Chapter 18

Tutorial 2nd Floor, Waiting Room (Part 2)

[1st attempt, day 29 . 17:15]

[Time left until end of 1st attempt: 30 hours 45 minutes]

Now, let’s think .

What are the pros and cons of attempting the 2nd floor with the leftover time?

Well, the pros are obvious…

Even if I don’t clear the 2nd floor before the 2nd attempt started, I would still gain knowledge of the 2nd floor .

Moreover, there could be extra bonuses for entering the 2nd floor .

On the other side, let’s think about the cons .

The cons were also quite obvious .

Firstly, the danger of entering the 2nd floor .

It was the uncertainty of the challenge on the 2nd floor .

It was too vague .

The bonuses I might gain from entering the 2nd floor or even what kind of dangers lay ahead .

The only thing I learned about it from Kirikiri was one key word, ‘Status Ailment’

Let’s think calmly .

There had been no information about extra bonuses from clearing the 2nd floor .

Only the assumption that there may be .

I could easily learn about the dangers that might await me if I rush into the 2nd floor .

It could be just dangerous enough to kill me . No more, no less .

Although there was no information, I didn’t even need to think about this one . It was a given .

The fact that I could gain knowledge about the 2nd floor wasn’t too appealing to me .

If the attempts reset, there was no certainty that the patterns of the traps would stay that way .

Plus, there was only so much ground that I would be able to cover right now . The rest would only be possible to learn when the 2nd attempt began .

Being up to date with information is always a strong weapon, however I have no competitors to have a race with .

This tutorial was something like a solo marathon for me .

It was important to make sure I managed my pace and went steadily .

If the amount of info I could gain while attempting the 2nd floor lessens, then naturally my approach will become inefficient .

If I were to push my attempt of the 2nd floor to when the 2nd attempt began, I would be able to use my remaining time to learn about other things .

There was only so much that my body could do, it’s slowly reaching its limits for a human being .

But still, it was impressive to say that this superhuman body was achieved in a short time of one month .

There were still areas where I could improve .

I still wasn’t able to judge what this new enhanced body was capable of .

After all, my mind was still used to the poor body I’ve had for the past 20 years of my normal pathetic life .

I had to deeply think about what kind of power I could show with this body and how to use it .

Ok then, let’s push the 2nd floor challenge until the 2nd attempt began .

So, should I just start training again?

It felt like I’ve went back to the beginning, before the 1st attempt began .

Well of course, the difference here was that I was the only person in this 2nd floor waiting room .

Out of the blue, the people from the 1st floor waiting room popped into my head .

Choi Min Sik, Cho Kyeong Min, Park Su Ah .

They were all nice people .

Even I, a person who lacked social skills was able to become friends with them in only 3 days .

I wonder what it would have been like if I met them normally outside of this world?

The thought not being able to see those people again saddened me .

As I began to picture the three of them, miserable thoughts flooded my mind .

No, I couldn’t to be like this .

I knew too well that dwelling on misery with a depressed and negative mindset would only hinder the body’s concentration and how badly that could turn out to be .

I forced myself to not think of them .

It was because I was lying on this comfortable bed that I was thinking of such fragile thoughts .

I stood up immediately and moved around .

With deep breaths I steadied my breathing .

With many hours of stretching, I deeply observed how much my body had changed with multiple exercises like running, high jump, long jump, push ups, burpees, throwing punches and kicks .

Since I had no knowledge of training my fitness, I just repeated simple movements to compare my current self with my past .

As predicted, the results were unbelievable .

Even those considered superhuman in American football can’t compare to what I have achieved with my body .

It revealed so much potential and it was performing above and beyond expectations against what I could see from just the change in my muscle mass and my build in general .

It felt like I could get a gold medal in any sport in the Olympics with this superior body .

This power and speed was definitely at the limits of any human .

It was unbelievable this power was mine . I guess this is how it felt like wearing Iron Man’s suit and whizzing around in it .

But what was more was that it wasn’t just the power and dexterity .

This body had its own quality .

Easily said, a ‘genius’ quality .

Abilities that people would not be able to obtain through logical training .

Only a few are born with this ability, and these people are called ‘gifted’ .

Reflexes beyond human logic .

Flexibility which allows the body to fly in critical situations .

Vision which allows these people to observe and learn quickly in certain situations .

Thorough understanding of the human body .

Critical thinking in highly pressured environments and executing tactics others wouldn’t even be able to think of .

Adaptability allowing them to perfect a difficult movement in just one try etc .

There were people like this in the sports world .

It was just a small amount .

The growth of my body from the Tutorial seemed to have also improve these ‘’talented” qualities as well .

I have to admit, it excited me .

It felt like I went over a line that said “The limit of biological physiology” in an instant .

On top of that, I was capable .

I had talent .

I’m not trying to simply make bullshit up for the moment, it was the truth .

I had a wide field of view, critical thinking and imagination . In addition, my reflexes allowed me to reach the top as a pro-gamer .

At the very least, my mind and eyes were the best quality of mine .

Let’s add exceptional fitness to that now .

My confidence grew .

But then again, this could just be a side effect of my personality due to the sudden improvement of my fitness and body physique, since before it was awfully weak .

Anyway, the strength I felt from this body was making me excited and upbeat .

I opened the status bar with excitement .

I’ll check the changes in my body for the final time .

I should keep moving my body constantly and get used to this superhuman body .

As I was reading my status bar slowly and thoroughly, I saw something I had never seen before .

[Battle Concentration (Lv . 7)]

Description: Improves concentration during battle greatly . Can maintain high levels of concentration for longer periods of time . Can consciously push concentration beyond the limits for a brief moment . Can maintain concentration beyond limits for longer periods of time if mental strength allows it .

Requirements – Battle concentration skill Lv . 6 and above, mental strength beyond base standards, experience of high concentration without aid of the skill .

There was an active for battle concentration .

I'm allowed to use this consciously?

The ‘experience of high concentration without the aid of the skill’ must be like that weird time I was in the boss room .

I could keep that kind of concentration whenever I wanted to?

Damn, this was the best skill .

After checking my Battle Concentration skill, I checked how long I could maintain it and how much I could move around while using this skill .

Surprisingly, it didn’t feel like I needed some sort of magical power .

‘As mental strength allows it’, just like the skill description says, it seems that the only thing that was being used was my own mental strength .

The one downside to it was the fact it used my mental strength . That was actually scary .

As I maintained this skill for 5 minutes, I felt a dizziness and a headache . As time passed more, my vision was shaky .

I forced myself to maintain it longer, only to feel the need to vomit and my legs gave way .

After all that, due to the mental fatigue I really couldn’t do anything .

Actually, I just didn’t want to do anything .

Although I learned the active ability of Battle Concentration’s limits and risks, I kept using the skill whenever I could .

It wasn’t simply to try and level up the skill or to improve my mental strength .

It was really helpful when doing workouts and also when I used my sword and shield, it made everything a lot more effective .

With this enhanced mental strength, the world seemed a lot slower and that allowed me to observe my body and its muscles . I could tell how they were moving and what kind of energy they were exerting through the movements .

With this constant repetition, the slightly awkward movements were becoming more comfortable .

As I began my training, I felt a little frustrated .

Oh how great it would have been if I had a personal trainer .

A person that knew how to wield a sword and shield well, a person that understood the body really well .

Or even a person that could give me advice after understanding how my feeble body had improved .

All this pent up frustration for nothing .

There was no one here to help me, I was all alone .

With nobody around to guide me, I just sucked it up and went through it all by myself .

As I devoted my whole time into training, the 1st attempt ended .

[2nd Attempt will now begin . ]

[Hell difficulty, Noticeboard (1/6)]