The Master of Strength

Waaah!

His body began to accelerate as he plummeted down the cliff. Falling at such speed it was difficult to even open your mouth to scream, let alone your eyes, but he was able to squint just enough to see the neverending abyss below him.

‘Unbelievable!’

He had thought that he had just escaped the clutches of death, only to careless end up in such a situation. He never thought that his first death in the game would be due to falling.

He let out a deep, inner sigh as he prepared for his death.

He took one last peek, squinting his eyes to resist the wind pressure, when suddenly something appeared in his immediate path, as if emerging from the endless darkness.

Crack!

A sharp breaking sound rang out and shortly after Myeonghu landed on the ground with a loud thud.

[Your legs have suffered a serious injury. Movement speed reduced by 70%]

“…?”

The game message appeared before him, as he realised for the first time that there was no wind blowing against him and that he was on firm ground. He slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.

“…”

There was nothing to say about his incredible fortune. He had fallen on a small, protruding ledge. As he looked down from the side of it, he saw the bottomless pit which could have been his fate. He then took a look at his remaining health.

‘250….’

WIth great effort he managed to sit up and take a look above him. A decently sized tree lay cracked on top of him. It had grown out of the cliff and acted as a canopy for the small ledge, keeping it hidden from sight. No doubt it had broken his fall just enough to keep him alive.

Phew!

A sigh of relief escaped him, as he realised just how close a brush with death he had just had. Still, the moment of happiness was short lived, as Myeonghu just now understood his current situation.

“Umm… how am I supposed to get out of here?”

Sure, being alive was good and all, but he had no idea how to get back. Looking up, he saw the tall cliff which would be impossible for him to climb, and down below was a dark abyss with no bottom in sight.

“….”

He once again tried to brainstorm for a solution, but came up with nothing. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, he knew that he could always just off the edge and reappear in the village after dying.

He looked down to the darkness below him and let out another sigh.

“Well, luckily it’s only a game, I’ll try climbing and at worst all just fall to my death.”

Of course he had no experience whatsoever with rock climbing, but as he tried to stand, something caught his eye.

“…!”

Right where the cliff met the ledge, the was a small hole. It might be a tight fit, but compared to throwing himself down the cliff, it was quite the attractive alternative.

Still with his injured legs, he crawled his way to the hole and stuck his head in to have a look.

It was too dark to see much of anything, but he ventured in all the same.

‘Oh, it’s quite wide.’

After crawling in, the tunnel had widened, although he wasn’t able to stand upright, he had enough space to at least sit. Just as his entire body entered the tunnel, a system message appeared.

[The Last Hidden Skill]

He immediately stopped moving and focused on the one message.

“…?”

He was trying to figure out what ‘The Last Hidden Skill’ might be, but gave up as he had nothing.

“Let’s give it a go.”

Myeonghu told himself as he began to crawl forward.

‘There must be something!’

The small, hidden entrance along with the system message [The Last Hidden Skill] set his gaming sense tingling. It was obvious that there should be something good in here.

* * * *

Fuuu!

Myeonghu who had been crawling for quite some time now let out a deep sigh. At first his curiosity and excitement upon discovering the hole were what drove him to keep going, continuously crawling through the dark tunnel. However that energy had long disappeared, and it was only his grit and stubbornness to see the end which kept him going.

“Huh?”

He had a bad feeling about this.

‘Is it a dead end…?’

Although it was hard to see properly in such darkness, it certainly looked like the way forward was blocked. Although such a thought did indeed make him quite anxious, he held on to his belief and trudged forth.

‘…’

However the truth was discovered just moments later, as he finally crawled his way until his came up to solid rock.

“…no”

Myeonghu reached out with his hands, unable to believe the truth which stood before him.

Tak!

“No!”

The feeling which the rock gave him couldn’t be a lie, and his hopes were quickly crushed as he exclaimed in despair.

“…”

With some difficulty he managed to collect himself as he averted his gaze from the wall and began to think.

‘It just can’t be! This was a suspicious hole in the middle of the cliff and there even was a system message [The Last Hidden Skill] when I entered.’

Myeonghu couldn’t believe that all those things were designed to fool adventurers, but the wall before him told him otherwise.

“I won’t believe it, there must be some kind of hidden device!’

Thump!

He banged against the wall a couple times, shouting crazily about some kind of hidden trap, when suddenly a strange sound was heard and the wall began to move.

Gugggg

“…”

He looked at the wall which was slowly disappearing and then back down at his fist. He had never imagined that his blind punching would actually bear fruit and find the hidden device.

As the wall disappeared from sight, an exit which emitted blue light appeared, driving away all the darkness.

“…”

That curiosity and excitement which had previously vanished was now renewed once more, filling his body with strength as he crawled forward.

“I’m finally out…”

He exited in a fairly large space, tall enough for him to stand upright. The interior was basked in a bright blue light, giving it a mysterious feel, while in the middle of the room held a floating book.

Myeonghu walked up to it, barely able to control his excitement. As he arrived before it, he took a deep breath to collect himself and then reached out.

[This item is now bound to you. Do you wish to learn the skill?]

He had originally been worried about some kind of traps, but as he grabbed ahold of the book it seemed that there weren’t any.

[Skill book: You have acquired the Origin of Strength]

Wah!

Myeonghu was momentarily startled as the blue light originating from the book began to pulse erratically, but soon calmed down and enjoyed the light show.

Guggg

One of the walls to the side began to rumble and Myeonghu turned to stare at it. The wall quickly disappeared, revealing a hidden room with a floating crystal ball.

The moment the blue light came in contact with it, it began to spin and quickly absorb all of the light.

“…”

Myeonghu looked at the crystal ball which was absorbing the blue light, then looked down at the skill book in his hand.  

‘The Origin of Strength…’

Although he did not yet know what the skill entailed, considering the current circumstances and the name of the skill alone, it sounded quite powerful.

Within just a couple of seconds the crystal ball managed to absorb all of the blue light and look saturated, as it periodically emitted a pulse of light.

After putting away the skill book into his inventory, Myeonghu walked up to the crystal ball in anticipation.

‘Just what is this?’

His hands trembled with excitement as he reached out to touch the floating crystal.

Waah!

Myeonghu was startled as the light rushed out of the ball and bathed his body in blue. He was expecting something extraordinary to occur, but after a few moments the light disappeared.

“… Am I back in the village?”

Myeonghu muttered to himself as he recognized the familiar sights.