Chapter 61: The Difference Between Legends and Ordinary People

Kyle stared at the screen.

[Congratulations. You have fulfilled the hidden requirement for the "Mind Controller" class. The full abilities of your class have been unlocked.]

He read it once. Then again.

"Hidden requirement..." he muttered. "Full abilities unlocked..."

His mind raced.

`What hidden requirement? How did I fulfill it?`

He dismissed the message and immediately opened his status screen. Then tapped on "Mind Control" skill.

The description unfolded — same as always. But at the bottom, a new line had been added.

[Hidden abilities unlocked: The user can now also control their own mind.]

Kyle’s breathing stopped for a second.

`...Control my own mind?`

He remembered trying that back in the village. He’d jabbed a needle into his finger, commanded himself not to feel pain—and nothing happened.

When did this unlock? He’d been unconscious for three days. The message must have appeared after he passed out on Nightmare’s back.

`And right before that... my skill failed against Arthur.`

His eyes narrowed.

`Maybe that was the trigger. The reason my skill failed against Arthur... is the same hidden requirement that unlocked the rest of my class abilities.`

He didn’t know for sure. But it was the only explanation that made sense.

Kyle took a slow breath.

Then, ignoring the dull ache in his chest, he swung his legs off the bed.

"Agh..."

The movement pulled at the wound. But he forced himself to stand anyway, gripping the bedframe for support.

His legs felt shaky, but they held.

`Good.`

He looked around the room. In the corner, there was a large mirror — ornate, like everything else in this room.

Kyle walked toward it slowly, each step careful. When he reached it, he lifted his gaze.

The bandages wrapped around his chest, from his shoulder down to his lower belly. The wound was still fresh.

But that wasn’t what made him freeze.

It was his eyes.

They were crimson.

Not glowing like when he used his skill. Just... a deep crimson that stared back at him from the mirror.

`I didn’t activate my skill.`

He blinked. The color didn’t change.

`Will they stay like this? Forever?`

He remembered the moment before he lost consciousness — the feeling of something shifting inside him. Like a lock turning.

`The full unlock must have done this.`

Kyle raised his hand and pressed lightly against his chest, over the bandages.

A sharp sting shot through him immediately. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Tch..."

He pulled his finger back, hissing at the pain.

`Still hurts.`

He leaned closer to the mirror, staring into his own crimson eyes.

Then he activated his skill.

The glow came back — faint, pulsing. And he gave the command, his voice barely a whisper.

"Don’t feel pain."

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then — a subtle shift. Like something inside him had been unplugged and reconnected.

The dull ache in his chest, the one that had been there with every breath... it faded. Not completely, but enough.

`...Did it work?`

He raised his hand again. Pressed on the wound.

Nothing.

He pressed harder.

Still nothing.

He pushed until he could feel the fabric of the bandage rubbing against the wound — the sensation of touch was there. The friction, the pressure.

But the pain? Gone.

As if the moment touch crossed a certain threshold, it just... stopped turning into pain.

Kyle stared at his reflection.

Then he laughed.

Not a small chuckle. A real, full laugh that echoed through the room.

"Hahahahaha!"

His shoulders shook. His chest moved. And it didn’t hurt at all.

`Finally.`

From the beginning, he had chosen this class because he thought he could control himself. That was the whole point.

When he first read the skill description, he imagined commanding his own body, his own mind.

And when it didn’t work, he was disappointed.

But now?

`This changes everything.`

For Kyle, this ability was enough for him to rule over the world.

You know what separates the legends — the ones whose names never die — from ordinary people?

It’s not talent. Not luck. Not even power.

It’s will.

The will to chase your ambition even when everyone says you’re crazy. The will to keep fighting when your body screams at you to stop. The will to do whatever it takes to reach your goal, no matter how many times you fail.

That’s what the strongest people in history had. A fire inside them that never went out.

You might think your greatest enemy is the world. The monsters. The people who stand in your way. The circumstances you were born into. Maybe even fate itself.

But you’d be wrong.

Your greatest enemy... is yourself.

The one who doesn’t have the courage to face his fears. Who drowns in his own desires and slowly dies. Who lets despair eat him alive until he becomes a walking corpse — alive, but not living.

The human self is the biggest barrier to reaching the highest peaks.

Not because it fights you directly. But because you can’t control it.

Every legend in history — every single one — was someone who learned to control themselves. Through suffering. Through understanding. Through loneliness.

It takes years. Decades. Sometimes a lifetime.

But Kyle?

He can do it with a single command.

The ability to forge a mind like that — a mind that doesn’t break, doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t doubt—isn’t just powerful.

It’s the most broken ability imaginable.

Even the weakest person in this world. The least talented. The least courageous. Someone living a life worse than a rat in the gutter.

Give them that mindset... and they’ll reach the peak.

Kyle had seen this kind of mindset before in one of the novels he read. A secondary, worthless person who managed to refine this mindset over 500 years. Eventually, he rose to dominate the world.

Kyle’s laughter faded.

He stood there, staring at his crimson eyes in the mirror, a slow smile spreading across his face.

`Arthur...`

The name tasted like poison on his tongue.

`You wanted the sword so badly. You thought that would make you a hero.`

He clenched his fist.

`But I just got something way more valuable than any legendary weapon.`

He turned away from the mirror and walked back to the bed, sitting down on the edge.

His body still needed time to heal. The wound was still there. The stats had helped, but he wasn’t at full strength yet.

But his mind?

`That dwarf has no idea what’s coming for him.`

Kyle lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

For the first time since coming to this world, he felt something close to peace.

Not because he was safe.

But because he knew — with absolute certainty — that nothing would stop him now.