"Title?" wondered Yongno.

Mari explained, "It's one of DIO's systems. If the user satisfies a specific condition, they will receive a title that either increases their stats or adds a special effect depending on the requirement."

After her explanation, Yongno opened the status window and found that he had earned the title of Entry-Level Swimmer.

[TITLE

Entry-level Swimmer

Strength, Stamina + 10

You can somehow float in water now.

In water, your Stamina consumption rate decreases by 10%.]

"Is this title good?" asked Yongno.

Mari tossed him a question, "Do you think it is?"

Yongno learned that the Entry-Level Swimmer title was quite weak. It sounded like something a newbie would be called as well.

Yongno murmured, "Hmm, it's better than having nothing, though.” Then, he equipped the title, and his entire body seemed to gain strength.

His stamina was originally 20 points, so if he earned ten points from the 'title buff,' there would be a 50% increase in his Strength and Stamina. For example, if Yongno could previously lift a 50-kilogram object, this limit was raised to 75 kilograms, and if he could run at full speed for a minute, now it was a minute and a half.

‘Whoa, this is cool!’ Yongno examined his body.

Mari explained, "After you reach 100 points, the stat’s effects will be doubled."

"Doubled?"

"Compared to a user with ten points in Strength, a user with 20 points will be twice as powerful. However, a user with 200 points isn't ten times stronger than the one with 20, but fifteen times stronger. Therefore, if a user’s stats exceed 300 or 400, the gap between them and other players will grow exponentially."

And so, Yongno learned that the 'title buff' had increased his stats, not his swimming skills. In other words, a title's usefulness would differ based on when it was applied to a user. Still, this was just Yongno’s assumption, so he should clarify to ensure it was correct.

He asked, "Then, does the title play a significant role as the game progresses and the user’s stats become higher?"

"You're catching on fast. Higher-level users are likely to become more desperate about the 'title buff.' Whether it's early or late in the game, the 'title buff' increases the stat by the same percentage. So, the higher the user’s stats are, the greater the total stat bonus will be from the title buff.”

While she elaborated, Yongno continued swimming in the river, but it consumed a lot of his stamina, so he stopped near the edge of the water to catch his breath.

Yongno asked, "What's going on? I still have one-third of my Energy left, but why do I feel so exhausted?"

"That's such a stupid question. When your Energy reaches zero, it means that you’ve fallen into a critical condition; you wouldn’t be able to even move a finger or deliver oxygen throughout your body. It’s difficult to lower your Energy below ten points unless you're determined to do so, and similarly, seeing a user expend their Spiritual Energy to that extent is also rare."

Yongno sighed, "This is too complicated," then went back into the water. This time, rather than swim rapidly, he glided with the natural flow of the river since he didn’t have enough Energy.

"Oh, by the way, how far does this river go?" asked Yongno.

Mari replied, "Of course, it leads to the ocean."

"What?! There's even an ocean? I thought this was a closed space for each user….”

If every player took their tests in the same place, they would see others around them. This game would definitely have a massive user base, so one would inevitably encounter someone else if everyone was in the same space.

However, Mari responded with a shrug, "It is a type of closed space, but that doesn't mean it has to be small. This was created for only you, Oppa. Since everything here is data, there’s not much difference between a world as small as your palm or as huge as the Earth. If there were changes or updates, things could look different, but everything's the same for each user. Monsters just won’t spawn in this space for now.” Then, she added, “Anyway, it’s just copying and pasting.”

Nodding, Yongno asked, "So, this place is only for me, but it’s still a world, right?"

"If you say so,” replied Mari.

Yongno looked around again. The river didn’t look that large, but it connected to a vast ocean somewhere. ‘How could this huge world exist for merely one person?’

"Excuse me, Mari, can you still follow me even if I travel a bit further?"

Mari smirked, "That's such a useless concern. Come on, I also teleport."

"Okay! Then, I’ll take that as a yes."

Yongno made his way through the water, but he wasn’t trying to cross the river. Instead, he was carried along by the currents.

"Oh, my!" shouted Mari.

Yongno was swimming downstream.

* * *

/You gained 1 stamina point./

Yongno rose to the surface as this message popped up in the air.

He said, "Mari, my Stamina is the only stat that’s increased. What do you think?"

"As you know, swimming doesn’t significantly improve one’s muscular strength. Every time you gain 5 Stamina points, it adds a bonus of one point to Strength."

Yongno grumbled, "But I’ve increased my stamina by 8 points and don’t see anything else!"

"Then you're getting 1 Strength point for every 10 Stamina points,” Mari muttered insincerely, floating on the water. She glided above the surface as if she were in an invisible boat.

Yongno asked, "Um, Mari, can you teach me some magical skills then?"

"Of course not."

"Why?"

Yongno felt disappointed at her flat refusal, but Mari just shrugged as if she had no choice.

She replied, "Sorry, but I'm simply an NPC guiding a new user. If you want to learn magical skills, you have to finish the level tests first and provide payment. Even if I taught you, you couldn’t learn the skills either way."

"I can’t learn them? Why?"

Mari continued, "You don’t perceive mana until Level 2. Oppa, you can't even sense mana right now, can you? That's why we say using magic is like shooting an arrow without a bow."

"Oh, I see," Yongno agreed, but he began to feel breathless as he went on shore.

His increased physical strength also made his stamina rise, but Yongno felt exhausted and had difficulty swimming. ‘Why is it like this?’

Yongno preferred to swim near the edge of the river rather than the middle since he didn’t want to end up losing his grip on reality, deplete his stamina, and eventually drown.

The moment he stood ashore, a message appeared.

/You have reached Rank 7 in Swimming!/

/You gained the title of Beginner-Level Swimmer!/

/You gained a special ability - Diving!/

Yongno exclaimed in surprise, "Eh? It improved again!"

"Why are you leveling your skills so much in a basic test?" asked Mari.

[TITLE

Beginner-level Swimmer

Strength, Stamina, HP + 20

You are starting to get the hang of how to swim.

In water, your Stamina consumption rate decreases by 20%.]

After checking his title, Yongno wondered, "I’m fine with it, but what is a special ability?"

"When a specific skill reaches a certain level, you acquire an ability. It comes alongside your title, but even if you don't use the title, the special ability is still yours."

"Still, it's weird that diving is considered a special ability. Diving is likely going to be used by many users rather than a skill they specifically work to acquire," Yongno murmured, taking a break as he laid down on the ground.

His stamina slowly recovered, but something else was also moving within him.

‘Eh?’

It felt strange and new. There was a soft feeling that originated from the pit of his stomach before dividing into little pieces in a blink of an eye. Then, these pieces scattered to every limb and even his bones. With a pounding sound, Yongno felt refreshed. His entire body trembled, and he sensed some unknown strength rising within him.

/Your Spiritual Power (Type: Internal Martial Arts) has increased by 20 points!/

Yongno questioned this new development dubiously. "What?!"

"Holy moly! You opened the middle dantian without even opening the lower dantian…."

"Is that good?" he asked.

Mari replied, "Not really. Those who practice internal martial arts can normally develop their middle dantian into the most effective and valuable resource. Meanwhile, other users can also open it quite often, depending on their skills. In your case, the swimming skill enabled it."

Yongno wondered, "In martial arts novels, only the great masters can open their middle dantian, right?"

"Those are simply stories. Although you opened your middle dantian, it's still too tiny for you to reach your maximum potential."

Mari was correct. A Level 1 user who hadn’t passed all their basic tests could barely learn internal martial arts.

‘DIO's skill system is highly affected by the user's abilities, but how could he reach Level 7 in less than a day?’

Mari viewed Yongno from a new perspective. While it was possible for users to raise their skills to Level 7 within a day, Yongno had earned his skill from swimming, not a battle quest. He'd leveled his skill multiple times without even checking his training stats. This feat was especially remarkable when considering that he was swimming for pure joy.

"No... maybe that's the reason…." Mari muttered to herself.

"Excuse me?"

Mari said, "Never mind. Let me teach you some magical skills."

"You said that I can’t learn them, though."

"It doesn't matter since you're able to perceive mana now. In fact, this isn't really magic,” Mari replied casually.

She raised her hand, then placed it on his back. Qi started to circulate through Yongno’s body. Under Mari’s control, the energy swirled around his entire upper body aside from his arms. Mari was performing the so-called Microcosmic Orbit.

"This is...?" mumbled Yongno.

He was surprised by the energy gently spreading across his body, and based on the stats window, his stamina was also quickly recovering.

/You gained a new skill - Energy Recovery!/

Yongno felt as if a weight had been lifted and became speechless at his body’s inner improvement.

As she pulled her hand away from Yongno’s back, Mari explained, "This is called Adding Strength, the most basic way to practice internal martial arts. It’s simple, safe, and effective. I'll move your internal energy again according to how it should be operated, so make sure to remember the flow-"

"I got it,” said Yongno.

"... What?” Mari's eyes opened wide at his unexpected response.

Yongno replied excitedly, “I understand what you mean. Use internal martial arts to inject power into each cell, right? I just felt my internal energy spreading from my eighteen acupoints... not sure of the exact term, but anyway, it passed through those points and spread around my entire body. Instead of consuming oxygen and protein, you've injected internal energy directly into my cells to recover my physical strength."

"Eh... eh... eh? Oppa, I-"

"Hold on for a second. Let's see... move the internal energy this way…."

It was a surprising moment. From the outside, nothing about Yongno seemed to change. Yet, Mari knew that the man before her was now applying the technique to cultivate his mind and energy despite having no previous experience or knowledge of internal martial arts until just thirty seconds ago.

/You earned 70 Stamina and 50 HP (lasts for 94 secs)!/

Yongno shouted, "Okay! It works, but the duration is too short! What could I do for 90 seconds? Oh, alright!"

The message, /You gained a new skill - Body Strengthening!/ appeared, but Yongno stood and approached a nearby tree, grabbing a branch thicker than his wrist. It would’ve taken some time to cut it off with a saw, but Yongno tightened his grip and broke it in half.