I Grow Stronger by Dreaming - Chapter 1

<1. Battlefield>

“Grr.”
I felt a nasty energy rise up from within me.

My vision was blurry and my legs were shaking. Before questioning why his body was in this condition, he was studying the sight that was displayed before him and the odd voice that called him ‘Kali.’

“…What in the world?”

His voice cracked.

His dry lips let out a nasty odor.

Boom! Boom!

“Die, you bastard!”

“Block it! Block the bastards from the diabolic Castro Empire!”

“Ackkkkkk!”

Is this what hell is like?

A group of men were fighting each other with weapons in their hands.

A sharp sword cut a soldier’s neck half way, causing blood to spit out like a fountain and a soldier that was happy for killing their enemy ended up falling after being stabbed in the chest. The men that were covered in blood violently attacked their enemies, while the soldiers that was filled with fear ended up betraying their comrades and ran for their lives.

Battlefield.

Kang San was in the middle of it.

‘What’s going on? Where am I?’

He traced back.

An explanation was definitely required for this situation.

‘I have a special skill that’s different from other people. In my dream, I’m able to completely control the world and time passes 10 times faster than reality. Thanks to that, no matter what I do, I’m able to get good grades by reviewing the material many times. I was studying in my dream like I normally do…’

“No way.”

There was something that was out of the ordinary.

A white light.

The new change got Kang San curious and without knowing, he stepped into that world. He lost consciousness and when opened his eyes, he ended up in his current situation. A hell where so many people were killing each other.

Things were getting complicated.

But he didn’t have time to think.

“Die!”

Click, clack, click, clack.

A man started charging towards Kang San.

Without any proper gear, the man used a lance that was made out of bamboo to attack Kang San. It was then that Kang San realized that he might die if he stayed here.

He quickly turned his attention to the floor.

He felt something heavy in his hands and noticed that he was wielding an iron spear.

Fwoosh!

The spear struck.

It was a blow that an ordinary like Kang San couldn’t block. But, it was odd how calm his heart was. After remembering the name, Kali, and realizing that he was wielding a spear, this situation felt very familiar to Kang San. As Kali, it was something he experienced on a daily basis.

‘The length of the bamboo is short. With half a step, it’ll be out of the spear’s range.’

Clack.

“Huh?”

After seeing Kang San barely dodging the attack, the opponent had a surprised look on their face. They seemed to be unfamiliar with the spear because they weren’t able to make their next move. Kang San saw their mistake as an opportunity.

‘Now.’

Swoosh!

“Gah!”

Taking half a step, he attacked with the spear.

Closing in on the large gap, he saw the spear passing through his opponent’s abdomen. But Kang San’s expression was dark.

It seemed difficult for him to hold the spear with one hand when his arm was trembling, but he had planned on striking his opponent’s heart, not the abdomen. Despite of his calculation, his weak arm ended up striking the abdomen, which wasn’t near their heart at all.

‘Kali is the nickname that’s used in Glory Road and the spear is my weapon. I’ve experienced this many times in video games,

but physical condition isn’t the same. In my current condition, I’m just imitating the attack.’

He witnessed his opponent fall flat on his face.

But he tried to ignore it.

He wasn’t sure if this was a dream or reality, but he did know that he had to kill the opponent in order to live. As soon as he thought that this situation was similar to Glory Road, the felt the guilt of killing his opponent starting to fade away.

‘What should I do now?’

He couldn’t just massacre every opponent like in Glory Road.

He didn’t have that kind of skill to begin with, but thinking that this could be reality made him contemplate.

Then it happened.

A man that was fighting fiercely in front of him yelled with a rough voice.

“You idiotic bastard! How long are you just going to stand there? Can’t you see the others fighting with everything they have? Damn it, you looked weak when I first saw you. If you don’t want to die, then help out!”

His red hair and sharp eyes left a deep impression.

He stood behind the Shield Wall that his allies created and attacked the opponents’ bodies with his sword. He killed so many soldiers that his entire body was covered in their blood.

He was a stranger.

But “Kali” seemed to notice him.

‘His name is Jonas. He was from the Castro Empire and he was so skilled in battles, that he earned the nickname, Butcher Jonas. He was pretty unsatisfied when they told him that I became a member of the group. But, how am I able to remember all of this? I’m Kang San. These thoughts belong to Kali, not me.’

I remembered the names of the other members.

Talec was really built, Leno seemed too young to participate in the battle and Charlie was too skilled in fighting to be called an ordinary solider. Including Jonas and Kang San, they were the 18th five-member team. Seeing all of the members covered in blood made Kang San’s heart drop.

‘This is a battlefield.’

He still didn’t know whether this was a dream or reality.

One thing he was sure of was that he would die if he didn’t fight. It’s possible that one of the members might die due to his mistake.

Despite of the fact that it was Kali that knew of these people and not Kang San, he knew that just standing here wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

He tightened his grip on the handle.

‘I’m currently dreaming. A nasty one at that.’

He reassured himself.

With that, he got the courage to move forward.

He was now able to hear all the sound in the battlefield that he wasn’t able to hear before. Seeing everyone fighting fiercely, Kang San started walking forward. If it was an ordinary person, they wouldn’t know what to do despite of having the courage, but thanks to Kali’s experience, Kang San knew what he had to do.

‘This battle is just the beginning. Since both of our Shield Walls haven’t been broken down, the close-range combat hasn’t started yet. Then, as a Spearman, there was only one thing I could do. It was to kill as many enemies while being protected.’

<Battlefield> End.