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[You have Successfully passed the Trial of Strength.]
[• Would you like to go further? Or...]
[• Advance to the next Trial?]
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The system screen hovered before Kai's eyes as he sat on the ground, trying to catch his breath.
However exhausted his body may have looked, his mind was slaving away continuously—contemplating whether to continue to leave as it was.
'Even though I do have enough power to take them on, my body barely listens to my will... If taking a single goblin took such a toll, it might be the safest option to just leave as it is...' he frowned his eyes as his mind raced.
It was a safe option indeed, but Kai seemed somewhat unsatisfied with such an outcome.
"System, I—"
Just as he was about to declare his withdrawal from the first trial, he stopped mid-sentence and lowered his eyes in disappointment.
'What am I doing? Give up? Just when I got the opportunity to improve my life... I wanna give up?' he was deeply disappointed in himself.
For all his life, Kai had spent most of his time alone. Special occasions like birthdays held little to no importance to him because there was no one to celebrate or even remember that.
"Friends" and "Family"—these words felt like nothing but an unachievable dream to him.
It was a kind of life he had never wished to have.
Yet, when a life-turning opportunity was knocking on his door, he was foolishly trying to turn it away.
"System... I wanna keep going at it..." He said firmly as a small chuckle escaped his mouth.
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[Your choice has been confirmed.]
[The next monster will appear in 10 minutes.]
[You have received the reward of clearing the first Trial of the 'Trial of Strength'.]
[Rewards : (+1) Strength]
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"Huh?"
His eyes widened as he saw the reward. It was not a normal response, because since its launch, even the game—The Seven Calamities—never offered any systems of quests or rewards.
The game was designed to be completely fair to all. Unless one had Heavenly social skills or immense luck, they'd simply remain weak. That was the sole unspoken rule of the game.
Up until now, Kai had been thinking that the game he once loved so much, had become a reality. It was too tough of a thing for him to believe that such diverse worlds had existed before theirs.
But now that he had witnessed such a reward appear before his eyes, he had no other choice but to believe it.
To begin with, stats weren't something as simple as just putting numbers to some random names.
It was a rigorous experience of hell that everyone had to go through in order to get stronger.
But now?
He had obtained a strength stat for killing a mere goblin!
"I can't believe, I was about to lose such a Heaven-Sent opportunity!" A short, sharp gasp escaped his lungs as he muttered under his breath.
'Wait, so... Does that mean I can get more!?' He thought as his lips slightly parted in shock.
His eyes quickly darted toward the system screen and shrank as soon as he noticed the time.
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[Time Remaining: 01:00]
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Kai had already wasted 9 minutes thinking about stuff that wasn't necessarily important and was now left with just 1 minute to recover and get himself together.
He let out a long, steady breath and stood up. With short, slow steps, he moved towards the place where the first goblin spawned.
He then raised his right hand and flowed it through his hair, removing the only thing that could obscure his vision.
Clenching onto his blades, he took the stance once again and patiently waited for the next monster to arrive.
Ready for what was to come, his eyes sparkled as though he was truly looking forward to the next battle.
Time quickly slipped through his hands like sand, and the timer reached zero once again.
With a slight churn in the air, light emerged once again. However, something felt different this time. Rather than just one orb—there were two.
Both orbs expanded and took the shape of a very familiar creature.
Kai didn't look surprised at all. In fact, he was smiling as he looked at the same short physique and distinguishable features of the guys standing before him.
"More goblins? This is good..." He mumbled under his breath, waiting for them to completely spawn.
Soon, as the light faded away and the monsters became conscious, their eyes gleamed in a yellowish glow.
As one of the goblins turned around to check for any targets, his eyes widened in shock and his pupil shrank in an instant.
Time seemed to have slowed down for it, as it saw a dagger's edge mere centimeters away from his head, slowly moving towards him at an incredibly fast speed.
"KIEE—"
The time resumed. As it tried to shriek, the blade flew into him, stabbing his head and killing him at the same spot.
The goblin fell backward in a single sudden motion, while the other one was alerted as it realized that its kin was dead.
The other goblin panicked as it let out a sharp, desperate shriek and turned around to check where the dagger came from.
As he turned around, he was stunned for a moment as he saw a weak and frail human in mid-air coming at him with a dagger in his hands.
The man wasn't strong enough to inflict fear onto the goblin's mind, yet, the goblin froze as though he had seen the reaper's face.
Although his body was nothing more than a skeleton, his gleaming eyes and the grin that tugged onto his face sang a completely different song.
'Those Eyes! Danger!' Thoughts appeared in its head as it recognized the eyes of a predator very well.
To the goblin, the situation felt more like a Lion was playfully killing its prey—a rabbit.
Before it could think any further, Kai's blade finally came into contact with its neck.
And just like that, his head was sent flying into the air while the blood splattered around and the body fell to the ground.