[Character Profile]  

Player: Arin  

Life: 1  

Level: 9  

EXP: 100,000  

Available Points: 1,000,000

Arin's jaw dropped. "O-Ohhh… it's like a game character screen!" His heart thumped with excitement. But then his face twisted. "Wait… why am I only level 9 when I got a hundred thousand exp?"

[100,000 EXP is not that much. In this world, the scale is different.]

Arin groaned. "So much for feeling overpowered already…" His eyes moved down to the glowing number. "Then… these points? How do I use them?"

[I can't tell you that now.]

Arin's excitement collapsed into a heavy sigh. "Again with the secrets. You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

[Focus. You should have become stronger. Test your body. Try punching that wall.]

Arin blinked. "Punch the wall? Are you sure I won't break my hand?"

[Positive. You won't get hurt.]

He took a deep breath, tightened his fist, and slammed it into the wooden wall.

CRACK!

The sound was sharp and violent. A jagged split shot through the block, spreading across its entire surface. The whole wall shuddered as dust sprinkled from the crack lines.

Arin staggered back, staring at his hand. His knuckles were unharmed. His lips curled upward slowly, then broke into a wide grin. "Hahaha… I'm strong as f*** now!"

But then his eyes returned to the glowing panel, to a single terrifying number.

"System… what's this 'Life: 1' supposed to mean?"

[It means if you die here, you die in real life as well.]

Arin's grin vanished instantly. His heart skipped. His body went cold.

"…Wait—WHAT?!" His throat tightened. The thought hammered into him—one slip, one mistake, and it's over. Not respawn. Not retry. Just death.

Panic bubbled in his chest, but after several deep breaths, he forced himself to calm down.

"Okay… okay… if there's only one life… is there any way to increase it?"

[Now you ask the right question. Yes. By killing dragons and obtaining their hearts.]

Arin froze again. "Dragons…?"

[Correct. Only with dragon hearts you can increase your lives.]

He bit his lip, glancing toward the sky where the shadow of the dragon had once flown. "Can I… kill a dragon now? I mean, I'm strong…"

[No. Even with your new strength, you are far too weak. Even the smallest dragon—the one you saw, ten meters long—would crush you instantly.]

Arin's gaze dropped to the woman's body lying motionless in his house. Blood still stained her torn clothes, her sword resting beside her.

[That woman likely tried to face a dragon herself… and failed.]

Arin swallowed hard, walking closer. As he did, another panel appeared.

[Options:  

– Vanish the body  

– Collect the loot  

– Store in inventory]

"Huh… what's this?" He rubbed his chin, narrowing his eyes.

[If you select 'Vanish,' the body will disappear, but her loot will remain. If you choose 'Collect loot,' her items will appear separately, but the body will stay. If you select 'Store in inventory,' both the body and items will be stored.]

Arin scratched his head, thinking. "Hmm… so basically, three ways of dealing with corpses… interesting." His expression shifted between curiosity and unease.

Then a thought struck him. "Wait… how large is my inventory, exactly?"

[Infinite.]

Arin's eyes went wide. "Infinite?! You're telling me I can store anything?"

[No. There are restrictions.]

His excitement deflated instantly. "…Figures."

He crouched down, taking a closer look at the woman. Her body, though still, had a strange dignity to it. His eyes caught on something glinting faintly at her neck—a pendant.

"What's this…?" Arin carefully tugged it free. The pendant was golden, etched with a strange crest.

[That is not ordinary. Judging from the design, she may have been royalty.]

Arin's brows shot up. "Royalty? Wait, this world has kings?"

[Yes. And if she was a royal knight or princess… then someone, somewhere, is going to notice her disappearance.]

Arin stared at the pendant, his stomach twisting with a new unease. The world suddenly felt much larger—and far more dangerous—than he thought.