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Ren remembered sleeping last night feeling his body bruised, spent, and exhausted after the intensive combat he put himself in.

He had made surprising discoveries during his initial experience.

Ren was decent with 1v1 fights, but in a team fight? He’s trash. He kept getting frustrated because he felt like he was making bad decisions left and right that made his team lose.

Well, to be fair, his teammates last time were bots, but so were his enemies. He thought that, at the very least, even though he couldn’t actually beat them, he must be able to at least prolong the battle or dominate it for the most part.

But no, that’s not what happened.

Sure, he was never expected to win because that’s not the main point, but he still counted last night’s attempts as a total loss, mostly because he often finds himself being extended and, eventually, isolated, open for the enemy team to gang up on him. And in these cases, it usually doesn’t take long before he gets eliminated.

Even though they’re bots, Ren could communicate with his team just fine. The bots listen to his orders since he is automatically the party leader. And that’s what stings more; he was the party leader and also the first one to be taken out.

How could he not count that as a loss?

Ren was puzzled too. He never thought that he’d perform this badly. He thought that he was smarter, wiser, and more clever than this. It’s not like he’s underestimating the enemy. He’s wary of them even though they’re bots.

What’s unacceptable for him is that he finds himself doing the very same mistake he warned his team about. It’s honestly embarrassing.

But, as humiliating this was, Ren forced himself to watch his terrible performance to see what he did and what went wrong. Despite cringing inwardly and scolding his past self for doing something stupid and idiotic, Ren forced himself to rationalize and learn from his mistakes.

The PvM matches didn’t go as horribly, though. His performance here was decent.

Ren and his party were tested against a squad of cunning goblins in their own territory.

The chakra sensing technique found a lot of uses here. He used it to sense the presence of his party members as well as hidden traps along the way. Obviously, he’s also searching for hostile creatures using it.

It’s like he participated in a dungeon raid for the first time.

But Ren knew that deep down, this doesn’t count. A real dungeon raid isn’t as easy and as simple as this. The dungeon environment, even at the early stages, is dangerous and hostile to humans.

Even simple and common monsters like slimes, goblins, kobolds, and orcs pose a huge threat to martial artists, be it solo or in a party.

A real dungeon raid would be as smooth as the one Ren experienced in the VR world; it’s much more horrible than that.

Anyways...

Ren’s performance in the PvM scenarios was decent at best. He did clear it with his team without anybody dying or being severely injured, but he also knows that there were a lot of things he could’ve done better after watching his performance.

After jotting down his experience and summarizing the things he learned, Ren went to sleep.

He didn’t use his real-life bed. He returned to his personal dimension, lay on the large patch of cool grass, and stared at the vast and open night sky above him. He praised the beautiful moon that elegantly graced his world with its soft and milky white radiance.

He was tired, bruised, slightly injured, and sore. But at the same time, there was a pleasant numbness on his body that made him fall asleep better.

And he did fall asleep better. It didn’t even take five minutes for him to completely fall asleep as soon as he lay down on the grass.

By the time he woke up the next day, he hopped out of the cabin and did some morning stretches.

The bruises, cuts, and soreness his body felt last night were all gone. This was the natural recovery of his body showing its edge.

Remember, all of Ren’s stats are twice as strong as other martial artists’ because of the limitless physique; this includes the speed of his body’s healing and recovery, not just raw power. And he would only improve from this day onwards.

Once he was done with his morning stretches, Ren made something to eat.

With the recent attack of the blade-maned leopards, Ren was given beast meat to eat.

Remembering how horrible those creatures are, nobody could blame Ren for expecting the meat to be tough, fibrous, and foul-tasting. But to his surprise, it’s really not that bad.

The meat of the blade-maned leopard tastes like a skirt steak marinated in a soy-based sauce. It’s salty, slightly tangy, and has a bit of smoky flavor. And this was without seasonings on and cooked to medium-rare doneness.

Learning and practicing martial arts was expensive... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

This is something that has been stated on numerous occasions in the story, repeated like it’s a mantra.

And it’s true. It could really get expensive.

The cost of learning martial arts techniques alone was already high. Obviously, that doesn’t include supplements, tools, and other things that must be purchased using GMCs.

Children from huge and prosperous clans will start taking supplements, medicinal baths, and therapeutic massages; have tutors; and have a dedicated nutritionist at a very early age, all in hopes that the child awakens a decent martial physique in their initiation ceremony.

One million Grand Martial Credits was barely enough to afford the lowest-priced package to nourish a child from a young age. In fact, it only becomes more expensive from there.

The costs of supplements, nutritional potions, fierce beast meat, and started equipment...none of these were cheap. And even after spending that much, it doesn’t guarantee that the child will awaken a decent physique in the end.

Many families couldn’t afford that kind of lifestyle. Only the elites, nobles, and really wealthy families could splurge like that.

Remember, a middle-class family of five could survive for an entire year with only 100,000 credits. Growth packages cost one million credits at minimum.

There’s simply no way common families could afford that!

Take the meat that Ren’s eating right now. The meat of the Blade-Maned Leopard? It’s around 30,000 to 50,000 credits per kilogram on the market.

It’s not that expensive just because it tastes great; it’s highly nutritious and filling too. It’s even said that incorporating fierce beast meat into a person’s regular diet allows common-grade physiques to be improved.

Whether that’s true or just some promotional lie, Ren doesn’t know.

The allowance that Ren receives from the clan amounts to 10,000 credits per month, which is already equivalent to the monthly salary of a common 9 to 5 office worker in this world.

It will increase the stronger he becomes, but once he steps into the inhuman realm of martial arts, it stops. Why? Simply because the clan wouldn’t be able to afford it anymore. Plus, by that time, money will just be some numbers for Ren. He could earn millions of credits just by slaying weaker monsters and selling them on the market; no need to burden the clan’s pockets for more allowance.

Though, if Ren had been born as a commoner, someone with the support of a clan or any adult, his foundations would’ve started at a lower point.

Ren grew up soaking in medicinal baths, regularly eating fierce beast meat, and under the watch of the clan leader himself. If it weren’t for these, Ren’s awakened physique would’ve been much weaker.

Sure, he could’ve had a chance to learn and use an actual weapon if he hadn’t been born into the clan, but his starting point would definitely be way lower.

You win some, you lose some.

That said, he never took any of this for granted, and that’s even before he awakened his previous life’s memories. That’s why as soon as he graduated, he started working hard.

Playtime’s over for him. Not that he played around too much in his youth anyway. But for the majority of the children who graduated from prep school? That sentiment rings true.

Even the delinquents, jesters, gangsters, playboys, lazy, and stupid kids all knew this.

They’ve had 10 years of peace and quiet. They were allowed to mess around and experience a peaceful childhood all because the adults worked hard to make it happen. And as the next generation of adults, this responsibility now falls to their shoulders.

The torch will be passed on. It’s their turn to ensure that the next generation will also get to experience a peaceful and happy childhood like they had.

That’s why the majority of those who graduated straighten out once they step into the real world.

They’ve had their fun. They’ve had enough time to mess around and to think about what they want for their future.

Playtime’s over for them. It’s their turn to work hard and ensure that life goes on and to seek a better future for humanity.