The Level 4 Bone Sword's most significant upgrade? Ares's attack skyrocketed by another 100 points.
His attack now stood at a whopping 121!
More than 24 times his starting value!
This insane jump let Ares tear through the level 10 monster zone like a hot knife through butter.
After slaying a dozen or so level 10 monsters, Ares noticed something different.
His Evolution Point gains had changed.
Each level 10 monster now gave him 2 Evolution Points.
He'd racked up almost 30 in no time!
Ares was ecstatic.
"At this rate, I only need to kill 500 level 10 monsters to get to 1000."
"500 is a lot. Would higher-level monsters give more?"
Ares made a beeline for the level 20 zone.
A transparent barrier stopped him dead in his tracks.
On the other side, a level 20 monster yawned lazily.
Ares changed direction, trying different routes while continuing his slaughter.
By the time he'd accumulated 200 Evolution Points, he grudgingly admitted defeat. He couldn't get through.
Was it his level?
Ares glanced at his barely-moved experience bar and started calculating.
At low levels, high attack = efficiency = fast leveling!
Ares knew the value of a sharp blade. He shifted gears, prioritizing Evolution Points.
He ditched the level 10 monsters, focusing on level 15.
Level 15 and above yielded 3 Evolution Points per kill.
Even level 19 only gave 3.
Monster HP scaled significantly from level 10 onwards.
Each level added 200 HP.
Level 10: 100 HP. Level 11: 300 HP. Level 12: 500 HP… and so on.
Level 15 monsters had 1100 HP.
Level 19: 1900 HP.
For the same Evolution Point gain…
Killing a level 19 monster took 16 hits. A level 15 monster took 10.
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The abysmal 0.01% experience conversion rate meant the experience difference between level 15 and 19 monsters was negligible.
Ares did the math and chose the most efficient path to Evolution Points.
Two hours later…
Ares's bone sword was finally saturated with gold light. The Level 4 Bone Sword became a Level 5 Gold Bone Sword.
Tiny streams of light flowed across its surface, dazzling to behold.
Ares barely glanced at it, his focus on his attack stat.
[Attack: 1121]
One-shotting level 15 monsters.
Two-shotting level 19 monsters!
More importantly, his panel had changed.
The gray skeletal figure now had a shimmering golden right arm, marked "Unlocked."
The grayed-out [Talent 2] was also shimmering.
Ares immediately unlocked his right arm, checking the upgrade cost.
Same as the bone sword.
The next unlock required a Level 5 right arm and a Level 6 bone sword.
Upgrading his Level 5 Gold Bone Sword to Level 6 required 10,000 Evolution Points!
Plus the 1116 for his arm, that's a total of 11,116.
3706 level 15+ monsters.
Even though Ares didn't feel tired, he couldn't help but clack his bony jaw.
This would take a while. Could he manage another upgrade before Mordred Blackwood logged back in?
Ares pondered, but his hands didn't stop.
Time was of the essence.
For the next ten hours, Ares went on a monster-slaying rampage.
...
Meanwhile, in the real world, Mordred Blackwood had trashed his room.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"Damn James!"
"Damn that mutant skeleton!"
Mordred Blackwood sat on his bed, panting, cursing the player who'd kicked him out of the newbie village and his disobedient skeleton.
A month ago, a virtual reality game called "Genesis" had descended upon Earth, pulling everyone asleep into its virtual world.
When they woke up and logged out, they discovered they could bring some of their in-game abilities back to reality.
Chaos ensued.
Global order collapsed. Even governments couldn't contain the escalating violence.
In just three days, the death toll reached unimaginable levels.
Panic gripped the world. Those who hadn't entered the game initially, due to work or other reasons, scrambled to find ways to sleep.
Sleep meant logging in, grinding, and leveling up.
Everyone knew the early days were crucial for gaining an advantage.
People popped sleeping pills to stay in the game as long as possible. Every second counted.
Three days of bloodshed had proven one thing:
Death in the game wasn't real death, but the abilities brought back to reality could kill.
These abilities were their survival tools.
Dying in the game meant a 24-hour lockout.
Mordred Blackwood wasn't waiting that long. He'd logged off at critical health.
He hadn't died in-game, but he had to wait for his HP to regenerate before logging back in.
Twelve long hours!
Healing equipment would have shortened the wait, but Mordred Blackwood didn't have any.
He was stuck.
He hadn't dared to leave his room.
A month of turmoil later, governments and militaries had restored some semblance of order, implementing new laws. Open conflict was less common, but Mordred Blackwood was still terrified.
Two men stood guard outside his door. James's men.
James hadn't just driven him out of the newbie village.
He was trying to kill him in real life too.
Mordred Blackwood was seething with hatred.
All because he had slept with James's girlfriend.
Was it really necessary to try and erase him completely? If Mordred had a girlfriend, he wouldn't mind sharing her with others!
"Just you wait. Once I'm back in Genesis, I'll regain control of that mutant skeleton, level up fast, and get my revenge!"
Once James was dead, his girlfriend would be his again.
The memory of her moans that night fueled his excitement. Ignoring the mess around him and the danger outside, he grabbed a roll of toilet paper and started masturbating.
The thin walls offered little soundproofing. The two men outside exchanged disgusted glances.
The one with the scar spat on the ground.
"Fucking hell. If it wasn't against the new laws, I'd go in there and cut his dick off."
The man with short hair patted his shoulder.
"Relax. He's a dead man walking. He pissed off James big time. He's getting wiped out, in-game and IRL."
The scarred man snorted.
"Is the relief coming soon? Once I'm in the game, I'm gonna cut that prick's dick off and make a goddamn hotdog out of it."