episode_0064

“What… is this?”

With his heart racing from the relentless pounding, Juna-yong wiped away the sweat streaming down his face.

He turned his head around, unable to hide his surprise.

Behind Juna-yong stood a sturdy man and a woman, both of whom he didn’t recognize.

With veins bulging and muscles taut all over, they were clearly warriors.

“This isn’t important.”

Yoo Se-ha, the one he was currently most concerned about and had a strong sense of rivalry with, was nowhere to be seen.

In the midst of the chaos, a moment of searching.

“…Found you!”

He appeared, squeezed in among the dozens of people behind.

Perhaps it was because of his appearance, he stood out conspicuously.

“Ha, ha!”

Ragged breaths escaped his lips.

And above his head was the number…

A mere 8.

Juna-yong furrowed his brow at his panting figure in the lower ranks.

A cute little cat-like girl, Mahana, was helping him from the side.

“Mahana, are you okay?”

“Ugh, this damn body… I can run short distances so well, but long distances are so difficult.”

Even the girl helping from the side had a number of 10.

Of course, Yoo Se-ha wasn’t at the bottom.

“Uh, eh, ugh…”

Seolbing, Moon Bora.

With her eyes tightly shut, she ran as if she would die any moment.

The number engraved above her head was 4.

At first, it looked like she was about to die…

Juna-yong, who didn’t recognize her, noticed that she was the one with the overwhelming chest size characteristic of Seolbing.

But Seolbing was originally a magician…

“They’re a magician…”

The magician class, by nature, could afford to focus more on increasing their magic power rather than their basic stamina.

But Yoo Se-ha wasn’t like that.

He was a melee main dealer like himself.

Exerting superior mobility than a tank, he had the important task of defeating enemies.

Therefore, basic stamina to sustain such explosive speed was essential for a dealer.

Yet, he only had a mere 8.

Juna-yong trembled at what that number implied.

“He’s been neglecting his training.”

But still, Pung Jin-ah…

Was chosen by the professor.

In that moment, Juna-yong once again recognized Pung Jin-ah, who was silently checking the scores of the students.

Her eyes…

Were solely fixed on Yoo Se-ha.

Juna-yong was angry.

He was angry that he wasn’t chosen over that lazy man.

“…Just you wait, Yoo Se-ha!”

He would give his all tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that.

He would always be at the front, giving his all.

He would never fall behind you.

If he did that, surely…

“Professor Pung Jin-ah will definitely choose me as her exclusive disciple again!”

And so, on the first day of training in the first week.

When Juna-yong reached 40 laps, Yoo Se-ha finished with 14 laps.

* * *

The second day didn’t change much.

The same mindless running training as yesterday.

Juna-yong ran his best again and never once lost the lead.

When he reached 40 laps, Yoo Se-ha’s score was 15.

It had increased by one lap, but it didn’t matter much.

* * *

“What… is this?”

But as time passed and new suns and moons rose.

Juna-yong witnessed an unbelievable sight with his own eyes.

“What… is this?”

Just three days ago, Yoo Se-ha didn’t show much change, but now he was running so fiercely that it was terrifying.

When Juna-yong reached 40 laps, he was already at…

28 laps.

“This… this can’t be real.”

Only four days had passed.

But, how could his stamina increase so much?

It wasn’t just his basic stamina that had increased.

She always pushed herself to maintain the highest speed possible.

Even when she felt like her calves were about to burst, she never slowed down.

But it was already the 28th lap.

This not only meant that Yuseha’s stamina had improved, but also that her running speed had increased.

To the point where Joonayong’s shock was overshadowed, changes were continuously occurring.

* * *

Beep-!

Day 5.

At the rough whistle sound, the eyes of the now somewhat disciplined students were focused.

Pangjina lowered the raised whistle and looked around at the students.

“Good, everyone’s eyes look good.”

With a satisfied smile, Pangjina turned to the instructors.

As the instructors stepped forward as if they were waiting, they attached something to the students’ ankles.

At the moment when the students were all puzzled.

Pangjina’s explanation followed.

“What you are currently equipped with is a training tool based on gravity manipulation. From today, you will increase the weight with this and run.”

After finishing her words, Pangjina immediately pressed the button, and the sound of groaning spread from the students’ mouths as the weight increased.

The weight amplifying by a solid 50-70kg.

For a transcendent being awakened to the , this level of weight was not a problem, but the premise of having to run 40 laps on a field of this size was the issue.

Except for a few, everyone grimaced, but Pangjina paid no attention.

“Then let’s start. Everyone, get ready!”

Bang-!

The signal flare resounded.

As soon as the signal sounded, Joonayong ran forward as if it were natural.

Despite the increased weight, her well-trained body steadily pushed forward as if this level was pitifully easy.

5 laps, 10 laps, and then 15 laps.

Feeling a bit tired, she wiped the sweat.

Normally, she should have been sweating after 30 laps, but now her clothes were soaked to the point where the inside was visible.

Even the training artifact was quite burdensome.

‘But still…’

An overwhelming lead…?

“……?!”

Crazy. What…?

Joonayong was taken aback.

Of course, it was true that she had an overwhelming lead.

But Yuseha.

Without losing her pace, she continued running towards her.

And the number engraved on top…

A whopping 13 made Joonayong’s eyes tremble.

‘N-no way.’

Just…

Just a mere 2 laps difference?

What nonsense…

Lost in thought, Joonayong absentmindedly stared at her.

*

“Oh, I’m going to die.”

I ran forward, breathing heavily.

Beside me, Mahana was panting, making noises like ‘Mm, Mm~’.

And I could see Moonbora, who was staggering.

The number 11 was above Mahana’s head.

And the number 8 was above Moonbora’s head.

Both of them had improved their basic stamina through running training.

But undoubtedly, if you were to pick the most improved among all the students, it would be me.

There were several reasons for this.

“My mental strength has increased by 1.”

Yuseha.

A character with a strong will, who was scared and had never properly trained in fighting monsters.

Usually, growth through training was based on potential.

Logically, it was better for those who were naturally talented to push themselves harder.

“And a 5★ character with Yuseha.”

Purely in terms of potential, she had a remarkable growth rate comparable to Joonayong.

With extreme training every day, it was no longer possible not to grow.

Of course, just with this, it couldn’t explain everything.

“The pain of the body is a symbol of patience. Your desire to finish spreads deeply in your body.”

“The level of ‘Endurance’ has increased.”

“Endurance has increased by 1 as a level reward.”

The fruits of your endless efforts bring forth refreshing droplets of sweat.

Your footsteps gradually amplify their strength.

The level of ‘agility’ has increased.

As a reward for enduring the physical pain that felt like it would collapse at any moment, the rewards were worth it.

The two traits that pay off just by having them have increased by two levels.

The increase in main stats was significant enough to not be ignored.

With this, ‘agility’ has reached level 4.

And ‘endurance’ has achieved level 3.

“Smooth sailing.”

Both are essential traits like roots for a melee dealer.

How could the levels have risen so high already, just from acquiring them?

The growth that surpasses expectations naturally brought about a sense of excitement.

Even up to this point, it was impressive.

An unimaginable reward was added.

“A talent that should not exist begins to sprout.”

‘The Eye of the Reverse Heaven’ defies the will of the heavens. Target: Juna Yong.

Acquires ‘sprint’ from Juna Yong. It is an uncommon trait of level 4. Acquired by dropping to level 1.

As a reward for acquisition, speed increases by 1.

It was the activation of ‘The Eye of the Reverse Heaven.’

The target was none other than Juna Yong.

Honestly, at first, I was quite perplexed, but after a calm judgment, I concluded that it was worth activating.

“…I’ve been staring at Juna Yong for a few days.”

Watching her take the lead, I silently observed, pondering questions like ‘How can I get closer to her?’ and ‘What stats does she have to be so fast?’.

This unconscious investigation into the ‘red energy’ that constantly clung to her legs led to the realization that it was the ‘sprint’ skill through the experience of the map guide.

Thanks to that, I thought this result came out.

“With this, I can form one hypothesis.”

‘Turtle Knight’ and ‘Pang Jin-ah’ are the same.

Perhaps the basic activation condition of ‘The Eye of the Reverse Heaven’ is a detailed ‘observation’ of the target.

Going further, if you reach ‘understanding,’ you might be able to copy more things.

“Anyway, I got something good thanks to this.”

‘Sprint’ is an ability that increases speed like ‘agility,’ and I never dreamed I would acquire it like this.

“The effect of ‘agility’ increases movement speed.”

“The effect of ‘sprint’ increases movement speed.”

“The effect of ‘endurance’ increases patience for demanding tasks.”

Increased stats from rigorous training.

These three abilities injected a strong vitality, resulting in the amazing outcome of even Juna Yong following along to the point of her tail.

“…Huh?”

It was while running for a while.

I noticed Juna Yong staring blankly from afar.

What? Did she wait for me?

I waved my hand, and with a start, she exclaimed, “Yongyi-it!” and ran towards me.

And so, that day, when Juna Yong reached 40 laps…

I was able to finish with an astonishing record of 30 laps.