Chapter 4: CH 4

"Title?" wondered Yongno.

Mari explained, "It's one of the D.I.O's systems. If the user satisfies a specific condition, there's an increase in their stats or the user acquires a special effect depending on the requirement."

After her explanation, Yongno opened the status window and found that he earned the title of Entry-Level Swimmer.

"Is it good?" asked Yongno.

Mari tossed him a question, "Do you think it is?" 

Yongno learned that the title of Entry-Level Swimmer was very low in position. It sounded like a label for a newbie too.

Yongno murmured, "Hmm, it's better than having nothing though.” Then, he applied the title effect to himself. His entire body seemed to gain strength. 

His Stamina was originally 20 points, so if he earned 10 points from the 'title buff,' there would be a 50% increase in his Strength and Stamina. For example, if Yongno was able to lift a 50kg object, now he could lift to 75kg; if he was able to run at full speed for a minute, he could now run for a minute and a half. 

Whoa, this is cool! Yongno observed his body. 

Mari explained, "The stats are doubled in their effects starting from 100 points."

"Doubled in their effects...?" 

"A user with a Strength of 20 have double the power of those with a Strength of 10. However, a user with a Strength of 200 isn't ten times stronger than the one with 20, but fifteen times stronger. Therefore, if someone's stats exceed 300 or 400, the gap between users will grow exponentially."

After her explanation, Yongno learned that the 'title buff' had increased the stats themselves, not the actual effect such as his swimming skills. In other words, the same title could have a difference during the early and late stages. Still, it was just his assumption, so Yongno should clarify it to make sure that he was correct. 

He asked, "Then, does the title play a significant role as the game progresses or, in other words, as the stats become higher?"

"You're catching on fast. Users of higher levels are likely to become more desperate about the 'title buff.' Whether it's early or late in the game, the 'title buff' keeps adding the same figure to the stats, so the higher the stats, the bigger the absolute value."

Listening to her explanation, Yongno continued swimming in the river, but it consumed a lot of his Strength, so he came close to the edge of the water to catch his breath. 

Yongno asked, "What's going on? I still have one-third of my Energy left, but why do I feel so exhausted?"

"That's such a stupid question. When your Energy reaches zero, it means that you’ve fallen into a critical condition; you can't even move a finger and deliver oxygen to every part of your body. It would be difficult to have your Energy drop below 10 points unless you're very determined to do so. Likewise, it's hard to see a user's Spiritual Energy going under 10 points."

Yongno sighed, "It's too complicated," then went back into the water. This time, he glided forward to go with the flow of the river, instead of moving rapidly, since he didn’t have enough Energy. 

"Oh, by the way, how far does this river go?" asked Yongno. 

Mari replied, "Of course, it goes to the ocean."

"What?! There's even an ocean? I thought this place was kind of a closed spatial space provided to each user…”

If all users were taking tests in one place, they should see other people around them. This game would definitely have a large pool of users, so it was inevitable to encounter others when putting all the people together in a single space. 

However, Mari responded with a shrug, "It is a sort of closed spatial space, but that doesn't mean the size has to be small. This place is created only for you, Oppa, but as a world made of data, it doesn’t make a big difference whether the size is as small as a palm or as huge as the earth. If there have been a lot of changes or updates, things could look different, but everything's completely the same for each user except that monsters are removed from your version for now.” Then, she added, “Anyway, it’s just copying and pasting.”

Nodding, Yongno clarified, "So, this place only exists for me but remains as a world, right?"

"If you say so,” replied Mari.

Yongno looked around the space again. The river didn’t look that large, but it was endlessly connected to somewhere. How could this huge world exist only for me?

"Excuse me, Mari, will you be able to follow me even if I go a little farther?"

Mari smirked, "That's such a useless concern. Come on, I also teleport."

"Okay! Then I'll understand it as yes."

Yongno made his way in the water, but it wasn't a move to cross the river. He was carried along by the currents.

"Oh my!" shouted Mari.

Yongno was swimming downstream. 

* * *

/You gained 1 Stamina point./

Yongno came to the surface as the message popped up in the air. 

He uttered, "Mari, it seems like only my Stamina stats is increasing?"

"As you know, swimming isn't an exercise that can improve a lot of muscle strength. Every time you gain around 5 Stamina points, you get an additional 1 point in Strength."

Yongno grumbled, "But I only see an increase of 8 Stamina points!" 

"Then you're getting a Strength point for every 10 Stamina points,” Mari murmured insincerely, floating on the water. She glided above the surface as if she was riding an invisible boat.

Yongno asked, "Um, Mari, won't you teach me some magical skills then?"

"Of course not."

"Why?"

Yongno felt disappointed at her flat refusal, but Mari just shrugged as if she had no choice. 

She replied, "Sorry, but I'm just an NPC guiding a new user. If you want to learn magical skills, you must first finish taking the tests, then pay tuition to acquire knowledge. Even if I teach you magical skills right now, you won't get to learn them either."

"I won't get to learn them? Why?"

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Mari continued, "Because you don’t perceive mana until Level 2. Oppa, you can't even feel mana right now, can you? That's why we say using magic is like shooting an arrow without a bow."

"Oh, I see," Yongno agreed, but he began to feel short of breath as he came up to the land.

The increase in his Stamina also contributed to the rise of his Energy, but Yongno felt exhausted and had difficulty swimming. Why is it like this? 

Yongno preferred to swim near the waterside rather than to do it in the middle of the river since he didn't want to end up in a situation of going out of his mind, losing his strength, and eventually drowning underwater. 

The moment he got ashore, a message appeared in the air.

/You have reached Rank 7 in Swimming!/

/You gained the title of Beginner-Level Swimmer!/

/You gained a special ability - Diving!/

Yongno exclaimed in surprise, "Eh? It raised again!"

"What kind of person actually goes through such an increase in abilities during a basic test?" Mari questioned herself.

After checking his title, Yongno wondered, "I’m fine with it, but what is a special ability?"

"When a specific skill reaches a certain level, you acquire that ability. You get it along with the title, but even if you don't apply the title effect to yourself, the special ability is still yours."

"But it's weird that diving belongs to the category of special ability. Diving is likely to be used among a lot of users, not a specially acquired capability," Yongno murmured, taking a break with his body laid down flat to the ground. 

His Stamina slowly recovered, but something else was also moving within him. 

Eh?

It felt strange and new. The feeling of softness that began from the pit of his stomach divided into little pieces in a blink of an eye then scattered to all his limbs and bones. With a pounding sound, Yongno felt refreshed. His entire body trembled, and he sensed some unknown strength rising within him. 

/Your Spiritual Power (Type: Internal Arts) has increased by 20 points!/

Yongno doubted, "What?!" 

"Holy moly! You opened the middle dantian without even opening the lower dantian..."

"Is it something good?" asked Yongno.

Mari replied, "Not really. Those who practice internal arts normally could develop it into the most effective and valuable resource. Meanwhile, other users can also open it up quite often depending on their skills. In your case, the swimming skill enabled it."

Yongno wondered, "But in martial arts novels, only the great masters could open the middle dantian, right?"

"That's literally a novel. Although you opened your middle dantian, it's still too tiny in the size of its structure to exert your utmost power."

Mari was correct, but internal arts was hardly attainable for a Level 1 user who didn’t pass all the basic tests yet. 

D.I.O's skill system is highly affected by the user's abilities, but how could he reach Rank 7 in less than a day...?

Mari stared at Yongno in a new light. Users could raise their skill to Rank 7 within a day; it was possible. However, Yongno earned a sustainable skill from swimming, a non-battle quest, and leveled up the skill so much and this was without even checking his training stats. It was such an amazing achievement for a person who was just swimming for pure joy.

"No... maybe that's the reason..." Mari murmured to herself.

"Excuse me?"

Mari said, "Never mind. Let me teach you some magical skills."

"But you said that I can't learn."

"It doesn't matter since you're able to perceive mana now. In fact, this isn't really magic though,” Mari replied casually.

She raised her hand, then placed it on his back. Qi started to circulate through Yongno’s body. Under Mari’s control, the energy swirled around his entire upper body, except for his arms. Mari was performing the so-called Microcosmic Orbit.

"This is...?" mumbled Yongno.

He was surprised by the energy gently spreading across his body. His Stamina also recovered quickly on the stats window. 

/You gained a new skill - Energy Recovery!/

Yongno felt lighter and became speechless by the improvement within him. 

Releasing her hand on Yongno’s back, Mari explained, "This is called Adding Strength, the most basic way to practice internal arts. It’s simple, safe, and effective. I'll run your internal energy once more by following the way to operate it, so make sure to remember the flow..."

"I got it,” said Yongno. 

"... What?” Mari's eyes opened wide at his unexpected response.

Yongno replied excitedly, “I get what you mean. Activate the internal arts and inject power into each cell, right? I've just felt my internal energy spreading from my eighteen acupoints... not sure of the exact term, but anyway, it passed through those points and spread to my entire body. Instead of consuming oxygen and proteins, you've injected the internal energy directly into my cells to recover my physical strength."

"Eh... eh... eh? Oppa, I..."

"Hold on for a second. Let's see... move the internal energy this way..."

It was a surprising moment. Nothing changed on the outside of Yongno, but Mari could grasp that the young man in front of her, who neither perceived nor understood the idea of internal martial arts, was now applying the technique to cultivate his mind and energy to himself, which he experienced for the first time in his life just thirty seconds ago. 

/Stamina and HP has been enhanced by 70 and 50 points (Effective for 94 secs)!!/

Yongno shouted, "Okay! It works! But the time is too short! What could I do for 90 seconds…? Oh, alright!"

The message, 'You gained a new skill - Body Strengthening!' appeared, but Yongno stood up and approached a tree nearby to grab a twig thicker than his wrist. It might take some time to even saw it, but Yongno held it with a tightening grip, then simply broke it in half.

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