"Join us, and never betray us."
The oath they had once sworn as teammates still echoed in his ears.
Now, it sounded nothing but bitterly ironic.
John's eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the teammates who were pinning his limbs to the altar little by little.
Among them were several people whose lives John had once saved.
And yet now, without the slightest hesitation, they drove sealing spikes into his body.
The cold-blooded indifference on their faces chilled him to the bone.
Guild Leader Sein fiddled with the ring on his finger and smiled.
"John, don't blame us.
This opportunity to advance an S-rank talent to SS-rank was something I worked very hard to obtain.
Lord God requires us to sacrifice an A-rank awakener, so I really had no choice."
No choice?
Then why don't you sacrifice yourself?
Bastard!
Sein, you bastard!
John's mouth was sealed shut. Only beastlike growls could escape his throat, while the hatred in his eyes was so intense it seemed ready to bleed.
Sein looked down at him from above, his gaze indifferent.
"Stop struggling, John.
The racial war has gone on this long. An A-rank assassin like you has no value anymore.
Rather than continue wasting resources raising you, it's better to use your worthless life to let me advance to SS-rank.
To die at the hands of Lord God… your life will at least have been worth something."
Lord God…
John forced his head up and looked toward the so-called god.
It was no god at all, but an indescribable monstrosity stitched together from flesh and meat, covered in countless eyes.
At that moment, it hovered in the air like a diner waiting for its meal, calmly anticipating the sacrifice that was John.
"Begin."
Sein waved his hand and gave the order.
"I'll do it, Guild Leader!"
The warrior Kaer stepped forward on his own initiative, pulling out a dagger.
The moment John saw him, his eyes nearly split with rage.
Kaer.
The disciple he had raised with his own hands.
When Kaer had still been a rookie, John had saved him more than once. In daily life, the man had always acted loyal and respectful, calling him "Master" at every turn.
And now, that beloved disciple was walking forward with a dagger in hand, shamelessly stepping up to murder his own teacher!
John stared at Kaer, roaring in his heart.
Bastard!
Traitor!
A bunch of lowly vermin!
Pffft!
With a savage grin, Kaer sliced open his chest.
His heart was carved out alive.
The piercing pain was so unbearable that John wished he could die on the spot.
"Lord God above!"
Kaer held up the still-beating heart with both hands in reverence.
The grotesque creature lowered a tentacle, wrapped it around the heart, and swallowed it whole.
Amid the frenzied, excited cheers of the people around him,
John's consciousness gradually blurred and sank into darkness.
…
"Ugh!"
John jolted awake and found himself sitting on the rooftop of a high-rise building.
The night breeze was gentle, and the clamor of the city washed over him. Everything felt both familiar and strangely distant.
As his gaze swept around, one familiar and hateful face after another came into view.
Sein. Kaer…
The guild members were all sitting not far away, drinking and laughing together.
John instinctively touched his chest.
There was no wound.
His heartbeat was strong and steady.
I'm not dead?
I'm still alive!
Realizing this, John abruptly looked up.
Above his head, a crimson countdown timer hung in the air, glaringly conspicuous.
[00:29:47]
This was…
the game countdown?
Holy shit!
I've been reborn to before the server launch?!
In his previous life, it had been on this very rooftop that he entered the game called Apocalypse together with his guild members!
In the corner, the blond-haired mage Pierre stared at the steadily shrinking numbers in the air and asked, "Hey, everyone, this countdown's been hanging there for two years. Now it's finally about to hit zero.
If what it says is true, and the game really descends into reality, the whole world's already split into four major factions over this. Which one should we join?"
Vice Guild Leader Ham picked up the conversation.
"Personally, I kind of like the Order Faction.
The old order made life too exhausting. Maybe a new order will make things easier.
My second choice would be the Rebellion Faction. Who knows? Maybe if the game descends, aliens really will invade.
Anyway, there's no way I'd ever choose those lunatics in the Cult Faction who worship the game as a god."
Nearby, the shield warrior Hansen shook his head.
"Both the Order Faction and the Rebellion Faction are too extreme. Better to choose the Evolution Faction instead.
I really like their theory. Imagine working out inside the game and having your arm circumference grow a whole size every day. Just thinking about it feels awesome!"
Bang!
A beer can came flying over and smacked into silent John's forehead.
The yellow-haired Pierre sneered. "Weren't you usually pretty talkative? Why are you mute now?"
John's gaze swept over the group, calm to an almost frightening degree, making everyone feel a chill in their hearts.
In a hoarse voice, he asked, "Can it make money?"
After a few brief seconds of silence, the whole group instantly burst into laughter.
"That's so John."
"Hahaha, well said! Aren't we here to make money in the first place?"
"Who cares about all those damn factions? If the world's ending anyway, we'll work for whoever pays the most!"
Guild Leader Sein also laughed and shook his head. Rising with his glass in hand, he said,
"Come on!
For money, for Opportunists—cheers!!!"
Everyone raised their drinks, and the noisy atmosphere resumed.
Opportunists was the name of their guild.
At first, John had joined them for one reason only:
money.
There was no moral coercion here, no fake sentiment, no human obligations.
Everything was about profit!
John had once believed that where everything was driven purely by self-interest, betrayal would have no place.
But the moment he recalled what had happened in his previous life, hatred surged through him like a tidal wave. He wanted nothing more than to kill every last one of these scum immediately.
In his previous life, every time the guild took on a dangerous mission, Guild Leader Sein would always claim that "the capable should do more" and send John to take the lead!
Every time, the lion's share of the rewards ended up in Sein's private pocket!
The advancement materials John had obtained through life-and-death struggle were redistributed to Sein's trusted lackeys under the pretense of "centralized allocation."
Even the one and only chance John ever had to advance his talent to S-rank was lost because the key item had been secretly swapped out!
From beginning to end, this guild had never treated John as a human being.
To them, he was nothing more than a dog they could cast aside at any time, a blade held in the hand!
In his previous life, John had worked tirelessly and endured everything. By the middle stage of the game, he had finally glimpsed a sliver of hope for his future—
and then, in the very next moment, these beasts offered him up as a sacrifice on the altar for some so-called advancement opportunity, cut open his chest, and tore out his heart!
Old hatred and fresh hatred surged together in that instant.
John's eyes burned red as he swept his gaze across every face around him.
In this life, I'll make every one of you repay your blood debt in blood!
Just then, the countdown in the sky reached zero.
In an instant, heaven and earth changed violently.
All scenery flattened at astonishing speed. High-rises, crowds, mountains, rivers—everything became like sheets of paper laid out flat. All color and sound vanished completely.
Darkness swallowed John's vision, and he lost all sensation.
[The game has descended into the real world!]
[Initializing game interface…]
John opened his eyes.
Before him was the familiar game login screen.
A goddess in white robes looked at him with a smile. Her delicate lips parted as she spoke:
"Welcome to the Age of Apocalypse, my warrior. I shall grant you supreme strength."
The goddess lifted her staff, and light poured down over John's entire body.
[Drawing talent…]
However, in the very next moment, the goddess's smile froze.
Her figure suddenly shattered, and a line of scarlet text appeared.
[Detected temporal turbulence within the player. Restarting the game…]
Before John could react, another panel appeared before his eyes.
[Congratulations, Host, on awakening the Supreme Modification System.]
[This system can use System Points to modify game values.]
[For every second you survive, you automatically gain 1 System Point.]
John was utterly shocked.
A system that could modify game values?
Wasn't that basically the same as using cheats outright?!
Just as John was overcome with ecstasy, the game interface returned to normal, and the Goddess of Light once again cast down divine radiance.
[Drawing talent…]
[Congratulations, player. You have awakened the SSS-rank talent: Wrath of the Raider!]
[Talent Effect: Upon killing a target, there is a 10% chance to trigger the plunder effect, allowing you to designate and plunder 1 item.]
John was dumbfounded.
It was not just the appearance of an SSS-rank talent that shocked him—
what shocked him even more was the discovery that, beside the numbers 10% and 1 in the talent description, there was actually a "+" and a "-" sign!
"What does that mean? Don't tell me… even talent values can be modified?"
Looking at the continuously accumulating System Points on the system panel, John's heart pounded wildly as a bold idea formed in his mind.
He did not rush into the game.
Instead, he chose to wait patiently for five minutes.
When his System Points reached 300, he decisively pressed the + sign next to 10% in the talent description.
The probability immediately jumped to 11%.
"It really can be modified!"
Overjoyed, John began pressing the + sign frantically.
The plunder probability shot straight up to 100%, and the loot quantity climbed all the way up as well, until it reached the cap of 200 items.
Only then did John stop and confirm the modification.
[289 System Points consumed. Plunder probability increased to 100%. Loot quantity increased to 200 items!]
The already outrageous SSS-rank talent had, after modification, reached a completely monstrous level.
Still not satisfied, John reopened the panel—
only to find that the ± signs after the numbers had disappeared. It could no longer be modified again.
At that moment, John finally understood how the modification system truly worked:
System Points could be used to modify game values. Each adjustment could only be +1 or -1, and this was not restricted by units—1 System Point equaled 1 value. Each stat could only be modified once. Once the change was confirmed, there was no going back. There also seemed to be a modification limit, though for the moment he had not fully identified it.
[Please choose your class.]
There were five base classes in Apocalypse:
Mage, Warrior, Assassin, Cleric, Archer.
Later on, players could advance into higher-tier classes.
Since he already had plenty of experience from his previous life, John once again chose Assassin.
[You have chosen Assassin.]
[Class Passive: When attacking an enemy from behind, there is a 15% chance to land a critical hit, with critical damage increased by 25%.]
"So class passive values can also be modified."
Seeing the ± signs on the panel, John's heart stirred.
Without hesitation, he directly modified the critical hit rate to 100%, and raised the critical damage bonus all the way to 50%!
After reaching the modification limit,
he still did not log in immediately. Instead, he sat down and waited.
Only half an hour later, when the game prompt began counting down, did he finally rise to his feet and say in a deep voice:
"Log in."
[Assigning your game server zone…]
[Temporal turbulence detected. Assignment failed.]
[You have been automatically assigned to Zone 5.]
...
[Welcome to Apocalypse]
As the white light faded, John entered the game.
What came into view was the scene of Novice Village.
There were already quite a few players here.
Their faces were filled with excitement, marveling at how realistic the game felt.
But John had no interest in any of that.
In order to store up System Points, he had already spent half an hour lingering on the login screen.
"Based on the timeline from my previous life, those people should still be grinding monsters around now."
John opened his game panel.
[Player]: John
[Level]: 1
[Class]: Assassin
[Attributes]: Strength 10, Agility 20, Mind 15, Stamina 10
[Skills]: None
[Equipment]: Novice Dagger, Novice Robe
[Copper Coins]: 0
…
Apocalypse was an extremely realistic game.
If you wanted to obtain copper coins, the only way was by killing monsters.
"First, I should spend these System Points."
With his current stats alone, there was absolutely no way he could grind monsters solo.
After thinking for a moment, John chose to directly raise the attack power of his plain starter dagger from its base value of 5 all the way to 1000!
In the early game, whether it was monsters or players, HP generally did not exceed 1000.
Now that the dagger had been boosted, it could instantly one-shot almost anything.
As for the remaining 800 points, he naturally put them into his cloth robe.
After assigning the points,
although John was still only Level 1, the stat boosts from his equipment had already made him no different from a Level 10 player!
Unless he encountered an enemy with true-damage skills,
he could practically play superhero inside Novice Village now.
"So this is the joy of allocating points?"
Gripping the dagger tightly in his hand, ambition burned like fire in John's heart.
At that moment,
a message icon popped up in the chat box.
[Sein]: "Why are you so slow? It's already been half an hour before you logged in.
We've already ground our way to Level 2.
Can you stop dragging us down all the time?
Get over here and join the team right now, or don't blame the guild for leaving you behind!"
The message also included a set of coordinates.
Before entering the game, they had all agreed to log in using their old IDs, in case they got separated before the guild system was unlocked.
Seeing this message, a cold light flashed in John's eyes.
In his previous life, the other party had often used this kind of pressure tactic against him, making him suffer endlessly.
Now that he had been reborn, it was the same familiar line again.
He talked about "bringing him along to level up,"
but in truth, he just wanted John to come over and serve as cannon fodder!
"Heh. Exploiting me for one lifetime wasn't enough? You want to do it again in this one too?
In that case…"
A bold idea rose in John's mind.
He put away his smile and quickly headed for the wilderness.
…
Fifteen minutes later,
after arriving at the coordinates in the wild,
John immediately spotted several players hiding in the bushes.
Not far from them,
a Lv.3 Wolf was roaming around.
Clearly, they had their eyes on that wolf,
but were wary of its level and did not dare attack rashly.
One of them was none other than his guild leader, Sein.
The moment Sein caught sight of John from the corner of his eye, his eyes lit up.
"You're finally here. Good. You're an assassin-class player.
Use your stealth to scout out that wolf's stats.
If we can take it down, I'll split half the drops with you afterward!"
There was no Detection skill in the early game.
If players wanted to know a monster's stats, the only way was to estimate them through attacking or getting hit.
Hearing the promise Sein threw out so casually, John sneered inwardly.
"The same old empty promises again.
In my previous life, I believed you over and over, and every single time you only tossed me a few scraps afterward.
You pocketed the lion's share for yourself."
He said nothing, only gripping his dagger as he walked forward step by step.
Seeing this, the guild members, including Sein, all revealed smug, scheming smiles in their eyes.
They felt absolutely no psychological burden about sending John out as cannon fodder.
Sein even found John's movements too slow and started urging him on.
"John, aren't you an assassin? Why are you moving so slowly?
At the early stage of the server, time is everything.
If you keep dragging things out like this, you're holding back everyone's development!
Can you move faster and stop wasting time?"
While Sein was still rambling on,
John had already arrived behind him.
"Why are you coming over here?
I told you to go scout that wolf. Are your ears brok—"
Pffft!
Before Sein could even react,
the dagger with 1000 attack power stabbed straight into his back with perfect precision.
[-1500!]
His pitiful 400 HP was instantly emptied.
His body disappeared on the spot and he was sent back to Novice Village to respawn.
[You have killed another player. Plunder Talent activated!]
[Congratulations! You have plundered the S-rank talent: Universal Synthesis!]
[Universal Synthesis: Can synthesize all items of the same category and raise their rank by one tier.]
[You have plundered 360 Copper Coins.]
[You have plundered Fine Cloth Armor ×1.]
[You have plundered Fine Iron Sword ×1.]
[You have plundered…]
Everything Guild Leader Sein had—
including his talent—
had been plundered clean by John!
"So it really is the same talent he awakened in my previous life: the S-rank Universal Synthesis."
Looking at the new golden entry that had appeared in the talent section of his panel, John's lips curled upward.
In his previous life, Sein had relied on this very talent to gradually build up the guild.
He had even become a regional overlord because of it.
What a pity.
All of that belonged to John now!
With this talent,
even low-tier equipment could be synthesized step by step into top-tier gear in the future!
"You bastard, what the hell are you doing?!"
While John was checking his spoils,
the other guild members finally reacted.
They stared at him in shock and fury, disbelief filling their eyes.
Although players could respawn infinitely during the first three months of the game, each death still cost them levels.
In order to keep up with progress,
they had deliberately funneled most of the EXP to Guild Leader Sein.
That was how he had reached Level 2 in only half an hour.
Their plan had been to let Sein, as the higher-level player, carry the lower-level ones so the whole group could develop quickly.
And yet before he could even truly start playing that role, John had killed him in a single strike!
Only now did those guild members finally realize that novice protection only applied inside Novice Village.
Once you stepped out into the wilderness,
players were free to kill one another.
"Damn it, this guy must have defected to another guild.
Kill him and avenge the guild leader!"
The faster-reacting swordsman-class player roared, raising the greatsword in his hand high into the air.
With a heavy downward slash, he chopped toward John.
But he had badly underestimated John's reaction speed.
At such close range,
the assassin's advantage was displayed to the fullest.
John pulled the dagger back out from Sein's corpse.
A flash of cold steel streaked past—
and a thin line of blood suddenly appeared across the swordsman's throat.
[-1590!]
A crimson critical-hit number lit up.
The swordsman's head and HP flew up at the same time.
Another one-hit kill!
[Plunder Talent activated.]
[You have plundered the A-rank talent: Shift.]
[Shift: After activation, movement speed increases by 20%, and movement range increases by 10%.]
[You have plundered 20 Copper Coins.]
[You have plundered Worn Cloth Armor ×1.]
[You have plundered Longsword ×1.]
[You have plundered…]
...
Another instant kill.
This time, John plundered a Shift talent.
Without hesitation, he modified its movement speed to 100% and its movement range to 200%!
After the modification, Shift was practically no different from Blink.
There were still a little over ten people left on the field.
Only after the swordsman Raymond collapsed did the others finally come to their senses.
"Everyone, attack together! Kill him!"
But by then, it was already too late.
With a thought, John suddenly Shifted behind the two mages.
At such close range, combined with Shift's 200% range,
John became a harvester of lives.
As his dagger flickered,
two bloody holes appeared in the mages' throats.
[-1589!]
[-1577!]
Their HP vanished instantly.
Everything they had was plundered clean.
[You have plundered the B-rank talent: MP Recovery]
[MP Recovery: Restores 10% of MP upon activation]
[You have plundered the B-rank talent: CD Reduction]
[CD Reduction: Reduces skill cooldowns by 10% upon activation]
[You have plundered…]
The guild members were not standing far apart from one another.
Almost the instant he killed the two mages,
John activated Shift again.
His figure flashed, narrowly avoiding several longswords slashing toward him.
When he appeared again, he was already behind a warrior like a ghost.
[-1589!]
The basic dagger, after its values had been modified, dealt explosive damage!
Even a warrior, known for high defense, was no sturdier than a squishy target before him.
[You have plundered the B-rank talent: HP Recovery]
[HP Recovery: Continuously restores 1% HP for 10 seconds upon activation]
Three instant kills in a row.
And he could still evade every attack perfectly.
The sight made the remaining players shudder with fear.
What kind of monstrous talent was this?
Someone tried to beg for mercy.
But in the very next moment, a crimson damage number popped up above his head.
He was cut down on the spot and sent straight back to Novice Village for revival.
Clearly, it was more than ten people versus John alone.
But now it had completely turned into a one-sided slaughter by John.
The plain white-quality dagger in his hand had become the scythe of death.
Every time it fell, another life was easily reaped.
[-1506!]
Another instant kill.
The archer Adam was taken down by John.
[You have plundered the A-rank talent: Boundary Break]
[Boundary Break: Increases attack range by 50% upon activation!]
At this point, more than a dozen corpses already lay scattered crookedly around John.
He had nearly wiped out the entire guild by himself.
Only the warrior Kaer remained.
In his previous life, it had been this traitorous disciple who personally dug out John's heart.
From the moment John killed the two mages, Kaer had turned and run without looking back.
By now, he had already made it more than fifty meters away.
Even with Shift, John would not be able to catch him.
But John was not flustered in the slightest.
Unhurriedly, he opened the panel for the newly obtained [Boundary Break] talent.
His System Points had once again accumulated to 2500.
"That's enough."
John decisively spent 500 points and directly modified it to the upper limit.
In an instant, the range value shot up from 50% to 550%!
"My dear disciple, your master will send you off to reunite with them now."
John locked onto Kaer's figure and suddenly hurled the dagger with a flick of his hand!
At the same time, the Boundary Break talent activated.
A dagger that should only have been able to travel a few meters now shot out like a meteor under the talent's enhancement.
In the blink of an eye, it struck Kaer squarely in the head.
The force was so great
that Kaer's skull burst apart like a watermelon.
His headless corpse toppled to the ground.
[You have plundered the A-rank talent: Berserk]
[Berserk: Increases attack power by 50% for 10 seconds upon activation]
With Kaer's death,
the surroundings finally fell completely silent.
Twelve corpses.
The twelve murderers who had sent John to the altar in his previous life had all been killed and plundered by him!
Looking at those corpses, John felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
"This is only the interest. Next, I'll slowly collect the blood debt in full!"
He picked up his dagger, found a relatively clean rock, and sat down.
Just now, he had been too focused on revenge to modify the talent values.
Now that he finally had a moment to breathe, it was the perfect time to sort through and adjust them carefully.
"The early-game equipment isn't worth much.
The only truly valuable gains are these twelve plundered talents."
John opened the talent panel.
The first thing worth paying attention to was naturally Universal Synthesis, the talent he had plundered from Guild Leader Sein.
As the only S-rank talent among them,
the effect of Universal Synthesis was at least decent.
"Collect 200 items of the same category and same rank to synthesize one item of the next higher rank."
For example, if John collected 200 Novice Robes, he could synthesize them into a higher-grade F-rank cloth armor.
"Needing 200 items before it can activate… this talent's rank feels a little inflated."
John frowned.
That was because the drop rates in this game were just too low.
Forget 200 items—even collecting 20 was already difficult.
If he wanted to truly gather 200 synthesizable items on his own,
he would probably have to wait until the end of time.
This talent was better suited for someone like Sein, who controlled an entire guild.
He could simply have his subordinates gather materials for him.
To an ordinary player, this talent would probably feel completely useless.
But John had System Points.
He directly opened the details page of Universal Synthesis and started frantically tapping the minus sign on that number 200.
Only when it could no longer be reduced did John stop.
"Modify!"
[190 System Points consumed. The required item count for Universal Synthesis has been modified to 10.]
After the modification, Universal Synthesis only required 10 items of the same category and same rank to directly synthesize a higher-rank item.
Those 190 points had been exceptionally well spent!
"At this point, this talent is probably already SS-rank, right?"
Based on John's understanding,
the talent ranks in Apocalypse ranged from F-rank to SSS-rank.
Item ranks followed the exact same system.
Simple and easy to remember.
After finishing the modification of Universal Synthesis, John began adjusting the other talents.
Although he had obtained twelve talents, in reality they only fell into five categories.
The first was the special sequence, like [Universal Synthesis].
The second was the cooldown-reduction sequence, like [CD Reduction].
The third was the recovery sequence, like [MP Recovery].
The fourth was the range-extension sequence, like [Boundary Break].
The fifth was the mobility Shift sequence, like [Shift].
All the other talents belonged to one of those five sequences.
Compared to the five main talents above, however, the others were only lower-tier versions within their respective sequences.
They did not have much modification value.
Moreover, after experimenting with adding points, John discovered that
when modifying multiple talents from the same sequence at the same time,
only the higher-rank talent would actually take effect.
For example, if he modified both the A-rank talent [Shift] and the B-rank talent [Swift Step] at once,
since both belonged to the Shift sequence,
only [Shift] would ultimately be recognized as active.
The same rule applied to equipment such as clothing and weapons.
Whichever had the higher rank would take effect.
After another round of point allocation,
the talents in all five major sequences had been modified to their upper limits.
Looking at the collection of talents before him, their ranks still uneven, John felt no concern at all.
"With 100% plunder success, raising every talent sequence to SSS-rank is only a matter of time!"
...
After modifying the talent values,
John rose to his feet and set his sights on the Lv.3 wolf still wandering nearby.
Even after he had just slaughtered so many guild members, that wolf was still leisurely roaming the area.
At that moment, it was lazily sprawled on the grass, basking in the sun, completely indifferent to the corpses around it.
John raised his dagger and said with a faint smile, "Monsters around Novice Village really are easy to kill. As long as you don't attack first, they won't enter an aggro state at all."
He tightened his grip on the dagger and activated the [Boundary Break] talent.
The wolf was instantly locked on.
Aim, gather strength, throw!
The entire motion flowed as smoothly as water.
The dagger shot out like a streak of cold light and pierced straight into the wolf's forehead with perfect accuracy.
The wolf had no time to react before its head exploded under the terrifying force.
[-1797!]
The wolf, with its 1300 HP, was killed on the spot.
[Killed Lv.3 Wolf, EXP +300!]
[Level increased to Lv.2!]
Sein's group had spent half an hour grinding just to get one person to Level 2.
John, on the other hand, leveled up almost instantly the moment he made his move.
That was the difference a talent made!
Unfortunately, the drop rate was just too low. No equipment dropped.
"Judging by the timing, those guys should have revived by now.
Time to head back."
John retrieved the dagger and turned toward Novice Village.
…
At the same time,
inside Novice Village,
at the Revival Spring,
members of the Opportunists Guild were reviving one after another.
Sein was the first to come back.
He staggered out, pale-faced, clutching his throat.
The pain simulation in Apocalypse was extremely realistic.
The agony of having his throat slit by a dagger before death had left Sein covered in cold sweat even now.
"I... got killed?"
Sein lowered his head—and immediately noticed something was wrong.
All of his equipment, even the clothes on his body, were gone!
Not only that.
The moment Sein instinctively opened his status panel, his mind went blank.
"Where's my talent?"
The golden, shining [Universal Synthesis] that had previously occupied his talent slot had vanished without a trace.
"No... impossible... how could it disappear...?"
Sein muttered to himself, panic rapidly spreading across his face.
He refreshed the panel frantically, but [Universal Synthesis] never reappeared.
Splash!
Another person emerged from the Revival Spring.
It was the swordsman Raymond.
His situation was exactly the same as Sein's—completely naked, with his talent mysteriously gone.
"Fuck! Where the hell is my sword? My gear?!"
Raymond stared at his empty hands and hurriedly covered himself in panic.
Then came—
the warrior Kaer, the blond mage Pierre, the sword-and-shield fighter Hansen, Vice Guild Leader Ham...
One after another, the members of the Opportunists Guild crawled out of the Revival Spring.
When they saw that everyone else was also stark naked,
their expressions became absolutely priceless.
It was as though all of them had been struck by the same curse.
Talents, equipment, copper coins—all gone!
Even their novice starter outfits had disappeared!
A whole group of them stood there bare-assed in the Revival Spring, like a flock of plucked chickens.
The scene was ridiculous beyond words.
Passing female players and female NPCs all stopped to watch, covering their mouths as they giggled.
"Huh? Why is there a bunch of naked guys over here?"
"Tsk tsk, the server's only just opened and we already have a whole group of perverts."
Some bolder female players even pointed at Sein and laughed.
"Heeheehee, look at that guy—so tiny."
Sein's face instantly turned the color of pig liver.
Covering himself with one hand, he roared, "Get the hell out of here! Keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out!"
The crowd fell quiet for a moment—
then erupted into even louder laughter.
"He's mad, he's mad. Tiny down there, but huge temper."
"Put on some pants before you start yelling!"
"If I were him, I'd already have quit the game."
Every mocking word drilled into Sein's ears, making him tremble with rage.
Grinding his teeth, he roared, "John! I'm going to kill you!!!"
"G-Guild Leader," someone behind him asked timidly, "without our talents and equipment... how are we supposed to get revenge?"
Sein took a deep breath and forcibly calmed himself down.
His face darkened.
"I've built up some connections over the years.
When the time comes, I'll borrow some copper coins first and buy a basic set of white-grade gear to make do while we develop.
Even if I have to borrow money, I'll tear John to pieces.
Otherwise, he'll ruin my reputation completely!"
Vice Guild Leader Hansen, one hand covering his crotch, asked cautiously, "Equipment can be bought with money... but what about talents?
That kind of thing... doesn't seem like something money can buy, right?"
Sein froze.
Then he fell into silence.
In the game Apocalypse,
there was almost only one chance to obtain a talent.
That was when a player first logged into the game— the system would randomly assign an F- to SSS-rank talent based on the player's class.
Once assigned, it could no longer be changed.
The only other way to obtain a new talent afterward
was through a Talent Stone, which would only appear in the later stages of the game.
But at this point in time, the only person in the entire game who knew how to obtain a Talent Stone
was the reborn John.
So for Sein's group, it was almost impossible to ever gain talents again.
The moment Sein realized that,
his mentality completely exploded.
He started cursing wildly.
"Bastard! I never should've taken in that ungrateful little traitor in the first place.
All that trash assassin knows how to do is sneak attack and betray people!
That dog bastard—if he's got the guts, let him fight me one-on-one. I'd crush that piece of garbage with one hand—"
Bang!
Before Sein could finish cursing, a tremendous force struck the back of his head.
His whole body flew through the air like a kite with its string cut.
Sein rolled across the ground several times like an old dog.
By the time he scrambled back up, half his HP was already gone.
His ears rang violently as he struggled to look up.
Only then did he see that a figure had appeared where he had been standing just moments earlier.
It was none other than John, who had returned from the wilderness!
Fights inside Novice Village were extremely rare.
This scene immediately attracted a huge crowd of players.
Even the NPCs in the village came over after hearing the commotion.
"J-o-h-n!" Sein shrieked in a trembling voice.
He had no idea when the other man had appeared behind him.
But one thing was obvious—
John had just sent him flying with a single slap.
He had even lost half his HP from that one blow!
"You bastard actually dared to come back to the village!"
With so many players and NPCs witnessing his disgrace, and with his enemy standing right in front of him,
Sein had completely lost his mind.
"I'll kill you!"
With a furious roar, Sein directly yanked a short blade from the side of a village militiaman.
"Die!"
Screaming shrilly, he slashed at John.
The sight made the surrounding crowd cry out in alarm at once.
The short blades carried by the Novice Village militia were no joke—a single strike might well kill someone!
And yet—
faced with the crazed Sein hacking at him,
John did not dodge.
He did not even blink.
Clang!
The short blade struck the cloth robe on John's body.
And astonishingly, it produced a loud metallic collision sound, sending sparks flying.
A huge white damage number appeared above John's head.
[-0!]
That strike had dealt absolutely no damage at all!
...
[-0!]
The moment that white damage number appeared,
the entire scene fell silent.
Everyone's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"Is that really the same Novice Robe we're all wearing?"
"Damn it, it even sparked on impact, and you're calling that cloth armor?"
"This guy has to be cheating!"
Out of everyone present, the most shocked was undoubtedly Sein.
Staring at the completely unharmed John, he looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"How is that possible?!"
Among everyone there,
only John knew just how absurd the defense of his modified cloth robe really was.
Forget a mere dagger—
even an F-rank weapon might not be able to break his defense.
Woooo—!!!
At that moment,
a shrill warning sound suddenly rang out beside John's ears.
[You have been maliciously attacked by another player. The attacker has been marked with a red name. You may retaliate freely!]
[Player "Sein" has been marked with a red name and will now be wanted by the NPC authorities!]
In John's vision, Sein's name turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The game mechanics in Zone 5 were more unique compared to the other four zones.
That was because Zone 5 was the gathering place for unaffiliated players.
In the wilderness, player killing was unrestricted and would not result in a red name.
That was why John had killed twelve people in the wild earlier without being marked red.
But inside Novice Village or any main city, using any weapon to attack another player was strictly forbidden.
Once violated, the offender would be punished with a wanted status.
No matter which main city they went to, they would be hunted down by guards throughout the entire city.
Then why was it that John, despite clearly being the one who struck first earlier,
had not received any red-name penalty?
That was because he had made use of a little-known mechanic.
Inside Novice Village or a main city, as long as you did not use weapons and only fought others barehanded, it would not be treated as PvP.
Of course, it also meant you could not kill other players inside Novice Village or a main city.
The victim's HP would be locked at 1 point.
As for why John knew this so clearly—
he had to thank those people from the Opportunists Guild in his previous life.
Whenever trouble came up, they would always push the blame onto him.
In his past life, John had been forced out many times to take the beatings and humiliation for them.
Over time, he had naturally become extremely familiar with this mechanic.
"To thank you all, it's about time you got a taste of being beaten yourselves."
John let out a cold laugh.
The next instant,
he lunged forward and drove a kick straight into Sein's chest.
Sein staggered back two steps and fell to the ground.
John pressed the advantage. One foot pinned Sein to the floor by the chest while he crouched down and clenched his fist.
Bang!
A heavy punch smashed into Sein's face,
sending several teeth flying.
His HP instantly plummeted to 1, entering the forced lock state.
"So this is you pretending to be the good guy?"
Bang!
Sein's cheek swelled up high.
"Aren't you usually so good at acting? Go on—keep acting!"
Bang!
Punch after punch,
John was like a tireless machine, hammering his fists into Sein's face over and over.
By the end, Sein's face was nearly ruined, reduced to a bloody mess.
And the pain simulation in the game was extremely realistic.
Sein screamed miserably in agony.
"Stop! How dare you hit me—ahhh!
Stop hitting me! Stop!"
John had no intention of stopping.
Even after Sein's face had become so mangled it barely looked human anymore, he kept punching with the same steady rhythm and force.
Sein completely broke down.
He struggled to roar at the guild members nearby,
"What the hell are you all staring at?! Save me!
If he's using his fists, then use yours too!"
The guild members over there exchanged looks, only then realizing that the one getting beaten was their own guild leader.
"Bastard! Let go of our leader!"
Vice Guild Leader Hansen roared and was just about to make a move.
But from behind the crowd, a neat, synchronized series of footsteps suddenly rang out.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
The crowd immediately scattered, making way.
A squad of guards in matching standard armor strode forward.
The long spears in their hands gleamed coldly, filling the onlookers with fear.
At the front was a blonde, blue-eyed female knight.
Her voice was icy and commanding.
"Everyone, step back!"
The captain of the guards had spoken, and the crowd immediately retreated.
At that same moment, John decisively stopped beating Sein and let go of the man, who had already been pummeled into a swollen pig's head.
The female knight stepped forward slowly, her gaze sweeping over Sein on the ground and the dagger lying beside him.
Under everyone's watchful eyes,
she announced in a clear voice:
"Player Sein, you have violated Articles One and Two of the Apocalypse Novice Code!
First, you used a weapon to attack another player within the safe zone of Novice Village!
Second, you stole an NPC's personal weapon, aggravating the offense!
The two crimes will now be punished together!"
The female knight pronounced the sentence in public.
"In the name of a knight, I hereby pass judgment upon Player Sein.
You are sentenced to imprisonment in the dungeon for seventy-two hours.
Furthermore, after your release, your red-name status will remain for forty-eight hours!
The sentence will be carried out immediately!"
As soon as her words fell,
two fully armed guards stepped forward and hauled Sein to his feet.
The moment Sein heard the punishment,
his face turned deathly pale.
Seventy-two hours in prison during the novice phase?
Inside the dungeon cell, he would not be able to do anything at all.
Seventy-two hours in the beginner stage was enough to leave him far behind everyone else!
Worst of all, Sein was still only Level 1.
By the time he got out, other players might already have started raiding dungeons!
"No! I refuse to admit guilt! You can't do this to me!
He was clearly the one who struck first! Why am I the only one being imprisoned?!"
Sein roared in powerless berserk rage.
He wanted his guild members to save him.
But when he turned his head to look—
those people had already scattered like frightened birds the moment the guards appeared.
At that moment, the selfish nature of the Opportunists Guild was fully exposed.
The female knight gave a cold snort.
"Take him away!"
Sein's screams gradually faded into the distance.
For the next seventy-two hours, that man would be spending his time in a dark, damp prison cell.
John watched the scene expressionlessly.
He knew Sein's personality well.
Once released, the man would definitely resort to any means possible to take revenge on him.
But—
so what?
If John could kill him once, then he could kill him countless times!
What was more, seventy-two hours later, whether Sein would still even be the guild leader of Opportunists was hard to say.
"What a pity. This time I only got revenge on Sein."
John swept his gaze across the crowd but found no trace of the other guild members.
A little regretful, he dusted off his hands and prepared to leave.
"Wait!"
A cool, crisp voice stopped him.
John halted and turned back.
It was the female knight.
A sharp light flickered in her beautiful eyes as she looked him up and down.
Her gaze lingered for a long time on the dagger at his waist and the cloth robe he was wearing.
Given the intelligence level of NPCs in the world of Apocalypse, she had clearly realized that the attributes of John's equipment were far from ordinary.
"Your strength… is impressive."
The female knight's tone had softened considerably.
She stared straight at John.
"As it happens, our village has recently encountered some trouble, and we need someone strong like you to deal with it.
I wonder if you'd be interested?"
When John heard that, his pupils contracted slightly.
Had he triggered a hidden quest?
...
A hidden quest would usually only be triggered after completing prerequisite tasks or meeting certain special conditions.
At that moment, this female knight had suddenly called out to John.
It was obvious that John's stats had met the conditions needed to trigger the quest.
John did not agree immediately. After a moment's consideration, he asked, "Can I know what kind of quest it is first?"
The female knight nodded. "Of course."
A trace of complexity appeared on her face.
"Recently, about ten kilometers south of the village entrance, we discovered a large underground tomb complex.
According to our investigation, there is a vast amount of treasure inside.
If we can bring that treasure back, our village's strength will increase tremendously.
However, we have already sent more than a dozen teams inside to excavate it.
Not a single one returned. Every one of them went in and never came back.
Until last time, one person finally made it back by sheer luck.
According to him, there is a ghostly curse inside the tomb complex.
Anyone cursed by it must remain in the tomb forever as part of the burial."
At that point, a hint of fear appeared on the female knight's face.
"To prevent the ghosts inside from coming out and harming the villagers, the village spent a great sum of money to hire a cleric from the main city.
That cleric was a powerful Level 10 expert and also wielded divine arts specifically effective against ghost-type creatures.
But after entering the tomb complex, even he fell there.
Right now, the entire village is in a state of panic, all worried that they will suffer retaliation from the ghosts.
You are the strongest warrior I have seen so far.
If possible, we would like to entrust you with solving the problem of that tomb complex.
If you succeed, you will be generously rewarded."
After listening to the female knight's explanation, John immediately understood.
In his previous life, he just so happened to know about this quest.
Under the original conditions, it would normally only be triggered after the player had reached a certain level and sparred with this female knight.
And the reward was indeed generous: an excellent Class Change Scroll.
In the game Apocalypse, players needed a Class Change Scroll if they wanted to advance into a different class.
The earlier one changed class, the greater the advantage!
In his previous life, John had gone through countless hardships just to obtain a Class Change Scroll.
Who would have thought that this time, he would be able to get one so easily? It was truly an unexpected delight.
"Warrior, are you willing to accept this quest?" the female knight asked again.
John readily agreed. "No problem. Leave it to me."
The moment he chose to accept the quest,
a panel immediately appeared in his vision.
[Hidden Quest]: Ghosts in the Depths of the Tomb
[Difficulty]: A-rank
[Quest Objective]: Enter the underground tomb complex and eliminate all the ghosts inside
[Quest Reward]: A-rank Random Treasure Chest ×1
[Note]: This is a special hidden quest and cannot be abandoned
…
An A-rank quest—
in his previous life, the first player to complete it had at least reached Level 20.
Yet at this moment, John had accepted it at only Level 2.
If other players were to find out, they would probably think he had gone insane.
But only John knew that, in terms of raw stats, his current self was absolutely no weaker than any Level 10 player.
A mere A-rank quest was not enough to make him afraid!
"Still, before that, I need to make some other preparations first."
After accepting the hidden quest,
John started walking away from the crowd.
The onlookers had long since come to fear him like a tiger and all took the initiative to step aside.
Under the wary and respectful gazes of the crowd, John's figure gradually disappeared at the end of the street.
The moment he was gone,
the crowd instantly exploded into heated discussion, excitedly speculating about John's identity.
"Who exactly is that guy? The twelve people at Revival Spring just now—weren't they all killed by him?"
"One person wiped out an entire squad. Damn, that's insane."
"Is the assassin class really this strong? If I'd known earlier, I would've picked assassin too!"
Within the crowd,
however, there were a few people who did not join the discussion.
They silently stared in the direction John had left, their eyes flickering.
One robed mage quietly moved away from the crowd and contacted his guild leader.
[At present, the guild system has not yet been unlocked in the game, so these are all real-world guild forces.]
"Boss, a tough one has shown up in Novice Village.
He's an assassin. It looks like he wiped out an entire squad by himself, and it even seemed to be a professional team.
And his speed is a little too abnormal. He's definitely an expert!"
His guild leader soon sent back a reply:
"Keep an eye on him. Investigate his background first. Do not approach him for now."
The mage player acknowledged the order and silently set off in pursuit in the direction John had disappeared.
It was obvious that quite a few intelligence agents from the major guilds were stationed inside Novice Village.
There were at least three players like that mage hidden among the crowd alone.
As elite players from major guilds, what they had seen just now was far more than just the values John had displayed.
As a groundbreaking game, Apocalypse had recreated details so realistically that it was almost like reality itself.
The positioning control and hand-to-hand combat techniques John had shown just now were absolutely not something a beginner could pull off.
Only a true expert could make use of such experience and skill with that degree of mastery.
What those guild intelligence operatives did not know, however,
was that in his previous life, John had already gone through countless life-and-death battles and killed more monsters than he could count.
Those abilities had been carved into his bones.
Even after being reborn, he could still use them with ease.
And with the support of the system on top of that, it would be difficult for him not to become an expert!
…
Meanwhile, after leaving Novice Village, John had no idea that he had already been targeted by the major guilds.
But even if he had known, he would not have cared much.
With the power of the Supreme Modification System, along with his plundering talent,
he alone was equivalent to an entire guild!
That was exactly why John dared to roam about so recklessly.
At that moment, however, what concerned him more was something else.
"I killed those former teammates of mine and collected 500 copper coins.
What can 500 copper coins actually buy?"
Even though John currently possessed extremely high stats, that was still a D-rank dungeon.
To be safe, he needed to make a few more preparations.
After checking all the items he currently had,
John turned his attention to those 500 copper coins.
Copper coins were the lowest-tier currency in this world.
Normally, they could only be used to buy some ordinary food or medicine.
But in the early stages, obtaining money was extremely difficult.
Even a top guild like Opportunists had needed nearly an entire hour of grinding with all members working together just to scrape together these 500 copper coins.
Five hundred copper coins seemed to be enough only to buy a slightly better piece of cloth armor.
And even then, its attributes still would not compare to the modified Novice Robe he was currently wearing.
"There's no need to buy equipment. What I have on me is already more than enough.
But 500 copper coins is just enough to buy a money pouch."
A glint flickered in John's eyes as information about the money pouch surfaced in his mind.
As one of the rare permanently bound items in Apocalypse,
a money pouch could protect a player's coins from dropping after death.
It prevented the situation where all the money one had painstakingly saved up would end up being lost in a dungeon.
And its price was extremely affordable—only 500 copper coins.
It could be purchased in any shop in a Novice Village or main city.
What John cared about most, however, was the fact that it counted as an item.
"If it's an item… then I should be able to use System Points to modify its values too, right?"
