The voice was chilling to the bone. Rei quickly scrambled to his feet, his heart pounding.
What he saw made his eyes widen.
"Baldy…?" he blurted out, "A creepy baldy!"
The man standing before them wore a wicked grin, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he stared at the two new players like they were helpless prey.
Name: Crowl
Status: System Link Severed
Location: Novice Area One
Level: 7 (Lvl 10 Capped)
XP: 400/2800
Talent: Strength
Grade: {F-Tier}
Attributes:
Strength: 165
Agility: 90
Constitution: 95
Perception: 30
Willpower: 35
Luck (Drop Rate / Critical Hits): 5%
Skills:
Iron Knuckle - Bronze
Straight Smash - Bronze
Basic Jab - Bronze
Inventory:
Short Sword - Bronze
Quests / Directives:
{None}
Kill Count: {107}
VP: {9}
"A capped player?" Rei narrowed his eyes. He had never heard of such a thing from Rowan.
Players can be capped?
"You just checked my panel?" The baldy's grin twisted into something darker. "You new players are getting bold."
He could tolerate being called Baldy, but having someone peek into his info? That was unforgivable.
Without another word, his fist blurred forward, aimed straight for Rei's head.
"Wind Catastrophe!" Rei roared instinctively as a sphere formed in his right palm.
The orb was dark, violent, packed with destructive wind; the Wind Catastrophe compressed into a ball.
Without hesitating, he hurled it straight at the baldy.
The baldy's fist hit the sphere. The moment they touched, a loud explosion rang out.
Bang!
The sphere blew apart like a grenade. The baldy was blasted backward, thrown across the ground by the force.
Rei was also pushed back by the shockwave, stumbling a few steps.
The surroundings were in complete disorder, dust and debris flying everywhere.
The trees looked like they had been corroded by poison, melting into sludgy glue.
"Was this done by me?" Rei muttered, staring around after falling on his butt.
"A newbie with such power? Your talent must be above A-grade!" the baldy growled as he stepped out. His arm was covered in cuts, and the same corrosion eating the trees was slowly spreading across his skin.
When he spoke of talent grades, his eyes lit up even more.
"Hahaha! How rare! I get to kill a player with an A-grade talent." With that, he lunged forward, throwing a punch at Rei's head again.
Am I really going to die now? After somehow surviving that impossible fall from the sky?
The thought barely formed before the fist closed the last distance.
Just as it was an arm's length from his face, a golden shimmer erupted around Rei — a shield of light forming in an instant and deflecting the blow with a sharp clang.
"Huh…!" Rei's eyes widened at the sudden golden shield.
Who… who saved me?
Before he could think further, a cold mechanical voice echoed across the sky.
[Congratulations, Novices, on surviving your first objective.]
[Out of one thousand dispatched to Starter Zone One, a total of 918 survived the fall.]
Rei listened with trepidation. Eighty-two players had died.
[Notice: Each Starter Zone can house a maximum of 1,000 players. Players within the same zone will range from Level 1 to Level 10.]
[This is where the Novice Ranking comes into play.]
[The Novice Ranking spans all Starter Zones in a universe.]
[It lists only the top 1,000 players and remains active for ten days.]
[Those who secure a place on the ranking will be recognized as the best among the best and receive generous rewards.]
[The ranking will officially begin tomorrow.]
[System Notice: Protection Protocol Activated.]
[All surviving Novices will receive a five-day protection period against interference from older players.]
[Any hostile action from capped players toward Novices will be nullified during this time.]
[Warning: Protection will expire after five full nights.]
[Survive. Grow stronger. And ascend.]
"So it really is true," Crowl muttered, frowning as the system's voice faded. "No wonder you didn't die from my strike."
He stepped closer, his grin returning.
"Novice," he said, noticing the relief on Rei's face, "you shouldn't be too happy yet. That protection won't last forever — only five days."
Crowl's gaze sharpened. "And from what I saw, you couldn't even use your talent properly. Do you think you can in five days? Although there aren't many of us old players left in the Starter Zone," he said with a smirk, "any one of us is enough to kill you newbies with a flick of the wrist."
He let out a low, mocking laugh. "This game is cruel, isn't it? Giving you only five days of protection… what does it expect you to do in that time? Fight us?"
Crowl's laughter turned maniacal as he walked away.
Rei watched his figure fade, sinking into deep thought. He couldn't help but lament his weakness, strength was everything here, and he hadn't yet mastered his.
Across the entire Starter Zone, the same realization dawned on every newcomer: they needed to grow stronger, fast. With only five days of protection, the pressure was immense.
But Rei wasn't as anxious as the rest. Why? Because of his talent.
Crowl was completely wrong about it. It might have seemed useless now, but five days was all Rei needed.
"Hey…" Rei finally noticed his supposed lifesaver. The man lay sprawled on the bare ground, completely motionless, as if dead.
Rei frowned and gave him a light kick. No reaction. He kicked harder, and a faint grunt escaped the man's lips.
"You're free," Rei said awkwardly.
The moment those words left his mouth, the player cried out in pain, clutching his stomach as if enduring something unbearable.
Seeing this, Rei's expression softened. He'd completely forgotten he had ordered the man not to move or speak; a sign of just how afraid he had been of the black wind.
"Hey, why are you crying?" Rei asked, tone softening slightly, though his face remained cold. "Have you forgotten you tried to kill me? Think of this as… retribution."
The boy continued clutching his stomach, crying even louder.
Rei sighed. "Alright, you can leave. I won't stop you," he said normally, not using his talent to force obedience.
The boy instantly shot to his feet, trembling, and pointed a shaking finger at Rei, eyes wide with fear and anger.
"You… you promised! Don't go back on your word!"
Rei's lips twitched. "Alright, since I said so, you can go." He waved lazily.
The boy didn't even glance back in gratitude. He turned and ran for his life.
Rei blinked, a bit offended. "Do I really look that scary? I'm clearly handsome," he muttered, touching his face.
Just then, a series of low growls echoed from behind him. Rei stiffened, eyes darting toward the sound.
"Huh… dire beasts?" he muttered, staring at the boar-like creatures emerging from the brush.
Rei had learned about dire beasts on Earth. They weren't normal animals. They were fierce, mutated predators: stronger, faster, and smarter than regular creatures. Some came from corrupted lands or chaotic energy.
They could track prey easily, strike quickly, and survive wounds that would kill ordinary beasts. Many hunted in packs, using numbers to overwhelm anyone in their path. Even a single encounter could be deadly for the unprepared.
What really mattered to Rei was that killing dire beasts granted generous XP.
From the looks of it, there were five Level 2 dire beasts and one Level 3; clearly the leader, standing at the forefront.
Back on Earth, Rei and the others had been taught to roughly gauge a dire beast's level by observing size, aura, and movement patterns. He could feel their killing intent pressing against him like a weight.
Rei frowned. "The explosion earlier must have drawn them here."
He thought for a moment, then raised his dagger and tried gathering the ball of catastrophe again. This time, it formed without trouble.
Right then, the dire beasts pounced.
Rei didn't hesitate, he threw the ball straight at them.
Bang!
Another explosion sent the beasts flying.
When the dust settled, Rei approached cautiously with his dagger in hand.
"Hahaha… awesome," he muttered with a strange laugh, looking at the beasts' miserable state.
Their skin and fur had been peeled off in places, some were missing limbs, and their breathing was ragged.
Rei stepped closer to the nearest beast and stabbed down with his dagger.
The result? Nothing. The blade didn't pierce its skin. Not a single strand of fur was cut.
It took him a second to realize why; he had stabbed the only part of its body that was still intact, fully covered in healthy fur.
"It's a basic dagger after all…" Rei muttered.
What did the players expect to do with this dagger? It couldn't even kill a dire beast!
How were they supposed to get XP?
"Let's see if this works." He aimed carefully at the only spot without fur.
[You have slain a Level 2 Dire Beast. +10 XP]
[Item Dropped: Dire Core]