Mikael tinued his relentless assault, evading the mage’s attacks and cutting down goblins one by ohe two hobgoblins, however, remained motionless he shaman, seemingly guarding it. As the fight dragged on, Mikael sustained minor injuries from the mage’s spells and occasional strikes from the goblins. None were life-threatening, but they slowly wore him down.

  ‘These goblins are weak, but they’re still annoying,’ he thought as he dispatched the st of them.

  Inwardly, Mikael reflected on the mage and hobgoblins’ ck of strategy. ‘The hobgoblin and the goblin mage are unbelievably dumb. If they had attacked me alongside their minions, things would have been much harder. Even weak goblins ’t be ignored entirely, but they just stood there watg. Idiots!’

  “Gobito! Gobiro! Attack strong human! Delicious food!” the goblin mage bellowed, signaling the two hobgoblins to charge while ung magical attacks to cover them.

  The two hobgoblins attacked simultaneously, but Mikael’s superior swordsmanship allowed him to hold his ground. However, the mage’s interference made it difficult for him to gain the upper hand.

  ‘I o take out the mage, or this fight will drag on forever!’ Mikael thought, rushing toward the goblin mage.

  Gobito, one of the hobgoblins, intercepted him, f Mikael to halt. He swung his sword at the hobgoblin, but Gobito mao parry the blow. Mikael retaliated with a powerful kick to the hobgoblin’s ribs, sending it skidding several meters away from the impact.

  As Gobito ushed back, Mikael noticed a wind ssh from the mage speeding toward him. With no time to dodge, he activated his aura cloak at maximum strength, brag himself.

  The magical attack tore through the aura cloak, sshing Mikael’s chest and leaving a deep, bleeding gash. “Urgh!” he grunted in pain but had no time to dwell on the injury. Gobiro, the other hobgoblin, was already swinging its sword at his head, aiming to decapitate him.

  Mikael raised his sword just in time to block the attad simultaneously trolled his flying sword with an aura thread. The sed sword shot tobiro from behind, pierg its heart.

  “Gobiro!” Gobito roared in anguish.

  The pierced hobgoblio the ground instantly, lifeless. Mikael didn’t waste a moment celebrating. A fireball was already heading his way, and Gobito was charging at him with a furious expression.

  Seeing the fireball closing in, Mikael jumped aside. Though he avoided a direct hit, the explosio him tumbling across the ground, leaving him with burns. His aura cloak and resilient body absorbed most of the damage, but the impact left him winded.

  Before he could fully recobito on him. Mikael, still on the ground, barely mao parry the hobgoblin’s ferocious attacks. His positio him at a disadvantage, but he kept his focus, trolling his flying sword i.

  As Gobito tis relentless assault, Mikael directed his flying sword behind the goblin mage, who reparing a rge spell. With a subtle flick of his fihe sword plunged into the mage’s neck, cutting off its t. The shaman’s lifeless body colpsed to the ground.

  Gobito, unaware that its allies had all beeed, tinued fighting fiercely. Mikael finally regained his footing and turhe tide of the battle. With a swift and precise movement, he drove his sword into the hobgoblin’s chest, dropping it to the ground.

  Mikael exhaled a sigh of relief. “Ah, that retty har—”

  Shnk.

  He froze, looking down to see the supposedly dead hobgoblin clutg a sword buried in his stomach. The light faded from the creature’s eyes as it released the on, but it was too te—the bde remained lodged in Mikael’s abdomen.

  A burning paihrough his body as Mikael fell forward, the movement driving the sword deeper into his flesh. He coughed violently, each spasm sending waves of pain through his chest. His vision blurred, his mind muddled as weakness spread through him.

  Just as the darkhreateo overtake him, the sword in his body vanished, repced by a soothing energy that enveloped him entirely. Within moments, the pain disappeared, and his strength returned.

  Voices broke through the haze.

  “Human!”

  “Food!”

  Mikael murmured weakly, “Stop the time.”

  The surroundings froze instantly, but Mikael didn’t care. His mind was elsewhere, lost in thought.

  He ran his hand through his hair, lost in thought. ‘So that was dying... Holy, really scary,’ he thought as a shiver ran through his body.

  “Ahh,” he sighed aloud. ‘What am I even doing?’

  ‘Nearly dying—even knowing it wasn’t real—sure puts things into perspective. Even if it was “fake,” I ’t shake the feeling of weakness enveloping my body or the sensation of gradually losing touch with reality... It was holy terrifying.’

  As his heartbeat slowly steadied, Mikael pondered further. ‘Why am I so obsessed with gaining strength? It’s kind of weird now that I think about it. Maybe it’s some sort of pensation. Back when that Eye appeared in the sky—what feels like a lifetime ago—it pletely obliterated all the work I’d put into building and leading a gang. Maybe I’m trying to make up for that?’

  He sidered it for a moment before shaking his head slightly. ‘Hmm, maybe. But holy, even though that sensation of dying was terrifying, this is still a thrilling way to live,’ he thought, absently toug his chest where his heart was now beatiically.

  ‘When the Akashic Records ected to Earth, I lost years of effort in the blink of an eye, but my life became infinitely more exg. Sure, it’s dangerous, but I’m noerhuman, living a fantasy-like life. That’s... pretty amazing, to be ho.’

  He chuckled softly. ‘So, the reason I train is because I like it? That’s a good enough reason. It could even be sidered a hobby. o overthink it.’

  His thoughts drifted to a versation he’d had with Kiara. ‘But speaking of overthinking... When I talked to Kiara about having a harem, I didn’t express myself well. No, that’s not it. I just didn’t know what I wanted back then. So yeah, I said I wanted a harem, but I haven’t acted on it at all. Even while talking to Kiara, I wasn’t sure of myself.’

  ‘Before trying to pursue something like that, I o decide what I really want. So, what do I want?’

  Mikael took his time, sinking deep into thought. After a while, he came to a clusion. ‘Yes, I do want a harem—but not iereotypical medieval king’s style. I’m not ied in a group of 20 women chosen solely for their beauty, with no real e with the king beyond occasionally sharing a bed, all while they hate each other and stantly pete for the king’s attention. That’s not what I’m after.’

  ‘What I want is a harem where I genuinely ect with the women. A group where I call them “my women” and mean it, where they see each other as sisters or friends. I’m not ied in just having sex.’

  His lips curled into a wry smile as he thought back. ‘I was never in a retion. My cirscumstances didn’t allow me and holy I wansn’t really interrested but now they have ged and what I’m looking for is a harmonious retionship—with all of them and with myself.’

  ‘If that’s the case, I o start with Kiara. Right now, we’re in a weird pce. She agreed to be one of my girlfriends, but I left for this world almost immediately after. That wasly siderate of me.’

  Mikael wi the memory. ‘If I really want a harem, I should treat it with the same importance I give to gaining strength. And that starts by visiting Kiara.’

  He gnced around and corrected himself. ‘After I finish this training. Once I’m ba my room, I’ll figure out the logistics. For all I know, they might have a way to track my movements here, so it’s better not to suddenly vanish.’

  Having snapped out of his stupor caused by the near-death experiend everything that followed, Mikael finally focused on the s that had appeared before him.

  {Wave 4 charged. Enemies: 2 D- Rank Monsters, 5 E+ Rank Monsters, and 18 E- Rank Monsters.}

  “No way I win this,” he murmured, though a smirk lingered on his face. The realization he had just e to left him feeling strangely lighter.

  Even knowing he would likely lose, Mikael still decided to try. After all, every fight helped him grow. Each battle taught him new ways to fight, making him stronger, even though his stats remained unged and his rank stayed at F-.

  As expected, the fight didn’t go his way. Despite his best efforts, he was overwhelmed by the sheer number and strength of the enemies and ultimately lost. By the time he was defeated, only 2 D- rank monsters, 2 E+ rank monsters, and 9 E- rank monsters remained.

  The low number of kills wasn’t surprising. Fag a rger group of monsters simultaneously increased the difficulty expoially. It wasn’t just a matter of fighting for lohe o stay alert against multiple etag at once made every moment more dangerous.

  Still, even after his initial loss, Mikael refused to give up.

  On his sed attempt… he lost.On his third attempt… he lost.After several more attempts, he lost again.

  But each try he progressed and during his final try before exiting the virtual training pod, his results showed signifit improvement. This time, only 1 D- rank monster and 5 E- rank monsters remaianding when he was defeated.

  k.

  The door of the virtual training pod hissed open, and Mikael climbed out. ‘In the end, I couldn’t win, even after all those attempts,’ he thought, while stroking his ‘But it doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that I made progress. The me from five ho is weaker than the me standing here now.’

  ‘Anyway, let’s grab the things I need from the training zone before I go see Kiara.’

  Mikael exited the room where the virtual training pods were located. After a short walk, he arrived at the main area of the trainiion—a rge gym filled with students hard at work. Nearby was a shop with a sign that read Training Shop. Mikael entered, noting how the shop's interior resembled a mall with its sheer size.

  Meanwhile, two students who were training nearby noticed him.

  “Amy, look who just showed up,” teased Aria, who was lounging on a chair near Amelia.

  “Hmm?” Amelia exhaled as she set down the weights she had been lifting, turning to Aria with a questioning look.

  Aria tilted her head in Mikael’s dire.

  Amelia followed her gaze and spotted Mikael, who had just walked into the shop.

  “Okay, he’s here. So what?” Amelia asked, her curiosity piqued.

  Aria smirked mischievously. “Shouldn’t you go after him?”

  Amelia rolled her eyes, exasperated. “You’re still stu this, aren’t you?”

  Grinning, Aria stuck out her tongue pyfully. “It’s not my fault! It’s like the beginning of a romanovel—the oner who beats the noble, beautiful dy before she falls in love with him.” She sighed dreamily. “Ah, it would make such a good story.”

  A mischievous glint fshed in Amelia’s eyes as she said, “Maybe you’re right. I should go talk to him.”

  “Wait, what?” Aria’s jaw dropped. “You ’t be serious! He’s a oner aalehan you. It’ll never work. I mean, I get it—his bad-boy vibe might be intriguing, but you really o let it go,” she said, crossing her arms with a serious look.

  “Pfft,” Amelia burst out ughing, uo tain herself at Aria’s rea.

  Aria’s expression twisted into one of e. “You were messing with me, weren’t you, you little minx!” she excimed, lunging at Amelia in an attempt to tackle her.

  Amelia sidestepped gracefully, leaving Aria floundering and shooting her an aggrieved gre.

  “Alright, alright, calm down,” Amelia said, trying to pcate her. “I was just kidding. But when I said I wao approach him, I didn’t mean it romantically. I just want to ask if he’d be willing to spar with me. He’s the first person my age to beat me, and I want to get stronger.” Her tourned resolute, her expression firm with determination.

  Aria let out a relieved sigh. “Alright, you had me worried for a sed. But if that’s all, fine. Just don’t fall for him, okay?” she said, giving Amelia a mock-threatening gre.

  Amelia barely held bah but reassured her friend, “Don’t worry about it.”

  Satisfied with her answer, Aria returo what she was doing. Amelia went back to her weightlifting, while Aria either chatted with her or scrolled through her phone.