Five hours have passed since the server opened, and I'm still at level 0 in terms of experience. When I checked the level leaderboard, I got a jolt.
The top players are already at level 6! I need to grind levels; otherwise, I'll fall too far behind and miss out big time.
I checked my backpack, and as expected, I only had the newbie three artifacts, not even a speck of dust more.
Rusty wooden staff: Equipment requirement: Level 1 Attack: 0-1 Tattered robe: Equipment requirement: Level 1 Defense: 0-1 Tattered shoes: Equipment requirement: Level 1 Defense: 0-1
Wearing these junky items all over my skeletal frame felt weird. I mean, I'm just a skeleton; wearing stuff on me feels empty and indescribable.
Opening the map, it showed the Stinky Forest. I took a few steps forward and immediately spotted a wandering corpse ahead.
Wandering Corpse: A dead villager from the newbie village turned into an undead creature after being contaminated.
I tried out my Dark Realm Eye, and the effect was pretty good. I threw a Dark Fireball and then bolted away.
"-36!"
The skill hit, but the corpse didn't react. I ran and threw another.
"-39!"
Another hit, but it just kept wandering. I finally realized the problem.
The name above the corpse's head was colored green, indicating it was a friendly unit!
"Did I turn into a monster?!"
With the final blow, the corpse's health dropped to zero.
"Ding! You successfully killed the wandering corpse! Gain 1 experience point!"
"Reminder: Due to maliciously killing a friendly unit, reputation decreased by 10 points!"
I looked at the corpse and casually summoned a Dark Realm Call.
"Skill successfully activated! Currently able to summon wandering corpse undead!"
Hurry! That skeleton boss must have entered this forest! Don't let it escape!
Skeleton boss? Was it referring to me?
I hid in a tree and watched a mage groping his way below.
"Vice-Guild Leader! There's a wandering corpse here!" The mage called out.
"It seems there's a pro leveling here. Everyone, be careful not to provoke conflicts!"
"Ah!" A scream startled everyone.
"Little Mage is dead! Instantly killed!"
I was the culprit. Remembering that I hadn't summoned the wandering corpse undead yet, I decided to give it a try.
The effect was surprisingly good. The wandering corpse clawed at the warrior.
"-123!"
Instant kill!
"You killed player Little Mage, gaining 40 experience points!"
"It's the skeleton boss!"
"Surround it! Don't let it escape!"
Amidst the chaos, I controlled the wandering corpse skeleton and took the opportunity to scratch another slow-reacting archer. My experience bar skyrocketed again.
"You killed player Warrior Empty, gaining 50 experience points!"
"Congratulations! You've reached level 2! Gain 5 attribute points to allocate!"
In one swift motion, I gloriously leveled up!
Feeling good about reaching level 2, and with the wandering corpse skeleton exploding before dying, I killed another warrior who was reluctant to leave, raising my experience bar to almost half of level 2. I decided not to leave and instead ventured further into the forest.
Spotted Snake: A contaminated ordinary snake, attacks come with poison.
The name above this snake's head was colored red, indicating it was hostile!
"You successfully killed Spotted Snake, gaining 5 experience points!"
The system prompt left me pensive. Compared to normal monster and player kills, the experience soared like I was on drugs!
I turned back.
As I passed through the zombie area, I noticed a player leveling up there.
Player name: Clear Wind Race: Human Occupation: Thief Level: 7 Health: 160/160 Physical Attack: 78-122 Physical Defense: 12-23 Magic Defense: 5-9
A pro! Comparing the strengths of both sides, I wisely chose to detour and walk away.
"Pineapple! Watch out, there's a skeleton monster behind you!"
"What? Ah~!" A gorgeous fall...
The entire Newbie Village #9191 leveling spot was chaotic, with the respawn point filled with curses at these bizarre skeleton monsters. I happily watched my experience bar skyrocket like a rocket, summoning various skeletons to search for players.
"Congratulations! You've reached level 10! Gain 5 attribute points to allocate! Now you can find the village chief to teleport to the main city for a job change!"
Finally stopping, I looked at the time. It was already noon the next day. After some thought, I decided to go for a job change before logging off to eat. During the opening of the game, it's all about comparing speeds with other players; whoever is faster gets the advantage.
Exiting the Stinky Forest, I pondered how to enter the Newbie Village. I hadn't forgotten that I still had a name like a monster, and stepping out would get me chased and attacked.
"Hurry! It's inside! Damn it, we have to wipe out those skeletons today!"
As I was about to leave the Stinky Forest, I suddenly heard a cacophony of voices and curses outside. I peeked out and was instantly terrified, turning around and running.
"Ding! You've discovered a new map, Dark Cave. Reputation increased by 100!"
"Server announcement! Congratulations to player Grandous Young Master for being the first player in the region to successfully change jobs! Rewards include a level +2, a random skill book for the class, and a random silver equipment for the class! Announcement ends!"
The sudden system announcement made me anxious, but I had no choice but to quicken my pace.
Passing through the densely packed monster area, after a few turns, I arrived at the deepest part of the Dark Cave. It was a very spacious hall, and I was surprised to hear voices inside!
"Oh! Doomed to fail again... Oh, great God of the Underworld! Have you forsaken your most devout follower?"
The entire hall had only one figure, kneeling in front of the altar, covered in a large cloak.
"Who?" The figure noticed my intrusion and turned to look, revealing a skull face with only dry skin left.
Rockmond: An evil undead mage who escaped here a hundred years ago, hiding here for mysterious undead experiments. Quality: Legendary Level: ???
Legendary level! I was startled, but seeing that his name belonged to a friendly, I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh! What do I smell? Such pure aura of the Underworld! Oh, God of the Underworld! Have you sent someone to guide your devout follower?"
Rockmond suddenly became excited, running over in a few steps, bouncing around me, leaving me stunned. However, seeing the status below his attributes indicating that all attributes increased by 50% due to the effect of the Underworld Aura,