A few days later.
The night was deep, and the campfire beneath the cliff crackled softly.
They had just finished another fight. Blood still stained their clothes as they took the rare chance to rest and tend their blades.
After nearly ten demon attacks, Natsuo's Wind Breathing was already brushing up against the Level 3 threshold.
And he still had plenty of achievement points left.
He decided it was time to push Wind Breathing up first.
Even if he wasted 30%, it did not matter.
Ignoring the spacey girl roasting fish across from him, Natsuo called up his panel.
System, it's time you saw what my hard work looks like.
Level up.
He dropped an achievement point into the Wind Breathing panel. It turned into a formless heat that drove the experience bar upward at a terrifying pace.
In a single instant.
Everything he had paid, every drop of sweat, condensed into real growth.
Wind Breathing LV.2 to LV.3
Competent to Well Practiced
Progress: 13/2000 (+325)
Power Level: 37 to 54
Body: 17 to 26
Skill: 9 to 15
Will: 11 to 13
Your mastery of sword forms has increased!
Unlocked Character Skill: Total Concentration
Total Concentration: Force massive amounts of oxygen into the lungs, instantly strengthening cardiopulmonary function, allowing the blood to carry an enormous surge of oxygen for a short time, unleashing physical ability beyond human limits
Oh?
Level 3 came with a new bonus skill?
He read it, and understanding clicked instantly.
This is basically a second gear.
A classic ability from that old hot blooded manga The Grand Voyage Empire. He got it immediately.
At the same time, he could guess the experience requirements for later levels.
Level 1 needed 500, Level 2 needed 1000, and now Level 3 needed 2000.
If the pattern held, the next would be 4000, 8000, 16000. Getting to Level 10 would take around five hundred thousand total experience.
And that was assuming every level reset the bar back to zero.
He scratched quick numbers in the dirt with a stick.
From Level 1 to Level 10, five hundred thousand experience.
With Wind Breathing's point conversion, that meant about sixteen hundred points.
And that was for Wind Breathing alone.
If he tried to train multiple skills, relying on daily practice, he would not finish before the test server shut down.
So in the end, everything still came back to spending.
He weighed the value.
Level 10 needed 1600 points. Level 9 needed 800. Level 8 only needed 400.
Who knew if this game had four hundred different life skills.
So the right path was learning a Breathing Style that suited him better.
Once the game reached later stages, every extra 10% compatibility would save him dozens of points.
If possible, he should also learn a few other Breathing Styles.
Spending a small number of points on them would still feed back a bit of stats.
Even a mosquito leg was meat.
As for this newly unlocked character skill, based on his years of gaming experience, more skills would definitely unlock as Wind Breathing leveled up.
He was genuinely curious what would come next.
While he was thinking, Seiko quietly handed him a grilled fish.
"Natsuo-kun, I don't really understand what you've been thinking about, but just now, you felt different. Um, stronger, I guess?"
After several days of fighting, Seiko had steadied her nerves a lot.
But she still had that timid, soft spoken aura.
"Is it because the real battles helped your Breathing and swordsmanship grow sharper?"
Natsuo did not deny it. "Yeah. The fighting and training these past few days helped me level up, I mean, break through."
This NPC's intuition was pretty sharp.
Could it be that raising a skill level triggered hidden dialogue?
"Hey, Natsuo-kun."
"Why did you join the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Seiko propped her cheek on her hand, tilting her head as she looked at him.
The firelight painted a faint blush over her young face.
"Me?"
"Probably to kill all demons. Or kill the strongest one."
He did not know what the main quest would do later, but action game stories were rarely complicated.
Natsuo bit into the fish and chewed.
It was not grilled well. Too charred, no seasoning, no marinating.
He should have cooked it himself. He could have trained Cooking too.
"Kill all demons?" Seiko's eyes flickered with shock, and she lowered her head a little, her voice turning complicated. "That's amazing. A swordsman with talent like yours, maybe you really can do it."
"What about you?" Natsuo asked casually as he felt his hunger meter slowly recover. "Why did you join the Demon Slayer Corps?"
"You looked so nervous before. Did you come in without preparing yourself?"
Seiko's expression dimmed.
"How could anyone be completely prepared?"
"But even if I wasn't, I still had to do something."
"Because my family, and my little sister, were killed by demons."
"I want revenge."
Hearing "little sister," Natsuo fell quiet for a moment.
He remembered his character background template. It was basically the same story.
A revenge build where the whole family was sacrificed.
Then he realized that was probably the most common story in the Demon Slayer Corps.
Survive a demon attack by luck, gamble your life on training, then charge at monsters with a human body.
Cliche, but it never stopped working.
Natsuo's gaze softened. For once, he did not skip the scene.
"Seiko, right? You'll do it."
"Revenge. Killing demons."
"Even if you can't, it's fine. Because there will be one wave after another of swordsmen who keep pushing toward that goal after you fall."
"And even if they all fail"
Natsuo smiled.
A smile full of confidence, the kind that made people believe him.
"I'll do it."
That was Natsuo the player, confident he could clear the game.
Seiko lifted her head in disbelief. She could not believe the absentminded boy who always looked distracted would say something like that.
Emotion surged in her chest. Warmth gathered at the corners of her eyes.
"Th-thank you for the encouragement, Na Natsuo-kun."
Natsuo laughed. "Before that, you've got to fight like your life depends on it. Your revenge is best taken by your own hands."
"With a human body, challenging the gods and monsters sitting high above."
"That's humanity's battle song, and an anthem of courage."
Seiko nodded firmly.
"I'll do it."
Natsuo answered brightly. "Then I'll be watching."
Seiko smiled too.
The doubt and hesitation she had carried for so long slowly faded away.
Natsuo-kun really is someone special.
The fire burned quietly, lighting two young faces.
Without thinking, she poked the coals with a stick. Sparks danced upward.
"Once we pass the selection," she said softly, "I want to eat a steaming hot bowl of udon."
"With two soft boiled eggs."
"Do you want to come with me?"
Natsuo imagined the taste of udon and shook his head without hesitation.
"No. Grilled meat."
If possible, he wanted to learn more cooking techniques too.
He had already noticed that the better his food tasted, the faster his Cooking skill climbed.
Seiko did not look disappointed at his refusal.
She covered her mouth with her fingers and giggled.
"Then we'll eat grilled meat first."
"If you're paying, I'll go."
"Okay."
Just as the warmth of the fire slowly drove off the chill, distant screams suddenly tore through the night. A demon's howl, and a swordsman's shout, blades clashing somewhere far away.
Both of them fell silent.
They gripped their swords, their eyes sharpening again.
Seiko brushed ash from her hem and stood. "Looks like break time is over."
Natsuo rose as well, loosening his shoulders and neck.
"Let's go. Time to farm experience."
Seiko did not understand the last part.
But she got what he meant. She nodded and followed.
"Don't forget our promise."
Natsuo replied, "If I forget, I'll treat you to udon."
Seiko smiled. "And two soft boiled eggs!"
(End of Chapter)
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