"As a man who stood on my own two feet, I command…."

As he stood before a large cave, Ark, a young man wearing leather armor, chanted calmly in a low voice. He was speaking in a magical language for Spell Casting, aiming toward the empty space inside the vast underground chamber. Suddenly, something strange happened.

Whoosh––! 

A shimmering, three-meter wide magic circle rose in the innermost part of the cave. It began to swirl in the air, transforming into a sphere. Then, the magic circle disappeared after spitting out a Lizard Lancer that had a pair of 1.5-meter long spears on its head.

"GRRRRL..."

The creature then prepared for combat. Unlike other games, the recognition system in DIO[1] started immediately when the monster noticed a user. Thus, no matter how far a user stood, the creatures in DIO would identify the player as an enemy the moment they entered its sight.

The programmers of this game didn’t make the monster's AI that simple, so the creature wouldn't just pounce on the players immediately. Yet, once the players were seen, it would be difficult to ambush the monster. Thus, a perfect hiding skill or an imperceptible, long-range ability was necessary when a user encountered a monster.

"Whoa, that monster is Level 7, right? Will you be okay, Ark? He's two levels higher than you."

Surprisingly, a talking cat was sitting behind Ark. She was Elley, a Russian Blue with green eyes and blue-black hair. Ark stopped casting the spell and grumbled, "It doesn't matter, but.. hmm... the spawn time[2] is definitely random. Earlier, it took a long while for the monster to appear, but now it was too fast. I still have about five minutes of Spell Casting left."

"GRRRLL..."

The Lizard Lancer held two javelins with its arms crossed and carefully approached Ark.

Elley said, "Why don't you keep casting the spell instead of complaining about it?"

"That's what I'm trying to do," Ark grumbled, then began to continue reciting the spells from where he’d stopped.

"KRRR!"

The Lizard Lancer threw the left spear as it knew what Spell Casting was. Once the spell was cast, the danger would rise dramatically, whereas the user was vulnerable while they were chanting.

Pow!

However, Ark avoided the spearhead and launched forward, punching the lizard man with a Counter Blow.

The Lizard Lancer stumbled, having never thought Ark would attack while he was Spell Casting. However, the monster quickly overcame the blow and thrust its remaining spear.

This humanoid reptilian was approximately five times stronger than a grown man and had shield-like, protective skin. Plus, this was a Warrior-level Lizard Lancer, skilled with specific weapons and mana-use. So, while Ark's punch was beyond human, it wasn't enough to knock down the monster.

Wham!

Unfortunately, the Lizard Lancer's spear couldn't pierce Ark's leather armor, and it hesitated at this unanticipated situation. Ark took this opportunity and quickly struck the lizard man’s flanks, which was a perfect combo done in a single breath.

SWOUF!

"Flames become rage, and storms turn to despair." Ark continued casting the spell nonchalantly while throwing a combo at the Lizard Lancer.

As its eyes reddened, the monster stared at Ark, but all it could see was the player’s pupils through his hooded cloak.

BAM! PAF! ZWOUP!

The two slugged it out. The man punched the monster while chanting the spell. Meanwhile, the Lizard Lancer started hitting Ark with its spears after realizing that it couldn’t pierce the user’s body.

"Hmm, if things keep going this way, you'll lose within a minute. Don't you need any help?" asked Elley.

Ark replied, "I can endure. Your attack has a four-hour cooldown, so I don't want to waste it."

"Yet, you’ll die since you are two levels lower and taking more damage than the monster."

Elley was right. Ark’s leather armor concealed how severely wounded he was. In fact, his status was already 'Serious Injury.' The tough armor might have prevented Ark from being stabbed, but he was still getting brutally beaten.

THUD!

When Ark leaned back to avoid the spear, a giant stalactite behind him instantly broke into pieces. It was impossible for a human to exert the same level of force that the monster was displaying.

Gradually, Ark felt his body growing heavier, and fighting was getting increasingly difficult. However, his eyes still glowed cold-heartedly as he looked for the chance to counterattack. At that moment….

ZWOUP!

Having narrowly escaped from the thrown spear, Ark shot toward the Lizard Lancer, then brought his fist down violently.

PAF!

When his Jolt Counter struck the lizard man's chin, the monster became groggy and was about to collapse. The creature couldn't act as if nothing had happened when its brain was scrambled from this counter.

There were now three meters between Ark and the monster, and Ark's body began to spin around faster. As he put all his weight into his foot, Ark kicked the Lizard Lancer’s head, displaying a Round Kick from Taekwondo.

Crack!

The heavy attack blew the lizard man back by about two meters away, sending it crashing into the cave wall. The monster collapsed, but it still held its spears since it was concerned about any additional attacks.

Yet, rather than advancing, Ark continued casting the spell.

"It's the way of the explosion, so now I set you free."

Ping!

With a small boom, the magic circle in his right hand glowed. His leather gloves made it invisible, but Ark realized that the spell was finally completed.

Elley said, "It's done."

"Okay," Ark quietly murmured and jumped toward the Lizard Lancer, with the latter standing to attack Ark.

Ark grabbed the spear, but he was dragged by the heavier and stronger monster. Still, it didn't matter since Ark intended to get close to the enemy.

Whack!

The other spear hit Ark’s neck, but Ark endured the pain and pulled the lizard man so he could jump into the creature's arms. As he held that position, Ark put his right fist on the monster's chest, then….

"Flame Buster, Part One."

With a click, his magic power sped up to create an explosion. The prepared technique began to operate, and his magic power was rearranged according to the laws. Soon, there was a sudden burst of energy.

"Magnum."

Boom!

The Lizard Lancer's upper body shattered into pieces. It was a dreadful sight, as if the monster was hit by a high-speed train, but shortly after, the lizard man disappeared, and the two spears fell to the ground.

Ark groaned, "...Spears, again? Geez, when does the warrior crest drop?"

"Still, you're earning a lot of EXP, right? It also helps you gain battle experience," replied Elley.

"That's why I keep trying. I’m also starting to see the spear’s trajectory."

Ark then sat on the ground in a half-lotus position to perform the No Thoughts Gold Strong Technique, which allowed its practitioners to endure all kinds of attacks.

"What if the lizard man regenerates while you're moving your internal energy?" asked Elley.

Ark snorted, "Show the monster your lethal moves and wake me afterward. It takes less than five minutes to pause this ability since the No Thoughts Gold Strong Technique is a self-defense technique."

"Alright, then, good night, Master."

"I'm not sleeping!" Ark grumbled. He closed his eyes and began to circulate his qi.

Elley watched him for a moment before muttering, "Wow, he's such a diehard. It's true that the Blackyak Sect provides absolute stability against the outside world, but how can he cast a spell while having a brutal hand-to-hand fight?"

In addition, Ark was improving his abilities as a mage and member of the Wulin at tremendous speed. He’d only been in DIO for a month, but Ark could already control his internal energy as desired and recite the Level 7 spell fluently. Even though users became exceptional in this virtual world, the speed of Ark's development was astounding.

Plus, he rapidly adapted to the Blackyak Sect and could design a one-hour length Spell Casting. If the monster’s spawn time took longer, Ark could successfully perform a Level 3 spell.

Elley said, "Is he a so-called genius or a brilliant, hardworking man? Either way, I’ll be able to achieve my goal faster than others."

Grinning in satisfaction, Elley, Ark’s pet[3] sat in a comfortable position and kept a lookout.

***The Passionate Genius***

A natural genius can't beat a hard worker, and a hard worker can't beat someone who enjoys what they're doing.

However, this saying had a significant flaw. Being a genius was an innate talent, whereas working hard and enjoying the process were acquired attitudes. Thus, how could they be judged together? What if there was a hardworking or passionate genius?

To all ordinary human beings, I advise that you remember there’s someone in this world who needs a mere day to catch up with what you’ve established over a decade. It is….

It is the space. I am standing in the middle of the pitch-black space. All I see is darkness, then a dot of light appears.

Yongno continued exploring the world in his mind.

Pop!

It was the sun, the source of light that burned and brightened everything; it also pulled things toward it by exerting gravitational force.

WOOOOHHH…!

Yet, it stopped. Yongno definitely perceived the infinite world within him, but it was somehow not fully under his control. There were limits in this space, and his power couldn’t reach them. This restricted area seemed like a huge room in his eyes.

‘So this is the level cap’[4].

If this space were brought into reality, it wouldn’t actually look like this since it was just his imagination.

‘It seems hard to break through.’

Yongno instinctively noticed that it was useless to put his effort into advancing in this room. Now that he thought about it, this was how DIO’s systems worked. So, as long as he was a player, he couldn’t break through these restrictions.

‘Hmm~ but since I started this process, I’ll feel bad if I just stop here. Also, it seems like it would be difficult to enter this area again.’

Yongno had already finished processing the Dark Northsea Divine Technique’s gathered qi into the internal martial arts of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique. If there wasn’t a level cap, Yongno could have absorbed one cycle of internal energy or 120 points. Actually, it might’ve been more than two cycles. Yet, Yongno could only absorb 30 points of qi at Level 1. In other words, the narrow limit didn’t allow him to improve his stats.

‘Still, it’s too limited and small. Something else seems to be occupying up this space….’

Yongno broadened his senses and searched for the other energy within him. After a short while of searching, he found what he was looking for as it wasn’t hidden.

Clank.

It was a massive lump of light heavily covered in chains. Yongno realized that it belonged to the 20 spiritual power points out of 50, the unattributed basic spiritual power.

‘I see, so is this how the image of unchosen, unusable spiritual power looks?’

Yongno tried to move the locked-up light, but it didn’t budge. The bright spiritual power was indeed his, but it wasn’t accessible yet.

Woooong.

Yet, he tilted his head in wonder. ‘Eh? I think I can break through this one!’

When Yongno performed the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, the spiritual force before his eyes reacted, and it gave him the encouragement to overcome this hurdle, as Yongno had more spiritual power than what was sealed in front of him. His qi also seemed to lean toward the larger and more pure form as if it were being attracted.

‘Okay! I don’t need to struggle to break through the room since the objective is to just summon the spiritual power here.’

Yongno smiled in satisfaction, but of course, he remained expressionless and didn’t make any sounds in his imaginative inner world, and he soon returned to his work.