Leon stared at the panel, frozen. His mind went blank. His thoughts couldn't keep up with what he was seeing.
A system. A dantian. A cultivation realm. An innate ability.
'Is this… really happening?'
Before he could even process it, the massive centipede beneath him began to fade. Its colossal body slowly broke apart into countless motes of light, scattering into the air like dust shimmering under a dying sun.
Leon lost his balance and slipped.
"Argh!"
He fell backward and hit the ground hard. His back screamed in pain. His arms felt like they'd been torn out of their sockets. His entire body was already beyond exhausted and tortured from the battle; there was nothing he could do but accept the pain helplessly.
He lay there, staring up at the crimson sky, chest heaving.
But then he noticed something.
Just where the centipede's corpse had been, something remained. A small, crystal-like sphere, glowing faintly with an eerie inner light.
"What the hell is that?" Leon whispered.
"That's a monster core."
A sudden voice made Leon almost choke on his own breath.
He jerked his head to the side. "You again?! What are you trying to do — give me a heart attack?"
The man from earlier was standing a short distance away, same as before.... calm, composed, as if he hadn't just watched Leon nearly die fighting a monster.
"Why would I want that?" the man replied with a faint, mysterious smile. "If you die, I will cease to exist as well."
Leon frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
The man tilted his head slightly. "I can't answer that question. But you'll find out soon enough. I hope you do."
Leon struggled to sit up, biting back pain. "You know, that's getting annoying. What are you, some kind of riddler? Can't you talk like a normal person?"
"I can," the man said. "But you wouldn't want that."
Leon stared at him. "I wouldn't want that…? I really don't get you."
His eyes shifted back to the floating orb. "Anyway… I somehow defeated that monster. So now are you going to explain what's going on? Why am I inside this dream? And what's with this panel?"
The man went quiet for a moment, as if considering how much he could say.
"This," he finally said, gesturing around them, "is a dream world. A space only accessible by you."
Leon's eyes narrowed.
"Up until now, its only purpose was to test your worthiness. You passed. That's why you're now bound to the system."
He continued, "From now on, you can use this dream world as your personal training space."
Leon's breath caught. "Training space…?"
"Yes. And it's a special one. Time flows differently here," the man said. "One hour in this place is equal to only one second outside. You can bring in any manual, any technique, any weapon you possess and practice here. Your age will only follow real-world time. So you could train here for a year… and in reality, not even three hours would pass. Amazing, isn't it?"
Leon's jaw slowly dropped.
"If that's true, then… hell yeah, it's amazing," he muttered. "But what about my cultivation level? Like just now, I reached the third level of the Body Refinement Stage. When I wake up, will I still be at that level? Or will everything reset?"
"No," the man answered. "Your gains will be carried over. After all, that's the entire purpose of the system and this dream world.... to train you. Otherwise, you would never be ready for what's coming."
Leon's eyes sharpened. "What's coming?"
The man's gaze turned distant.
"I can't answer that," he said quietly. "You have to remember it yourself."
Leon gritted his teeth. "Fine. Then how about this — who created this system? And why was I chosen?"
"I can't answer that either," the man replied without hesitation. "You'll remember it. Don't worry."
Leon facepalmed helplessly and let out a long sigh. "So you're going to keep dumping riddles on me until I magically remember something. Great."
He dropped his hand and glanced again at the glowing orb.
"At least tell me what that thing is."
"I already told you," the man said. "That's a monster core."
Leon's eyes narrowed. "For real? I can take it outside with me, right? I can sell it for a fortune."
The man burst into loud laughter.
"You can take it out, yes," he said. "But are you sure you want to sell it?"
"What else should I do with it?" Leon shot back. "Cultivating with that thing will take years. And I really, REALLY need money right now."
"You can earn more money if you get stronger," the man replied calmly. "Do you want to know what else you can do with that core? This will be the last thing I tell you... for now. Saying this much won't change the course of your actions."
Leon squinted suspiciously. "…Of course yes. Tell me."
"You can devour it," the man said. "Your innate ability has awakened, hasn't it?"
Leon froze.
"Innate Ability… Devouring," he whispered, recalling the panel.
"....Yes," Leon said after some time.
"Then swallow the core. You'll understand what that ability is for."
Leon stared at him like he'd grown another head.
"What?! Swallow that? Are you insane? I'll explode into meat paste if I swallow that thing!"
"You won't," the man said simply. "Just do as I say."
Leon looked back at the monster core. It lay there silently, pulsing with condensed energy.... terrifying and tempting at the same time.
His throat went dry. 'Swallow it? Seriously? Is he trying to kill me or help me?'
Instead of moving toward it, Leon stayed rooted to the spot, his legs refusing to cooperate.
Seeing his hesitation, the man clicked his tongue. "Pathetic," he muttered mildly.
He then lifted his hand and made a subtle gesture.
The core flew toward him as if obeying a command, landing gently in his palm. It looked even more dangerous up close.... concentrated power in the form of a shimmering, translucent sphere.
The man extended his hand toward Leon.
"Here," he said. "Swallow it. Don't worry. If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't bother helping you."
"That's… not reassuring at all," Leon muttered.
But he could feel it.
The core's presence called to him — like it recognized something inside him. Or maybe something inside him recognized it.
He swallowed nervously. "Fuck it," he whispered. "If I die, I'll haunt you."
He took the core.
It felt warm against his palm, and heavy, like he was holding a compressed world.
He lifted it to his mouth with trembling fingers, paused for a brief second...
and then shoved it in and swallowed.
The core slid down his throat in one hard gulp. He braced himself, half-expecting his stomach to rupture and his guts to explode everywhere.
But instead...
The instant it reached his stomach, the core dissolved.
Melted into pure, dense energy.
A storm erupted inside his body.
"Ghh!"
Leon doubled over as a terrifying surge of power rushed through his meridians, his muscles, his bones, his newly formed dantian. It felt like liquid fire and ice flooding his veins at the same time.
The panel appeared again.
[Qi: 40,000 / 40,000. You have absorbed enough qi for a breakthrough.]
[You have reached the 4th level of the Body Refinement Stage.]
[Qi: 80,000 / 80,000. You have absorbed enough qi for a breakthrough.]
[You have reached the 5th level of the Body Refinement Stage.]
[Qi: 160,000 / 160,000. You have absorbed enough qi for a breakthrough.]
[You have reached the 6th level of the Body Refinement Stage.]
[Qi: 320,000 / 320,000. You have absorbed enough qi for a breakthrough.]
[You have reached the 7th level of the Body Refinement Stage.]
Leon just stared.
His jaw slackened. His mind failed to produce any words.
'Fourth… fifth… sixth… seventh…'
In just a few seconds, he had crossed the distance that most people needed years—sometimes a decade to traverse.
"This is insane…" he whispered, dazed. "This is beyond insane…"
The man beside him folded his arms again, watching Leon's expression with clear amusement.
"Good," he said softly. "At least now, you're standing at the starting line."
He turned his gaze toward the bloodstained ground where the centipede once lay.
"Until next time then," he said, looking back at Leon. "Remember this well, Leon... your only goal is to become stronger. As strong as you can, as fast as you can. If you don't…"
His smile faded slightly, replaced by a distant, almost sorrowful look.
"You won't want to live long enough to regret it."
Before Leon could respond, the man's body began to fade again, edges dissolving into smoke, form growing transparent.
"Wait....!" Leon shouted. "I still have a hundred more questions! At least tell me your...."
But the man was already gone.
Silence returned to the barren land.
Leon stood there alone, heart pounding, body overflowing with power, mind buzzing with confusion.
"At least, you could have told me how to wake up."