John returned to his rented apartment, and his four-year girlfriend broke up with him. Being expelled from the academy was still a big blow to him.
"Hmph, thinking you're better than a priest? I'll make you regret it."
John took a deep breath, calming himself. He made a silent vow: he would make sure none of the graduates from Karlove Academy ever left the beginner village.
He went back to his bedroom, lay on the bed, and pulled out a clear, diamond-shaped crystal from his pocket. This was the Login Crystal for *The Alternate World*.
John Spirit connected. He activated the crystal. His heart was full of tension and excitement. This was his first time entering the game.
The crystal glowed, surrounding John. He felt a sudden Spirit dizziness, the world spinning around him. The next second, he was standing in an empty space.
[Beep. Verifying player information. ID: John; Level: 1; Class: Beginner Priest.]
[Do you want to enter *The Alternate World*?]
The prompt appeared. *The Alternate World* was linked to real player information. Names and appearances couldn't be changed.
"Enter." John said, and selected to go in.
The screen flashed again.
Then, he found himself in a crowded place. He was in the beginner village, the 1159th beginner village. Players from Karlove Academy and nearby towns all appeared here.
"This is *The Alternate World*? It feels so real!"
"Idiot, this is the real world."
"Elite team, needs one mage. Come fast."
"Kill the goblin squad. Bring two strong damage dealers. Support classes, stay out of the way. Except for rare support classes."
"Join the level 10 elite team. Guaranteed to get to level 10 in half a month. Price: 1 gold coin. Support class price doubles. Only requirement: follow orders."
...
The surrounding noise was constant, full of energy.
John saw the busy scene. He was a little out of place at first. In the real world, it was rare to see so many people gathered.
He wasn't in a hurry to level up. He opened his own stats.
[ID: John]
[Level: 1 (0/100)]
[Class: Beginner Priest]
[HP: 50 (Constitution × 10)]
[MP: 90 (Spirit × 10)]
[Constitution: 5; Strength: 4; Spirit: 9; Agility: 4]
[Physical Damage: 4 (Strength × 1)]
[Magical Damage: 9 (Spirit × 1)]
[Physical Defense: 2.5 (Constitution × 50%)]
[Magic Defense: 4.5 (Spirit × 50%)]
[Accuracy: 4 (Agility × 1)]
[Evasion: 4 (Agility × 1)]
[Attack Speed: 0.4 (Agility × 10%)]
[Skills: HP Regeneration, Basic Physical Damage Amplification]
[HP Regeneration: Level 1; restores 1 + Spirit × 10% HP per second for 10 seconds; cooldown 1 minute; consumes 20 MP]
[Basic Physical Damage Amplification: Level 1; increases physical damage by 1 point for 10 seconds, cooldown 2 minutes; consumes 50 MP]
[Talent: Divine Gift]
[Divine Gift: Level Unknown; your buff effects are permanent and can stack infinitely]
[Equipment: Beginner Priest Robes, Beginner Priest Staff]
...
John looked at his stats and sighed quietly.
He could see why players hated the priest class. It wasn't just bad—it was really, really bad.
The two support skills for beginners had weak effects, short durations, and long cooldowns. Having a priest in the group was almost useless, and they still had to share XP.
But John had the Divine Gift talent. All his buffs were permanent and could stack forever.
He raised his staff and cast HP Regeneration and Basic Physical Damage Amplification right on himself.
Even with full HP, the effect still worked. Now, John was healing 1.9 HP per second and his physical damage was increased by 1, bringing it to 5.
He watched the changes and waited quietly.
After ten seconds, the buffs didn't disappear.
"Sure thing!" John smiled. With these two buffs, he didn't need to team up at all.
The only problem was that his MP was low. Just casting two skills had drained a lot.
In *The Alternate World*, besides potions, only special gear had healing or mana recovery effects.
He was still a beginner, and had no money to buy healing potions.
"Right, the Resurrection Altar!" John remembered.
New players who died in the wild would return to the Resurrection Altar to respawn. And the altar had another effect—just standing nearby slowly restored HP and MP.
It was the only free way to restore in the beginner village.
John found the Resurrection Altar. A lot of players were already there.
Most new players couldn't afford healing potions, so they came here after getting hurt in the wild to wait for a recovery.
John had no choice but to push his way into the crowd.
Outside the altar, he healed 1 HP and 1 MP per second. That was enough for him.
While waiting for the cooldown, he cast the skills again. And again.
"Hey, cutie, want to team up?" A pretty girl noticed John's looks and walked over to him.
John glanced at her and said coolly, "I'm a priest. You want to team up?"
"Priest? Never mind, I was just joking." The girl's smile vanished instantly. She looked at John like he was a plague.
"Too bad for that handsome face." someone in the crowd said, shaking her head in disappointment.
"Hey, isn't that John? Why's no one helping you level up?" A voice sneered.
It was Macbeth.
He was wearing basic green gear and smiling as he looked at John. He had Anna in his arms, and when he saw John, he gave her a little squeeze on the butt.
Anna was angry, but she didn't dare to fight back.
She could feel that Macbeth only used her as a way to vent his anger, and he didn't have the same kindness as John.
"Unfortunately, John awakened the trash priest class. She wanted to enter a higher academy—only way was to flatter Macbeth."
"John, want me to help you level up? I won't ask much. Just crawl between my legs and bow to me twice." Macbeth stepped forward, sneering at John.
The surrounding players turned their heads. A few were even Karlove Academy students. They recognized the two and leaned in, waiting for the show.
John gave Macbeth a cold glance and ignored him. The beginner village had a special protection system—no fighting allowed.
"Boss, don't waste your time with this guy. Let's get moving." one of his henchmen said.
Macbeth wasn't satisfied, but he nodded. "John, you better pray you don't run into me outside the village. Otherwise, I'll send you back for free."
With that, he walked off, arm around Anna.
Anna tried to wave at John a few times, but he never looked her way. That made her feel annoyed and angry.
He was just a useless piece of trash she had dumped. He wasn't even worthy of her now.
Anna kept telling herself that.
...
John paid no attention to Macbeth's taunts. He noticed the cooldown on his two skills was done. He raised his staff and cast HP Regeneration and Basic Physical Damage Amplification again.
After more than twenty minutes, he checked his HP regeneration rate. It was now restoring 51 HP per second.
His total HP was only 50. That meant, unless he was one-shot, he was basically immortal.
And his physical damage had gone up to 15. That was on par with a level 3 beginner.
"It's time to level up." John said, casting another Physical Damage Amplification. He headed straight for the village elder's house.
There was only one beginner quest in the village: help the elder hunt goblins outside. Each goblin killed gave 1 copper coin. For new players, it was at least something.
"Brave adventurer, our village has been plagued by goblins for years. Will you help us? Kill one goblin, and I'll give you one copper coin."
As soon as John approached, the elder came running toward him, full of enthusiasm.
[Beep. Quest triggered: Village Elder's Request. Accept? ]
"Accept."
John quickly took the quest.
"Thanks for helping, adventurer. Once you kill a goblin, come back and claim your reward." the elder said, then turned to give the same quest to other players.
John didn't care. He checked the quest details.
[Beginner Village Elder's Request: Kill Goblins outside the Beginner Village (1-3 level monsters). 1 copper coin reward per goblin killed. No cap on rewards.]
Goblins were only 1-3 level monsters. John's physical damage was now 16. As long as he was careful, he could handle them.