When the bandits were killed, blood spttered everywhere, notably on the young woman, who looked both horrified and grateful. Her gratitude quickly won out as she said, "Thank you, thank you. If you hadn’t e, Mia's fate would have been horrifying." She gnced hatefully at the headless bodies of the bandits.

  Mikael ignored her odd habit of referring to herself ihird person and replied indifferently, "o thank me. I was just passing by and o kill some bandits. You were just lucky, that's all."

  After he finished speaking, Mikael touched the bandits' bodies, appearing to pickpocket them, but iy, he was activating the Race Gaining system.

  [Race: Humans (Aedris world) successfully copied.]

  It is that easy? he thought, raising an eyebrow, before actually taking their money. When he was done, he was 1 gold and 83 silver s richer.

  The girl seemed slightly unfortable with his response. "No matter your reasons, you still saved Mia from a horrible fate, and for that, Mia is eternally grateful," she said, bowing deeply.

  She tinued, "Mia has a request. you help her get to Onissa City? Mia doesn’t think she’ll survive the journey alohout her guards."

  Seeing his disied gaze, she panicked and quickly added, "Mia's dad pay you. He has a lot of money! If you ensure Mia’s safety during this trip, you’ll be well rewarded."

  ‘Please accept. If he doesn’t help Mia, she’ll die in this forest, she thought, still terrified from her ret ordeal.’

  Mikael sidered her request. ‘Hmm, I could help her. She saved me some time by helping me find the bandit, so even if I spend some time esc her, I’ll still e out ahead.’

  "Alright, but I’ll leave you near Onissa City," he said.

  She quickly agreed but was fused. "If you leave Mia he city, how will you get the money?"

  "Oh, that’s not important. I don’t he money. I’m just helping you because you saved me time, that’s all."

  The girl was visibly torween being impressed by his reje of the money and bewildered by his apparent indiffereo her life.

  Mikael turned and crouched before saying, "Get on my back."

  The girl was pletely stunned by his words and stood frozen in pce.

  Mikael waited for a couple of seds, but not hearing her approach, even with his enhanced senses, he turned around and asked, “Are you ing?”

  Mia stuttered, “B-but why do you wao climb on your back?”

  Mikael expined, “Look, if we walk to Onissa City, it will probably take hours, but if you get on my bad I run, it will take only tens of minutes, or maybe even less!”

  She let out a small “Oh” before approag him, ing her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

  Normally, the positioook would have been quite inve, but with his high stats, it didn’t bother him. He then pced his hand under her thigh to get a good grip before saying, “Hold on tight, we’re going to go fast, and I don’t think I o expin what will happen if you fall at this speed…”

  ‘I said that, but even if she loses her grip, I’ll be able to catch her before she falls,’ he thought.

  She made a small sound of agreement before tightening her hold on him.

  Mikael then darted forward, running at a speed faster than that of a car.

  SWISH

  The wind made a sharp cutting sound as he moved, and the surroundings blurred—at least, that was the case for Mia, a normal human.

  After traveling for only a couple of minutes, Mikael arrived at the forest’s edge near Onissa City, where he stopped and motioned for Mia to get down.

  She released her grip, still a little dizzy from the high-speed movement, then bowed and said, "Mia would like to thank her beor once again–." She paused, as if remembering something, then tinued in an embarrassed tone, "Mia is ashamed, but she still does not know the name of her beor."

  Mikael replied, "Name’s Mikael, but it’s not important. You’re he city now and safe, so– bye."

  With that, he disappeared from the se, his speed leaving no trace.

  "WAIT!"

  Mikael heard her, but he kept going. He wasn’t here to py the hero, like he had said before. She was just lucky.

  He tinued deeper into the forest before leaving this world and reappearing in the familiar Hub.

  The instant Mikael appeared, he received some surprising notifications:

  [At the start of the sed week sih was lio the Akashic Records, several modifications will occur:

  1: Transformation of the private hub into a public hub where you i with other Earth natives.

  2: Unlog of a Global Level Leaderboard featuring all Earth natives.

  These modifications will occur in 10 hours, 13 minutes, and 45 seds.]

  ‘Oh, I khe hub would bee public, but the leaderboard—that’s new.’

  “System, will there be rewards for ranking well on the Global Level Leaderboard?”

  [No, the Leaderboard doesn't offer rewards. However, it help you gain fame aed bes with other Earth natives.]

  ‘It seems this leaderboard is pretty useless. Let’s be ho, fame be helpful, but it’s nothing pared to real strength.’

  After this brief interlude, Mikael moved into his apartment, where he used the bathroom and took a shower.

  As he stood uhe warm water, he thought, ‘Ahh, it feels so good to have access to a modern shower. It’s definitely more vehan using a cold water basin. Damn medieval times… I’ve gotten too used to the forts of modern life, and whenever I have to deal with medieval-level teology, it’s hard to endure.’

  After taking a long, rexing shower, Mikael dried off but chose not to put his clothes ba. He thought, ‘I’m about to ge my race, and it’s bound to be REALLY painful. Maybe I’ll even expel impurities like in a cultivation novel or something, so it’s better not to dirty my clothes.’

  He sat down ohroom floor, taking deep breaths while brag for the pain he knew was ing. Minutes passed as he remained in that position before he thought to himself, ‘I know it’s going to hurt, but staying like this won’t ge anything.’

  ‘I’m a little scared of the pain, and holy, who wouldn’t be? But I o gh with this if I want to keep growing stronger. I refuse to stagnate just because I’m afraid of feeling pain!’

  With that internal pep talk, he finally looked at the detailed description of the new race.

  [Race: Human (Aedris World)

  Tier 1

  Description: One of the main races of the Aedris world, natives of this world are talented in body refi but sequently have low potential in anythied to the spiritual side. This race has a stat limit of 800 for the five physical attributes and 120 for the two spiritual stats. It also unlocks the Energy stat but with limited potential.

  As a Tier 1 race, it has a max level of 50 before requiring an upgrade to a higher-tiered race to tinue leveling up.

  +4 to all five physical stats and +1 to the two spiritual stats at each level.

  Faster and more effit body refi.]

  Mikael was impressed by the stats of this rad said, “Records, I want to ge my raan (Aedris World).”

  [Race ge to Human (Aedris World) will begin in 10 seds.Warning: Individuals from paiive races have reported extreme pain during this process.]

  Mikael wasn’t reassured by the warning, anxiously following the tdown with his eyes.

  [5]

  [4]

  [3]

  [2]

  [1]

  [0]

  The moment the tdown hit zero, Mikael felt his bones begin to break—and that was just the beginning.

  He gritted his teeth as the sensation of his bones breaking began, but it wasn’t long before the pain became too much to bear. He couldn’t e in silenymore and started screaming.

  "AHHHHHH!"

  And it only got worse. After all, this wasn’t just a bone adjustment—it was a full-body transformation.

  His ans soon followed, feeling as if they were boiling. Every part of his body was affected, breaking down and transf, pushing his physical limits to bee stronger.

  But the price he paid for this enha was agonizing pain throughout the entire process.

  Yet, after destru es creation. As his body was broken down into dust, it gradually began to rebuild itself.

  Logically, one might think that if Mikael’s body was reduced to dust, he wouldn’t be able to feel pain. But no, the agony persisted, just as sharp as when he had a body.

  His body reformed, only to break down again. And again.

  This painful cycle repeated for an unknown amount of time before his body finally pleted the transformation and remained intact.

  When Mikael realized that the pain had stopped, his fragile sciousness finally gave in, and he passed out.

  Some time ter, Mikael finally woke up. ‘Ah, that was really not a pleasant experienext time I ge my race, I’ll have to ehat pain again,’ he thought with a shiver.

  He looked around. ‘At least the ground isn’t covered in impurities. That would have been a pain to up.’

  “Hmm, System, are there any notifications about my race ge?”

  [Yes, there are some notifications. They appeared while you were unscious. Dispying them now.]

  [Evolution to a Tier 1 raplete. Level cap raised to 50.]

  [Body potential greatly increased.]

  [Spiritual potential slightly increased.]

  [Body refi efficy greatly increased.]

  ‘Damn, that’s really satisfying to see. It makes the pain I went through worth it—and eveer, it’s a potential increase. Personally, I find potential increases more exg than immediate pains. If your potential is low, power es slowly, but if your potential is high, you gain power quickly. So yeah, I definitely prefer having my potential boosted.’

  Mikael stood up and gnced around, catg a glimpse of himself in the mirror above the sink. He was surprised by what he saw.

  ‘Huh, I’m more handsome. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I am,’ he thought, studying his refle. ‘The difference isn’t huge, but it’s noticeable. How to say this? My skin his fairer and some imperfes have disappeared. If I was around an 85/100 before, I’d say I’m a solid 88/100 now. A nice bonus from all that pain. I’m definitely not pining,’ he thought with satisfa.

  ‘I wonder how this beautification works. Is it because the natives of Aedris are generally more attractive, and by taking their race, I’ve beore handsome too? That would make sense. After all, in the Aedris world, people were rarely ugly, and a good portion of the popution would be sidered beautiful or handsome by my standards.’

  ‘Well, that ahat. But now that I think about it, how long have I been unscious?’

  After cheg with the Records, Mikael learhat eight hours had passed, leaving only two hours before the modifications took effect. ‘Hmm, these uping ges are iing in the sehat they’re something new, but practically speaking, they won’t be of much use right now. Maybe they’ll beore useful ter.’

  He then got dressed. That’s when he realized he felt great. His injuries were pletely healed, and his bones were back to normal, no longer weakened. ‘It seems that ging my race has a healing effect,’ he thought, astonished.

  ‘Still, I shouldn’t ge races just for the healing effect. What if, because of a critical injury, the race ge goes wrong and I explode?’

  He cleared his mind of these miseous thoughts before speaking in his mind. "Records, I’d like a world I plete quickly, with a reasonable danger level, and where I easily farm LP."

  [Request avaible for 100 LP. Note: Accessing a world outside the Hub will cost 100 LP.]

  When Mikael saw that message, he thought, ‘Fug capitalist system they really charge LP for everything.’

  Of course, Mikael refused to pay. Even if he wao, he couldn’t—he was down to 0 LP.