Player Training Ground.
Despite its simple, commonplace name, this state-operated facility was a popular destination frequented by everyone from ordinary players to Diamond Tier players.
There was no better place to test the abilities one had gained as a player.
A training ground sturdy enough to withstand even the abilities of Diamond Tier players was certainly worth its value.
Naturally, Shin-hyeok appeared at the facility, which drew countless players every day, befitting its enormous scale.
"That's Choi Shin-hyeok......"
"It looked like he hadn't been streaming or playing Dimension Arena for several days, and now he shows up at the training ground?"
"Did something happen?"
"Whatever happened, he's still a Super Rookie."
"That's true."
As if proving that there was no longer a player in South Korea who did not recognize Shin-hyeok, the players who had arrived earlier and filled the place could not hide their surprise at his appearance.
The rising star who had appeared during the Placement Exam.
The Super Rookie who had captured everyone's attention with just one match.
Anyone who did not know of someone like that had no business calling themselves a player in South Korea.
Shin-hyeok left the countless gazes directed at him behind and entered the training ground, where he was greeted by its director.
"Welcome, Player Choi Shin-hyeok."
"It's good to see you, Director Oh."
The director's name was Oh Sang-cheol, and his bulging muscles were obvious at a glance.
As a Diamond Tier active player and the director of a state-managed training ground, Sang-cheol was a state-affiliated player. Shin-hyeok politely bowed his head to him.
'Director Oh is a decent person.'
Sang-cheol was a Martial Arts-Class Player known as the Iron Man. He possessed outstanding abilities, and his generous personality had earned him the recognition of many players.
Even when the Integrated League opened in the future and the standing of Diamond Tier players declined considerably, his connections would remain remarkably strong.
The fact that even Shin-hyeok had maintained a relationship with Sang-cheol after becoming a Challenger Tier player said it all.
As he conversed with Sang-cheol and felt a sense of nostalgia for the past,
"CHOI SHIN-HYEOK!!!"
"......?"
At a voice loud enough to shake the entire training ground, Shin-hyeok tilted his head and turned toward its source.
There stood a red-faced man, panting heavily-
"Lee Ju-ho?"
It was Lee Ju-ho.
The eldest son of the Oseong Guild Master, and the man Shin-hyeok had utterly defeated during the Placement Exam.
When Shin-hyeok looked at him with curiosity, Lee Ju-ho strode over, huffing angrily.
"Yes, it is Lee Ju-ho, who has already reached Silver 2."
"Oh, already? Weren't you placed in Bronze 1? That's pretty fast."
Lee Ju-ho had been eliminated fairly quickly from the Placement Exam because of Shin-hyeok.
As a result, he had been placed in Bronze 1. However, using his innate ability and considerable wealth, he had quickly reached Silver 2 and could not hide his smugness.
There was only a one-tier difference between him and Shin-hyeok, after all.
In particular, as soon as he had entered Silver Tier, Lee Ju-ho had swallowed all manner of Stat Enhancers like water and raised his stats to the Silver League's stat cap. His confidence was considerable.
"I challenge you to a spar."
"......A spar?"
"Yes. We're both in Silver Tier, so there is no problem with sparring, is there?"
"That's true."
At the training ground, players often measured each other's abilities in what they called spars.
If there was no difference in tier, they generally accepted. Even if there was a difference in tier, a spar could be held as long as the opponent agreed.
In that respect, there was no problem with a spar between Shin-hyeok, who was Silver 1, and Lee Ju-ho, who was Silver 2.
'He's clearly got something planned, judging by that smirk...... Still, it doesn't matter.'
Shin-hyeok could naturally tell that Lee Ju-ho was hiding something from the way he smiled while challenging him to a spar.
"Fine. Let's spar."
However, Shin-hyeok did not bother to refuse.
No matter what his opponent had prepared or hidden, Shin-hyeok had no fear of losing.
'He'll make a suitable sacrifice for testing what I gained this time.'
Lee Ju-ho was more than suitable for using things that Shin-hyeok would have felt bad using on ordinary players.
As he headed for one of the sparring rooms in the training ground with Lee Ju-ho, Shin-hyeok looked at the middle-aged man standing beside him.
'The Sword King, Lee Ho-seok. Lee Ju-ho's father and the Oseong Guild Master. One of Korea's few world-class players.'
If Shin-hyeok was now a Super Rookie known throughout South Korea, Lee Ho-seok was a player known across the entire world.
The Two Sovereigns, Three Emperors, and Five Kings.
One of the world's ten most powerful players and a member of the Five Kings, Lee Ho-seok had maintained his prestige until Shin-hyeok rose to become an unrivaled existence before his regression.
'Originally, I wanted to try fighting that old man...... That's a little disappointing.'
A fight against a player in the highest ranks of Diamond Tier would accelerate Shin-hyeok's growth.
That was why Shin-hyeok regretted that a spar with Lee Ho-seok had not been arranged as he stepped onto the sparring platform.
"Are you ready to lose?"
"It's only one spar. Why would I need to prepare myself? Isn't that what challengers do?"
"......Do not act so high and mighty when there is only a one-tier difference between us!"
Lee Ju-ho, who had climbed onto the platform first, looked at Shin-hyeok with a confident expression.
Shin-hyeok remained unfazed by Lee Ju-ho's confidence in his victory.
His eyes were still directed not at Lee Ju-ho, but at Lee Ho-seok.
Perhaps realizing that, Lee Ju-ho vented his anger and took out his equipment from his inventory, putting it on.
"You're wearing some nice things."
"Even a Gold Tier player would lose to me now. Someone like you, who does not even play Dimension Arena properly, can no longer defeat me!"
Even by Shin-hyeok's standards as someone who had possessed the discerning eye of a Challenger Tier player before his regression, Lee Ju-ho's equipment was far from ordinary.
At the very least, it was Rare Grade.
Moreover, the weapon he held was a Unique+ Grade weapon that would have been difficult to find even anywhere in the world.
Shin-hyeok also possessed a Unique+ Grade weapon, but that was only thanks to Se-jin, one of the world's finest blacksmiths. For an ordinary player, it would have been a weapon difficult to even touch after the Integrated League opened.
'His base stats must have been raised to 100, the Silver League's stat cap. Add the extra stats gained from all that Rare Grade and Unique Grade equipment, and his total stats must be approaching 200. He is certainly strong.'
The strength Lee Ju-ho had built with all of that was, as he claimed, formidable enough that an ordinary low-ranking Gold Tier player would struggle to face him.
Total stats approaching 200.
Overwhelming offensive and defensive power from an assortment of Rare Grade and Unique Grade weapons and armor.
Those were the source of Lee Ju-ho's current confidence.
Shin-hyeok also took out his own equipment from his inventory and put it on.
"......Is that all?"
"Yeah."
"Ha! Ridiculous. Is Shinhwa Group strapped for cash?"
Armor of Absorption and Bang Se-jin's Well-Made Holy Sword.
Lee Ju-ho could not hide his scorn at Shin-hyeok, who wore only those two pieces of equipment.
No matter that Armor of Absorption was growth-type equipment and Bang Se-jin's Well-Made Holy Sword was a Unique+ Grade weapon, it was far too modest an outfit.
However, Shin-hyeok did not care.
"Blackie."
He simply summoned the pet he had named Blackie.
"Status Window."
[Status Window]
Name: Blackie
(Stats)
Strength: 21 Vitality: 16 Intelligence: 11 Mana: 18
(Trait)
Equipment Transformation
"Not bad."
After summoning Blackie and checking its Status Window, Shin-hyeok could not hide his satisfaction.
Its stats were low, and it had only one trait, but that was enough.
It was only natural for Blackie's stats to be low while it was still Normal Grade, and Equipment Transformation was a trait Shin-hyeok knew well.
'It probably transforms into equipment with abilities equal to half of its stats.'
In other words, turning Blackie into equipment would give him an item with nearly 10 in every stat.
That alone made Blackie valuable enough.
"Equipment Transformation."
-CAW!
SHRRRK!
Having confirmed that much, Shin-hyeok transformed Blackie into equipment.
Wearing Blackie, which had transformed into something like a scarf or cloak made of crow feathers, Shin-hyeok assumed a suitable stance and flicked the tip of his sword toward Lee Ju-ho.
"I'm ready, so come at me."
"......If you want to be defeated that badly before everyone, I will oblige you!"
At that display of utter arrogance, Lee Ju-ho vented his anger and charged at Shin-hyeok.
His speed, which had surpassed the stat cap through various pieces of equipment, was too fast for the eye to follow.
That was not all.
'I've watched your combat videos until I was sick of them. And with the "Sword King Style" Father taught me, there's no way I can lose!'
During the days Shin-hyeok had been unconscious, Lee Ju-ho had scrutinized Shin-hyeok's Dimension Arena gameplay videos as though dissecting them.
Thanks to that, Lee Ju-ho had grasped every detail of how Shin-hyeok moved.
By contrast, Shin-hyeok would know nothing about Lee Ju-ho, so it was certain to be an unfair fight.
But-
"Stats are nothing more than lubricant that lets you move better and exert greater strength. In the end, only one thing matters: how well you handle what you possess. In that respect...... your Sword King Style is the worst, Lee Ju-ho."
"......!"
That was only what Lee Ju-ho thought.
Shin-hyeok knew Lee Ju-ho well.
Furthermore, he also knew the Sword King Style of Lee Ho-seok, the foundation of Lee Ju-ho's own style.
It was the result of Shin-hyeok's resolve, born from having been beneath everyone else and wanting to rise above them somehow.
That was why Shin-hyeok countered the Sword King Style Lee Ju-ho displayed with a single strike, and the tip of his sword headed for Lee Ju-ho's heart.
"Twisting Thrust."
CLANG—!
Choi Shin-hyeok Style, First Form - Twisting Thrust unfolded and pierced Lee Ju-ho's heart precisely.
"Ghk! Cough!"
"You should thank your wealthy father. Without him, you would be dead."
No, had it not been for the Unique Grade armor Lee Ju-ho wore, that would have happened.
However, the impact could not be completely negated. As Lee Ju-ho vomited what he had eaten with a face twisted in pain, Shin-hyeok gave a faint smile to Lee Ho-seok, who was looking at him with a stony expression.
"May I ask my friend's father for some instruction?"
"You brat. Very well, I will properly teach you a lesson. The difference in our levels, that is."
From the moment Lee Ju-ho appeared, Shin-hyeok's gaze had been fixed on Lee Ho-seok.
Lee Ju-ho?
He was no longer someone who could be called Shin-hyeok's opponent.
Sensing Shin-hyeok's gaze, Lee Ho-seok rolled up the sleeves of his suit and stepped onto the sparring platform.
Shin-hyeok's provocation had worked perfectly.