Chapter 11
It was a small cave located right in the middle of a sheer cliff.
Not only was the location perfect, but the entrance was so narrow that you wouldn’t even know it existed from the outside.
Because it was a cliff, monsters couldn’t easily reach it—making it the optimal spot to clear this stage.
Of course, anyone who had purchased the information notebook like me would naturally try to come here first.
And if it’s this good, it means everyone will want it.
But I entered the raid dungeon almost as soon as the schedule began and rushed through to Stage 2 without taking any breaks.
In other words, up to this point, I belonged to the absolute front-runner group.
And that leading group had no time to earn gold separately.
Therefore, no one else here besides me could possibly have bought the information notebook.
Meaning—I had no need to worry about anyone finding me.
Rustle, rustle.
‘This should be enough.’
I piled up twigs and grass on the cave floor to make a bed.
Then I checked my inventory.
Salted meat, vegetables, grains, and long-term preserved rations just in case.
My inventory was packed with enough food to last seven days.
‘All I need to do is endure here for seven days.’
My plan was simply to hole up until the stage ended.
Since monsters couldn’t find me on this cliff anyway, I just needed to sit quietly.
For reference, starting from Stage 2, there were bonus raid points depending on conditions.
And the amount of bonus raid points you could earn determined the final reward.
Anyway, each stage had its own special condition. For this one, it was:
[Encounter as few monsters as possible]
Which was exactly why I had to stay hidden in this shelter.
It seemed to mean that survival was the key concept, and combat should be avoided as much as possible.
‘If I hadn’t known that condition, I’d probably be out there slaughtering as many monsters as possible to build up “contribution.”’
That’s why buying the information notebook from the black market was absolutely essential.
Without it, you simply couldn’t earn points.
Of course, the dilemma was that to buy the notebook you had to slow your stage progression to farm gold.
But I broke right through that dilemma.
I was in the superior position compared to every other participant in every way.
Meanwhile, there was something I had to do while spending these seven days in hiding.
That was to increase my proficiency in Mana Breathing.
Raising a skill’s proficiency was simple: use it as often as possible.
So the fastest way to train Mana Breathing was clear—
Intentionally deplete mana, then replenish it.
Until now, I hadn’t had the time to perform this simple training because I’d been busy preparing for the raid.
But now I finally had time to sit still and do it.
‘Earn points and raise skill proficiency.’
The perfect timing.
At proficiency 100, Mana Breathing granted an incredible recovery rate of 10% per second.
But honestly, what I was aiming for was the “real reward” waiting beyond that.
“Hoo…”
Sitting down, I calmed my breathing and focused.
Then I pulled out a weapon from my inventory.
A pair of cestus appeared on my hands—thin leather straps wrapping around them, much like a fighter’s tape.
With those equipped, I used the technique that burned through mana the fastest.
‘Orb of Infernal Flames.’
Fwoosh.
Black flames blazed on my right hand.
In an instant, 100 mana disappeared.
I then immediately used Mana Breathing.
“Ssshhhhh.”
Mana began flowing back in, and at the same time, the flame vanished.
Normally that was a drawback of Mana Breathing—but right now, it worked to my advantage, letting me train more efficiently.
It skipped the process of manually dispelling the skill.
“Haaaah.”
I refilled my mana completely, then cast Orb of Infernal Flames again.
Mana Breathing right after.
Flames out, mana restored.
Again and again.
{Mana Breathing proficiency has increased. 16 / 100}
Before long, the system message appeared.
At this pace, I’d max it out soon enough.
‘Faster. Even faster.’
The cycle sped up continuously.
The higher the proficiency, the more mana Mana Breathing restored per second.
At first, it was about 2% per second, taking nearly 50 seconds to refill.
Later it was 20 seconds, and by the time I reached near 100, it only took around 10 seconds.
Skill use, Mana Breathing. Skill use, Mana Breathing.
Repeating endlessly in less than 10-second intervals.
It wasn’t like some martial arts novel where I lost myself in trance-like meditation.
No—this was a grueling, repetitive task in a cramped cave, where every second dragged on vividly.
Eat when hungry, sleep when tired, stretch briefly.
Then sit back down and start again.
Honestly, it drove me insane.
No people, no communication devices, completely isolated from the outside world.
It was pure torture.
I even wondered if wandering outside, fighting monsters day after day just to survive, might actually be easier.
But—
‘Endure. Enduring is winning.’
I never gave up.
After all, it was only seven days.
A fleeting moment that would pass before I knew it.
There was no way I’d throw it all away now.
And so, after enduring the monotonous routine in full consciousness for exactly six whole days—
{Remaining time: 0 days 22 hours 49 minutes 17 seconds}
{Mana Breathing proficiency has increased. 100 / 100}
I finally achieved it.
Mana Breathing proficiency 100.
And then—
{The mana source you’ve been steadily nourishing transforms into a new form.}
{A chamber of mana has formed in your chest.}
{You have acquired the trait <Mana Heart>.}
The “real reward” was granted to me.
Bwoooong.
A resonance pulsed in my chest.
It wasn’t a sound I could hear, nor a vibration I could feel.
It was a sixth sense—
A new perception that let me feel the flow of mana within me.
‘The mana spread throughout my body is moving.’
As I observed, my very act of sensing it caused ripples to form.
I tried to control those ripples, to direct the flow of mana as I pleased.
And then—it began to circulate.
From fingertips to shoulders, shoulders to abdomen, abdomen to legs, down to the feet, and rising up through the head.
A wave of power moving through me.
It wasn’t easy to control at first.
But the more I felt it, the clearer it became.
At first, I could only push ripples outward. Then I managed to draw the flow.
And at last—I gathered all the scattered mana into a single point in my chest.
From there, controlling it became much easier.
I only had to grab the end of the wave and reel it in like a rope.
Then, with one great surge of mana waves washing through my body—
{Mana has increased by 1.}
My mana pool grew.
“Ha… hahaha! Hahahahaha!”
Seeing that message with my own eyes made me laugh uncontrollably.
All that tedious work had been rewarded by a single +1.
───
<Mana Heart>
– Through steady breathing, your internal mana source has transformed. Your perception of mana has awakened, and by circulating it, you can permanently increase your maximum mana.
───
There was no need to explain how crucial this new trait was for all Awakeners.
It allowed them to increase mana capacity regardless of whether Willpower was their main stat.
Since everyone needed mana to use powers and skills, this meant even non-Willpower types could build it up.
Of course, Willpower still mattered for magic resistance and certain spell potency, so it couldn’t be fully replaced.
But that didn’t change the fact—Mana Heart was essential.
For me, however, it meant even more.
Since my mana was directly tied to my stats, Mana Heart meant one thing:
‘In theory, I can raise my stats infinitely.’
Need I say more?
I had gained the ultimate foundation—the assurance that with time, I could surpass anyone.
Every +1 in mana would steadily widen the gap between me and the rest.
Stage 2 ended just like that.
I hadn’t encountered a single monster in seven days, and I earned all the bonus raid points.
15 points for clearing, plus 43 for the condition.
Total score: 68 points.
‘Unless someone has already cleared Stage 3, no one has more points than me.’
Stage 1 had no bonus. Stage 2, I got them all.
I got the information earlier than anyone else and acted faster.
This was the absolute optimal route—so of course I was in first place.
───
<Raid Point Rankings>
1st: 68 points (You)
2nd: 47 points
3rd: 45 points
…
Current highest cleared stage: Stage 2.
───
At this rate, it was obvious I’d claim the final reward.
Others would eventually catch up once they got the notebook and farmed raid points—but by then, it would be too late.
Because I’d already be the one to clear the final boss.
Anyway, it was time to prepare for Stage 3.
‘Stage 3 requires cooperation, huh? Annoying.’
In Stage 2, cooperation was a trap because numbers increased exposure risk.
But in Stage 3, it was the opposite.
The condition required covering as much ground as possible and fighting many enemies.
The notebook specifically warned that a team was mandatory.
‘Teammates, huh…’
So, I had to find companions.
Which led me to a tavern in the city.
The moment I walked in, noise surrounded me.
German, Arabic, English, Chinese—languages from all over the world clashing together.
Everyone drinking here was a raid participant.
Their modern clothing mixed bizarrely with the medieval European fantasy backdrop.
Even stranger, the NPCs all spoke Korean, but people responded in different languages.
It seemed NPC speech was auto-translated to each listener’s tongue—a curious system.
‘Well, whatever.’
In any case, I came here to find people to team up with.
With my third trait, I could now gauge guardian spirit grades, which let me filter out weaker players.
And I had plenty of bargaining chips to recruit them.
So it shouldn’t be hard.
“Hm?”
“Uh… uh!?”
But as I scanned the room, I ran into someone I hadn’t expected.
“Hyuuung! What are you doing here!?”
Lee Jin-yoon.
His eyes went wide when he spotted me, jumping up from his seat to rush over.
But my gaze wasn’t on his face—it was fixed above his head.
‘What the hell? This guy…’
I already knew Lee Jin-yoon was in the raid.
It wasn’t surprising to meet him here.
And yet, he still managed to shock me.
Because—
‘His guardian spirit is Legendary?’
Even after scouring the whole tavern, no one else had one.
Lee Jin-yoon alone possessed a unique, Legendary-grade guardian spirit.
{Guardian Spirit: Baby Warrior Uturi (Legendary)}
It did look a bit… unusual.
But Legendary was Legendary.
