[The task to Defeat the Ape King has been completed.]

[Next Stage has been completed.]

[You will be transferred at the briefing room for finalization.]

[Time left before transference: 180 seconds.]

Cipriani Markez froze in his tracks the moment he saw the System Notice.

"What the? He finished it alone? What about my tripartite alliance?"

Cipriani thought that Augustus was causing him troubles even after his death. Since it seemed, he lied to him about the next stage being that dangerous, seeing that Jeemin was able to finish it alone.

He could only let out a sigh as his plans went into smoke.

Cipriani then gathered his remaining men and stood in front of them with his tiger's coat draped on his back.

"You've followed me well until here."

Rock nodded as the rest beside him listened.

"Now, since I've already informed you about the recruitment, you'd get better recruitment deals from now on. You might not know its value now. But sooner or later, you'll do. Remember, after you become stronger outside. You're welcome to contact me anytime."

Then, Cipriani pulled out something out his pouch and threw it at Rock.

"You've serve me well, here's how you can use mana."

Rock excitedly caught the scroll with his hand.

"Thanks boss."

Cipriani also took some items like bandages, pills, and other things inside his pouch and gave it to the men in front of him.

After they shouted in gratitude, Cipriani curled up his lips. His condition could only be described as perfect as he wasn't tired nor suffering from any injuries, it was like, the Adaptation Zone was just a walk in the park.

He turned his gaze at the empty air above him, made a cross, and bowed lightly.

Cipriani Markez then muttered, "Tutorial Shop."

[Tutorial Shop: Items are sold out]

*

At the same time, Lily was surrounded by the people who followed her.

"Is it true? We're not going to suffer anymore?"

"Does the new message means that they we're done here?"

Lily raised her hand to signal them to quiet.

"Yes. According to what the other leader said, that was the last stage."

"Thank God."

"Oh thank the heavens."

"Lily, thank you for leading us."

She smiled genuinely and shook their hands.

"I should be the one thanking all of you, without each of you helping me, I don't think I could survive this long either."

"No, no, it's because of you we're alive.."

"That's not true, you even shared your own foods with us.."

After dealing with their words of gratitude, Lily heaved a sigh.

Lily turned her gaze outside the hall and looked at the sky.

"Now, the only question is, if we can go back to our world. I wonder what my mom and dad are doing. Little brother and sister, are you all doing fine? Big sis here will do everything to go back."

A drop of warm water trickled down from here eyes as dawn finally arrived.

*

"So that bastard's name is Liu Jeemin huh," Hyoon said with indignation.

"Why are you so harsh on him? He even saved your life couple of times."

Claire frowned and looked at her.

"Why are you so adamant on protecting him? Look, Seiji died because he rushed us even though the purple haired girl told us otherwise. He even tried to kill you."

"No, he didn't try to kill me. That's not him, he even tried to explain to me when his eyes glowed in red..."

"Both of you, shut up. Hyoon is just spouting nonsense because she's feeling guilty about Seiji's death. I wonder what it felt like when you threw Seiji's body away," Dmitri coldly said while playing with his knife.

"You.. you mustn't... fight with each other.."

Li Jing twiddled with her fingers while stuttering.

Hyoon only glared at Dmitri but didn't reply.

The wind was cold and moist making the party's atmosphere all the more gloomy.

After the momentary silence, Claire finally spoke.

"Say what you will about him. But I know what a captain feels whenever they made a mistake. He must have been carrying the burden of Seiji's death and Rheena all this time. Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. We'll go on our separate ways anyways."

With that, Claire left the party.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"W-wait!"

Li Jing shouted anxiously and followed behind her.

"Are you going too?" Hyoon asked as she turned her gaze at Dmitri.

"Nah, I'll just sit here. We'll get transported anyways. Just stop talking, you sound like my nagging mom."

Hyoon raised her eyebrows at his remark. She found it strange, since it was unusual for Dmitri to talk about matters about him.

"Your father must be unlucky then."

"Yeah, he's unlucky because he got killed by his own son."

Before Hyoon could even react to his casual response, devoid of his usual cold tone, a bright light shrouded their entire bodies.

*

In a huge theater room, with lights coming from rocks and gems inserted on the walls, seven people were discussing among themselves.

"Is this okay? We haven't tested their combat abilities yet." Ling Tian waved his fan with an annoyed look.

Li Na shook her head and replied, "We got the chamber for that."

"Fine, then we'll discuss about recruitment...."

Zai Zen and the rest nodded at Ling Tian's words and begun negotiating.

The negotiations didn't exactly went smoothly. Nameless suddenly drew her katana at Dylan, while Li Na almost fought with the girl clad in Armor.

"That guy is ours. You want to fight here? You're challenging the name of our dear Emperor?!"

The young girl who almost look like a child drew a massive lance out of nowhere and aimed at Li Na, who was coldly glaring at her with her twin crescent blades.

At the same time, Dylan darted around the theater dodging Nameless' katana slashing at him.

"Hey, eyy, oie, fine, fine. She's yours."

Nameless coldly glared at him and put her katana back on her ponytailed blue hair and walked in front, before closing her eyes.

"Guess I'll take those four then," Dylan sighed and sat at the front while wearing his white Dojo uniform.

Soon, Li Na and the young girl clad in full armour finally reach an agreement.

While Zai Zen, who was wearing his golden black Daoist robe, only closed his eyes and waited. Ling Tian waved his fan as no one disagreed to who he picked.

Numerous light suddenly emerged in the theater room as the people finally arrived at the last step of passing the Adaptation Zone.

*

[Task is completed using the hidden approach]

[The task to Appease the Ape King has been completed]

[Task has been completed alone]

[You've gained bonus 5000 credits, High Training Booster x1, experience +5% x5]

[Generating rewards for task completion....]

[You've received 2000 credits, random high grade equipment with effects.]

[Mana Reinforced Spear has been sent to your inventory]

[Silver Staff has been sent to your inventory]

As soon as Jeemin regained consciousness, the first thing that greeted him was the Sytem Notice barraging him one notices after another.

He felt warmth shrouding his entire body the moment he woke up.

His entire being also felt light like he was lying on the surface of a still ocean.

When he opened his eyes, his vision was filled with blue light that was neither bright nor dim. It was pleasing and soothing to look at.

"Have I been transported to another world again?"

Jeemin felt for the ground and propped himself up. After seeing the groundless ground, he almost reeled back from vertigo.

"I'll defeat my fear of height as soon as I get stronger, hopefully. I hope this new world would give some unique skills, higher rank, and some cheat OP weapon. If not, I'd rather die again then go to another world."

He swept his gaze around him and only then he noticed that he didn't feel any pain coming from any part of his body.

Before he realized it, he was already turning his head swiftly at his left arm.

However, he could only display a dismayed expression when he saw his missing left arm.

So my left arm is gone, meaning I didn't die.

He sighed disappointedly and checked for his pouch. When he saw it was still in his pocket, he nodded at himself.

Jeemin then check the status of his robe.

Robe of Thalos

Grade: H-1

Class: Warrior

Type: Armor

Durability: 10/100

Attributes: None

Effects: Slightly increase defense according to the user's stats.

Weapon Skill: (1)

(Art of Berserker - Rage)

Feeds on the user's flesh and blood to increase the user's power and speed. Overusing the skill would gradually corrode the user's mind.

How could I fix this? Are there any blacksmith here?

While he was in thought, he suddenly heard a faint chuckle.

[Healing is done, continue walking forward after you leave the chamber.]

The voice was soft and gentle.

He tilted his head left and right looking for the source, but he wasn't able to locate where it came from.

[Go now, or do you want to miss being recruited? You'll be transported in a small city alone. With no information about the outside world, how could a nonnative like you could survive?]

Jeemin perked up his ear and asked, "If that happened, then where should I go then?"

[Mhmmm. Are you taking advantage of me?]

"No, my Goddess, I'm just asking for your divine guidance." He said bashfully.

I don't need to wear an indifferent personality here, I'm going to leave this place anyways.

[Hmph. Okay f-fine. Find a mountain and reach level 1. If you're mark S then that would take you less than 15 days. But if have the lowest rank, which is F, then less than two months.]

"Uhhmm... What exactly should I do in the mountain?"

[Training of course. Now go.]

"W-wait, what's your name?"

[...]

After getting no response, Jeemin bowed down and...

"How do I get out of this place—"

... he saw a white bright light behind him. When he looked closer, he could see a simple pavement with wide tiles and grasses growing in each of the gaps.

Jeemin looked back and bowed again and said, "Thank you."

Afterwards, he left the blue space.

*

At the middle of the empty space, a pavement leading to three locations floated.

A small building with a dome-shaped roof, a two-story tall building, and a door at the end of the pavement that can be seen in its entirety if you look down from above.

Jeemin walked straight as per the instruction earlier, and decided not to take a peek at the darkness from both of his sides.

Even though the surroundings were like empty space, the pavement, two buildings, and the door at the end were visible.

[Status Window]

Name: Liu Jeemin

Titles: None

General information

Current state: Healthy

Physical: 62kg/167.3cm

Cause of Transmigration: Suicide

Mark: g

Level 0

Class: None

Talent: Average

Skills:

A. Unique Skills:

None

B. Acquired Skills:

-Foundational Skills:(1)

—Mana Ejection

C. Weapon Skills: (1)

—Art of Berserker - Rage

Personality:

-Inconsistent (Does not have fixed traits)

-Slightly Clear(have a vague goal)

-Delusional(Imitating other traits)

-Projection(Tries to present how he think of himself)

Mental level:

-Weak-willed (gives up easily)

-Depress(not enough desire to live)

-Logical(thinks reasonably)

-Impostor Syndrome(fear of being exposed as fraud; gaining success though hardwork and luck is not interpreted as matter of true, personal ability)

Overall Stats:

Power: 1(0%)

Agility: 1(0%)

Defense: 1(0%)

Stamina: Low

Mana: None

Universal Points: 4

He stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes.

Something's changed. 'Slightly clear'?

Jeemin can still recall his abject personalities when he checked it at the cave. He can remember it being 'confused' not 'slightly clear'.

Now that he looked at it, the second row of the Personality represents his desired direction, his goal. It is even stated at the end that he already had a vague goal.

Looking back, he recalled being gradually consumed by the thought of becoming strong.

He grinned at the improvement and hurriedly walked towards the door at the end of the road.

But he checked himself first if his face was still covered properly by his black face mask. After confirming it was fine, he then looked at the appearance of his black leather robe.

Suprisingly, it wasn't tattered even though the durability was 10/100. But he can feel the major difference between 100/100 and 10/100, because it felt lighter than when it was undamaged.

When he was about to move his hand forward to open the door, he stopped.

Hesitation welled up in him as he displayed a pained facial expression.

His forehead was creased as he thought.

How should I deal with the rest of the party, especially Claire? Should I apologize and explain or just ignore them? What if we are recruited by the same recruiter, wouldn't that be awkward?

When he recalled what Hyoon shouted at him when he was influenced by the Origin inside his palm, his forehead further creased.

I should apologize to Claire at least, pat Li Jing's head, hmm, and thank Dmitri. How should I deal with Hyoon? Maybe some people just really hates other people for being born, tsk, I shouldn't have saved her in the first place.

He sighed because he knew he wouldn't be able to handle the guilt if he let Hyoon died. It was more for himself that he saved her.

When he realized this, he shook his head before he opened the door.

*

Creak.

Suddenly, all his hairs stood on end when several gazes turned towards him.

Jeemin fought the urge of lowering his head and stiffly swept his gaze around the theater room.

He immediately spotted Claire standing beside an old man wearing golden black Daoist robe with long white beard.

Jeemin even saw Li Jing and Lily beside a girl wearing a black windbreaker with a katana on her..

He did a double take when he saw the katana was used to bun her ponytailed blue hair. He didn't even know what to call her hairstyle rather than the katana was used as the lock to ponytail her hair, as the best description.

Jeemin swallowed his saliva when he saw the huge man with broad frame and thick ripped muscles bulging from his white Dojo uniform.

Even from afar, Jeemin needed to lift his head up just to look at the man's face. The man was beside four burly men.

One of the guy was a little bit familiar, thought Jeemin.

Hmm, it was the guy who almost took my life.

He also noticed a feminine guy waving a fan, and the familiar Li Na and the young girl clad in armour looking at his direction.

Is that Dae Kyung-Sam beside that feminine man? Wait, what's the connection between that young girl clad in armour and Cipriani, why is he standing beside her?

Feeling those glares coming from the familiar people who he fought with, he only replied with his drooped eyelids after looking at them.

The theater room was expansive but the lights on the wall seemed damaged since it was a little bit dim like a battle had taken place here.

He quietly closed the door behind him and stood calmly at the side.

Clap.

Suddenly, the feminine man clapped once and spoke.

"Hmm. The so-called star is here."