Jeong-min opened his eyes and looked around.
"You're awake?"
Leia, who was sitting across the campfire, said to Jeong-min.
Jeong-min asked Leia with a dazed expression.
"How long was I out?"
"Not too long. How's your body?"
Jeong-min got up and moved his body around.
"Nothing hurts... I actually feel better than before the training?"
"That's good. Would you like to check your status window?"
At Leia's words, Jeong-min opened his status window.
"Status window."
[Choi Jeong-min
Strength: 24
Stamina: 25
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 11(+10) [MP: 26/38]
Gold Held: 410 Gold
Skills Held: Gate(Lv. 1) Spatial Movement(Lv. 2) Clairvoyance(Lv. 1) Eye of Appraisal(Lv. 1) Mana Recovery(Passive)(Lv. 1)]
"Huh..."
Jeong-min stared blankly at the status window for a moment.
'The total of Strength, Stamina, and Agility stats that I raised while training alone for a month was about 16...
But now, with just one sparring session, a total of 22 stats have increased...'
"It's increased quite a bit, right?"
Jeong-min closed the status window and said.
"Yeah... it's increased a lot... and all I did was spar for a short time..."
Leia smiled and said.
"It was a short sparring session, but you fought for ten minutes straight while drawing out your ultimate power. That's why your stats went up so much at once."
"If this training method becomes widely known, we'll be able to clear [Trial of God] pretty quickly!"
Leia shook her head and said.
"As I said, it's a method with many restrictions... it will be difficult for others to train in this way. And this method also has its limits."
"Limits?"
"Yes, limits. The point of this training is to feel the fear of death from the attacker's sword and fight while maintaining the ultimate power that is unleashed as a result. But as the level of the person being trained increases, the fear of death they feel becomes diluted. If that happens, they won't be able to draw out their ultimate power..."
"Ah... I see."
Leia nodded and said.
"Yes, that's why the skill of the master conducting the training is so important. The master needs to be skilled enough to continue to instill the fear of death in the student as their level rises. In that respect..."
Leia blushed slightly and said.
"...You're fine, Jeong-min. You'll be able to do this training for quite a long time. With my skills, I can launch attacks that bring the fear of death, no matter how much you grow..."
"...Ah... I see..."
Jeong-min looked at the embarrassed Leia and once again realized how strong she was.
"Leia... how are you so strong?"
At Jeong-min's question, Leia's eyes became wistful.
"It's because my master was really strong. I trained every day with the training method my master created, so my stats went up at a tremendous rate.
Two years after starting this training, I had caught up with all of my master's stats, but I still couldn't beat my master. I still felt the fear of death when I received my master's attacks, and I was able to unleash my ultimate power. That was because of the difference in swordsmanship skills."
"Swordsmanship skills?"
Leia nodded.
"Yes, my master was the best swordsman in the world even before [Trial of God]. My master always said that high stats aren't everything. No matter how high your stats are, they're useless in the face of excellent swordsmanship... High stats and excellent swordsmanship must be combined to become the strongest, so he always emphasized the importance of swordsmanship. So... I'm going to teach you my master's swordsmanship too, Jeong-min."
"To me too?"
"Yes, when you do your personal training, reduce the weight of the accessories you wear on your wrists and ankles, and focus on the swordsmanship I teach you. Please learn it diligently." Jeong-min nodded enthusiastically.
"Then get up. You have to learn swordsmanship, right?"
Jeong-min got up and asked Leia.
"Yeah, learning is good... but is it possible? I don't think I have any talent for swordsmanship..."
"If I tell you something interesting, my master's swordsmanship is... really easy. In fact... it's hard to even call it swordsmanship. Even a child can follow it... Unlike many other famous swordsmanships, there's no hidden trick or method... It's not that kind of swordsmanship. It's just three very ordinary movements."
"Three movements?"
"Yes, three. Would you like to try it?"
Leia showed Jeong-min three movements in front of him.
After following the movements, Jeong-min said to Leia with a dumbfounded expression.
"...That's all there is?"
"Yes, that's all. Block, stab, and slash. There may be applications, but basically these three movements are all there is. My master said that at first, his swordsmanship was no different from other swordsmanships. But as he cut out unnecessary movements one by one, these three movements were all that remained. At that time, my master felt a great sense of emptiness, but at the same time, he felt joy at discovering a new path. And he named these ordinary three movements 'Skanan' style swordsmanship after his name." "Ah... that..."
Leia smiled as if understanding Jeong-min's reaction.
"You want to ask if this can be called swordsmanship, right? I understand because I was the same way. But my master received the title of the best swordsman in the world with just these three movements."
"How... how is that possible..."
"You're asking how that's possible, right? My master's method is unconditional repetition. In my case, I repeated each movement ten thousand times a day. But you have many other things to do, so... first, you should repeat each movement a thousand times. Once you get used to it, gradually increase the number."
"Unconditional repetition... Leia's master is... what should I say... both the method of using ultimate power and the swordsmanship, the training method is really..."
Leia nodded.
"I know what you mean. That's why people often called my master, who was the best swordsman in the world and a renowned scholar, 'the most knowledgeable but ignorant person.'"
"...I really want to meet Leia's master. I really want to meet him and see what kind of person he is."
Leia laughed loudly.
Jeong-min felt a freshness in Leia's appearance, which he was seeing for the first time.
"If my master's swordsmanship... is active even in another world... he would be really happy... If [Trial of God] ends and the world is restored to its original state and I meet my master again... I have one thing that I can proudly say."
Seeing Leia enjoying herself while looking forward to the future, Jeong-min also became happy.
Leia looked at Jeong-min and said cautiously.
"Let's stop here for today since it's the first day. The training is over... are you going back now?"
Seeing Leia speaking with a look of regret, Jeong-min smiled and said.
"Is it okay if I play a little longer? Have some snacks... Oh, I want to take a shower too. There's no good place to wash up when I go back..."
"Feel free to use it. It's the bathing space you set up, Jeong-min. How are you going to use the water? You don't have a spell to summon water..."
"I'm just going to use bottled water. I brought a lot."
Jeong-min finished speaking and headed to the shower booth.
He went inside, took out a 2-liter bottle of water, and started washing his body.
'....This is the first time I've showered since [Trial of God] started... I hope I didn't smell...'
Jeong-min washed his body with embarrassment and came out to sit across from Leia with the campfire in between.
He took out snacks and drinks from his bag, shared them with Leia, and they talked.
When he told her about what happened today, Leia listened to Jeong-min's story with great interest.
"'Stealth' skill, huh... It's quite a tricky skill until you acquire the 'Detection' skill. There was a monster that used the 'Stealth' skill among the monsters that came out of the B-grade gate, and that monster caused a lot of damage."
Jeong-min asked Leia.
"If you have the 'Detection' skill, can you detect someone even if they use the 'Stealth' skill?"
Leia nodded.
"Yes, the 'Detection' skill is quite an advanced skill. It blocks not only
'Stealth' but also skills that affect the mind such as 'Curse', 'Charm', and 'Persuasion'... Hmm... I think there was an accessory with the 'Detection' skill in my inventory..."
Leia opened her inventory and took out a ring.
"This is it. It's a ring called 'Eye of Piercing Insight'... Ah... there's a stat restriction. You need an Intelligence stat of 200 or higher to use it..."
Leia put the ring back in her inventory and said.
"That's a shame. If there's an enemy using 'Stealth', the 'Detection' skill is essential... Hmm..."
Jeong-min said to Leia, who was worried.
"It's okay. It doesn't seem like they're chasing me to kill me, they're just following me."
"No... wait a moment..."
Leia pondered for a moment, then looked at the empty air and muttered something.
After gesturing a few times while looking at the empty air, she took something out of her inventory and handed it to Jeong-min.
"Take this. Hold it in your hand and break it."
What Leia handed him was a golden orb about the size of an egg.
"This is..."
"Break it quickly. It'll break easily."
At Leia's urging, Jeong-min grabbed the golden orb and applied force.
Crack.
With a light sound, the golden orb broke.
The broken orb in Jeong-min's hand turned into powder and seeped into Jimin's hand.
And a message appeared in front of Jeong-min's eyes.
[You have acquired the [Detection(Lv. 1)] skill]
"Huh..."
"You've acquired the skill, right? The 'Detection' skill is basically a skill that is always active, so if a skill like 'Stealth' is used around you, it will be revealed immediately. If the caster has no mana at all, the skill will not be activated, so be careful with mana management."
"Le... Leia..."
Jeong-min called Leia in a flustered voice.
"Yes?"
"Did you... buy it from the Store?"
Leia smiled and nodded.
"Yes."
"That... skills bought from the Store are... very... very expensive, didn't you say?"
Leia sighed softly at Jeong-min's words and nodded.
"Oh, that's right. Skills bought from the Store are really too expensive. Moreover, it's a golden skill orb, so it's much more expensive than a green skill orb..."
"Such an expensive skill..."
Leia looked at Jeong-min and said with a smile.
"You don't have to worry. I have a lot of gold, but I have no use for it other than buying food little by little... After all, all the gold will be useless when [Trial of God] ends, right?"
"Still..."
"You don't have to worry... Ah... come to think of it..." "...?"
Leia blushed slightly.
"Hmm... I think I definitely spent a little too much. I have to buy food too..."
"Th... that's probably right?"
Leia avoided Jeong-min's eyes and said.
"Yes... now that I think about it, I think I spent a lot of money. I have to buy food right away... I don't have any food to eat right now... food..."
"Food! Don't worry about that! I have quite a bit of rice and ramen piled up in my inventory. I also have small snacks... You can eat that!"
Leia looked at Jeong-min again and smiled brightly.
"...Is that okay?"
"Yes! Don't worry. I'll put a lot in Leia's inventory. Take it out and eat it when you need it."
Leia waved her hand and said.
"Ah, no... I don't need a lot. Just enough to eat..."
"If a Store opens in our world soon, I'll buy you something much more delicious than ramen. Please be patient."
"More delicious than ramen..."
Leia's eyes sparkled.
"I'll look forward to it."
"Yes, please look forward to it. If only the Store would open... Hmm... but when does the Store open?"
Leia answered Jeong-min's question.
"The time when the Store opens... I can't say exactly when it is after [Trial of God] starts!
I heard that scholars in our world announced that the 'Store' will open when the number of D-rank gates that have appeared around the world is reduced by half, but I'm not sure if it's true. In our world, it took about one or two months, or three months after [Trial of God] started?"
"I see... When that time comes, I'll treat you to really delicious food."
"Yes. Thank you.""I'm the one who's so grateful to Leia. You've trained me to become this strong... and even given me expensive skills..."
Leia shook her head and said,
"It's nothing. If you want to repay me, hurry up and get stronger so you can destroy the D-rank gates quickly. Then the shop will open sooner, right?" Looking at Leia, who was speaking with a smile, Jeong-min said,
"Yes, I'll work hard. But... how strong do I need to be to destroy a D-rank gate alone?"
Leia, hearing Jeong-min's question, paused for a moment before speaking.
"Monsters instinctively establish bases around gates and live without straying beyond a certain distance. To destroy a gate, you must first clear out all the monsters in the surrounding area. As you deal with the monsters around the gate, a 'gatekeeper' will appear.
If you kill that gatekeeper, you can destroy the gate.
Keep in mind that attacking the gate before killing the gatekeeper is pointless. If I remember correctly... the 'gatekeeper' of a D-rank gate was a 'Goblin Lord.'"
After finishing her words, Leia held up one finger to Jeong-min.
"One week."
"?"
"The Jeong-min of one week from now will be able to catch a 'Goblin Lord' and destroy a D-rank gate on your own."
"...Is it possible in just one week?"
As Jeong-min spoke in an anxious voice, Leia said in a confident tone,
"Don't worry. I'll make sure it's possible. It might be difficult at first, but once you destroy a gate, you'll get a massive stat boost, so it'll get easier and easier. Let's set our sights on a week from now and train hard."
Looking at Leia, who was speaking confidently, Jeong-min couldn't help but shake off his anxiety.
Jeong-min smiled and said to Leia,
"Yes, I look forward to working with you again."