The intense scuffle with the second iteration had finally ended.
What a grueling ordeal.
My entire body still tingled with the aftermath. I’d been slashed, stabbed, battered, exploded, and torn apart—it was an exhausting experience.
Things became even harder when my mental strength was depleted, causing my Authority to shut down.
When the Authority of Space failed, retrieving weapons from the subspace became impossible, and I couldn’t use gravitational or repulsive forces.
Moreover, I couldn’t seal off the second iteration’s inventory, allowing it to pull out an endless arsenal of weapons to torment me.
Though I carried a considerable number of weapons myself, the second iteration’s inventory seemed limitless.
At one point, it wielded two curved swords of differing lengths, toying with me from a distance and slicing me apart. At another, it swung something resembling a meteor hammer, pummeling me relentlessly from all directions.
There were claws, karambits, saber-like blades, a spear bristling with countless sharp edges, a spiked mace...
I had trained with my mentor and handled many weapons, but the sheer variety wielded by the second iteration was in a league of its own.
Even raiding an enormous armory or a weapon museum wouldn’t yield as many items as it had.
Eventually, my Authority of Observation also failed, limiting my ability to gather information.
From that point on, responding to the second iteration’s movements became exponentially more difficult.
I tried to make up for it using Echo Positioning, which I had diligently trained for such situations.
While not as effective as observation, it allowed me to keep up with the battle to some degree.
But it still fell short, and I ended up getting completely wrecked.
[Please comfort me more...]
In short, I was mentally drained.
And so, I craved emotional comfort. That simple logic led me to cling desperately to my mentor, seeking affection in real-time.
"Goodness... Not a single day passes without some kind of trouble."
[Ehehe...]
"That wasn’t a compliment..."
My mentor muttered with a tone of exasperation.
It was an unfair remark.
It wasn’t as though I deliberately sought out trouble—others just kept dragging me into their messes.
Shaking my head in frustration, I rubbed my face against the soft comfort of her embrace. The steady rhythm of her heartbeat gradually eased my tension.
After flailing for a bit, I eventually calmed down and relaxed completely.
"Hmph..."
Though my mentor let out a sigh and a wry smile, she couldn’t help but gently stroke my head.
[This is nice...]
Grinning lazily, I clung to her even tighter.
Before I knew it, I was back at my mentor’s residence, lying side by side on the bed as we rested.
When I first emerged from the Tower of Growth, my mind was in chaos, but I vaguely caught snippets of conversation.
Apparently, today was the fourth day of the Tower Entry schedule. Everyone was bewildered by my early exit.
Concerned about my poor condition, my mentor had left midway to bring me back to her home.
I wanted to see Seo Yul right away, but my current state made that impossible.
As her guardian, I wanted to show her a dependable side of me.
...Though, admittedly, that ship had sailed.
I’d already shown Seo Yul plenty of pitiful moments.
Even though I was supposed to be her protector, I couldn’t help but worry that my image had sunk to rock bottom.
Of course, kindhearted Seo Yul still followed my words obediently...
...In any case, for now, I was recovering my mental strength, lying beside my mentor on the bed.
"I’ll take care of Hayul. You stay here."
"Huh? Why me? I want to go too..."
"You’re the Spring Division head. Plenty of cadets haven’t exited the Tower yet. What happens if the supervising professor leaves in the middle of it?"
"...Why do you only make sense at times like this..."
My mentor was in charge of special admissions. She had only been at the first-year meeting because I was a first-year cadet.
Once I exited the Tower, there was no reason for her to stay.
Riana, on the other hand, was the Spring Division head and couldn’t abandon her remaining cadets just because I had emerged early.
And so, Riana stayed behind, her reluctance evident.
"Was I forcibly ejected?"
The Tower of Growth had basic safety mechanisms in place.
For instance, it would eject cadets if it deemed them in danger. Additionally, it minimized pain to protect their mental well-being...
"Yeah, right. That didn’t apply to me at all."
I grimaced at the thought.
I could still vividly recall the shock of having my throat slashed for the first time.
"Why is the second iteration here? Why is a game character alive and moving? Oh, my neck’s cut... Why does it hurt? It hurts so damn much..."
At the time, I’d been too preoccupied to dwell on it, but now that I reflected on it calmly, it was absurd.
"I need answers."
If the principal was unavailable, I’d track down the vice principal and demand an explanation.
Most of all, I needed answers about the second iteration.
The character I had nicknamed The Dual Ghost.
Its official system title was the grandiose Asura of Conflict.
There was no doubt that I had fought the second iteration.
The artifacts it wore, the techniques it used, and above all, its expansion abilities like Path of Asura and One Face, Six Arms left no room for argument.
"What the hell is going on?"
This wasn’t just encountering a character from a game.
It was facing a character I had created, moving and attacking me.
The elegance of its movements, its mastery of weapons and combat techniques, and its unparalleled tactical prowess overwhelmed even my Authority of Observation.
Its seamless transitions between aura manifestation and dispelling, its control over body acceleration and deceleration, and its versatile use of aura went far beyond mere pre-programmed skills.
It was infused with experience—something profound and beyond comprehension.
For a character I had simply designed and played, it was unimaginable.
Above all...
"Sorry for tormenting you. You did well."
Just before exiting the Tower, as I lay defeated, that metallic, haunting voice had whispered in my ear.
Despite its eerie, scraping tone, the voice was laden with complex emotions, and I could still hear it vividly.
‘.......’
My head throbbed. A sharp pain rang through my skull.
"What’s bothering you so much now, that you’re scowling like that?"
Noticing my expression, my mentor pressed her fingers against my furrowed brow, smoothing it out.
"You’ll ruin your pretty face if you keep frowning like that. Stop making such grimaces."
[Eeehh...]
[It feels good.]
[Relief.]
[Massage, please.]
My furrowed brow relaxed on its own. My mentor chuckled softly and began kneading various parts of my face, loosening my tense muscles.
As I wiggled in satisfaction, my necklace clicked and let out a faint sound.
‘Did the sound just change...? Never mind, it’s functioning normally.’
I noted the oddity but shelved it alongside my thoughts about the second iteration.
[I worked really hard.]
[Deserve a reward.]
[Requesting more pats.]
"I don’t need a reason to pat you, darling. But more importantly, I’d like to hear how my disciple endured all that hardship. Could you tell me?"
After some time had passed, my mentor’s gentle voice broke the silence, signaling that she thought I had recovered enough to recount my experience.
‘...What happened in the Tower?’
I paused for a moment, lost in thought.
Naturally, I couldn’t explain it.
How could I, when I didn’t understand this phenomenon myself? I knew next to nothing about it.
Or maybe that was just an excuse.
The truth was, I was afraid. Afraid of saying too much and facing rejection or criticism.
‘Hmm...’
I subtly checked my condition.
My mental strength had recovered significantly. Normally, I would have spent several days blind, unable to use my Authority of Observation, but thanks to the Tower of Growth, I was now able to use it again.
[I’ll show you directly.]
After some deliberation, I decided to show my mentor the results of this Tower Entry.
Atra stood across from me in the training field, watching with a complicated expression.
‘Show me directly... What could he have gained?’
When I first suggested it, she had been hesitant, worried I might collapse after spitting up blood.
But despite her protests, I insisted I was fine now and convinced her to come to the training field.
Initially, she was against it. The idea of me, who had been barely able to stand not long ago, proposing a sparring session was far from reassuring.
But my earnest persuasion—and insistence that I was fully recovered—eventually won her over.
Physically, I was fine—there wasn’t a scratch on me. And mentally... Had that recovered too? Normally, I’d still be clinging to her and whining all day.
Perhaps the Tower had accelerated my mental recovery as well.
Atra felt both relieved and oddly disappointed by the thought.
[Then, I’ll begin.]
"Alright."
I signaled the start.
‘Whatever it is, I need to see it for myself.’
Atra cleared her thoughts and sharpened her focus.
She didn’t take it lightly.
She was well aware of my explosive growth, demonstrated time and time again.
At this point, I could easily overwhelm a high-level hero.
Even with just basic aura manipulation and reinforcement, I was formidable.
Add magic, spirit arts, and my absurd unique ability of mimicry, and my arsenal was virtually limitless.
After all, I was the hero who had slain the Two-Headed Venom Dragon, a downgraded fourth-rank entity.
Fourth rank.
An alpha-grade entity in a Tier-2 dungeon, a level that typically required a top-tier hero for solo subjugation—if they were lucky enough to survive the numerous variables involved.
While the Venom Dragon had been downgraded due to various circumstances, it was still originally a third-rank entity.
Even considering that this was just a spar, where I wouldn’t use all my abilities, my capabilities were daunting.
Atra adjusted her stance accordingly.
- Snap!
Before she could react, I appeared like a ghost beside her and grabbed her wrist.
‘......!?’
Atra’s eyes widened in shock.
My form blurred as if shrouded in mist, and I suddenly appeared at her side.
She reacted instinctively.
Pulling back her body reflexively, she extended her hand with force, her Aura Reinforcement activating unconsciously to enhance her movement.
But her outstretched hand was effortlessly caught.
It was as if a thick fog enveloped her, obscuring her perception, before my hand darted out like lightning to seize her wrist.
‘What is this...!?’
My movements defied physical laws, exhibiting extraordinary techniques.
Even just observing them conveyed a vivid mental image of their intent.
‘An expansion ability...!’
It was a skill-based expansion ability.
Not just clumsily executed—it was masterfully handled, to the point of deceiving even Atra’s finely-honed senses.
The true strength of skill-based abilities lies in their expansion capabilities.
Particularly in one-on-one combat, such abilities are incredibly troublesome to deal with.
Even Atra, who possessed her own skill-based unique ability and had achieved some mastery over her expansions, found herself at a disadvantage.
‘Too late—’
She hesitated.
She wasn’t confident enough to use her uncoordinated expansion abilities in this situation. That moment of hesitation cost her.
Her body spun, her vision rapidly shifting.
- Slam!
The horizon turned to dusk-streaked skies as her back hit the ground.
“......”
Dust briefly rose and settled around them.
Her accelerated thoughts gradually returned to normal as her mind caught up with the events.
Though it felt like an eternity of astonishment and contemplation, only a moment had passed.
[How was that?]
The mechanical voice from my necklace broke the silence.
Atra’s lips moved as if to respond, but no sound came out.
Instead of the horizon, her vision was filled with my face.
I had thrown her to the ground and was now straddling her.
A satisfied smile graced my lips, my cheeks flushed with a sense of achievement.
Even the usually cold, emotionless tone of the necklace seemed to carry a hint of pride.
She wasn’t hurt. For someone like Atra, this level of impact was nothing.
"Uh... Uh..."
But mentally, she was stunned.
More precisely, she was utterly confused and overwhelmed.
‘Just now... No, even now.’
The sparring session had barely begun, and she’d already been thrown down.
That was it.
[I’ve grown a lot, haven’t I?]
"Uh... Uh...?"
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The necklace’s voice pulled Atra out of her daze.
Blinking, she quickly assessed her situation.
Both of her wrists were pinned above her head, firmly held in my grip.
Straddling her, I pressed her down with an innocent grin.
[See? Even though you were caught off guard, I won!]
Unable to contain my excitement, I swayed slightly forward and back, my body radiating enthusiasm.
"Hik...!"
Atra flinched as she felt a subtle, awkward sensation against her chest.
To restrain her hands, I had positioned myself higher up, causing my hip bones to press against an inappropriate spot.
The position was, in many ways, incredibly embarrassing.
A sensation she had never experienced before elicited a strange, involuntary sound from her lips.
Realizing what she had just done, Atra’s eyes widened, her hands instinctively moving to cover her mouth—
- Squeeze.
But she couldn’t.
Her hands were still firmly pinned by mine.
"Uh, uh, wait, no, hold on—"
Atra’s face flushed a deep crimson, standing out even against the sunset’s glow.
Her pupils quivered as if an earthquake were shaking them.
[Player Assistance System: Status Log]
▶ Emotional State
"Satisfaction": Pleased with achieving results.
"Anticipation": Eager for praise.
"Excitement": Overcome with emotion.
...
"? Uncertainty": Unknown fluctuations detected.