I Can Only Cultivate In A Game

Victor groaned again but sat up properly before they resumed their journey.

The terrain they crossed was treacherous—

Storms brewed in distant skies, and occasionally, they'd spot grotesque beasts roaming below in valleys littered with the remnants of old battlefield ruins.

By the afternoon of that first in-game day, Tarkos slowed near a ravine and motioned for silence. Down below, a cluster of rogue cultivators wearing mismatched robes stood in a half-circle, clearly in the middle of a deal.

Victor's eyes narrowed as he spotted one of them pulling out vials that shimmered with what looked like compressed soul energy.

"Smugglers," Tarkos muttered. "Same kind I used to roll with."

Victor gestured to circle them. "Let's rough them up?"

"Too many for a frontal assault. Not if we want to reach Yinfrost City before next week." Tarkos tilted his head. "Unless... you have an idea."

Victor grinned and slid down the slope behind a nearby boulder. A few moments later, glowing shards of wind-imbued qi sliced through the air from behind, kicking up a storm of debris. The smugglers panicked before scattering in all directions—right into Tarkos's waiting fists.

A few minutes later, the pair stood over a heap of unconscious men.

[ Objective: Disrupt Rogue Cultivator Trade - Completed ]

[ +40,000 Wisps of Qi ]

[ +5 Attribute Points ]

[ Loot Acquired: Shadow-Sealed Satchel, 3x Qi-Rich Vials ]

Victor pocketed the vials and leaned against a boulder. "That was fun."

Day two came with rain—sharp, icy droplets slicing down from the misty skies. The terrain had shifted into slippery paths and bone-strewn tunnels. At one point, they were ambushed by spirit wolves that had soul-piercing fear techniques inbued into their howls.

Tarkos who was unshakeable took the lead, while Victor moved like a shadow behind him.

One wolf got too close.

[ Technique: Phantom Moon Slash Activated ]

Victor's blade glittered in the mist, mirroring illusion of strikes layering into one real blow that bisected the beast cleanly. A ripple of spatial qi followed, sucking the blood trail into an unseen void.

They camped that night in a sunken cave where fireflies the size of human fists glowed in the dark.

"This feels… eerie," Victor muttered while staring at the fireflies circling their fire.

"Everything on the path to Yinfrost is eerie," Tarkos replied while chewing on dried beast jerky. "The land itself is tainted with remnants of the Jade Serpent's influence."

Day three arrived with silence. The terrain was flatter, though not gentler. Qi storms surged in the distance, giant tornadoes made of compressed elemental energy. Tarkos advised they stop at a trader's outpost nestled in a ridge hollow.

The trader who was an old woman with wrinkled tattoos and sharpened teeth, sold them special moss that grew in the frostshade zones—

Finally, by the end of the third day, they stood atop a cliff.

Tarkos pointed. "Yinfrost. Another one week journey at most, if the storms don't shift."

Victor exhaled. "I'll take that. But first…"

He opened his system interface and chose to log out. As the light in his eyes flickered, Tarkos sighed. "Hurry back, kid. The real horror starts in the city."

[ Avatar In Travel State: Persisting Within World ]

...

...

The morning air buzzed with excitement as Victor made his way to Camp 11. Today was the day. A day that came with the long-awaited release of the first-year monthly rankings.

Around him, students were chattering. Some were full of confidence while others trying hard to hide their nerves.

Victor had his hands buried in his pockets with a calm face, but inside his stomach was twisting.

Instructor Vex Rhane had already hinted the day before that their accumulated performances—from obstacle courses to stair drills and personal training—would be evaluated. With every drill and lesson tracked, it was all culminating now.

After the morning routine—which for once Victor took at a more relaxed pace—he followed the stream of students toward the main path that led to the lecture halls. A towering digital screen was centered above them, and the ranking list for the top 100 students blazed into view.

Gasps. Whispers. Cheers. And then, predictable silence.

Number one: Veyla – S-Ranked Berserker.

Number two: Elyra Vorn – S-Ranked Warrior.

Three through six were more of the same. One male S-Ranked Mage, two S-Ranked Assassins, and one S-Ranked Necromancer.

Victor sighed. S-Ranked students were practically a different breed.

Most didn't even attend regular lectures or participate in daily routines. Their elite status allowed them to study independently with top-tier tutors or train directly in their personal building.

So it was no surprise they dominated the top spots.

Just like a lot others, Victor couldn't find his name with the top hundreds.

Which meant, he'd have to visit the public boards to find it where everyone would be able to see their names and ranks even if it was at the bottom of the list.

Many other students were here as well and Victor had to squeeze into the crowd to get a proper view.

Victor squinted as his eyes darted down the list.

201...

300...

350... but no Victor.

"Damn it..." he mumbled and made his way around the nearby plaza where the rest of the rankings were displayed in tiers of fifty.

Finally, in the 351-400 block, he found it:

371 – Victor Revenant (B-Rank)

He let out a long, relieved exhale.

"Below me, all C ranks... Whew," Victor muttered, half to himself.

Around him, the reactions varied wildly. Some students were celebrating, shouting and laughing as their names popped up higher than expected. Others, not so lucky.

A tall B-Ranked warrior named Harwin stood slack-jawed as he found his name listed below two C-Ranked students somewhere around 600. "No... no no no. This is a glitch, right? RIGHT?!" he shouted.

"Promotion and demotion cycles hit hard," someone muttered.

Victor winced. He'd been holding back in some sessions—especially during the first three weeks. That decision could've tanked him if not for his recent efforts.

Later that morning, Victor headed toward his first lecture of the day: Map and Geology.

It was held in a wide, dome-roofed auditorium built into the edge of a cliffside overlooking one of the Academy's many training biomes.