Chapter 18: The High-Divers
Roughly two hours later, Raiden Mei granted Rovel a ten-minute reprieve before initiating their second bout.
Having discovered Rovel's ability to switch his sword hand, Mei was not about to be caught off guard a second time. The result was, predictably, another thorough drubbing for Rovel. He emerged from the spar bruised and battered once more.
It was a frustrating reality: while Rovel was improving, so was Mei. She was rapidly familiarizing herself with his unorthodox fighting style. Without a significant breakthrough on his part, completing this A-rank mission felt like a distant dream.
The second battle still yielded rewards. Rovel gained another 3,000 proficiency points for his Basic Kendo and 600 experience points, a slightly smaller haul than the first round.
Combined with the two hours of intense training that preceded it, Rovel's Basic Kendo proficiency now stood at an impressive 7,960 out of 10,000.
'If I can keep this pace,'he thought, a grim sort of excitement cutting through the exhaustion,'I could advance my Basic Kendo to the next stage by tomorrow.'
Such a rate of improvement could only be described as terrifying.
"Let's stop here for today," Mei said, her voice gentle but firm. She was thoroughly satisfied with Rovel's performance. It was clear he wasn't just paying lip service; he possessed a genuine, burning obsession with becoming stronger. "Get some rest. We can continue tomorrow at the Kendo Club, if that's alright with you."
"Of course. Thanks for everything today, Mei," Rovel managed, letting out a long, shuddering sigh.
A wave of dizziness washed over him, a product of the deep, aching pain radiating from every part of his body and the sheer mental exhaustion of the prolonged fight. Still, he forced a nod, accepting her offer without hesitation.
'Becoming stronger is never simple…'he mused, his body protesting every slight movement.'Even though Mobius gave me the perfect start, I still have to bleed for every inch of progress.'
After logging out of the game, Rovel dragged himself into the shower, letting the hot water soothe his protesting muscles. He sent a quick "goodnight" message to his sister, Yuki, before collapsing onto his bed and falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
While Rovel rested, however, others were still online, desperately clawing for every possible advantage.
"The Death Soldier has only a sliver of health left! All of you who just engaged, get back in there and buy us time!"
At the sharp command, more than twenty players charged recklessly toward the towering, scythe-wielding monstrosity.
The Death Soldier responded with a single, sweeping arc of its weapon. In an instant, the charging players dissolved into motes of light, vanishing on the spot.
Once the last of the twenty-odd sacrifices had been made, the final remaining player stepped forward. He calmly raised a pistol, took aim, and fired a single, precise shot that struck the Death Soldier squarely between its eyes.
[-21]
A small damage number flared above the creature's head as its health bar was finally, completely emptied.
[Congratulations on killing a Death Soldier (Level 10). You have gained 297 experience points.]
[Experience bar full. Level increased to Level 5. Experience required for next level: 0/1,600.]
[Four-dimensional attributes +1, Free Attribute Points +2.]
Apollo didn't hesitate, immediately allocating both free points into his Strength stat. He watched the number climb to 32, a smirk of triumph spreading across his face.
The successful implantation of the artificial stigmata had been a major change, boosting all his attributes by a full 10 points. He had instantly vaulted ahead of the entire player base. Better yet, he'd been told that as his fusion with the stigmata deepened, more attribute boosts would follow.
There was only… one small concern.
Apollo glanced at his status, his eyes lingering on the line that read 'Honkai Energy Infection Progress: 11%.' A flicker of unease stirred within him. No one in his organization fully understood what this metric truly meant yet. The highest progress among the first batch of test subjects had already reached 47%, which felt unnervingly close to the 100% mark.
"Mr. Apollo, it's time to head to the Boxing Gym," a man in a suit, one of his handlers, said respectfully from nearby.
"Understood." Apollo gave a slight, dismissive wave and made his way to the designated training facility.
[Practicing Basic Combat (White), skill proficiency +4. As you are in an Intermediate Boxing Gym, you gain an additional +1 skill proficiency.]
[Practicing Basic Combat (White), skill proficiency +2. As you are in an Intermediate Boxing Gym, you gain an additional +1 skill proficiency.]
"Once my Basic Combat reached the Proficient rank, the rate of proficiency gain dropped off a cliff," Apollo muttered, his brow furrowing in displeasure. "Does this mean my real-world fighting skills are only at a 'Proficient' level?"
He was a man who rarely met his equal in the real world; the thought of being so mediocre in this new one was galling.
"Mr. Apollo, please don't be discouraged," his handler quickly interjected, his tone placating. "You participated in the stigmata experiment and started training several hours later than everyone else, yet your skill reached the Proficient rank in just two hours. That's already faster than 99.99% of the player base."
The handler continued his well-rehearsed speech. ", your Intelligence attribute is nearly double that of your peers. Combined with the gym's bonus, you've gained over 300 proficiency points on the first day alone. At this rate, your skill will advance to the next stage the day after tomorrow at the earliest!"
"And remember, we have this entire area on lockdown. The moment a Death Soldier is spotted, you are notified. You only need to arrive and deliver the final blow. If we can secure five kills a day like we did today, that's a steady 1,500 experience points daily."
"This arrangement is designed to maximize your level and skill proficiency. By any global standard, you are far, far ahead of the curve. There is absolutely no need for you to feel anxious."
Hearing the supervisor's breakdown, Apollo's mood improved considerably. With such a massive investment of resources and a top-tier configuration backing him, how could anyone possibly compete?
Then, a thought soured his expression once more.
"Fuck! I still don't get why Schicksal doesn't have a branch in North America. If they did, I could have joined directly with my successful stigmata transplant."
"It's alright, sir. We've already identified other high-level training academies and have made contact with a key figure in one of them. It shouldn't be long before we can use our connections to secure you a position."
"Fine," Apollo grumbled, waving a hand dismissively. "Just notify me when it's settled."
He turned back to the heavy bag, pouring his frustration into a series of powerful, rhythmic punches.
Meanwhile, on the official game forums, the disparity between players was becoming a hot topic.
[This Junior Training Academy is absolute garbage! Dammit, I really shouldn't have been so cheap. I should have just grinded for a few more days to afford an intermediate one!] a user lamented in a new thread.
A reply appeared almost instantly: [Bro, what do you mean?]
[Let me put it this way: I've scoured the entire academy, and I haven't found a single person over Level 10! The strongest club leaders are only Level 7 or 8,] the original poster typed furiously, eager to vent his grievances.
Another user chimed in, confused: [Isn't that a good thing? I heard you get experience for beating club members. Shouldn't it be easier if they're all low-level?]
['Get by'? What, you plan on staying at Level 10 for the rest of your life? You can't change training academies once you've joined! Am I supposed to be the king of the kids in the starter village forever? I can't even manage that! Those club NPCs all have skills, and we can't beat them at all until we learn some of our own!]
[And the most annoying part is the club training hours. They open at 8 AM and close at 7 PM. If you want to train at a private dojo outside those hours, you have to pay out of your own pocket.] The player dumped all his frustrations at once.
Just then, a new voice entered the conversation, dripping with wealth.
[I'm fairly well-off, so I spent a bit of money to get into an Intermediate Training Academy on day one. The highest-level NPC here is around Level 20. When you're learning combat skills, a teacher provides an hour of personal guidance every day, which doubles your proficiency gain! The training room has a permanent 10% proficiency bonus and is open 24/7!]
[As for experience, just attending a class here gives about 20% more EXP than in a Junior Academy.]
The thread fell silent for a moment before the replies began to flood in.
[Worship the whale…]
[Worship the whale ×2…]
[Worship the whale ×10086…]
Someone quickly did the math. Based on the first day's exchange rate between real-world money and in-game credits, entering an Intermediate Training Academy would have cost roughly one million dollars.
Of course, the actual cost wasn't quite so astronomical. The premium on game currency was simply absurd on the first day, with the exchange rate skyrocketing from an initial 10:1 all the way to 50:1, and it showed no signs of stopping.
For the true whales, however, that kind of money was pocket change.
This terrifying currency valuation also lit a fire under the game's gold farmers; a single day of grinding could now earn them more than a month's salary in the real world. A new class of player had also emerged: speculators, who were collecting currency in massive quantities, stockpiling it in the hopes of cashing out at the absolute peak.
Only time would tell if they would end up fantastically wealthy or become high-divers, plummeting from the peak of their investment into a sea of debt.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]