Chapter 36: Easy
You guys wouldn’t wanna sit through the same sloppy grind step-by-step again, right? Good, consider this mercy.
Lanz stumbled out of the Gate like he’d just crawled out of a cheap horror maze at a back-alley festival, Aged Blade Fragment dragging on the stone floor, his sock already sporting a fresh tear courtesy of one overeager fangwolf.
He flicked the edge of the torn shirt with a sigh.
"Bro, out of all the monsters in this dumb forest, it’s always the f*cking spikedboars and fangwolves that ruin my drip. Well, at least it only took a couple of hours to clear this sh*t," he grumbled, poking at the little scrape on his shin like it personally offended him... well it did.
He could already picture Miku roasting him.
’How the hell did you came out of your room looking like you fought a bush and lost.’
He shook his leg out, tested his weight on it, then cracked his knuckles one by one just for dramatic effect. "Goblins? Easy, they literally gave up halfway. Vultures? Forgot they even existed until one faceplanted into a tree, so that was entertainment at least."
His lips curled up, half-annoyed, half-proud. "That hobgoblin, though... big bastard still made me sweat. Like, come on, man, read the room!!! I’m stronger now. You’re supposed to roll over and die for the montage, not put me in a chokehold for thirty f*cking seconds straight."
He turned and glanced back at the tall stone archway that was already fading out behind him. The glyphs pulsed a soft blue, like they were mocking him one last time for thinking this second run would be a total cakewalk.
"Anyway, round two done, and it was f*cking worth it." He huffed out a small laugh, scratching the back of his head. "Socks semi-intact, so I guess we can call that a W."
Lanz wiped the sweat off his brow and flicked his fingers to pop open the big shiny system window.
The blue glow flickered across his eyes, and he leaned in like he was about to read an exam grade he already knew he passed... which was unrealistic for him.