Chapter 3

Butler Hwang: Young Master, your health comes first and foremost. Please study and spend appropriately. I will serve you well back home, so don’t worry.

Is he so old that he keeps forgetting the family motto? Why is he asking me to act in moderation?

In any case, he was glad that Butler Hwang seemed to be recovering well. Smiling, Jae-Hyeok put his phone down and continued to unpack.

His luggage included a sword, dozens of lead balls, dumbbells, a humidifier, family photos—with the faces of his brother and sister cut out—a game console, underwear, socks, a mask, sunglasses, sunscreen, various medicines, nutritional supplements, some books on how to make friends, and... black instant hair growth agent?[1]

“Why did he put so many things in my luggage?”

It was written in the handbook that the school would provide textbooks and daily necessities. Butler Hwang had also read it with him, but the luggage still ended up like this.

The older Butler Hwang gets, the more cautious he becomes.

Intending to throw it in the trash, Jae-Hyeok picked up the black instant hair growth agent, but he stopped.

He remembered that it was Butler Hwang’s favorite item, so he kept it in a drawer to return it later.

He’ll probably have lost even more hair after three years.

Jae-Hyeok’s expression dimmed when he thought of Butler Hwang’s old age. This was the first time in his life that Jae-Hyeok had left home, and it was for a three-year journey. He couldn’t help feeling restless.

The only positive thing was that the chairman seemed favorable toward him. Judging by her demeanor, she seemed to have a relationship with his father. Still, he couldn’t trust her.

I’m clearly the one who needs this chance, so let’s be cautious.

To sum it up, he had bought himself three years.

At least, I won’t have to worry about anyone threatening my life. I’ll be protected from outside threats

during

this time.

The next three years were a chance that he would never obtain again.

Jae-Hyeok’s aims were high.

His ultimate goal was to become a National Treasure.

He would need that level of overwhelming force and authority to track down all of the foreign and domestic officials who were involved in the East Asian Gate talks eight years ago. But most importantly, he would also need that power to obtain the qualifications to enter the highest level gates, which were S-grade or higher.

There, he would have a chance to get the elixirs and medicines dropped by top bosses—although the probability of them dropping was terrible.

Those elixirs could be made into potent concoctions, and they were the only hope that he had for his father’s recovery.

I have to be an A-class player at least before I graduate. That’s the level of buzz I’ll need to create to draw enough public attention to use as a shield.

A boy dreaming of becoming an A-class player?

Even madmen would laugh at him for dreaming in vain.

That’s because it was impossible. Awakening and leveling up all the way to A-class—this required extreme amounts of time.

However, Jae-Hyeok trusted himself. And with his achievements so far, he had reason for his belief as well...

Jae-Hyeok walked to the window of his dorm and looked out.

“Wow.”

The first night inside a gate was more beautiful than he’d imagined. Two moons glowed brightly in the starry sky.

This really is another world.

He couldn’t help but think of his mother and father when he saw the two moons beside each other.

The biggest star that shone next to the two moons was him. The next closest star was Butler Hwang.

The very small star that was far away was Kang Du-Na... The two faint stars next to it that seemed about to go out were Kang Dae-Seong and Kang Hyeon-Ah...

Jae-Hyeok groaned. “I’m suddenly in a bad mood.” Frowning, opened his status window.

Name: Kang Jae-Hyeok.

Class: Player awakening conditions aren’t met.

Level: Player awakening conditions aren’t met.

Stats: Player awakening conditions aren’t met.

Skills: [Empty], [Empty], [Empty].

Awakening as a player was simple.

One had to either kill a monster or fill the first Skill slot to fully activate the System.

There were also rumors that a person could become a player by killing otherworldly beings. But those remained just rumors. In the first place, an unawakened had little chance of encountering an otherworldly being. The otherworldly beings never set foot on Earth, staying inside their gate where they were protected from the dangers of the outside.

Otherworldly beings were rather human-like. Aside from their language and culture, they weren’t much different from the humans on Earth.

Some factions of otherworldly beings were indeed hostile toward humans. However, he’d heard that most of the interactions between otherworldly beings and humans were actually quite normal.

If the only way for humans to awaken were to kill otherworldly beings, things might be different; but as things stood, it was rare for lunatics to go around hunting and killing otherworldly beings just to awaken.

What are my stats right now?

Jae-Hyeok had been deliberately delaying his awakening as a player. That was also why he hadn’t killed the troll that raided the mansion a few days ago.

He was postponing his awakening to hone his body, mind, and skills as much as possible. He needed to start with high stats from level 1.

Assuming that an average level 1 player had 10 stat points, Jae-Hyeok planned to start with 30 or more stat points.

Of course, it was easier said than done.

Unlike players, who leveled up and cleared quests to earn stat points and grow endlessly, there were limits to the ordinary human body. Training wouldn’t make an unawakened person’s physical or mental ability grow infinitely—and the increase it did bring was small.

Meanwhile, anyone who becomes a player can become strong at a tremendous speed, enjoying great wealth and fame.

Jae-Hyeok sighed.

Am I the only one suffering endlessly?

Even monks meditating in the mountains would feel restless. Most people wouldn’t miss an opportunity to awaken as a player.

However, Jae-Hyeok’s position was different. It would be hard for him to survive even if he did awaken as others did. No ordinary awakening would give him the power to survive once his enemies took notice. He would likely be killed before he even reached adulthood.

This was the reason why he’d never stopped training his body and skills, no matter if it was raining or snowing or if he was suffering from a fever.

Limits?

He faced them every day and broke them every day. Today’s Kang Jae-Hyeok swung his sword more than yesterday’s Kang Jae-Hyeok. He was determined to survive and pay back all the pain he had suffered.

One day... by any means.

Jae-Hyeok’s gaze landed on his empty Skill slots. When was the first time he awakened a Skill? He couldn’t remember exactly, but it was around the time the number of his sword swings exceeded ten thousand per day.

It was while feeling betrayed by the people who criticized his father; vengeful against the government and the Association who stigmatized his father; and full of killing intent toward his siblings, who were driven by emotions and ruined his family completely.

At that time, Jae-Hyeok swung the sword every day until he fainted. When he awoke, he noticed that he’d developed a Skill. It was at a speed that others couldn’t imagine.

In the last eight years, he’d gained a total of twenty-five Skills that he could use as Initial Skills to fill his Initial Skill slot. That was a huge number. An average person spent an average of ten years working hard to develop one Initial Skill, but he gained a new one every three months.

Still, Jae-Hyeok wasn’t satisfied.

The Initial Skill slot was a player’s foundation. Only one Initial Skill could be equipped in the Initial Skill slot, and once it was, it was locked permanently. This was different from the second- and third slots—wherein Skills could be equipped or unequipped using the Skill Books distributed on the market.

But... what if I don’t develop a Skill I want in the next three years?

For his stats, it was easy enough. He aimed to push his stats to be three times higher than other people’s—since anything more than that would be inefficient—and he was confident that his Strength and Stamina were already close to his goal.

But Skills were a completely different realm—a realm of luck.

Luck

. Jae-Hyeok frowned. “I can’t sleep with such a depressing thought.” It felt as if a lead blanket had settled over his spirits. Jae-Hyeok’s frown grew sharper as he grabbed his sword and swept out the door.

Under the moonlight, he passed through a road lined with amenity facilities and climbed to the top of a nearby hill.

“Sigh.”

Anger, fear, sadness, anger...

Jae-Hyeok’s uneven breath, which had been upset by his emotions, suddenly turned even. He assimilated into the evening silence as he began his sword practice.

Each swing began and ended in the scabbard. Jae-Hyeok only counted the swings that were perfect from start to finish.

The Initial Skill was up to luck?

Okay.

Then he would try harder.

Keep going, keep going, keep going—until the strongest Skill appeared!

He would struggle at his limits until luck turned to probability. He would get what he wanted, no matter what.

Unknown to Jae-Hyeok were the silent System notifications, which were invisible to the unawakened.

[The player candidate breaks through the limits of the body.]

[The player candidate breaks through the limits of the mind.]

[The player candidate’s skills will further deepen.]

[The player candidate has exceeded his physical limits for 2,951 consecutive days.]

[Extra stat points have been acquired.]

[The player candidate has exceeded his mental limits for 2,951 consecutive days.]

[Extra stat points have been acquired.]

[If you succeed in maintaining your current status for another forty-nine days, a new hidden Skill will be activated.]

He didn’t realize that he was being rewarded.

Jae-Hyeok’s mind was serene as he continued to sweat and bleed under the moons. He welcomed the pain and exhaustion. He trusted in the tough body he’d inherited from his father more than anything else in the world.

He swung the sword all night until he couldn’t move a finger. When Jae-Hyeok eventually collapsed, sweat steamed off his heated skin.

When he next awoke, dawn split the sky, and the world slowly regained its color.

Jae-Hyeok’s expression gradually became grim as he admired the wonderful scenery.

Lion’s Castle... a place where modern civilization and the civilization of another world exist on top of each other.

“A gate that hasn’t been cleared in two hundred years... ”

1. This is commonly used in South Korea to cover bald spots or thinning hair. In spite of its name, it’s not a growth agent but rather a spray or powder that colors the scalp to give the illusion of thicker hair. ☜