Min-ho's eyes snapped open as the morning sun hit his face. The usual bone-shattering agony of a level-up was missing. Instead, he felt a strange, vibrating density in his skeleton. He sat up, and the bed didn't even creak. The Star-Forged Marrow had turned his frame into something more efficient, more compact.
He headed downstairs, the smell of frying eggs and rice filling the hallway. He moved with a natural, predatory grace that he had to consciously dull so he wouldn't look suspicious. He sat at the table and began inhaling his breakfast. His parents and Min-ah watched in silence as he cleared three plates in under five minutes.
"You're in a rush," his father noted, raising an eyebrow.
"Library again," Min-ho lied, his voice steady. "I have a lot of catching up to do."
He stood up, kissed his mother on the cheek, and was out the door before Min-ah could even make a snarky comment about his appetite. Once he was two blocks away, he ducked into an alley and pulled the black tactical windbreaker and mask from his bag.
Min-ho arrived at the outskirts of the city where a permanent Rank E "Slime Bog" Gate was stationed. It was a low-level dungeon used by trainees and hobbyist hunters. Usually, it was crowded, but the recent C-Rank break at the school had everyone on edge, leaving the area deserted.
He stepped through the swirling green portal. The air inside was thick with the scent of rotting vegetation and damp earth. A group of three Acid Slimes blobs of glowing green translucent jelly the size of beach balls slowly wobbled toward him.
Min-ho stood still. He closed his eyes and visualized the sheer weight of the centuries he had spent in the Slumber Realm. He tapped into the cold energy of his new class and let it leak from his pores.
[Sovereign's Pressure Activated.]
An invisible shockwave rippled out from him. The air darkened and grew heavy. The three Slimes stopped instantly. Their translucent bodies flattened against the mud. Their internal cores vibrated until they shattered under the weight of his presence.
[Notice: Low-Tier enemies have succumbed to Mental Collapse.]
'That was easier than I thought,' Min-ho muttered, his eyes wide under the mask. 'That was just my intent.'
He walked deeper into the bog and found a Bog Tusker. It was a Rank E beast that looked like a wild boar the size of a car, covered in bone-like armor.
Min-ho stood in the path. "Come on."
The Tusker roared and charged, its massive tusks leveled at his chest. Min-ho planted his feet and let the beast slam into him at full speed.
BOOM.
The impact sounded like a sledgehammer hitting an anvil. The Tusker's tusks hit Min-ho's chest and stopped dead. Min-ho remained unmoved. The Tusker's head buckled, its tusks snapping off against his ribs with a loud crack.
Min-ho looked at his chest. His hoodie was torn, but his skin was unblemished. The Star-Forged Marrow had absorbed the entire kinetic force and dispersed it through his bones.
'I didn't feel it,' he thought, his heart racing. 'It felt like a gentle tap.'
He grabbed the stunned beast by its snout and delivered a casual palm strike to its forehead. The creature collapsed, its skull pulverized.
[Experience Multiplied by 110x.]
[Level Up!]
"I'm not an F-Rank anymore," Min-ho whispered. "If I can take a hit like that, what's the limit?"
The ground beneath the bog began to tremble. A much larger shadow rose from the center of the swamp something that shouldn't be in an E-Rank Gate.