Multiple pinpricks of light twinkling in the air were being penetrated.
Every time a movement was completed, the red embroidery string attached to the spear would fluctuate back and forth. It wasn’t there for decoration but was there to distract the enemy’s gaze.
Pang!
Again, there was a sound of the air piercing. The [Jin Family Spear Technqiue] had seven forms. And the last was Piercing Heaven (天貫軼)1.
And before any of the other 99 Piercing Heavens, this Piercing Heaven was even more accurate and powerful.
‘This is it.’
My fingertips felt electrified. Even though the seven forms of the Jin Family Spear Technique were destructive, together they had a genuine effect.
If I were to compare it to car race, the first form was the car starting up. And the last Piercing Heaven could basically be seen as the goal.
“Huu.”
It was at the moment I set my spear aside and was breathing heavily.
Ring.
– Number of Successes (100 / 100)
– Acquired [Jin Family Spear Technique]
– As a result of repetitive training, certain stats have risen!
– Strength, Stamina, Agility have risen by 1 point.
“Oh. My stats rose.”
I could rise my stats through this method. Thinking it was amazing, I opened my status window.
Ring.
[Lv. 11 Jin Taekyung]
Occupation: Second Rate Murim-in
Fame: 10
Titles: 3 (Titles Currently Applied)
Strength: 41
Stamina: 51
Agility: 51
Intelligence: 10
Charm: 10
Qi: 10 years
Remaining Points: 0
– Son of a Noble Family (All Abilities +5, Fame +50)
– Shame of the Family (All Abilities -5, Fame -50)
– Novice Trainee (Training Speed +10%)
If it was this much…
“I’m an excellent Second Rate loser.”
But it was better than reality. Because I could go higher. Since the day I awakened as a F rank hunter, I could feel my own limitations and the glass ceiling society placed upon me.
“But what does that matter. I can’t even log out when I want to.”
I sighed and sat on the floor. Because I was training for hours without resting, my body felt heavy like a cotton that was soaked with water.
“Aigoo. It’s hard.”
Ring.
You are feeling fatigue and hunger. Recover your health by eating.
Right. I thought it would be like that.
“Fatigue and hunger.”
The answer was a break. Eat well and sleep well. But it felt like a waste of time to be laid back.
If only I had an item that recovered my health…
“Ah, right. The pill.”
I took out the pill that I put into my inventory. Even though it had an unusual smell, if I was picky about cold food or hot food, than I wouldn’t be a pro hunter.
I opened my mouth wide and chewed on the pill.
And thought.
‘Should I just spit it out.’
It didn’t just taste bad. My tongue was screaming at me to save it’s life and my stomach even had a sign up that entrance was prohibited.
But there were times when humans would display shows of superhuman will. I shut my eyes tightly and swallowed the medicinal pill.
Gulp.
“Euuuh. I ate it. I really ate it.”
If in the next second the system alarm didn’t ring, I would have rolled around.
Ring.
– You have ingested [Excellent Medicinal Pills].
– You are feeling full.
– You are recovering from fatigue.
– For one hour, all skills will go up by 2 points.
“What?”
I urgently checked my status window and saw that all my skills really went up by 2 points. Not only that but my hunger and fatigue were going away. Feeling full and recovered, I muttered.
“This is total fraud?”
Who knew that something that tasted this bad would have such great effects. No, wait.
“Does this have duplicating effects?”
I only ate one but the total number of points it went up was 10. Two, three, or if I ate 10 of them?
‘I would eat even goblin droppings.’
Although I honestly thought that even goblin droppings would taste better… I still wanted to try.
‘I can do it. I can do it. Jin Taekyung.’
My hand shook as I ate my second medcinal pill.
And afterwards.
– You have ingested [Excellent Medicinal Pills].
– Effects will not duplicate.
– You are currently feeling over full.
– You are currently impacted by [Over Eating]. Your movements are being slowed down for one hour!
I kneeled at the same time at the same time I heard the alarm sound.
“Waaaaaahk!”
—
I was only able to train after one hour. The number of days I would stay at the training facility was three days. During that time I needed to raise my strength.
“Hah!”
With a short shout, I drew a trajectory with my spear.
‘My posture needs to be low, my steps heavy, and my spear fast.’
The Jin Family Spear Technique was more attack based. It continuously pressured the enemy. The technique was both simple and deadly.
‘Did they say it was derived from the military?’
Even though I didn’t know what the game setting was like, it didn’t seem like a Mugong that a soldier could learn. It was because you needed to be at least a Second Rate Mugong-in2, plus the body and abilities to go with it. I felt like it was Mugong for elite soldiers, or even commanding officers.
‘If I were to compare it to my training as a hunter, it’s the difference between heaven and earth.’
It was at that thought. It may have been because my stamina was depleted, or because of the distracting thoughts I was having but my feet twisted. As my feet got twisted, my hands were in disarray. Full of energy, I lost my momentum and sliced the air.
Swiik—
At the same time the system.
Proficiency for the [Jin Family Spear Technique] has gone up by 1. (6 / 100)
“Only 1?”
Just like that, if I did the forms from the start to the end, proficiency would go up. Although by the system standards, the proficiency that I gained was different, this time even my feet got twisted, all I got was 1 point.
“How am I getting worse the more I do it?”
After acquiring it, by the third time I was doing it, I was getting more and more terrible at it. The first time I did it, I got a proficiency of 3. The second, 2. The third, which was just now, 1.
“3, 2, 1. It’s not like it’s counting down, what is this?”
It was looking as if I wouldn’t get any points during my fourth time. Taking a deep breath, I held my spear up again. Even though it felt as if my breathing was different, I went through the forms of the Jin Family Spear Technique.
But during the fourth form, I lost my balance and fell down.
Ring.
You were unable to gain any proficiency for the [Jin Family Spear Technique] (6 / 100)
“This is making me crazy.”
I looked at the stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling.
My feet kept getting twisted. I followed through the forms I learned, so why? I didn’t encounter any problems when I was learning to acquire it.
“What could be the problem?”
I needed to figure out what the problem was.
Like a roly poly, I stood up and went through the Jin Family Spear Technique forms. This time I fell after only doing the third form.
You were unable to gain any proficiency for the [Jin Family Spear Technique] (6 / 100)
It wasn’t a problem with the spear but because I was too focused on my feet. Great, one more time.
You were unable to gain any proficiency for the [Jin Family Spear Technique] (6 / 100)
I knew what the problem was. But…
“Why is the Jin Family Footwork showing up?”
When I was first learning it, it was a struggle. Because learning the footwork took half a day. But if you were to ask me if I were to use it while going through the forms of the Spear Technique, then I would have said no.
‘If I were to say that, I could argue that all the movements that I’ve used for the past seven years would have been mixed in too.’
I learned spear techniques3 too. In order to enter hunter training, it was the basics that I needed to learn but because I couldn’t use mana, among F rank hunters we called it the crappy spear technique.
If I were to compare it, then the Jin Family Spear Technique would have been an intermediate hunter technique.
“Should I try one more time?”
Even if I racked my brains, I would only get bald. The only way to learn was through the body.
I slowly went through the forms of the Jin Family Spear Technique. And using my lower body, I went through the steps of the Jin Family Footwork.
‘The movements feel unnatural.’
I kept getting it wrong. But it felt different. Up until now, the strings were getting knotted together but now, it felt like the cogwheels were only slightly off beat. Like that, I tried multiple times.
Swiik— Pang!
A simple penetratingly movement. Without knowing it, I thought I already reached the final seventh form but it was actually only the fifth movement.
“What was that just now?”
My spine felt like pines and needles. For one moment, the Footwork Technique and the Spear Technique fitted together perfectly. My hands that were holding the spear, shook.
You were unable to gain any proficiency for the [Jin Family Spear Technique] (6 / 100)
I ignored the system alarm sounds and again, held the spear up. Thinking about the feeling from before, I took a step forward. And then again.
Swiik— Swii Swiik—
This was it. The instant I thrusted the spear out, I could feel it. My Footwork with the Spear Technique. It was like two cogwheels fitting together perfectly.
There weren’t any words to describe the pleasure I felt at the two cogwheels working together perfect. My footsteps, alongside the sweeping movements with the thrusting spear felt faster and stronger.
My dantian felt hot. My Qi became like a ball of fire and permeated the spear. I needed to throw it up. It was now!
“Hap!”
Piercing Heaven. The Jin Family Spear Technique pierced the sky. There was a muffled roar.
Kwang—!
In all directions, dust flew everywhere and the rocks scattered. The spear was lodged in the training facility wall, while my body shook. There was a large hole in the center of where my spear was stuck.
A hole? No. This was a crater. It was a sight enough to make me breathless.
“Huk, huk…”
I felt pleased, along with goosebumps. Fuck, it was me. I did it!
A movement that was enough to take a troll out, I…!
Stagger.
‘Huh?’
I needed to shout and take a picture for proof. I needed to make Jinho hyung’s nose flat, who used to make fun of me for being a rice bug.
‘Ah, this place. It was just a game.’
The sight in front of me was getting blurry. The strength was leaving my body. And I felt so sleepy that I struggled pushing it away.
“I’m sleepy.’
I stopped thinking and listened to my body. A familiar sound felt like it was coming from far away.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
.
.
.
– All your Qi has been exhausted.
– You are feeling extreme fatigue.
– Achievement, [Awareness of Oneself]4 has been achieved. Preparing rewards!
– You have connected Mugong on your own. As a reward, Mugong stages are largely rising.
– [Jin Family Qi Cultivation Technqiue] Stage is…
– [Jin Family Footwork] Stage is…
– [Jin Family Spear Technique]…
– Level up!
– Level up!
—
Sleep mode has ended.
I opened my eyes. I could see the stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling.
‘The training facility.’
I wonder how long I was out for. Half a day? Or one day?
I don’t know. The important fact was that I was still inside the game, and that I’ve rested long enough.
‘My condition is at its best too.’
My condition felt so great in fact, that it was weird. Now that I thought about it, I felt like I heard the system alarm before I fainted.
“Open Message Window.”
In the next second, I saw all the messages that I hadn’t confirmed. I organized my thoughts and after a dozen minutes passed, I muttered.
“I hit jackpot.”
The Jin Family Footwork and Spear Technique both hit the third stage and the Jin Family Qi Cultivation Technique rose up to the second stage. Not only that…
“I rose two levels?”
I felt happy but dazed. It was because I didn’t have any expectations that I would raise my level while I was in the training facility.
“Normally don’t I need to raise it through quests or by catching monsters?”
Who knew that I would raise my level just by learning Mugong. Maybe it was because the genre of the game was martial arts? It was beyond my grasp.
“Ah, no wonder my body felt so refreshed.”
It looked like my body recovered after levelling up. All my bruises and pain I felt before levelling up was gone.
“Open Status Window.”
My status window changed. I rose up to level 13, gained 20 free points, and it looked like through training I was able to raise strength, stamina and agility.
“Level 13.”
The quest requirements were that I reach level 30 and 500 fame. Although it wasn’t fast, raising my level through training felt steady.
‘Once I leave the training facility, all I need to do is open my sails and go.’
I smiled proudly and distributed my remaining points.
Now all I needed to do was confirm the rewards I received through [Awareness of Oneself].
“Open Inventory.”
There is 1 new item in your inventory. Would you like to check?
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