In this Second Chance at Life, where I can see skills as clear as day, everything feels like a breeze. And to make it even better, I’m spending my days joyfully with my First Love. - Chapter 23

Race: Undead Dragoon
Name: None
Health: 157,255/157,452
Strength: 458,990
Magic: 245,500
Agility: 382,720 ▲
Level: 80
Class: Dragoon

Skills:

• • Health Boost Lv.23, Strength Boost Lv.32, Magic Boost Lv.25, Agility Boost Lv.27, Spear Techniques Lv.23, Claw Techniques Lv.17, Physical Attack Resistance Lv.5

Special Skills:

• • Auto Health Recovery, Magic Pressure, Complete Magic Resistance, Complete Mental Resistance, Dragon Breath

A knight clad in silver armor rides atop a decayed black dragon.

An Undead Knight atop a Zombie Dragon—or rather, both the knight and the dragon are our enemies.

However, when I appraised their stats, the numbers were only marginally higher than the vampire’s. From my perspective, the vampire and the Undead Dragoon were both so far beneath me that their stats didn’t even reach 1% of mine.

It seems they wouldn’t be knocked out by Magic Pressure, as they have complete mental resistance.

Learning from the vampire battle earlier, I used my magic to restrain the Undead Dragoon.

Magic is an extension of myself. I shaped it into spikes that pierced both the knight and the dragon, binding them tightly. Then, I activated two of my skills:

Health Absorption and Magic Absorption.

I had only used Health Absorption a few times before, but Magic Absorption was something I was trying for the first time. As I appraised the Undead Dragoon’s stats, I watched its health gradually diminish.

“Ichika-chan!”

“Y-yeah, I got it!”

When the Undead Dragoon’s health dropped below 100, I called out to Ichika-chan. She quickly delivered the finishing blow.

“The extra boss has been defeated. A no-damage defeat of the extra boss has been confirmed. Defeat using magic alone has been confirmed. As a reward, all base stats except magic will be increased by +3,000, while magic will increase by +7,500. All skill levels will be increased by +15.”

“Additionally, the title ‘Effortless Power’ has been granted.”

After the announcement, the first thing I did was check Ichika-chan’s updated stats:

Name: Ichika Kobayashi
Health: 10,126,047,000/10,102,608,000
Strength: 965,948,000
Magic: 29,943,736,000
Agility: 582,426,000 ▲
Level: 48
Class: None

Skills:

• • Flexibility Lv.30, Health Boost Lv.21, Health Boost Lv.18, Health Boost Lv.16, Strength Boost Lv.16, Magic Boost Lv.52, Magic Boost Lv.22, Calculation Lv.22, Identification Lv.90, Item Box Lv.19, Super Recovery Lv.17, Super Regeneration Lv.16, Agility Boost Lv.17, Health Enhancement Lv.16, Strength Enhancement Lv.16, Magic Enhancement Lv.17, Damage Reduction Lv.17, Damage Reduction Lv.15, Damage Reduction Lv.12

Special Skills:

• • Appraisal Eyes, Skill Duplication, Auto Health Recovery, Complete Mental Resistance, Complete Physical Resistance, Complete Magic Resistance, Item Storage, True Eye, Magic Eye

Unique Skill: Insight

“Pfft… What are these stats!?”

With the huge level-up and the rewards from clearing the dungeon, her base stats skyrocketed to absurd levels—strength, agility, and health increased by 5,815, while magic shot up to 16,680. On top of that, all the enhancement and reinforcement skills I’d previously taught Ichika-chan gained 15 levels each. And with my title’s Numerical Brutality bonus, the result was this monstrosity of stats.

Still, this is incredible.

Her health, in particular, now surpasses mine. While the other stats fall slightly short of mine from last year, they’re still ridiculously high. At the very least, I wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally breaking her if I hugged her tightly.

Overcome with happiness, I hugged Ichika-chan firmly.

“Huh? W-wait! Yasu-kun, that’s… a little tight!”

“I’ve always wanted to do this. Whenever we were together, I was scared I might break you if I made a mistake.”

When I said that, Ichika-chan hugged me back.

“Yeah.”

They say that being hugged calms the human heart. But for me, my heart pounded wildly, overwhelmed with joy and the thrill of touching someone I cared about.

After hugging Ichika-chan until I was completely satisfied, I decided to check my own status.

Name: Yasushi Sashima
Health: 14,066,308,000/14,066,208,000
Strength: 7,446,816,000 (100)
Magic: 30,728,864,250,000 (100)
Agility: 746,816,000 (100) ▲
Level: 65
Class: None

Skills:

• • Appraisal Lv.55, Agility Boost Lv.MAX, Agility Boost Lv.52, Health Boost Lv.MAX, Health Boost Lv.76, Strength Boost Lv.MAX, Strength Boost Lv.52, Super Recovery Lv.MAX, Super Regeneration Lv.82, Parallel Thought Lv.39, Magic Boost Lv.MAX, Magic Boost Lv.84, Farming Lv.42, Teaching Lv.58, Flexibility Lv.MAX, Damage Reduction Lv.MAX, Damage Reduction Lv.3, Magic Efficiency Boost Lv.MAX, Magic Efficiency Boost Lv.51, Swimming Lv.MAX, Magic Reinforcement Lv.MAX, Magic Reinforcement Lv.7, Stealth Lv.80, Health Reinforcement Lv.68, Agility Reinforcement Lv.52, Strength Reinforcement Lv.52, Experience Boost Lv.40, Item Box Lv.77, Experience Boost Lv.45, Cooking Lv.19, Sewing Lv.17, Language Comprehension Lv.23

Special Skills:

• • Complete Mental Resistance, Swift Footedness, Herculean Strength, Auto Health Recovery, Magic Manipulation, Magic Absorption, Complete Magic Resistance, Magic Release, Magic Pressure, Super Calculation, Complete Physical Resistance, Blink Step, Instant Movement, Godspeed, Acceleration, Health Absorption, Health Storage, Appraisal Eyes, Enhanced Joint Flexibility, Titan Strength, Muscle Hardening, Strength Pressure, Asura, Skill Duplication, Auto Health Recovery, Sharkskin, Hidden Cloud, Skill Transmission, Flexible Skeleton, Item Storage, True Eye, Super Swimming

Unique Skill: Iterative Trial

Titles:

• • Ravager, Numerical Brutality, Magic Overwhelm, Effortless Power

The newly acquired title Magic Overwhelm apparently doubles the user’s magic stat while ignoring any Magic Resistance or Complete Magic Resistance of the opponent.

Meanwhile, Effortless Power halves damage received and doubles damage dealt, movement speed, and magic density as long as health remains above 90%.

In essence, as long as my health stays above 90%, all my stats are effectively doubled.

On top of that, my base stats—aside from magic—had risen to 20,800 due to dungeon rewards and consistent training. Magic, on the other hand, had increased to 39,500.

Factoring in the +15 levels for enhancement and reinforcement skills, the stats made sense. Yet every time I looked, the sheer numbers still felt absurd.

For example, a strength stat of 7 billion was outrageous. And with magic at 30 trillion? It was almost incomprehensible.

That’s when I realized something.

“Hey, uh, Ichika-chan… earlier, when I hugged you really tight… are you okay!?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

Worried, I checked Ichika-chan’s status again, and her health was still full.

However, my strength stat was nearly 20 times higher than hers. While her health was 10 times mine and she had Auto Recovery, which healed 1% of her health every second, plus Super Regeneration, which used magic to restore health, it was likely compensating for the damage.

In other words, she might have been taking damage, even if she was healing it instantly.

It dawned on me that my embrace might have been much harsher on her than I’d intended.

With stats around 18 times apart, the difference between our strength was like comparing a toddler to a well-trained adult.

Even though Ichika-chan had grown stronger and I could touch her more casually than before, I realized I still needed to handle her with care.

This was a new reminder to be mindful.