Memorize Chapter 7

How much time has passed?

“…….”

When I barely opened my eyes, the gray brick walls of the summoning room came into my view. Thankfully, it seemed that the time for the passage rite had not yet arrived. If I closed my eyes again, I might fall into a deep sleep, so I sighed and lifted my head.

As expected, confirmation messages were floating in front of me. Even in a lying position, it wasn't too difficult to see, so I rested my head back on the floor and read the messages.

‘You have sustained a shock too great for your body to handle. Your Vitality will permanently decrease by 10 points.’

‘Congratulations. All waste products and impurities in your body have been burned away. Vitality is restored, and the flow of magic has increased further. Your Vitality has permanently increased by 2 points, and your magic power by 6 points.’

‘Hwajung. A magic crystal has settled in your heart. The synchronization rate with the magic crystal is currently 100%.’

I was blankly reading each message when I saw the one about the Vitality decrease, and it was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown on me, jolting me awake. As I bit my lip, trying to process the subsequent messages, Seraph’s voice drifted into my ears.

“Player Kim Su-Hyeon. Have you regained consciousness? Is your body feeling any better? Player Kim Su-Hyeon!”

My hearing was back, at least. As I was about to snap back, wondering if they couldn’t see my condition themselves, I suddenly found myself unable to speak.

“───. ───. ───.”

‘W-What’s going on? Why is it just a hissing sound…?’

I couldn’t produce any voice. No, I could make sounds, but they were only raspy whispers. My voice was completely gone. Despite my efforts to speak, only the faint hissing continued to emerge.

‘I guess I had no choice but to wait until my whole body fully recovered.’

I took a deep breath and called up the player information window. I intended to review the information window, which mixed in special perks, until I had somewhat recovered.

< Player Information (Player Status) >

1. Name: Kim Su-Hyeon (0 years)

2. Class: Sword Specialist (Secret, Sword Specialist, Master)

3. Nation: -

4. Clan: -

5. True Name · Nationality: A person needing to prove qualifications, prospective player · South Korea

6. Gender: Male (23)

7. Height · Weight: 181.5 cm · 75.5 kg

8. Alignment: Lawful · Chaos

(Before) [Strength 94] [Resistance 92] [Agility 98] [Vitality 78] [Magic Power 90] [Luck 88]

(After) [Strength 94] [Resistance 92] [Agility 98] [Vitality 70] [Magic Power 96] [Luck 88]

(Available ability points: 0 points)

< Achievements (0) >

< Unique Abilities (1/1) >

1. The Third Eye (Rank: S Zero)

(Description: The Third Eye, falling into the realm of the extraordinary beyond the usual concept of sight. It can be described as an 'invisible eye' linked to one's intuition. It goes beyond simple 'seeing' to perceive all phenomena occurring in the present with higher-dimensional insight. Originally, it could also contemplate phenomena from other dimensions, but it was forcibly manifested by an unknown power rather than through personal training or enlightenment, resulting in a 2-rank reduction. However, due to the influence of the pure fire energy of the Hwajung, it received a 1-rank increase adjustment. Essentially, nothing in the current world can deceive Kim Su-Hyeon's eyes.)

< Special Abilities (1/1) >

1. Swords Heart (Rank: EX)

(A state where one who has reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship becomes one with the sword, and the sword becomes one with the person. When wielding the sword, every action involving it receives positive additional adjustments. While having awakened the extremes of the sword, the player has not yet reached the ultimate level of swordsmanship. However, due to years of seasoned experience, numerous achievements, and class bonuses, a 2-rank increase adjustment has been granted.)

< Potential Abilities (4/4) >

1. Close Combat Mastery (Rank: A +)

(Description: An ability that has surpassed the limits for handling melee weapons. It can be considered the highest level achievable by a human in terms of combat ability. In close combat, the player will never be outmatched. Due to years of seasoned experience and class bonuses, a 1-rank increase adjustment has been granted.)

2. Last Man Standing (Rank: A +)

(Description: The one who never gives up on combat. The one who does not accept defeat. This willpower allows the player to continue fighting even when suffering from fatal injuries. Even when critically injured, combat is still possible, but the effect of maintaining combat power is significantly reduced.)

3. Mind’s Eye (Rank: A +)

(Description: The ability to see the inner nature of a target, rather than its external appearance. Refers to the ability to introspect oneself, observe or sense all things, or similar phenomena. The mind, governed to its limit, can maintain calm even under mental corruption magic of rank S or lower.)

4. Blessing of the War (Rank: EX)

(Description: The war goddess Athena who protects peace. Activates only on the battlefield and provides a blessing as a single soldier on the battlefield. The player blessed by this ability gains a broad field of vision encompassing the entire battlefield and can immediately locate allies in danger. Additionally, due to the divine blessing, it also reduces damage from magical effects, including those activated outside the battlefield. (This is applied based on the rank of the ability and the player’s luck stat.)

Kim Su-Hyeon’s luck stat is at a decent level, but for magical effects that are 1 rank higher than the adjusted value of the highest-level blessing, partial defense will be applied, and for magical effects 2 ranks higher, reduction defense will be applied.)

(Available ability points: 0 points)

After reading through all the player information, I felt both astonishment and a tinge of disappointment simultaneously. The randomly obtained Close Combat Mastery and Last Man Standing were aspects that couldn’t be changed anyway. However, the abilities weren’t bad, and the ranks came out decently. Most importantly, it was reassuring to have familiar abilities from before.

The only unexpected and rather disappointing issue was the decrease in Vitality. Vitality is a core attribute that supports all other stats.

With a Vitality of 70 points, I could still achieve the intended output. However, the fact that the Vitality supporting that output is only 70 points was definitely a concern. To use an analogy, it’s like a car with excellent design specifications but a highly unstable engine. If the engine overheats, there’s a risk of tire blowout or even explosion. In the end, the predictions made by Seraph and me were half right each.

While the concern about Vitality kept swirling in my mind, there was nothing I could do about it at the moment. I couldn’t guarantee how much I could gather in the future, but I needed to accumulate as much as possible to secure some buffer points.

‘Even though it’s been 0 years, I’ve brought a body with 10 years of experience… It’ll be hard to increase it through training.’

It was something that couldn’t be resolved right now anyway. I pushed the complicated thoughts to the back of my mind and decided to focus solely on recovering my body. Seraph’s increasingly intense gaze was making me uncomfortable. Even considering the luxury and current abilities, wanting more might just be greed.

…….

How much time had passed? It seemed like about 20 minutes, but I wanted to know the exact time. Of course, Seraph would keep track, but after receiving all the perks, we had all fallen silent. The conversation had ceased. I closed my eyes with a mindset of letting things unfold as they would.

As time passed, my body gradually cooled down. This wasn’t a matter of dying, but rather a sensation experienced as the heat induced by the Hwajung dissipated. As the intense internal heat diminished, my bodily sensations seemed to be returning to normal.

I had checked all the player information. During the remaining time, I calmly contemplated my internal state.

Certainly, there were disadvantages. But since I was still alive, the plan had been achieved in any case. Moreover, having overcome a difficult ordeal, the rewards that followed were tremendous. In particular, all the waste products and impurities that had been spread throughout my body were completely removed, and the previously blocked blood vessels were all cleared.

It wasn't just that. It was an unexpected gain that even the tiny acupuncture points at the tips of my fingers and toes, which had been untouched by magical flow, were now fully open. My vitality was circulating much faster than before, and the speed and efficiency of the magical flow had increased to an incomparable level. Considering that even minor differences can determine the outcome in battles against opponents of the same level, it was as if I was armed with several secret weapons.

“Hoo.”

Feeling that the sensation in my body had somewhat returned, I began sending magical energy throughout every corner of my body. It flowed smoothly all the way to the tips of my hands and feet. Gaining confidence from this, I tentatively moved my right arm and found that my body felt much lighter than before. Of course, my joints were still stiff and sore, but it was far better compared to the state where I had lost all sensation earlier.

Eventually, I pushed myself up with a grunt and lifted my head to face Seraph. She, too, seemed indifferent, maintaining a calm gaze as she looked at me intently. Though my clothes were in tatters, almost unrecognizable, I didn't feel any embarrassment. After all, the woman before me was an angel, something beyond mere rationality.

After shrugging my shoulders once, I tapped my left wrist with my right hand, signaling for her to tell me the time.

“It’s time to enter the ritual of passage. Please prepare yourselves.”

Seraph’s voice was cold and dry. It was clear she was angry. At that moment, I recalled how she had been stamping her feet just a moment ago while looking at me.

‘…….’

I decided to stop here. I wanted to avoid unnecessary arguments. After all, I had already obtained everything I needed.

“Ready to go. Send me through.”

“Player Kim Su-Hyeon. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes. I’m not bad.”

“…Then I’ll proceed with the transfer. Since time is tight, I recommend that once you enter the preparation room, you act as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, yes.” At the indifferent reply, Seraph frowned slightly. But soon, she lifted a delicate finger and lightly flicked it.

Snap!

With the sound of flesh meeting flesh, my body began to fade away bit by bit. It felt almost like being erased with an eraser.

“One piece of advice: never let your guard down, no matter where or when. I hope you pass this rite of passage safely and that we meet again. Best of luck, Player Kim Su-Hyeon.”

“Seraph. No more nagging. I hope you keep your mouth shut the next time we meet.”

Whirr, whirr.

As I made a slight jab, I heard the familiar mechanical sound. Without panicking, I looked down and saw my body, now more than a third faded, from my legs up. Watching that, I slowly closed my eyes.

A restart after ten years. Now, a new future will unfold. The future ahead, a new future to begin. A future where no one is lost and no one despairs, a future that I will shape. As I thought about that, an inexplicable feeling of exhilaration filled my heart.