The Game’s Difficulty Went Crazy
Night fell, and lanterns were lit over the Wordsworth estate.
Glen took his sword and went out to the small training ground.
There was no one passing nearby.
Standing there alone, he gripped his sword and took his stance.
Swaeek—!
Glen thrust his sword forward. The sharp blade pierced through the air.
And once again.
Swaeeek—!
Glen repeated the thrust in the same stance.
There was only one reason he was doing this now.
To obtain a Skill.
In Gray Eden, there were many ways to obtain skills.
Reading a skill book with arcane knowledge written in it.
Clearing a quest and receiving a skill as a reward.
Or increasing one’s realm, receiving teachings from a master, and many other methods depending on the situation and the user’s choices.
And among them, there was one method that was the least popular among users, simple and stupid.
The method Glen chose: Repetitive Mastery.
As mentioned before, Gray Eden was a game where you could receive rewards exactly equal to the effort you put in.
Just by mastering a certain action over a long period of time, you could obtain a skill.
If an adventurer cooked for dozens of hours while traveling, they would gain a cooking-related skill.
If a holy knight held up a shield countless times on the front lines, they would gain a shield-related skill.
“And if you repeat thrusting for dozens of hours, you gain a skill related to it.”
That was exactly Glen’s plan—to repeatedly practice thrusting until the duel day and obtain a skill.
Glen thrust his sword forward again.
Heat slowly began to rise in his body.
Of course, as said earlier, this method was not very efficient.
Skills obtained through repetitive mastery were more like bonuses.
If you played the game for a long time, proficiency naturally accumulated, and skills were often gained without even realizing it.
Because of that, there was no need to deliberately repeat one action just to gain a skill.
If the goal was skill acquisition, it was far more efficient to clear quests that rewarded skills or read skill books instead.
“But that’s common sense known to ordinary Gray Eden users.”
Seong Yohan knew one more piece of information—something only a very small number of users knew.
That skills obtained through repetitive mastery had one advantage that could not be compared to skills obtained through other methods.
“Skills obtained through repetitive mastery start with skill proficiency set at 7.”
Naturally, even for the same skill, higher proficiency meant greater power or effect.
The difference between proficiency level 1 and the maximum level 10 was about two times.
A proficiency of 7 was extremely high.
Of course, before even talking about skills, the current gap between Glen and Robert was enormous.
Even if he gained a skill, it would only give him a chance—it did not guarantee victory.
Still, this was the best option Glen had right now.
“Prepare everything I possibly can. That’s all I can do at the moment.”
Glen pulled his sword back.
Then he took his stance again.
Sweat flowed down his chin like rain, but he didn’t care.
He thrust his sword again.
The next day was the same.
Glen headed to the small training ground again.
Normally, he should have been training with the trainee knights at the large training ground, but he made an excuse to Tris, saying the god had given him a task.
Swaeeek—!
The blade pierced through the air once more.
“Huff… huff…”
He had already been repeating the same motion for three hours, and his arms had no strength left.
Even so, Glen did not stop.
To obtain the skill he wanted, he had to invest most of his time here until the duel.
Just as he was about to take his stance again—
Someone could be seen approaching from the direction of the mansion.
“So this is where you were, Second Young Master. I’ve been looking for you.”
It was Lucy, Tris’s personal maid.
Glen didn’t pay attention.
He simply stared forward and thrust his sword.
“I came to assist you under Young Lady’s orders.”
“Hoo… I’m fine. You can go back.”
For a moment, a flustered expression crossed Lucy’s face.
But soon, she lowered her head.
“…Is that so. Still, since Young Lady specifically told me to come, it feels wrong to just leave. I’ll stay out of the way. If you need anything, please call me.”
“Do as you like.”
Lucy moved far away from Glen.
She quietly stood under the shade of a maple tree and watched his training.
Glen focused on his practice again.
When Glen finally took a break, Lucy quickly brought him a towel to wipe off sweat and some water.
“So. My sister sent you?”
Glen wiped his sweat with the towel.
Then he emptied the large glass of water in one gulp and asked.
“Yes. She said that no matter what, you’d be suffering alone, so she sent me. She told me to at least hand you a towel.”
“Hm.”
Glen clicked his tongue inwardly.
“This level of consideration is almost meddling. Still, it’s better than nothing.”
A brief silence followed.
Lucy, who had been glancing around, slowly opened her mouth.
“Why are you working this hard?”
“Hm?”
Glen looked at Lucy.
Even knowing it was a presumptuous question for a servant, she looked genuinely curious.
“Of course I have to work hard. The opponent is who he is.”
“Do you think you have a chance?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why…?”
Glen smiled faintly.
“Because the god said so?”
“That damn god talk… It’s a complete lie.”
As Lucy clicked her tongue inwardly, Glen continued.
“And also… my sister trained me so hard. I can’t lose, can I? At the very least, the effort of someone who helped me shouldn’t be treated as meaningless.”
“…What did you just say?”
Lucy’s eyes widened.
She wanted to ask more about that answer, but Glen had already returned to the center of the training ground and taken his stance.
“For… Young Lady’s sake?”
The Glen she had known until now would never say something like that, even as a joke.
It was always “the god said so” or “it is the god’s will.”
From the handcuffs on his wrist to repeating the same movement for hours—his actions were still unsettling, even if he had improved somewhat.
But—
“At least the effort of someone who helped me shouldn’t be treated as meaningless.”
