The next morning.

Choi Hyun-seok set out with a pounding heart.

The long-awaited training was finally beginning.

‘Now I’ll grow rapidly like Ms. Abelson too, right?’

Since coming to Inessimot, he had suffered so much.

Choi Hyun-seok hunted like a madman for 24 hours straight without sleep.

In contrast, despite training relatively comfortably, Abelson’s combat power increase was tremendous, comparable to his own.

Her combat power had already reached nearly 160,000.

‘This doesn’t make any sense.’

No matter how he thought about it, this was unfair.

If he hadn’t leveled up tremendously while fighting Sara Dunphy’s undead horde, his combat power might have been overtaken.

That’s how fast Abelson’s growth rate was.

She must have put in her own efforts, but this growth rate was truly strange.

‘This is all because of older sister.’

There was one decisive difference between Abelson and Choi Hyun-seok.

Park Hyun-a’s educational guidance.

That must be where the secret to growth lies.

Now that he would also receive Park Hyun-a’s education, explosive growth was all that remained ahead.

“So. What do you want to learn?”

Park Hyun-a stood with one leg crossed, arms folded.

She looked up at Choi Hyun-seok with a skeptical gaze.

“Pardon?”

Choi Hyun-seok made a dumbfounded expression.

“Aren’t you going to train me?”

“I don’t really have anything to teach you.”

“What nonsense is that!”

Harsh words burst out before he could stop himself.

“What did you just say? Say it again.”

Park Hyun-a’s eyebrows twitched.

Although embarrassment crossed Choi Hyun-seok’s face as he realized his mistake, he couldn’t back down here.

He bit his lip and stepped forward.

“I saw with my own eyes how Ms. Abelson’s combat power increased exponentially while receiving your education.”

“And?”

“Please do the same for me!”

“Haa… This ignorant kid.”

Park Hyun-a sighed and shook her head.

“Are the residents of this world the same as us? You can never grow like Abelson.”

“What do you mean?”

“People here grow through enlightenment. They usually express it as ‘breaking through walls.'”

Park Hyun-a opened her status window.

“Heroes are different. We don’t have walls. We just level up and allocate stats to get stronger. That’s why I told you to hunt until you drop.”

“Hmm…”

He understood what she meant.

It seemed Abelson didn’t have a status window, and when her skills improved, it directly led to a combat power increase.

But Choi Hyun-seok couldn’t easily accept this.

“Is everyone’s growth naturally this fast?”

Even considering the different growth systems, the speed was too overwhelming.

If all residents of this world grew like Abelson, half the world would be heroes and legends.

Park Hyun-a resolved his doubts.

“Abelson is an exception. Her abilities were completely underdeveloped compared to her potential and talent. So I gave her some advice to help her break through walls quickly.”

“I don’t quite understand.”

“Simply put, rather than growth, she found her rightful place. It’ll be hard for her to grow as quickly as she has been from now on.”

“Ah… I understand.”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded with a disgruntled face.

“Then what do I learn? Quick leveling secrets? Growth tips?”

“Actually, I don’t have anything particular to teach you.”

“But older sister, aren’t you much stronger than me?”

“That’s just because I’ve lived longer.”

Park Hyun-a heaved a deep sigh.

“Think about it. What could I teach you? Magic? As I said before, it wouldn’t be efficient for you to learn it.”

“…”

“Combat? Honestly, it hurts my pride, but excluding physical specs, you and I are similar. You’re even better in some aspects.”

Choi Hyun-seok grinned at the mention of being better in combat.

“You mean I’m stronger in close combat?”

Park Hyun-a tilted her head 45 degrees.

“Want to die right now?”

She asked while raising her fist.

“…No ma’am.”

“Know your place.”

“Yes.”

After briefly summarizing the situation, Park Hyun-a continued.

“Anyway, what you need is basically to keep leveling up, not this kind of training.”

“Then why did you say that yesterday? All that about upgrading software and such…”

Choi Hyun-seok remembered clearly.

The day before, Park Hyun-a had said:

‘Let’s start properly tomorrow. Now that you’ve escaped your paper-thin body, it’s time to upgrade your software.’

After making it sound like she would teach him something amazing, her attitude changed completely the next day, so he couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

At those words, Park Hyun-a clapped her hands as if remembering something.

“Ah, I forgot. Actually, there is one thing you’re lacking that I can help with.”

“What is it?”

“Fighting techniques.”

“Fighting techniques?”

“Yes, fighting techniques. They’re all incomplete.”

“Well, none are complete except for Plomot.”

“Let’s finish those first. I happen to be an expert in that area.”

Raising the completion level of fighting techniques.

It was time to finish what had been postponed.

***

Sullivan Campbell Wallace.

A hero from America, she belongs to ‘Ultimoon Fes’, meaning ‘Last Hope’.

Recently, she’s been conducting physical examinations on Choi Hyun-seok once a week, and today was one of those days.

“Hmm…”

After removing her hands from Choi Hyun-seok’s body, she spoke with a sigh.

“I still can’t find anything unusual.”

“I see…”

“Don’t worry too much. It’s not like your condition is getting worse. There shouldn’t be any problems if you just maintain your current state.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Choi Hyun-seok bowed his head and stood up.

Sullivan, who had become his primary physician, watched him.

“Are you leaving right away?”

“How could I have time to rest? I need to save as many people as possible!”

“Oh my, Mr. Choi Hyun-seok is such a wonderful man.”

“Hahaha! It’s nothing! Just fulfilling my duty as a hero…”

Smack!

Suddenly, someone hit the back of Choi Hyun-seok’s head.

“Stop talking nonsense and come out. We’re busy.”

“Tch, I was just trying to look cool for once…”

Sullivan covered her mouth and laughed as she watched the grumbling Choi Hyun-seok.

Choi Hyun-seok followed Park Hyun-a out of the cabin.

Outside, Abelson and Bobo were waiting.

“Where are we going this time?”

“The Kingdom of Agros.”

“Agros? Where is that?”

“Right next to the Odria City-State Alliance where we first hunted undead.”

A month had already passed since they started hunting the undead.

The group normally trained in Inessimot but hunted undead whenever they had the chance.

Such opportunities for gaining experience weren’t common.

▫Level: 1053

Thanks to this, Choi Hyun-seok was able to gain many levels.

While in Inessimot, it was hard to gain even one level after hunting all day.

But when hunting the undead, he could gain several levels in a day, allowing for significant level growth.

“That lich we first met, Sara Dunphy was it? I hope we find more enemies that give lots of experience like her.”

“You’ll die that way. It’s already increasing crazy fast, so don’t be greedy.”

“I’m just disappointed. Just disappointed…”

One thing he realized while hunting undead was that Sara Dunphy was a very special case.

None of the undead they faced after her were as strong as Sara Dunphy.

They weren’t weak, but with Park Hyun-a’s help, they could be defeated without much trouble.

It was natural that the experience was less since they were relatively easier, but Choi Hyun-seok was disappointed.

‘If we could just meet enemies like that one more time, I could quickly reach level 1,100…’

As Choi Hyun-seok was muttering with mixed feelings of expectation and worry,

“Why are you mumbling? Let’s hurry.”

Park Hyun-a, who had already reached the spatial transfer gate, shouted.

Choi Hyun-seok, who had fallen behind, hurried to catch up.

“Coming! Coming!”

Hoping to encounter stronger enemies this time, Choi Hyun-seok entered the gate.

***

“Done cleaning up?”

Park Hyun-a approached while waving her hand.

Her clothes were torn in various places and stained with blood as if she’d been wounded.

“Yes. I’m done, but are you alright, older sister?”

“This much will heal if I just lick it.”

Park Hyun-a said with a shrug.

“Level?”

“Gained 7 levels, now at 1,060.”

“Oh, that’s quite a gain.”

He gained 7 levels from defeating the undead invading the Kingdom of Agros.

Although it was a considerable level increase for just one day, disappointment was still visible on Choi Hyun-seok’s face.

“It’s good, but a bit disappointing.”

“What is?”

“I wish I could gain levels more rapidly.”

“This kid’s talking nonsense again.”

Park Hyun-a clicked her tongue.

“Do you know how hard it is to level up? Usually, at your level, you should be thankful to gain just one level a week, you punk.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course! These naturally talented kids don’t know how good they have it.”

Although Park Hyun-a herself would be considered naturally talented by others, that’s beside the point.

The grass is always greener on the other side.

“Anyway. Let’s wrap this up. We need to go back and complete your fighting techniques.”

With the controlling entity defeated, all undead had disappeared.

There was nothing more to do here.

They needed to hurry back and continue their research as there was still much work left to complete the fighting techniques.

“Older sister. Aren’t we collecting payment?”

“Ah, I almost forgot.”

Park Hyun-a clapped her hands as if she had forgotten.

“Right. We should get paid before we leave.”

Currently, the group was near the Milfton territory in the Kingdom of Agros.

Park Hyun-a had made a deal with the lord of Milfton before clearing out the undead.

They agreed to receive two thousand gold for eliminating the undead.

Although two thousand gold was a burden even for the large territory of Milfton, the lord of Milfton readily agreed, probably thinking it was better than letting the territory be destroyed.

“Side jobs are really the best.”

After quickly cleaning themselves with magic, the group headed straight for Milfton city.

“Wait outside. I’ll get the money and come back.”

“Yes.”

The group waited outside while Park Hyun-a went to meet the lord as their representative.

The lord of Milfton, Osian Hugh Milfton, greeted her with open arms.

“Oh! You’ve already dealt with them!?”

“Yes. Well. It wasn’t particularly difficult.”

Park Hyun-a responded indifferently to the lord’s words.

She was radiating an aura that clearly said ‘Just hurry up and pay’.

But true to his noble status, the lord was quite the self-paced man.

“Amazing! Simply amazing! Reports said there were over 10,000 undead troops with multiple hero-level among them, yet just three of you cleared them in a day!”

“To be precise, five quasi-heroes, three heroes, one quasi-legend. The rest were about 9,000 fodder?”

“My… That’s remarkable.”

The lord seemed genuinely impressed.

He couldn’t help it.

This was a massive force that might have overwhelmed all of Milfton’s defenses even if they mobilized everything.

It seemed unbelievable that just three people handled such a force in a day without significant casualties.

“If you’re done confirming, I’d like to leave soon.”

“Ah! Where are my manners.”

The lord raised his hand.

“Hey! Why haven’t you brought the gold yet!”

At the lord’s words, servants appeared carrying bags containing 2,000 gold coins.

The weight alone was nearly 100kg, causing the servants to struggle as they moved the bags.

“Well, since you’re a great lord, I won’t check the amount.”

The lord of Milfton laughed heartily at Park Hyun-a’s words.

“I’ve put in more than the agreed 2,000, so no need to worry!”

A smile appeared on Park Hyun-a’s face at the lord’s words.

This man. As expected of a great lord, he was generous.

“Well then. Call us again if you have more work~”

Just as Park Hyun-a was about to turn and leave after storing the gold bags in her inventory,

“Wait a moment!”

The lord hurriedly stood up and ran over.

“Since we’ve met like this, why not rest here for today? I’ll provide the best hospitality.”

“Ah… That’s really not necessary.”

Park Hyun-a scratched her head with an unwilling expression.

She was openly showing her annoyance.

It wasn’t appropriate behavior in front of a great lord, but the lord of Milfton continued without showing any sign of offense.

“How can I let the heroes who saved Milfton leave like this? My face won’t be saved if you leave like this.”

Park Hyun-a heaved a deep sigh.

When he put it that way, there was no choice.

For the lord’s face if nothing else, they needed to stay at least a day.

“Haah, then I’ll accept your hospitality.”

“Stay as long as you like! Our territory’s chef is so skilled even the king praised him greatly, you won’t regret it! Haha!”

Unlike other arrogant nobles, he was a very cheerful and hearty man.

Suddenly, as if realizing something, the lord stepped back.

“Ah, look at me. I’ve kept warriors who just finished battle talking too much. Let me first show you to your rooms.”

The lord assigned a servant to Park Hyun-a.

As she came outside with the servant, waiting Choi Hyun-seok approached.

“Did everything go well?”

“Yeah… Got the money, and we’re staying here for a day.”

“Suddenly?”

Park Hyun-a leaned close to Choi Hyun-seok’s ear and whispered quietly.

“…The lord was so insistent. His intentions are obvious, but what can we do? We’ll play along and leave tomorrow morning.”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded as if understanding the situation.

The lord clearly wanted to bring them under his command.

This wasn’t their first time dealing with this, so the group was used to it by now.

“Since it’s come to this, let’s rest well. I heard their chef is supposedly really good.”

“Ooh, that sounds promising.”

Following the servant, the group crossed a well-maintained garden after leaving the magnificent mansion.

Regular guests usually stayed in the guest house, and since this was such a large mansion, the path to the guest house was quite long.

‘Someday I’ll live in a mansion like this too.’

The garden bathed in sunset was beautiful like a painting.

How wonderful would it be to live a sweet newlywed life with a noble lady in a mansion with such a garden?

Just as Choi Hyun-seok’s fantasies were endlessly expanding,

“Oh? I thought I felt a familiar presence, so it was you all?”

A husky female voice came from one side of the garden.

The group turned their heads in surprise.

Simultaneously, Park Hyun-a assumed a battle stance and gritted her teeth.

“You…!”

Inside the garden dyed red by sunset light.

“It’s been a while.”

Sara Dunphy, sitting leisurely at a table drinking tea, smiled.

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