A faint chime echoed across the sky.
[Notice: Ranking Billboards have been activated.]
[Displaying top ten players in each Novice Area.]
Above in the sky, glowing panels appeared, projecting names and levels in golden text for all to see.
[Novice Royale – Area One Rankings]
1. One – Level 2
2. Alicia – level 1
3. Arnold – level 1
…
Players across the zone froze, staring up in disbelief.
"Billboard…?"
"I'm not even in the top Ten?"
"This guy 'One', is already at the top of the list? Let's see how long he lasts."
Meanwhile, Rei looked up at the sky, the faintest smile tugging at his lips.
"Ranking billboard, huh? Guess it's official now."
"Hmm, since I've leveled up to lvl two, there must be changes in my Panel, let's see what it is." Rei muttered as a transpirant blue screen appeared.
"What...? 300 XP? Just to complete Level 2?" Rei frowned, staring at the glowing interface hovering before him. "That's three times more than before…"
He exhaled deeply. "So the Royale increases the requirement every level, huh? Guess things won't stay easy."
The light from the screen flickered for a moment, and a new tab appeared.
[Since you've reached Level 2, New Function Unlocked: Quests]
[Note: Completing Royale-issued quests grants XP, Value Points, or special rewards.]
"...Quests?" Rei muttered. "Now that's interesting."
He tapped it open.
The interface shifted, displaying a single entry.
[Daily Directive: Hunt 10 level 2 Dire Beasts]
[Reward: +100 XP | +10 Value Points]
[Penalty: None]
"Not bad," he muttered, a faint smile crossing his lips. "Extra XP and points. The Royale really knows how to keep people grinding."
With that in mind, he gladly accepted the quest and the free XP that came with it.
But then came another problem — where was he supposed to find more dire beasts?
Although he had already slain ten of them with ease, that was because of the explosion.
Causing another explosion might be more than he can handle.
With that in mind, he moved a certain direction.
But just then, he heard a moan.
"Huh, a battle? Let's see who it is." Rei stopped and move to the direction of where the sound of battle was.
Upon arriving, Rei spotted a girl dressed in white, her long black hair fluttering as she danced across the battlefield.
She was locked in combat with a Level 2 dire beast, and to his mild surprise, she was winning.
Her movements were fluid and precise, twin daggers flashing like streaks of silver light. Each step she took seemed to defy gravity, as if she were treading upon the wind itself.
Every attack flowed seamlessly into a dodge, every dodge into a counter. Graceful and yet lethally efficient.
At her feet lay the corpse of another Level 2 dire beast, its body still warm. Not far from it was the crumpled remains of Meason; the player with the slight levitation talent.
Rei exhaled softly, shaking his head. If that guy had stayed with me, he might've lasted longer.
But he wasn't shaken. In the Royale, death came without warning, whether from beasts or players made little difference.
His gaze drifted back to the girl. Something about her rhythm and control intrigued him.
Let's see what you're hiding.
With that thought, Rei activated his scan to check her talent.
[PLAYER INTERFACE]
Name: Alicia
Status: Active
Location: Novice area one
Level: one
XP: 86/100
Talent: Battle Trance (Perfect Combat Flow) Active Talent:
When activated, the user enters a heightened combat state where instinct overrides thought, granting perfect reaction, efficiency, and battle rhythm for a limited time.
- Grade: {A-Tier}
Attributes:
Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Endurance: 1
Perception: 1
Vitality: 1
Willpower: 1
Luck (Droprate/Critical hits): 9%
Skills: None
Inventory:
- [Basic dagger*2]
Quests / Directives:
- {None}
Kill Count: {14}
Survivors Remaining: {Will be updated after the first objective}
VP: {12}
"This talent is practically a perfect cheat in battle. With something like that, you can dominate even higher-tier talents in close battle," Rei muttered.
"And if I remember correctly... she's ranked second in the First Novice Area." He fell silent, deep in thought.
He frowned slightly. "She wasn't even affected when I sneaked a look at her info. That just proves she's completely focused, either on battle, or on anything that could threaten her life."
By the time Rei finished his thoughts, the battle was already over.
The girl stared intently at him, then at the dagger in his hand.
"Why didn't you attack…?" she asked, her tone sharp and her gaze deep.
Rei raised his hands slightly in mock surrender. "Hey, you don't have to keep your guard up. I'm just a passerby. Killing you for a few meager Points isn't worth the effort."
Alicia didn't lower her blade. Her eyes, still locked in Battle Trance, flickered with cold calculation.
He sighed inwardly. Figures…
After all, killing a Level One player for Points was like trying to fill a bucket drop by drop, it wasn't impossible, just painfully stupid.
A thought flashed through Rei's mind as he pulled a shimmering Dire Core from his inventory.
He tossed it lightly in his hand, the faint glow reflecting off his smirk.
"Do you know what this is…?"
Alicia's eyes flicked toward it for a moment before returning to him, her stance unbroken.
Rei chuckled softly. "Since talking doesn't earn me any trust, maybe a little demonstration will."
He had already noticed her weapons, two basic daggers, chipped and dull from use. They were slowing her down, forcing her to rely purely on precision and skill to exploit every weak point.
If she'd had a bronze-grade short sword like his, that last battle would've ended twice as fast.
And someone with her kind of talent would know exactly how valuable a Dire Core was at this stage of the Royale. To her, it wasn't just a power source. It was opportunity itself.
"This is a Dire Core," Rei said, holding it up with a clear smile. "Dropped from slain Dire Beasts. Its use is simple. It can upgrade a non-tier weapon into a tiered one."
He pointed at the daggers in her hands. "Those basic blades of yours could be upgraded with this. I don't need to tell you how much more efficient that would make you, right?"
Rei was right. The moment he said "Dire Core," Alicia's interest was instantly caught. She had heard of them before but had never seen one in person. Now that she had and needed one badly, her guard lowered slightly.
The fact that Rei already had a bronze weapon only made his words more believable.
"What do you want?" she asked coldly, her eyes still fixed on the core.
"Nothing much. At least not now," Rei replied after a short pause. He didn't have anything specific to ask of her yet. He just thought it wouldn't hurt to make a friend in a place where everyone else wanted to kill. Maybe one day, he really would need her help.
Thinking that, he tossed the core to her.
Alicia caught it on reflex. For a moment, she wanted to reject it, but the faint energy it released changed her mind. Logic quickly took over.
"Thank you…" she said quietly, giving him a long look. "But how do I use it?"
Rei scratched his head. "Try using Value Points through the Royale system."
"Let me try," she said.
Seconds later, the core and one of her basic daggers vanished. What appeared in her hand instead was a gleaming bronze short sword.
Alicia moved lightly, testing the weapon's balance, then swung it at the nearby Dire Beast corpse. The blade sliced cleanly through it without resistance.
"Since you fight with two blades, having just one bronze weapon isn't ideal," Rei said. He took out another Dire Core and tossed it over.
"This…!" Alicia stared at the new core, shocked. It was identical to the first. What stunned her most was how casually he handed it out.
These weren't common items. They were rare and precious. If she wanted to get one herself, she would need to kill at least a hundred Dire Beasts.
Then a thought crossed her mind, someone who had just reached Level 2 first. "One."
Could he be the one?
But when she looked up to ask, Rei was already gone.
"He's gone?" she whispered, scanning the area, but there was no trace of him.
Rei, meanwhile, was already moving deeper into the forest. He had one goal now, upgrade. If he wanted to stay first in the Novice Area One, he needed to complete more quests and keep killing.
Especially since Alicia, with her new bronze daggers, would soon be catching up.
So, upgrade it was.