Former Ranker's Newbie Life

Chapter 114

His lungs burned. His heart felt like it was being squeezed, and pain pulsed through his ribs and side. There was no chance to exhale in steady breaths. He had to force air out quickly and drag it back in even faster just to keep going. His body felt like hell after an hour on the treadmill. Do-Jin glanced at the timer flashing on the machine and pushed himself harder, straining for one final burst past his limit.

He stumbled off the track before his legs could give out and collapsed beside the machine with a strangled groan. Sweat fell in heavy drops onto the floor, and the sight of it made him laugh bitterly.

Would anyone else go this far just to play a game?

It had started as regular exercise, nothing more than keeping himself healthy. But at some point, he started feeling like it was a waste of time when he could be grinding in LOST. So he found a compromise.

If I push myself this far, it’s gotta be worth it.

He worked out hard enough that it would pay off inside the game. It was training to build tolerance against the fatigue and side effects of virtual reality.

System limits like forced exhaustion or fainting were unavoidable. But the false limits where players bailed because their bodies could not handle the pain could be shattered by getting used to suffering.

“Being a mage can be misery...” he mumbled before chugging a sports drink.

As the electrolytes hit his system, he heard the front door open. Do-Jin rubbed the cramps out of his calves, steadied his muscles, and stepped out of the training room.

“Chun Ji-Hyun? That you?”

She smiled when she saw him and asked, “Were you working out again?”

“Just a little.”

“You’ve got to pace yourself. You always go until you’re wrecked.”

“I am pacing myself.”

Chun Ji-Hyun shook her head. For the past two weeks, she had watched him throw himself into workouts like a madman before and after every gaming session. It had gone past impressive and was starting to drive her crazy.

In her eyes, Do-Jin’s obsession was both his greatest strength and his worst flaw. It only made her more determined to keep him from burning out. With that thought, she handed him the bag she was carrying.

“You’re starting the game after having lunch, right?”

“Yeah. But I gotta shower first.”

“I’ll get it set up.”

After cleaning up, Do-Jin sat down at the table across from her. Lunch was tandoori chicken and curry. Chun Ji-Hyun had been raving about a new shop nearby and even stood in line to bring it back.

“The reactions have been really good again,” Chun Ji-Hyun said with a grin as she stripped the meat off a drumstick.

“How long has the video been up?”

“Just since yesterday.”

They were talking about the Imperial Academy Training Disaster footage. She popped another piece of chicken into her mouth and slid her tablet across the table, showing him the compilation she’d made of forum threads and MeTube comments.

└ Forget everything else. Learning a Tier 5 spell at the last second before dying is some corny-ass bullshit. Mr. Kim, are you seriously writing yourself a story like this?

└ LMAO, dumbass, it’s not a fiction. It’s real.

└ Tier 5 spells need Level 100 minimum. So are you saying he literally dinged 100 right there and then? That’s fucking hilarious.

└ The timing doesn’t even matter. What blows my mind is that a mage hit Level 100 at all.

└ I know some players have pushed past 100 lately, but isn’t this the first time a mage has ever done it?

└ Leveling a mage is hell on earth. Nobody even plays them because it’s such a nightmare to grind.

└ The whole “mage penalty” wasn’t enough to stop Do-Jin. He’s just a broken outlier that doesn’t even fit the game’s rules.

All the clippings Chun Ji-Hyun had pulled together were focused entirely on Do-Jin.

Do-Jin wasn’t the only one obsessed enough to grind his life away past Level 100. There were always players willing to push themselves to the edge for it. But when it came to mages, he was the first. That was why players were losing their minds over the Tier 5 spell he had cast, Flame Shell.

Well, at least the views are through the roof.

He honestly couldn’t bring himself to care about anything else. Growth was all that mattered now. He had been lucky that the moment he broke past Level 100, the S-grade reward scaled with it. Because of that perfect timing, his equipment slot now held a brand new Level 100 S-grade item.

So I broke Level 100... and my adventurer rank’s gone up. What’s next?

Do-Jin sifted through the hidden contents he knew about, wondering which one would give the best payoff. It was not just a question of what tasted good. The order mattered too. Picking the right piece at the right time would give the best results.

What should I bite into first...?

Sometimes, knowing too much just made the choice harder.

***

In the eastern reaches of the Empire lay a place known as the Abandoned Land. It was a stretch of territory humans had given up on long ago, now nothing but a den for demi-humans and monsters.

That was where Do-Jin set his next destination. The land was massive, but worthless. Even if someone put the effort into wiping out every monster, the soil itself was barren trash. That was why it had been abandoned in the first place.

Even after setting foot in it, Do-Jin saw nothing for hours. The landscape was nothing but stone, dry grass, and the occasional small patch of forest. The scenery dragged on for more than a full day.

When night fell, Do-Jin lit a campfire and summoned Anemone. As expected, she was still sulking. Being unsummoned in the middle of a life-or-death crisis had clearly cut deep.

Do-Jin gave a bitter smile and patted her back. Times like this called for nostalgia.

“Being out here reminds me of when we wandered the forests together.” He looked up at the sky filled with stars.

Anemone lowered her head onto her arms, staring into the flames.

“It was the forest back then, but now it’s wide open.”

Her gaze drifted to the horizon. No matter which way one looked, the only thing to see was the horizon itself. The sky stretched open just as wide, a view completely different from the suffocating forests they had known.

“We’ll see plenty more together.”

That last line finally eased Anemone’s anger. But showing it outright was too embarrassing, so she just closed her eyes and pretended not to care. Do-Jin saw right through her anyway.

Yeah, this is the kind of shit that feels like healing.

He listened to the sound of the wind and the crackle of the fire. That was when something flickered on the horizon.

Do-Jin narrowed his eyes and activated his circuits. He then cast Farsight, a spell that extended his vision. With his Magic Eye, darkness wasn’t a problem, and there were no obstacles to block the view. And what came into focus made him curse aloud.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. They must have seen the campfire!”

There were about ten Orcs, each riding on the back of a wolf.The wide-open plains and that stupidly peaceful vibe had made him careless.

The plan was to keep quiet and hide once monsters started showing. I didn’t think the bastards would spot me from that far out and charge.

They were still distant, but Orcs with wolves were fast as hell. At this rate, a fight was inevitable.

They must be a scouting party, considering they’ve got horns and all.

Which meant if he tangled with them, reinforcements were guaranteed. Do-Jin had not come here to wrestle with Orc packs. He chose to bail without hesitation.

“Get on.” Anemone turned her back to him, still pretending to be cold.

Do-Jin chuckled bitterly and swung up.

“I’m only letting this slide once.” She shot forward, tearing across the plains.

“Where are we headed?”

“Anywhere away from those bastards.”

They had already spotted him, so they would sweep the area no matter what. From this moment on, it was a game of hide and seek.

As long as Anemone’s with me, there’s no way those Orcs are catching up. They can chase all they want. I’ll still find what I came here for.

Anemone ran for a long stretch, until the riders shrank into specks on the horizon and vanished. Speed had won.

“We should circle wide and put even more distance between us.”

Even then, Do-Jin had her carry him far enough to settle down at a completely new spot.

“We’ll camp here for tonight. Then let’s move again once the sun’s up.”

This time, there was no fire. He dismissed Anemone and curled up under a rock outcrop alone. Without her presence or the light of a flame, the weight of isolation hit harder than he expected.

The so-called healing he had just been preaching about felt like a cruel joke now.

***

On the second day of nonstop cat-and-mouse with the Orc Wolf Riders across the plains, Do-Jin finally found what he had been searching for. It was a ruin so old and broken that no one could tell when it had been built or when it had fallen apart.

However, there was a problem. Why the fuck are those Orc bastards hanging around there?

Do-Jin clicked his tongue as he lay prone at a distance, scouting the ruin. Savage-looking Orcs were crawling all over the place. There were dozens of them, each one well over Level 100.

Even if they were considered the weakest across the Abandoned Land, at this point in the game, they were anything but pushovers.

With that many blocking the place, sneaking into the well is basically impossible.

The target was the well at the center of the ruins. It was the entrance to a hidden dungeon containing the legacy of the legendary treasure hunter known as Silvermoon.

For a second, he thought about leaving and coming back after leveling up more, but he crushed that thought right away. This place has the highest growth potential out of all the shit I can reach right now. Walking away here would mean throwing away progress.

Messing up the order would mess up his entire growth plan. If I’m the type to chicken out at this level of trouble, I might as well quit the game altogether.

The idea of retreating was erased from the list of options. That left only one path: figure out a solution to crack this mess open.

Do-Jin started by counting enemy numbers. Exactly 43 visible.

It was too many for a head-on fight. And the real problem was that they weren’t all melee. Among them were Orcs with javelins, slings, and bows. A straight fight would mean getting skewered from range.

If there was even decent high ground, I could snipe them from above... but there’s no such luck.

His frown continued to deepen until, all of a sudden, something clicked. Wait a second. That might actually work.

What caught his eye wasn’t an enemy but the environment itself. The ruins were giving shade to the lazy Orc bastards sprawled all over the place. Cracked pillars, leaning walls, and half-collapsed wrecks of buildings looked like they could come crashing down at any moment.

It was dangerous as hell. And that danger was exactly the kind of thing Do-Jin liked.