He ultimately chose Normal Difficulty. Stefan considered himself intelligent, not fearless, and he wasn’t going to gamble his life without knowing what waited ahead.
Besides, if his guess was correct, the System would eventually offer a chance to change difficulties later.
The System resembled a game in too many ways for that possibility to be ignored. If Hell Difficulty really became available again, then he could always choose it after learning more about the System. He intended to survive first and take greater risks later.
That didn’t mean he had given up on Hell Difficulty. On the contrary, Stefan had already decided he would enter it as soon as he confirmed the danger was manageable. If better rewards truly waited there, then there was no reason for someone as ambitious as him to settle for less.
The summoning to the Land of Origin only strengthened that belief. It was vibrant and magical, unlike anything he had ever imagined, and it reminded him of the fantasy stories his mother used to read to him as a child.
The experience excited him so much that, after returning, he completely lost his usual composure.
That was how he ended up downplaying Alex on Dwitter. Looking back now, Stefan wanted to slap himself. One of his personal rules had always been simple: always befriend capable people.
He had broken that rule because he got carried away. The realization bothered him far more than he cared to admit, and he had already decided that if he ever met Alex in person, he would try to fix that mistake.
Then fate unexpectedly handed him exactly that opportunity.
The meeting didn’t unfold the way Stefan had imagined. Before he could properly get to know Alex, he watched the man charge into a battle against a Wild Orc. The fight became so dangerous that Stefan stopped thinking and threw himself into it as well.
Even now, he couldn’t explain why he had done it. Was he actually a kind person? The thought almost made him laugh because, in Stefan’s opinion, kind people were idiots.
Then why had he almost died helping Alex? Maybe, deep down, Stefan had already realized Alex would survive no matter what happened, and helping him at such a critical moment would naturally earn his trust. Or maybe he had simply acted without thinking for the first time in years.
No matter how much he thought about it, Stefan couldn’t decide which explanation was true. In the end, it didn’t matter anymore because the decision had already been made. Oddly enough, he didn’t regret it.
If he hadn’t intervened, he never would have witnessed Alex’s battle from so close. Watching every movement, every spell, and every decision left a much stronger impression than any video ever could. There was only one word that came to Stefan’s mind whenever he remembered that fight.
Beautiful.
Not because the battle itself had been elegant. There had been blood, shattered buildings, broken bones, and death at every turn. What Stefan found beautiful was the way Alex fought.
Alex reminded him of an uncle who used to hunt dangerous wild animals. That man had always been calm before pulling the trigger, never wasting movement or emotion. Alex carried that same presence throughout the entire battle.
He observed, judged, and acted with ruthless efficiency. Even while facing a monster capable of killing him with one strike, Alex never hesitated or panicked. He looked less like someone desperately fighting to survive and more like a hunter calmly cornering his prey.
The memory of Alex’s battle made Stefan’s heart beat faster. He wanted to fight like that, remain that calm under pressure, and stand before overwhelming enemies without losing his composure. More than anything else, he wanted to become that strong.
’Hell Difficulty must be unbelievable if it could produce someone like him so quickly,’ Stefan thought. That single realization settled something inside him.
By the time Elizabeth finished treating his worst injuries, Stefan had already decided on his next goal.
It wasn’t money or influence anymore.
It was Alex Mercer.
Stefan was going to surpass him. Even if that meant stepping into Hell Difficulty the very first chance the System gave him.
..
Alex wanted to check the evolution options, but he first needed to find a proper place to sit. Looking through the evolution menu in the middle of the road was a terrible idea when another monster could appear at any moment. He would wait until he was somewhere relatively safe before checking the options.
For now, he picked the Wild Orc’s Gene Potential. After storing it away, he reached into his inventory and pulled out the Energy Bar before taking a large bite. The battle had drained his stamina at a frightening pace, leaving him nearly empty.
Funnily enough, mana wasn’t his biggest problem anymore, even though it had been his lowest stat at the beginning. His body still had enough mana, but his muscles felt like they had nothing left to give.
The bite melted on his tongue, and warmth spread throughout his body. The heavy fatigue weighing down his limbs gradually eased as his stamina slowly recovered. It wasn’t enough to make him feel refreshed, but it was enough that he could move without feeling like he would collapse.
He put the Energy Bar away and formed a short sword out of mana. The blade was only meant for utility, and he carefully used it to cut into the Wild Orc’s chest before digging out the Life Elemental Stone from within its heart. Once he had it in his hand, he looked at the thick layer of blood covering it and frowned slightly.
Alex first tried creating a thin sheet of compressed mana and using it like a towel to wipe the blood away. Making compressed mana flexible enough for that proved much harder than he had expected, so after a few unsuccessful attempts, he changed his approach.
Instead, he wrapped the stone in compressed mana before pulling the mana away again, dragging some of the blood with it. It took several tries, but eventually the stone was clean enough for him to slip it into his pocket alongside the Gene Potential.
Alex smiled faintly, realizing what he was doing. Even at a time like this, he was still experimenting with new ways to manipulate mana. He simply couldn’t help himself. Every small experiment refined his control over mana, and there was something undeniably fascinating about mastering such a mystical force.
..
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