It was a place of pitch darkness like a void with no trace of light, endless and sprawling over a long distance without stopping.In this void, someone floated subconsciously; it was none other than Liam.His eyes soon opened to the darkness in front of him.'Where am I?' he asked no one in particular.The last thing he recalled was using all his strength to take down the boss of the dungeon, and then the system told him he had failed the quest. The last thing he felt was pain that would make someone choose to die just to end it.[You will arrive in the Penalty Zone soon...]The system's voice sounded in his head.'The penalty zone, what is that?'Nevertheless, at that moment, he felt a strange force pushing him down the void.He tried to yell for help, but his mouth refused to open.His vision blackened, but after a few seconds, his eyes opened once again, and he found himself in a strange land.[Penalty][Survive for the next 3 hours][Note: Dying here means dying in the real world,
"Kid you got injured so badly in your last expenditure, even if you are healed so quickly you still need to rest, you are still a teenager after all.." Grim Blade voice sounded in a beautiful dojo at the busiest Cupin City.. Grim Blade runs a large martial arts training center that according to popular media, makes around two billion dollars per year. In here, a lot of billionaires comes to learn how to use a particular weapon skill from him. He charges almost five hundred thousand dollar per hour, it is said that he would have been able to make at least fifty billion per year if he spend more time here. Grim blade was dressed in a leather armor with a sword strapped at the back of it, he sat down on a stool. Sitting beside him was Liam, who has come to learn the ways of the sword from Grim Blade. He left the hospital last night, and this morning he decided to visit Grim Blade's place to begin his training. "I am fine, I can train now." Liam replied. "Hey, you are in my place
Days passed, and days turned into a week that Liam had been training diligently at Grim Blade Training Center. He went there early in the morning and returned home at the dead of the night; one time he even spent the whole day there training the basics.His diligence in his training won the interest of the lady in charge of him and also the interest of Grim Blade, who wouldn't stop fueling him to do better at his strikes.At this moment, Liam was sitting inside the small room, hugging the sword as he panted for air."My current highest time is around fifty minutes. I'm getting better with the ways of the sword faster than I can even think of. Today is just the seventh day. If I can succeed, I can beat the record of Grim Blade's previous best student and take his place. Yes, I can do it," Liam thought to himself.Liam stood up, holding the sword with just one hand. It wasn't as heavy as it was a week ago when he first laid his hands on it."Are you ready to go again?" said the young la
Liam woke up in a bedroom at Grim Blade's mansion. Yesterday, he trained his body so much that he got incredibly tired and fainted.It was thanks to Tricia that he didn't injure himself yesterday because if it wasn't for her help, he would have sustained a hideous scar on his body.He lifted his head from the large bed and stared at the room's interior.The room was very big, almost as big as two sitting rooms combined. There was a large wardrobe, a big TV, and other items that made the room cooler.If they compared this room to that of major hotels, there is a chance that this room would take the prize."I might be able to get one like this one day," Liam muttered to himself."Then train harder, go on many expeditions, and make lots of money. That's the fastest way to obtain this," said Grim Blade, who was sitting on a chair several meters away from Liam, reading a novel.He took the novel down and turned to look at Liam with a smile, but Liam didn't have a smile on his face; it was
In a massive road, a vehicle could be seen speeding through with a flashy car of black and golden color; the car belonged to no other person than Grim Blade.Grim Blade was driving Liam to the dungeon where he would be practicing his sword skills against real opponents, monsters.The basis of training in this world is to defend the world from monsters and humans that play the role of villains.Liam sat in the passenger seat, his seat belt was on, and his face was curiously staring outside, looking at the structures of massive buildings. There was even a building that was levitating several meters above the ground."You look very ready to visit a dungeon and start training in the ways of the sword. I'm shocked; no one has ever been this curious about the way of the sword. You didn't even reject training for a whole day without food," Grim Blade turned to Liam and smiled."I just want to be strong enough to go into dungeons. I have a goal that I need a lot of money to complete. Until I
"But I used all my strength in that attack just now; how did it even manage to defend against that?" he muttered as he stepped back, bewildered by the monkey's resilience even though he had used most of his strength just now.Grim Blade saw this and sighed loudly, "Kids nowadays don't want to learn the ways of the sword as it should be learned; they want everything to go so fast and smoothly when life itself doesn't even work like that.""Liam, listen carefully. Swordsmanship is not just about brute strength. It's about finesse, technique, and understanding your opponent's moves. You need to observe the enemy, anticipate its actions, and strike precisely at its weaknesses," he warned Liam.Liam was three feet away from the flame-farting monkey that worked in a circle around him like a predator ready to feast on its prey anytime soon."Observe, anticipate and strike.. got it?" His mind wandered around those words.With the sword gripped tightly, his eyes focused solely on the movement
It took more confidence and practice for Liam to finally master the ways of the sword. He fought with all he had, combining style, charm, and precision according to what his sensei - Grim Blade - had commanded.After learning and mastering the basics by fighting the flame-farting monkeys, Liam finally arrived at the boss's location.The boss was no other than a big-ass chimpanzee, possessing the same powers as the flame-farting monkeys but with more strength."You have to be extra careful against this one. It's only a few levels away from a two-star monster, but it's still pretty strong for a zero-star hero like yourself," Grim Blade explained."I understand, sensei," Liam nodded his head. He let out a deep breath and took a step forward, wielding his sword while his eyes locked onto the flame-farting chimpanzee, which stared at Liam with unknown malice.Liam didn't wait for time to pass; he attacked first, lifting his sword and his body, reaching a height of almost four feet, and the
"I heard you were invited. It was high time I paid a visit. Don't worry, your two lowlife friends are with me. Come meet me at Louis Eagle Hotel, 10:00 AM tomorrow. ~~~FREDERICK"Liam read the details out of the paper he was holding in his hands, his eyes widened, and he subconsciously let out a deep killing intent.At this moment, if someone looked at Liam, all they would see would be his face boiling with rage and an endless amount of killing intent."Frederick!!!" His super enraged voice could be heard far around the house.Even families living far away from this house could hear his loud screams."Frederick... this time if I get a hold of you, I'll strangle the living daylight out of you."Liam couldn't believe that Frederick would stoop so low to kidnap his friends.There wasn't a reason he should do such a thing, to be honest; he has shown his disgust to Liam in so many ways in the past.He has shown Liam and his family that they would never be accepted by the Crownwealth family