Sora snapped his head to the side, startled. Beside him, he saw the mysterious stranger who had appeared earlier.
"You survived!" the boy repeated. "Even though they were higher level… and you had no equipment."
He emphasized the last words while pointing at Sora's outfit.
As if provoked, Sora reacted sharply. "You were messing with me! What was that weapon? It didn't even survive the first of those worthless level 3 and 4 monsters!!"
The boy raised a hand and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I couldn't give you anything better… Don't forget I'm a part of you, and you're incredibly weak right now. But admit it — it still helped you a little."
Sora exhaled in irritation and stayed quiet for a few seconds before asking, "Who are you? You claim you're a part of me, but I don't know where you came from. What do you want, and why appear now?"
The boy didn't answer immediately. He stared at Sora long enough to make him uncomfortable. At last, he said, "I'd like to answer… really."
Sora's face brightened with hope, but the boy shook his head. "But it doesn't matter. Not yet, at least. If you want real answers, become someone and find them on your own."
Seeing the disappointment on Sora's face, his expression softened. He pointed upward. "Or wait until you get out of here. It might be too late then, but you'll get your answers."
As Sora tried to read between the lines and understand what he meant, the boy began to fade, like a drawing being erased from a board.
"Wait!" Sora barely uttered the word before the stranger vanished completely.
He didn't have long to dwell on it, because a series of notifications snapped him out of his thoughts:
[Quest Complete: "Survive!" – Difficulty: E]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
Sora blinked in surprise at the second notification.
Two levels for an E-rank quest? No way…
He did the math, then understood. The doubled experience from the three monsters must've pushed me close to level 2… and the quest reward pushed me to level 3. That's insane!
Thrilled with the experience gain, he also felt his skills had progressed significantly. However, Insatiable and armed with his claw, he approached the corpses of the defeated monsters.
He tried to carve into the creature but failed miserably, damaging nearly everything he managed to cut. Unwilling to give up, he kept trying and eventually extracted two intact items.
[Loot Acquired: Monster Scale (Common Item)]
[Loot Acquired: Fiendish Fang (F) (Common Weapon)]
Even though the items weren't worth much, he smiled. With a simple thought, the items moved into his inventory.
Gotta start somewhere if I want to rebuild my savings…
Ignoring the first corpse as it dissolved into particles of light, he moved to the next bodies and repeated the process.
[Loot Acquired: Venom Sac (Rare Item)]
[Loot Acquired: Shadow Shard (Common Item)]
Even though the Venom Sac was marked as rare, Sora knew rarity alone didn't guarantee value.
If nobody needs it, it's basically worthless. Hope it sells at the auction house.
He had no intention of using everything he found — he was already calculating the resale value of every drop.
He looked through his inventory, now containing three items and three gold coins, and shook his head.
One gold per monster killed. I forgot how miserable it was before level 10…
He smiled, remembering his first kills in his previous life, then closed the inventory menu.
After equipping the only weapon he had looted, the Fiendish Fang, he headed toward the cavern's exit.
"Status," he said, out of habit, wanting to check the changes after leveling up.
He glanced at his status panel, marveling at how much progress he'd made since waking in this world. His heart raced with excitement and surprise as he absorbed the changes displayed before him.
[Status Update]
Profile: Ralph Eden (Sora Hashino)
Status: Alive (Prestige 1)
Talent Level: 2
Growth Factor: 2
Class: None (Level 3)
Body Level: 18
Energy Level: 18
Innate Skill: [Prestige]
Skills:
Sword Mastery (Level 1) Shield Block (Level 1) Critical Strike (Level 2) Dodge (Level 2) Mana Regeneration (Locked)
Not bad. Not bad, he thought as he saw his body and energy levels nearly double after reaching level 3.
Noticing that two of his skills had leveled up, he grinned.
[Dodge] increased thanks to my timing and the level difference during the fight… And since it was a real battle, I get extra experience on top of it. It's already easy at this stage — I can't imagine what it'll be like after several resets…
Seeing that [Critical Strike] had reached level two, he only nodded. His extensive close-combat experience had trained him to strike only at weak points, and the results were already showing.
He opened and closed his hands, stretched his arms, and began warming up. After a few jumps, punches into the air, and small acrobatics, he shook his head.
It's nothing compared to my old body and reflexes, but it's way better than earlier.
But thinking about the power he had lost since his previous life darkened his mood.
Now I have potential… But that's all it is. Potential. To reach Rachel's level, I'll need time.
He couldn't help recalling his childhood friend's betrayal, the cold look on her face as she stabbed him.
What did she do after the ambush?
More questions filled his mind.
It's already been a month since I died, if the woman in the mist was right. What did she tell everyone when she came back alone? Did she meet my parents?
Thinking about what might have happened to his parents made anger surge inside him. Did she hurt them? Did she lie and say it was an accident? Did she manipulate them?!
The thought sent a chill down his spine.
His parents were Innocents, not players. They were defenseless against players. Rachel could have manipulated them, toyed with their emotions, made them believe he had abandoned them—or worse, tricked them into leveling up and losing their protection to eliminate them.
Soon, he dismissed the thought. His parents were smart people, and knew what to believe and who to trust.
As he started calming down, he looked down to see the blood flowing from his palms. His nails had dug into his palms.
"I swear," he muttered, "I'll kill her no matter what."
Tempted to rush to his parents to see how they were doing, he shook his head.
'They'll be alright. They're safe within city walls, and I can't risk facing Rachel with this little power.'
"I'll join them when I'm ready." Sora vowed. "I need to become stronger first."
With a determined look, Sora pressed forward, his mind set on his goal. He wouldn't be reckless, but he wouldn't be a coward, either. He had to grow, and fast.