Chapter 28 : Adventure Level 15 (6)

One day during the winter vacation, marking the end of the first year of middle school.

I picked up the bottle of calcium supplements from the desk.
Looking at the ingredients list, it seemed to be a mix of calcium with magnesium, vitamin D, and other things.
It’s a calcium supplement, yet it has all sorts of things mixed in.

I didn’t know why Do Yugeon would give something like this as a Christmas present.
What could have been his intention?
To tease me once?
Hmm.
Last time I checked, there was about a 16cm height difference, and rather than shrinking over time, it felt like the gap was widening, so maybe he simply gave it hoping I’d grow taller.

I appreciated the gift, but excessive intake of nutrients is a problem to be wary of, so I didn’t really want to take it.
I don’t usually go out much, so I occasionally take vitamin D, but calcium feels a bit like—do I really need to take it?
I don’t specifically focus on calcium during meals, but the calcium consumed through food should fulfill the daily intake requirement.
I saw Mom reading a nutrition book once, so maybe she considered such aspects when cooking?
Probably…?

Mom has a tendency to be surprisingly lax about things, so it’s unlikely she cooks while worrying about calcium too.
Or maybe not?
Nutrient intake depends more on menu selection than a single meal’s cooking, so maybe she took care of it that way?
Then, if I’m not lacking calcium, why am I not growing taller?

Shaking the supplement bottle made a rattling sound.
It’s been almost a month since I received the gift, so it’s probably better to take it out of consideration for his effort.
Leaving it untouched might make me feel unnecessarily guilty too.

I made a cup of cappuccino and brought it over.
Waiting for it to cool down moderately, I put one supplement pill in my mouth.
It might lead to excessive nutrient intake, but if side effects appear, the family doctor will surely take appropriate measures before they become serious.
It’s a somewhat thoughtless plan, but whatever. What could happen from taking just one bottle of supplements?

I drank the coffee along with the supplement.
It wasn’t piping hot, but warm enough to feel the heat flow down my esophagus.
My insides warmed up, and a hot sensation spread throughout my body.
I like coffee because of this feeling.
It might be a common advantage of hot liquids rather than unique to coffee, but anyway, I like that the difference before and after drinking coffee is immediately noticeable.
The heat feels good.

A sensation of something caught in my throat was followed by a cough.
What the—
Did the pill get stuck?
Roughly swallowing saliva to check, the pill seemed to have gone down, leaving only a scratchy sensation.
I didn’t swallow the pill properly.

In my past life, I swallowed pills just fine, even without water when in a huge hurry, but why is this life like this?
What’s the problem?
Is it a matter of technique?
Or is it simply because my throat is narrow?
Well, being a minor, there might be physical aspects like that.
After all, I’m just a middle schooler.
That’s right.
It’s okay if I can’t swallow pills perfectly.
Who cares.

Hmm.

Feeling strangely moody, I picked up my smartphone.
I sent Do Yugeon an emoticon of a penguin stepping on a polar bear four times in a row.
Not long after, a KakaoTalk message arrived asking what it meant.
I sent it thoughtlessly, but now that he asked, I didn’t have a good answer.
I shouldn’t have sent it.
I replied that I sent it without any meaning and moved on.

I finished the coffee and cleaned up.
Why on earth am I not growing taller?
It’s not like I’m not growing at all, but isn’t it too slow for a middle schooler’s growth rate?
Is it really because I don’t exercise?
Still, I logged in to hunt and moved around, so it’s not like I did absolutely nothing.
Even though I only flew around without walking or running.

Do Yugeon’s height spurt probably isn’t just natural growth either; maybe it’s influenced by him walking around to hunt and exercising separately, allowing him to shoot up like that?
So, it really is exercise?
Should I try it?
It’s not like I’m obsessed with height, but exercise itself is good for health, so it’s not a bad thing to do.
Height growth would just be an additional effect.

In my past life, I only resolved to do it but never actually did, so it would be good to form the habit early this time.
Starting exercise when older often leads to giving up because there’s no stamina to endure the initial exhaustion.
That’s right.
It’s better to do it now.

It’s not particularly difficult—let’s just try it now.
I stood in a suitable spot in the room.
Since no specific exercise comes to mind, let’s start with push-ups.

As I bent my waist and lowered my arms toward the floor, a sudden wave of embarrassment washed over me, and I stood up again.
Somehow… it feels awkward.
For some reason, I feel like if Mom, Dad, or anyone else saw me doing this, it would be incredibly embarrassing.
Exercising isn’t something to be ashamed of, yet it feels strange.
Hmm.

Should I lock the door?
Locking it would put my mind at ease, but locking it might feel embarrassing in its own way.
Exercising isn’t a crime, so why bother?
Furthermore, it could lead to misunderstandings, so locking the door is excessive.

Putting my legs back, I bent my waist and placed both hands on the floor.
I adjusted the distance between my hands to about shoulder-width apart.
Ah, blood rushing to my head.
And what was I supposed to do with the posture?
I read exercise books only in my past life, so I don’t remember well.
Was I supposed to keep tension in my core but not too much?

As I thought for a moment without doing anything, my arms started trembling, and somewhere between my thighs and buttocks began to ache.
Ughh, this body has never even experienced corporal punishment—why am I putting myself through this useless struggle?

Proper form or not, if I delay any longer, I won’t even be able to do a single push-up.
I shouldn’t lower my butt, but lower my chest to the ground, and to do that, I need to use the strength of both arms to support my upper body and slowly move toward the floor.
My strained arms lost strength and gave way.
Ouch.
My forehead hit the floor.
Ow ow.
I collapsed as if fainting.
Rubbing my forehead, it wasn’t scraped, just painful.
No wound, but pain is pain, so I used healing magic.
The pain subsided.

Phew.
I can’t do this.
My lack of strength prevents me from doing even basic exercises once.
Ah, come to think of it, I tried push-ups without stretching first.
Is it fortunate I didn’t get injured?
Though getting injured attempting just one push-up in my room would be absurd.

Rotating one shoulder, I heard a cracking sound and felt a twinge of pain.
Wondering if something was wrong, I rotated it again, but it seemed like the usual state one experiences without stretching.
Exercise is truly difficult.
It’s probably better to leave such difficult tasks to experts and for laypeople not to attempt them.
Is there an expert somewhere who can exercise for me?
Of course, the effects of the exercise must be transferred to me.
Since everything is fantasy these days, maybe such an expert exists somewhere in the world?
Leveling up is possible, so that much should be too.

But I’m almost Level 20—why is my strength like this?

“Schrödinger.”
After waiting blankly for a moment and locking the door, the white cat popped out.

―Yes, Master. I’m here.
“About the level-up effect.”

Leveling up improves physical abilities in a non-scientific and non-magical way.

―Yes.
“I’m Level 19—why is my strength like this? Does the level-up effect perhaps not apply to me?”
―I could answer, but you told me not to tell you things like this last time.

Cats have no flexibility.

“Alright then, goodbye.”
―I’ll tell you. It’s being researched in various labs anyway, so you’ll find out soon enough.

It does have flexibility.

―The level-up effect is proportional to the explorer’s original physical ability. Athletes receive more level-up effects than ordinary people, so the gap between them widens as levels increase. It’s closer to a stat-proportional buff than a stat increase, so if an ordinary person starts exercising, the gap will narrow again.
Such a long preamble.
―Conversely, the lower the physical ability, the smaller the level-up effect. But it doesn’t continuously decrease toward zero. If physical ability is below a certain standard, the level-up effect is almost non-existent. It’s not completely absent; aspects like dynamic visual acuity are still affected.
―You should exercise.

It’s a valid point, but hearing it from Schrödinger makes it unlikable.

Logging in doesn’t always mean just hunting.
Sometimes, we engage in strange, pointless activities.
Mainly Do Yugeon.

“I think I can cut a rock with my sword!”
“Using a skill?”

I didn’t know the power of the Single Strike Enhancement skill well, but maybe it was possible?
He used the skill often, so its level had probably increased too.

“Using the skill seems like it would just work. So, I’m going to cut the rock without using the skill!”
What is he talking about?

“Then let’s first check if you can cut it with the skill.”

Thus, Do Yugeon stood before a moderately sized rock.
He looked at his sword with a confident expression.
It wasn’t an item, just a standard weapon provided in the Preparation Room.

“In this age of fantasy, can’t a sword even cut a rock?”
“It might not.”

Hiding behind a tree, I watched Do Yugeon.
Do Yugeon disregarded the danger—whether the sword bounced off the rock or not—but I didn’t share his level of safety indifference.

“As I always say, don’t blame me if you get hurt.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just watch properly.”

Do Yugeon raised his sword high.
“Single Strike Enhancement!”

He shouted the skill name energetically, but there was no particular effect.
The Single Strike Enhancement skill, despite being a sword enhancement skill, was something undetectable, so there was no visual indication it had been cast.
If it were me, I’d die of embarrassment shouting a skill name with no effect, but he shouted it gleefully—impressive.
Not that I want to emulate him.

The sword came down.
Without much noise, a cutting sound was heard as the sword bit into the rock, then stopped midway.

“See! It cuts easily.”

Do Yugeon placed one foot on the rock and took a stance, seemingly trying to pull out the embedded sword.

“Wait, wait.”
“Why?”
“It’s dangerous. I’ll pull it out with mana. Don’t strain yourself.”

Using mana from one side to hold the sword steady, I used mana from the other side to gently probe the gap where it was stuck and pulled the sword out.
It was stuck more firmly than I thought.

“Here.”
“Alright. Now, without the skill!”
“Are you really going to do it?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“What makes you think you can?”
“Because it’s fantasy!”

Whatever.

“Hahaha. Don’t make that face. Just kidding. As I used the sword, I started to get a feel for it.”
“What kind of feel? The edible kind?” (TL: “Gam” means “feeling” or “persimmon” in Korean.)
“Living with the Presence Detection skill active, I feel like I understand something that isn’t mana, but I don’t know what it is.”
“…What is that?”
“I don’t know exactly. But somehow, it’s a feeling like I can achieve the same effect as using the skill even without using Single Strike Enhancement?”

So, it’s baseless confidence, is that it?
Incredible.
I don’t feel any trust at all.

“Haha. I’ll show you—just believe me.”

He laughed it off.

“Then how about trying to cut a tree first instead of a rock? If you can do something similar to Single Strike Enhancement, you should be able to cut a tree too, right?”

I pointed to a suitable tree.
Even if the sword bounced off a tree, the direction it flew would be predictable.
The risk of it bouncing off was also lower than with a rock.

“Should I?”
“Yeah.”

And so, Do Yugeon stood before the tree.
He focused his mind, then swung the sword horizontally.
“Hah!”

Why the kiai shout?
Is it a form of self-efficacy boosting?

The swung sword dug slightly into the tree.
Not because of any special effect, just because he swung the sword and it got stuck.
Do Yugeon examined the depth of the cut, then looked at me.

“Just as expected. I haven’t quite got the feel yet, so it didn’t work. I’ll try again.”

I nodded.
After eight more identical situations, I nodded again.
The cut in the tree was a bit deeper than the first time, but nowhere near enough to fell or break it just by cutting with a sword.
Maybe try hitting it with an axe instead of a sword?

“Ah! I think I get it.”
Right.

“This time, it’s really possible. Focus and watch.”

I nodded.
The 10th sword swing went horizontally and got stuck in the tree.
Watching closely, the result wasn’t much different from the first time.
Won’t the blade get damaged?

“One more time!”

I nodded.
The 47th sword swing yielded no results.
Well, that’s the expected outcome.
I’ve just been healing his hands immensely.
My healing proficiency is increasing.

After the 78th sword swing, we ate lunch.
Today’s menu was bibimbap.
The fried egg was delicious.

“This isn’t working. I’m definitely going to master this. We need to hunt Slimes anyway since we hit Level 20. Think of it as special training.”

I didn’t see the connection between cutting a tree and the Level 20 Fire Slime, but I nodded anyway.

The 247th sword swing showed no significant progress.
Isn’t it about time to stop?
The tree seemed slightly damaged, so we switched to another one.

“I’m getting the hang of it. Just a little more, and I think I’ll get it.”

I had no idea what the difference was, but I nodded for now.

And the 1362nd sword swing happened.
The result was unchanged from the beginning.

“Why isn’t it working? Why won’t it work?”
Well, because it was baseless confidence, probably.

“How would I know? If you’re disappointed, try swinging some more.”

The 2645th sword swing occurred.
It was the same thing.
Doesn’t he get tired?
The level-up effect is amazing.

“I’ll try just a little longer!”

I nodded.

Do Yugeon was diligently updating his embarrassing history today.
Swinging his sword for the 2780th time to instantly cut down a tree by enhancing it with some unknown, baseless something.
Summarizing it like this makes me embarrassed to be next to him.

“How many times is it now?”
“2983rd.”
“I know. It’ll work on the 3000th try.”
“Isn’t that a bit unlikely?”
“Haha. I’ll try more.”

I nodded.

Do Yugeon focused his mind and imagined strengthening the sword.
That’s what he claimed, anyway.
It’s embarrassing to be next to him.

The 2984th sword swing occurred.
The tree was cut, then split horizontally in two.
What? Why did it get cut?

The tree fell with a loud crash.
What just happened?

Looking at Do Yugeon, he had a blank expression.
Uh.
I didn’t understand why, but clapping seemed like the right thing to do.
I clapped.

“Amazing. It happened just like you said.”

Do Yugeon tilted his head.
“This isn’t it?”
“What isn’t?”

He silently cut down three nearby trees.
The three trees fell with loud crashes.
Then he approached with a reluctant look.

“This isn’t what I wanted.”
“What’s the difference?”
“What I was originally trying to do was strengthen the sword, right?”
“Yeah.”
“This time, I didn’t strengthen the sword; I just used it. So… I became able to cut trees without strengthening the sword.”

Hmm.
It’s outside common sense based on existing logic, so it’s hard to understand.
Metaphorically speaking in game terms…

“You mean you were trying to learn a buff skill to cut trees, but your swordsmanship proficiency increased so much that you became able to cut trees without the buff skill?”
“Exactly.”

It was different from the desired result, indeed.
Regardless, it was a fantasy-like outcome, so I congratulated him.