The Grinding Protocol

The grand gates of the Imperial Palace closed behind Eren and Lady Marine, shutting out the cheering crowds and the groveling nobles. The moment they reached the privacy of the Duke's personal estate gardens, the heavy political tension melted away.Eren let out a long breath, casually stretching his arms as his modern gold chains clinked. He looked down at his status screen, which remained hidden from the rest of the world.[Current Status: Level 1][Class: Magic Swordsman][EXP to Next Level: 0/100]Level 1, Eren thought, his spiky blonde hair catching the afternoon sun as a razor-sharp, confident gyaru smirk touched his lips. Alexus really thinks resetting my stats to the baseline text will stop me. He doesn't get it. Infinity is just a number if you know how to exploit the game mechanics."Eren," Marine said, her voice soft with deep concern as she stepped close to him. The fierce, jealous look she had in the arena was gone, replaced by pure worry. "The moment that spatial rift closed, your divine aura completely vanished. I can feel the flow of mana—right now, your energy signatures feel... standard. Did the clash with the Demon King drain you?"Even though she had just asked for his hand in marriage, she was incredibly perceptive. Eren chuckled, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder."Don't worry about it, princess," Eren said smoothly, his golden eyes flashing with high-energy excitement. "Let's just say I cleared the first major boss event and the system reset my temporary buff. To reach that Demon King girl's level in two years—and to eventually climb past that fake god Alexus all the way to Level Infinity—I need to build a flawless foundation. I need a place where I can grind EXP without the capital nobles spying on me."Marine's eyes widened slightly at terms like "EXP" and "system reset," but she nodded resolutely. "If you need a private territory to hone your skills, my father owns a restricted hunting ground at the northern border. It's an ancient, untamed forest filled with high-tier monsters. The nobles are forbidden from entering.""Perfect," Eren grinned. "Lead the way."An hour later, equipped with a standard steel blade provided by Marine to replace his old rusted village sword, Eren stood at the edge of the Whispering Abyss Forest. The trees were massive, their leaves cast in a deep, violet shadow, and the growls of hidden beasts echoed through the dense mist.The moment Marine stepped back to let him train, Eren closed his eyes and activated his core class skill: Absolute Adaptability.Without the 10x cheat code from Alexus, he couldn't just swing his sword and blow away a forest. He had to rely on pure, raw VRMMO gaming tactics. In Skills Matters, leveling up fast at Level 1 required exploiting animation canceling, perfect parry multipliers, and chain-aggro mobs.A low rustle in the bushes broke his focus. A Shadow Wolf, a monster that usually required a party of three trained bronze-rank adventurers to defeat, leaped out. Its fangs gleamed with dark attribute magic as it lunged straight for Eren's throat.To a normal Level 1 human, this was instant death. But Eren didn't flinch.Analysis complete, his gamer brain wired instantly, breaking down the wolf's trajectory down to the millisecond.Instead of backing away, Eren stepped into the attack. He swiveled his body with the precise, fluid movements of the water style he had copied in the arena.Perfect Parry!Clang! His steel sword struck the wolf's armored claw at the exact angle required to redirect the force. The system mechanics automatically triggered a hidden staggered status on the monster. Before the wolf could recover, Eren executed a textbook animation cancel, transitioning seamlessly into the wind style's Zephyr's Swift Edge.Slash! Slash!Two lightning-fast strikes hit the wolf's exposed underbelly, exploiting the critical strike multiplier. The Shadow Wolf let out a final yelp and dissolved into blue particles of data-like mana.Ding.[Monster Slain: Shadow Wolf (Level 8)][Over-level Defeat Bonus Active! EXP Multiplier applied.][You have Leveled Up! Current Level: 2][Stat Points Distributed Automatically.]A steady, highly concentrated rush of physical strength flooded Eren's limbs. Even though it was just a single level up, the difference was massive; his senses sharpened, his reflexes tightened, and his baseline strength felt twice as dense as before. Eren looked deeper into the dark, monster-infested forest, a razor-sharp, confident gyaru smirk spreading across his face."Level 2," Eren muttered, spinning his new steel sword with absolute precision. "Alexus, you better enjoy your throne in the heavens while you can. Because I'm going to grind my way up to Level Infinity, and no one is stopping me.