Second Draft - Reincarnated Into a Game in Impossible Mode

The longer Ryoshu stayed under the skill effect, the more information he received per second. This pressure weighed down on his brain to the point where his neural pathways felt like they could snap at any moment.

'Just a few more meters... that's all.'

One might think that getting closer would make things easier, but somehow the monsters seemed to understand his intentions. They quickly doubled the number of projectiles and aimed them at the approaching Ryoshu.

The bullets scattered around so densely that there were practically no gaps. This forced him to do something very dangerous.

Ryoshu rapidly channeled Mana into his two exhausted legs, which felt as if they were no longer part of his body.

If someone were watching from outside, they would surely witness a scene straight out of a sci-fi action movie, where the protagonist could dodge every bullet in a brief moment of time.

[Acquired Skill...]

Though the cold voice of the System rang out, he had no time to deal with it, especially at this moment. Ryoshu used every ounce of his strength and leaped toward the Gate, which was now only two or three arm's lengths away.

The bullets were approaching him closer than ever. It was particularly difficult since he was in mid-air and couldn't fully control his body.

Dozens of acid bullets hit Ryoshu again, but this time they were fired by Slimes ranked E and above.

As a result, the destruction of his body progressed at a frightening pace. They had corroded to the point of leaving wounds that exposed the flesh beneath.

But today, it seemed the god of luck was on Ryoshu's side as he successfully made it inside the Temple.

'That's three-quarters of the plan done... Now just one thing left...' Ryoshu tried to speak but realized his throat was bone dry.

He felt a terrifying current of air emanating from inside the Temple. It seemed even more frightening than the A+ ranked Hidden Temple he had completed before.

'Ah, I'm probably going to... regret this a lot.'

All Ryoshu needed to do was say nine simple words.

However, the weight of the next sentence was anything but simple. Just thinking about the consequences was enough to make Ryoshu fearful and trembling uncontrollably.

The more he hesitated, the sooner death would come as the Slimes approached him.

Ryoshu gripped his throat tightly as if trying to find his voice again. After uttering the first few words, he felt slightly relieved.

"I... want to increase..."

Perhaps because he feared the Temple wouldn't hear him, Ryoshu tried to repeat it once more, this time more assertively.

"I want to increase... the difficulty of THE CHALLENGE!" His voice grew louder toward the end of the sentence, despite his cracking tone.

A new gate was immediately created. Then it slammed shut before the Slimes could enter. A few unfortunate ones were crushed flat as the gate closed. Now, Ryoshu was completely safe from the outside forces.

After checking his surroundings and seeing that he was quite safe, he examined the Temple's challenge location.

It was still the familiar cave that he had entered countless times before.

The reason Temples often used cave settings was because most Temples were created in places with existing caves. Some Temples, however, were born and forced to create caves that didn't exist before.

"I escaped one hell only to enter another," Ryoshu realized his situation was more tense than a string about to snap.

But worse still, his skin was decomposing deeper and deeper. The acid had eaten away to the flesh, making it look terribly ragged. Ryoshu tried to swallow the pain that felt like his skin and flesh were being cut.

Ryoshu sat down, leaning against the rock wall to rest after a period of intense activity. Each time his lungs filled with air, the pain became more apparent.

'Maybe I'll die from acid before dying from monsters here...' Ryoshu felt humiliated by this helplessness. His corroding body left him completely exhausted.

Ryoshu tried not to move much to somewhat reduce the pain. But those efforts were useless as blood flowed from the open wounds, painting his body with a fresh red coat.

Ryoshu's breathing grew weaker. It seemed his life could now be measured in minutes.

A familiar cold sound echoed in his ear.

[Acquired trait "Acid Resistance" (Low)]

The decomposition rate from the acid visibly slowed down.

'Perhaps because this acid is so strong, the effects of the newly received skill can be seen with the naked eye...'

Ryoshu pondered this while his mind was dizzy from the lack of blood to his brain.

Just when he thought that was all, another series of sounds rang out like fireworks on New Year's Eve.

[You have accomplished something impossible with your current strength!] 

[Title One Who Desires to Survive is evolving!] 

[Title One Who Desires to Survive upgraded to Extraordinary level!]

Now his skin was no longer decomposing.

'Seems like my skin is regenerating? Though the pace is so slow I can barely notice.'

Ryoshu began to doubt the effect of the newly acquired Unique growth-type item:

'Perhaps this title has the ability to help me recover faster. Or maybe it makes my body more resilient? Not sure... especially when I can't check its description.'

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[Title] One Who Desires to Survive 

Rank: Extraordinary (Growth) (!) 

Description: Once again, you've done something that no one in this world has ever witnessed. You survived in a state closest to death and surrounded by hundreds of enemies! What's more, this time one of them was even three ranks higher than you! Once again, thanks to your strong desire to survive, you're still here. ▯▮▮▮▯▯ congratulates you! 

-▯▮▯ (!) 

▯▮▯▮▯▯ 

-▯▮▯▮▯▯▮ (New!) 

▯▮▯▮▯▯▮▯▯▮

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Ryoshu was surprised by this reward. He had just received this Title last night... and now it had reached a new rank.

Perhaps it would help him in this challenge with increased difficulty.

'One function has been upgraded... Perhaps it helps me become more resilient... or recover faster. As for the other function... no idea.' Ryoshu rubbed his chin and thought deeply.

"Maybe it's related to the ability to help me survive longer? After all, its name is One Who Desires to Survive, right?"

Ryoshu waved his hand and temporarily put the issue aside. Now he had a more urgent problem than ever.

That was the command he had just given. It had affected how the Temple operated.

Now, although he didn't have to worry about those Slimes from outside breaking in and ambushing him from behind, the disadvantage was that he couldn't escape from here until completing the challenge. Teleportation items would also become useless during the challenge.

That was the "increased difficulty" part of the Temple: either complete the challenge set by the Temple or die in here.

"Looking on the bright side... at least I'm not dead yet... instead I'll die slowly in this damn place."

But Ryoshu couldn't spend too much time as the class placement test was coming soon. He raised his hand to check the time.

[14:03 Tuesday, August 22, 2023]

"By Thursday, I need to be there for the class placement test. So I have less than 2 days to complete this challenge. If I don't show up, I won't be accepted into the school anymore..."

Although this challenge was ranked C, quite low compared to the A+ ranked Hidden Temple like last time, it's worth noting that it had no puzzles, just pure combat.

'And that means the final boss will be rank C. Damn... don't even mention rank C when even an E+ Slime could accidentally kill me.'

But in the prolonged battle earlier, he had unlocked many new skills. He noticed his skin was still decomposing a bit, but he probably had unlocked a new skill already.

Ryoshu sat down, leaning against the Temple's new door, and called up the System.

"System, show me the status panel."

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[Status Bar] 

-Name: Amemura Ryoshu 

-Race: Human 

-Rank: Unranked 

-Stats 

+[Mana]: 21 (E-) (!) 

Core: 1 

Circle: 3 (!) 

Circuit: 12 

+[Main Stats] 

Strength: 6.5 → 7.3 (Unranked) (!) 

Endurance: 6.8 → 8.8 (Unranked) (!) 

Agility: 6.3 → 7.8 (Unranked) (!) 

Intuition: 6.4 → 9.6 (Unranked) (!) 

+[Secondary Stats] 

Charm: 1 (Unranked) 

Recovery: 41 (C-) 

Intelligence: 6.8 → 10.1 (F-) (!) 

+[Extra Stats] 

Adaptability: 90 (SS+)

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Ryoshu was so surprised he couldn't say anything.

'My stats increased by half, even more than double in just one day compared to two days of self-training?!'

This was the benefit of fighting monsters of higher ranks. Thanks to using his entire musculature to move, dodge, and... a bit of fighting, he had increased his Agility stat by over one unit. And Ryoshu was nearly one full Strength stat higher.

'The Endurance stat must be from when that Slime attacked me while I was sleeping and the times I got hit by acid attacks from those others.'

But what Ryoshu benefited from most in combat, or more accurately from using the Death Sense skill for quite a long time combined with Super Memory, was that his Intuition stat increased by three whole units.

In the computer version, increasing a stat by one or two units in a day of just fighting or training (not to mention using items or exploits) was already very difficult. Yet here, Ryoshu increased by three units, putting him in the world's top 5 for the largest stat increase from fighting in a single day.

'The person at the top increased by 5 units! But that guy keeps his methods so secret... making me quite curious about what he had to go through to achieve that.'

But the most important thing was his Mana stat, also known as Potential Limit, which had increased to rank E-. This meant Ryoshu could now reach rank F a little more easily. Because the rate of stat increase also depended on the amount of pure Mana that could be absorbed.

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[Magic] (F) 

-Mana Concentration (Level VI → VII) (!) 

Increases your Mana concentration efficiency by 22.5 → 27.5%. 

-Mana Transformation (Level II → IV) (!) 

Increases your Mana transformation efficiency by 5 → 10.5%.

-Mana Transmission (Level V → VI) (!) 

Increases your Mana transmission efficiency by 10 → 13.5%.

-Mana Maintenance (Level I) (New!)

Increases your Mana maintenance efficiency by 3%. 

--------

Ryoshu's Magic potential had developed beyond normal levels. So when looking at his Sword potential, he couldn't feel as excited as before.

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[Sword Skills] (F-) 

-Thrust (Level I → II) (!) 

When activated, the first attack will consume "Stamina" and increase "Critical Rate" by an additional 10%.

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'This is still quite an increase... later on, as you reach higher levels, it will become much harder to level up.'

Like with stats, the higher the rank, the harder it becomes to level up. Later, it might take months for a skill to gain just one level. That's assuming Ryoshu only trains normally. If he fights stronger monsters, skills will level up much faster.

"And next, show me the new skills that I just unlocked, System."

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[Traits] 

+[Pain Resistance] (low) (New!) 

+[Acid Resistance] (low) (New!) 

[Potentials] 

+[Archery] Time Bullet (Level I) (New!)

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"Time Bullet..."

Stunned speechless, Ryoshu tried to keep his breathing normal. Because if he shouted out in excitement now, monsters would surely trace the sound waves and come here.

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[Time Bullet] (Level I) (New!)

Description: When activated, time will slow down 3 times for the next 3 seconds. Uses: 3 times/hour. (3/3)

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"Are you kidding... one of the must-have skills... I was planning to buy it on the Black Market next time. And now it's already in my hands...?"

He almost thought he was seeing things and looked wrong. Ryoshu repeatedly opened and closed the menu to verify if it was correct.

'But... I didn't do anything...? Or was it because the recent battle was almost indistinguishable from that skill...'

However, Time Bullet was an active skill. Ryoshu could activate it anytime rather than just relying on the Death Sense ultimate skill with its strict requirements.

'Excellent, this increases my survival chances significantly. And the reward for completing the challenge is a teleportation scroll... now I just need to defeat the boss...'

Ryoshu looked deep into the cave and felt as if wind from inside was blowing all the way out here, making his skin crawl suddenly.

"Complete this challenge to return to the academy..."

'Hmm. Speaking of which, why does the class placement test day coincide with the VR version release date of the game... The main storyline will take place right at that test.'

A small realization made him feel something wasn't right here.

'Is that a random coincidence or what...? Very suspicious indeed...'

Ryoshu looked at the path he had to take next. The darkness from deep within the cave seemed to be staring right into his eyes. A sense of unease invaded the dark, bone-chilling cave space.

'Now... I need to survive first.' He swallowed, but it got stuck in his throat rather than going down smoothly.

Ryoshu tried to stay calm and think carefully about his Temple raid strategy again. He planned to try sniping from a distance to test his shooting skills. After all, that would be what Spiral Academy would test him on.

Ryoshu wanted to verify how effective that cowardly tactic would be. Although doing so would take quite some time and reduce the chance of receiving additional rewards. But speed and time weren't the only criteria in the challenges.

Each different type of Temple challenge would evaluate Awakened ones based on different criteria. For example, the Cleverness Challenge would test the speed of solving puzzles.

In this Courage Challenge, it would test how he fought. Could Ryoshu eliminate all monsters in the challenge... or find the rewards scattered throughout the Temple. Basically, it would test the percentage of completion of the entire challenge.

'I shouldn't be careless anymore and should use all the items or equipment I have.'

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-[Hidden Mask] (D) 

-[Protection Necklace] (A)

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Ryoshu put on the familiar mask, but this time he also wore a necklace with a platinum chain adorned with a blue gem.

'Although this item isn't worth using like this... I'm still weak so I can't demand much.' He sighed at his carelessness and underestimation of the enemy.

Suddenly Ryoshu felt strangely lonely. It seemed that in life-threatening situations, people often craved interaction with others. But he had no one to accompany him... except for Fumiya.

"Maybe... I should bring out Fumiya to play with it a bit... it must be a bit lonely too, right?"

Ryoshu immediately summoned the Formless Bow in his hand. And after that, he activated its Reduction function. The bow instantly turned into sand and surrounded his hoodie, which was tattered from contact with acid.

"Ha... you wouldn't believe what I just went through... dear Fumiya..."

It couldn't say anything, so it hugged him instead of speaking. This action was no longer strange to him. But now its embrace felt even warmer than before. Ryoshu's eyes kept closing and opening again.

'Ah, I'm so sleepy...'

And after that, Ryoshu unconsciously drifted into a peaceful sleep in the arms of his friend.