Chapter 41 Metamorph
Chapter 41 Metamorph
Sigrid lay flat on his back against the smooth glass floor of the infinite white void.
His physical body didn't feel tired. There was no sweat on his brow, no lactic acid burning in his muscles, and no bloody cracks in his skull. The system refreshed his physical form with pristine perfection after every single reset.
Yet, his mind felt as though it had been dragged through a grinding stone. His soul was utterly battered, bruised, and exhausted.
(How many times have I died now?) Sigrid thought, staring numbly up at the vast, featureless white sky above. (Three times? Five? Ten?)
SCRAPE... SCRAPE...
The familiar, sickening sound of wooden nails and jagged stones dragging against glass echoed across the void, growing closer second by second.
Sigrid didn't even move a muscle. He lay there, his pupil eyes staring blankly as the shadow of his murderer fell over his face.
"Kihihihi..."
The lesser goblin stood over him, its bloodshot yellow eyes wide with sadistic glee. It leaned forward, its ugly, greenish-brown face hovering mere inches above Sigrid's nose. It lowered its stone-studded wooden club, tapping the heavy head of the weapon lightly against the boy's chest like a butcher inspecting a piece of meat.
(Why did I end up trapped in this hellish loop?) Sigrid questioned internally, a hollow breath escaping his lips. (I'm just so... tired. I'm tired of running. I'm tired of screaming. I'm tired of dying.)
He stared directly into the goblin's contorted, feral face. But this time, as he looked up from the ground, the overwhelming, paralyzing terror that had gripped his heart during his previous deaths failed to ignite.
Sigrid blinked slowly.
(Now that I really look at you...) Sigrid thought, a strange, eerie calm settling over his shattered psyche. (Your face is ridiculously ugly from down here. Why... why was I ever so terrified of a little runt like you?)
The goblin, annoyed by the boy's complete lack of fear, bared its sharp, yellowed fangs. It raised its heavy wooden club high into the air with both hands, aiming straight for Sigrid's face to crush him once again.
Sigrid watched the movement with cold, detached focus.
HAH!
Just as the club descended toward his nose, Sigrid didn't freeze, nor did he scream. He threw his shoulders to the right, rolling his body across the glass floor!
THWACK!
The wooden club smashed violently into the empty floor where Sigrid's head had rested a microsecond prior, sending a sharp vibration ringing through the void.
Sigrid scrambled to his feet in a single fluid motion. His heart was still beating wildly, but the fog of panic had completely cleared from his mind.
The goblin froze, its yellow eyes widening in genuine shock. It pulled its club from the floor, turning to glare at the boy with a furious, confused screech.
"GRAAAAH!"
It was enraged. The helpless, crying puppy that had crawled away in tears was suddenly standing on two feet, looking back at it with unblinking eyes.
Sigrid took two slow steps to his left, his gaze locking onto the iron sword resting on the floor a few feet away.
"Yeah... fear," Sigrid murmured quietly, his voice low and raspy. "Fear completely blinded me. But dying over and over again... it forced me to pay attention."
Sigrid reached down and gripped the leather hilt of the iron sword, lifting the steel blade into a basic guard.
The goblin lowered its stance, dragging its heavy club behind it as it began its charge, its clawed feet slapping against the floor.
Sigrid watched every inch of its approach with razor-sharp intensity.
"Your entire way of fighting has massive flaws," Sigrid noted aloud, stepping lightly on his toes. "First of all... you're slow."
The goblin reached a distance of five meters. It locked its posture, its leg muscles bulging as it prepared to launch its signature forward dash—the exact same explosive attack that had crushed Sigrid's neck and skull in his previous lives.
The goblin launched forward like a rabid animal, thrusting its heavy wooden club straight toward Sigrid's chest!
SWOOSH!
Sigrid didn't try to block the weapon head-on. Instead, he simply shifted his right leg back half a step, pivoting his torso sideways.
The heavy stone-studded club whizzed past his ribs, missing his shirt by less than an inch! The gust of wind generated by the strike blew Sigrid's messy hair back, but he didn't even flinch.
"Second..." Sigrid said calmly, watching the monster overshoot its mark. "...your attacks are ridiculously easy to predict."
STOMP!
The goblin crashed onto its feet behind Sigrid, skidding across the polished floor.
Because it had put all its physical weight into the heavy dash attack, the creature was completely off-balance. Its small, underdeveloped lungs heaved violently, gasping for air as its thin green arms shook from the strain of holding the heavy club.
Sigrid lifted his eyebrows, a look of realization dawning on his face.
"Hmm? Is that so...?" Sigrid murmured, turning around slowly to face the panting monster. "Because I always died instantly the moment you dashed in my previous tries, I never got to see what happened after. You get completely exhausted after swinging that heavy club, don't you?"
The goblin spun around, its bloodshot eyes filled with desperate rage. It tried to raise its club once more, but its muscles were so fatigued that the heavy weapon barely lifted a few inches off the glass floor.
"Well... lucky for me," Sigrid said.
Sigrid stepped forward, closing the distance between them. He raised the iron sword vertically above his head with both hands, taking a deep breath as he adjusted his stance.
"Hup!"
The goblin looked up. For the first time since Sigrid had entered the white void, the monster's arrogant, sadistic expression completely vanished. Seeing the sharp iron blade gleaming under the bright light, a look of profound, primal terror washed over the creature's green face.
The goblin dropped its heavy club. It fell backward onto its rear, raising both of its thin, trembling green hands over its face in a desperate attempt to shield itself.
Sigrid stared down at the cowering creature, a cold, bitter smile touching his lips.
"It really is surprising..." Sigrid whispered. "I can't believe I died multiple horrific deaths... because I was scared of a pitiful runt like you."
SLASH!
Sigrid swung the sword down with all the physical force his fourteen year old body.
CRUNCH!
The iron blade sliced cleanly through the goblin's raised green hands, severing its fingers before biting hard into the center of its forehead. The steel cut straight through the skull, lodging itself deep into the monster's face right at the bridge of its nose!
BLACK BLOOD SPURTED!
"K-KGHHH...!" The goblin let out a final, wet gasp before its eyes rolled into the back of its head. Its body went completely limp, falling flat onto its back.
Sigrid stood there, panting heavily, his hands still gripping the sword hilt. He pulled on the weapon, but the blade was jammed tightly inside the monster's shattered skull. Because Sigrid lacked proper technique and raw physical strength, he hadn't been able to slice the body in two.
"Ugh... damn it..." Sigrid grunted.
Placing his foot firmly against the dead goblin's chest for leverage, Sigrid gritted his teeth and yanked the hilt backward with all his might!
SCHLUCK!
The iron blade dislodged with a wet sound, freeing the weapon. Sigrid stumbled back a step, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand as he looked down at his trembling, blood-stained fingers.
"Haah... haah..." Sigrid let out a weary laugh. "This body of mine... really is far too weak."
DING!
Before Sigrid could catch his breath, a brilliant, blue light box erupted from the dead goblin's corpse! The monster's body dissolved into thousands of pixelated light particles that drifted upward into the sky.
A massive, glowing blue rectangle materialized floating in front of Sigrid's face:
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[You have successfully slain 1x Goblin!]
[LEVEL UP! Level 1 ➔ Level 2 ]
Sigrid wiped the sweat from his brow, staring at the screen in disbelief. "Finally... I leveled up. But... what does 'leveling up' actually mean?"
DING!
[Notice: Non-Player Conversion Active.]
[Stat points have been automatically allocated according to your chosen class: SWORDSMAN.]
[Attributes are currently updating...]
BOOM!
The moment the text flashed, an extraordinary, overwhelming surge of heat exploded in the center of Sigrid's chest!
It felt as though a river of warm, liquid was pumping directly through his veins, rushing into his muscles, bones, and organs. The hollow, aching fatigue in his belly vanished instantly. His spine straightened, his posture tightened, and the frail, malnourished tightness in his arms dissolved as his muscle fibers rapidly expanded and reinforced themselves!
"W-Woah...!" Sigrid gasped, his eyes widening in absolute shock.
He lowered his gaze, opening and closing his hands. When he clenched his fingers into a fist, he could feel a dense, firm strength pulsing beneath his skin that had never existed before.
He looked down at the heavy iron sword in his right hand. A moment ago, the weapon had felt awkward, heavy, and dragging. Now, as he raised it into the air, the steel felt noticeably lighter.
"What is this...?" Sigrid whispered, awe washing over his entire soul. "Is this... the reward for killing the monster? This is incredible!"
He swung the sword twice through the air. SWOOSH! SWOOSH! The blade moved faster, cleaner, and with far greater stability than before.
"Yeah... I'm certain of it now," Sigrid said, his eyes glowing with profound reverence. "This is the surge of power that mister talked about. But... man, this training is brutally insane."
Sigrid lowered his sword, looking down at his boots as memories of his painful past flashed through his mind once more. He remembered the corrupt debt collectors barging into his home, beating his father to death.
He realized then that the real world outside this white void was far more merciless than any monster. In the real world, if you were weak, people crushed you, starved you, and stepped over your corpse without a second thought and there is many monster out there that thousand times stronger and terryfing maybe if the monster are demon or higher it easily crushed him in an instant. Out there, you didn't get a second chance. You didn't get a blue screen to reset your life when you made a mistake.
Sigrid looked up at the floating blue screen, a deep, respectful smile spreading across his face.
"At first... I thought you were some kind of sadist or a psycho, mister," Sigrid muttered softly to the empty air, speaking to the absent man who had handed him the cube. "But now I understand. You weren't trying to torture me. You were showing me a glimpse of reality... and giving me the only tool that could ever save us." He looked at his hand "only your own strength" ah he say that he clenched his fist at the same time.
Sigrid bowed his head deeply toward the white sky. "Thank you... Mister Rael. Thank you for giving a weak street urchin a chance to fight back."
DING!
The peaceful moment dissolved as a new, bright blue notification panel flashed directly in front of his eyes:
[NEXT TRIAL INITIATED]
[Current Level: 2]
[Objective: Slay 5x Lesser Goblins to advance to Level 3.]
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Five swirling vortices of dark, pixelated smoke erupted simultaneously from the glass floor, five meters in front of Sigrid!
When the smoke cleared, five lesser goblins stood side-by-side, their bloodshot yellow eyes locking onto Sigrid as they raised their heavy, stone-studded wooden clubs!
"GRAAAAAAAAH!!!"
The collective screech of five wild monsters echoed violently across the white dimension.
Sigrid didn't step back. He didn't shiver, and he certainly didn't cry.
Instead, Sigrid planted his right boot firmly on the ground, raised his iron sword into a sharp, perfect guard, and let out a fierce, resolute laugh.
"Five at once, huh?" Sigrid smiled, his eyes burning with an unyielding flame of determination. "Good. The higher the difficulty... the faster I can leave this place and become a true protector for my sister!"
SHING!
Sigrid kicked off the glass floor, lunging forward into the fray with a sharp, iron sword.
Inside this timeless training realm, where the sun never set and the world outside stood completely frozen in time, the fragile fourteen-year-old boy began his brutal, unending transformation into a true warrior.
join my patreon if you want to read more chapter or join for free for info and announcement