Dummy

Lanz stood completely still, his hand still gripping the sword he didn't remember picking up.

The walls around him looked like they were carved straight out of old gray stone, clean in a way that didn't make sense.

He reached out and placed his palm flat against the wall. It was solid, not game-like, but actually real-real. Like the kind of real you felt in your teeth.

He looked down at his feet, still beautiful. His hoodie was still too big, and his shirt was riding up under it a little. This wasn't some fantasy dream where he had armor and glowing eyes and cool tattoos that pulsed with power. He looked exactly the same. Just a guy with a sword and a lot of questions.

He turned to the dummy he had smacked earlier, the one still laying crumpled in the corner like someone rage-quit a tutorial. Sparks fizzled weakly from its joints. He walked over and gave it a gentle prod with the tip of his foot.

Thankfully, it was still dead.

He squatted down beside it, resting the sword on his shoulder. "Okay. So let me get this straight," he said, speaking more to the silence than anything else. "I touch a busted crystal from a sketchy old man who eats cup noodles in public, and now I'm inside some low-budget training simulation where I can actually gain stats and swing swords and pick loadouts like I'm in a retro arcade game. Hype~~~."

He looked around. The stone corridor gave him nothing back.

"And it's just me. No tutorial NPC, no system voice telling me I'm the chosen one, no dramatic music. Just... this."

A soft thunk echoed behind him.

He turned around slowly, shoulders already tense. Another dummy had dropped from the ceiling, landing upright just a few feet away. It didn't move, but it didn't need to. Its head was tilted forward ever so slightly, like it was watching him.

Lanz stared at it and it stared back, in the most unblinking, lifeless way a training dummy could.

"Great," Lanz said, standing up and brushing off his knees. "It's also haunted."

He adjusted his grip on the sword and took a small step back, eyeing the dummy like it might explode at any moment. The thing hadn't moved, but it definitely had that vibe. The kind of vibe where it might throw hands the second he blinked.

He took a deep breath, shaking out his shoulders.

"Alright. If this is real, and that last one gave me EXP..." He looked at the dummy again. "Then you better be worth the swing."

The dummy didn't respond, course it didn't.

Lanz raised the sword, just a little. Enough to be ready, not enough to look scared.

"Pull up."

The dummy moved.

Its joints creaked stiffly as one arm raised, and then, without warning, it lunged forward. Lanz barely ducked in time, feeling the air split past his ear as the thing swung way too close for something made of wood.

He stumbled backward and caught himself with one hand on the wall, the other still gripping the sword like it owed him money. "Okay! Okay, we're doing this for real!"

The dummy followed with mechanical precision, arms raised like it was trying to put him in a chokehold. He didn't let it. Lanz swung, not cleanly, but hard enough to knock the thing sideways. It staggered, and sparks flew where the blade hit. Still, it wasn't down.

"Why aren't you dead yet?"

The dummy jabbed forward, and Lanz batted it aside, then kicked low at its knee. The dummy bent awkwardly but didn't fall. His arms already ached. Sweat beaded at his forehead, stinging his eyes. He wasn't cut out for this.

One more step, another swing, and finally, the blade hit something vital, or whatever passed for it, and the dummy sparked, glitched, and collapsed in a broken pile.

He dropped to one knee, the sword clattering beside him. His breath came in sharp bursts, lungs burning.

A soft chime echoed in the air.

[+1 STR

+1 AGI

+5 EXP]

Lanz blinked and looked at his hand, which was still trembling. "That... was not a tutorial fight."

And that was when it really hit him.

If that thing had landed one clean blow to the head or his chest, he wouldn't have gotten a retry. He'd just be gone.

Still breathing hard, he slowly sat down and gave a dry laugh. It wasn't a proud laugh or a victorious one. It was that kind of shaky, slightly unhinged laugh that bubbles out when you survive something you really, really shouldn't have, and somehow feel amazing about it.

"This thing is insane," he muttered. "I f*cking love it."

When he finally caught his breath, a faint shimmer drifted through the air above him. A translucent screen flickered to life.

[LOADOUT MENU OPENED]

[Primary Weapon: Basic Sword (Equipped)]

Lanz scrolled through the options, sword, staff, daggers.

He switched between them like a kid in a toy aisle. The staff spun smooth in his grip, surprisingly balanced. The dagger felt quick, light, easy to flick around like he'd seen in movies. Then the system chimed.

[New Equipment Unlocked: Fingerless Gloves (Basic)]

[New Equipment Unlocked: Lightweight Chest Padding]

[New Equipment Unlocked: Speedy Sandals]

"Speedy... sandals?" He squinted, then equipped all of it without shame.

Now his grip was firmer, his feet lighter, and his chest slightly less crushable. He bounced on his heels a little.

"Alright, not bad. Not stylish, but not bad."

Curious, he selected Unarmed. The weapon vanished.

He looked at the new dummy that had spawned silently near the wall and landed one punch.

Pain blasted up his arm.

"OW—okay! Yeah, no. Unarmed is a scam."

The dummy didn't even budge.

Rubbing his knuckles, he muttered, "Who needs fists anyway."

Another ping.

[EXP: 5/20 to LVL 2]

[Total Gained: +2 STR, +2 AGI, +1 VIT]

At the bottom:

[Reset Simulation Arena]

He tapped it. The room shimmered, reformed, and fresh dummies popped in like a new round.

But before he could move, the screen glitched.

[SYSTEM ERROR: SYNC RATE EXCEEDS ALLOWED THRESHOLD]

Lanz leaned closer.

[ALT ACCOUNT – STATUS

Username: [UNREGISTERED]

Level: 3

Name:___]

There was a prompt.

[Choose profile name:]

Smirking, he typed.

Big L

[Invalid.]

Your Mom

[Invalid.]

He thought for a moment, then typed:

Zero

[Profile set: Zero

Global System Tracking: DISABLED

Sync Visibility: NONE

World Rank Association: UNLINKED]

"So... does this mean I can grind like a sweat and nobody would know?"

He stared at the glowing interface, the weight of how broken this might be slowly settling in.

The sim reset again, but this time, it wasn't a dummy. A humanoid trainee stepped forward from the opposite side, wooden sword in hand, tunic swaying, eyes tracking every inch of him.

Lanz raised his blade, kept both feet steady, and met the first charge head-on. Their swords clashed, the hit jarring his arms, his stance sliding back a step. The trainee didn't let up, swinging again, then again, sharp and fast. Lanz blocked the second, but the third caught his arm, a sting running down to his elbow.

He gritted his teeth, pulled back, circled left.

"Get away from me you f*ck!!"

The trainee followed, blade ready, movements tight and precise. Lanz faked a slash to the knee, then aimed for the shoulder, but the trainee spun and smacked his sword away.

He stumbled, barely dodged the next strike, rolled back, and forced himself upright.

"Alright," he muttered, eyes narrowing, "guess we're not playing around. Wait...that sounded cool as f*ck."

A downward chop came fast, but he sidestepped, countered with a quick slice at the ribs, then ducked under a wide swing. He stepped in closer, forced tight quarters, moved faster. His sword tapped the trainee's arm, then again at the leg. Momentum shifted.

He caught the rhythm now, watching the hips, not the blade, dodging before the swing even came. They exchanged five more blows, wood scraping wood, the room echoing with sharp cracks. Lanz turned his blade, locked the trainee's wrist, and with a burst of strength, shoved him off balance.

He didn't wait.

One step forward, both hands on the hilt, and he drove his sword into the trainee's chest. The figure froze, flickered, then fell flat.

Skill Gained: [Basic Footwork Lv.1]

Skill Gained: [Blade Control Lv.1]

He exhaled slowly, chest burning, sweat soaking through his hoodie. But he was smiling.

Not because he was strong now. But because he knew, for the first time in his life, that he could be.

***

He grinded for hours.

Eventually, a logout option appeared. He tapped it.

The sim cracked apart like glass, folding inward until everything blinked out.

And just like that, Lanz woke up on his bedroom floor.

The relic crystal was still warm.

His whole body ached and his arms were noodles. But he sat up slowly and looked at his hands like he didn't recognize them.

Outside, early morning sunlight began seeping through the curtains.

He let out a breath and tilted his head back, a quiet smile tugging at his face.

"I just became a one-man power farm. And I don't even have to leave my room," he said, both arms on his hips. "Wait, I f*cking have class now!"

End of Chapter 2.