The Proving Grounds (1)
Warm golden light swallowed Seo Jun whole.
For a brief moment, everything disappeared. Even the sensation of his own body faded into nothingness.
Then, the light scattered.
Seo Jun slowly opened his eyes.
The world had changed. The blood-soaked fortress was gone. The deafening cheers of survivors had vanished.
Even the metallic smell of blood and the lingering scent of ash had disappeared without a trace.
Silence greeted him.
Krix the Goblin was not here.
Neither were the other participants.
From the very beginning of Stage Four, complete isolation had been enforced.
Each participant was separated into their own space.
No allies. No voices.
No presence to sense.
Only silence… and the trial ahead.
A vast circular arena stretched endlessly before him.
At first glance, the ground appeared to be made of flawless white marble.
But Seo Jun quickly realized it was something far more extraordinary.
The surface bore countless faint scars.
Subtle traces left behind by blades, fists, and powers beyond imagination.
Most had been smoothed away by time.
Yet they remained. Like silent witnesses. This wasn't merely an arena.
It was a sparring ground.
A sacred battlefield created to test the strength of countless beings.
Those who stood here would prove their worth.
Or be found lacking.
The pure white floor reflected the sky above like a giant mirror, creating the illusion that heaven and earth had become one.
There were no walls. No gates. No audience. No place to run.
Only an endless blue sky stretched overhead.
The entire space felt detached from reality.
As though this place existed somewhere beyond the reach of the world itself.
Not a single gust of wind moved through the arena.
No birds. No insects. No distant echoes. Nothing.
The silence was so complete that Seo Jun could hear the steady rhythm of his own heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Every sound seemed amplified. Every breath carried weight.
A normal person would have felt uneasy.
Perhaps even afraid.
But Seo Jun simply stood there and observed.
His eyes calmly swept across the arena.
Analyzing. Judging. Memorizing.
This was not his first battlefield.
And it certainly wouldn't be his last.
A slow breath escaped his lips.
"So this is Stage Four..."
Ding.
A soft mechanical chime echoed through the empty space.
The sound spread across the arena like ripples on still water.
Moments later, a blue window materialized before him.
✦ ✦ ✦
[System Notice]
[Participant Lee Seo-Jun has entered Stage Four.]
[Welcome to the Proving Grounds.]
✦ ✦ ✦
Seo Jun quietly read the message.
His expression remained calm. The name alone told him everything he needed to know.
The Proving Grounds.
Not a battlefield. Not a survival zone.
A place of judgment. A place where strength itself would be measured.
Until now, every stage had allowed participants to rely on one another.
Allies. Strategies. Teamwork. Trust. Guidance.
But this place was different.
Everything unnecessary had been stripped away.
No companions. No support.
Only the individual remained.
Only the self.
A person's true worth was revealed when they stood alone.
Strength.
Willpower.
Talent.
Conviction.
Here, none of it could be hidden.
For a moment, Seo Jun thought of Ha Neul, Min Ho and others.
Somewhere beyond this isolated space, they were likely facing their own trials.
Alone.
Just like him.
The thought settled warmly in his chest. They were alive and already passed the necessary test to become a hunter.
That alone was enough. They had awakened successfully. They had survived.
Even if they failed this stage, their Mana Cores would remain intact.
Their future would not end here.
But Seo Jun knew something most people didn't.
Power changed people.
Not always for the worse. Not always for the better.
But it changed them nonetheless.
Once someone experienced true strength...
Once they felt themselves surpass their limits...
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Returning to weakness became almost impossible.
A lion could never willingly live as a sheep.
Strength gave birth to ambition.
Ambition gave birth to growth.
And growth demanded struggle.
A faint smile appeared on Seo Jun's face.
"They'll fight."
His quiet voice echoed across the silent arena.
"They'll suffer."
His eyes remained fixed on the endless horizon.
"They'll fall."
A brief pause followed.
Then his smile deepened.
"And they'll stand back up stronger than before."
Because true growth was never born from comfort.
It was born from adversity.
And those who endured adversity...
Would eventually become monsters capable of changing the world.
The system window shifted.
✦ ✦ ✦
[The Proving Grounds evaluate your personal combat foundation]
[Defeat the Level One opponent to pass]
[Select your combat style]
✦ ✦ ✦
Icons floated in the air.
Sword. Spear. Bow. Gauntlets. Staff.
And many more.
Seo Jun looked down.
His dark greatsword was gone.
Of course.
The system didn't allow borrowed power here.
Fairness wasn't kindness.
It was pressure.
A test with no excuses.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
In his past life, he had used everything.
Magic that burned cities.
Blades that cut mountains.
Techniques that bent reality itself.
But that wasn't what he needed now.
"This time…"
"I build it properly."
He raised his hand.
And pressed the sword icon.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Path of the Sword Selected]
[Generating Standard Armament]
✦ ✦ ✦
A flash of light.
A simple steel longsword dropped onto the marble.
No aura. No enchantment. No hidden power.
Just iron, leather, weight, and balance.
Something real.
Seo Jun picked it up.
His fingers adjusted around the grip. Then he tested it once.
WHOOSH.
No resistance beyond what the blade itself demanded.
A small smile formed on his face.
"Good."
Because true strength always started here.
Not with power.
But with control.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Commencing The Proving Grounds]
[Level One Opponent Generating]
✦ ✦ ✦
Blue particles spread across the arena.
They gathered slowly at first. Then faster. Like dust being pulled into a single will.
A humanoid figure began to form.
Gray stone body.
Smooth, featureless face.
No emotion. No hesitation.
In its hand. A mirrored steel sword.
Level One.
Weak.
But not meaningless.
It was built to fight like a human.
To move like one. To kill like one.
A perfect imitation of basic combat structure.
The moment it fully formed.. it moved.
It charged forward with a textbook overhead strike.
It was clean and predictable.
Seo Jun didn't even raise his guard.
He simply stepped aside.
The blade slammed into marble.
CRACK!
Stone exploded outward.
Seo Jun's sword moved once.
A diagonal line of steel.
No flourish. No waste.
Only intent.
The stone head separated cleanly from the body.
The construct shattered into blue light.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Level One Cleared]
[Proceed?]
✦ ✦ ✦
"Proceed."
No hesitation.
[Level Two Generated]
The sword in its hand changed. Each stage provides a new sword.
Heavier.
Better balanced.
Still basic but now refined for actual combat.
The newly made guardian didn't rush in immediately.
It tested distance first.
Then stepped in.
A sharp midline thrust followed by a delayed slash meant to catch the reaction.
Three seconds.
That was all it lasted.
Seo Jun moved once.
He parried the attack, stepped in, and drove his sword forward in a clean, precise thrust.
The chest fractured into light.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Level Two Cleared]
[Proceed?]
✦ ✦ ✦
"Proceed."
With each advancing stage the world around Seo Jun grew heavier
The pressure was no longer simple strength but layered intent as if the system itself was learning how to kill him more efficiently
The constructs that appeared after Level Three no longer rushed forward blindly, they measured distance tested timing and adjusted their rhythm in real time.
Yet Seo Jun crossed them without hesitation.
Level Three fell in a single exchange.
Level Four followed soon after as layered feints were reduced to nothing by a single clean cut.
There was no wasted motion in him anymore, only what was necessary to end the fight.
When Level Ten was generated the atmosphere changed completely.
Seo Jun tightened his grip slightly.
Good
For the first time he adjusted his stance in response.
Not defensive, not reactive, but grounded,
Iron Body equivalent at stats twenty one.
The sensation of the opponent was different now.
Fast, heavy, experienced.
The construct that emerged did not feel like a mere training opponent anymore
It waited first then moved with calculated restraint reading every shift in Seo Jun's stance before committing to any action.
A storm of steel descended.
Thrust after thrust, slash after slash, each strike compressing space like a tightening cage.
Its attacks were no longer singular but woven into continuous chains designed to trap response itself.
Seo Jun's gaze sharpened.
He did not try to overpower it.
He listened instead.
The shift of the shoulder before each swing. The pressure through the heel before the step. The breath that preceded intent.
Everything spoke. The blade was not chaos. It was language expressed through violence
Seo Jun stepped into it.
Not away. Not back.
Into the rhythm itself.
A blade passed close enough to cut air against his cheek. Another scraped along his sleeve.
He simply observed until the moment the construct's intent became definite.
Then the pattern opened for the briefest instant.
And when it did his sword moved.A single motion.
His sword slid through iron with quiet certainty.
The space between thought and death vanished and the construct broke apart into fading light.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Level Ten cleared]
[Proceed?]
✦ ✦ ✦
"Proceed."
The air changed.
It has become heavier and colder than before.
The system stopped pretending.
Level Eleven.
Twelve.
Thirteen.
Now every strike carried weight.
Now every mistake punished bone.
Seo Jun's breathing slowed.
His arms trembled slightly.
Not from fear.
From load, from exhaustion.
His body was still too young. Too human.
But the exhaustion continued to accumulate.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Level Fourteen cleared]
[Physical strain increasing]
[Proceed?]
✦ ✦ ✦
Sweat dripped from his chin.
He wiped it away once.
Grip tightened.
"Proceed."
Then, silence broke.
A pillar of dark blue light erupted.
Level Fifteen appeared.
Silver armor.
Not stone, Not iron.
A living construct of energy and steel.
Its presence pressed down like gravity.
Seo Jun felt it immediately.
Strength
Stamina
Agility
All around 27.
Same as the Mutated Orc boss.
But worse. This one didn't rage.
It knew. It raised its sword.
Pointed it directly at Seo Jun's throat.
A duel invitation.
Seo Jun smiled. A thin, sharp expression.
"This is more like it."
It vanished. A sonic boom cracked the air as the strike arrived faster than thought.
CLANG.
Seo Jun blocked, but the impact tore through his arms and dragged him across the marble. Deep grooves carved into the ground beneath his feet.
The silver knight did not pause.
No hesitation. No mercy.
A storm of perfect thrusts followed, each one refined to erase distance itself. Steel fell like falling light, compressing space into death.
Seo Jun gave ground step by step, deflecting, redirecting, surviving by the smallest margins.
His sword had already been pushed beyond its limit. With every clash, cracks spread further along the blade, spidering through the metal like fragile glass.
Too many exchanges.
Too many impacts against something far heavier than it was meant to endure.
If it broke now, everything would collapse in an instant.
His breathing slowed.
His steps stopped.
He planted his feet firmly against the marble.
And closed his eyes.
"Listen…"
Not to the blade.
Not to the speed.
To the intent.
The knight struck again.
This time, Seo Jun didn't retreat.
He moved forward, inside the strike.
Not away. Not sideways. But inside.
The blade scraped past his ribs.
Tearing cloth. Missing flesh by millimeters.
A normal fighter would have panicked. A normal fighter would have blocked.
Seo Jun did neither. He accepted it.
Let it pass through the space he had already calculated.
Then, he turned it. His sword moved once.
Not strong. Not fast. But perfect.
It slipped through the narrowest gap. Between armor plates. Between movement timing.
A single perfect final cut was sufficient. Not because the fight was easy. But because everything before it had already been decided.
The exchanges, each step, each clash, each near miss were not wasted. They were preparation. Each movement had a purpose.
Each collision carried meaning. Each cut that scraped the armor, even slightly, was not empty.
It accumulated. It weakened. It created invisible cracks in the system's certainty.
So when the final moment arrived… there was nothing left to defend.
Only an opening. And Seo Jun took it.
So when the opening finally appeared… Seo Jun didn't hesitate.
His sword passed through it.
And that was enough.
The knight froze.
Its sword dropped.
CLANG.
Blue energy flickered inside its chest.
Then faded. The armor collapsed like an empty shell.
Silence.
Seo Jun exhaled slowly.
Blood ran down his cheek. His arms burned. His body screamed.
But his eyes were clear. Sharper than before.
"I can win… and I can keep winning after that."
✦ ✦ ✦
[Level Fifteen cleared]
[Maximum tutorial parameter exceeded]
[Evaluating performance]
✦ ✦ ✦
Seo Jun lowered his sword. Looked up.
Waiting for the golden light. For the exit.
But, nothing came.
The sky changed.
Blue turned red. The marble cracked. Black obsidian rose like veins across the floor.
The air screamed.
A bell rang through the arena.
Not a chime. It was a warning.
An ending and a beginning.
✦ ✦ ✦
[System Anomaly Detected]
[Participant has exceeded evaluation limits]
[Recalculating boundaries]
[Hidden Condition Triggered]
[Unlocking forbidden layer]
✦ ✦ ✦
Seo Jun tightened his grip.
His stance shifted instantly.
No relaxation. No curiosity.
Only combat readiness.
"This isn't over."
The system responded.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Welcome to Level Sixteen]
[The past of the Ancient Sword Demon is generating]
[Survive]
✦ ✦ ✦
To make it a little fair, the system provided a new sword.
The center of the arena exploded.
White light erupted like a second sun.
Pressure crushed the air.
Seo Jun's foot slid back against his will.
For the first time in this trial, his body reacted before his mind.
His eyes narrowed.
"…Sword demon?"
He tightened his grip.
The blade of light was not just a weapon.
Something was forming inside it.
Something ancient.
Like it had been waiting for this moment far longer than him.
Seo Jun raised his sword slightly. His voice remained calm.
"Then show me."
The light answered.
And the true battle began.