Shuffle, shuffle— The forest stirred tumultuously as numerous shadows pursued a human.

Creak, creak—Scream!

Shayres screamed madly as he drew his bow. And in that moment:

Click, click—

Suhyun lightly stepped on a few branches, waiting for this very moment.

Whoosh!

The arrow flew towards Suhyun but missed its mark. A slender branch snapped, propelling Suhyun upward.

A small leap—

He had used a leaping skill. Caught off guard by this unexpected move, Shayre was launched into the air.

Slash!

[You have gained 20 achievement points.]

Shayre’s throat was cut, and crimson blood spurted out like a fountain.

Woosh—

Smooth, smooth—

Suhyun moved swiftly. He concentrated magic in his legs, allowing him to freely navigate the forest’s complex terrain. Even Shayres, who dominated the forest, couldn’t catch up with him.

Wait, just a moment—!

Shayres, having lost half his tribe, was in disarray. They needed to run. They were not hunters; at this moment, the hunter was Suhyun. But…

Jingle, jingle—

“Should we run?” Suhyun said, showing the necklace around his neck. Shayres saw the necklace and was enraged but didn’t understand his words. The remaining Shayres charged at Suhyun in unison, realizing that bows were useless against him in mid-air. “Of course. Fine by me.”

Shush—

Pong!

The spear in Suhyun’s hand pierced through the approaching Shayre’s head. “No need to drag this out…”

Select, select—

Thud—

Suhyun cut down two nearby Shayres and leaped towards those further away.

“Let’s end this quickly.”

Slash!

He cut down the last Shayre.

[You have gained 20 achievement points.]

[Your strength has increased by 1 point.]

Drip, drip—

His blood dripped onto the floor, covering his body. Suhyun felt his tension dissipate, and fatigue set in. “Phew—”

He could no longer count how many tribes were there. Their numbers were increasing. There was no end to them.

The level 10 trial was over, but the rewards didn’t match the effort put in. Suhyun had personally cleared the level with above-average achievements and received more generous rewards than usual.

Upon starting the second floor trial here, Suhyun thought if the goal was to escape the Shayre tribe without losing treasures and survive…

It would end when the Shayre family was annihilated. To keep challenging the 10-level trials on each floor, aiming for the highest rewards was the best strategy. Therefore, Suhyun chose to face the Shayres head-on rather than running away.

The numbers were slowly increasing. No, it wasn’t just the numbers. Among the Shayres, there were strong and weak ones. It wasn’t just the numbers that grew; their levels increased as well.

Today ends here. His fatigue was mounting. Not only was his stamina reaching its limits, but his magic was nearly depleted as well.

This trial wasn’t going to be resolved in a day or two. Moreover, knowing when to stop and rest was crucial for finishing this long marathon.

Suhyun entered a cave he found nearby. As he went deeper, he saw light coming through the ceiling.

[You have entered a safe zone.]

[You are safe from attackers here.]

He discovered a safe zone, also known as a neutral zone, the first place he entered after fighting the Shayres. Various types of trials had different safe zones. Some trials didn’t have safe zones, though that was rare. Moreover, safe zones were treated as separate spaces, isolated from the experiments.

“Status.”

[Name: Kim Suhyun]

[Magic Power: 16] [Magic Level: 3]

[Strength: 32] [Agility: 31]

[Stamina: 30] [Reflex: 35]

[Fatigue: 79]

The rate of increase in the stats range was quite slow compared to the first floor, but Suhyun thought it was fast enough. As each stat increased, a tremendous difference was felt, and it became harder to raise them.

Being too ambitious wasn’t advisable. On the second floor, it seemed slow, but steadily increasing stats and magical power was important.

As expected, fatigue had accumulated… He needed rest right now. Fortunately, it was a trial without a time limit. Suhyun couldn’t focus on cleaning the floor anymore.

“It’s better to go back.” There was no reason not to rest here. Suhyun reached out his hand.

Rip!

Suhyun opened the door to reality once again.

It was late at night in reality. Suhyun hurried down the mountain and headed home. He was exhausted from fighting all day, but he wasn’t worried about Shin Soo-young.

11 PM. The library was about to close soon. When Suhyun turned on his phone, he saw several missed calls from Shin Soo-young.

She must have been quite worried. He had told her that he might stay at home at night just in case, but of course, that didn’t reduce her worries.

Click—

Upon arriving home, Suhyun unlocked the door. The living room light was on, but it was quiet.

“I’m home,” Suhyun said in a soft voice at the entrance. On the dining table, food was laid out, and there was Shin Soo-young, asleep. How long had she waited? Suhyun went over to shake her shoulder.

“…Mom. Go sleep in your room.”

“Hmm… Hmm… Son… Did you come back?” Shin Soo-young, rubbing her eyes, stretched her back and asked.

“Yes. Haven’t you eaten?”

“I got hungry and ate first. You should eat too.”

“Alright. Go ahead and sleep.”

“No. I still need to do the dishes and clean the floor…”

“I’ll take care of that. Hurry up.” Suhyun pushed Shin Soo-young towards her room. Although Suhyun was content with grains and dried food for satisfaction, he couldn’t ignore Shin Soo-young’s cooking.

After eating, he did the dishes. He also cleaned the floor and took a shower before returning to his room.

Whir—

The old computer made a loud noise as it turned on. It took quite a while to boot up.

Click—

Suhyun opened the internet browser and searched for ‘Abyss Online’. It was a leading site for awakened magicians, boasting over a million members. Of course, most of them were ordinary people. In fact, this site was meant to update the public with news related to awakened magicians, not just for the magicians themselves. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry was here.

Suhyun checked a few articles on the main page and smiled broadly. Just reading the headlines, he could tell whether the author was a real awakened magician or just bragging.

October 2018. Suhyun pulled out a notebook from the corner of his desk. He took a pen and wrote down today’s date.

What I need to change. What I shouldn’t change. What I need to achieve.

Complicated thoughts filled his mind. Over the past month, he hadn’t wasted his time hospitalized. During that time, he had been organizing plans for the future in his mind, trying hard not to forget what was to come. Fafnir was his ultimate goal.

The fourth floor is my target. Around this time in 2018, the appearance of awakened magicians hadn’t become a popular issue yet. Dungeons appeared and were swiftly dealt with by awakeners, with the collected resources treated as new energy and materials for societal advancement.

However, as time passed, the monsters inside the dungeons became too strong for awakeners to handle alone.

“Fortunately… it’s still manageable now.” The atmosphere on Abyss Online was lively. There were many humor-related posts, as well as posts about ranking awakeners. The forum even had rumors of celebrities awakening.

It was almost like entertainment.

So far, the appearance of dungeons and awakeners was just the beginning of a new topic in society.

The dungeon raids led by top-level awakeners were filmed and broadcasted, boasting dramatic viewership ratings. Their popularity rivaled that of celebrities and politicians. Abyss Online had become a platform where people could interact with their favorite awakeners, much like a fan club.

It was clear that dungeons hadn’t yet become a major societal issue. At least not yet.

One of the reasons Suhyun wanted to check Abyss Online was to gather information on recent events happening worldwide between dungeons and awakeners.

During this time, Suhyun had not awakened. Naturally, he was unaware of what was happening. If so, it was vague.

“Currently, there are no noticeable issues…” Suhyun sent a few links to his email. “But there still seem to be some problems left.”

There was no way to check now, but there were signs that something might happen. Reading tabloids and posts, he began to recall past memories. Among them were pieces of information he didn’t know. During that time…

[A god has appeared on the second floor of the Tower of Trials.]

A shiver ran down his spine. A new post appeared. With a dubious mind, Suhyun clicked on it.

Title: A God on the Second Floor

Content: 2,230 points LOL Is this even possible? What did he do to achieve that record on the second floor?

—No way, how did someone get 2,230 points on the second floor LOL

—How many points can you get on the first floor?

└ Probably around 940?

—No. You can check the rankings at the north square. The top spot is taken by the newcomer, Kim Suhyun.

The response was explosive.

Given this level of reaction, his face might even appear on the main page. The views had already reached ten thousand. And among the comments beneath the post…

—This is Kim Minsoo from the Blue Dragon Guild. Mr. Kim Suhyun, if you’re reading this, please contact us. We want you in the Blue Dragon…

—This is Yu Jungkyu from the Ares Guild. If you’re reading this posting, please…

Messages were left for him. The emergence of ‘Kim Suhyun’ on the second floor had attracted the attention of groups centered around awakeners. The community was buzzing, not just with curiosity but with offers and solicitations from various guilds. It was clear that Kim Suhyun’s unexpected achievement had made him a person of interest within the awakener community, marking a pivotal moment in his journey.