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The morning after the endless march, the Watchguards’ groans filled the base like music.

‘Ugh…My legs are all swollen.’

‘My neck is killing me because I kept looking down while running.’

‘My back…’

The muscle soreness was a given, but some of their muscles were injured, and their energy was still at rock bottom. They were completely exhausted after a single day of training.

A familiar voice called out to them.

“Assemble.” Specter’s magic-enhanced voice woke them up. Even though the voice was quiet, it seemed to dig into their ears.

“Ugh…”

“Agh…”

They staggered into the hallway like zombies and exchanged looks with haggard faces.

‘I’m so tired I could die.’

‘Me too. But I’m glad...’

‘...Hehe. Yeah, we’ll probably just learn theory today.’

With their bodies in this state, there was no way they could continue stamina training. Once they gathered in the large living room, Specter approached them.

“Is everyone up?” he asked.

“Yessir…”

“Good morning…”

They saw him in a new light, looking at him like he was a monster.

‘He hiked the same amount as us yesterday, but he looks perfectly fine.’

‘In the final stretch, he even carried down some of the people who were too exhausted…’

‘Well, I suppose that was the bare minimum to be the strongest in the world back then.’

Specter had a monstrous amount of stamina. At that moment, they started to feel jealous of the energy filling Specter’s muscular body. If the Watchguards had that much energy, they would be able to hunt nonstop.

“Alright. Everyone shall drink one of these.” He held out a wooden box containing twenty-four medicine bottles. The Watchguards tilted their heads as they gathered in front of him.

“What is this...”

“Sniff. It smells like a potion; it smells pretty smooth…”

“They’re potions.” Specter nodded. “They’re expensive ones too. They’re five gold each.”

“F-five gold each?”

“...Are we allowed to drink something so expensive?”

The Watchguards swallowed and stared at the potions in the wooden box. Each one cost 50 million won. Even though they had been able to reach the 2nd floor, they never had such an expensive potion.

‘I should start earning more money as well…’

Specter thought. He had received 1,000 gold from Shim Deok-Gu when he first came up to the 2nd floor, but he planned to spend it all on his students, so his wallet would soon be empty. He didn’t want to ask Shim Deok-Gu for more money, either.

‘Even though we’re friends, I can’t ask him for help every time. He’s already helped me out a lot anyway.’

Now that Specter had finally regained his original strength, it was his turn to pay back his friend.

‘I should look into how other Players earn money these days.’

He handed out the potions to the Watchguards as their eyes sparkled. “Don’t worry about it. You guys worked really hard yesterday, so you deserve it. Drink it all down.”

“Specter-nim…”

“This is so thoughtful of you… I’m touched.”

They looked up at him, all choked up. Now, he looked nothing like the devil he had been yesterday when he pushed them forward without even giving them time to breathe.

‘Yeah. Specter-nim can’t be that evil.’

‘He’s a worldwide savior and idol. He can’t be that ruthless...’

‘He probably realized that yesterday’s training was too harsh.’

‘Specter-nim probably felt hurt when he watched us struggle.’

Was that not why he bought these expensive potions for them? The Watchguards drank them down gratefully. As the liquid flowed down their throats, it quickly started to restore the cells within their bodies. They sat down and circulated the magic energy in their bodies, and then opened their eyes with a refreshed look on their faces.

“All the muscle pains are gone!”

“Me too. I actually feel even better than yesterday.”

“Ahaha! I thought my thighs would explode when I sat down on the toilet earlier!”

They laughed and smiled as they shared their joy, and even Specter joined in. Of course, he was laughing for a different reason.

“Alright, shall we go now?”

“Yes! Wherever…” Arthur started to answer enthusiastically, but he stopped, cutting himself off. His Player instinct was warning him of something extremely dangerous.

But the die had already been cast…

“Let’s go. Today, we are stronger than yesterday. Tomorrow we’ll be stronger than today.”

“...”

“...”

The Watchguards seriously started to wonder if the effects of the potion would disappear if they threw it up.

***

Exactly one week had passed since the training began. Depending on whom you asked, that could be either a long or a short period of time.

For the Watchguards, for instance, it had been the longest week of their lives.

“What do you think?” Seo Jun-Ho asked as he took off his mask in his room, taking a sip of tea. It was night, and his students were completely knocked out. He was talking to the Frost Queen. She hadn’t been able to speak with him much lately as she had been hiding.

“Personally, I’m very impressed with your training methods.”

“Right? There’s nothing more effective than this.” Of course, his one-week basic stamina course had cost nearly 10 billion won or a thousand gold. When looking at the money, it hardly seemed worth it. “Other than the money, if you look at how much their stamina increased in such a short amount of time, there’s nothing better than this.”

Naturally, the Watchguards’ stamina had increased very quickly. From the moment they opened their eyes to the moment they went to sleep, all they did was run. Usually, if you pushed yourself hard, you had to wait until your worn muscles recovered before you could start training again. However, Seo Jun-Ho had the power of money.

“Now that I think about it, the big Guilds or the Fiend Association… they are probably using this method as well,” he commented.

“Mmhm. Effort will never betray you. It is good to see.”

Of course, this method had its downsides too. It was extremely exhausting for those that used it.

“But it doesn’t really matter since they won’t actually die,” Seo Jun-Ho said. Besides, I already have a successful precedent.”

Gilberto Green had been the first Player he had ever trained, and Gilberto clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of his methods.

“I do not know about other things, but I like your teaching methods,” the Frost Queen said.

“Well, you’ve trained me before, so I know how spartan you are.” She was an intense teacher, and he had even passed out once with his eyes open during her training.

“But, Contractor, will you only continue to do stamina training?” she asked.

“Nope. Today was the final day.” From tomorrow, they would start battle training.

“Considering that you only have two weeks to teach them everything, you are very pressed for time.”

“I’m only gonna teach them the basics.” No one in the world could become strong after only two weeks. Seo Jun-Ho planned to merely teach them how to become strong.

“It took half a year for Gilberto perfect the basics.”

Granted, the Watchguards were of a higher level and had higher stats than Gilberto had had, but that only meant it would be harder for them, because they would have to re-learn everything they already knew.

“Where will you go once you finish teaching them?” the Frost Queen asked.

“I don’t know. I suppose I’ll have to hunt around and raise my level first.” Currently, Seo Jun-Ho had two goals. The first was to raise his level, and the other was to train his skills. “I’m doing well with my other skills… Frost is the only one I’m still not familiar with.”

The truth was, he was much more comfortable with Watchguard of Darkness, which he had been using for five years. It already felt like an extension of his body. On the other hand, he could feel how wide the distance between himself and Frost was.

“I used Frost a lot more on the 1st floor. Tsk.” He had barely been able to use it on the 2nd floor because the 2nd floor didn’t have closed Gates. He was always hesitant to use his skill because anyone could find traces of it.

“Contractor.” The Frost Queen placed down her teacup. There was something she had been thinking about for some time now, and she decided that it was time to say it. “Caution will serve you well, but if you continue like this, you may never be able to use the Frost Skill properly.”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho closed his mouth. She was right.

“It is only natural that you would have difficulty mastering the skill—that is how complex it is.”

Watchguard of Darkness was similar to Frost but different at the same time. They were both elemental skills, but they had different uses.

“Before you fight the fiends at Port Lane, allow me to train you once more,” the Frost Queen said.

“...Train me,” he mumbled. There were things you could only learn by moving forward, but there were also things that you could only learn once you looked back after teaching someone else.

‘I’m definitely stronger now.’

Even if the world knew that he had the Frost skill, it wouldn’t be dangerous for him. Now, he was strong enough to handle most fiends.

‘Other than the Squadron Leaders and the executives above them…’

But if he kept worrying about them, he would never be able to use his skill. At least, not until he became the strongest person in the world.

‘Actually, this is a good thing...’

If the Squadron Leaders ambushed him, nothing bad would come out of it. They would be caught off guard by his counterattack with Watchguard of Darkness.

“So, Specter will use darkness, and Seo Jun-Ho will use ice. Is that it?” he wondered out loud. It felt like he was playing two different people. He would have to live two different lives as well. “But if I do that, there will be more things I can do.”

“And you have a good backstory, do you not?”

“A backstory… Oh, you’re right.” She made him realize something again. Seo Jun-Ho was currently acting as Specter’s proxy. If he went up to the 3rd floor, possessing an ice elemental skill, without even knowing how to handle the heat… “Rather than target Specter, the fiends would prefer to target…”

“The inexperienced Seo Jun-Ho,” the Frost Queen finished.

“Hmmm.” He looked at her with an unreadable expression.

‘Is it because I’ve been feeding her a lot of Spirit Crystal these days? I don’t think she used to be this smart.’

He used to think that all she did was eat cake and drink tea, but she was actually pretty thoughtful. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him, sulking. “Contractor, what are you thinking about?”

“Nothing…”

“Somehow… I get the feeling that you are surprised by my intelligence.”

“Do you want some more cake?” He was obviously trying to change the subject. The Frost Queen nodded, but she still looked suspicious.

“...Tiramisu, please. And a cup of earl grey.” It definitely wasn’t because she wanted more snacks.

***

Each Player had unique abilities. There wasn’t even an inheritance factor that could be passed from parent to child. The same was true for Arthur.

‘Telekinesis.’

It was a very common skill, and it was just as famous. There were also many well-known telekinetic Players.

‘But it’s C-grade… It’s a gray area.’

Arthur wasn’t the only one with this issue. Most of the Watchguards, especially the combatants, had low-grade skills. River was a non-combatant, but his B-grade skill was the highest among them.

“Don’t worry. You just need to raise your skill grade,” Specter said.

“...!”

Their eyes widened. It was every Player’s dream to raise their skill grade, but most of them failed. Countless Players and scholars presented theories on how to do so, but every single one had been incorrect.

‘But if it’s Specter-nim…’

‘He’s the person who raised the grades of Gilberto-nim’s skills.’

‘He should have some special methods we can use...’

He looked at the naive hope in their eyes and shot them down. “Before I continue, don’t get your hopes up. I don’t have any special methods.”

“Oh…”

Arthur spoke up among the slightly-disappointed Watchguards. “What do we have to do to raise our skill grades, then?”

“You just need a little talent, luck; and a lot of effort.”

“Talent…”

The Players were aware of how big of a barrier natural talent posed. Those with talent would get into good Guilds, and those without talent would stay on the 1st floor for the rest of their lives. Their very starting points were different.

“But all of you made it to the 2nd floor, which is the result of either talent or effort. This means you have at least one of them.” That was enough. Specter hadn’t used any particular training methods to raise the grades of Gilberto’s skills. “All you have to do is use your skills until you’re tired of it—until it feels like a part of you.”

He felt the same way when he received the Frost Queen’s special training. Back then, he used the Frost skill until he passed out with his eyes open. His understanding of the skill had drastically improved after that.

‘Of course, considering how high Frost’s grade is, it’ll take even longer to master…’

It had taken him about two and a half years to get to the point where using Watchguard of Darkness felt natural. As an EX-grade skill, it might be even harder to reach that level with Frost.

But forget EX-grade, the Watchguards didn’t even have any S or A-grade skills.

“If you want to increase your understanding of your skills, you have to use it consistently.” He held out his hand, and darkness condensed around it. In an instant, the shadows formed a cudgel, and he swung it around as he spoke, “And of course, the fastest way to do that is in real battle.”

This required one factor: a strong opponent that could beat you to the brink of death.

“Now, you guys will step up and fight me, one at a time.”

The Watchguards were blessed to have someone to fulfill that role right in front of them.