Chapter 53: Chapter 49: Promotion to Professional

“Alright. Be extremely careful!”

Without asking for an explanation, Bain chose to trust Lin Mo. He turned and entered the Secret Realm.

Lin Mo took a deep breath and looked ahead.

Because the others had entered the Secret Realm one by one, the three Mutated Goblins—who hadn’t been in a rush before—were now charging over at top speed. They wanted to at least stop Lin Mo, the last one remaining.

He had limited time—five seconds at most.

But that was more than enough!

The surrounding Goblins swarmed him. Lin Mo took half a step forward, his Wolf Bone Sword lashing out in a perfect arc.

[Slashing]!

Lin Mo poured all his strength into this one slash. The sharp blade touched a Goblin’s neck, and as if meeting no resistance, a head flew into the sky.

The momentum of his swing carried through. The blade swept onward with unstoppable force, only slowing as it bit into the neck bones of the fifth Goblin.

Lin Mo didn’t pause. He immediately swung again from a different angle, but with the same force. The Goblins had packed in too tightly, inadvertently becoming a line of connected targets and greatly increasing his monster-clearing efficiency.

This swing decapitated five more Goblins!

The exceptionally large Adult Mutant Goblin roared and charged, its speed truly a match for his own.

Lin Mo kept his eyes on the closing distance. Seizing the last possible moment, he swung twice more, reaping the lives of ten more Goblins.

He then quickly retracted his sword, spun around, and vanished into the rift of the Secret Realm.

BOOM—

The next moment, a massive Iron Axe crashed down before the entrance to the Secret Realm, leaving a spiderweb of cracks in the ground.

But Lin Mo’s form had already passed through, his figure gone without a trace.

ROAR—!

Having missed its target, the Mutated Goblin roared and slammed its fist toward a nearby tree. But its sandbag-sized fist was stopped half a meter from the trunk, sending ripples spreading through the air before they faded away.

It glared resentfully at the rift, but ultimately lacked the courage to enter. After a moment of venting its impotent rage, it turned and trudged away dejectedly.

…

The moment he entered the rift, everything went black for Lin Mo—not literal blackness, but more like the sensation in the eye you keep closed at night. It was less like darkness and more like a void.

It wasn’t just his vision; all his senses seemed completely sealed off. That extreme emptiness, lasting only an instant, was suffocating.

Thankfully, it only lasted a moment. The next thing he knew, a dizzying weightlessness washed over him. He couldn’t tell what state his body was in; he only felt the gravity around him abruptly vanish, reappear, and then invert…

By the time he came to his senses, a few familiar faces had appeared before him.

“What a strange feeling.”

“Right?”

Evan nodded in complete agreement. “For a second, I really thought I was dead. I never want to experience that again.”

Lin Mo didn’t reply, instead looking ahead.

’The Secret Realm before me isn’t as dangerous or bizarre as I imagined. It looks like a castle… or maybe an Underground Dungeon?’

The walls were made of gray stone bricks. The area was dimly lit, with burning torches hanging on both sides providing a little faint light.

“This is my first time in a Secret Realm…”

Cody sized up their surroundings with a wary yet curious gaze. His comment was stating the obvious; it was the first time for everyone here. Even Bain, the oldest and most experienced adventurer among them, had never so much as seen a Secret Realm, let alone entered one.

“This place looks a bit ominous.”

Bain didn’t let his guard down either, his hand gripping his Sword and Shield tightly.

“Hey, don’t be so tense. At least we just escaped from danger, right?”

It was hard to tell if Evan’s words were meant to lighten the mood, reassure himself, or if he was secretly overjoyed.

’Even though it was an accident, we’re in a Secret Realm!’

’Wealth, equipment, Skills!’

His young heart couldn’t resist the allure of such things. He looked ahead, eager to get started.

For the moment, Lin Mo had no time for any of that. After confirming their surroundings were safe for now, he focused his attention on the small characters materializing before his eyes.

[Slashing] Skill Level +5!

[Slashing] Skill Level +5!

Two messages appeared in succession before his eyes. In the brief moments before entering the Secret Realm, Lin Mo had killed exactly twenty Goblins, earning the final 20 Skill Level points for his [Slashing] Skill.

“Skill [Slashing] Lv4 (100/100) has leveled up!”

“Current Skill: [Slashing] Lv5 (max)”

“You have gained attribute points: Strength +2!”

The [Slashing] Skill successfully reached Full Level, granting Lin Mo 2 points of Strength. This brought his Strength Attribute to 8, further increasing his power.

But that wasn’t all…

“Automatically evolved into New Skill—[Cross Slash]!”

“Skill Comprehension: [Cross Slash]! Strength +2!”

’Just as I thought!’

After a Skill reaches Full Level, it evolves, which means gaining a New Skill.

The additional 2 points of Strength brought Lin Mo’s Strength Attribute straight to 10!

Combined with [Slashing] reaching Full Level, if Lin Mo’s earlier suspicions were correct, he had now met all the conditions to become a Professional!

And sure enough, he didn’t have to wait long before another line of small, translucent text appeared before him.

“Promotion conditions met. You have obtained the Profession: Warrior (Level 1).”

“You have received a Professional Attribute Amplification: Strength +2, Constitution +2, Agility +2!”

“You have obtained the Class Skill: [Warrior’s Heart]!”

Looking at the notifications, Lin Mo finally understood why they said the gap between a Professional and a Non-Professional was so huge.

’Becoming a Professional just hands you 6 attribute points for free. How could the gap not be massive?’

Lin Mo glanced at his own status panel. After the bonus from the Professional Attribute Amplification, his Attributes had reached a completely new level.

[Name]: Lin Mo

[Profession]: Warrior Level 1

[Attributes]:

Strength: 12

Agility: 10

Constitution: 6

Spirit: 5

Magic Power: 0

These stats were already incredibly impressive compared to when he first arrived in this world a few days ago.

As for his Skills…

Lin Mo first looked at [Cross Slash], the Skill he’d gained through evolution. Just like [Stealth], it was a green, Excellent-quality Skill.

[Cross Slash] Lv1 (0/10): Having mastered [Slashing], you are no longer satisfied with such a simple Technique. You begin to break your limits and try new things. Rapidly slash twice in the designated direction to create a cross-shaped [Slashing]!

The description was simple and to the point, but its implications were huge.

Cross Slash was equivalent to Lin Mo being able to land two [Slashing] attacks in an instant!

The power of a Skill was far greater than a basic attack. The burst damage from two consecutive [Slashing] attacks was almost unimaginable…

But this brought another problem to light. The higher the burst damage and power, the bigger the issue he would face.

It consumed too much Physical Strength, and his Constitution couldn’t keep up.

Even though becoming a Professional had raised his Constitution by 2 points, which was a slight improvement, it felt like a drop in the bucket compared to his Strength, which was double its value.

Shaking his head in resignation, Lin Mo turned his gaze to the second Skill he’d just acquired: the Special Skill known as a Class Skill—[Warrior’s Heart].

“Holy shit…?”

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