraid of headbutts.

A fearsome technique I’ve acquired from neighborhood fights.

“How about…”

Hearing my words, the guy flinched and tried to raise his head, but it was too late.

Bbeok!

“Kkeok-.”

The strength completely drained from his wooden hands.
One more headbutt.

Kwajik!

“Ka- Aah, kak-.”

This time, I kneed him in the face, just like he did to me earlier.

His head snapped up. I let go of both hands to let him fall. I had already confirmed his body had lost strength.

“Bring it on.”

From now on, it’s freestyle.

[Casting skill ‘Tears of Gems.’]

‘First, recovery.’

Because bleeding is dangerous.

Ppuk, puk, puk! Jjeok!

Temple, side, jaw, low kick. I really beat him to dust. Still, it took a while since he had high endurance, too.

While beating him up, I noticed something interesting.

‘As my endurance stat increased, my fists became heavier and harder.’

I didn’t realize earlier because I was in a frenzy, but my bone density must have increased.
Getting hit by this would really hurt, I imagine.

I heard the excited voice of the team leader.

“I told you, Noah! Your guts are something else!”

The staggering wooden man weakly swings his hand.
I flinched and stopped my attack.

‘What, he’s counterattacking after taking hits to the jaw and temple?’

Surprised, I reflexively raised my guard.
Like before, flesh was torn from my arms, but I could still move.
Once I shook off the fear, the reality of pain was so trivial.

“Wow. You’re really tough.”

“Crazy, hu…man….”

He made an expression of disbelief and disgust.
Yet he still desperately swings his arms.

But hey, I’ve healed my wounds.

[Modifying content.]
[Modifying to .]

‘[Grasp].’

I intertwined my fingers with the wooden guy’s hands, which had lost their sharp transformation.
Not just grabbing, but with the skill.

Kwajik!

“Kaaaak!”

His wooden hands crumbled.

“Wh-what, you bastard, suddenly your strength!”

I grinned at his high praise.

Freely switching between combat mode and tank mode.
Even with only a few skills that can be swapped, it was this overpowered.

I hooked his leg while holding his hand.
I tried to twist the wrist I was holding as I threw him down, but failed. Damn tough.

I got on top of him and pressed his back with my knee. I smashed his head into the ground and twisted his arm behind to subdue him.

“It’s over here!”

I announced the victory to my teammates. Now I’ll use [Grasp] on his neck….

“Huh?”

Why is it so quiet?

I looked towards the vanguard.
The team leader had collapsed, and Jilduk was kneeling.

The swordsman, alone on his feet, approaches me.

Thud, thud.

“Let go of Master.”

What… what’s going on right now?

Just a moment ago he was shouting that I was doing well. How can this happen in such a short time?

“Noah… that bastard, he’s a real mana user…!”

“…What?”

It was a fight we had already won.
But just now, our chance of victory disappeared.