Clack— clack—

Early in the morning, Lady Arendel, holding a basket, arrived at the infirmary.

"…Princess?"

The duty officer and the maidservants, who had hurriedly gotten up, lined up before the unexpected visitor.

"Your Highness, you didn’t inform us you were coming…"

"Yeah. Don’t mind me. Just do your own duties."

Aisha, without even glancing at the servants, checked her appearance in the reflection by the window.

She was adjusting her bangs, shyly, with an expression that made the maids think her utterly adorable.

‘But why is she here today?’
‘I don’t know. I heard one knight got admitted today…’

Aisha walked down the hallway with quick steps, her blushing cheeks hiding any trace of embarrassment as she opened the door to the hospital room.

"Karon."

On the bed by the window, a man lay covered with a blanket.

Aisha tried to hold back the smile that crept onto her face, pressing her lips together.

"I told you to stop getting hurt."

"……"

"Are you sleeping?"

Aisha gently pulled the blanket back, but froze when she saw who was lying there.

"Pingbalge?!"
"…Who are you?"

His expression had hardened in cold shock.

It wasn’t Karon.

In the bed that was almost exclusively for Karon, there lay a clueless-looking man who seemed to have been dragged in after disturbing a beehive.

"…Where’s Karon?"
"Huh? Who’s Karon…?"

"…"

"Huh."

Pingbalge, deeply moved by the princess's sudden visit, blinked his teary eyes in confusion.

Lately, I had been consumed by complex thoughts.

[Your life stat has exceeded the limit.]
[The natural healing effect has exceeded the limit.]

‘What does this mean?’

Was it a reward for the four years of constant beatings? Or perhaps it was the human limit, meaning I could no longer grow?

Exceeding the limit meant that within the human category, I had reached the highest level.

In gaming terms, it was the end-game specs.

[Life stat mileage +8]
[Life stat mileage +12]
……

But still, my stats continued to rise.

It wasn’t over yet.

‘This is the limit.’

Lost Heaven’s status system didn’t allow for hyper-focus on a single stat.

Once you reached a higher level, your growth in that area would be restricted until other relevant fields were raised to a certain level—essentially, a stat tech tree.

In short, it meant not to be a concept abuser, but to balance your stats wisely.

Of course, any stats accumulated up until then were stored as mileage and would be rewarded once the limit was lifted.

‘How much has my life stat accumulated?’

Coincidentally, I had no means to check my stat figures.

Things like "status window" or "attributes" were off-limits; even if I shouted, the status window remained stubbornly inaccessible.

I couldn’t even see my skill list.

However, I could freely view the information about abilities I had gained since reincarnating.

◆ Super Regeneration (Unique)
: Quickly repairs damaged areas.
: Can be activated continuously by consuming life force.
: The physical potential is what can truly be called a powerhouse.

This ability, gained from a recent event, was classified as "unique."

I had never heard of such a setting before.

For now, I assumed it was some kind of reward for achieving a certain accomplishment.

I hadn’t played Lost Heaven long enough to earn such rewards…

‘Would I regenerate if my heart or head exploded?’

At first, it seemed like an unrealistic thought.

Since Lost Heaven, based on a Souls-like game, certainly had vital spots, it would make sense that there were spots one couldn’t regenerate.

Normally, critical hits would result in death.

However, when life force was outrageously high, the story might be different.

‘It doesn’t seem entirely impossible, though.’

If my being was still influenced by the game’s system, and as long as my life force didn’t run out, I could survive even if my head were severed.

‘Interesting.’

In the midst of these speculations, I was certain of one fact.

‘Raising the stats to the limit grants free skills.’

The stats I could still raise were strength, stamina, and toughness.

This added another reason to grow stronger.

‘Don’t get complacent.’

It would have been nice to take it easy now, but that wasn’t an option. After all, monsters with only high life force would just be excellent sandbags with good impact.

"Hey, little brother~ You seem to have a lot on your mind today."

…Just like now.

"Yeah. I guess I’m due for a little punishment with your love’s switch."

"Hehe, how is it that even when you provoke me, you’re so cute?"

"Well, when you get older, even if a young person poops on the street, it looks cute."

"…Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

Laughing brightly, Sharon put down her wooden sword and grabbed a monstrous club from somewhere, swinging it through the air.

"Actually, you’re the child I picked up under the bridge."

"How could you say something so cruel…!"

Suddenly declaring me her "little brother," Sharon dashed forward with a kick to the ground.

I immediately corrected my stance and focused.

‘Here it comes!’

Before I could even think, Sharon vanished, leaving only an afterimage.

‘What? Has she been holding back this entire time?’

In the blink of an eye, Sharon had closed the distance, and now with a smiling face, she was preparing for the ultimate training swing.

‘Sh*t, I need to hit it back!’

I couldn’t track her movements at all.

It was probably an inevitable situation.

Sharon was the Goddess of the First Turn.

A fight based on speed was unfair.

But was Sharon just someone who relied only on speed?

Not at all. Sharon’s natural aura was destructive power at the peak of the world.

"Strike~!"

"Ugh!!"

Thud—!!

With a dull blow, an overwhelming shockwave followed.

My mind spun, and I momentarily lost focus.

"…What is this? Did I die and end up in heaven?"

When I opened my eyes again, I was soaring 40 meters in the air.

"…The upper atmosphere is quite refreshing."

The fleeting sense of achievement from breaking the Guinness World Record quickly evaporated as I saw Sharon in the distance, still smiling, having knocked me clear off the ground.

‘Will I never be able to beat her?’

If I’d encountered Sharon as an enemy in real combat, I’d already be dead.

If I insisted on dealing damage while taking hits, I wouldn’t live long.

Against upper-tier monsters, with life force and attack power both outrageously high, it was vital that humans, who were physically inferior, surpassed their opponents in skill.

An example of this was Calcas.

And worse, there were plenty of terrifying monsters roaming the North…

‘…?’

But why?

The moment I thought of that name, a realization hit me.

‘Why didn’t I think of this before?’

I recalled the terrifying blow Calcas had dealt me in our previous encounter.

Overwhelming destructive force. Lightning-fast movements.

All of it had come from his physical power, which was strange. My physical stats were far superior, so why couldn’t I avoid that hit?

The reason was that his punch had landed like a time-lapse film running at high speed.

There was no time to react.

It was as if he was living in a different time zone.

And at the core of that was his fighting spirit.

‘Alright. Time to try it myself.’

With the ground rapidly approaching, I closed my eyes and concentrated deeply on my inner self.

Every fiber of muscle. Every vein in my body. I could sense them all.

"──!"

Then, all my thoughts sank deep within me, and a new sense emerged.

I could feel the beat of my internal organs as clearly as if they were breathing. I could see every single pathway the blood was traveling through!

‘I can do this.’

Soon, every cell that made up my body ceased to act independently and began to follow my will.

I swelled my muscles and pumped up my heart's rhythm.

My blood started to boil as my body temperature shot up, and red energy began to surge out from my entire being.

And then—

"…!!"

An unbelievable scene unfolded before my eyes.

A void where nothing existed.

In that surreal space, eight walls stood tall, like mountains, gradually revealing their overwhelming presence before me.

"…"

I approached the first wall, entranced, and touched it. The subtle crack that spread from my fingertips shattered the wall.

That broken wall became a door.

And as I stepped through it—

Crash—!!

A tremendous shock surged from below my feet.

"…!"

"…!"

The training grounds caved in, and the knights watching from a distance held their breath as I, undistracted, focused only on my inner power.

My entire body’s muscles beat like a heart.

Lava-like heat overflowed from my body.

At the same time, my mind became clearer than ever before.

"My little brother, are you okay…?"

Suddenly, blood spurted from my mouth.

My blood flow twisted like a mad whirlpool. At the same time, my muscles expanded, and time itself seemed to slow down.

Snap—!

Though every bone in my body cracked under the pressure, it was nothing to me.

[Unique skill ‘Super Regeneration’ is now continuously activated.]
[Life force is being consumed to rapidly heal.]

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