His consciousness snapped back, his body still tingling with the lingering heat of standing upon the earth, flames incinerating all, and finally reducing his powerful enemy to ashes.
The sensation of that transformation was completely and utterly etched into his memory, fusing with Leon’s consciousness.
He won.
A complete victory.
Not only had he reversed his fate with a transformation in a desperate situation where victory was nearly impossible, but he had also delivered the lines and pulled off a meme.
For Leon, this was a sense of accomplishment as intoxicating as the finest, most full-bodied wine.
…For those who don’t like alcohol, they could substitute it with that first gulp of a chilled, almost-frozen can of Coke poured down their throat when they’re half-dead from the summer heat.
As for what he had transformed into…
Anyway, he couldn’t see himself just now, so he’d just assume he’d transformed into a fake Kamen Rider.
Leon struggled for a long time before he finally managed to suppress the corners of his mouth, which were harder to control than the recoil of a parallel rifle/thug/AK, and slowly opened his eyes to look at the Status Panel that appeared with the notification sound.
[You died.] [Quest Evaluation: F-Rank] [Achievement Unlocked: Why are you so skilled at transforming?] [Reward: Momo’s Mana Crystal (Small) (F+ Rank) *1] [Tip: Due to the special nature of the S-Rank Difficulty Trial, for each new evaluation achieved, the system will directly issue the corresponding reward item.
This reward is independent of the trial’s final reward.] [Settle with F-Rank evaluation?] [YES/NO] Without any hesitation, Leon clicked [NO].
Whether to settle or not was equivalent to a leap from nothing to something.
This meant that as long as Leon wanted to, he could already end the tutorial quest.
But of course he wouldn’t do that.
It was obvious that even though he had found the inspiration to successfully transform in a near-death state this time and beat the Silver-Haired Head Maid Doll to a pulp, he had only just scratched the surface.
He was absolutely still far from a perfect clear.
Since he had chosen S-Rank Difficulty, there was no way he would be satisfied with an F-Rank settlement.
He didn’t even need to think that far ahead.
As long as he was allowed to try again, he would definitely do better.
How could he just end it like this?
Leon stopped his thoughts and then subconsciously raised his hand to block the light, squinting at the window.
At this moment, the dazzling sunlight was piercing through the gaps in the curtains like golden swords, stabbing into the dim living room and landing right on his cold, sharp profile.
The noon sun hung high in the sky.
From downstairs, the faint beeps of electric scooters passing by and the sound of neighbors stirring food in woks drifted up, forming a picture filled with the breath of mundane life.
Leon snapped back to his senses, let out a long breath, sat up straight, and rubbed his aching temples.
As the excitement faded, a wave of expected fatigue washed over him.
The successful transformation had left him unexpectedly exhausted, even more so than when he had failed and cleanly turned into a giant fireball.
In this state, he was naturally unfit for continuous entries.
Although death itself brought Leon no sense of defeat, and his previous measurements and tests had shown that progress in the instance consumed almost no time in the real world.
He had reached this conclusion by personally recording it with an old-fashioned camcorder and timing it with a stopwatch.
The key was that even if dying in the game had no long-term side effects, the mental strain was very real.
On average, although each run lasted only a minute or two, he had to go through the entire process of high-intensity combat until death, which was an immense burden.
Every “death” after fighting with absolute focus was accompanied by a massive overdraft of concentration and a feeling of neural pressure, like cramming through several sets of extremely difficult mock exams in a row, leaving one’s head spinning.
This was why, despite having the chance to retry infinitely without consuming any real-world time, it had taken him a full four days to reach this point.
To maintain the absolute focus required to conquer S-Rank Difficulty, he strictly controlled the frequency of his entries into the game, refusing to pull all-nighters or drive while fatigued.
Reckless driving leads to tears from loved ones!
…Though he had no loved ones.
“Still, this reward…” He chose to claim it.
With a mere thought, Leon opened his palm.
The air distorted slightly as an irregularly shaped, rhombohedral red crystal appeared in his hand.
The crystal was about the size of a thumb, its facets refracting a warm, faint red light.
Inside, a flickering flame seemed to be sealed away.
[Item: Momo’s Mana Crystal (Micro) (F+) *1] [A small crystal formed from condensed mana.
Using it will slightly increase the user’s maximum mana capacity.] [It contains the unfinished song of a timid girl who ultimately flickered out like a candle, vanishing to bring warmth to others.] “…” Leon’s gaze lingered on the description, which seemed to hint at something, for a few seconds before he looked away.
Moreover, the description about increasing maximum mana made it hard for him not to think of a shocking possibility.
Could it have an effect on the real world?
But how was he supposed to use this Mana Crystal of Momo?
Should he soak it in water or brew it into a soup?
Did it need any medicinal herbs?
Speaking of which, if he didn’t eat this, could he perhaps find a way to save it…
Leon sank into thought.
However, before he could even decide how to deal with the thing, the hard crystal in his palm suddenly turned soft.
“Wait…” Leon tried to pull his hand away, but it was already too late.
Just like cotton candy thrown into warm water, the red crystal melted rapidly in his hand, turning into a stream of warm red light that seeped into his pores without resistance, vanishing without a trace.
An indescribable heat spread from the meridians in his arm throughout his body.
In an instant, the sensation of expansion from enhanced physical strength, accompanied by a warm and blazing flame, coursed through his body.
“…!!” Leon knew very well.
This was the feeling of mana surging inside Momo’s body!
And at the same time, this power also gradually rose, reaching Leon’s head.
In an instant, a strange and warm emotion flashed through his mind, yet it was clearly captured by the Soul Link.
A hint of timidity, yet also carrying a distinct sense of gratitude.
And the next moment, when he opened his eyes again, the world seemed to have had a thin layer of mist wiped off its lens.
His vision became clearer than ever before, like a computer with its graphics settings maxed out after an upgrade.
In the shafts of sunlight, he could even clearly capture the floating trajectory of every tiny speck of dust, and see the fine wood grain on the corner of the coffee table.
The entire world became more vivid and sharp in his eyes.
And the omnipresent sense of fullness and vitality in his body seemed to mean that his physical functions had also reached a new level.
Leon immediately brought up the Status Panel to check.
[Leon] [Comprehensive Evaluation: F+ → E-] [Ability: Mana (E-)] “…” His Ability was no longer “None,” and a new entry had appeared.
Without any hesitation, Leon rose from the sofa, then placed his hands on the floor and began a handstand with extreme ease.
He tried doing a few handstand push-ups and found them not difficult at all, then actually withdrew one hand, leaving only a single arm to support his entire body weight.
The minutes and seconds ticked by.
It had to be admitted that living two lives had indeed caused some kind of mutation in Leon’s spirit, allowing his mental will to easily override his physical instincts, thus making his training efficiency far exceed that of an ordinary person.
But even so, he was still limited by the human body and its development, by physical laws and biological laws.
Therefore, a one-handed handstand for about half a minute had been his limit before obtaining the [Precision Operation Engine].
However, at this very moment…
The youth’s slender left arm still appeared so effortless, and aside from the fluid, water-like undulation of muscles brought about by his exquisite application of force, there was not a single tremor of overexertion.
The minute hand of the clock on the table had already completed a full circle.
In the next moment, Leon made an even more exaggerated move.
He lowered the right hand that had been held behind his back, pressed his thumb against the floor, and then withdrew his left hand.
His body, supported only by the thumb of his right hand, remained just as stable, and he even performed several one-armed, one-fingered push-ups.
Without the slightest instability, Leon could even consciously slow his movements to perform resistance-based force application.
Finally, Leon lightly pushed off the floor with both hands, sprang up, and stood steadily, silently gazing at his hands.
After a faint, searing heat flowed through them, the soreness quickly faded away, leaving no trace behind.
Without a doubt, the limit that had plagued him for so long had been so easily broken.
To surpass the limits of what mortals could achieve is to be called transcendent.
Although it was still far from the initial state of Momo’s body…
this made Leon certain of one thing.
E-Rank should be the very first threshold of transcendence.