Chapter 35

Training

Because of magic, the penalty of weight became a lot easier to cope with . But that was only for a few days . The moment that he felt used to it,

‘It became heavier . ’

Sungmin bit his lips . Mush’s penalties were harsh and cruel . As he got used to it, it became worse and worse .

Sungmin walked . He used the strength magic . He added inner strength just to be able to move .

[It’s gotten worse . ]

Sogo came up as Sungmin was struggling to lift his spear . She put out her hand towards Sungmin . Sungmin’s spear came to her .

Sungmin’s weight didn’t count towards her . Sogo swung her spear a few times and shook her shoulders .

[You don’t have to swing your spear all day to practice spear techniques, can’t you use your bare hands?]

[But it’s better with the spear . ]

[You’re so stubborn on strange things . ]

Sogo laughed

[It’ll be harder to practice Shadowless . If I told you, I shouldn’t have taught you it . ]

[Wow . ]

[I’m kidding . Since it’s like this, I’ll give you some advice . ]

Sogo gave back the spear . When he got it, he almost dropped it because of the weight .

[The suffering of this mountain, if you think about it, helps you move towards your goal]

Sogo started to write .

[It’s the hardships to reach your goal that you keep in your mind . Do you understand?]

[ . . . I don’t understand . ]

[It’s simple . As you keep achieving your goal, you get more rewards . ]

[Rewards . That’s strange . ]

[It’s not like that all the time . That is… Mush is pretty fair . Suffering always gives rewards . For me, it’s the level of martial arts . ]

Sungmin tilted his head . Sogo kept writing .

[It’s like this . Let’s say you made your goal to reach the 2nd level of Shadowless . If you succeed that, you might get up to the 3rd level, not just the 2nd . ]

It was direct and easy to understand . Sungmin barely understood the mechanisms of the mountain .

Mush said that the mountain was a reward . That wasn’t wrong . The goal that he made for this mountain was to get stronger . As he achieved that, he achieved fast rates of growth .

Therefore, rewards were coming to him .

[I don’t know what you're goal is . You didn’t say . I don’t want to criticize you for making such a high goal . But there is this saying . A thousand miles starts with a step . ]

Sogo smiled .

[How about keeping your goal smaller?]

At that, Sungmin figured out something . He had Wijihoyun as a goal, and he was reckless to that goal .

‘A sparrow gets hurt trying to walk like a stork’

Sungmin smiled bitterly . It wasn’t a good feeling thinking that he was a sparrow . No, maybe he wasn’t .

He might be .

Name: Lee Sungmin

Job: No Class

Skill:

Bright ear .

[Sense brightens in the forest . Can hear small sounds . ]

Slaughterer

[Can easily dismantle corpses . ]

Murderer

[Experience with murder . ]

Quiet steps .

[Can quiet the footsteps . ]

Below the useless passive skills .

Amethyst Cloud(4)

High Heavens Sungmin(3)

Iron Skin(8)

Stone Body(8)

One Thunder(6)

Shadowless(1)

Haste

Strength

Fatigue recovery .

Mental cleansing .

His skills and magic showed up . The Iron Skin and Stone Body increased in power natural as inner strength grew . The Amethyst Cloud improved a bit, and so did the High Heavens .

But Shadowless was slow . It might be because of the penalty of weight .

‘The goal is Shadowless to the 2nd level . ’

Sungmin made a goal .

“I don’t understand . ”

Sogo stopped her steps . She sighed and looked towards the direction of the sound . Plam was sitting on top of a tree . Plam smiled brightly as he jumped off .

“Why do you care about that kid?”

Plam asked .

“He doesn’t have talent . He’s just a normal kid . Why do you care . You made him your pupil . ”

Instead of writing . Sogo mouthed something . Plam understood what she was trying to say .

“Don’t worry about it? Why? I can’t stand curiosity . You know me . ”

Sogo wrinkled her face . She moved her mouth and Plam shook his head .

“Oh is it that? The normal people are just trying to help each other?”

Sogo turned cold at that . Murderous intent covered Plam . He was shaken slightly at that but wasn’t afraid . Plam smiled and waved his hand .

“You’re mad because it’s true?”

Sogo didn’t say anything . She closed her mouth . Plam laughed at seeing the expression on Sogo’s face .

“It’s funny . A genius like me doesn’t understand that feeling . ”

Plam turned around and left . The skill that he showed on purpose while leaving was Shadowless, Sogo’s best skill . Sogo bit her lower lip . What that kid showed was nothing different from what Sogo could do .

She didn’t move from that spot for a while even after he left . She regretted showing off her malice and rubbed her neck . Normal people helping each other . That wasn’t false . Sogo wasn’t a genius to Plam .

‘You don’t know . ’

Effort . Plam didn’t know . He didn’t have to stay in this mountain . But he was, only to have fun with the mountain’s penalties .

Therefore, Plam wasn’t suffering anything . He was enjoying them and was using his genius talent to make fun of the other trainees .

Sogo wasn’t a genius .

She fell into despair when she first met Plam . There’s a person like that in the world . Compared to him, Sogo was nothing .

But now, she didn’t care . There was nothing that she could get out of being in despair . That’s why she stayed here . Scarlet, Bejun, all of them faced that .

And Sungmin .

That’s why Sogo taught Shadowless to Sungmin . To make him not fall into despair . To not be discouraged . To stand up and take up the penalties .

She wanted to help .

That was all .

She was that sort of person .

After a month, Sungmin reached the 2nd level of Shadowless .

‘No, the third level…’

Sungmin was surprised as he checked the status screen . His goal was to reach the 2nd level of Shadowless .

But what showed up was the 3rd level . Naturally, the 3rd level of Shadowless came up in his head . Like Sogo said, there was a reward .

“It’s suffering and hardships . ”

A voice came to him . Sungmin felt surprised as he turned around . Mush . Mush was shaking and laughing .

“But human . Don’t be too happy . If you can reach something easily, how is that hardship . Like the penalties, when you get used to it, the rewards get harder to reach . ”

Mush smiled and laughed . It was a small goal . He had gotten the reward . He was going to do this a lot, but Mush was saying that it wouldn’t work anymore .

[Why are you here?]

Sungmin wrote down . Mush was a God and could appear anytime . When he wanted Mush, she was there . She was a pretty sweet god .

“It’s time . ”

Mush smiled and said . He felt it then .

Half a year .

After half a year, a penalty is added . It was for everyone, Sogo, Scarlet, Bejun . Plam as well .

[I didn’t get used to my penalties yet . ]

“You wanted those . That’s not my concern . ”

Mush answered .

“If you want to stay longer, you need to get a penalty . That’s the rule . ”

Sungmin had 4 . Weight . Taste . Voice . Dreams . The ones other than voice were incredibly annoying .

‘The rewards get better as more penalties occur . ’

He understood that . With his lack of talent, he had already gotten up to a nice level of martial arts . He was probably at the first rate now . His body wasn’t strengthened yet, and it’s only been 2 years since he came here, but he had already surpassed his previous self .

Of course, it wasn’t all because of Sungmin’s efforts . Wijihoyun was there . Potions were there . Sogo was there . Also, without the mountain, Sungmin wouldn’t have learned this fast .

[Telepathy . ]

“You’re avoiding it . ”

Mush laughed at Sungmin’s answer . There was no choice . He had a few that he was thinking of but not yet . He couldn’t get another annoying one without getting used to his current penalties .

So he was avoiding this one .

“Well, that’s fine . You’re probably going crazy over the ones that you have . Haha . How long can you last”

Mush laughed and held out her hand .

“If you want, sell your soul to me . Then, I will give you rewards . Way more than what you’re trying to achieve . ”

Sungmin turned around without answering . The soul that bypassed the principle of life . Mush wanted that .

But Sungmin didn’t plan on giving up his soul to Mush .

At least, not yet .