Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

As expected, Ethan left Emily behind and headed to the fourth floor. Also, just like the lobby, the fourth floor was pretty high-tech. That being said, he didn't find a single VR simulator there. In fact, he found several. The simulators weren't a single computer or glasses. They were entire rooms, and weirdly enough, Ethan could sense mana coming from them.

"I see now…" Ethan smirked. "No wonder they managed to develop their technology so fast."

Ethan would be lying if he said that he wasn't excited. Although he had to survive hell on another planet to obtain the chance to return home, he couldn't say that he hated everything. In fact, in the beginning, he pretty much enjoyed every single step. After all, he was just an ordinary teenager, and not even his power as a hero could change that. So, the VR simulator was like a big toy for him.

Even though it was Monday and it was pretty early, most of the simulators were being used. So, Ethan hurried to enter one of the free ones. Emily seemed the type of girl who would nag at him for a while for leaving her behind in the middle of her explanation, so that was another reason to hurry up.

"Let's see… defense training, attack training, accuracy training…" Ethan said while he was reading some options on the screen on one of the doors. "Those must be used to train the kids around here, and I don't want to play VR under some strict rules."

Fortunately, the last option was the FREE MODE. Ethan didn't find any explanation as to what he would face there, but he bet that was what he was looking for. He clicked on that option, and then the door opened. The interior of the room was completely dark, but for some reason, Ethan could sense it as if someone was watching him.

"Cameras…" Ethan muttered. "I should have known the builders of this place wouldn't put such a fun toy here without receiving anything in exchange."

Most likely, every single run of the students would be registered and later would be sent to all the big shots of the tower. That was a bit troublesome, but Ethan knew what he had to do, and he just had to play without showing much of his skills.

Suddenly, the door behind Ethan closed, and he felt mana increasing in the room. In the blink of an eye, the darkness disappeared, and Ethan saw himself in the middle of a massive grassland. Instead of a virtual reality, he felt as if he had been transported to another world.

"Hehe, things are getting interesting," Ethan smirked. "This should have been what big sis was talking about."

"Stage one will start in ten seconds. Defeat 50 slimes. 10, 9, 8…"

You received a new quest!

Complete the first stage of the VR simulator!

Reward: 100 coins.

"What the…" Ethan opened his eyes widely in surprise. "My system is reacting to the simulator? If that is the case, then…"

Before Ethan could finish his sentence, suddenly, fifty slimes spawned around him. Somehow, he expected to face them one at a time, but given that it was a simulator for real-life combat, it wouldn't be that convenient. The slimes looked like a monster from a game Ethan played a long time ago since they had several colors. However, despite being cute, when several of them opened their mouths, Ethan felt a shiver.

"Seriously?" Ethan muttered in surprise. "My instincts are warning me?"

In the blink of an eye, Ethan felt mana being concentrated in front of the monster's mouth. Fireballs, Water Balls, Earth Balls, Wind Balls… all kinds of magic projectiles suddenly appeared and then were shot toward Ethan. However, a single backflip had been enough to dodge all of them since the monsters only tried to hit him without trying to imagine his escape routes.

Congratulations! You learned the skill Evasion Mastery!

Effects: Passively increases your Evasion by one point per level permanently.

Lv 01 – 00/100

Congratulations! For learning a new ability without help, you received one thousand coins.

"My system is really reacting to it…" Ethan said, a bit shocked. "As I had expected, this is no ordinary virtual reality. It looks like I can train many skills here, but without a weapon, I will be stuck here forever."

In the end, Ethan decided to summon his short sword from his inventory without thinking too much about it. Since everything was being recorded, he couldn't appear insecure or anxious about revealing what he could do. That would only end up things worse, after all. The best weapons against slimes were weapons that had an elemental attribute. Still, Ethan would have to make things work with that simple weapon.

As soon as his weapon appeared, Ethan charged toward the nearest slime. Against a large number of enemies, it wasn't a good idea to leave the momentum on their hands. So, before the next wave of attacks could be prepared, Ethan slashed his sword continuously and cut a brown slime many times.

You received ten experience points.

You received two coins.

"I knew it," Ethan smirked. "I can obtain experience here."

Against opponents that can heal themselves like slimes, the second-best way to deal with them was to cut them into several pieces. The first surprise attack worked, but Ethan still had a long way to go.

As if the monsters had learned from their mistakes, some of them fired their magic projectiles aiming toward several directions. Some even fired at a certain distance to make the attacks fly in a long arc. Dodging all of them wasn't an option, so Ethan had to change his plans a little. After concentrating for a mere moment, he found the best escape route.

Ethan charged forward, and this time, he swung his sword splitting all the Water Balls in his way. When one Earth Ball approached, he lowered his head and dodged the attack. When the last projectile blocked his path, a Fireball appeared, and he hit it with the side of the sword, making the fire dissipated.

Congratulations! You learned the skill Block Mastery!

Effects: Decreases the power of enemy attacks by one point per level

Lv 01 – 00/100

Congratulations! For learning a new ability without help, you received one thousand coins.

You received ten experience points.

You received two coins.

In the blink of an eye, Ethan cut down another slime, but instead of satisfaction, he showed a frown on his face.

"Wait a minute…" Ethan said. "Shouldn't I have let them hit me in order to obtain some elemental resistances?"