Still speechless, Nero slowly pulled his head back out of the rift.
He paused.
The room felt the same as always. Quiet. Ordinary. Safe.
He looked around once, then sat back down on the bed.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. Before he realized it, nearly an hour had slipped by.
Was he really about to walk into that thing?
"Alright. I've made up my mind. I'm going in. But not without preparation."
He quickly changed into proper clothes, strapping on a few tactical devices and gripping a knife tightly in his hand. It was not much, but it was something. He swallowed, steadying himself, and stepped through.
The heat hit him instantly.
It was suffocating. Oppressive. Like standing inside an oven.
Then, suddenly, it lessened.
A faint chime echoed in his mind.
[Unlocked Trait: Low-Heat Resistant]
"Oh, this thing again…" Nero blinked. "It's like a game screen. That's so weird. And honestly… kind of cool."
Another panel appeared.
[Name: Nero Cross][Race: Human][Title: Ruler of Hell][Trait: Low-Heat Resistant (NEW!)][Level: 1] (XP: 0%)[Strength: 5] [Agility: 7] [Vitality: 9] [Mana: 1][SP: 0][Skills: None][Talent: Shopkeep]
"Oh wow… that's even cooler. So I can just say, or maybe think, 'status,' and it shows up?"
He grinned.
Nero wandered carefully, scanning the burning landscape. At first, nothing caught his attention. Then he froze.
A pack of goblins.
Green skin. Jagged teeth. Roughly chest-high. Armed.
There were too many.
Charging in head-on would be suicide, and he was not stupid enough to throw his life away for pride. He needed a plan.
How do I get them to separate?
He knew a little about goblins. First, they were not very intelligent. Maybe around the level of an elementary school kid. Second, they were competitive with their own kind. If two goblins went for the same prey, they might fight each other over it.
That was enough.
The goblins clustered in loose groups, tending to crude shelters, moving debris, stamping out stray fires.
Nero picked up several stones.
One after another, he hurled them into different directions, creating sharp, repeated clacks against rock.
Three goblins snapped their heads toward the noise.
Like drones responding to a signal, they wandered off to investigate, leaving only two behind.
It worked.
But two was still risky.
Nero sprinted openly across their field of vision.
The goblins shrieked and snapped their teeth, axes lifting. They lunged forward, then abruptly stopped, turning toward each other. They barked and screeched in their own harsh language.
Both wanted the kill.
The larger goblin suddenly swung its axe downward.
The blade struck the other, wounding it. The injured goblin snarled and staggered back.
The victor let out a cruel, delighted laugh. Its jagged grin stretched wide, eyes gleaming with sadistic anticipation as it tightened its grip on the axe.
It charged in the direction Nero had run.
Through the crumbling stone wall.
SHING.
[Lv. 4 Goblin slain!][Level Up x2!]
The blade in Nero's hand dripped.
He had been waiting behind the wall the entire time.
Opening his status, he scanned the changes.
[Level: 3] (XP: 34%)[SP: 6]
"So I gain three points per level? That's great."
He thought quickly.
Mana was useless right now. Strength was clearly his weakest area.
"Alright. Strength it is."
[+6 Points applied to Strength!]
Warm energy flooded his body.
His muscles tightened. His balance sharpened. His movements felt smoother, lighter.
"That feels good."
He could definitely get used to that.
From there, it became a spree.
He hunted down the injured goblin first, claiming the easy kill. Then one after another, with steadily increasing power, he eliminated the rest of the pack.
When the last goblin fell, another screen appeared.
[Level: 8] (XP: 66%)[Strength: 13] [Agility: 10] [Vitality: 9] [Mana: 1][SP: 15]
He immediately allocated everything.
[+5 Points applied to Strength!][+10 Points applied to Agility!]
His body surged with power again.
Then another notification.
[Unlocked Trait: Crazed Killing]
"It's like before… so I unlock traits through accomplishments?"
A description appeared.
[Trait: Crazed Killing][Desc: Starting from the 2nd kill, a combo begins. For every subsequent kill, a x1 multiplier is added, further increasing XP gain.]
Nero stared at it.
"This trait is insane! And I got it just from killing goblins? What a steal!"
His grin widened.
Then the exhaustion hit him.
Even with low-heat resistance, the environment was brutal. Sweat rolled down his back. His breathing grew heavier.
'I'm getting tired.'
But before leaving, another idea struck him.
He gathered all the goblin corpses into a pile and activated Shopkeep.
They vanished.
It worked.
"Haha! It worked! No way. I thought I couldn't store things this large. Wait…"
Without wasting another second, he stepped back through the rift.
He returned to his bedroom.
And in the middle of it were the goblin bodies.
"…Ah. That's why."
A knock came from the door.
"Big bro? Are you okay? It sounds like you're exercising."
His eyes widened.
Dammit, please don't despawn.
He quickly sent the goblin bodies back through the rift to Hell.
"Y-Yeah! You'd be correct. Just doing pushups. You know. The usual."
"Uh-huh…" his sister replied, clearly unconvinced. "Well, good night. I'm going to bed."
When her footsteps faded, Nero collapsed backward onto his bed.
Completely drained, he smiled.
His life was changing.
He did not know why this had happened to him.
But he was not complaining.
If this world existed for him to exploit, then he would exploit it to the absolute limit.
The next morning, Nero bought several large bags.
When he returned through the rift, the goblin bodies were still there.
Perfect.
He packed them tightly and headed to the Heavenly Awakened Association.
The sale went through smoothly.
He walked away with nearly double what he used to earn cleaning dungeon dives.
With the money, he paid two months of rent in advance. The rest, combined with his previous earnings, went toward equipment.
[E-Rank Katana][E-Rank Black Gloves][E-Rank Boots]
Nero adjusted the katana at his side, feeling the weight.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Time to level up some more."