Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: 5. Stat Training Center (3)
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It was a bewildering moment.
To break free from qi deviation only for the Blood Demon Art's grade to improve.
Kang San took a moment to catch his breath. Once he judged his body sufficiently recovered, he checked his skills.
Blood Demon Sword Art, First Form: Blade Kill
1. Only those who have mastered the Blood Demon Art can use the Blood Demon Sword Art.
2. Delivers a powerful strike. Temporarily boosts attack power by 50%, plus additional boost equal to accumulated attack power from Blood Demon Art stacks. Targets that see blood from this attack suffer unavoidable bleeding for a set duration. (Cooldown: 5 minutes)
The skills' capabilities had improved across the board.
The Blood Demon Art's attack power boosts had all doubled, and the Blood Demon Sword Art, First Form's attack power increase had jumped from 30% to 50%.
An incredible harvest.
Yet Kang San couldn't simply rejoice.
As before, the Blood Demon Art had no description of its side effects. Nothing about the mental issues from slaying a certain number of monsters, or the special effects that had manifested when overcoming qi deviation.
In the end, the only way is to find out through direct experience again.
The next day.
Kang San summoned Lizardmen to build up 20 stacks of the Blood Demon Art.
The overall stat-boosting buff remained the same, but now that the Blood Demon Art had reached two stars, there were no side effects even at that level. The same held for 40. He deliberately timed it with monster reset to take down 40 in a row, but nothing like qi deviation occurred.
And there was one new discovery.
The Blood Demon Art's required "lives" didn't include E-Rank monsters.
It seemed the quality of blood it craved varied with the current level—not a single stack rose from zero.
For now, the urgent issue is resolved.
If no major problems arose around 40 kills, he could sufficiently control the variables from the Blood Demon Art. It was a dangerous power, and who knew what might happen next, but Kang San hadn't expected to fully master it in this training session anyway. If he steadily made it his own, bit by bit, he could one day wield it perfectly.
What kind of life did the me from my past life lead?
Fragments of memory.
The me from my previous life had wandered the world aimlessly.
Why he'd ended up that way, and what had filled an ordinary man with such murderous intent.
Kang San grew curious about his life.
It didn't change the fact that killing someone over some backstory made him trash, but to fully conquer the Blood Demon Art, he couldn't separate himself from that life's story. An uncomfortable but unavoidable truth. Overcoming qi deviation this time—and bearing the karma ahead—required delving into his past existence.
That was a matter for later.
Kang San shook off thoughts of his past life.
He had resolved the Blood Demon Art issue, but Azmun's trial and the 300-day deadline still loomed.
"From now on, focus on training."
He had to grow stronger.
Internally and externally.
Kang San dove back into serious training.
It was a routine of repeated training.
Then, on the fourth run.
During the precise fourth reaction speed training session, Kang San heard a voice announcing the training's grade had upgraded.
Thwack!
"Urk."
Phase 2 was different from the start.
An arrow pierced his arm in an instant, forcing Kang San to desperately evade follow-ups. The attacks always pushed him just beyond his current limits. Thanks to that, the reaction speed training wasn't just honing his physical abilities—it felt like his skill proficiencies were rising alongside.
Shield of Trials.
Iron Body.
He timed his defensive skills perfectly.
Unlike attack skills, which could only be honed in dedicated proficiency training, defensive skills could be practiced right here in the training ground.
A day, two days.
Time passed.
As sessions piled up and fatigue accumulated, a voice swept away Kang San's exhaustion in one go.
A stat already went up?
Stat improvement.
An enormous reward.
Stats raised through physical training didn't usually rise in just a day or two. You had to dedicate a full month to one drill for 2-3 points, yet Kang San had boosted his reaction speed in mere days.
The hellish difficulty.
Every moment a life-or-death gamble seemed to accelerate stat growth regardless of real time.
The rewards didn't stop there.
A feast of rewards.
Dodging, blocking, enduring arrow barrages—all directly converted to gains.
It was always like this.
Azmun's trials were brutally harsh, but the rewards were always certain. Not every hunter risking their life got such payouts. Rewards involved timing and luck too, so Kang San's growth was payment for the trials endured.
This changes everything.
Strength surged within him.
Without pricey stat stones, his stats were climbing steeply.
With surefire rewards, what were a few arrows in the body?
The moment Kang San thought it worthwhile.
"......Azmun really doesn't know restraint."
Azmun reacted immediately.
This training's goal wasn't mere survival.
At first, he was frantic just dodging to live, but as time wore on, Kang San found purpose.
I need to raise skill proficiency.
Skills.
The blessing granted to humans in this chaotic world.
The ignorant used them simply, but a skill's power varied wildly with the user's proficiency. Take Yeon-u, the famous Korean ranker mage. Water magic was typically low damage, but Yeon-u overcame that by morphing its form—into thorns or blunt weapons depending on the situation. No one dared call water magic weak to his face anymore.
Kang San needed to get familiar with his skills too.
Not just using them as-is, but maximizing their utility.
So after every session, he reviewed the prior one. Was dodging that arrow the right call? Did he use skills efficiently? He'd spend ample time reflecting post-training, striving to remember for the next.
Naturally, early results were meager.
Repeated failures just added wounds, but Kang San dismissed failure as trivial.
Failure is a necessary process.
His past life.
Kang San's existence had been marred by misfortune.
A life where failure was inevitable, and rising required overcoming it.
That forged his resilient mindset.
He valued what he gained from failure over the failure itself. If nothing was learned, he'd berate himself and vow focus next time. If something was gained, he'd try to apply it. Regardless, he guided himself positively. That effort let a mere F-Rank Arrow Sponge survive the Backside World for six years amid higher-rank deaths.
Time flew.
Around halfway through the 300 days, Kang San's efforts began to shine.
Whoosh!
An arrow launched.
Now at phase 5, it targeted vitals at blinding speed—too fast to dodge.
A choice was needed.
Kang San activated Iron Body as before.
But the application differed.
Iron Body.
Whoosh.
Mana surged.
To one body part.
Precisely where the arrow would hit, he concentrated Iron Body's power.
Iron Body normally boosted defense by 5%, but focusing it changed the effect.
Double the effect.
Hit elsewhere, and Iron Body offered no protection—like Achilles slain through the heel. A fatal wound for Kang San. Yet his expression held steady.
Unshakable trust.
He believed the arrow would hit where he predicted.
Its trajectory suggested it, and he'd maneuvered his body accordingly.
Thwack!
The arrow struck.
But the impact wasn't as bad as expected.
Kang San didn't groan, didn't even grimace.
Worth taking the hit.
150 days of training.
He'd grown accustomed to pain.
Deliberately tanking arrows prevented slowed reactions from agony.
Wounds healed anyway.
Aura of Recovery mended anything short of lethal.
Aura of Recovery turned out better than I thought.
With holy power up, its healing hit 31%—minor wounds vanished quickly. Perfect for a tanker. Frontliners relied solely on healers, but Aura of Recovery handled it solo. If he grew it to 100%, it'd be like having an extra life.
The training's difficulty was as grueling on day one as now.
But Kang San had changed.
A rookie unsure of his power then; now, an iron fortress forming.
Kang San headed straight to the waiting room.
No time to waste here.
Review.
To grow, he strived endlessly.
300 days.
A mere month outside.
That time passed.
Reaching final phase 8, Kang San beamed at his transformed stats.
Stats had skyrocketed.
Holy power rose 5 from trial rewards; the rest, excluding strength, saw major gains.
Core stats like strength and agility set rank evaluations by average. Others past 10 were brutally hard to raise via training. Yet reaction speed hit 12—above average. Kang San could now react to most attacks even if spotted.
Time to vacate the training ground.
Emerging, the staffer's eyes widened.
"......What happened in there?"
Kang San's state.
Unrecognizable from any training ground survivor.
Clothes in tatters like rags, soaked blood-red. Speechless.
Amid the weary face.
Kang San smiled faintly.
"Nothing at all."
The past 300 days.
That time held ample worth.
Kang San itched to test this power in the Backside World.
However.
For today, rest.
Even for resolute Kang San, 300 days taxed body and mind.