Following the beam of light, Helier crossed a rushing stream, climbed steep and jagged slopes, and finally scaled a rough cliff that stretched hundreds of meters high. By the time he reached the mountainside, his hands were nearly torn open.

  “Huff… huff… Mister System, wasn’t this route a bit… unnecessarily painful?”

  Gasping for breath, he quickly cast a Minor Healing Spell.

  “Chosen on purpose,” the system answered bluntly. Then, after a beat, “And believe it or not, this was the easiest way.”

  The light extended forward, its arrow tip ending at a sudden open patch of ground.

  Helier followed its guidance and stepped in.

  Suddenly, a strong wind swept through the area. Thousands of green leaves spiraled into the air, and the earth burst with a surging energy, converging at the center to form a spiritual beast.

  Two fuzzy antlers resembled branched twigs adorned with pale blue leaves. Its fur was soft green, its ears long and fluffy, limbs slender, and the elegant markings on its body flowed like water, continuing all the way to the tip of a tail that trailed along the ground.

  As its silver hooves touched down, yellow soil beneath transformed into vibrant greenery.

  It lifted its chin slightly, studying the intruder.

  Helier’s eyes sparkled with awe, completely mesmerized—until he noticed the number above its head in bold white text: LV.5.

  That one glance nearly gave him a heart attack.

  Just the beast's gaze alone radiated pressure so intense it made it hard to breathe.

  “Mister System… don’t tell me I’m supposed to fight that thing?”

  His heart thumped like a jackhammer, sweat breaking across his brow.

  “Of course not,” said the system, reassuringly. “You only need to survive for ten minutes.”

  “Sounds doable. But how big’s the gap between Level 5 and Level 1?”

  “Based on stats… if it touches you once, your HP drops by 90%.”

  “Lovely. Real generous of you,” Helier gritted his teeth. Someday, if he ever caught the system slippin’, he was gonna make sure it lost all its hair in one blow.

  Still, despite his complaints, a thrill surged through his veins. Every cell screamed the same truth—

  He lived for this kind of challenge!

  The beast, sensing his battle stance, moved first. Its front legs stomped the ground—cracks split the earth, and thorny vines lashed toward him.

  Helier rolled aside, narrowly dodging the strikes, then sprang up and dashed in wide circles.

  His eyes locked on every twitch of the creature’s body, predicting its next move.

  With a swish of its long tail, it slashed out a wind blade—horizontal, sharp, fast. Helier barely reacted in time, sliding under it in a last-minute dodge.

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  Compared to his frantic scrambling, the spiritual beast was calm and methodical. It always waited until he seemed ready before launching another blow—each one harder than the last.

  It lifted its head and let out a cry—melodic and resonant, like a song. The swirling leaves moved like musical notes, dancing in tune with its call. And then—silence.

  All the leaves shot out like missiles.

  Helier clenched his jaw and ran, dodging for dear life. But as the cry resumed—this time with a rising pitch—the leaves turned around, locked onto him, and came racing back.

  “Whoa–!” He yelped, wide-eyed. They’re heat-seeking now?!

  In a flash of inspiration, he flung out his left palm—If I can’t dodge, maybe I can break them down into pigment!

  The beast tilted its head, puzzled.

  Then—thump, thump, thump!—a dozen leaves stabbed into his arm. Blood spurted from his veins.

  Helier turned pale, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He yanked out the leaves mid-sprint, healing himself on the go. “What the heck?! That wasn’t how I pictured it!”

  Right on cue, the system chimed in, very helpfully.

  “Great idea. But the leaves are infused with the beast’s soul-pigment. You can’t absorb them unless your own pigment level is way stronger.”

  “Oh, and here—some external support.” A pop-up window appeared near Helier’s ear, blasting intense, fast-paced music like the opening to a sports anime finale.

  His face turned red with fury. This is not over. One day, I will make you pay.

  With hundreds more leaves about to slam into him, he acted fast—pulling a giant fruit from his backpack, one bigger than his own head. He smashed it against a rock and hurled the pulp behind him.

  BOOM! A thick puff of cotton-like fluff exploded, blocking all the incoming leaves.

  Panting, Helier glanced at the beast to anticipate its next move.

  To his surprise, it didn’t attack. Instead, one blue leaf on its antlers faded into light. A soft glow surrounded Helier’s body—he suddenly felt lighter, faster.

  “Wait… it just buffed me?” he blinked.

  “Seems like it’s rooting for you,” the system said. “Keep it up. Three minutes left.”

  Encouraged, Helier’s spirits lifted. His whole vibe changed—like a withered flower finding new sunlight.

  “No problem!” He grinned with full confidence, ready to give it everything.

  But as soon as he finished speaking, the beast began stretching, stomping with its forelegs.

  Warning bells screamed in his head. Smile—gone.

  SHHHK! A vibrant green path unfurled beneath the beast’s hooves, stretching straight to Helier.

  He didn’t wait to see what it meant. He jumped aside—just in time. A blur streaked past him with deafening wind, messing up his hair and cutting open his skin.

  His pupils shrank. Those fuzzy antlers?! Might as well be twin blades!

  Another path opened. The beast charged again.

  Deep breath. RUN!

  With only three minutes left—and boosted agility—he figured the rest should be easy.

  He was wrong.

  The difficulty just spiked like a Soulsborne boss at Phase 2.

  A single hit now would mean instant disqualification.

  Helier sprinted at full throttle, analyzing and adapting with each move.

  As before, he noticed the beast held back. Even now, its charges felt like sparring. After dodging a dozen rushes, he uncovered some rules:

  One: he was trapped within the glade—transparent barriers blocked the edges.

  Two: stepping on grass triggered immediate assault.

  “How much time?!” Helier yelled toward the sky—because the maple leaf system avatar had floated far out of harm’s way.

  “Thirty seconds,” came the lazy reply. And of course, the music jumped to the drop.

  His cheeks puffed like red balloons. He ran with all his might. But the glade was almost fully covered in grass—he had figured out the rules too late.

  Eighty percent of the ground was now dangerous.

  “I’ve got this!”

  He mapped the longest delay route possible, baiting the beast and stretching each five seconds into ten…

  Until ten seconds remained.

  And nowhere left to run.

  “Fine then—let’s go all in!”

  Without hesitation, he spammed six Minor Healing Spells and burst straight into the grass zone. The beast instantly lunged and rammed him—

  BANG!

  Helier smashed against the barrier wall, slumped down, limbs limp. His wounds had healed, but his muscles screamed in protest. He couldn’t even lift a finger.

  Three seconds left. A massive shadow fell over him.

  He looked up weakly—The beast had leapt sky-high, and was about to crash down!

  Helier shut his eyes, gritted his teeth. Fine. One more hit. Bring it on!

  …

  Donk.

  Its antler gently tapped his forehead.

  Helier winced, yelping in pain. He opened his eyes.

  The beast was lying on the ground beside him, gazing with curiosity. No more attacks.

  Time was up.

  The system reappeared and tossed out a few extremely half-hearted digital fireworks.

  “Congratulations. Trial cleared.”