Part-256

  Then James’ phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw a new message from Toya.

  **[Tomorrow afternoon, e to Banani Shopping Mall. We’ll go together, as part of the dating pretense.]**

  There ause before a sed text came through.

  **[My grandmother told me to do this.]**

  James groaned audibly. “Lemon was right. Today’s just not my day.”

  It wasn’t that he disliked Toya or the pn to pretend to be her boyfriend—he had agreed to help, after all. But the pressure of maintaining the ruse, bined with the added plications of his duraining and everything else on his pte, made him feel like he was being pulled in too many dires at once.

  The shopping mall tomorrow would just be another performan the ongoing charade to keep Rakib at bay. And James had the sinking feeling that Rakib wouldn’t stay idle for long. He was the kind of guy who’d push back harder the moment he felt someoing him. James shoved his phone bato his pocket, already mentally preparing for whatever awkwardness awaited him at the mall.

  ---

  day, the walls of the dungeon once again closed in around him. James had been grinding through the Level 2: Normal se for days, pushing his limits, testing himself against the goblins that patrolled the dark corridors.

  Like wise in normal se, the goblins came in pairs of four, each armed with short swords, their jagged bdes fshing as they lu him. But James was faster now, more precise. His swordsmanship had improved dramatically in just a few short days, his movements more fluid, his strikes more trolled. Every swi sharper, every block more instinctive.

  And then there was Sloth View.

  As he fought, time seemed to slow, just enough for him to anticipate the goblins’ attacks with greater crity. The world around him shifted to a crawl, and what was once a mere instinct had bee a practiced skill. With his Sloth View active, he could now slow down time by 33%, making sixty seds feel like eighty. In those precious extra moments, he could think faster, react faster, and his swordsmanship took on an almost surgical precision.

  He ducked beh a swing, his sword slig upward to disarm a goblin, the creature howling in pain as it dropped its on. Anoblin lu him from the side, but James pivoted smoothly, his bde catg the goblin in the chest with a heavy strike. The creatures fell one by one, each csh of steel leaving James more fident, more certain.

  His breathing was steady as the final goblin crumpled to the floor, its bde cttering uselessly beside it. The battle had been hard-fought, but it was the kind of fight James had grown aced to. He stood over the falleures, wiping the sweat from his brow as his chest heaved with exhaustion. It had takehing he had, but he was ready now.

  No more stalling. No more deying.