Hidden Trait

I’m in a bit of a dilemma.

What should I do?

Where should I invest all this endless experience? Every time I get to level up my character, my heart races with excitement.

Ssss!

“Mr. Snake, I appreciate your patience.”

It seems I’ll have to put off my self-development time for now. The little snake is so eager to chase me down, it’s almost desperate.

[‘Physical Ability’ has increased.]

[‘Triple Sword Technique’ has increased.]

For now, I’ve evenly distributed my points between these two.

Yuto  is a perfectly flawless basic swordsman character.

The ‘Traits’ available to players haven’t been unlocked, and there are no growth packages like the Beginners’ Equipment Pack. It’s all pretty useless. What would I have done if I wasn’t so obsessed with gaining experience?

Would I have given up already?

But, at the same time, I realized that the responsibility lies with me. I must have set the character as a basic swordsman because I quit midway through the character creation process.

Right now, regrets like that are meaningless.

Clang!

“Sue?”

My sword sent the evil snake’s tail flying. That simple event caused the evil snake’s movements to stop.

“Are you surprised? My sword was able to block your attack.”

Sss?

I don’t know why, but I felt like I could understand what the snake was saying.

“There’s no special trick. I’m just stronger than you, Mr. Snake.”

Swish!

Sssst—

My sword cleanly sliced off the snake’s tail. It howled, frantically searching for its lost partner. If this world is truly modeled after the games I used to know, the outcome of this battle is already decided.

No matter the weight class, the side with the higher stats always wins—the absurdity of RPGs.

“The match is already decided.”

Sssst!

The evil snake, in a frantic panic, denies reality. But its body keeps getting sliced away without resistance.

Sss, Sss…?

It looks like it’s asking how this is happening, but I’m not wielding anything special. It doesn’t have what I do.

It’s just the difference I have over it.

[The evil snake is fixated.]

[Experience points are increasing.]

[Experience points are incre—]

[Experience points…]

[‘Physical Ability’ has increased.]

[‘Triple Sword Technique’ has increased.]

Fixation is when your mind is constantly attached to something, unable to let go.

So, the more it focuses on me, the more my growth continues without stopping.

It’s only natural that it can’t compare to my growth-focused character.

“Please don’t hold a grudge.”

I’m just struggling to survive, too.

It’s the same for both of us, isn’t it?

Crack!

The snake’s black-red blood splattered across my face.

I delivered the finishing blow.

My sword, now gripped in reverse, pierced the snake’s ‘core.’

Normally, this critical point would be covered by its tough scales, making it nearly impossible to strike. But because of the ongoing damage from my strikes, its durability had weakened.

At this point, I’d say I handled it quite smoothly.

This is the kind of impenetrable event that even the time-reverser can’t deal with.

By the way, should I check in on my status?

━━━━

◈Stats

Physical Ability [Lv.15]

Triple Sword Technique [Lv.10]

Mana Control [Lv.1]

◈Traits

Blank

━━━━

Impressive, right?

A Physical Ability of [Lv.15] is not something you reach early on in the story. For now, I should avoid investing in physical stats. Having great physical stats without any technical skills will make me useless later in the game.

But it seems my worries were unfounded.

[Due to ‘Weak’ constitution, Physical Ability is permanently reduced.]

Huh?

[You are experiencing a ‘Seizure.’ Physical Ability is permanently reduced.]

“C-cough!…”

[You are coughing up blood. Physical Ability is permanently reduced.]

Ah, shit, wait a minute.

I was so caught up in growth that I completely forgot something important.

I’m a fucking idiot character.

Drip. Drip.

As my consciousness starts to blur, blood gathers at my lips. Every joint in my body feels like it’s carrying a stone weight, and standing itself is becoming a challenge.

Physical Ability [Lv.5]

Seriously, if I can’t fix this pathetic body, all the growth in the world will be meaningless.

Swoooosh!

Suddenly, my gaze falls on the snake’s corpse. The evil snake’s body is burning away in black mist.

The evil snake was an ‘Epic’ level monster. That means there should be an appropriate reward time.

“There seems to be a way out.”

As the evil snake’s massive body burns away, a black object, about the size of a branch, appears where it once lay.

[Evil’s Box]

By using this hidden piece, I might have a chance at fixing this shitty condition.

Fixing isn’t the right word. There’s a chance, a probability, that it could be resolved.

It’s a gamble.

The Evil’s Box is a gacha item that fits the idiom “Poison for poison”.

If you put all kinds of “evil”—curses, malice, bad luck, jinxes, debuffs—into it, it’ll spit something back out, usually doubling down on whatever’s inside. It’s a gamble with a payoff in terms of valuable materials.

If I’m lucky, I might solve this debuff and even get a [Legendary Skill].

I opened the box with momentum.

[Select the ‘evil’ to place in the box.]

I dumped all my debuffs in.

[The Evil’s Box is mixing the selected ‘evils.’]

Ashura Bal Bal Ta!

[The Demon of Destruction grins evilly.]

What the hell?

[The Goddess of Salvation takes pity.]

As disaster loomed, I held my breath at the reward that appeared.

[......‘Mugan Hell’...]

[......Has been acquired...]

What?

Was this a skill I could even get?

I don’t recall hearing anyone on the game forums claiming they had obtained Mugan Hell.

The reason why is simple.

Mugan Hell is a crucial element for defeating the final boss. It’s a “trait” that’s absolutely unattainable unless specific conditions are met.

So, why is it here?

Whatever, I didn’t care. As long as I had this, clearing the game would be a done deal.

Crack.

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, an intense pain suddenly gripped my chest, as if my heart was being squeezed. My vision narrowed, and I felt my body lift, a hot sensation rising in my chest.

Flare!

Soon, I understood the cause of the agony.

This wasn’t a game.

When you gain power, the backlash comes right back at you.

It was the consequence of my previous laziness, still approaching this world with the mindset of a gamer.

Thud!

From the center of my heart, a raging inferno erupted, wild and uncontrollable.

The modeling for Mugan Hell was inspired by the Eight Heat Hells from the Buddhist doctrine, Abhidharma. As long as my heart didn’t stop, Mugan Hell would burn endlessly, consuming everything in its path. The firepower was overwhelming—anything that wasn’t sturdy would be devoured.

High-level magic.

Absolute defensive barrier?

All of it gets burned by the flames of wrath.

It’s the trigger to defeat the final antagonist, but the scale is different. Yeah.

“Keck!...”

The problem is, it also steadily burns away the owner’s life force. While coughing up blood had disappeared, the heart damage caused blood to spill from my body.

[Due to the aftereffects of ‘Mugan Hell,’ your Physical Ability is permanently reduced.]

I invested the remaining experience points into Physical Ability. To handle Mugan Hell, I needed to strengthen my physical stats. It was a fair price to pay for clearing the game. Fortunately, there were ways to mitigate the penalty of Mugan Hell.

It would take some effort, but that’s a matter for later.

“Haah.”

For now, at least one problem was solved, and I could breathe a little easier.

​

​

“Immediately process the rescue request!”

Instructor Julia urgently requested reinforcements.

The request was processed at the faculty meeting room, and a rescue team consisting of Instructor Julia and thirty Imperial soldiers was assembled.

“Instructor Julia, we’ve gathered as quickly as we could, but… I cannot guarantee the cadet’s survival.”

“Instructor Ebony, don’t make assumptions. I promised him. I will bring him back, no matter what.”

Instructor Julia’s resolve was unshakable.

However, those present, including Instructor Ebony, knew the truth. The tear stains around Instructor Julia’s eyes betrayed her typically stoic demeanor.

“Yuto... I’m sorry...”

“Danika, don’t cry! He’s still alive! I know it... I believe that!”

“Stop it, Douglas. Don’t give false hope. He... he died honorably. We survived because of him. Let’s not disgrace his memory.”

All the C-Class cadets mourned Yuto’s sacrifice. They wept for him, repeating apologies and gratitude.

He had become their benefactor.

“Alright, everyone, hurry up! First squad, enter the portal!”

Just as the rescue team was about to move out, a sudden activation of a lower-dimensional portal occurred.

“Huh? What’s happening all of a sudden?”

On the other side of the portal, it could only be the Evil Snake…

Who else could it be?

Then, the bright light from the portal began to clear, and a figure appeared. Yuto’s piercing gaze shot through the crowd, his eyes full of determination.

“Y-Yuto?”

At the forefront, Instructor Julia collapsed to her knees, her face blank with disbelief.

Without a hint of fatigue, Yuto shrugged nonchalantly.

“No. I’m still alive, Instructor Julia.”

It was the miraculous return of a benefactor.