The forest was silent—a heavy silence that did not suggest peace. Jin stood among the giant tree trunks, his breathing steady, but his eyes tracking every movement.
Before him stood three giant Trolls. Their thick green skin dripped with a viscous substance that caught the faint daylight. The stench of death from their foul breath filled the air, and their protruding tusks gleamed with a primal threat.
Jin (in a cold whisper):
"You aren't the strongest... but you're enough for training."
He lowered his center of gravity and planted his feet into the damp soil. In that moment, it wasn't just his muscles that moved; mana flowed through his circuits like a raging river forced through a narrow pipe.
[Momentum Thrust]
The thrust was like a dragon's breath scorching the earth; the air in the blade's path "melted." The strike pierced the first Troll's chest, not just tearing the flesh, but creating a gaping hole. The massive beast's body was thrown back several meters before collapsing like a falling mountain.
Jin moved like a calm hurricane. He monitored the flow of aura, compressing it at the pivot points and releasing it in moments of momentum. To him, these giants were merely "measuring tools" in his combat laboratory. Within minutes, the area had turned into a graveyard for monsters.
Jin (grumbling as he collected the magic stones):
"Damn this system... why doesn't the Tower's inventory work outside its walls? This is truly exhausting."
Jin left the site, heading to the next mission, which ended in a heartbeat. But, before he could turn to leave, he paused for a moment.
It wasn't the usual "monster threat." He sensed a different presence.
Jin (warily):
"Humans? Here?"
He tracked the trail cautiously until dilapidated wooden huts came into view. This was no farmer's village; it reeked of filth and plunder. A bandit hideout.
Jin spread his "Perception" to its widest range, and in that instant, his heart skipped a beat. Inside the largest hut, he saw a sight that provoked his rage more than anything else.
Women and children, tied up like cattle. Their faces were bruised, their eyes drowned in absolute despair. And in the corners... small corpses that had found no one to bury them.
Jin's face changed completely. It wasn't a childish anger, but a profound sorrow that stirred old memories. This sight was enough to ignite his fury.
He slipped inside quietly and began unbinding the prisoners' chains, only to be interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind him.
A voice from behind:
"Well, look at this... has a little rat crawled into the trap?"
Jin turned slowly. He looked at the man with extinguished features. The gang members gathered, carrying rusted weapons and wearing smiles filthier than their blades.
Jin (in a heavy voice full of sorrow):
"Why?"
A short silence. Then they burst into laughter.
One of them: "Look at the kid! Asking why! Hahaha!"
Another: "Of course, we're going to enjoy the women and sell them! And you? We'll take you with them."
A third (with a hysterical laugh): "I like kids too..."
The children behind him trembled. Jin felt rage gnawing at his chest. He bit his lip until blood flowed, then spoke with a terrifying calmness:
"I will take these people... and leave. It's best... if you don't stand in my way."
They laughed harder. Jeers, insults, and mockery of the women's weakness and the children's crying filled the air. Jin turned his head slightly.
Jin (with a quiet kindness): "Take the children inside. Don't come out... until I open the door for you."
Then he looked back at them and asked in a broken voice:
"Why? Why do you exist everywhere? What satisfies you? What is the fun in this? Why does the life of the weak have no value to you?"
They laughed again.
At that moment—Jin lost control. He punched the nearest man with all his might. The body flew... slammed into a tree, and fell motionless.
Silence.
Then—they charged.
Jin drew his sword. The battle began. It wasn't elegant. It wasn't training. It was... rage.
Jin tried not to kill. He struck, he broke, he knocked them down.
But—in a moment of tension, he reinforced his sword with aura. The blades clashed. The man's sword shattered, and his head was severed.
Time froze. Jin stood... shocked.
Only seconds had passed, but inside his mind... it was years of hell.
A conscience screamed: You killed a human!
Another countered: If you hadn't... they would have killed the innocent.
He remembered the monsters and the blood, but this... was different. This wasn't a monster. This was a human.
His hand trembled.
Then—an attack. He snapped back to reality and continued until the battle ended. Ten... corpses.
Jin sheathed his sword coldly. No expression. No sound.
He opened the door. The children looked at him... and cried. Not out of gratitude... but out of terror.
Jin (quietly): "Go back... to the village."
They fled. Women and children... more terrified than grateful.
Jin stood alone, silent, but inside him... was a hell. A conscience flogging him, while another whispered: You did the right thing.
Killing monsters was a game... but humans?
This was a price. A price that would never be erased. He looked at his hands, then closed his eyes.
And so... a new page began in the young man's life. A page that would change him... in ways he never expected.