Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: I Want to Do Even Better
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Kaltz Black said in a sullen voice.
“An attitude score of zero means you can’t possibly pass the training camp, honestly.”
Persistence score, breakthrough score, adversity score, attitude score.
To pass the selection training camp, you had to score at least sixty in all four categories.
Davis jumped in to defend Kang Geohan from the side.
“But there are bonus points, right? If you score over ninety, you get twenty points added, so if you ace the other three at ninety or above…”
“Ha! Fine, say breakthrough and adversity scores could pull it off. But skipping training like this and still getting ninety-plus in persistence? That’s nonsense.”
“Th-then a hundred! A perfect hundred lets you drop one score entirely, so we could ditch the attitude one.”
Somehow, Davis had already crunched the numbers and was desperately advocating for Kang Geohan.
Kaltz shook his head slowly.
“Yeah, that’s the only way. Hundreds in breakthrough and adversity, or at least one hundred and one ninety. That’s your only shot right now. But…”
Kaltz’s eyes darkened.
“Do you have any idea how rare a perfect hundred is? In decades of training camp history, it’s happened fewer than three times. Do you really need to take such an uncertain, risky path? Kang Geohan?”
Phew…
Kang Geohan was mid-squat, shouldering a barbell-shaped demonic stone custom-made for the purpose.
With his core solidified, he planned to build up his lower body, upper body, and various other areas step by step while gradually mastering demonic power.
Sizzle—
On the seventh squat, steam began rising from his thigh and glute muscles.
Just as an iron bar rubbed against a magnet becomes magnetized, ordinary human tissue clashed with demonic power and slowly transformed into it.
“Whew… hold on. This next part’s crucial.”
Ignoring Kaltz’s question, Kang Geohan drew in a deep breath and powered through three more squats, up and down.
He pushed himself to the brink—where he could force one more rep, but absolutely not two.
Thud!
After hitting ten total, he slammed the barbell to the ground.
The demonic stone barbell, which could be kneaded like clay into a melon-sized lump, rolled across the dirt.
Huff, huff…
Steam poured off his body in waves, and a squeezing pain wracked his muscles from head to toe, leaving him tingling all over.
“Phew… Sir Kaltz Black. How much did you say that barbell weighs?”
“…Around three hundred pindem.”
“Last week, I did ten reps with the two hundred fifty pindem one, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And now ten with the three hundred pindem.”
“Right.”
“Does that answer your question?”
Kang Geohan grinned brightly.
“It’s uncertain and risky, sure—but the rewards make it worth it.”
Kaltz let out a deep sigh at the boy’s sunny expression.
“…I don’t even know why I’m worrying about you.”
Kang Geohan blinked at that.
“Really? Our deal was for me to surprise you, Sir Kaltz… So isn’t me taking the hard road a good thing? Why worry…?”
Kaltz Black’s eyes flickered with panic. He forced it down and raised his voice.
“Anyway! Your only way to survive is topping the rankings in every evaluation score. Especially the final exam!”
“The final exam?”
“Yeah. It’s a real-combat recon mission outside the sector. Excel there, and you can make up for any prior deficits.”
Kaltz, pretending otherwise while clearly fretting over Kang Geohan. Kang Geohan gave a sly smile, hoisted the barbell again, and lay back on the long bench.
“Got it. I’ll do my best. Now, time to feed the chest…”
Whoosh!
A solid bench press for the pecs!
Drawing a massive breath, he lowered the barbell, pushed it up halfway with a slow hiss of exhale—and steam already hissed from his chest.
Kaltz and Davis watched, exchanging shakes of their heads.
* * *
Time flew by.
Kang Geohan’s demonic power, which had started as mere threads,
grew thicker as strand after strand twisted and wove together,
eventually forming a complex, intricate shape like fine macramé.
In that span, he aced five evaluations—all five times in first place.
[Kang Geohan]
Height: 176cm
Weight: 56kg
Willpower: 117/117
Strength: 49/49
Mana: 59/59
Fat Mass: 5.23kg
Muscle Mass (Skeletal): 21.03kg
Demonic Power: 507 pindem
Insane growth in just three months. In demonic power alone, he trailed third-place Roen Yellow by barely over a hundred pindem—and in instantly deployable mana, he crushed the camp’s top dog, Helena.
‘Well… I still can’t dump all my mana at once like before. Even channeling it through qi, it’s in three or four bursts at best.’
When his mana was low, he could squeeze it all out in one go—but as it grew, fine control got tougher.
Even so, he dominated the trainees, acing every evaluation.
His mana manipulation was unmatched, even among instructors.
With things like this, public opinion shifted—from trash-talking him to seeing him as an otherworldly freak you couldn’t ignore.
“How the hell does that guy get so strong?”
“Saw him training solo? Lifts crazy heavy for ten reps, rests, repeats.”
“Ten reps? Not a hundred?”
“Yeah.”
“Even with high-pindem demonic stone, does ten reps really build you up?”
“Not for us. Weird physiology, I guess.”
“He handles mana like a pro.”
“True. Always has. I gas out after a hundred without using it all… but he drains his in ten.”
“A genius, huh…”
Envy turned to awe. Even assistants and instructors dropped their hostility, merely sighing heavily whenever they saw him.
And so, after months of sweat and grind, the final evaluation dawned.
The test site was the terrain outside the sector encircling the camp—a place called the Monster Forest.
Rapal faced the assembled trainees before the forest and began his briefing.
“The selection camp is built outside the sector to train candidates while pioneering the outer terrain. Today’s mission doubles as your final exam and preliminary recon for actual conquest.”
Rapal pointed to a colossal tree at the forest’s heart.
Green leaves thrust skyward, gleaming in the sun, its massive canopy casting a fortress-like shadow.
“All outer terrains have a ‘core.’ Destroy it, and the anomalies vanish. The Monster Forest’s core is somewhere in that giant tree, we suspect.”
He then jabbed a finger at the forest’s edge.
There, rocks and dirt floated in midair, churning in turbulent rapids—an eerie sight.
“The Monster Forest’s anomaly is mild compared to others. Just next door, the anti-gravity zone’s wild fluctuations make entry impossible—but here, it’s just trees twisted into monster shapes. Occasional reports of trees moving or shifting. That’s it. But,”
Rapal paused, locking eyes with each trainee. They stiffened under his gaze. Satisfied, he continued.
“The real anomaly lurks deeper: unimaginable swarms of monsters cluster toward that central tree. So this recon stays peripheral. Peel it like an apple—clear the outer monsters layer by layer. Use the cockpit’s magic map to log terrain, monster types, distributions. Every fight’s recorded by your Gigant’s holographic logger. More kills, wider exploration—higher score. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Twenty-five assistants are deployed for your safety. Outer edges only have goblins and orcs—no big threats. Still, obey them in emergencies.”
“Yes!”
“Good luck.”
* * *
Messages flooded Kang Geohan’s private comms line.
-Kang Geohan Yellow, Sir. This time, I’ll win.
Helena’s gritted-teeth voice.
-Gonna show us something for that hundred? Push to the center?
Roen’s chipper query.
-Let’s pass together… meet in the pioneer corps.
Harkrux’s firm tone, belying his delicate looks.
Gerot Yellow skipped comms, just glaring daggers before charging into the forest with heavy thuds.
Kang Geohan smiled. Honestly, he loved it. Days grinding training. Rivals pushing and clashing with him.
His first impression of this world—the nightmare of lowest-layer reverse folk—had faded. Now every day felt dense, alive.
That’s why.
Kang Geohan wanted to do even better.
He opened a channel to Helena, Roen, and Harkrux.
“Friends. If we’re doing this, let’s do it right. Peel slow, but deep—scout the center. What do you say…? Together?”
Rapal White had warned: the core area swarms with incomprehensible monster hordes. Advance cautiously, like peeling an apple.
Kang Geohan had no plans to disobey. He just meant to speed it up. Not just the skin—the seed inside. Too risky solo, so with top friends.
-Can’t fall behind. I’m in.
-Sounds fun!
-An honor.
Helena, Roen, and Harkrux all signed on.
“Perfect. We each advance solo toward the center at a distance, link up at the right moment, and raid the heart together.”
An elite squad formed to overachieve the recon.
Paths synced, Kang Geohan stepped into the Monster Forest in high spirits.
The trees towered eight meters above Gigant height. Thick trunks blocked sightlines, but the Gigant’s stellar sensory processor (SPU) mapped the area like reading palms.
‘Trees move on their own, huh…? True—no wind, yet branches sway.’
Kang Geohan absorbed the influx of senses, piloting Pectoralis step by step into the woods.
Whoooosh—
The grotesquely twisted trees rustled branches with ghostly wails.