'Damn it... Why am I remembering all this now?'
Vio's eyes snapped open as consciousness slowly crawled back into his mind. At first, he didn't know where he was. Then, a persistent buzzing sound, followed by a cold, mechanical voice echoing inside his head, dragged the memories of last night back into focus.
'Did I… survive?'
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
The system was going wild, spamming the same message in front of his barely functioning mind. Vio could hardly move his eyes. His body felt numb, dead even.
[The hero is requested to choose from the following rewards.]
[Mind Chest, Save Chest, Points Chest, Resources Chest, Currency Chest, or XP Chest]
'Choose? Why? Choose what exactly...?'
Two screens appeared beside the message, and the system made sure Vio could both see and hear them.
[Health Status]
Overall Health: 3%
All joints frozen. Severe fatigue.
Condition: Critical.
A 3D model of Vio's body hovered into view—all red. Every part of him was marked in crimson, signifying full systemic collapse.
Next to it, another panel blinked–a stats window, but strangely, most stats were hidden. Only two remained:
Level: 5 | XP: [19317/200000]
HP: 4 / 4000
'Level 5...? HP is dangerously low. Am I… dying?'
As the realization hit him, the system repeated the prompt, almost as if it were urging him to hurry.
[The hero is requested to choose from the following rewards.]
[Mind Chest, Save Chest, Points Chest, Resources Chest, Currency Chest, or XP Chest]
Despite the chaos in his thoughts, two things became clear:
He was about to die.
And he might survive if leveled up.
Just then, he saw it—his HP dropped again:
HP: 3 / 4000
His eyes scanned the reward options. He had no idea what most of them did. The only one that made any sense was the XP Chest—just because it had the word "XP" in it.
'Well… not like a loser has anything left to lose.'
He selected it with a thought.
A glowing orb materialized in front of him—familiar, somehow. But his mind was too fogged to recall why. The orb shifted and revealed a floating chest, hovering like it was just waiting to be opened.
'Open…'
The chest lit up, revealing a single card labeled:
200,000 XP
Before he could even grasp whether that was good or bad, he felt it—a wave of warmth enveloping his frozen limbs.
[Level Up!]
Level: 6 | XP: [19317 / 400000]
HP: 5000 / 5000 (100%)
His numb brain began clearing. His senses returned. He could feel his fingers, his arms, his legs—
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The thick layers of ice that had encased his body shattered, falling off him in jagged shards as he slowly stood up.
Crack!
He took a deep breath and looked around. The entire cave was frozen over. A glance at the entrance showed sunlight piercing through.
'Morning… The Mad Night is over. What the hell even was that?'
As he tried to gather thoughts, waves of data and mission logs flooded his vision, almost choking his mind with information.
But unlike before, Vio didn't dismiss them.
Let the system play everything out. He needed answers. He needed to understand how he survived and why his level had jumped so fast.
After scanning through the data repeatedly, the summary boiled down to one word:
'Lucky.'
It all began when the Mad Night started—right as Vio's consciousness was beginning to fade.
[Mission 'Mountain Conqueror']
Type: Survival
Requirements: The hero must survive in the mountain region.
Restrictions: None
Description:
Many creatures have lived in the shadow of the mountains, but none have adapted to its raging nights. Mount Aiz is but one peak in the series of Furious Mountains. However, with the hero's capabilities, he must break the pride of these unbroken nights.
Objective:
The hero must survive the wrath of the furious nights. If he fails, he does not deserve to be called a hero.
Rewards for Mission Completion:
For every second the hero survives, he will gain 1 XP.
It was a Survival-type mission, and unlike standard ones, its reward wasn't delayed. Every second Vio stayed alive, he gained one XP immediately.
That's why, even as his HP steadily dropped, his XP was rising.
And just as he was about to die, he leveled up.
HP restored. Cycle repeated.
This pattern continued until the night ended.
'I really was lucky…'
Had the night lasted even one hour longer, Vio wouldn't have had enough XP to level up again. That would've meant no HP restoration. That would've meant death.
[Mission "Mountain Conqueror" completed.]
[Grade: D]
[Reward Multiplier: x3]
[Final Reward: 129,600 XP]
Vio had gained 129,600 XP during the chaos of the night, catapulting his level from 2 to 5.
But even with that leap, he was still on the edge of death—until another miracle occurred.
A mission triggered.
[Mission: 'Conquer Death']
Type: Permanent
Requirements: Surpass Level 1.
Restrictions: None.
Description:
The worlds has witnessed countless heroes—heroes who overcame challenges without surrendering or succumbing to defeat. But now, the era no longer craves their kind. Instead, it demands heroes capable of surpassing the impossible.
Objective:
Simple. Save yourself from certain death.
Optional Rewards for Mission Completion:
Mind Chest, Save Chest, Points Chest, Resources Chest, coins Chest, or XP Chest.
Penalty for Failure: The hero will be counted among the dead. What punishment remains after that?
[Mission "Conquer Death" completed successfully.]
[Calculation complete. Grade: F.]
'Why didn't the system just tell me to pick the XP chest? I could've died without leveling up…'
It was as if the system had been muted. Instead of guiding him directly, it only displayed messages, passive and silent, as though it were programmed not to interfere.
'Is this… intentional?'
As usual, the reward from the XP Chest was randomized. If it granted him even slightly fewer experience points, he wouldn't have leveled up, and he would have died. Which meant…
'This's too much for just luck.'
While unconscious, a memory had stirred in Vio's mind—one from long ago. And with that memory came a disturbing thought:
In his past life, he had always been careful to conserve energy because food was scarce. Now, in this new life, it was the same… only this time, he was conserving EP.
'That old man... did he prepare me for this moment? Did all of that happen just to condition me for this trial? But why? And why not just say it outright?! What's with all this cryptic nonsense?! Ugh…'
Shook his head and checked the Health window. Every part of his 3D status model now glowed blue—a sign that everything was stable.
'Show me my stats.'
[Stats Window]
Name: Vio Kian
Age: 24 (Biological), 2 (Mechanical)
Level: 6 | XP: [19317 / 400000]
Rank: Proto-Cyborg
Title(s): Knockout Mastery
HP: 5000 / 5000
EP: 64 / 100
SP: 0 / 0 (Locked)
[Attributes]
Strength: 30
Stamina: 25
Agility: 30
Intelligence: 25
Perception: 34
Endurance: 56
(Available points to distribute: 0)
'Wait... where did all these stat points come from?'
Previously, he had ordered the system to dump all points into Endurance to help him withstand the cold. But it wasn't just Endurance that increased—everything had gone up.
He scrolled through the system's messages and found the explanation:
[Level Up: 2 → 3] → +2 to all stats
[Level Up: 3 → 4] → +3 to all stats
[Level Up: 4 → 5] → +4 to all stats
[Level Up: 5 → 6] → +5 to all stats
He always thought that each level granted only +1 to stats. But now he understood—the number of points added was based on the level crossed.
'System, if I jump to level 51, I'll get 50 points for each stat?'
[Correct.]
'Damn! I've been wrong…'
Until now, Vio never valued anything more than his stats. The difference in his performance was immediate and undeniable each time they increased. Unlike resources—which still sat untouched—stats brought visible, tangible results.
That's why he treasured those points more than even XP itself.
But now…Now his perspective shifted.
But wait… there's more
[The hero reached Level 5]
[Shop unlocked. Inventory unlocked.]
A grin spread across Vio's face—only to vanish a second later when his eyes landed on the frozen corpse nearby.
"...So that's why you were laughing," Vio muttered, kicking the soldier's body.
Crack. Crack.
The corpse shattered into scattered shards. The night's maddening cold had turned it brittle—even as Vio kicked it apart, the soldier's blood stayed frozen, refusing to flow. The sight dragged him back to last night. His body shuddered.
'I have to move!'
He took a step toward the cave's exit—but misjudged his strength. His foot slammed into the icy ground, sending his body skyward. Had to raise his arms just in time to avoid cracking his skull against the cave's ceiling.
He landed roughly, wide-eyed, heart racing.
'What the hell was that?!'
Something had changed in his body, and he knew it. But there wasn't time to reflect. The sun had risen, and only twelve hours before it set again.
Vio marched toward the cave entrance, now carefully controlling the force behind each step.
Only one thought echoed in his mind:
"Mount Aiz… or whatever you are… I'm getting out of you today." Vio said.
[New Mission Activated]
[Mission: 'Explore the Aiz Mountains']