How did I turn my victim into a phoenix-like hero?

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On the desk to the left of the floor-to-ceiling window sits a photo printer, its green indicator light flashing to show that the photos have finished printing.

Katya picked up the photo.

The person in the photo has long, straight hair, and their milky-white skin appears slightly purple under the dappled sunlight. The background is a tall and magnificent maple tree.

The girl smiled slightly and put the photo into the carefully selected frame she had bought on her way back.

44. And you, my friend.

Tuesday, April 11, 6:20 AM.

"morning."

Brid greeted him, glancing to one side.

"You seemed to have suffered a serious injury yesterday. Are you still able to move today?"

Sirocco felt something was wrong and tried to relax his muscles and back:

"I think it's fine."

Despite the pain, Sirocco felt incredibly energetic, with boundless strength.

The only problem was that it took a lot of effort to push my sister off me this morning, and I even lost 3 HP points...

Stepping out of my sister's room, I unfortunately bumped into my dad, enduring the terrifying aura of a middle-aged corporate slave saying, "I'm going to kill you..."

"Really? My first goal today is a 15-kilometer run. I'll start after I warm up."

After saying that, Brid turned her back to herself and began her warm-up exercises.

"Bride, you came to my house yesterday?"

Bridt's voice remained calm throughout:

"I visited at the wrong time. I'm just glad you're alright."

She didn't even look at me properly.

This sense of distance... and the peace of mind it brought.

What I miss is the memory of meeting Brid when the world was fully awakened.

I'm relieved. It seems that Brid's feelings for me were just a misconception.

only.....

"Bride, why are you suddenly acting like we don't know each other?"

Because it was so deliberate, it was difficult for Sirocco to pretend not to notice.

Brid paused for a moment, then flicked her orange ponytail:

"....I don't."

"You're angry?"

"I'm not angry."

"..."

Sirocco decided to go a little too far to test the waters:

"You seem so calm and down, Brid, are you on your period?"

"..."

Most girls would definitely accuse this of sexual harassment.

Brid did not react; she had her back to him, so his expression was not visible.

However, Sirocco guessed that she probably didn't understand what "that" meant...

"The one I was talking about, Bridgman, are you having your period?"

"...I just came at the beginning of the month, so it doesn't affect my exercise."

She remained calm and gave a serious answer.

Even without using his Lv8 vision to observe carefully, Sirocco could still see the blush on Brid's ears beneath her orange, tousled hair...

--------

April 14, Friday, 7:31 PM.

First floor? Area, Maple Garden.

On the lakeshore at the foot of the sacred tree, Sirocco, holding a rope with Cass tightly tied to the end, was locked in a fierce battle with the Maple Court Knights.

Since the 11th, Sirocco has been having a pretty good time these past few days, and quite relaxed too.

Brid's attitude toward herself was deliberate and stiff.

I don't know what's wrong with her. She was in the mood to visit me one day, but then she suddenly became cold.

Even when I joke with her, she only gives a stiff response.

I haven't cooked at her house since, because Brid said that would be crossing a line...

unclear meaning.

Sirocco recalled a similar feeling from his past life when his serious history teacher asked him questions after class.

What did I do to offend her?

A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.

Sirocco didn't care either.

Well, Sirocco has always considered her a friend and a strict teacher. To go further, there's no reason for her to distance herself from a character she likes. Sirocco isn't that oblivious to the fact that she doesn't mind at all.

However, Sirocco will not deliberately try to repair this relationship.

After all, she's the protagonist's wife; keeping a distance might not be a bad thing.

Compared to Brid, the protagonist, Cass, has basically become Sirocco's experience point ATM these days.

Thanks to Cass's strong learning ability and combat talent, these days whenever Cass and his teammates finish training, Sirocco leads him either to grind monsters and practice combat skills or to spar with the Maple Court Knights.

Each time, Sirocco would go up and demonstrate how to fight, and then Kas would figure it out on his own.

Basic battle flow: Sirocco goes in and casually scratches the monster, dealing little damage but inflicting a lot of humiliation; then Kass goes in to engage in close combat and takes down LA (the final blow).

As long as you attack a monster, you will receive experience points when the monster dies. Although the experience points are less than those in Kas, the monsters are stronger, and Sirocco has gained a lot of experience points and crystal cores.

Sirocco is upgraded to Lv9, and Kas is upgraded to Lv10.

My LINE balance easily reached four figures.

The joy of winning without effort is exhilarating.

Clang! !

Cass cut the vines off the Maple Court Knight, his white blade easily piercing the dark brown armor.

"------"

Not far away, the Maple Knight, satisfied, straightened his long-handled sword, and with a snap, his body turned to dust.

The Maple Knights are likely just defensive devices, devoid of any emotion.

Sirocco believed this was not an illusion.

He sensed the warrior spirit emanating from the Maple Knights—a spirit that transcended the exhilaration of battle, where even defeat was insignificant.

"...That's not surprising, the activation should have spread to this layer by now."

Sirocco whispered, seeing Kas waving happily at him. Sirocco waved back, celebrating the victory.

Sirocco looked at his hands.

After defeating the Lv10 Maple Knight, Sirocco didn't feel the thrill of leveling up.

...The bottleneck period for upgrading has arrived.

Aside from not encountering the late-game monsters that spawn at the 5% refresh rate, the high-level, high-experience-point monsters on the first floor are no longer enough to affect the experience bar for leveling up.

If you keep grinding, you won't get enough experience points to level up.

For Kass now, the monsters on the first floor are just difficult to deal with; there are none he can't defeat.

Its rocket-like speed even put Sirocco to shame.

It's time to proceed to the next step.

"Whoa!"

Kas sheathed his sword, splashed water as he approached Sirocco, and washed his face with the clear, pleasant lake water.

"Recently, I feel that I am wielding the sword more and more smoothly, as if the sword has become a part of my body."

"This shows you have great talent and potential. Keep up the good work!"

"Yes! Thanks to Sirocco for bringing me here. Without your help, my level would never have increased so quickly. Thank you!"

Cass smiled sincerely, revealing his white teeth.