A cold mechanical voice echoed throughout the spacious training arena.

[Training combat device activated. Configuring mode.]

[Configuration complete. Initiating Challenge Mode.]

With the hum of the magic device powering up, a demonic monster appeared at the center of the arena. It was a demonic monster with a single enormous eye; no, to be precise, it was a creature made entirely of an eye.

The massive three-meter-wide eyeball floating in the air was horrifying enough on its own, but the dozens, no, hundreds of tentacles sprouting around it, each ending in another eye, writhing and squirming, was nauseating. It looked like something pulled straight out of a nightmare.

Just how many eyes does this thing have? I wondered.

It was definitely not a creature one would ever see in reality. By its classification alone, this thing could rank far above the hundred-eyed level.

Professor Baldwin handed me several silver rings. “Now, put these on. One on each arm, each leg, and your neck.”

“What are these?” I asked.

“They’re recognition devices. Your arms, legs, and torso can take up to three hits each. But if your head gets hit even once, that’s an instant failure.”

“Ah, got it.”

It was like a survival game. I had seen heroes use these during sparring sessions. Though I never needed them since I revived anyway.

“And during training, you’ll be using this sword,” she added.

The weapon she handed me barely resembled a sword. It looked more like a silver metal rod.

“This sword also has a recognition device. When you hit the holographic monster with it, it’ll register as if you dealt real damage,” she explained.

“Heh, interesting.”

With the recognition devices attached to me, I stepped into the center of the arena.

[Beginning countdown.]

Numbers appeared in the air and ticked down one by one.

[Challenge Mode Start.]

Along with a soft chime, a yellow laser shot straight from the monster’s central eye. As expected from a creature that couldn’t exist in reality, the attack speed was insane. I barely had the time to blink before the beam was already at my face.

“Tsk.”

I twisted myself on reflex, dodging the laser. With the sword in hand, I observed the monster’s movement.

There was no need to use Ashen Flames. The eyeball monster was nothing but a hologram. Unless I directly struck it with this recognition sword, no actual damage would be registered.

In that case...

First, I had to close the distance. I gathered mana into the soles of my feet and exploded forward, using Berald Combat Style: Wind Step.

I launched forward with a thunderous boom. Perhaps sensing my motion, tentacles lunged at me from every direction. However, I kicked off the air itself, twisting sharply in the air. My movement ignored inertia entirely, and the tentacles that had been converging all at once suddenly lost their target, flailing aimlessly.

Now!

I brought my sword down toward the monster’s pupil. It was a strike falling like a lightning bolt from above. Since the monster had no arms or legs, only tentacles, I assumed it wouldn’t be able to dodge.

However, my sword sliced through empty air. The monster’s body dispersed like smoke.

“What the hell?”

The eyeball monster reappeared about fifty meters away.

Did it just teleport? Watching it move fifty meters instantly, I let out a dry laugh. Teleporting without any warning was ridiculous enough, but what came next was even worse. It flailed hundreds of wriggling tentacles, and the small eyes attached to them began gathering light.

Seeing hundreds of beams charge simultaneously from every direction, I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. “This is supposed to be Challenge Mode?”

What the hell were those Republic developers thinking when they made this thing?

There was no time to think. Beams fired from all directions. Dodging while twisting myself, I swung my sword violently. The lasers didn’t pierce through the sword; they deflected instead, which meant the sword could block them.

So they had at least a shred of conscience, huh.

However, at that moment, the lasers began to multiply, filling the entire arena with a dense web of beams. Hundreds, thousands, then tens of thousands, there were enough that counting became pointless.

“What the hell is this now?” I said.

I was somehow managing to deflect the incoming lasers, but this was clearly not the kind of attack anyone could reasonably block with a sword. Dodging was impossible too. The space between each beam was barely the size of a small ball. Not even an arm could slip through, much less a whole body.

“Tch!”

Suddenly, a short warning chime rang out.

[Hit detected on the shoulder. Two more hits to the body will result in Challenge failure.]

All the lasers suddenly disappeared. It seemed that once a challenger got hit, the system reset the monster’s attack pattern entirely. Almost as if the monster was giving the challenger a chance, the giant eyeball floated back to its original position.

Then, another chime resounded. A message popped up asking if I wanted to lower the difficulty, accompanied by a chirping chick sound, and an infuriatingly smug emoticon beneath it.

[Would you like to lower the Challenge difficulty?]

[(～￣▽￣)～]

I stared at the special character beneath the prompt, releasing a hollow laugh. “Unbelievable.”

They never intended anyone to clear this on the first try. From the start, I had noticed something strange. The lasers never targeted my head. It seemed like the mode was designed so the first shot was guaranteed to hit you, then afterward, it politely offered to lower the difficulty.

“Hah.”

Challenge mode, my ass.

This wasn’t a challenge; it was the kind of unbalanced nonsense one would see a bored kid doodle in a notebook.

Professor Baldwin, who had been watching from the sidelines, clicked her tongue with an awkward expression. “Mm. Sorry, Dale. I didn’t know the mode was like this.”

She had heard the developers made the mode as some sort of joke, but she never imagined it would be this ridiculous.

“I’ll end the mode now, so just wait a moment,” she added.

“No. It’s fine,” I replied.

“What?”

I glared at the eyeball monster, a sharp grin curling on my lips. “That’s how you want to play, huh?”

Honestly, when I first tried Challenge Mode, I went in treating it like a joke. But facing a difficulty level this outrageously stupid kindled a stubborn fire I didn’t know I had.

“Alright then. Let’s see who wins.”

Without lowering the difficulty, I stepped toward the eyeball monster. Hundreds of squirming tentacles lit up, the eyes at their tips gathering light. Then, hundreds of yellow lasers fired at me in unison.

“Tch.”

I took a quick breath and dropped low. Keeping low, I dashed forward. The lasers skimmed past, grazing my hair. Then, I closed in and swung my sword, only for the monster to teleport fifty meters away again.

“Yeah, that’s more like it.”

Berald Combat Style: Storm Step!

I crossed the 50 meters in an instant and swung again. Right before the monster blinked away, my sword barely grazed it. The giant eye flashed red, marking a successful hit.

It detected an attack and teleported in about 0.3 seconds. Within those 0.3 seconds, I could land a hit. The lasers split again. Thousands, no, tens of thousands of beams filled the entire arena. The space between each beam was barely enough for a fist to pass.

“Alright then... Let me show you something, too.”

I conjured a Mana Bullet. Though, it wasn’t outside my body, but inside.

“Here’s what something truly unrealistic looks like.”

With a boom, an explosion echoed from within me, and my body shattered into pieces. Ash-gray smoke spread like a thick mist.

Then, I revived and burst out from between the lasers, stomping hard on the ground. And 0.1 seconds was all it took. In that brief instant, the monster lost track of me through the haze of smoke, and before it could detect my attack, my sword pierced straight through the monster’s pupil.

[An error has occurred.]

[Forcing shutdown of mode. Initiating system recovery.]

With a loud beep, a shrill alarm echoed the moment my sword hit its target. Warning lights flashed red throughout the arena.

I let out a quiet snort. “You just assumed no one would ever beat this thing, huh?”

The system didn’t even give a “clear” message, just an error. It meant that the developers probably never imagined someone could actually succeed on the first try.

“Whew.”

I exhaled, feeling the aftershocks of pain lingering like an echo through my body. It had been a while since I fought like this. My power had grown so much recently that I no longer had to push my body this far. But in my past life, when I was using the Blessing of Resurrection to the extreme, suicidal combat was standard practice. They didn’t call me the Undying Fiend for no reason.

After I had fought in a way befitting that old title, a fierce heat stirred inside me. It was hard to describe, like a forgotten part of my youth was resurfacing.

Suddenly, the heat inside me grew stronger. “What the...?”

My vision blurred, as if covered by mist. A shiver ran down my spine, and something flickered faintly at the edge of my consciousness.

“This feeling...”

It felt like I was standing right on the verge of enlightenment. With a gulp, I tried to reach further. Just a little more, if I reached just a little farther, I could reach greater heights.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, the heat warming my body faded away. I let out a soft sigh and clicked my tongue.

I had failed. It was a pity. But at least I had learned that somewhere in that old Undying Fiend’s fighting style was a clue leading toward a higher realm.

While I stood there alone, trying to shake off the disappointment, Professor Baldwin called out to me. She stared at me with an expression of utter disbelief. “D-Dale...”

She scratched her cheek awkwardly before glancing at the flashing red warnings. “You wanted to get into the hot spring with me that badly?”

“Huh?”

“I can’t believe you’d risk your life to clear Challenge Mode just to get into the hot spring.”

“Uh.”

No, that wasn’t why I did it. My brain just overheated without me noticing.

“S-sorry! If you want, I’ll go into the hot spring with you anytime!”

“No.”

The way she said it made me sound like a madman willing to die just to bathe with a woman.

“Come along! We’re going to the hot spring right now!”

“W-wait. I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

“Hm? What misunderstanding?”

“What I did earlier wasn’t because of that.”

“So, you’re planning not to go in with me?”

“Ahem!”

I mean, it’s not like I’m going to refuse either. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to.