D.I.O

"Hold on, it sounds too dangerous. Isn't it too fatal if my brain or Spirit Body gets damaged?" asked Yongno.

Mari replied, "Hmm, it's a little different. Maybe using the term 'damage' sounds a bit off here. It's indeed dangerous if your Spirit Body gets affected, but the damage I'm talking about is close to having pain in your muscles because of overuse. Your body returns to normal after time, but right now, it's hard to move."

"That means..."

"Your current status is ‘Serious Injury’, but there is nothing actually wrong with your body, right? What you can’t do at this point is use your spiritual power. Can you perform the Gold Core Immortal Technique? No, right?"

Just as she mentioned, Yongno couldn’t circulate his qi under the Gold Core Immortal Technique, which he had been constantly performing unconsciously. He couldn’t even use the small amount of internal energy in his middle dantian, which he mostly consumed while diving underwater. Therefore, Yongno felt like he have lost all his internal martial arts.

He asked, "Oh, so I can use my internal energy again after two hours, but meanwhile, I have no problem moving my body, right?”

"Correct. By the way, you also can't use the Water-friendly skill with your current status. In fact, this situation took place because you had been using that skill... Eh?"

Surprisingly, Yongno was already heading to the ocean. He was holding the apple that Mari gave to him.

Yongno shouted, "Then, I can swim, right?”

"Yeah, but..."

"I totally understood! And thanks for the apple!"

Yongno then jumped into the water. He should be eating the apple under the water or enjoying it after he finished diving.

Mari murmured, "Geez, is it that exciting to dive and swim? How come he never gets sick of it?"

Yongno was definitely far away from being normal. His performance of the Gold Core Immortal Technique was the most extraordinary thing about him. Mari explained that Yongno could activate the technique at any time anywhere once he got accustomed to it, but she didn’t mean that it would last all day and night.

When circulating qi at the beginning of the Gold Core Immortal Technique, users should put their full focus on it, or else it would be like trying to memorize a paper full of prayers and doing something else at the same time. However, if users mastered the entire prayers, they could recite them and simultaneously do other things such as watching TV, playing games, chatting online, reading, or even jogging.

In this case, the users couldn’t say other words since they were using their mouths to recite prayers. Still, it didn’t restrict them to do anything else. Despite all this, performing two different and challenging things at the same time without a pause for a week or a month was strange and almost impossible.

Likewise, performing other cultivation methods was beyond the bounds of possibility during the activation of the Gold Core Immortal Technique. Meanwhile, users could do other trivial things, but the technique wouldn’t go on all day automatically. No one could find such a convenient cultivation method like that since it existed nowhere. Gold Core Immortal Technique was a martial power that could circulate one’s qi without fully concentrating on the tightly integrated Gold Core, but it still required attention.

Mari marveled, "But he’s making it happen. Ever since he learned the technique from me, he’s activating the Gold Core Immortal Technique without intermission. He’s really something."

Mari was sitting on the beach with a dumbfounded expression. Feeling the sea breeze, she stared at the sun hanging on the horizon. As the ocean resembled the shade of the twilight, everything gradually appeared red. The view was too beautiful to see only once in a lifetime.

"Hahaha! Amazing! It seems that I’m the longest living clone among the Marionettes. I never expected I would come this far,” said Mari.

But why were these useless thoughts crossing her mind? Mari wondered if Yongno was the reason behind it. She watched him sink in the water and sometimes swim in and out of the ocean. Then, she realized that she was gradually letting up on the regulations of the system which had been firmly engraved in her mind. Perhaps those weren’t strong rules in the first place since the operators of this game would have made her and those things less necessary to keep them for a long time.

"Eh?"

While Mari was immersed in her thoughts, a black dot suddenly entered her sight. A boy in his late teens was floating in the middle of the ocean like a dead fish up on contaminated water. Not to mention, he was Yongno. As his head was sunk in the water, Yongno looked like he was unconscious and in “Dying Condition”. If Mari left him that way, Yongno would be dead.

"Geez, how did I end up being a guide to that weirdo?" sighed Mari.

She got up from her seat, then began to walk on the water to go save the half-dying Yongno.

***Gold Core. Dark North Sea***

"Unbelievable!" shouted Yongno as soon as he recovered his consciousness.

But Mari responded coldly, “Yes, it is, but would you please keep your mouth shut? You're bleeding from everywhere such as your eyes, nose, lips, and ears. You’ve also received a severe internal injury."

Why do you behave so recklessly when your Regen sucks? It seemed like she was shooting a sarcastic glance at him. Yongno broke out in a cold sweat.

He murmured, "... Why are you being so mean all of a sudden...?"

"That’s because you're acting like a fool."

“But I could dive only 300 meters deep. My health became much higher due to the Master-Level Swimmer title effect, but why am I rather weaker?" asked Yongno.

As Yongno's swimming skill reached Rank 3, he gained the Master-Level Swimmer title; it enhanced his Stamina, Strength, and Regen by 70 points each. Plus, when Yongno was underwater, it reduced his Stamina consumption rate by 40 percent, which resulted in massive progress in his stats.

Yongno finally had 110 HP, but he started to face problems when he reached 200 meters deep, then at 300 meters underwater, he was immediately injured and came up to the surface. Thankfully, he survived the rapid change of water pressure, but Yongno felt somewhat unfair.

"Is it because I used Internal Energy while diving? Although I couldn’t circulate qi, I used it since it worked on Diving. Did it cause the problem then?” wondered Yongno.

Mari replied, "It doesn't matter since it automatically switches without the process of circulating the qi."

Yongno looked bewildered. He asked, "Then, what's the problem?"

"Why don't you put your brain to work? What's the difference between diving in the morning and now?"

"Well, there's been a problem in my ability to control internal energy since I used a force that I couldn't handle."

Mari replied, "Then what’s the answer?"

Yongno thought for a while. The difference... What's the difference…? Then, he realized something. “Gold Core Immortal Technique.”

"Correct. A Regen stats of 110 points isn't low but not secure enough to stay hundreds of meters underwater against the water pressure. Even if your body can sustain it, your eyes or ears is fragile to pressure,” explained Mari.

"Does that mean the Gold Core Immortal Technique protects my physical body? But performing the technique didn’t enhance my HP though."

Having high HP was not the only way to increase Defense. Users could block external pressure by casting a protection spell or using a Self-defense Technique. They could create an invisible wall, pray to God for protection, or summon divine creatures or fairies to protect them. There were many ways; it’s just Yongno who wasn’t aware of it.

Mari replied, "Including the Gold Core Immortal Technique, most of the cultivation methods have as much repulsive force as the users’ internal arts. In particular, Self-defense Technique is effective even without circulating your qi, but in the case of the Gold Core Immortal Technique, it doesn't work without it unless you reach a higher level of mastery.”

"That means there's a lasting shield while performing the Gold Core Immortal Technique, right?"

"Shield... Not exactly, but it does make sense. If your internal energy grows, you'll be able to defend low-skilled attacks without any special protections. It refers to the following situation. Let’s say when a person with a low internal cultivation base attacks a master, the attacker gets knocked down instead and receives internal injuries."

/Your status has been updated: 'Fatal Injury!'/

"Eh? Why can't I move an inch when my status is 'Fatal Injury'?" asked Yongno.

He could, at least, flip himself and lie down flat on his back in the same status before. Thus, the situation was hardly understandable, but Mari looked nonchalant.

She replied, "You’re physically damaged, so you won't be able to move until your status is updated to 'Minor Injury', but this time, you can circulate your qi.”

"What? But didn't you say I must take a two-hour break to use qi?" asked Yongno, thinking that he was unconscious for just a few seconds.

Mari responded, "Oppa, it’s been five hours since you blacked out."

Yongno then performed the Gold Core Immortal Technique. His qi began to slowly circulate its route. He felt lighter and invigorated.

"Hmm, but I still can't move my body. How long does it take me to recover?" asked Yongno.

Mari explained, "Your physical condition is quite fatal. Thanks to the system of D.I.O., you aren’t feeling any pain, but you're actually suffering from internal bleeding and have ruptured intestines. That means you can die. Despite all that, you’re recovering anyway due to your physical uniqueness… no maybe the unique aspects of the game.”

In fact, real treatment was necessary for Yongno’s physical condition. Even a medical professional would hesitate to treat his fatal injuries if there was no emergency care and medical appliances ready, but Yongno would survive nonetheless. His body wasn’t strong enough to immediately heal from the fatal injuries, but if he continued resting, he would fully recover after time. He had those health points.

Besides, Gold Core Immortal Technique could assist a user’s physical recovery although it wasn’t a self-defense technique as powerful as to make him immortal.

Yongno asked, "So, how long does it take anyway?"

"Hmm, since your regeneration stats is just so-so, I guess it’ll take about nineteen hours to recover."

"Ugh, that's too long!" frowned Yongno. It took much longer than the time when he had a problem with his mana controlling ability.

Mari shrugged, “All you have to do is log out. It takes about only three hours to fully recover outside the game. You know the time in D.I.O is six times faster than that in real life."

"I see. Since I can't move an inch, I must study cultivation techniques."

"Are you even listening to me...?"

Mari sent a cold glance at Yongno. Spending too much time playing games can cause health problems!

But Yongno just closed his eyes and hummed. He checked his Spiritual Power and found it reached 50 points again. As he had come to think of it, there was something he tried to do regardless of his dying condition. The moment he started to circulate the qi...

Mari asked, "Hold on. You aren't gonna take out your inner core again, are you?"

"I've done it once, so why not do it twice?” responded Yongno confidently.

Mari sighed, “Geez, I knew you would say that, but why don't you first look at the <meta charset="utf-8">inner core you made earlier?"

"I told you I can't move.”

Ignoring his response, Mari put her hand in her pocket, then took out a gold marble.

Yongno asked, "Eh? Why does it come out of there?"

"I'm an NPC in charge of you, so I can intervene in the system at a certain level. By the way, why don't you bring up the item description?"

"It’s not necessary for me though…”

Moving his eyeballs, Yongno focused on the gold marble on Mari's palm, then he closed his left eye. And one, two, three. The item window appeared.

He said, "Let's see... It’s called the Gold Core. I see no price here, and... Eh?! It has a half-year worth of cultivation?"

Yongno was astonished. He bounced in surprise only in his mind since he couldn’t move right now.

"How come? There must be 10 points worth in there, which is around five years of cultivation base?" Yongno stared at Mari with a horrified expression.

Mari shrugged and replied, "That’s how things go in this tough world. Your cultivation base rises faster in the beginning, but it gets slower and meets difficulties as time goes by. Do you think you can save it externally and absorb it later?"

"Gosh, but that can't be the reason behind the problem here. I'm not talking about absorbing only two or three years of the five-year amount of cultivation base..." whined Yongno.

In fact, he was correct. It was difficult to utterly absorb the cultivation base, but it wasn’t impossible to fully release it or hand it over to others.

Mari replied, "In this case, there's a problem in the Gold Core Immortal Technique, but at the same time, it’s possible to take out your inner core that way due to the characteristics of the technique.”

"Characteristics?"

"Yeah. Usually, internal arts collect Internal Energy by using the Innate Genuine-Qi as its core, whereas the Gold Core Immortal Technique materializes the cultivation base to create the Gold Core. However, the way the Gold Core holds onto cultivation base is a little different from the typical internal energy cultivation methods."

It was similar to gravitation. All humans were born with a small amount of strong and pure spiritual energy. In martial arts studies, this was called the innate Genuine-Qi. When a martial artist learned the cultivation technique of the innate Genuine-Qi, the external force gravitated towards this inborn energy; that was the acquired Qi.

For instance, if a martial artist had 1 cycle[1]of internal martial arts and used thirty years of energy from it, there are thirty years of acquired Qi left. When it came to the innate Genuine-Qi, the martial artist still had 1 cycle of internal martial arts left.

Accordingly, the person could re-collect the consumed, thirty years of acquired Qi while still having 1 cycle of the innate Genuine-Qi. Then, what if the martial artist used thirty years of innate Genuine-Qi? The answer was simple. Theoretically, the person should cultivate for thirty years to regain their original internal martial arts.

1. Internal martial arts accumulated in sixty years of cultivation ☜