Chapter 4

The Game Difficulty
Went Crazy

The holy noble house, Wordsworth.

Along with Albelluce and Raigle, it was a prestigious family that always ranked within the top three families of the Papal Holy Kingdom.

However, despite its past glory of leading countless subordinate houses, it was now barely maintaining the name of a noble family while blocking the demon race at the frontier.

To make matters worse, the decline of this prestigious house would eventually meet a tragic end—ruin.

As soon as the game scenario began, the war with the demon race, which had been in a cold war state, resumed.

The Wordsworth territory, which was attacked first, failed to withstand the demon race’s offensive and was completely destroyed.

And this was the future that awaited Glen.

There were 118 days left until the demon race’s air raid.

Glen was currently smiling with a satisfied expression.

‘They gathered everything much faster than I expected. As expected of Sister.’

All the materials Glen had requested were now in front of him. It was truly efficient work befitting Tris.

“Then I will take my leave, Young Master.”

“Wait.”

Glen looked at the servant, smiled brightly, and made a gesture as if zipping his mouth shut.

They were servants who had taken care of Tris for nearly ten years and were trustworthy, but there was no harm in being cautious.

“I understand.”

At Glen’s silent order, the servant bowed once more.

Only after the sound of footsteps faded away did Glen sit down on the floor and check each of the delivered materials one by one.

It was the servants’ kitchen, so the floor was cold, but he did not care.

“Twilight reindeer horn and gray wolf heart for strength growth. And Luxor tree root and winter owl feathers for agility growth. And then…”

Glen sorted the materials according to their effects.

All that remained was to put them into one place in the correct order and boil them.

Glen checked the cauldron he had prepared in advance, one large enough for a person to fit inside.

Seeing the water inside the cauldron boiling fiercely, he smiled in satisfaction.

“Okay, good.”

Glen checked one last time to make sure there was no one in the dining hall or hallway.

Then he closed the door and locked it.

There was no need to show anyone the process of making a Potion of Growth.

‘There’s no reason to let someone see this and get mistaken for a dark magician.’

The reason he moved at such a late hour was also to choose a time when as few people as possible were around.

After finishing his preparations, Glen dumped all the sorted materials into the cauldron.

Chiiii—

As the various materials went into the boiling cauldron, steam burst out like fog.

Glen stepped onto a footstool, inserted a long wooden rod into the pot, and stirred so the materials would mix well.

Now, if he just left it alone and boiled it thoroughly for about six hours, the Potion of Growth would be complete.

But Glen kept stirring the ingredients.

“Ugh…”

The hot steam made his skin sting, but Glen did not stop.

There was, of course, a reason he went this far.

‘If I do this, the grade goes up by at least one level when it’s finished.’

As mentioned before, the Potion of Growth was the item Seong Yohan used the most when playing Gray Eden.

After crafting the Potion of Growth hundreds—no, thousands—of times, Seong Yohan discovered several interesting facts.

Even when using the same materials, the grade of the finished product changed depending on factors such as climate, weather, time, and the effort put in by the creator.

‘And the biggest factor is the effort put in by the creator.’

Basically, Gray Eden was a game where luck rarely played a role.

In other words, it had an unexpectedly honest system unlike some worlds, where you could always get better results if you put in the effort.

Of course, someone might ask,
‘What kind of crazy person would stare at a pot for six hours while playing a game and call that effort?’

‘You only know this kind of thing because you became that crazy person!’

A huge cauldron boiling something with a foul smell.

A face soaked with something that could be sweat or steam.

And eyes shining with madness, as if he had found a pile of gold.

If someone saw Glen right now, he would probably look like a true fanatic.

At the very least, if Tris Wordsworth saw him, she would likely collapse to the floor and burst into tears.

‘Glen has gone crazy beyond saving. It’s all my fault!’—something like that.

Of course, Glen had been careful again and again to prevent such a situation.

“Damn it, my arms hurt. Shit…”

The madness that began late at night continued until dawn.

Just before the sun rose, Glen finally let go of the wooden rod and collapsed onto the floor.

“Hah… it’s finally done!”

Panting heavily, Glen glanced up at the cauldron.

Saaaa—

Purple steam gently rose from above it.

The moment when six hours of madness finally bore fruit.

“Ah, this was disgustingly exhausting…”

He wanted to collapse right there and sleep, but Glen still had the damn task of “cleanup” left.

Groaning, he forced himself to stand up.

He poured the completed Potion of Growth into five glass bottles.

Then he gathered the residue left in the cauldron and burned it in the furnace, washed the cauldron, moved it, wiped the floor, opened the windows to clear the smell…

“Fuck.”

Today, Seong Yohan realized that when a game became reality, not everything was happiness.

Back in his room, Glen stared at the glass bottle filled with purple liquid.

《Mad Growth Potion》

《Grade》 : Heroic
《Type》 : Potion

《Options》
: Accelerates the growth of Strength and Agility stats. The lower the user’s level, the greater the effect. – Lasts 15 days
: Grants 12% resistance to mental interference-type magic. – Permanent

《Story》
Ned, a weakling nicknamed “Skeleton Soldier” among his companions, drank this potion by chance and, after 100 days, defeated a Brown Forest Ogre with his bare hands.

The original grade of the Potion of Growth was Rare.

But it had gone up by one grade to Heroic, and even had a very useful additional option: magic resistance.

“This is what a human victory looks like.”

Glen nodded.

The 《Story》 written below might look exaggerated, but coincidentally, it was all true.

Which meant such a story could also happen to Glen.

‘The duration is 15 days. With five bottles, that’s 75 days of effect. If I train my body through knight lessons during that time and take up the sword?’

There were 117 days left until the demon race invaded.

With that amount of time, there would be enough room to grow physically, learn swordsmanship, weave holy rings, and maybe even weave demonic rings.

Glen lifted the corner of his mouth.

All the stepping stones were prepared.

All that remained was steady growth.

“For now, let’s rest.”

With trembling hands, he hid the glass bottles under the bed and collapsed onto it.

After stirring the cauldron for over six hours all night with arms that had no strength, fatigue had piled up far too much.

‘Anyway, Sister Tris’s lessons start tomorrow. I’ll sleep in today.’

Glen buried his face in the pillow.

The next day, Glen headed to the small training ground behind the mansion to receive knight lessons from Tris.

He did not forget to drink the Potion of Growth beforehand.

“Oh, Glen. You came out early.”

The one saying that, Tris herself, had arrived thirty minutes earlier than the appointed time and was waiting for him.

Instead of her usual skirt and shoes, she wore leather boots and pants meant for activity.

Her blouse was also simpler, revealing a balanced and solid figure—full where it should be, firm where it should be.

Unlike her usual gentle and delicate impression, today’s Tris gave off the image of a bright and strong, healthy beauty.

‘As expected of a five-star.’

Feeling the faint aura of a strong person coming from Tris, Glen smiled lightly.

To be honest, because of her gentle image, he had wondered if proper training would be possible, but it seemed his worries were unnecessary.

“First of all, Glen. I’m so happy you agreed to take knight lessons. I’ll teach you with all my effort.”

“Yes. It’s an honor to receive guidance from you, the pride of the family.”

“T-that’s embarrassing, so don’t say things like that. Anyway, let’s begin. First, Glen, let me check your body.”

Tris stepped closer and placed her hand on Glen’s chest.

She was gauging how much holy power had accumulated in his heart.

Of course, Glen knew this already and had put on the demonic energy sealing handcuff in advance.

There was no risk of his demonic energy being discovered for now.

“Hm… it’s still weak. With this amount of holy power, you can’t make a holy ring yet.”

A holy ring could be formed by gathering a certain amount of holy power in the heart and shaping it into a ring.

Glen’s heart was not strong enough to move holy power and weave it into a ring.

“…First, we need to strengthen your heart by running around the training ground. Next, let me check your muscles.”

The hand that had been on his chest moved to his shoulders, arms, and legs.

Soon, Tris’s expression darkened slightly.

“Glen. Don’t be too hurt by this, but… your body is very weak. This is a serious level.”

Tris delivered the facts with a sad face.

But Glen was not particularly shocked.

That his body was terrible was something he already knew from the exact numbers shown in his status window.

“But don’t worry, Glen. If you follow what I teach properly, you’ll improve quickly. Just make sure you keep up.”

“Yes. I’m prepared.”

“Good, then…”

Tris smiled gently and patted Glen’s shoulder in encouragement.

The same kindness as always.

But in an instant, the air around her completely changed.

“Run.”

“…What?”

“Didn’t you hear me? Run.”

She was still smiling kindly, but the warmth around her had vanished without a trace.

Glen moved his legs without thinking.

Tris continued.

“Since it’s the first day, we’ll start lightly with twenty laps. After that, strength training. Then swordsmanship. We’ll finish everything before noon.”

There was one fact that even the veteran Gray Eden player, Seong Yohan, did not know.

That the kind and gentle Tris was known among the Wordsworth trainee knights as
“the demon instructor wearing an angel’s mask.”

Lucy, Tris’s personal maid, was cleaning Tris’s room together with another maid.

“The second young master is receiving knight lessons from the miss? How did that happen…”

Even as she skillfully wiped dust from the window frame, the maid kept talking.

Lucy was the same.

“It just sort of happened.”

“He won’t do anything rude to the miss, will he? You know… he says he hears God’s voice and all that.”

“Exactly. I’m worried to death.”

With a sigh, Lucy refocused on cleaning, but the tactless maid continued.

“So does that mean the miss has to give up her time to the second young master for the next few months?”

“You’re overestimating the second young master. He’ll give up soon.”

“Really? Why?”

At the curious gaze of the maid, Lucy snorted.

“Even persistent trainee knights drop out from the miss’s training. There’s no way the second young master can keep up. At best, he won’t even last an hour—”

At that moment, the door burst open, and Tris rushed in.

“Lucy!”

“Miss Tris, I told you before—now that you’re a grown lady, barging in like that without manners—!”

“That’s not important right now!”

Seeing Tris’s flushed expression, Lucy tilted her head.

“Glen is a genius!”

“…Pardon? What are you suddenly talking about?”

“I taught Glen all kinds of things today. Honestly, I thought he’d give up in less than an hour, but he followed everything without a single complaint! And his talent for swordsmanship is amazing!”

Lucy and the maid stared in shock, but Tris’s mind was already running on a happiness circuit.

“At this rate, in a few years, he might become even better than Edgar or me.”

Imagining her younger brother grown into a splendid young man, Tris found herself eagerly waiting for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Glen returned to his room after showering and collapsed onto the bed like a corpse drained of all fluids.

“I’m seriously… going to die.”

Training beyond expectations, to the extreme.

Today, Glen personally learned that a person’s muscles and mind could be pushed this far.

If he closed his eyes now, he felt like he would pass out instantly.

‘You’re saying I have to do this for at least a few months?’

He even wondered if he’d be able to lift his arms when he washed his face tomorrow.

Still, when he checked his status window, both his Strength and Agility stats had increased by 1.

Normally, raising stats required at least several days of effort.

But thanks to the Potion of Growth, Glen could achieve this kind of unrealistic growth.

‘It was worth all the effort. And for something I learned for the first time today, my swordsmanship wasn’t bad either.’

He couldn’t tell whether it was the effect of the Potion of Growth or Glen’s original talent.

But he had managed to imitate Tris’s swordsmanship—clumsy, but convincing.

Just by watching it once.

‘Not bad. Sister Tris praised me a lot too. But…’

Glen looked at his left wrist—the demonic energy sealing handcuff.

“This demonic energy is the problem.”

Just when things seemed to be going well, an unexpected problem grabbed him by the ankle.