"Here’s the first victim!"

Yongno snuck up on a deer grazing in a field; it was part of a large herd situated around the river. He held the wooden stick like a club, then hit the small wild animal in the head with a whack.

Thud.

The deer was flung three meters away and fell to the ground. Needless to say, it was immediately killed, but all of a sudden, it vanished into a cloud of golden dust.

/You gained a new skill - Blunt Weapon!/

A message appeared, and Yongno strode toward where the deer's body had disappeared. There he found a piece of meat wrapped in butcher paper — a drop[1].

Yongno exclaimed, "Cool! So, I got a drop and two Spirits. If I can get around fifty more deer, I’ll have 100 EXP soon. So, let’s work hard... Eh?"

Whoosh!

The other deer fled in all directions as soon as they noticed an invader had attacked one of their kind.

Yongno stared blankly at the scattering herd of animals before yelling, "Stop!"

He brandished a wooden club and ran after the deer, but his focus was primarily on catching the animals. Every time he swung his club violently at them, he missed. And soon, his improved body returned to normal.

"Darn it! Why did I only catch one when I had those improved stats?” grumbled Yongno.

Mari quietly stared at him as he stamped his feet in regret.

"Willed Salubrity..." she murmured.

Yongno asked, "What did you say?"

"Uh, nothing." Mari waved her hand to act like she hadn’t spoken, but she couldn’t hide her bewilderment. Yongno had done something impossible.

‘All I asked him to do was the "Microcosmic Orbit." How can he apply "Adding Strength" and perform "Willed Salubrity" when he's merely a man from the twenty-first century with no knowledge of martial power or magic?’

From Mari’s point of view, Yongno’s actions made no sense, but she had witnessed them with her own eyes.

Yongno shouted, "Wow! This is amazing. If I change or develop the method a little bit, I think I can maximize the force by channeling it all to my right hand or my fingers. No, instead, I can improve my physical abilities or make myself lighter to move faster when escaping from enemies... Oh! Is that the Lightness skill?"

Yongno circulated his internal energy excitedly, but he soon became perplexed by the feelings of emptiness inside his stomach; his internal energy had been drained already.

"Eh? It’s already gone? Why?" He asked in dismay.

Mari explained, "As I told you earlier, you only had a tiny amount of internal energy, but you wasted it nonetheless. Hold on, let me check something."

Once again, she placed her hand on Yongno’s back and moved it around. Her approach was similar to what Yongno had done before, but his inner qi moved differently this time.

He nodded, "Oh, I see, so it kept spinning around my spine in the wrong direction, and- Eh?"

Yongno was watching his internal energy’s movements to strengthen his body according to Mari's guidance, but he realized that the paused force was now in motion again.

He stared at Mari doubtfully, but she simply continued showing him how to operate his internal energy. It followed her touch and moved along the route. When she finished drawing the Microcosmic Orbit, a message appeared.

/You learned a new cultivation method - Golden Pill Immortal Technique!/

"Eh? Cultivation method?" asked Yongno.

Mari replied, "Um... consider it a gift. Do you remember what I’ve just shown you?”

"Ah, no, hold on. I was a little distracted.”

"Then let me demonstrate again," said Mari.

As she directed his internal energy to move within him, Yongno concentrated on memorizing the flow of energy. Once he got used to it, Mari withdrew her hand.

"Move your energy, your qi, according to the route I showed. Then, your drained internal martial arts should recover. We call this the Golden Pill Immortal Technique; it’s a cultivation method that efficiently uses only the middle dantian. This technique is extraordinarily stable and has high resistance against Qigong Deviation, but it recovers slowly even if you focus on moving your qi. Still, it’s a formidable skill, so once you get used to it, you can circulate your internal energy even when you’re moving or fighting. In your case, Oppa, you’ll be able to control your energy flow while swimming.”

Yongno asked, "Is this a good skill? Like a rare technique?"

"A rare cultivation technique? Sorry, but that doesn't exist in DIO. Everyone just finds a suitable technique and learns it… Where are you going?"

"I want to dive in. You said I can swim while circulating my internal energy alongside my qi."

Yongno then got in the water and sank. With his stamina fully recovered, he swam to the middle of the river without hesitation, then….

Splash.

He dove like a fish and completely submerged himself.

‘Wow, I didn't know how deep this river was before I came down here.’

When Yongno took his [Transportation] test, he was at a section of the river where it only reached his chest. Yet, now, he was swimming in a place where the water was about ten meters deep. It even had stronger currents, so if this were real life, swimming would be banned in this location.

Splash.

'Eh? Carp?'

Yongno was surprised at the size of the fish; it was as big as his arm. In addition, there was an abundance of fish here, and it made Yongno think that this could be a popular destination in the real world.

‘What items would those fish drop? I had a piece of raw deer meat after catching the deer, so I could get fresh cuts of fish this time.’

Watching the shoal aroused Yongno's curiosity, but he eventually gave up on catching them. No matter how skilled a swimmer he was, Yongno couldn’t propel himself through the water and catch a school of fish with his bare hands.

"Eh?"

However, Yongno realized that he didn’t feel any shortness of breath even when he was swimming for a long time. In fact, he only stayed underwater for as long as he was comfortable, but it had been almost a minute. He should’ve felt out of breath.

‘Why am I fine?’

Yongno contemplated for a second and realized that he’d been slowly consuming his internal energy.

‘Is this the effect of the special ability, Diving? That’s the only explanation behind my middle dantian opening.’

Yongno started counting the numbers to calculate how quickly he was using his internal energy. After doing simple math, he learned that it decreased by one point every five seconds.

Right now, my internal energy is equivalent to 20 points. Does that mean I can stay submerged without air for another hundred seconds or a minute and forty seconds?

At that moment, he thought of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, and he began to move his qi along his meridians.

/You are using the Golden Pill Immortal Technique. You have gained 30 points in Magic Power Gathering!/

As he felt a slight tremble within him, Yongno quickly opened the stat window and observed his spiritual power, noticing that its consumption rate had decreased. Actually, it was more accurate to say that he was simply using energy faster than he recovered it. His regeneration competed against the decreasing amount of energy, but it was clear that the technique was working.

‘Since the Golden Pill Immortal Technique is giving me one point of internal energy every ten seconds, I can remain underwater without air for 200 seconds, or three minutes and twenty seconds.’

In truth, Yongno had only mastered ten percent of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique. Usually, as a cultivation technique’s level rose, the internal energy recovery rate increased as well. If he could recover energy quicker than he used it….

‘I can stay underwater forever!’

This conjecture wasn’t true, as humans needed oxygen regardless. While internal energy replaced oxygen when using the Diving skill, it couldn’t be replaced entirely.

Still, users had a strong life force and will to survive, so despite needing oxygen to stay alive, users could stay underwater for long periods once they found a way to breathe. This way, they could extend the time needed to surface for air by weeks or even months.

According to the Guinness World Record, sperm whales could stay underwater longer than any other mammal, clocking in at about two hours. In this aspect, Diving and the Golden Pill Immortal Technique were truly impressive abilities.

Puff!

Mari asked, "Is there something good in there? You stay underwater for quite a while."

"Haha, I’m just chilling. Oh, but Mari, how do I level up the Golden Pill Immortal Technique?"

"First, you must grow acclimated to it. Circulate and use your internal energy. Consume the energy you gather and repeat the process. After a few cycles, you’ll be able to make it level up,” replied Mari.

Yongno nodded. The training strategy was easier than he had anticipated.

"Okay! I understand but is that all there is to using cultivation techniques?" he asked.

Mari said, "No way. The Golden Pill Immortal Technique is divided into Microcosmic Orbit and Macrocosmic Orbit. Cultivation methods are completely different at each level, and you must grow accustomed to them each time. What you just mastered is the early stage of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, the beginner course."

"Eek! Then why aren't you teaching me the middle stage and the latter part?"

Seeming dumbfounded at Yongno's complaints, Mari retorted, "Hey, Mister, you want everything for free! Normally, I don’t teach cultivation methods this way, but since this is the beginning part of the game, I've been doing it at my own discretion, and you don't appreciate my effort. Shame on you! After finishing the tests, go to the library and pay to learn more."

Yongno wondered, "What? Do they sell them at the library? Are cultivation methods that common here?"

‘Wasn’t this a fated ability to help boost my progress?’ Yongno looked frustrated.

Mari heaved a sigh at his expression, "Geez, I told you, things like fate don’t exist in DIO. Martial arts techniques like the Heavenly Magic Divine Technique or the Dark Northsea Divine Technique are all in the library, and they are easily acquirable if you can afford them.”

Yongno said, "So, the game gives everyone an equal opportunity to learn. Is that correct?"

"Exactly, and whether they reach that level is up to the user."

"Really?" Yongno nodded to agree with Mari, but something lingered in his mind.

‘This is just a game.’ This was the mindset that Yongno had taken up to now, remaining open-minded and accepting everything he experienced. Yet, ever since he realized that he was inside a game, Yongno gradually became aware of strange things.

‘This game isn’t normal….’

Games were entertainment provided to their users. Those who owned the game were paid based on the time people spent playing it or any other additional services. Everything was to gain benefits. Therefore, as users spent an increasing amount of time and money on the game, their characters grew stronger, and the players more excited.

‘There’s something weird about this system, though.’

Every player could access what would usually be a hidden skill, but only some people could reach the required level of mastery. Was this game dividing its users based on their 'abilities?'

Another suspicious thing was that the leveling in this game wasn’t affected by the users’ playtime or the number of monsters they caught. Instead, the players took tests and passed them to level up. Yongno had never seen a system like this in any other game.

This game didn’t treat veteran users more favorably but rather gave those who were adapted to the system an advantage with increased stats as they leveled up. This kind of system was close to….

"It's a school!" shouted Yongno.

Mari asked, "Excuse me?"

"Uh, nothing," Yongno muttered.

‘Then, the rewards for passing the tests and leveling are akin to scholarships given to those with exceptional academic performance, right?’

Questions arose in his mind, but Yongno started to perform the Golden Pill Immortal Technique. A message then appeared in front of him.

/Your Spiritual Power (Type: Internal Martial Arts) has increased by one point!/

Yongno shouted, "It went up!"

"It increases faster in the beginning,” said Mari.

He inquired, "When does the recovery speed increase?"

"I have no idea."

Yongno had made incredible progress. It took half a year to convert one point of spiritual power to internal energy in DIO. However, at this moment, Yongno had gathered half a year of internal energy by cultivating the Golden Pill Immortal Technique for ten minutes.

Awed by his abilities, Mari murmured, "Well, I knew that you were capable of this, but you’re doing it so effortlessly."

"What do you mean?"

"Your internal energy... Well, DIO doesn't have anything that would completely change someone for the better, but if we provided this service for about a year, many users would have master-level force."

The Golden Pill Immortal Technique was a divine method that emitted and performed miraculous powers, but it wasn’t enough to accumulate half a year of internal energy in ten minutes without any side effects, and Yongno had done just that. Actually, who on Earth would spend six decades playing a game to collect a total of sixty years of internal energy? From that perspective, what Yongno just did wasn’t impossible.

When it came to qi absorption, Yongno was an average person. There were other players who used different methods to train their internal energy, and due to the way DIO worked, they could grow stronger in a similar time frame to Yongno. This virtual world ran alongside each user’s talents or physical abilities.