Chapter 62: Why can’t you get over the wall?

Three days later.

As the stars faded and the sun began to rise, he awoke from his dream, sunlight streaming through the curtains.

“This dream again…”

After his wives tore through dimensions and appeared before him, he’d been dreaming frequently about his past lives. It felt like reliving those experiences.

‘The sh*tty thing is, the emotions were vivid in the dream, but they vanished as soon as I woke up.’

Perhaps because of his date with Estelle a few days ago, today’s dream was about his time in Estelle’s world. His adventures with Ludric, Violetta, Estelle… and Ruina.

There were also connections with Alexander, Silion, Swain, and various others who had aided his life and journey, and countless related events.

So many things had happened; he’d cried, laughed, and been happy… His mind remembered it that way. Yet he didn’t feel any of that happiness now.

Still, there was proof that he had lived there, that he hadn’t lived in vain. His Savior of the World and Universal Spear Technique traits, and Estelle, who loved him.

Their existence was proof of the value of his short life. Therefore, he could be proud and confident in himself. Because he knew he had lived more diligently than anyone else.

Of course, there were people like Gaegeolgae and Ruina for whom he carried emotional burdens. To that end, he absolutely had to regain his emotions.

He couldn’t claim to carry those burdens while feeling nothing for them. With those thoughts, he took off his pajamas and went into the bathroom.

Today was Saturday.

Since all students were allowed to go out, his companions would probably storm his room after breakfast.

He couldn’t show them his disheveled appearance, so he washed up and changed into decent clothes.

Knock knock

“I’ve brought your breakfast.”

“Yes. Coming.”

Seol Ah-yeon arrived, always punctual, never a minute off. He checked his clothes for any issues and opened the door to greet her.

“Good morning, Ah-yeon.”

“Yes. Good morning, Yu-won.”

Although her face seemed expressionless, after observing her for six days, he knew this expression meant she was in a fairly good mood.

“Are you also off today and tomorrow, Ah-yeon?”

“Yes. It varies for each staff member, but those who prepare breakfast for their assigned students have free time on weekends.”

He’d rarely met anyone who disliked rest. Unless they were bored from too much rest, who would dislike a weekend after working every day?

“Oh. Soy-marinated crab today?”

Since she prepared his breakfast every day, he felt it was a bit rude to just take the food and leave, so he made small talk with her every morning.

He’d once mentioned liking soy-marinated crab during a conversation about food, and it seemed she’d remembered and prepared it for him.

He took the tray from her and placed it inside his dorm.

“Yes. You mentioned you liked it last time, so I made some. I hope you enjoy it.”

“I’ll enjoy it. Thank you very much.”

He thanked her for her effort. Her expression brightened for a moment before returning to its usual impassiveness.

“You said you were off. Do you have any plans for today?”

“I’m going to see my younger sibling.”

Her mood seemed better than usual today, probably because it was the day she was seeing her sibling.

“You seem close to your sibling.”

“Yes. We lost our parents when we were young and relied on each other at the orphanage, so I think that’s why.”

Her timing for revealing her orphan status was quite something.

They’d gotten somewhat closer over the past six days, but they weren’t close enough to share such personal details, weren’t they?

‘She’s on Kim Yu-won’s level.’

She was similar to that guy who had ambushed Jin Baek-ryong by suddenly revealing his family situation.

He couldn’t just stay silent after hearing that, so he spoke.

“I also lost my parents when I was young and lived in an orphanage.”

A hint of surprise flickered across her face. She probably hadn’t expected a reverse orphan-reveal.

“But I was well-educated by the director and managed to get into the academy.”

“The director… Yes. I was also educated by the director…”

Her expression darkened drastically at the mention of the director before quickly returning to normal. He seemed to be seeing various expressions from her today.

It didn’t sound like a pleasant topic, so he decided to cut it short.

“That’s how you got a formal job at Beatrice Academy, right? It’s not a position just anyone can get.”

“That’s correct.”

She replied, having regained her composure. The food would get cold soon, so he felt the need to end the conversation.

“I seem to have kept you too long, especially on your day off. I’ll see you next Monday then.”

“Yes. See you then.”

He saw her off and sat down to eat breakfast. He thoroughly enjoyed the soy-marinated crab, even mixing rice with the remaining sauce in the shell, feeling incredibly satisfied.

‘I should buy a gift for Seol Ah-yeon on my way out.’

She’d probably like it if he bought something for her sibling too.

After finishing his meal and putting the tray outside, he decided to briefly practice the Ink Lightning Divine Art before his companions arrived.

He’d constantly thought about getting stronger, but with being the freshman representative, meeting a friend from his past life, Seung-ah’s confession, and his date with Estelle, he hadn’t had a single peaceful day.

On Thursday, he couldn’t just take the divine-grade elixir and do nothing, so he helped Jin Baek-ryong with his training.

And on Friday, he was so mentally exhausted from the past four days that he went to bed early.

It was only today that he felt somewhat rested and had some spare time to dedicate to training.

Focusing his mind, he saw his inner world.

A vast inner world, built from everything he had accumulated.

Countless things existed within it, but there was no pillar to support its center.

‘Because I’m not at the Transformation Realm yet.’

Through fanatical belief in the path one has accumulated, one establishes a central pillar within oneself and, through it, becomes able to wield Ganggi, which embodies one’s path in the form of starlight.

Unlike martial artists, mana users could quickly break through the wall if they had self-belief, even if they hadn’t accumulated enough to build a pillar.

However, if Aura, the higher energy of mana users, and Ganggi, the higher energy of martial artists, clashed, Ganggi would always win if they were at a similar level.

But mana users could also use magic or holy arts, so ultimately, the stronger one would win in a fight.

But having learned martial arts his whole life, he preferred them.

‘It’s too late to take a different path now.’

But the problem was that he couldn’t build a pillar right now.

He had the most experience on Earth, the deepest understanding, and more than enough self-belief.

The reason he couldn’t build a pillar was solely because of the status window.

‘Because I’m blocked by the level cap.’

The status window had been a great help when he was lacking and helped him grow quickly.

The uniqueness of the stats was undeniable. It allowed him to easily surpass human physical abilities.

Without the status window, it would have taken several times longer to achieve similar physical abilities.

But the problem was that he had been reset after reaching that high level.

The overwhelming power he once possessed was gone, and instead, the status window had become a shackle, preventing him from regaining his original level of mastery.

But since this growth was made possible by the “Five Lives” trait that came with the status window, he knew he’d be a real jerk if he complained about it, but it was a frustrating situation.

‘But to suggest going to a Gate now…’

It was impossible to tell his companions, who were finally going out after five days of classes, “I need to level up at a Gate, so I’ll sit this one out.”

His wives, who had given up everything for him; his friend, who had gifted him a masterpiece worth tens of billions; and his friend, who had endured four years of hardship and confessed to him, all to help him.

There wasn’t a single person he could treat lightly.

Perhaps Jin Baek-ryong, his disciple, but even he had given him an elixir of immeasurable value and received help from his family.

‘Ah… come to think of it, I also have to spar with the old man.’

He hadn’t received that much help from the old man, so he didn’t have to do it every time, but it would be proper to spar with him about once a month. His head started to ache again.

‘How can a person get this busy in just two weeks?’

Before his wives arrived, he’d been enjoying a relaxed life, lazing around every day, but now he was too busy.

It felt like a stopped cogwheel was suddenly spinning furiously without any warm-up.

It wasn’t that he disliked this kind of life, but he wished he had a little more leeway.

‘And surely, just because I thought this, nothing else will happen, right…?’

He desperately hoped nothing would happen on this outing.

Please.