All Good Novel
Chapter 3 - Levelling Up and the Main Character Team
Chapter 3: Levelling Up and the Main Character Team
“Woohoo—”
Lorraine dashed through the underground tunnel with excitement.
Earlier, when he wasn’t moving, Lorraine could only sense the newfound vitality in his body. But now that he was running, he realised just how remarkable his upgraded physical attributes had become.
Running had never felt this effortless before.
Life Energy truly embodied the essence of vitality—strength, speed, explosiveness, stamina—every factor contributing to physical prowess seemed to be enhanced.
Moreover, perhaps due to the corresponding increase in Mental Energy, Lorraine felt no loss of control over his immensely improved physical abilities.
On the contrary, Lorraine had never felt so in tune with his body. It was as if he could effortlessly manipulate it to perform any movement within the bounds of human anatomy. He could even faintly perceive the beating of his heart, the flow of his blood, the contraction and relaxation of his muscles, and the rhythm of his breathing.
“This is incredible!”
Lorraine glanced at the emblem on his system panel, marked with Level 1, alongside the name of the system: [Level 100 God System].
If he could truly reach Level 100, Lorraine felt he might genuinely ascend to godhood.
Brimming with excitement, Lorraine ran energetically. Even in flip-flops, his enhanced physique made them barely an inconvenience.
In less than two minutes, Lorraine effortlessly caught up with the main group, slipping unnoticed into the rear of the crowd.
From start to finish, not a single examinee seemed to notice Lorraine, who had fallen behind earlier and rejoined seamlessly.
Once he was with the group, Lorraine slowed his pace. He had no interest in drawing attention by rushing to the front.
He knew very well—this was only the beginning of a long journey ahead.
Instead of trying to stand out, Lorraine chose to hang back and leisurely study his system panel, particularly the methods and efficiency of gaining experience points.
Glancing at the requirement of 1,000 experience points to reach Level 2, Lorraine silently prayed that the efficiency of gaining experience wouldn’t drastically decrease.
However…
Thirty minutes later, Lorraine sighed as he stared at his system panel, which still displayed zero experience points.
His hopes were dashed.
At Level 0, he had gained one experience point after running just two or three kilometres. But now…
Thirty minutes of running—at least five kilometres—and not a single experience point had been added.
After over an hour of running, by Lorraine’s estimate, he had covered nearly ten kilometres when his system panel finally showed a change: from 0 to 1 experience point.
“So, I need to run ten kilometres to gain one experience point?” Lorraine’s face twisted into a grimace.
He needed 1,000 experience points to level up to 2—that’s 10,000 kilometres. Even though other forms of exercise might also grant experience points, Lorraine could already picture his future as a relentless training maniac.
“I hope I can level up by defeating enemies instead,” Lorraine muttered with a sigh, lowering his head as he followed the group of Hunter exam candidates.
One hour passed… then two…
In the blink of an eye, four hours had gone by. Lorraine had already run over fifty kilometres with the group, trailing at the back.
Remarkably, not a single candidate had fallen behind. Even after such a gruelling fifty-kilometre run, none seemed to be reaching their limits—well, except for the panting Leorio running beside Lorraine.
Though the anime depicted Leorio as being only 18 or 19 years old, seeing him up close, Lorraine couldn’t help but feel he resembled a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties.
“Perhaps it’s a kind of talent—to hit peak physical condition while still undergoing rapid growth,” Lorraine mused with a smirk.
“How much longer do we have to run?” Leorio muttered incredulously, staring at the seemingly tireless candidates ahead of him.
After running non-stop for four to five hours, covering a distance of fifty kilometres, Leorio was drenched in sweat.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Even thirty kilometres was an impossible feat for him, let alone fifty. What made it worse was the fact that none of the other candidates showed signs of exhaustion.
“Monsters… they’re all monsters!” Leorio felt his strength waning.
“The Hunter exam… it’s not something an ordinary person like me can handle!” His steps began to falter.
But then…
“Like hell I’ll give up—!”
With a furious roar, veins bulging on his forehead, Leorio threw aside his briefcase and broke into a frenzied sprint.
Quick on his feet, Lorraine darted forward to retrieve Leorio’s discarded briefcase.
Although he had no intention of joining the main character team, Lorraine felt that the protagonists would make excellent allies. With the filter of the original story in mind, he wasn’t about to miss the chance to interact.
Holding Leorio’s briefcase, Lorraine quickened his pace and caught up with him.
“Hey, old man, you dropped your bag!” Lorraine called out with a cheeky grin, extending the briefcase towards Leorio.
Veins throbbed on Leorio’s forehead. While he was grateful to have his bag returned, the term “old man” struck a nerve. Being mistaken for an older man was a sore spot, especially coming from Lorraine, who looked to be in his twenties.
“Damn it! Who are you calling an old man? I’m only 18!” Leorio bellowed angrily.
“Yeah, right,” Lorraine retorted without hesitation.
“Haha, I knew it! There’s no way you’re still in your teens, old man,” chimed Killua, jogging over with his silver hair bouncing. He couldn’t resist mocking Leorio.
“You little brats!” Leorio grew even more irate.
“Here, let me take the bag for him,” Gon said as he ran up to Lorraine, smiling brightly.
“Sure thing,” Lorraine replied without hesitation, handing over the briefcase to Gon. He then took the opportunity to scrutinise Gon and Killua.
So these were the so-called protagonists of this world—the main characters of the early story.
To be honest, many fans from his previous life disliked Gon because of the Chimera Ant arc. But Lorraine was indifferent.
After all, losing someone like Kite, who was both a mentor and father figure, was devastating. Whether a child or an adult, few could remain rational, make appropriate decisions, and execute them calmly in such circumstances.
Of course, another reason was that Gon’s reckless nature wouldn’t affect Lorraine personally.
As for Killua…
He was undoubtedly a fan favourite in his previous life, more likeable than Gon and far harder to approach.
Having just escaped the Zoldyck family, Killua was in a particularly difficult phase. Unlike Gon, not everyone could easily get close to him.
For now, Lorraine had no intention of interacting too much with these two kids.
Instead, he found Leorio’s “uncle” vibe oddly endearing and decided to strike up a rapport.
“Say, old man, with your fancy suit and shiny leather shoes, are you really here for the Hunter exam?” Lorraine teased, deliberately emphasising Leorio’s attire.
Leorio’s mouth twitched as he glanced at Lorraine’s obvious pyjamas and flip-flops. His face darkened.
“You’re the last person who should be saying that!”
“Hehe, but at least I can run in these,” Lorraine chuckled, his flip-flops slapping rhythmically as he overtook Leorio.
“Damn you—!”
Watching Lorraine sprint ahead in flip-flops, Leorio couldn’t suppress his frustration.
But despite his anger, Lorraine’s words struck a chord. Without hesitation, Leorio shed his suit and shirt, tying them around his waist, and continued running bare-chested.