"Bro, are you pretending to be a newbie to mess with us?"

Shino covered his face, unsure how to explain that he was actually a Vampire Duke who had been accidentally dragged into this game.

"Bro, team up?"

Team up?

Shino glanced at the screen before him, trying to piece together what he had heard from the others.

"What tier are you guys planning to do?"

"Definitely tier one. We're all just 1st Step in combat power. Going for tier two is just asking for death."

Shino's gaze drifted to the third tier. "Can anyone challenge tier three?"

"There have been people who tried in other worlds, but they didn’t pass."

"Big Boss, with this level of difference, it's like using a rifle against a tank!"

"I see…"

After considering this, Shino clicked on the second difficulty level.

"Woah, bro, don’t be impulsive! This is a new world. No one knows the rules. Jumping straight to tier two is reckless!" someone cautioned, their eyes widening as they saw Ye Gong, their "Big Bro," also choose tier two.

Seeing Ye Gong’s choice, many quickly followed suit and selected tier two.

"What’s going on?"

Shino was baffled. Were these people really following Ye Gong’s lead?

"Ahem, of course Big Bro chose tier two; what can we do?"

"Wherever Big Bro goes, I go. Big Bro eats meat, I eat soup!"

"Ahem, we’re just following Big Bro to survive."

These people seemed to have immense trust in Ye Gong. Even those at the 1st Step in combat power quickly chose tier two after seeing his decision, including those who had just declared they wanted to go for tier one.

It was clear Ye Gong held a significant position in their minds.

Shino engaged with the group a bit more, learning about the rewards and chest mechanisms in this game.

"Golden chests are the best. Only the top three finishers will get them. The rest in the top ten will receive silver chests. As long as you meet the minimum passing requirements, you'll get a bronze chest."

"Golden chests have a 75% chance of yielding a blue item, a 20% chance for a purple item, and a 5% chance for a gold item."

"Silver chests can at best give you purple items, with a 10% chance; blue items have a 30% chance, and green items a 60% chance."

"Bronze chests are the worst. They can only provide blue items with a 15% chance, green items with a 25% chance, and white items with a 60% chance."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Also, the points you earn vary by difficulty."

"Tier one offers about 50 points."

"Tier two can net you between 500 and 2000 points."

"Tier three is still undetermined."

Additionally, players here could trade points and abilities freely, and there was a marketplace selling loot, excluding gold-level items.

However, the prices in the marketplace were exorbitantly high, costing thousands or tens of thousands for even the smallest item. It seemed the Administrator was intent on draining their points.

Shino surveyed the marketplace, noting that items were ranked. 2nd Step purple items were pricier than 1st Step purple items.

Most items were related to sea creatures, such as Fish-Man’s Heart and Fish-Man’s Scales.

There were also some basic blue-level abilities, including enhanced hearing, enhanced physique, and enhanced reaction, all 1st Step.

Very few 2nd Step items existed, with only one purple item available—a purple ability called "Body Breakthrough."

According to what he heard, this ability was unlocked by someone named Enko. It was the only 2nd Step purple talent in the game so far and could only be obtained from tier two chests.

At the top of the market was a golden ticket priced at 50,000 points. Shino examined it closely; it allowed one to meet the Administrator, the organizer of the Death Game.

However, purchasing this ticket would revoke one's right to participate in the game.

Meeting the organizer promised a mysterious grand prize—one that would eclipse any ability obtainable in the game.

Yet, there was a reason behind this rule.

If a player met the organizer, they would assume the role of the new boss, unable to return to their previous life. For instance, if Ye Gong encountered the organizer and received a potion, he would become the new "monster." The game would then adjust to create stages themed around him. If he returned afterward, would he be expected to fight himself?

Unbeknownst to Shino, the game had already undergone significant changes.

The initial catalyst for this transformation was a visit from Mei. She found the system inefficient and assigned 079 the task of implementing self-adjustments.

Thus, the game evolved into its current state.

Chapters were rebranded as "worlds," the game schedule shifted from once a month to once every seven days, and the original random stages became selectable difficulties.

In doing so, 079 heightened the rewards for higher difficulties while diminishing those for lower levels. This adjustment allowed the strong to quickly accumulate points and meet the Administrator, while the weaker players could grind their way through the lower tiers.

As the saying goes: better to have less but better. Not everyone deserved the Lord's attention.

Despite these changes, one aspect remained unchanged: the combat power system.

This ranking system followed the seven steps of the "Ascension Ladder" theory that Mei had referenced in the future. For ease of understanding, 079 adopted a gaming format to label these seven tiers, from Normal to Mythical.

However, this did not correlate with 079's capability to create stages; he could not generate 7th Step, God-level rewards or monsters. His maximum creation limit was 3rd Step monsters and rewards—his current ceiling—unless Mei upgraded him further.

Even so, creating up to 3rd Step entities was still a formidable level for the current fictional world.

Here are the 3rd Step monsters currently in existence:

001 The Imitator (Can imitate 3rd Step monsters)

003 The Hollow (Excellent-level conceptual attack trait)

005 The Metallomorph (Pseudo-immortal body)

008 Three Corpses (3rd Step boundary)

011 Celestial Beast (Super strong singular entity)

023 Angel (Evolved to 3rd Step)

These six all possess 3rd Step combat power.

Monsters such as 002 The Deep One, 004 The Queen Bee, and 007 Siren rank at 2nd Step combat power. They either lack inherent potential or possess overly mundane basic abilities, failing to meet the criteria for 3rd Step.

002 The Deep One has too basic abilities. While it seems knowledgeable about various topics, it lacks real power, barely scraping the mid-level of 2nd Step.

004 The Queen Bee commands powerful guard bees, yet her main body boasts almost no fighting capability, presenting a critical weakness.

Similarly, 007 Siren possesses formidable abilities but can only convey them through sound, rendering her easily countered and the weakest among the 2nd Step monsters.

As for 006, where does she currently stand?

006 Death now holds 4th Step combat power.

However, the Death potion remains unrefined.

Under normal circumstances, Death's ability could utilize its causal trait to annihilate the Earth.

At present, though, Mei can only employ existing objects on Earth to defeat her opponent. If no objects exist that can kill, then that is the extent of her ability.