From left to right.
Here was the key point.
You couldn't hit the scarecrow's forearm or touch its head.
Only the shoulder—that specific spot—had to be targeted.
That way, it would register a perfect strike, dealing far more damage.
💥 Strike! 💥
Shoulder hit perfectly.
It wasn't difficult.
But without knowing this, anyone would inevitably whack the forearm or the head above the shoulder a few times.
That would drag out the time and become a fatal bottleneck.
Again!
The wooden sword tapped the shoulder.
A dull thud echoed, followed by a strange, alien vibration running up his wrist.
The sharp sting of pain that should have come was now rising without any actual hurt.
Of course, he wasn't completely numb to pain.
It was more like a light tap here for what would be a serious injury in reality.
That's why he could go all out.
Good!
Tak! The sharp sounds rang out in succession.
Three times, four, then five.
By the tenth, the scarecrow's shoulder began to crumble.
"Hah!"
Luckily, this strike shattered it completely.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You shattered the scarecrow (1/3)
How much time had passed?
Two minutes and thirty seconds.
It was close, so he hurried to the next scarecrow, positioning himself and swinging down again.
He shattered the second one in similar time.
Then the final one.
"Hoo."
Total time: just over eight minutes.
He rushed to the instructor outside the training hall.
"I've shattered them."
The instructor's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh? Really?"
"Yes."
"Let me check."
The instructor went inside and inspected the three shattered scarecrows with his own eyes.
Only then did he nod, acknowledging the perfect quest completion.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You cleared the quest.
✨ LEVEL UP! ✨ 1 → 2
He wanted to check his status window, but he held off for now.
He needed to get the second linked quest from the instructor in front of him.
"Impressive. Shall we try the next training?"
"Yes."
"Confident, eh? Good. This time, shatter three scarecrows using only vertical downward strikes."
Sure enough, a quest popped up.
📜 NEW QUEST 📜
The Training Hall's First Trial
📍 Shatter the scarecrows using only vertical downward strikes (0/3)
⏱ Time Limit: 10 minutes
🎁 Success: Experience. Links to third trial
❌ Failure: Retry. No link
Accept the quest?
"Got it."
"I'll be expecting great things this time too."
He headed back to the center of the training hall.
Vertical downward strike.
This time, he had to hit only the crown of the scarecrow's head.
That would maximize extra damage and shatter it faster.
Suddenly, the area grew noisy.
He glanced over.
Other users.
When he first logged in, most players focused on hunting.
But over the past three months, info had trickled out, including about the training halls.
The first quest here gave faster level-ups than any hunting.
So now, starting level 1 users were flocking here.
"Hey, we're just doing the first one and bouncing, right?"
"Yeah. The second gives barely any exp."
And from the third, clearing got tough.
The difficulty ramped up gradually with each linked quest, so few made it to the end.
"Excuse me."
"Hoho, a traveler."
"Got any requests?"
"Requests?"
The user nodded with an annoyed look.
"Care to train?"
"Sure, training sounds good."
"Splendid. Try toppling a scarecrow with only diagonal slashes. I'm expecting good results."
The users who accepted the quest started whacking the scarecrows.
Lacking info, their hits landed all over the place.
Still, the first quest was easy, so they cleared it smoothly.
"Done."
"Oh, really? Well done. Shall we continue to the next training?"
"Nah, we're good."
"Understood. Good luck then."
The users left, but Mu-hyuk stayed, pressing on with his linked quests.
*
After vertical downward strikes came horizontal slashes.
Clearing that led to thrusting to shatter the scarecrows, then upward strikes.
Then it looped: diagonal, vertical down, horizontal, thrust, upward.
After repeating the full cycle ten times, Mu-hyuk returned to the instructor.
"I've cleared the scarecrows."
"Truly impressive, young man."
"Thank you."
"Unfortunately, there's no more training left."
"Is that the end?"
"Yes. Among travelers, you're the eleventh to pass my trials. As a special gift..."
He'd finally cleared it.
But he couldn't celebrate.
"Eleventh?"
"Indeed."
Eleven people in this tiny place.
Including all training halls across the continent, it could be hundreds.
They were likely the top rankers now.
"Anyway, well done."
"Ah, thank you."
He snapped to and checked the messages.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You completed the Training Hall quest.
⚔ REWARDS GRANTED ⚔
Strength +2
Agility +2
Vitality +2
Training Hall Chest acquired
This was it.
Boosts to Strength, Agility, and Vitality!
Level-ups gave just one bonus point each.
But clearing the training hall quests granted six key stats outright.
As time went on, this gap would snowball, widening the divide from other players.
And it wasn't over.
Another linked quest remained.
The instructor continued.
"But listen."
"Yes."
"Do you have a bit more time, by chance?"
"Of course."
"Then, could you help my friend?"
📜 NEW QUEST 📜
A Traveler's Adventure
📍 Help the butcher Hansen.
🎁 Success: Experience, gold, linked quest
❌ Failure: None
Accept the quest?
"Can you manage it?"
This was the quest essential for the title he absolutely needed.
Of course he'd accept.
*
One bit of info on Necromancers.
Summons grew based on their master's stats.
This came out about a year after Illusion launched.
Before that, Necromancers dumped everything into Knowledge and Wisdom.
Their summons followed suit, gaining only those stats.
Even after the reveal, Necromancers didn't get stronger.
Pumping Strength, Agility, and Vitality lowered Knowledge and Wisdom, slashing summon uptime dramatically.
Most players abandoned Necromancer again.
Mu-hyuk didn't care.
He was confident he could cover it.
First, his status.
His current level and stats floated before his eyes.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚡ Strength:5 💨 Agility:5 ❤️ Vitality:5 📚 Knowledge:3 🧠 Wisdom:3 Bonus Points: 5
Endurance: 3 | Focus: 3
Flexibility: 3 | Luck: 3
Bonus Points: 5
The base values were 3 each.
But clearing the training quests boosted Strength, Agility, and Vitality by 2, to 5.
And he hadn't spent any bonus points yet.
One per level required careful allocation.
Meaningless to Mu-hyuk, who had it all planned.
Special stats? He'd save them since he didn't need specifics.
He distributed the basic stat points first.
3 to Strength, 1 to Agility, 1 to Vitality.
Strength hit 8, Agility and Vitality 6.
The three Strength points boosted damage by 9, plus attack and movement speed.
High Strength meant developed muscles, which directly affected speed.
Fast with weak strength? Nonsense.
Muscles enabled speed.
Why were sprinters so ripped? Full power in short bursts built explosive muscle, yielding speed and power.
Other games tied Agility to speed, but in Illusion, higher Strength properly raised movement and attack speed.
Agility? Reaction speed.
Reacting faster, spotting and responding first—that was Agility.
One Vitality point added 50 HP, defense to 6.
His stats now rivaled a level 11 melee user.
Good.
But this was just the start.
Acquire the title, and the gap to leading rankers would shrink further.
Oh, right—the chest from the training hall.
He pulled it from inventory and opened it.
🎁 ITEM ACQUIRED 🎁 Shining Iron Sword Common (Bound)
◈ Attack Power +7
◈ Agility +1
◈ Durability 30/30
🎁 ITEM ACQUIRED 🎁 Sturdy Wooden Shield Common (Bound)
◈ Defense +5
◈ Shock Absorption 45%
◈ Vitality +1
◈ Durability 50/50
🎁 ITEM ACQUIRED 🎁 10 Gold Currency
Sword and shield, plus starting funds.
Very useful.
Time to go.
The butcher shop? No.
He exited the east gate and headed to the hunting grounds.
*
🛡 EQUIPMENT 🛡 Right Hand Shining Iron Sword Attack +7, Agility +1 Left Hand Sturdy Wooden Shield Defense +5, Vitality +1, Shock Absorb 45%
Early items usually had no stats.
Stats equaled level-ups—one point per level.
No way beginner gear had that value.
But training hall graduates got them—bound, of course.
And their utility was undeniable.
Kyaang!
A mad dog turned gray and vanished.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You gained experience.
✨ LEVEL UP! ✨ ? → 6
Mad dogs were level 5.
Not enough for proper hunting.
Current Mu-hyuk could handle even level 10 wolves with effort.
So why hunt mad dogs?
Oh, there it was!
To farm their meat.
Nine now.
One more.
He circled the area, hunting lone mad dogs.
One slunk out from the woods.
Mu-hyuk smiled faintly and approached. Sensing him, it went on alert.
Krr...
He didn't stop, so it barked loudly.
Woof woof!
Then it charged, kicking off the ground.
Mu-hyuk raised his wooden shield against the rush.
Thud!
Claws met shield.
The impact wasn't bad.
He dipped the shield slightly to gauge its position.
Then thrust the iron sword in his right hand.
Puk.
A weird sensation crawled up his arm.
Kyaang!
Ignoring it, he swung again.
The decapitated mad dog scattered silver dust, turned gray, and faded.
Mu-hyuk's expression hardened slightly as he watched.
Tsk, still not used to it.
Silver dust instead of blood.
Gray smoke instead of corpses.
It made killing living things less repulsive, but that eerie tactile feedback on strikes? Hard to adapt.
"Anyway, done."
He picked up the dropped mad dog meat and stowed it.
Final check.
Rabbit pelts.
Goose eggs.
Deer antlers.
Mad dog meat.
Then he headed to the east gate.
As he neared the plaza inside, users thickened.
Their gear looked pretty cool.
Three months ahead.
Mu-hyuk glanced, then faced forward and headed to his first destination.