Endless Leveling Done Right!-Chapter 10: You Can’t Fool Me

*Poke*

"Nghh..."

*Poke* *Poke*

"Ngh.. Mnh...."

*Poke* *Poke* *Poke*

"... Dim Dim, can you not poke my nose whenever you want to wake me up in the mornings?" Alex said helplessly.

The Dim Sum God giggled, but made no promises to stop poking the young man's nose.

Alex helplessly sighed, already resigned to his future of waking up to a little custard bun's tapping spree. This was the little one's daily entertainment now, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

He got out of bed and gave his face a swift rinse. The cold water woke him up enough for him to begin his day.

Three days had passed since he got here. Back then, everything around him could only be found through the screen. Though he was still adjusting to his new reality, he was surprised to have an easier time than he had thought.

He casually went through the plans he had for his future in his head.

His main mission was to pass the Trial of Frieden Academy and become one of its scholarship students.

Unfortunately, he had no idea what the trial would involve. Even though the academy wasn't unfamiliar to him, this specific test had never shown up in any of the playthroughs he had experienced.

Out of curiosity, he had played the three Main Heroes as well as the three Main Heroines of the game before.

Two were nobility, two were royalty, and the last two were scholars personally invited by the principal. None of them had to take a trial. As such, he had no idea what was waiting for him in the trial of the academy.

'But, I have to go somewhere before the trial,' Alex thought.

He mentally noted his plan to visit Briarwood Village.

He needed to meet someone—Charles Lambert.

Yes. The unique character whom Alex had played for nearly a year and whose mere tutorial quest had been globally deemed an impossible mission.

Of course, that had been debunked the day Alex had cleared it, though it had taken him nearly a year of trial and error.

Still, there was a nagging thought at the back of his head saying that if he didn't go and help Charles, the latter would definitely die in the Dungeon of Beginnings, just like the countless times he had in the game.

At the same time, Alex wasn't stupid. He understood that if he wanted to offer help, he must first get stronger—strong enough to overcome the challenge with Charles.

"Time to train."

The young man then picked up the basket that Herbalists usually brought with them whenever they went to the forests to look for herbs.

But unlike them, Alex didn't plan to collect herbs.

He planned to collect rocks.

His plan was simple. Fill the basket halfway with rocks before carrying it on his back, then jog to raise his Strength and Agility. Rinse and repeat daily for better results.

After exiting the South Gate, Alex headed to the river located at the southeast of the Town of Thaloria.

Even now, he still struggled to understand how a river could appear on a floating island.

'Alex, common sense doesn't apply to fantasy worlds,' he reminded himself. 'It's just like anime logic. Some of them can't be explained by science and physics.'

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A few minutes later, he finally arrived at their destination.

"Dim Dim, help me pick up rocks by the riverbed," Alex said. "Choose stones that are clean and not muddy, okay?"

"Dim!" Dim Dim nodded.

It then happily went to the river to pick up a stone before tossing it into the basket as if it were playing basketball.

To the young man's surprise, the stone fell perfectly inside the basket, making the Dim Sum God jump in happiness.

Seeing that Dim Dim was having fun, Alex decided to join in.

Soon, the two "little kids" started shooting rocks towards the basket, trying to beat each other with the number of shots that managed to score.

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim raised its body proudly because it was the one who won their shooting contest.

"Right, you won fair and square," Alex praised. "Though we got a bit too carried away."

The basket, which he had originally planned to fill only halfway, was now filled to the brim with rocks.

Dim Dim only giggled. It did enjoy their little game of basketball.

Since the basket was too heavy for Alex to carry, he was forced to dump some of the rocks at the side of the river until the weight became manageable.

"Okay, let's start our training!" Alex called out to Dim Dim, who effortlessly jumped to the top of his head and landed as light as a feather.

"Let's go!" Dim Dim pointed forward, catching Alex by surprise.

"Um?" Alex picked up the little guy from his head and held its gaze. "You can say other words aside from Dim?"

"Dim Dim?" Dim Dim blinked innocently.

"You can't fool me, Dim Dim."

"Dim?"

"Nevermind."

Seeing that the Dim Sum God didn't plan to cooperate, Alex once again placed it on top of his head and started to run.

Ten minutes later, the young man started to pant for breath. Sure enough, running while carrying a basket half filled with stones wasn't an easy task.

Sigh. If he were still playing the game, all he needed to do was pick a training course, click okay, and the training would end in the span of a few seconds.

Unfortunately, there was no shortcut in reality, so he needed to put some effort into raising his stats aside from leveling up.

"Maybe, I'm rushing things a bit," Alex muttered before reducing the number of stones until only a third of the basket was filled. 'I think this much is manageable.'

And just as he expected, the weight was indeed better, allowing him to keep his pace while running.

Alex sprinted around the Town of Thaloria, drawing amused glances from the guards on the city walls.

It was the first time they'd seen someone run through the town carrying rocks on their back as part of their training.

But since Alex wasn't causing any trouble, they simply observed as he took a couple laps around the town.

A few hours later, when the young man felt that his lungs and heart were about to give out, he finally heard a notification sound, which sounded like music in his ears.

< Strength +1 >

< Agility +1 >

The young man did a fist pump internally because this proved that his theory was right. This hybrid-style training routine could indeed increase two stats instead of one. Not only would this save time and effort, but it would also boost his stats faster than he had in the game.

Although he was exhausted, he still felt happy because his hard work had paid off. He only had three months before the trial started, so he planned to raise his stats as high as he could before then.

"Let's go back, Dim Dim," Alex said. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

"Dim!" Dim Dim nodded and told Alex that it was feeling hungry too.

The two then returned to the town in high spirits.

Neither of them knew that a rumor was beginning to spread among the citizens of Thaloria about a crazy young man, with a basket of rocks strapped to his back and a cute bun on his head, running in circles around the town's gates.

Because of this, Alex would find himself being teased by the waitresses in the Cat Tail's Inn for the next few days during his stay.