After a long time flying past the Laponia and AH areas which were still in the recovery phase, Steve landed and stepped back into the majestic headquarters of The Great Hunter.
Steve walked through the main lobby. He reached for his phone to ask Kregt something, "Kregt, where is the place to grind levels?"
"Oh, it's on the left side of the building. Is your level not maxed out yet?"
"Yeah, I haven't maxed it out. Thanks, Kregt." Steve hung up his phone and immediately headed to the special facility on the left wing of the building: The Mob Grinder Area.
The place looked like a giant factory with steel-plated glass rooms, where mid-level Hunters were busy slaughtering artificial monsters that kept appearing.
Steve approached the receptionist desk in front of the area.
"Excuse me," Steve greeted. "Can I level up quickly if I enter this mob grinder?"
The female officer on duty looked at Steve, then checked Steve's Guild ID card on her tablet. Her eyes instantly widened seeing Steve's physical test results that broke past normal limits this morning.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Steve... but for a Hunter with a destructive power level like yours, this standard Mob Grinder is completely useless, especially since these mobs are already dying from fall damage, which also cuts down their EXP," the officer replied, shaking her head slowly with an awkward smile.
"So what should I do? Is there anything faster?" Steve asked, frowning and letting out a long sigh. (Damn it, if it's like this, when will I be able to level up? I only have one day left!)
"Because the monsters spawned in these regular rooms are at most only equivalent to Rank B monsters. With your current stats, the world system won't even record the incoming EXP because the power difference is too vast. It's like you stepping on an ant; the system won't reward you. Besides... we're afraid you might end up destroying our precious facility with just a warm-up punch."
Seeing Steve's frustrated face, the officer glanced left and right, then leaned forward and lowered her voice.
"But... it just so happens that our Guild recently inaugurated the newest technology, a secret collaboration between Gens and several top scientists. It's called the Hyper-Simulation Room."
The officer pressed a few buttons, bringing up a hologram of an empty white cube-shaped room.
"Inside is an Infinite Mob Spawner. This room doesn't spawn physical monsters, but manipulates space and pure energy to create shadow monsters. The crazy thing about this room is... the monsters' strength will continuously evolve to match your maximum limit! The stronger you are, the more brutal the monsters become. And the EXP gained is 100% real and transferred directly into your body."
Steve's eyes immediately lit up. "Perfect! Open the door, I want to go in there right now."
"Wait a minute, Mr. Steve," the officer stopped him with a very serious expression, looking deeply into Steve's eyes. "You have to be careful. Very careful. This is not a regular game simulation."
"What do you mean?"
"The pain inside there feels one hundred percent real. If your stamina runs out, or if you are killed inside the simulation... your brain's nervous system could suffer a severe shock. You could end up in a coma, or worse, your brain could die from being unable to withstand the burden of the pain. Are you sure you want to take this crazy risk?"
Steve smirked faintly. He stretched his neck until it cracked, while a faint black aura began to emanate from his hands.
"Sounds like the right place. Turn on the system."
The female officer gulped, her trembling hand pressing the red access button on the control panel.
"A-alright. Good luck, Mr. Steve. If your heart rate reaches a critical limit, the system will automatically-"
"No need," Steve interrupted warmly while stepping inside past the thick steel door that hissed open. "Turn off the auto-stop feature. I don't need a safety."
The officer's eyes widened, but Steve's intimidating aura made her not dare to argue.
BLAM!
The steel door shut tightly behind him. Steve now stood alone in the middle of an endless white cube room. Silence. There was only a low humming sound from the simulation machine starting to heat up.
(Oi, Unknown,) Steve called out in his mind. (Are you ready? These aren't real monsters, but the pain will feel real.)
Unknown's voice could be heard snorting in his head. (Hmph. Human technology... crude, but quite creative. Use this chance to train your trashy killing instinct.)
[SYSTEM ALERT: HYPER-SIMULATION ACTIVATED]
[CURRENT USER: STEVE]
[LEVEL DETECTED: 10 (ERROR: STATS ANOMALY)]
[ADJUSTING DIFFICULTY...]
The white floor beneath Steve's feet suddenly turned pitch black. From the empty walls, shadows began to seep out, forming faceless humanoid silhouettes holding various types of weapons.
One, ten, fifty... in a matter of seconds, hundreds of Shadow Warriors had surrounded Steve. They made no sound, but their murderous intent felt suffocating.
Steve grinned widely. He stretched his right arm to the side, grabbing one of Unknown's weapons from the void.
"Scythe of The Void."
WHOOSH!
A giant scythe with a vibrating purple-black aura appeared in his grasp. A cold chill immediately enveloped the room.
(Oi idiot, that's not its name!)
(Shut up) Let's begin!!!
One of the shadows darted forward at the speed of sound, swinging a sword at Steve's neck.
CLAAANG!!
Steve casually parried it using the handle of the scythe. His eyes glinted sharply.
"Too slow."
SLASH!
With one swing, the shadow was split in two and exploded into blue data particles that were immediately absorbed into Steve's body.
[EXP GAINED: 500]
(Tch, only 500?) Steve clicked his tongue in annoyance. (This is going to take a long time if it's one by one. HEY SYSTEM!!)
Steve shouted at the ceiling of the simulation room.
"DON'T HOLD BACK! BRING OUT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! MULTIPLY THE AMOUNT! RAISE THE LEVEL TO MAXIMUM!"
As if answering that crazy challenge, the simulation room vibrated violently. The indicator lights changed from blue to blazing red.
[WARNING: USER REQUEST ACCEPTED]
[OVERDRIVE MODE: ON]
[SPAWN RATE: 6700%]
The ground shook. This time, it wasn't humanoid shadows that appeared.
From the floor rose five-meter-tall Shadow Beast monsters with sharp claws and deafening roars. There were thousands of them, crowding the room until there was no space to breathe.
Steve laughed. A laugh full of satisfaction. The Pure Darkness aura exploded from his body, merging with the scythe in his hand.
"Now... This will definitely be faster!"
Steve shot forward, disappearing into a black flash amidst the sea of monsters.
Steve advanced, slashing through all the monsters; EXP began to envelop his body, making his level rise drastically.
Clang! Clang! Slash! Hours passed; Steve continuously farmed without stopping. Even though he felt exhausted, he kept pushing his body, while also being aided by his skill that made him much stronger as time went on.
Level 20... 30... 40... 50... 80... 100 MAX.
Finally, after a whole day, Steve managed to max out his level.
The female officer woke up from her sleep and immediately pressed the button to open the simulation room.
Steve slowly walked out, exhausted with blackened eye bags. He didn't have the strength to keep his eyes open anymore and fell asleep.
"Mr. Steve!!" The female officer panicked, immediately catching Steve in her lap and calling other officers to carry Steve to his room.