Prestige Grinding : I Can Reset My Level

Nathan's fury in his final moments made Sora's anger surge. He had never seen his brother so enraged, so helpless. The emotion in Nathan's final words echoed in Sora's mind as he remembered his own death.

'I had the same reaction when she stabbed me in the back…'

"Your brother will be next."

The memory of those words, spoken with chilling indifference, reignited the hatred Sora for Rachel.

Even though he was merely a spectator in this memory, he struggled to accept what he was witnessing. He watched, powerless, as Nathan's life was extinguished, as Rachel's talent soared, as her madness deepened.

'I want to stop watching her memories and kill her now.'

The temptation was strong, urging him to abandon everything and torment her sooner than later.

But Sora forced himself to suppress the fury threatening to consume him. He couldn't afford to lose control. Not yet. There was still more to uncover. Secrets buried deep within Rachel's mind that he needed to extract. Every information could prove useful.

Rachel's talent skyrocketed from 3 to 30 in seconds. She felt all her aspects of power skyrocketing.

Dismissing the notifications with a thought, she opened her [Two-Faced] skill description, her gaze locking onto the subtle but life-altering update.

A slow smile spread across her face, even as her tears ruined the makeup she had carefully applied that morning.

'I can become stronger again. And I can feel this so many more times…'

As her tears fell down her face, her body started trembling.

She thought of what she did. 'This was the right choice. I had no other option. Nathan would have held me back. He wouldn't understand… but one day, they'll all see. The system notification said I was exceptional after all. I'm doing this for everyone. I'm exceptional.'

She repeated the mantra like a prayer, but it did little to erase the guilt she had started feeling. For a moment, Nathan's face flashed before her, his warm smile, the way he had always stood by her, despite her flaws, despite everything.

Her breathing quickened, her fists clenching so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.

"I had no choice." She muttered, unaware that she was starting to think out loud.

"He was weak. Weak people have no place in this world anymore." She whispered

Her justification rang false. The truth was there, suffocating her. Nathan had trusted her completely. Only he and Sora had ever trusted her so deeply.

"Why would they put such trust in a two-faced girl like me? It's their fault. They were wrong. They were weak. They left me no choice…"

Yet, deep down, part of her started thinking, 'I'm a monster.'

Rachel violently shook her head, as if trying to rid herself of the intrusive thought.

'No. I'm not a monster. I'm not enjoying this.'

Her eyes flickered to her sword—still stained with Nathan's blood. A wave of nausea gripped her, making her stomach twist.

"If he knew my innate skill, he would have forgiven me… He loved me. He would've understood," she muttered, her voice weak.

The players around her exchanged wary glances, stepping back. Her murmuring was growing louder, her expression switching back and forth between grief and elation. Her trembling hands hurriedly wiped at the blood on her blade.

Looking up, she noticed it. Everyone's [Trust Levels] were dropping.

Rachel inhaled deeply, forcing herself to calm down. She needed to act normal. She needed to look normal. 'If I show them my ugly side now, they'll never trust me.'

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Slowly, she unsummoned her sword and removed the blood from her gear. After a moment, she forced a smile, her voice steadier.

"Good work, everyone," she said. "And… thank you."

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Sora could sense the discomfort of the guild members around her in those moments after Nathan's death. 'They're already questioning her sanity,' he thought. 'Dried tears on her cheeks, a wide smile after killing her husband… She probably looks like a psycho to them. Though, it seems the lower-ranking members still don't know Nathan was her husband. But that won't last long. Rumors will spread in [Rouge Sang].'

Sora continued watching as Rachel returned home the same day, her face arranged to feign innocence. She slipped into her usual routine, acting as if nothing had happened. When the news of Nathan's death reached her, she performed her role perfectly—collapsing into tears, locking herself inside, and refusing to see anyone. For weeks, she holed herself up, pretending to grieve.

But the reality was different.

Rachel spent her days binge-watching anime and mindlessly flipping through old TV shows stored on her hard drive, killing time while the world moved on without her.

Sora was sickened by her actions. 'So this is what you were doing while my parents and I visited daily to check on you? We were heartbroken, worried about you… And yet, you only cared about your entertainment and yourself.'

Shaking his head, he thought, 'At least now I'm understanding how dirty you really are.'

After a year of so-called mourning, Rachel finally grew restless. She had spent the time waiting for Sora to catch up in levels, hoping to make use of her [Betrayer's Gift]. But his carefree nature and lack of urgency tested her patience.

'That idiot spends so much time earning gold to buy his friends' equipment. He only leaves Ales when all of them are available to hunt and do quests. At this rate, it'll take months for him to gain a single level. Damn it,' Rachel had thought, her irritation having reached the limit.

Sora almost chuckled as he heard her thoughts. 'I was too relaxed back then, wasn't I? Rarely putting effort into leveling up. But now, seeing how much time you wasted waiting for me… I'm glad I was so carefree. You couldn't wait any longer and finally decided to ask me if I wanted help leveling up.'

He watched as Rachel joined the [Rouge Sang] guild, and choosing to hide her guild tag when with his group.

'So you threw all your experience into that guild. And you even convinced the guild leader to deactivate the Experience Contribution rankings so no one would notice how massive your xp gains were. That's why you seemed to level up as slowly as us, despite your high growth factor. It all makes sense now.'

Rachel had been level 39 when Nathan died, and for the year after her seclusion, she played a dual role: hunting monsters with Sora and his friends to maintain her façade while secretly hunting players with [Rouge Sang] to increase her bloodline purity.

Sora couldn't help but rejoice as he saw her growing frustration over the years. She spent so much time manipulating people, yet she never truly connected with anyone but her guild leader. All her so-called allies in [Rouge Sang] kept their distances from her.

'You killed your husband, Rachel, and you expect a bunch of player killers to trust you?' he thought. He wasn't surprised when he saw that none of her allies had a decent level of trust toward her.

Rachel dreamed of activating her innate skill again but had no suitable targets.

Finally, the day came when Sora's level range matched hers. Sora lacked interest in that period and fast-forwarded through her memories while making sure he didn't miss any important detail or clue she might give him.

'Your memories really are boring to watch, Rachel,' he thought.

After killing Sora, Rachel spent a week hunting monsters, her level soaring with every kill. The surge in her strength was intoxicating, but it wasn't enough for her. She wanted more. She needed more.

'I want to level up even faster.' She thought.

Her thoughts turned to the guild she had joined: [Rouge Sang]. Though she lacked genuine loyalty to its members, her bond with the guild leader was real. She liked him, and he had absolute trust in her.

'But there are too many witnesses. Too many people know what I've done. It's time for some cleaning.' A smile was on her lips as her thoughts ran wild.

Creating proof that the guild's vice leaders were conspiring to overthrow the guild leader, Rachel approached the guild leader in private to give him the 'evidence.'

The guild leader took her warnings to heart and together, they planned to massacre everyone but 3 other players and start over in another region.

When the ambush came, it was brutal. Rachel fought with ferocity that stunned her four friends, as her newfound power left no room for resistance. Every swing of her sword cut through her guildmates with ease. Blood soaked the battlefield as Rachel stood on top of a mountain of corpses.

But she wasn't finished.

The guild leader approached her, placing a hand on her cheek covered in blood. "We'll rebuild the guild stronger, thanks to you."

Rachel looked at him, her expression gentle.

She said, "Do I need you for that?"

Pausing upon noticing him freeze, she added, "I'm joking... Of course I need you."

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