Twenty Days of Void, Twenty Days of Joy (Training Montage 2/2)
Elisicia felt strangely unfamiliar with herself, bickering with bug-level nobodies. And over someone else's issue at that—just whether some random newbie was still alive.
That alien emotion pushed her deeper into obsession. She whispered to KimHogu every single day and spam-refreshed the gallery. KimHogu was still blocking whispers.
What the hell is this guy doing?
And on the twentieth day. The anomaly hit like just another meaningless routine, while she was staring at the gallery.
In that instant, she sucked in a sharp breath. Her heart pounded fiercely.
She stared blankly at the words on the gallery, then covered her mouth with both hands. A sound leaked out—neither laughter nor a sigh.
The void that had crushed her for twenty days shattered in one go.
He's alive... He really made it.
She double-checked the screen. No doubt about it. KimHogu was still kicking, ready to keep the story going.
And in that moment, Elisicia realized what she'd been waiting for all this time.
"Ha... this is fun."
A raw, pure emotion she rarely ever felt. No choice but to admit it now—that a mere newbie's survival update had shaken her this much.
She opened the gift window.
"......"
Her fingertips hesitated for a moment, but her heart had already decided.
20,000,000 gold. The amount from their old promise.
But she entered the same amount again. The simple fact that he'd come back alive was reason enough.
"Just being alive is plenty."
KimHogu accepted the gift and immediately dropped a comment. The post exploded.
Elisicia laughed as she scrolled the comments.
Elisicia smiled and bowed her head. She was catching her breath without realizing it.
"Why am I going this far?"
She asked herself, but no answer was needed. Her heart already knew.
"It's fun, so why not."
I posted my thanks for the sponsorship and immediately opened the auction house.
I could wait for orb prices to drop, but high-grade orbs never really budged.
No reason to wait.
Probably 'cause the prices are insanely inflated.
From what I'd seen so far, low-grade orbs went for 50 gold each, mid-grade for 500 gold.
But high-grade? A whopping 500,000 gold apiece.
At first, I figured the 1,000x price jump meant 1,000x the effect. Wrong.
Turns out, the effects weren't that different.
One mid-grade orb (non-white) gives 22 combat power, while a high-grade nets around 550.
Higher gains, sure—but pathetically low compared to the 1,000x price gap.
That's why I stuck to mid-grades when I got that 7 mil sponsorship.
So why the huge disparity?
From my experience so far, I had a hunch.
Tolerance.
I'd scarfed orbs like a pig every time, so I was hyper-aware of my tolerance levels.
Low-grade tolerance spiked after 1,000. Mid-grade after 10,000.
Tolerance threshold jumps about 10x per grade.
High-grade probably kicks in at 100,000 for me.
That's based on my Digestion Ability. For others, the link between grade and tolerance holds too.
Supply, demand, and tolerance issues make prices skyrocket exponentially with grade.
"No skimping. Buy 'em all."
I didn't hesitate. Fired up the auction house and snapped up 40 million gold worth of orbs.
Luck was on my side—seven rare white orbs, all mine.
Secured 77 high-grade orbs total.
I swallowed them nonstop, feeling my body change.
Blood boiled throughout, sweet pleasure surging from deep in my bones.
Crack, crackle.
Muscles thickened, tendons realigned. Vision flashed white as my whole being leveled up.
I definitely felt stronger.
"Whew."
Catching my breath, I checked combat power. Sure enough, it shot up.
Now at a solid 350k combat power.
At this rate, 1 million's right around the corner.
I flexed, savoring the growth. Especially those seven whites—the effects hit quick.
Learned the Gate Bound I killed was called Azure Annihilator, and my new power: Azure Annihilation Gaze.
"Nice effect."
I steadied my breath and looked skyward. Gate Bound dead, night gone.
98th floor was full daylight now. Sun blazed like a knife edge.
Just waiting on rain now...
I pinged AlchemyRiceSoupEater in the gallery. She finally responded after a bit.
Pledged barbarian corpse delivery as collateral, got the 98th floor lift cut info in return.
Unlocked whispers briefly during—got flooded with requests—so after her info, I shut it off again.
Staring at the blinding sky, I reviewed her 98th floor lift cut method.
—Jump toward the sky when it rains.
Hearing that clicked the method instantly.
Rain didn't come easy. I used a cave as base, killing time productively while waiting.
Gallery timing was perfect—Geomseong back from training.
Mentioned PaehapTongcheang, told her I'd hit Hap.
She was thrilled like it was her own win.
Geomseong was as enthusiastic about teaching swordsmanship as our first meeting.
He lectured via comments for a while, then posted and continued.
I soaked in Geomseong's lecture. No floaters or goniks shitting on it this time.
Comments were mostly positive—my feats must've helped.
Learned a ton from her sword guidance again.
Learned 98th floor rains every 1.5 months. None since I blacked out, so soon.
Reviewed Geomseong's Slash in the meantime.
"Connection, flow, severance."
Connection: Linking shoulder, arm, sword, feet, ground—all axes into one.
Flow: Not dropping the sword—letting it stream like water.
Severance: Finally, split foe from world at sword's tip.
Connection first...
Recalled her teachings. Shoulder to arm. Arm to sword. Sword to earth. Link all axes unbroken, like steady breath. When connected, body and sword become one.
Next, flow.
Slash isn't smashing down. No cutting steel or beasts that way.
Let sword flow—follow mind, like stream, wind, natural.
Only then does it slip through blocks, anywhere.
Last, severance.
Flow continues but must end. Severance: Instant sword-tip splits world and foe.
The split of the connected line—that's the cut.
I practiced Slash while reviewing layer records in downtime.
But it wasn't clicking easy.
"Fuck."
A few rapier swings, and I got it. Weapon issue...
Geomseong-tuned rapier made it worse. Not slash-friendly.
Ask for another sword? I'm too decent for that.
Orkan's leftovers are throwing daggers, axes, bludgeons. Hmm.
Had to hit gallery for a sword buy.
Glancing at auction, spotted gonik desperately calling me.
He'd been hunting me awhile.
I jumped in right away.
He skipped more venting, straight to business.
This BobEatAndDie dwarf like MaxLevelRabbit?
Struck me then—a great idea.
Velhart gear was solid too.
Velhart armor from Orkan panty trade still useful. Felt like proper dwarf make.
Decision made: Hand over Gate Bound corpse for a dwarf sword.
My appetite tanked instantly.
He ignored my reaction.
BobEatAndDie paid fair like with Orkan's panties.
Accepted his gift. Unwrapped to find a single sword inside.