The sound of clashing swords echoed through the clearing like metalic thunder.
"You're letting your guard down too much!" Lianne shouted, spinning with precision and delivering a horizontal slash with her short blade.
Yuto scrambled back, his face drenched in sweat.
"I'm trying not to die here, damn it!"
"Then try harder!" She advanced, her eyes shining, merciless like a sadistic teacher.
Ever since the system imposed that suicide mission, the two of them had been training like convicts.
They hunted low level creatures together: kobolds, wandering goblins, even a pack of tiny, explosive slimes that nearly turned Yuto into mush. At night, they shared the campfire, cleaned their wounds, and planned the next day.
But there was a problem.
A damn problem.
**The level wasn't rising.**
Even with all that killing, even with the sweat and blood he'd shed, Yuto had only reached **level 4**.
"This is wrong..." he muttered, staring at the system screen while panting, his body covered in cuts and bruises.
Lianne approached with a canteen. He drank without thinking, almost choking.
"Are you sure the system works like this? Shouldn't it level up faster?"
"It should." he replied, frowning. "But something's blocking the progress..."
He ran his finger over the transparent interface floating before him, something that still made him uneasy. It was like touching something that wasn't there.
**[Main Menu]**
**[Status] | [Skills] | [Inventory] | [Quests] | [Training System]**
"Wait..."
He blinked.
**[Training System]**
It was a tab he'd never explored. Upon selecting it, a new window opened with distorted noises.
**[Training Complete - Level 10: Forbidden Zone Survival]**
A shiver ran down his spine.
It was the dungeon where he was *born* into this world.
The dungeon where he bit a deformed goblin and screamed in pain until death seemed like mercy.
**[Next Availeble Training - Level 15: Heart of Twisted Flesh]**
The name of the new dungeon glowed red like congealed blood
Lianne, reading over his shoulder, paled.
"That dungeon... it was level 10..." His voice trembled. "And you almost died. almost eaten alive. Now you want to enter a level 15?"
Yuto fell silent.
"I have no choice."
"But you're still level 4. You might die before you even enter!"
He turned away, frustrated.
"You think I don't know? But this system... it's not just for status. It's guiding this process. This Training tab... maybe it's the only way to level up fast enough. The only way to prepare myself."
Lianne bit her lower lip.
"What if it's a trap?"
"Everything here is a trap."
Silence fell between them like a sentence.
Lianne sat down on the grass, hugging her knees.
"I just... I don't want to see you die again."
Yuto felt his chest tighten. It was strange. There was something about this girl that made him hesitate, that made his inner voices scream softer. Maybe it was just the fear of being alone. Maybe it was more.
He knelt before her.
"I promise... I'll be back."
She looked away.
"Crazy promises are worthless."
He chuckled lightly.
"I've always been crazy. Now I'm crazy with a stupid system in my head."
The screen still floated before him.
**[Do you wish to begin training "Heart of Twisted Flesh"?]**
**[Requirements: None]**
**[Risk of Death: High]**
**[Reward: Accelerated EXP growth and passive survival skills]**
He clenched his fists
Time was ticking
The Shadow Knight wasn't going to wait.
And his body still ached with the memories of the first dungeon.
But he knew... there was no other way out.
There wass nowhere to run.
Hell was calling him again.
And he would answer.