After returning to his room, Luke took out [No Dreams] and replaced his original large bed with it.
He had not rested since returning from the Kengan world, so this was the perfect chance to test the effects of this “freebie.”
In his relaxed state, Luke fell into a deep sleep in less than five minutes. Twelve hours later, he reluctantly climbed out of bed.
"Mm... I was too hasty. This bed really is worth the price."
Luke felt like taking back his old belief that anyone who bought a bed like this had rocks in their head. Yeah... it really was that good.
Setting aside its comfort alone, the recovery effects for Soul Source and Life Source made it an absolute godsend for home or travel.
Considering that he usually would not be entering and leaving mission worlds in rapid succession, sleeping on [No Dreams] after a battle would provide phenomenal recovery. It could save him quite a few recovery items.
He had Kaidō to heal physical injuries, but using Kaidō consumed Soul Source. More importantly, Kaidō could heal wounds, but it could not restore Life Source.
Just like when he had trained with Instructor Unohana—even after the visible injuries healed, the depletion of his vitality could not be replenished. It was still reflected as a loss in his Life Source.
So if he used this bed well, its long-term value would be enormous.
That sailor-uniform girl really was something else. To make a bed like this—and at only rare grade, no less. If she made one with higher-grade materials, its effects would probably be even better.
After getting up and washing up, Luke felt utterly refreshed. He might be almost broke now, but that did not mean there was nothing to do in Endspace.
He had heard before that Endspace had an Arena where Explorers of the same rank could fight one another. Since the battles were simulated, dying in the Arena would not mean real death. It was a great place to build real combat experience.
And if one ranked highly enough, Endspace would provide extra rewards.
Luke thought his strength was decent enough, so he decided to visit the Arena and have some fun taking first place.
…………
Luke looked at the circular structure before him, resembling an ancient Roman colosseum. The central area of the Arena was empty, but countless translucent screens floated in the air, each showing Explorers fighting one another. Quite a few Explorers filled the spectator stands, watching the matches.
Endspace naturally protected Explorers’ privacy as well. The faces of participating Explorers were obscured by the system. To their opponents, they appeared wearing virtual masks that had been preset before battle.
[The Pioneer is currently Rank One and ranked 140,402.]
After entering the Arena, Luke received Endspace’s prompt.
Luke was not surprised by the number of Rank One Explorers. Based on his experiences, Endspace likely selected humans from countless different worlds. Spread across all those worlds, the number would not seem particularly remarkable.
There were currently around 140,000 Rank One Explorers. Endspace kept the death toll and the influx of new recruits balanced.
[Would you like to begin matchmaking for the Pioneer?]
Luke chose yes, then selected a Hollow mask from Bleach on the light screen to conceal his face.
Once the match was made, his body felt weightless. In an instant, he arrived in a desert. His opponent stood before him with a bewildered look, probably visiting the Arena for the first time as well.
Luke stepped forward and drew his blade. Before the opposing Explorer could even figure out what was happening, they were sent out.
[Congratulations to the Pioneer on achieving your first victory in the Arena. Please select your first-victory reward.]
After being teleported out of the battlefield, Luke heard Endspace’s prompt. He was pleasantly surprised. He had not expected the Arena to offer a first-victory bonus.
He checked the menu projected by the system. There were three possible rewards.
A. 1,000 Endspace Coins
B. Random Skill Scroll
C. Random fine-grade item
Hmm... pretty shabby. But that made sense. Every Explorer could claim this first-victory reward, so naturally it would not be anything extravagant. It was simply an incentive bonus.
After a brief consideration, Luke discarded options A and C. Their value was too low. A random skill might potentially turn out to be useful, so he selected B without hesitation.
[Randomly issuing a Skill Scroll to the Pioneer. Drawing...]
[Draw complete... Obtained Skill Scroll: [Scouting].]
Luke checked the scroll he had received and found that its effect was exactly what its name suggested: a scouting skill. Using it allowed him to inspect the attributes of targets whose Mental attribute was no more than three points higher than his own. The greater the gap in Mental attributes, the less information he would be able to see.
He could not say whether he was lucky or unlucky. But judging from this skill, the prize pool for the random Skill Scroll likely consisted of basic skills intended to improve the survival odds of Rank One Explorers.
From that perspective, [Scouting] was a fairly useful skill for him right now. At the very least, when facing enemies in the future, he could see more accurate stats instead of estimating everything based purely on instinct.
After his first victory, Luke chose to continue matchmaking. He was here to reach the top, after all.
Ten minutes later...
[The Pioneer has achieved four consecutive victories. Your rank has risen to 112,103.]
Luke sat quietly in the preparation room, deep in thought.
The matchmaking process was fast. He had simply spent a little extra time in the randomly generated battlefields studying the Explorers’ flashy and varied skills.
But after several matches, he suddenly felt that he was wasting time. The main reason was that the lower-ranked Rank One Explorers were simply far too weak.
So he picked up the pace. The moment matchmaking succeeded and he entered the battlefield, he would mercilessly send his opponent back to the preparation room with one slash.
Luke fought in the Arena for ten straight hours, achieving 260 consecutive victories. Yet he had only just reached the top thousand.
The mental exhaustion was manageable, but he was starting to feel hungry. So he stopped fighting and planned to return the next day to continue experiencing the Arena.
Once he had risen to a certain rank, the Explorers’ overall level improved significantly. The Explorers Luke was matching against now were all Level 10, and their attributes were nearing 30 points. They had some real strength.
By this point, Luke’s win streak had slowed down. Not because he was under pressure, but because he wanted to see what abilities the top Rank One Explorers possessed. Broadening his horizons would only help when he faced all kinds of mission worlds in the future.
Even so, Luke spent six straight days immersed in the Arena. After chasing down and cutting apart a female mage, he heard Endspace’s wonderful prompt amid her monster-struck stare.
[The Pioneer has achieved 968 consecutive victories. Your rank has risen to 1.]
[The Pioneer has obtained the title: Unrivaled—Rank One.]
[Unrivaled—Rank One: All attributes +1. Effective only on attributes below 50 points.]
[Notice: This title will disappear when the Pioneer advances in rank or falls in the Arena rankings.]
Of course, Luke could not remain in the Arena forever to defend his title. But Endspace had a mirror function. Even if he was not personally in Endspace, it would create a copy of his highest demonstrated combat strength in the Arena to help him defend the throne.
Unrivaled was a special title that took effect even without being equipped, which pleased Luke greatly.
The change at the top of the Rank One Arena caused a small stir. Many Explorers noticed the name that had suddenly surged up from the bottom and silently committed the nickname “Prison Demon” to memory.
Having claimed the first-place reward, Luke was considering returning home to make himself a lavish meal as a reward when he received a message in his mailbox. After reading it, his mood improved even further.
It was a reminder sent through the contract by the sailor-uniform girl. The equipment he had ordered was finished.
Tomorrow, he would enter a new dungeon.
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