The training continued.
And continued.
And continued.
At first, Do-Yoon thought combat training would be simple.
Maybe a few punches.
A few movements.
Some cool skill practice.
That was what he imagined.
Reality was completely different.
"AGAIN."
Mrantor's cold voice echoed across the training ground.
Do-Yoon almost collapsed.
"…How many times is 'again' gonna happen…"
Sweat covered his entire body. His breathing had already become messy long ago. His legs felt heavy, and his arms were shaking slightly from exhaustion.
Meanwhile—
Min-Jae looked even worse.
He was lying face-first on the ground dramatically.
"…I can see my ancestors…"
Mrantor looked at him calmly.
"Stand up."
"I physically cannot."
"Stand."
Min-Jae slowly lifted one trembling hand toward the sky.
"…Tell my future wife I fought bravely…"
Mrantor kicked his leg lightly.
"Stop acting."
"OW!"
Min-Jae immediately stood up again.
Do-Yoon stared blankly.
"…You recovered too fast."
Mrantor crossed his arms.
"Your bodies are weak."
Emotional damage again.
Do-Yoon already got used to it slightly.
Not fully.
But slightly.
The entire day had been pure suffering.
Mrantor forced them to practice movements repeatedly.
Dodging.
Balance.
Reaction speed.
Combat posture.
Skill timing.
Everything.
Every mistake got punished immediately.
If Do-Yoon attacked too slowly—
Mrantor threw him onto the ground.
If Min-Jae got distracted—
Mrantor punched him into another dimension.
At one point, Min-Jae even shouted:
"BRO THIS IS ATTEMPTED MURDER!"
Mrantor calmly replied:
"No. This is education."
That somehow scared both of them even more.
Hours passed like that.
The sun slowly started going down.
Orange light covered the academy grounds.
Students nearby had already left one by one.
But Mrantor still looked perfectly fine.
Meanwhile—
Do-Yoon and Min-Jae looked like survivors of a natural disaster.
Do-Yoon breathed heavily while sitting on the ground.
"…I can't feel my legs."
Min-Jae nodded seriously.
"…I can't feel my soul."
Mrantor stood before them calmly.
Not even sweating.
Not breathing heavily.
Nothing.
He looked completely normal.
Actually—
He somehow looked more energetic than before.
Mrantor stretched his shoulders slightly.
"…That was refreshing."
Silence.
Both Do-Yoon and Min-Jae slowly looked up at him.
"…Refreshing?" Do-Yoon repeated weakly.
Mrantor nodded once.
"A decent warm-up."
Complete silence.
The world itself felt silent for a moment.
Min-Jae blinked slowly.
"…Warm-up?"
Do-Yoon stared blankly.
"…THIS was a warm-up?"
Mrantor looked confused.
"Yes."
Min-Jae grabbed his own chest dramatically.
"…I almost met God three times."
Mrantor ignored him completely.
Do-Yoon suddenly realized something terrifying.
If this was only a warm-up for a Broken—
Then how strong were the real monsters in this world?
That thought alone made him nervous.
The sun continued setting slowly.
The training ground became darker little by little.
Finally—
Mrantor looked toward both of them.
"That is enough for today."
The moment they heard those words—
Both instantly became emotional.
"…Freedom…"
Mrantor continued calmly.
"Return to your rooms and rest."
Min-Jae almost cried.
"YOU FINALLY SAID SOMETHING NICE."
Mrantor turned around immediately.
"Tomorrow will be worse."
"…Never mind."
Do-Yoon and Min-Jae immediately grabbed their things and prepared to leave before Mrantor changed his mind.
As they walked away—
Both looked completely exhausted.
Their clothes were messy.
Their hair looked destroyed.
And their bodies hurt everywhere.
Min-Jae walked beside Do-Yoon dramatically.
"…Bro."
"…Yeah?"
"If training continues like this…"
"…Yeah?"
"…We're cooked."
Do-Yoon nodded slowly.
"…Definitely."
Still—
Despite all the pain—
Both felt strangely excited too.
They were becoming stronger.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
But still stronger.
And somehow—
That feeling felt nice.
Eventually, the hallway split into different directions.
Both stopped walking.
Min-Jae pointed left.
"My room is there."
Do-Yoon pointed another direction.
"…Mine's probably somewhere in another universe."
Min-Jae laughed slightly.
"Good luck surviving."
"You too."
Then both awkwardly raised their hands.
"Bye, bro."
"Bye."
And just like that—
They separated.
Ten minutes later—
Do-Yoon was lost.
Completely lost.
"…Why does every hallway look the same?!"
The academy hallways were gigantic and confusing. Every floor looked identical. Every staircase somehow led to another staircase.
At one point—
Do-Yoon accidentally entered the wrong residential section and got chased away by an angry student.
"…SORRY!"
Another thirty minutes passed.
Then another thirty.
At this point, Do-Yoon looked spiritually broken.
"My room doesn't exist."
He checked his room key again.
"3187."
Then looked around the hallway.
"…This academy was built by evil people."
Finally—
After struggling for what felt like centuries—
He found his room.
The moment he opened the door—
He almost cried from happiness.
"…Home."
Do-Yoon entered slowly and closed the door behind him.
The room felt peaceful again.
Quiet.
Comfortable.
Safe.
He immediately turned on the lights.
And then—
He froze.
"…Huh?"
Something sat on his bed.
A stone.
Do-Yoon blinked several times.
"…What is that?"
Slowly, he walked closer.
The stone was small enough to fit in his hand. Strange glowing lines moved across its surface faintly.
It looked unnatural.
Almost magical.
Do-Yoon carefully picked it up.
"…Did somebody leave this here?"
The stone felt warm.
That instantly made him suspicious.
"…Okay that's definitely weird."
Then suddenly—
He remembered his system.
"Oh right."
Do-Yoon quickly opened his system window.
Or at least—
Tried to.
The moment the screen appeared—
The glitches returned immediately.
[SYS—ERRO—] [WARN—WARN—]
The entire screen flickered violently.
"…Not again."
Do-Yoon looked nervous immediately.
Still—
He forced himself to focus.
Slowly, distorted information appeared beside the stone.
The text kept glitching constantly, making it extremely hard to read.
"…Why does my system act like an old computer…"
Do-Yoon squinted his eyes carefully.
After struggling for several minutes—
He finally understood the information.
[Skill Stone]
His eyes widened slightly.
"…Skill Stone?"
The description slowly appeared.
Skill Stones contained skills inside them.
If the stone was broken—
The skill inside would automatically become owned by the user.
Do-Yoon immediately became interested.
"…Wait."
"So this thing can give me another skill?"
His eyes sparkled slightly.
But another thought appeared too.
"…How did this thing even get here?"
Nobody entered the room.
Nobody left anything.
The stone simply appeared.
That honestly felt suspicious.
Very suspicious.
But after thinking for a few seconds—
Do-Yoon shrugged.
"…Free skill is free skill."
His priorities were very simple.
Without wasting another second—
He tried breaking the stone.
And immediately failed.
"…Ow."
Do-Yoon shook his hurting hand.
"The heck is this thing made of?"
He tried squeezing it harder.
Nothing.
Tried smashing it against the table lightly.
Still nothing.
"…Why is a rock stronger than me?"
Do-Yoon became stubborn.
He grabbed the stone with both hands now.
"…Break."
Nothing happened.
"…BREAK."
Still nothing.
After several failed attempts—
Do-Yoon finally became serious.
"Okay."
He cracked his fingers dramatically.
"This is personal now."
He gathered all his strength.
Every bit of energy left after today's training.
Then—
CRACK.
The stone finally broke apart.
A red light burst out instantly.
Do-Yoon stepped backward in shock.
"…WOAH!"
The light entered directly into his body.
And suddenly—
His system appeared automatically.
Still glitching.
But working somehow.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED]
The text flickered heavily.
Do-Yoon tried reading carefully.
"…M…man…"
The glitches distorted everything repeatedly.
"…Manupu…"
"…Manipu…"
"…WHY ARE YOU SO BROKEN?!"
After struggling for almost another hour—
He finally understood the full information.
Manipulators Hand
Do-Yoon blinked slowly.
"…That sounds cool."
He immediately started reading the description carefully.
The skill allowed the user to manipulate objects through levitation.
And if the skill level increased—
The user could reshape objects into different forms.
Weapons.
Tools.
Shapes.
Anything.
A sword.
A katana.
Even random objects.
But—
The material itself would stay the same.
Iron remained iron.
Wood remained wood.
Stone remained stone.
Do-Yoon's eyes widened slowly.
"…Wait."
"This skill is actually useful."
Then he reached the rank.
Common
Silence.
"…Of course."
Do-Yoon sighed dramatically.
"Why is my luck permanently average?"
Still—
The skill sounded fun.
Very fun.
So naturally—
He wanted to try it immediately.
Do-Yoon looked around the room.
Then locked onto his chair.
"…Perfect."
He activated the skill carefully.
At first—
Nothing happened.
Then slowly—
The chair started shaking.
Do-Yoon's eyes widened.
"…WAIT."
The chair slowly floated upward.
"…IT WORKED!"
Do-Yoon instantly became excited.
"I HAVE POWERS!"
The chair floated awkwardly in the air.
Very unstably.
But still floating.
Do-Yoon looked amazed.
"This is insane."
He tried moving it slightly left.
The chair moved left.
Then right.
The chair moved right.
"…THIS IS SO COOL."
For the first time since arriving here—
Do-Yoon genuinely felt like a real fantasy protagonist.
Then suddenly—
A strange light flashed outside the balcony.
"…Huh?"
Do-Yoon got distracted instantly.
His concentration broke.
And immediately—
The floating chair dropped directly onto him.
BAM.
"GAH!"
Do-Yoon collapsed onto the floor painfully.
"…Why does life hate me…"
The chair rolled beside him innocently.
After surviving the attack—
Do-Yoon slowly stood up while holding his head painfully.
"…That actually hurt."
Then his eyes moved toward the balcony again.
The strange light was still there.
Glowing softly outside.
Do-Yoon frowned slightly.
"…What is that?"
Slowly—
He walked toward the balcony.
Opened the door.
And stepped outside.
The cold night wind touched his face softly.
Then—
Do-Yoon looked down.
And what he saw—
Made his eyes widen completely.
"…What…?"