Lately, Yu-jun had often had nightmares.
In them, he used up the Promise Guild's funding without ever awakening, then was expelled when he still failed to awaken.
And then the nightmare came true.
“Only half of it came true.”
He gave a small laugh.
He had been expelled, just as he had dreamed.
But he had also succeeded in awakening.
“Awakened Training System.”
Yu-jun examined the Awakened Training System closely. It appeared to be both his awakened ability and his unique ability.
“Check list.”
-Opening Awakened Training!
-Scanned Awakened List
1. Kim Min-seok [Melee Combat Type]
Kim Min-seok's stats window appeared before Yu-jun's eyes.
-Scanned Awakened can be trained.
-Begin training?
First, scan an Awakened and check their stats window. Then train them.
‘It's just like Infinite Tower.’
The game's content had become his awakened ability, down to the last detail.
“Does that mean all the other systems came over too?”
Yu-jun smiled bitterly.
“If I go around saying I can see stats windows, people will think I'm crazy.”
Status windows and stats windows were things that existed only in games.
The power and abilities of the Awakened could never be expressed in numbers.
Special artifacts could identify a few things, but even those yielded only vague information. They could not provide exact figures.
‘Even grades are determined by rough measurements from artifacts.’
That was why, after the initial grade assessment, scores were assigned based on performance in tower raids, and grades were adjusted accordingly later on.
But.
“I'm the only one who can see a status window with actual numbers.”
In other words, he could view information about other Awakened.
“If my power comes from Infinite Tower, there might be more I can do.”
This was the awakening he had longed for so desperately.
Excitement surged through him, but he calmed himself for now.
“Nothing's certain yet.”
He had not even tested it properly.
All he had done was open Min-seok's stats window.
‘It's a training system, after all.’
He needed to examine it properly.
“I need to find out what happens when I start training someone.”
Yu-jun checked the scanned list first.
-[Kim Min-seok] Overall Evaluation Grade: D
-Awakened Ability: Ignition
-Stats: [Strength 8/15] [Stamina 5/15] [Agility 9/15]
The stats window he had seen earlier appeared again.
‘It's exactly like the game. But Min-seok's stats window…… it's a mess. His Agility is a little higher, but he hasn't filled any of the other stats.’
In Infinite Tower, the usual practice was to fill up stats before strengthening skills.
But filling up those stats took a great deal of repeated training.
‘That was training in a game, though, where you could see the numbers. In reality, no matter how hard you train, you can't tell whether your stats are rising.’
That was why Yu-jun wanted to find out for himself.
“……Will it work?”
Yu-jun called Min-seok at once.
“Hello?”
-Ha, good timing. I've got something to tell you.
“I've got something to tell you too.”
As it happened, they both had something to discuss.
***
Cafe Monaka was known for its cheap coffee.
As soon as Kim Min-seok saw Yu-jun, he began to complain.
“I failed the first-team exam. They said I'd definitely make it, but I failed.”
Arena, the guild Min-seok currently belonged to, was focused on conquering the tower.
Its raid team was now tackling the tower's middle floors. To join that team, he first had to make it into the first team.
The first team was an elite group with forty places.
Only its members were considered core guild personnel and given support.
But Min-seok had failed the first-team selection exam.
“What the hell is the problem? Some bastard who's worse than me made the first team!”
Min-seok shouted, venting his anger.
Judging by skill alone, there was no reason he should have been kept out of the first team.
An Awakened considered less capable than him had made it. Why had he not?
Yu-jun, however, was barely listening.
Something else mattered more to him right now.
FLASH—.
So he let Min-seok's words go in one ear and out the other, staring instead at the cracks clearly visible around his shoulder and knee.
‘Deep cracks in his shoulder and knee.’
His thigh and ankle, meanwhile, were glowing.
‘His thigh and ankle are glowing blue, though.’
-Scanned Awakened detected!
-Begin Awakened training?”
Yu-jun nodded immediately.
-Awakened Training activated!
HISSS—!
The cracks and light grew more prominent.
-Cracks are major weaknesses in the Awakened. Correcting them raises the target's stats.
-Blue light marks the Awakened's strengths. Developing them raises the target's stats.
‘I knew it.’
Yu-jun broke into a broad smile as his theory proved correct.
It was exactly like Infinite Tower.
The cracks and the blue light were both the same.
“I'm perfectly fine, you know. Nothing hurts! But I still failed, damn it.”
Yu-jun clicked his tongue at Min-seok's complaints.
‘Looks like he hid it.’
There was a good chance the guild knew about it, though.
Min-seok had probably kept it secret, but the guild might have noticed that the injury made his movements awkward and decided against admitting him to the first team.
If Yu-jun could solve this one problem, Min-seok might be able to join.
Yu-jun decided Min-seok would be his first trainee.
“Min-seok, are you sure nothing hurts?”
“What are you talking about? Look at me. Do I look like I'm in pain?”
“Doesn't your knee hurt sometimes?”
Min-seok jolted at the question.
Then, as though he had something to hide, he asked back with a stiff expression,
“……What the hell are you talking about?”
“Tell me the truth.”
“…….”
Kim Min-seok fell silent for a moment.
It was a secret he had told no one.
Even just now, he had only said that he had failed to make the first team. He had not said a word about why.
Even with a friend, he could not help being cautious.
“You didn't just make a lucky guess, did you?”
“Try using Ignition.”
“Where did that come from? No, how did you know my knee hurts? I've never told you…… No, I've never told anyone.”
Min-seok looked flustered by Yu-jun's sudden instruction.
Then something from years ago came to mind.
Even with very little information, Yu-jun had often been able to tell immediately what was wrong with him and where he hurt.
Thanks to that, Min-seok had sometimes received treatment quickly enough to keep an illness from worsening.
“Use the skill and I'll tell you how I knew. Just try it once.”
Seeing the serious look on Yu-jun's face, Min-seok pushed aside his other thoughts.
Then he used Ignition.
FWOOSHHHH—!
An enormous blaze erupted from Min-seok's body.
Normally, using an ability outside the tower would incur a fine.
But as long as no one else caught them, it did not matter.
“It'll only take a moment. There's no one here right now.”
FWOOSH—!
Min-seok abruptly raised the power of his Ignition ability.
‘I can see it!’
The instant Min-seok used Ignition, Yu-jun could see an enormous amount of force bearing down on his knee.
The crack was growing wider.
“Hey, you're putting a huge strain on your knee.”
“What?”
“Relax your knee.”
“……I already know. I know that. But I can't fix it.”
Min-seok muttered with a bitter expression.
If it were as easy as saying it, he would have fixed it long ago.
“Just try it. Trust me.”
Min-seok could not make sense of any of it, but Yu-jun looked utterly serious.
He frowned sharply at Yu-jun.
“……What do you want me to do?”
“Your knee tenses up for a moment when you use Ignition, right? Make sure you relax it. Shift your mana smoothly. I know you've tried it before, but try it once more.”
Min-seok followed Yu-jun's instructions.
The flames changed at once. Their force began to diminish a little.
At the same time, the large crack Yu-jun had seen at Min-seok's knee began returning to its original state.
Yu-jun's eyes lit up when he saw it.
‘It's correcting itself.’
Adjusting his stance reduced the strain on his body, and flames of much better quality flowed out than before.
“Huh?”
One simple piece of advice.
But the result was too great to be explained by a single piece of advice.
“Th-that's impossible…… It works? Why? My knee doesn't hurt at all…… But I already tried relaxing my body before…….”
Min-seok looked at Yu-jun.
It was just like back then.
“You…… What did you do?”
“Correction.”
Yu-jun kept it simple.
“I trained you.”
DING—!
-First training completed!
-Advice has changed Awakened Kim Min-seok's condition!
-Points acquired!
-Current points: 1P.
Twinkle, twinkle.
Blue light settled in Min-seok's knee, though it was not as bright as before.
‘The crack hasn't disappeared yet.’
Yu-jun checked the notifications.
‘I can earn points by training Awakened properly.’
DING—!
-First point acquired!
-Point Skill Tree unlocked!
Once he gained a point, something like a constellation began to appear before Yu-jun's eyes.
TING—!
-[Focus]Lv.1
-Unlock Condition: Train a Ranged Combat Type Awakened [0/1]
-[Physical Enhancement] Lv.1
-Unlock Condition: Train Combat Type Awakened [0/2]
-[Skill Enhancement] Lv.1
-Unlock Condition: Train Noncombat Type Awakened [0/3]
Countless skill trees connected like constellations.
For now, Yu-jun could see three skills.
Behind those three skills, the stars trailed one another, but they were too dark to make out.
‘This looks familiar too.’
He knew this skill tree all too well.
Anyone who started Infinite Tower learned about it as a matter of course.
Yu-jun grinned.
“Ignition.”
Min-seok used Ignition again, as if testing something strange.
But he must have tensed his knee again; the crack there was growing wider once more.
Yu-jun nodded when he saw it.
‘So that's the effect of the skill. The power of my training system really does correct it.’
But correcting his stance once did not seem to solve the problem completely.
Yu-jun corrected Min-seok's problem again.
“Relax your knee and try again.”
FWOOSH—!
This time he relaxed his knee properly.
“When I do what you said, my knee doesn't tense up. It doesn't hurt. How on earth did you do that?”
“That's why you need training.”
Yu-jun grinned.
‘If we keep training like this, his Ignition ability will improve completely. He'll stop tensing the parts that are under too much strain, and Ignition will become more efficient.’
“What skill did you link to after Ignition?”
Min-seok, who had been staring blankly in confusion, answered Yu-jun's question.
“I linked it to Flame Barrage…….”
Those who awakened had skill trees that only they themselves could see.
Once the Ignition skill reached a certain level of proficiency, the next skill tree unlocked.
Infinite Tower's skill tree had been based on that aspect of reality in the first place.
‘Of course, Infinite Tower made up a lot of it.’
After all, Awakened did not disclose every detail of the skill trees only they could see.
‘Flame Barrage is a striking-type skill.’
But that was not what mattered right now.
Hearing about Min-seok's next skill, Yu-jun frowned.
‘Ignition won't work well if he takes it down the striking path.’
It seemed to be an attack that unleashed flames in rapid succession.
‘That's no good.’
That kind of skill dealt good damage, but its value dropped sharply as an Awakened's grade rose.
After thinking for a moment, Yu-jun spoke with resolve.
“You want to make the first team, don't you?”
“……Yeah.”
“I'll train you. Be the first entry in my portfolio.”
Yu-jun needed one clear result right now.
“……Portfolio?”
“I got kicked out of the guild. Completely.”
“……!”
Min-seok stared at Yu-jun in shock, as if asking why he had waited until now to tell him.
“Don't worry.”
But Yu-jun only grinned.
“I've got a plan.”
***
The Jongno branch of Arena's gym, the guild Kim Min-seok belonged to.
Each guild owned gyms throughout the city for its members to train in.
As soon as they arrived, Yu-jun instructed Min-seok to do push-ups.
Push-ups were among the most basic and effective exercises even for the Awakened.
“Why push-ups?”
“There's something I want to check.”
“Wait, did you awaken?”
On the way to the gym, Yu-jun had explained the current situation to Min-seok.
But he had not mentioned the Awakened Training System or Infinite Tower.
‘I've always had a good eye for this, after all.’
He had explained that he had decided to pursue that path.
“I knew it. I've felt that way since we were kids. You should've taken this path from the start.”
Min-seok answered while diligently doing push-ups.
Yu-jun watched him closely.
-100 push-ups completed.
-Strength increases.
-Detailed training system unavailable until skill unlocked.
-Training completed!
-Kim Min-seok trained!
-Conditions met!
-Skill unlocked!
Yu-jun's advice and the workout had unquestionably ‘trained’ Kim Min-seok.
Thanks to that, one of Yu-jun's skills had unlocked as well.
-[Focus] Lv.1 unlocked!
-Lv.2 Unlock Condition: [Train Combat Type Awakened 0/5]
Once a skill's unlock conditions were met, he could learn it immediately.
HISSS—.
Yu-jun focused his eyes.
Then something began appearing beside Min-seok.
-Kim Min-seok [Ignition repetition required. On repetition: Strength Increase +1 Knee Pain –1]
-Training Recipe unlocked.
‘I can see it. I can see what training he needs.’
With the Focus skill unlocked, Yu-jun could see what training would help an Awakened grow.
‘The basic skill is equipped now.’
A trainer possessed many latent skills. To unlock them, he had to train a variety of Awakened.
Yu-jun focused his eyes.
Focus activated, and he could see Kim Min-seok's cracks and blue light in greater detail.
‘I can see more than just the Training Recipe. Everything's clearer. Awakened are divided into quite specific types.’
Kim Min-seok, for instance, was a Ranged Combat Type Awakened.
‘The more I teach Awakened, the more I can help them grow.’
And he, as their trainer, could grow too.
Yu-jun swallowed at the realization.
If that was true, he had no time to stand around.
“Min-seok.”
Yu-jun looked at him seriously.
“I have a favor to ask.”