"You know what you have to do, right?" Asked Jasmine.

"Yeah, I do,"

Once I level up, the 'Enhanced Perception skill' will be the skill I aim to unlock.

Just being able to see, hear and smell far beyond the scope of human comprehension sounds awesome.

And I'll be able to use all three senses at the same time?

'How amazing,'

The excitement in me keeps bubbling up by the second.

Since my current experience point was above 300, I have a skill point already.

Although, I'm saving it for a level 2 skill, I hope to unlock as well.

Once we were done, Jasmine and I set out to grind more kobolds and wolves.

After our heartfelt exchange of words and mostly fists, we bonded a bit.

I guess.

Now, we are working more like a team.

Fighting and planning together to clear every monster that comes our way.

We obtained several gold coins from the kobold caves we cleared.

Countless hours passed and now, we've finally managed to obtain our objective.

Yes, that's right. Both of us had leveled up, but that's not all, we had also acquired the required gold coins to purchase a potion.

Of course, Jasmine had bought and healed herself before I did.

Now, it was my turn to buy a potion. I purchased a healing potion at the price of a thousand gold coins.

'Honestly, why does it have to be so expensive?'

A glowing red apothecary jar appeared in front of me.

I pulled the cap off the jar and swigged the potion in five gulps like a beverage.

My body began to glow and I could feel my dislocated rib cages making crackling sounds as it repairs back to their proper place.

The scar on my face, caused by a wolf also healed, and before I could blink three times, every bone, scar, and wound on my body had been completely healed.

My body was as good as new.

It felt so.....

"It's amazing, right?" Asked Jasmine with a smile.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Yes it is," I replied, then clutched my hands before releasing them again.

It was just wonderful.

The feeling of having the pain I felt in every part of my body vanishing before me was surreal.

I summoned my system panel and skimmed through the list of available skills I could unlock as a level 2 player now.

Aside from being given a skill point upon leveling, I was also awarded five character points as well.

The number of character points being afforded to players leveling up just shows how cruel the elves were.

Most games I've heard of, grant players ten character points upon leveling up, but ours is five.

It's pretty clear what their objective is.

And that's to see everyone dead before the hundredth day.

"So, what's the skill you've unlocked?" She asked.

I unlocked the two skills I had in mind all along. The Archery skill and The Enhanced Perception skill as well.

[Ding! New Skill (Enhanced Perception skill) Acquired.]

[Acquired skill: Enhanced Perception skill.]

[Level requirement: Level 2.]

[Effect:: You will be able to perceive your surroundings during daylight or around dark places.]

[Consumes: Hunger bar.]

[Required Attributes: STR (2), DEX (2), and STA (2).]

[Note: It enhances your sense of smell, sight, and hearing within a ten-meter radius. The distance increases gradually as the skill proficiency level increases.]

With the first skill obtained, I strolled to the next skill I wanted.

[Ding! New Skill (Archery skill) Acquired.]

[Acquired skill: Archery skill.]

[Level requirement: Level 2.]

[Consumes: Hunger bar.]

[Effect:: Player has a 40% chance of making a critical hit when using a bow and arrow and a selected few precision-related weapons.]

[Required Attributes: STA (2), DEX (2), and PRE (2).]

[Note: You have a 40% chance of obtaining a skein thread from any type of monster. The skein thread can be used in crafting regular bows.]

"So, what do you think about the skill?" I asked as I offered Jasmine the Archery skill.

She gasped as she read the contents of the skill. "I love it," She beamed, then pouted a bit before adding.

"Why didn't you tell me, you had this skill in mind the whole time," She nudged me but couldn't hold back the excited look she had on her face.

I simply shrugged with a smile.

I've been thinking a lot about what Jasmine said, and she's right, I do have to loosen up a bit.

But finding fun in this death game might be a little too extreme for me, but if I could see her smiling more like right now, then my remaining days in this game might just be worth spending every second with her.

Aside from having a Katana as her primary weapon, Jasmine spoke of the idea of having a crossbow as well.

Of course, this interests me as well, with it being a long-range weapon.

But unlike the crossbow, I'm aiming for something a little different.

Although, the idea of using such a weapon came to mind because it could be really useful whenever I'm out of ammo.

The skill book would benefit us both, and I wanted to gift her this skill book as an expression of my gratitude.

Without her forewarning, I wouldn't have suspected a thing about the 'Enhanced Perception skill'.

And right now, I'm possessing powers akin to vampires and werewolves in movies with my newly improved sense of sight, smell, and hearing.

Just how cool is that?

Once we were done, we decided to dispose of the skill books.

Unfortunately, just like our presumption, Jasmine is unable to acquire the perception skill due to already unlocking the 'Enhanced Vision' skill.

All she has to do now is to get her hands on the 'Enhanced Hearing and Smell' skill.

"Can you see your bounty now?" Jasmine asked as we headed straight to the truck.

"I can,"

"So what is it?" She asked and then added. "I told you it would appear once you've leveled up,"

"It's 80 gold coins,"

" Huh? Really? But you have six kills, right?"

" Yeah, I do, but I'm thinking it has to do with the number of kills in general and not just the killing of players alone."

"I guess you do have a point,"

"Um, you do know that going into the labyrinth isn't different from going on a suicide mission,"

" It doesn't matter," Jasmine happily shrugged. " With our teamwork, we'll be able to handle it together,"

"You think so, huh?"

"I know we can do it. The same goes for the Obsidian key as well," She boldly declared.

_______

The total number of players currently in the game: 78,020.

The number of deceased players: 10.

The total number of deceased players: 1,980.