The Third Dive (1)

After meeting the petty Creator, I spent most of my time with Mina.

She slept a lot to recover her fragile body. So, I could handle other tasks while she slept.

Mina, who was getting better day by day, started walking on her own yesterday. Her stamina increased dramatically, and with it, her appetite also grew.

“Oppa, did you really make all of this?”

“Yeah. Is it edible?”

At my question, she shook her head vigorously, exclaiming, ‘Edible? It’s delicious! Really!!’ as she stuffed her cheeks full of food.

In my previous life, I wished for Mina’s recovery with all my heart, and so she got better, but even after her miraculous recovery, she couldn’t be discharged from the hospital immediately. The doctors, amazed by the miracle, kept drawing her blood repeatedly.

After such an ordeal, Mina was discharged just a few days before entering the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’

What angers me the most is that when Mina was discharged at that time, I bowed countless times to the doctors and the hospital, thanking them.

Anyway, unlike before, I tried to spend as much time as possible with Mina and did my best to create more memories.

“Slowly, eat slowly.”

“Yeah! Yeah!!”

Mina, who had been eating as if inhaling, suddenly seemed to have a thought, struggled to swallow her food, and stared intently at me.

“Why?”

“Oppa… but what about Mom and Dad?”

“…What?”

I was holding a peeled red shrimp to place on Mina’s plate, but I accidentally dropped it on the table.

Seeing this, Mina’s face began to contort. Could it be that, despite her young age, she intuitively sensed something due to her battle with illness?

“Hmm… First, let’s finish eating, and then I’ll tell you everything else over tea.”

“…Okay.”

Another wave of regret washed over me at Mina’s question.

In my previous life, my sister Mina from another dimension never had the chance to ask about our now-departed parents. That’s because I entered the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ right away.

The ‘me’ in that dimension must have already ceased to exist.

Does that child bear no scars? Or does she wonder even more about our vanished parents?

Mina’s eyes, staring intently at me from the living room sofa, trembled slightly.

I poured a fragrant tea, trying to avoid her gaze, but her young yet strong eyes relentlessly pursued me.

“So… Mina.”

The conversation about our parents followed.

I told her they worried about her until the end, and that they loved her. As indirectly, slowly, and carefully as possible.

“I see… So now Dad and Mom are…”

“Yes. But if they saw how well Mina is doing, they would have been really happy. Let’s visit them (their grave) when you get healthier.”

“…Okay. Oppa, I’m… sleepy.”

“Alright.”

After taking Mina to her room, I stood leaning against the door for a long time.

This inhuman-like physical stat gave me heightened senses. Mina’s sobs, as she cried herself to sleep under the covers, sounded like thunder.

Listening to her regular breathing as she slept, I eventually dragged myself to bed.

Staring blankly at the ceiling patterns, I slapped my cheeks with both hands to snap out of it.

“Get a grip, get a grip on yourself.”

I put on the goggles and gloves and started the game.

About 8 days ago, I forcibly accessed the character ‘OneManOnly’.

“Character, skills.”

‘Dive.’

Without delay, I executed the Dive, and the numbed senses recovered, accompanied by the bustling noise. The familiar sensation and noise after the Dive.

‘Assimilation. Target specified. OneManOnly. Status, skills ‘Weapon Mastery’, ‘Mirror-like Tranquility’, ‘War God’.’

With the remaining time, I leisurely began assimilating the necessary items, including equipment.

An unusual aspect of this game, divided into three races, was that various gems were formed as material items at very cheap prices.

I filled my inventory with a satisfied smile.

‘Assimilation. Target specified. Set of Advanced Spirit’s Blessing.’

Even after completing the assimilation of the equipment I had a special interest in at the end, there was ample time.

Then, the noise of the village gradually started to become bothersome.

The reason I’m feeling so upset, despite it being no different from the previous two Dives, is probably because the regret, pity, and worry I felt earlier are sticking with me everywhere.

I stepped onto the portal and moved to the Red Desert.

A borderland where three races meet. And a battlefield.

Red sand flew around, obscuring the view, and a desolate, wide desert area unfolded before my eyes.

After leaving the fortress, I heard the sounds of battle from afar.

As if possessed by something, I headed towards the battlefield, where all the IDs appearing were red.

According to the game’s settings, the Celestials and Elementals were fighting each other.

Flying sand and falling people. Although no blood was visible due to the game graphics, the aura of annihilation could be felt underfoot.

From the inventory, I took out two scythes. Holding what might seem like a brutish weapon, I quickly approach the outskirts of the battlefield.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

With two swings of the scythe, a character fell to the ground. Only then did I realize I was in Dive mode and that my physical stats were fully reflected.

But what does it matter? Maybe after today, there will be noise about it being a bug, but that’s fine. It’s a character I won’t enter again if nothing else happens.

I stepped over the fallen enemy and continued moving forward.

A delusion as if thrown into the battlefield of the ‘Gods’ Arena.’ Along with that, I ran wild as if trying to shake off the gloomy mood clinging to me.

I felt several attacks shake my view and body.

Not just a game character, but because I was in Dive mode, the magical attacks shook my insides, and the sensation of flesh being cut by arrows and swords became more distinct.

And at the same time, a smile was etched on my face.

An arrow brushed past my shoulder. It didn’t pierce through the armor, but I could feel my body shaking from the impact.

The battlefield was already less than half of what it was. Just like before my regression, as I rampaged on the battlefield, only scattered corpses remained around me.

“Whew…”

I exhaled a heavy breath and returned to the fortress.

Perhaps because I had a blast rampaging, I even felt a refreshing sensation. I am once again impressed by the game I am currently playing and connected to.

Just like on the Earth I lived on before, the game industry is accelerating in polarization.

Games focused on strict control vs. games inducing microtransactions.

Games that require control.

It’s only natural that games requiring fine control, where you can dodge the opponent’s skills with small movements or two or three steps, take a lot of development time.

A game that is the culmination of long hours and the efforts of many developers.

Skills created through extensive research and effort. Whether it’s melee combat, magic, or spirit arts, standardized skills gradually decreased, and sustained skills, also known as passive skills, increased.

Within that, users were made to enjoy the game through skill combinations or personal control.

And these aspects helped in creating skills that could be used for a long time, even when entering ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’ Like the current ‘HanNomManPanda.’

Even among many games, this current one stood out, and ‘HanNomManPanda’ was unique and famous.

There was a well-known anecdote about how he had reached level 100—the highest level—not by questing, but by living in the battlefield and hunting members of the opposing race.

Because of that, all of his skills were passive and specialized for combat.

He hadn’t even learned common emotional expression skills. His character was purely obsessed with fighting. That was ‘OneManOnly.’

Of course, as famous as it was, the cost to acquire the character wasn’t cheap, but money was no longer a big concern for me.

If there’s a worry, it’s finding a character with the traits planned to be learned in the future.

After rampaging on the battlefield for the first time in a while, I disengaged the Dive and completed the logout.

In the dim light of dawn, the patterns on the ceiling came into view. As I got up from the bed, I felt something damp.

Turning on the light and examining the bed revealed bloodstains scattered all over the sheets.

“Damn it…”

I felt at a loss.

Judging by the sheets already soaked with blood, it was clear that the mattress was also covered in stains.

Clicking my tongue, I put the sheets and mattress into the inventory, approached the lit computer, ordered a bed of the same model online, and turned off the computer.

Though my mood had improved, the heaviness in my chest strangely didn’t.

‘Perhaps… I might never live like a normal person again.’

Smirking bitterly, I called up the skill list.

Good. Weapon Mastery and War God were formidable even in the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’ If skill levels were enhanced with points, they could be used as main skills without lacking.

‘Status.’

“Hmm… If they are the agents of those two goddesses, they would receive authority at about this level of physical stats or higher. Have I finally stood at the same starting point…?”

In terms of effort, there were few races that could match the human race.

There was the fact that they had a shorter lifespan than other races, and the inherent trait of the human race was that they didn’t like lagging behind others.

However, the biggest reason was the inherent difference in power from birth.

Dragonian, elves, and even dwarves generally had better physical stats than humans.

Thus, they became strong without making special efforts, and merely passing time made them stronger.

Therefore, there was a significant difference between humans and other races among the early agents summoned to the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’

However, the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ was, in a sense, a blessed land. Even with inefficient mana breathing, it showed efficiencies several to dozens of times greater than the mana breathing of the existing world.

This blessed environment of the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ further spurred human effort, eventually allowing them to catch up with what seemed like an unbridgeable gap.

And that too, in a much earlier time than expected.

That’s why celestial beings or demons choose representatives with outstanding potential and excellent physical stats, regardless of personality or character.

And most of the time, those with immense potential were humans.

“There have always been crazy bastards among the representatives of celestial beings or demons.”

Anyway, limited to the story about physical stats, I cautiously guessed that after just three Dives, one would have stats comparable to those called monsters in the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’.