Chapter 42: The First Day of Training Ends

“See you tomorrow! Siloque!”

“Don’t wear a suit tomorrow, okay?”

“That’s your fault for not making it clear at the time!”

Kas waved happily and said goodbye, then got into the taxi.

The Dungeon Commercial District bus stop.

As Kas’s taxi drove off, it marked the end of Siloque and Kas’s first day of training.

The commercial district buses run 24 hours, so there’s no need to worry about missing the bus.

It’s for the convenience of both tourists and Explorers.

Kas had suggested giving Siloque a ride, but Siloque refused.

His subtle sense of pride wouldn’t allow it.

He liked others to owe him, not the other way around.

While waiting for the bus, Siloque brought up the Status Window to check his stats—

[Name] Siloque

[Lv] 8

[Profession] —Newcomer—

[Exploration Tier]—Level 1—

HP Max: 70→83

MP Max: 79

STR Strength: 63

END Endurance: 66→82

AGI Agility: 69→123

DEX Dexterity: 79→100

INT Magic: 80→83

[Talent] —Heating—

[Skills]— —Transform Into Rock—

“…Feels like I’ve been jumping around all night.”

He didn’t level up, but his Agility increased by 54, Dexterity by 21—stronger than even leveling up.

Why did Endurance go up so much?

I only used a skill to withstand one of Cliff’s flying kicks, right?

Ah…..

The reason Siloque could think of was that Cliff kicked him into critical condition, and he held out for several conversations with Kas before taking a Recovery Potion.

Did he endure? He did.

Did he tank the damage? He did.

Does that count too?

What a subtle judgment.

Even subtler was Magic, which increased by 3 points.

The more you use skills, the more Magic and the blue bar grow.

After banning [Pure Black Annihilation Ray], Siloque had only the defensive [Transform Into Rock].

Unless acting as a Tank, he hardly used it at all.

But compared to himself, Siloque felt Kas’s side was even more outrageous.

He glanced at the time in the upper right corner of the frame—10:11.

Even earlier than his original plan to return by 11.

“Too strong.”

Of course, he was referring to Kas.

Defeating the Feng Court Knight, Second Phase, made him level up to Lv9.

A double level up.

Much faster than me.

Compared to the experience Siloque got from grinding Goblins for half the night, Kas’s speed was absurd.

Although only two Feng Court Knights were defeated tonight, there was also a “Nighttime EXP Increase” Buff, and Kas had been grinding monsters to level up before, so leveling up wasn’t that strange.

The strange part was, Siloque had thought Kas would struggle fiercely against the Feng Court Knight, Second Phase.

But he finished it in 10 minutes?!

He didn’t even come close to dying once.

Those 10 minutes, he was just dodging and weaving, circling around the Feng Court Knight, Second Phase.

After fully understanding its attacks, he used a combo of three skills to finish it off.

He fought with a big, hearty smile, and at the end looked satisfied and fulfilled.

What kind of battle maniac is this?

A chosen one?

In the game, even in a Second Playthrough, Kas always fought with a wooden expression, never showing enjoyment after a hard-won battle.

Not like now.

“…Should be fine, right?”

The subtle changes in Kas seemed to be increasing.

His rapid adaptability in combat made Siloque unconsciously think of Vitoris.

On the outside, she was cheerful and friendly, but inside she was a full-on battle maniac.

In the main story, she enjoyed everything from the sidelines, and in the DLC, as a playable character, she never suffered.

Siloque had reason to suspect the developers had played favorites.

“Never mind, let’s just say the current Kas is influenced by his mother.”

It’s not a huge problem.

The real issue is that the crisis with Cliff the minotaur hasn’t been completely resolved.

Siloque believed he’d show up punctually on the day of the duel.

At that time, after falling off the cliff, Siloque couldn’t go down to finish him off, so he was likely done for.

If left there, he’d definitely be surrounded by monsters at the bottom of the valley.

A strange Butterfly Effect made Bried call the Rescue Team to save Siloque, but they ended up saving him instead.

Although the Feng Court Knight, Second Phase, had varied attacks, you could win by slowly grinding it down.

Cliff, of course, wouldn’t just honestly punch when he raised his fist or kick when he lifted his leg—there would be all kinds of unpredictable factors in a real fight.

The best solution is naturally to raise my Lv.

I definitely don’t want to see any Defeat CG.

Currently, the story is barely on track, but there’s no room for carelessness, and it’s not yet time to pop the champagne for an impart.

Cliff being driven off this time bought a lot of safe time for leveling up ahead.

Of course, there’s also a once-and-for-all method.

Go to the hospital and pull Cliff’s tube.

“Haa…My thoughts are getting a bit extreme.”

Siloque self-mockingly scratched his head and spotted the orange-yellow headlights of the bus approaching from afar.

Too many eyes around, and I’m not some professional assassin or killer—if I left any clues, wouldn’t I end up in jail?

Who knows what kind of Butterfly Effect might occur and cause the story to spiral out of control—then Siloque wouldn’t be able to micro-manage things.

It’s better to maintain the Second Playthrough script as much as possible.

Harboring all sorts of worries, the bus arrived, and Siloque began his journey home.

***

“Hahahahahaha——!! Brother is so bad, this death is hilarious! It could totally go in a video compilation!”

“It’s the controller! The controller! I’m just not used to it yet.”

“Giggle hahaha, you can’t use the same excuse twice, brother~~, Hil will cheer you on, try again!”

Hil laughed so hard she rolled on the floor, showing her snow-white belly and pretty navel.

Siloque really wanted to rub her twin tails hard to keep her from being so smug.

“Just you wait, Hil—I’m a game master, I’ll finish this soon.”

10:34 PM, Hil’s room.

Half an hour earlier than scheduled, Siloque played games with Hil.

The reason was simple—he still hadn’t cleared .

And, Siloque genuinely liked gaming.

“Brother, Hil’s Explorer test went smoothly. I can go to the Dungeon with you as early as next week!”

“I wish the Examiner would be stricter and never give you a Qualification Certificate.”

“Geez, brother, not another one of your jokes~~”

Seriously, if you hadn’t said it, I’d have forgotten.

Lately, he’s been busy with Kas and the others’ leveling plans, and he hadn’t paid much attention to his little sister.

But Siloque didn’t expect much—back then, his own abilities weren’t enough, so he thought having his sister join would boost their strength for mid-game events.

Now that his own leveling is going smoothly, he’ll just take Hil to the simplest part of the Dungeon for a tour.

Maybe Hil would even cry from fright.

“Hehe…”

Siloque looked forward to the adorable sight of his sister hugging him and crying.

“Right, Hil has something important to tell brother.”

“Hmm?”

Siloque was fully focused on making the brown-green character climb the ladder.

“Bried-sis came to our house.”

“Ah?! Oh no——!!”

His character nearly slipped off the ladder, but Siloque saved it at the last second.

“When?”

“Tonight.”

“…..Why’d she come?”

“Bried-sis…”

Buzz——

The Status Window vibrated, interrupting Hil.

“Sorry, give me a second.”

Siloque checked the Status Window and, seeing the sender’s name, gave a slight smile.

“…..Brother, why do you have a smile like a girlfriend worrying about her boyfriend? Are you that happy? Who is it.”

“Your description is way too accurate! No, wait, it’s a friend—a friend!”

“Brother already has Hil, so don’t get carried away with imaginary friends, okay?”

“Of course she’s real, all right? Someone you can actually touch, who sings and dances too.”

If possible, I’d even like to cuddle her to sleep.

The one messaging was Beiren.

Since that day at the café, they would occasionally communicate like this.

Their chats were casual.

Annoyances from a boss, new book releases, pictures of clingy cats, recommended restaurants…

Sometimes, they’d send meaningless memes or random symbols with no explanation.

Chatting with Beiren was the most relaxing time for Siloque.

No need to overthink, no need to be too careful.

“Brother’s friend isn’t some suspicious mascot streamer, right? Hil knows about those—they don’t play games on stream, just urge you to send gifts, add LINE for private chats, and in reality, the one chatting isn’t the streamer but a stinky, sweaty old man….”

“Hil, why do you naturally make your eyes go dead?! My friend isn’t a streamer or an old man! Just a…regular person you see everywhere.”

Thinking of Beiren’s experiences, Siloque felt a bit guilty.

“Hoooh……regular person….”

Hil noticed Siloque’s unnatural pause, and her voice dropped a few pitches.