The night passed slowly as sleep eluded me.

For safety, I had secured my chain around both the trunk and my torso, a precaution against the branch I was on giving way.

The roots had stopped climbing, but they remained a few meters away, covering the base of the tree.

It was unsettling.

However, what worried me even more was the possibility of encountering a Drifter.

I knew there was at least one lurking around, a formidable presence.

My eyes scanned the darkness relentlessly.

I doubted their ability to climb, but anything was possible in Hell.

After all, all the problems I had faced so far were somehow related to my overconfidence. I couldn't afford to underestimate Hell.

I remained still on my branch, sitting with my back against the trunk.

Only my head turned to check my surroundings.

I felt bored.

I wanted to open my screen and ponder where to allocate my talent points.

A question echoed in my mind: "What if the Drifters can see screens? They're part of the system, after all." Doubting, I decided to keep it shut.

Suddenly, amid the night's stillness, the moonlight cut through, throwing a white sheen over everything in sight.

The clouds must have cleared. Looking around, I saw no Drifters.

But as I lowered my gaze, I noticed that the roots had slightly closed in.

I needed to move.

I looked up and realized I wasn't far from the top.

I decided to hoist myself up to the highest branch.

Using my chain as a rope, I climbed up with the strength of my arms.

"Maybe I should invest some points in my strength," I thought as I reached the branch.

My arms were sore, and the skin on my hands burned.

I was probably around 25 yards high now, just below the tree's canopy.

I saw the sky closer than ever before. Even back in the village, the sky had never seemed so well within reach.

I was right under a massive, shining moon. And far in the distance, I saw the second Moon of Hell for the first time.

It was during their alignment that debt payments were made.

It sent shivers down my spine, but the spectacle before my eyes was so magnificent that I almost forgot the horrors Hell had subjected me to.

I had heard that the Sun was a huge ball of magic floating above us, burning all its energy during the day. Then it "extinguished" gradually for the night, becoming the Moon.

It recharged itself while still reflecting the light of the other Moon.

The other Moon never lit up, apparently.

I didn't know if all of this was true; it was the vague explanation I had received from the farmers I worked with. Maybe their brains had been fried due to a lack of DP.

Now, I was high enough to escape the reach of the roots, and the intense moonlight could cloak the glow of my screen from any passing Drifter.

I secured myself around the trunk again and sat on my branch.

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Once I opened my screen, I examined my profile. I had 8 talent points to allocate, which was more than before my resurrection.

So, my class had advantages other than my power.

I had the option to invest these points in my stats, chain stats, or control ability to reduce the chain's stamina consumption.

I noticed that my stamina bar was low, and upon closer inspection, I realized it was due to using the large chain.

Logically, the large chain consumed more energy than the small one I had around my neck.

But its usage cost seemed to be 10 times higher.

In summary, I could only use the large chain for two or three minutes before collapsing.

I put aside the idea of improving my body stats for now.

I hesitated between investing the points in the strength of my chain or reducing its consumption.

Speed and resistance seemed like characteristics that could wait.

I was in doubt when a new option appeared: perception.

All the players I had encountered had invested points in perception. I couldn't underestimate this ability.

Finally, I decided to divide my points equally, allocating 4 to the strength of my chain and the remaining 4 to reduce its consumption.

I hoped to gain some offensive power.

As I added these points, I felt my chains subtly tremble.

I felt it as if they were part of my body.

I was eager to test them right away to see what they were capable of, but I had to be patient.

Next, I looked at the rest of my stats, but I didn't find anything particularly interesting.

I requested more information about classes in general. Perhaps I had unlocked information by becoming an enlightened.

The screen displayed the details of the six available classes, along with a number.

ASSASSIN: 99,999,999,999+

ARCHER: 99,999,999,999+

BRUTE: 99,999,999,999+

KNIGHT: 99,999,999,999+

MAGE: 99,999,999,999+

MERCHANT: 63,911,342,031

SECRET CLASSES:

ENLIGHTENED: 37

"What is this? The total number of players in each class? Are we that many?" I thought.

Encountering other players was so rare that I had convinced myself that we were only a few.

What a mistake.

Hell must be vast if there were so many players.

Even the Merchant class, supposedly less popular, had a significant number of representatives.

It was only after seeing that that my eyes caught the name of my class. And that number: 37.

There were only 37 Enlightened in Hell.

It was both a lot and a little.

A lot, because the conditions to become one seemed particularly difficult.

Little, because with so many people in Hell, it was almost impossible that so few had met those conditions.

In fact, 37 sounded too few.

This led to a new explanation: the Enlightened did not live long.

The difficulty brought by such weak power, a debt bar to fill, and the risks that had to be taken to fill it. "It's not a blessing," I muttered.

But something else caught my attention, in front of me I had the details of each class.

The Assassin was a class with speed as its strong point. Its unpredictable attacks and movements made it a threat to the most fragile classes, such as mages and archers.

The Archer had powerful long-range attacks and great flexibility and endurance. This gave them an advantage over slower classes like brutes and knights.

The Brute had the highest attack power and great vitality. This gave them an advantage over melee classes like assassins and knights.

The Knight had the best defense and a good attack. This gave them an advantage over other melee classes like brutes and assassins.

The Mage had great flexibility and a good attack, giving them an advantage against slower and rigid classes like knights and brutes.

These pieces of information were provided by the screen.

It was the first time it had given me so much information.

It was strange, almost unsettling.

Hell never provided information without a reason.

Why did it want me to know all this? Was it a trap?

I decided to keep these pieces of information in the back of my mind while remaining cautious.

"I wonder who I have an advantage against," I wondered.

The power of the Enlightened was so unpredictable that it must have been challenging to classify them.

I had spent some time contemplating the different classes. Then I took out my map and looked at the path I had traveled.

I had run south, so I was far from the village.

If I managed to sneak back there, I would have access to so many Turcos that I could reach level 50, maybe even higher.

But I stood no chance against so many enemies.

The Guardians may be cowards, but I had no doubt about their strength.

So, I returned to my original plan: retrieving the Drifter's sword from the hole.

Now that I had my large chain and had improved its strength, maybe it was possible to immobilize even a Hellish monster.

But that's when I felt the tree I was sitting on vibrating.

I looked downward.

There, far below, the moonlight illuminated a creature wielding a long bone sword.

A Drifter.

It was violently attacking the base of the tree.

It had seen me and was trying to make me fall.

If it succeeded, I would end up devoured.