Chapter 63: Infinite Adaptation!
Meanwhile, Lucen, who had been leisurely watching his wall of holographic screens, each filled with different recruit perspectives and chaotic battles, froze completely.
His eyes widened. His breath caught.
For a long moment, he couldn’t even form words.
The impossible had just happened.
No, two impossibles.
He blinked once, then twice. The sight before him refused to make sense.
Sophie Reign, calm, collected, yet radiating overwhelming presence, had just done the unthinkable.
"No way," he whispered under his breath, his voice trembling as his mind raced. "That’s impossible."
He stepped closer to her broken pod, staring at the faint glow still emanating from her skin, his reflection warped in her aura.
"Impossible," he muttered again, shaking his head as if denial would make it untrue. "You advanced inside a full-dive simulation? You manifested a title while inside VR?"
His words came out hoarse, half whisper, half disbelief.
He swallowed hard, still trying to process what he was seeing.
"And you broke out of a hundred percent sync rate without even being S-ranked."
His voice trailed off completely.
Lucen wasn’t just stunned; he was terrified. The synchronization pods were designed to mimic absolute realism, bound by neural and mana limits that should have been unbreakable. Yet this girl, this black-haired prodigy, had shattered those boundaries effortlessly.
Now she stood in silence, calm and unfazed amidst the chaos she had caused.
Sophie didn’t even glance at Lucen.
Her crimson eyes remained fixed on the wall of holographic screens floating in midair, flickering with scenes from every recruit’s perspective. Her gaze swept through them quickly: hyenas tearing flesh, fire wolves hunting in packs, arrows, daggers, blood, and dust.
Then she found him.
Bruce.
Her focus locked immediately.
And then she saw it, the moment it happened.
The hyena’s blur of motion.
The flash of its fangs.
The violent crunch.
A sickening sound echoed through the feed, bones shattering, flesh tearing.
The mutant’s jaw clamped onto Bruce’s leg with terrifying strength—fifty thousand psi of force.
Her heart skipped a beat.
’Its definitely S-Ranked.’
Even the creatures with the greatest bite force on Earth, great white sharks at four thousand psi and saltwater crocodiles at thirty-seven hundred, weren’t even close. This beast’s bite was more than eight times stronger.
On-screen, Bruce’s leg was torn clean off.
Blood erupted like a fountain, spraying the ground beneath him in violent bursts of crimson. His balance faltered, but only for a moment.
Sophie’s eyes widened. For a brief second, she forgot to breathe.
She hated it.
She hated seeing him in pain.
Her hand clenched tightly at her side, nails digging into her palm as her chest constricted.
But before panic could take root, Bruce moved, calm, steady, expressionless.
He didn’t flinch.
He didn’t scream.
He simply acted.
As if performing the most mundane procedure in the world, Bruce directed his mana toward the stump of his leg.
The glow spread instantly, silver and white, weaving through flesh, nerves, and bone.
And in the blink of an eye,
his leg regrew.
The new limb formed seamlessly, the wound closing in perfect regeneration.
He didn’t even look down. He didn’t wince. He didn’t blink.
Just another moment. Another problem solved.
Sophie’s lips trembled, and then she smiled.
Not a laugh. Not a smirk. Just a soft, knowing smile, the kind only someone who truly understood him could make.
Watching him stand tall again, silent and unbothered amidst chaos, made her heart ache in a way words could not describe.
At that moment, Lucen, who had missed such a golden moment because his mind was still spinning from shock, finally spoke, his tone uneven.
"It’s still possible to log back into the simulation grid, Sophie."
Sophie blinked, startled. "Really?"
Her heart skipped. She hadn’t expected that. Since she had been forcibly logged out before reaching a thousand points, she was sure she had failed the trial, and by extension, her chance at getting an Adventurer’s License.
Not that it mattered to her.
For Sophie, this whole trial was never about the license. It was an excuse. An excuse to be close to him.
Bruce.
As long as she could see him, even if from a distance, it was worth everything.
And now, as she stood outside the simulation chamber, a single thought echoed softly in her mind:
’Maybe... watching his adventure isn’t so bad after all.’
But then, Lucen’s words reignited a spark inside her.
She could go back.
She could meet him in there, it would definitely be an exciting experience.
Lucen’s eyes twitched as he noticed the sudden eagerness in her expression. For someone who had just broken an S-tier simulation and caused thousands in damages, she looked oddly cheerful.
He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Yes, there’s a spare pod nearby. As long as your body doesn’t instinctively reject the simulation after forcefully ejecting, you should be able to re-enter the grid."
"Then let’s get to it," Sophie said immediately, her voice firm but her eyes gleaming with quiet excitement.
After experiencing the VR herself, she couldn’t deny it; it was more immersive, more alive, and more real than she had ever imagined. And if it meant being closer to Bruce, she’d dive in again without hesitation.
Lucen exhaled tiredly. "Well, as for the VR pod you blew up, you’ll have to pay for the damages later. Maybe if you earn enough points this time, it’ll reduce the amount you owe."
Sophie waved her hand casually, dismissing the concern like a passing breeze. "Don’t worry about that."
Lucen gave a small, resigned chuckle. He didn’t press further. She was from the Great Reign Family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful bloodlines on the continent. If she said she had it covered, she did.
Even if she destroyed the entire lab, it wouldn’t amount to 0.00001% of her family’s wealth.
She followed Lucen quietly as he guided her through the hall to the chamber where the spare pod was located. The soft blue lights reflected faintly off her dark hair, giving her an ethereal, determined glow.
Money didn’t matter.
Points didn’t matter.
All that mattered was him.
She had already made up her mind; she’d accumulate just enough to pass the trial. After that, every remaining beast, every recruit, every untouched resource, she’d leave for Bruce.
If he refused her help directly, then she’d help him indirectly.
And at the end of it all, she’d give him a reward far more interesting than any title or license.
Just the thought of it made her lips curl into a playful smile.
Soon, Lucen stopped in front of a sleek, silver pod resting against the far wall. "There. This one’s operational," he said. "Once it calibrates your neural link, you’ll be reconnected to the main grid."
Sophie nodded once, her excitement barely contained.
Without hesitation, she stepped inside. The pod door slid shut with a hiss, sealing her in.
The lights dimmed.
A soft hum filled the air.
Then, lines of light rippled across her face.
[Welcome back, Recruit 17 — Sophie Reign.]
[Scanning neural pattern... 100% match detected.]
[Body synchronization recalibrating...]
[Warning: External interference previously detected. Adjusting simulation intensity to 80%.]
[VR Grid — Reconnect Sequence Initiating.]
[Estimated Sync Time: 00:05:00]
[Please relax... and prepare to re-enter the trial.]
As the mechanical voice echoed softly, a faint smile crossed Sophie’s lips.
She closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the energy pulse around her body.
Her heart whispered a single thought,
"Wait for me, Bruce."
...
Meanwhile, back to Bruce...
The moment the hyena’s massive jaws clamped down on his leg, the sound was sickening—like metal crushing bone.
Bruce gritted his teeth as a wave of blinding pain tore through his body. Blood gushed from the wound in thick streams, splattering the dry ground in a violent spray.
But even through the agony, his voice remained steady.
"Heal."
A silver glow enveloped the stump of his leg, the light pulsing like a heartbeat. Flesh began to reform—muscle, bone, nerves—until his leg was whole again.
[Your body has adapted to withstand 50,000 psi of bite force.]
Bruce’s face stayed calm, but a weary sigh left his chest.
’I’m out of mana...’
Then his eyes hardened.
’But this should be enough.’
Before the beast could retreat, Bruce’s hand shot forward. His fingers clamped around the hyena’s hind leg like an iron shackle.
In a single, explosive motion, he swung the creature up and slammed it into the ground with terrifying force.
The impact thundered across the plains. Dust and debris burst outward as the earth cracked beneath the weight.