CHAPTER 35: REPLAY

The moment Lanz activated the relic and blinked, the world around him melted into that all-too-familiar white void.

And he was once again met with the same white walls that looked like someone tried to cosplay a hospital but got tired halfway through, and the same stone floor that felt just a bit too cold under his moldy-ass socks.

He bounced on the balls of his feet, shifting his weight back and forth like a third-rate street fighter warming up for a championship he was NOT even invited to. He wanted to act like Goku so badly. 😭

He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, let out a slow exhale that fogged up in the cold air even though he knew damn well there was no real air here.

"Alright, alright, alright..." he mumbled, flexing his fingers and wiggling his toes inside the socks that had definitely seen better days.

One of his toes cracked. He didn’t even know toes could f*cking crack.

"Damn. I’m aging like milk... no, think positive Lanz, think positive..."

He jumped once, knees up, landing with a tiny slap of dusty stone and damp sock fabric, then barked out a single laugh that bounced off the white walls like he was the only clown at an empty carnival. "God, look at me, I’m basically doing a budget version of that guy in orange. Next thing you know, I’m gonna start yelling Kamehameha and sh*t."

He dragged a hand down his face, still grinning. "Okay, recap for the readers, last time I came in here, other than that Phantom Stride fusion thing, I got straight-up bullied.

That’s not even an exaggeration. Three training dummies, right? Longsword, daggers, and... was it short spear? Yeah, yeah it was. Those three ganged up on me like it was some prison yard shank party. Super duper fun."

He threw up finger guns at the nearest blank wall like it was the dummies in question. "Miss you guys. Hopefully you’re still rotting in whatever hell of codes you guys are in."

His eyes flicked sideways when the faint ping sounded in his head, and right on cue, the system’s dead-inside interface popped up in front of him, white text on blue glow. It had that annoying vibe like an old pop-up ad that wouldn’t die.

[MULTI-WAVE REFLEX CORRIDOR — REPLAY AVAILABLE]

Lanz squinted at it, like maybe if he glared hard enough it’d say something new. "Interesting. Totally forgot I could run that sh*t again. Wow. Thanks for the reminder, oh wise System...chwan." He pressed a palm to his chest, fake sincerity dripping off every syllable.

He tilted his head, brain doing that half-lazy math while his thumb hovered over the ’Yes’ prompt. "Run the corridor again, huh? Get my ass whipped by a f*cking corridor just for bragging rights? Yeah, nah."

His finger went to the side and tapped [NO] with all the ceremony of closing out of a cringey meme someone wouldn’t stop DMing him.

He leaned back, hands slapping against the backs of his thighs, eyes rolling so hard they nearly did a full barrel roll. "God, imagine voluntarily choosing cardio when I could just farm something dumber. Nah, corridor, you ain’t that guy today."

Then he spread his arms out wide like the SIM was gonna clap for him. "Alright! What’s next on the menu, huh? Bring it in, goodlooking needs more dummy trauma." He smirked to himself, running his tongue along the back of his teeth as the room stayed silent, waiting for the next system pop-up.

And under his breath, just to top off the cringe, he muttered, "Please be something good, man. The most handsome man needs new EXP."

But the SIM room stayed dead quiet for a good five seconds — which for Lanz was about four seconds too long.

He was still standing there, arms halfway out, waiting for some dramatic drumroll or at least a "Congratulations, loser, here’s your next beating."

Then finally, a new pop-up flickered into existence just above eye level. He squinted at the bright box like it had just insulted his entire bloodline.

[TIER 1 GATE — FOREST: 1 AVAILABLE]

His jaw dropped, then snapped shut. "The f*ck?" he blurted, voice jumping left and right off those sterile walls like a broken speaker.

He leaned closer, eyes bouncing along the text while he read every line like it might disappear if he blinked too fast.

A new line rolled out underneath in that same plain.

The SIM even added a dumb little ding like it had unlocked the secrets of the universe.

Bro, chill. It’s just a replay button.

[The user can replay the dungeon they earned.]

He could practically hear his own gears turning, brain clicking into place one rusty tooth at a time. "’Earned...’? Hold the fck up. So I can... replay that forest gate? Run it back? Farm that sht again?"

The idea settled in his chest like a warm buzz. He could see it now, goblins, fangwolves, vultures, boars, hobgoblin EXP rolling in, all that sweet stat candy.

Unless the goblins got smarter. Or worse — buffed.

If one of those things throws hands like last time, he was rage-quitting in real life.

It was stupid, but f*cking beautiful.

Before he could hype himself up too far, another line slapped him upside the head.

[The EXP gained from the beasts will be halved.]

Lanz’s face fell so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. "F*ck!" The word bounced off the walls like a rubber ball he couldn’t catch.

He dragged both hands down his cheeks, lips squished together while he tried to process the heartbreak of getting half the payout for almost the same effort.

But of course, because it was him, the sulk didn’t last. He snorted, that smug grin worming its way back up his face as he jabbed a thumb at the floating box like it owed him rent. "But this sht’s still good. Amazing, even. Half EXP is still better than no EXP, you stingy f*cking white room."

He started pacing, bare sock squeaking against the cold stone. "Damn, now I gotta drag my ass over to that forest."

Suddenly, a new prompt snapped up, hovering dead center in his face like the world’s least subtle billboard.

[ENTER THE GATE?]

"Wait... so I can just enter the gate without going walking for eighteen minutes? I love you, SIM room-chwan. Never change."

He looked below it, and it showed there two neat little options just waiting for him to screw up.

[YES] [NO].

He planted his hands on his hips, tilting his head like he was about to lecture it. "You really think I’m gonna stand here and talk about stats and not click yes? Who do you think I am, huh? I ain’t built like that."

He barked out a laugh, stepped forward, and jammed his finger against the big glowing [YES] like it was the shiniest elevator button in the world.

The second his finger slammed the [YES], the SIM room flared around him like it was booting up the main event.

Lines of pale light spider-webbed across the stone floor, converging right in front of him.

Bit by bit, the gate clawed itself up from nothing, and it was the same rough-cut stone archway, same etched glyphs pulsing that soft blue glow every couple seconds.

It looked exactly like the real one in the forest clearing.

Five feet away, that was all that stood between him and another round. Another stupid reckless stunt, another level-up waiting to be ripped out of every monster dumb enough to stand in his way.

He bounced on his heels, again, cracked his knuckles, again, and rolled his shoulders, wait for it... again.

For half a second, he wondered if he should maybe stretch first.

Then he remembered he was seventeen and invincible. Life’s good.

And of course, that dumb grin spread wide enough to show teeth.

He suddenly felt a spark in his chest, the one that always showed up right before he did something he’d probably regret later.

And oh, he was ready.

He leaned forward, voice low but practically crackling with hype.

"Time to stunt on these idiots."

End of Chapter 35.

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ALT SYSTEM — USER PROFILE: ZERO

Level: 11

EXP: 82 / 110

Next Reward: 10 Available Stat Points

Global System Tracking: DISABLED

World Rank Association: UNLINKED

Stats:

STR: 8 | AGI: 8 (Affinity) | VIT: 3 | DEX: 1 | INT: 7 | WIS: 0

[Available Stat Points: 3]

[Derived Stat — MANA: 35 / 35]

Skills:

[Crimson Slash Lv. 1]

[Phantom Stride Lv.1]

[Blade Control Lv.1]

[Parry Timing Lv.1]

[Reflex Sync Lv.1] (Passive Skill)

[Combat Awareness Lv.2] (Passive Skill)

[Skill Fusion Menu: Active]

[Dev Tree: Tier 0 Access Granted]

[Developer Node – Fusion Core Anchor: Active]

[Skill Slot Available — Unassigned]

Equipment:

Aged Blade Fragment (??? Rarity) (Bound)

Goblin Dagger

Spiked Boar Tusk Shard

Lightweight Chest Padding

Boots of Basic Mobility

Fingerless Gloves (Basic)

Starter Cloak: Faded Black

Training Ring (+1 VIT)