How did I turn my victim into a phoenix-like hero?

Page 148

Beren grabbed a neck pillow from the chair and threw it over; Sirocco caught it easily.

She glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the screen—

"Oh, I see. So it's tomorrow. Our bet."

"Oh—have you thought about your reward for winning?"

Beren seemed to have thought of something amusing, and smiled slightly:

"Who knows? Let's wait for the results before making a decision."

"What about being my girlfriend?"

Beren left the swivel chair, walked to Sirocco's side, and looked down at him, saying:

"Stay tuned."

--------

10:30pm.

Click, the key was inserted into the lock, and it took several turns before the lock finally opened obediently.

Cliff opened the door to his house, his large frame struggling to squeeze inside.

call out--

An empty wine bottle flew towards him, which Cliff skillfully caught and tossed onto a tattered black garbage bag in the entryway.

"What the hell are you doing back here?!"

From deep within the living room came the roar of a human whose guardianship was marked "Father".

The mother looked exhausted and picked up trash without saying a word. The bruises on her face were from both the father and Cliff.

The garbage bag has holes, so there's always more trash on the ground to pick up, but she keeps picking it up anyway.

His family was never wealthy to begin with, and his father lost his job when he was in elementary school, after which the family's circumstances got worse and worse.

My mother was originally a well-bred young lady from the countryside. It is said that she severed ties with her family and married my father.

The father lost his job and stopped working, while the mother, who was naive to the ways of the world, took on odd jobs that she was not used to, but the money she earned was only enough to pay for water and electricity.

Cliff went straight back to his room.

The walls were covered with black mold, and there were patches of yellow and green that were hard to identify. The empty room contained only a relatively clean blue carpet.

He held the back of his head and lay down.

I didn't want to come back in the first place.

I just came out of the hospital, and I've already spent all my money and am in debt. I don't have any friends I can help with.

As if he had timed it perfectly, he resigned from the hospital three days ago and disappeared.

Cliff felt no emotion; he knew they would meet again someday. God bless us both.

I didn't earn much in the dungeon today. After exchanging the crystal cores for money, I paid some hospital fees, and what was left was just enough to eat.

His appetite is much greater than before, but Gnoro said it will return to normal after a while.

Robbery might be appealing, but the problem is that in his current state, the tuner could spot him instantly from several streets away.

"Ah."

Cliff wasn't in a hurry.

After several rounds of intense combat in the dungeon, or rather, after being one-sidedly crushed, he has been able to control his emotions and his physical control is also improving.

Even though he had been absorbing the power of hospital patients all along, his own strength was now extraordinary.

Tomorrow, we'll quickly defeat Cass in the duel, and then go find Sirocco.

The old method: wait until he goes down to the underground city.

Find the perfect moment to defeat him, torment him, and finally bury him completely.

After defeating Sirocco, he was ready to start afresh.

There must be a way to cure ED.

With my skills, joining a team of more experienced explorers should make clearing the next three levels a piece of cake, and I'll be rich soon.

With money and power, those powerless scoundrels will gather around on their own, and it's not impossible for them to develop from a group into an organization, and then into a large guild.

However, I still need to study hard so that I can join a better strategy group after graduation, earn more money, gain more influence, and become the center of the world!

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. When their sins are paid, they will go to the land of gold."

Cliff spoke the words that Gnoro had taught him.

He felt a confidence he had never had before, and the future seemed full of hope.

Imagining the good days to come, even the musty smell in the room seems pleasant.

He would never return to this garbage-like temporary shelter.

Take a few last sniffs of this underground flavor now.

--------

"Sirocco is still so incredible, brother."

Katya sat beside Cass's hospital bed, reading a document sent by Sirocco through the screen of her ring watch.

The information regarding swordsmanship particularly interested her, it seemed...

It can be combined with the swordsmanship that Hertanid showed her earlier.

However, the only response to her self-talk was the various sounds of the medical machines operating around Cass's bed.

"I used to think like this a lot, but I've actually gotten used to it... well, not really. I have this strange feeling that maybe as long as Sirocco and I trust each other enough, there's nothing we can't do?"

no respond.

"Sorry... that was a bit too familiar. Just pretend I didn't say anything."

She operated the ring clock to turn off the screen.

Cass was breathing steadily in his hospital bed, and his eyes were moving beneath his tightly closed eyelids, most likely dreaming.

Katia had previously had Hertanid examine her brother Cass's condition and concluded that—

—I didn't know, your brother is perfectly fine, he simply doesn't want to wake up—

The results were almost identical to those of the doctors' examinations.

Katya felt neither expectation nor disappointment; she was truly used to it.

"Tomorrow I'm going to fight Cliff with my friends, brother, please wish us victory. Ah, if you could get up, maybe you could even see us beat Cliff to a pulp."

Katia smiled easily as she helped Casli straighten the sheets.

She stroked the ring watch in her hand.

"...Sorry, Sirocco. I think this plan is better after all."

After much consideration, the girl put the anti-evil ring back on the ring finger of her left hand.

Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the city's night view, she put on her Bluetooth earphones and dialed the ring watch's number.

--------

The clouds at night obscured the moon, but the lights in the temple were very bright.

Wearing only hot pants and a sports vest, Brid stood alone in the bright dojo, repeatedly swinging her bamboo sword.

Reshape your body through your mindset.

Once you have the mindset for battle, everything will change drastically. From breathing to footwork, vision, and thought... everything will be reshaped into a state specifically for combat.

Even the way you use your muscles will change; it might feel like you've become a different person.

When facing challenges, we must concentrate our minds and bodies and give it our all.

This is introductory training in martial arts.

Reflecting on her past teachings, she was drenched in sweat, which pooled on the wooden floor.

hum-

With a final, powerful whooshing sound, Brid stopped her four-hour-long, continuous sword-wielding session.

She stroked the muscles in her arms to make sure she was ready and in excellent condition.

His well-trained physique is like a masterpiece meticulously crafted by a sculptor, with every detail captivating.

Has the shame of that day in the classroom been washed away?

Has that scumbag Cliff been punished?

Let's see what tomorrow brings.

buzz-

Sensing the vibration of the ring, Brid answered the phone:

"Hey, Cass, what's wrong?...What?"