"Okay, this is the last one," Sungjun muttered with his gaze as cold and hard as an ice berg. He clenched his fists as the countdown timer above ticked down.
Ten… nine… eight…
With a mana saber in his right hand and a mana spear in his left, the instant the timer hit zero, Sungjun darted forward with full speed, his movements honed by failure, pain, and vast experience he had accumulated over like twenty consecutive deaths or more. He made his way to the giant's backside, just as he had done several times before.
Without hesitation, he sliced through its right Achilles tendon.
GRAAAHHHHHH—!
The beast collapsed, roaring in agony as it hit the ground. Sungjun didn't stop. He circled around and cleanly severed its left Achilles tendon as well, ensuring it had no chance of standing again.
As its toxic blood gushed from the massive wounds like a jet spray, Sungjun jumped onto the monster's back, sprinting along its spine while the massive club came swinging toward him.
He ducked under it and slid forward.
At just the right moment, he plunged the energy spear into the beast's club-holding wrist.
SHRIIEEK!
A flood of burning blood shot out.
Just as its right hand bent backwards to catch him, Sungjun murmured. "Activate, Lightning God Armor."
The electrical sparks erupted from his body, and he instantly vanished from the blood's path in a streak of blur, zigzagging away as the right hand just missed him.
While charging ahead, he conjured another spear in mid-motion.
"Die, you bastard."
Without hesitation, he drove the spear deep into the base of the spine, right where the nape connected to the skull, and jumped back as another wave of acidic blood sprayed outward.
Still in mid-air, he saw the giant's eye twitch toward him.
*Graaa* gra* graaaa*
The beast could no longer move its limbs. Its head shook faintly, roaring in pain and struggle. With every bit of strength left, the creature slightly turned its neck and opened its jagged, grotesque mouth to swallow him whole.
But Sungjun landed perfectly, right on one of its front teeth.
Using it as a launch pad, he kicked off again with full force, rising high above its face.
In that instant, two sharp spears, smaller and hastily forged, appeared in his hands, created from the last stretch of his mana.
"Oraaaa. Die…"
With a roar, he hurled one down.
PFFFT!
The spear pierced the giant's eye. It howled in pain.
Sungjun landed safely below, panting heavily, but he wasn't finished yet. "C'mon…"
Amidst its agonizing screech, he rushed forward one final time, leapt onto its chest, and climbed up to its face again.
He stabbed the last spear straight into the other eye, burying it deep until only the hilt remained. Then he jumped away and landed on the cracked, dusty ground with his mana completely spent.
Graaaaaaaa!
Behind him, the colossus let out one last broken scream before going utterly still. Its body began to twitch, then collapse.
At once, its entire body slammed to the earth.
Sungjun didn't move. He simply stood there, staring at the monster's corpse, waiting to see if it would rise again. There's still half a minute left before the final Lightning God Armor dissipates.
However, the giant didn't wake up. It slowly disappeared.
He let out a long and quiet breath as the floating screen finally returned, shimmering above him.
*Ding!
[System Notification]
[Compulsory Physical Trial has been completed]
[Reward: +1 Skill Point Acquired]
Returning to Origin World in: 10… 9… 8…
Sungjun exhaled as he muttered under his breath, clenching his fists as a breathless smile curled on his lips. "Finally… I actually pulled it off…"
His eyes fluttered shut. The moment of peace felt almost surreal after 20-odd deaths and continuous repeated battles.
3… 2… 1…
Soon, the timer hit zero, and a soft pulse of white light engulfed him. Sungjun landed softly on the bed, returning to his room.
Sungjun blinked rapidly, looking around to confirm that it was indeed his place. However, when he snapped his eyes to the smartphone on the bedside table, he saw that the time was stated: 00:43.
That's exactly the same number of minutes he spent fighting the monster.
"So, the time flows normally in the real world, after all. But that's fine. After all, I…"
*Ding!
"Eh?" Sungjun was forced to stop mumbling as the same floating screen gently blinked above him again.
[Daily Mission has been refreshed]
Daily Mission: Burn 5000 kcal
Progress: 0 / 5000 kcal
Reward: +1 Skill Point
Deadline: 23:59 Today
"Ugh," Sungjun couldn't help but groan, seeing that…
He sat up slowly with a serious expression on his face, "I… I don't think I can do that again," he murmured in a shaky voice. "Just because I managed to defeat it doesn't mean I would want to face that thing every single day. And who knows what kind of monster the system will generate in order to kill me differently? And who knows if the rules remain the same, too."
He shuddered for a moment as the vivid memories of every brutal death flashed across his mind: being crushed, burned, melted, splattered, and skewered. Back then, he didn't think too much about it as he had only 10 seconds to even think, and his focus was entirely on defeating the giant, but now that there was peace around, the memories of deaths came to him all at once.
Sungjun fell back on his bed and lay there. "Burning 5000 calories will be my first priority from now on."
Several hours later;
The sun had almost reached its peak when Sungjun was in the workout.
His breath steamed in the air as he pushed his body through a grueling session—burpees, sprint drills, weighted squats, resistance core sets. Sweat poured off his back and arms like rain.
The holographic screen hovered nearby, displaying his progress in bright orange text.
Calories Burned: 4918 / 5000 kcal
"Just 72 to go…"
Six hours of nonstop workout…
Today, he didn't go out to open the store. He didn't offer to drop his kids off at school either. Since dawn, Sungjun has only focused on the workout.
Another ten minutes later, the smartwatch around his wrist beeped and beeped before he put the brakes on his legs and slowed down on the treadmill.
*Ding!
[You completed the Daily Mission. +1 Skill Point is added.]
After a while, coming out of the warm shower, Sungjun sat down on the couch and relaxed a bit, letting out a long groan. The mansion steward walked to him and bowed. "Master, the lunch is prepared."
Sungjun sighed. "Alright." After a brief pause, he added. "Robert, I'm leaving for Southern Wu this evening and won't return for a few days. Look after the house."
"Eh?" The steward looked a bit surprised as Southern Wu is located in Zhonggou, where Pavel has no business at all. But, in the end, he didn't question and gave a bow. "Understood, Master Han."