John didn't know any of this. He just kept walking, and every player from Karlove Academy he met, he killed in one hit.
[Beep. You maliciously killed a player. Corruption Value +1]
...
The message kept coming. John noticed his Corruption Value was going up fast, so he slowed down his killing.
Once a player's Corruption Value goes above 100, they can't enter the Safe Zone. Otherwise, the guards there will chase them down.
He still had to go back to the starter village to turn in a quest, so he couldn't go too far.
Soon, he reached the edge of the starter village. It was quiet. Only a few people were coming and going.
Something was wrong!
John frowned, feeling a hint of danger, but he didn't take it seriously.
His stats were strong enough to beat even a 10-level player.
And the strongest players in the starter village were only 10 levels.
Swoosh…
Suddenly, a loud noise filled the air. Dozens of arrows flew out from the bushes beside him.
"Looks like there's a trap!"
John sneered, quickly stepped back. His movement was smooth, avoiding some of the arrows. But he still got hit by a dozen of them.
-4
-3
-3
...
A bunch of damage numbers flashed above his head.
[Beep. You were maliciously attacked by player John]
[Beep. You were maliciously attacked by player Beck]
...
Dozens of messages appeared. Luckily, John's Constitution and HP had gone up a lot, or he might not have survived.
"Kill him!"
"John, today you won't leave the starter village!"
A loud shout came from the crowd. More than ten warriors and knights came out of nowhere. The leader was Macbeth.
John looked around. These people were all students from Karlove Academy.
"I was wondering how to find you, and now you've gathered here on your own." he said with excitement. He swung his sword, moving forward instead of back, charging at the players coming at him.
"Die!"
Macbeth was angry, but he slowed down and hid behind some players.
*Plop!*
-110
A knight was killed in the first hit. John cut him down in one swing.
[Beep. You maliciously killed a player. Corruption Value +1]
This knight hadn't even touched him, but he was marked as a malicious kill, adding one point to the Corruption Value.
At that moment, John didn't care. He rushed into the crowd, ignoring the attacks around him. His sword moved fast, and every swing killed someone.
The new players, mostly level 1 or 2, couldn't even stand up to his damage.
Each time he swung, someone died.
John was like a warrior god, fighting against dozens of enemies, unstoppable and ruthless in his killing.
"Such high damage? Is this guy really a priest?"
"Damn it, I don't believe this waste is invincible. All of us together, we can kill him!" Macbeth roared in anger and immediately hid behind the players.
The others were angry at his behavior. A lot of them were already thinking about backing out.
Luckily, there were still some ranged players. They kept attacking John, but that was only slowing him down a little.
Ahh…
Screams echoed. Players were dying one by one under John's sword. His Corruption Value was increasing fast.
"Macbeth, you really don't learn, do you? You think these trash can beat me? Dream on!"
John sneered, his eyes locked on Macbeth, who was hiding behind the crowd. He took a step forward and killed him in one hit.
"John, don't kill me! I was tricked by that bastard Macbeth. There's no real grudge between us…"
A warrior dropped his sword in fear and raised his hands in surrender.
"We don't have a grudge, but I do with Karlove Academy. Blame that bald headmaster!" John showed no mercy and cut the man down.
After all, dying in the game wasn't real death. He just needed to make sure these guys couldn't leave the starter village for a month, which would lower Karlove Academy's graduation rate.
Soon, all the melee players—warriors, knights, assassins—were wiped out. John turned his attention to the ranged players next.
Mages and archers.
These players were the biggest threat. If dozens of them hit him at once, they could kill him.
But these newbies were a bunch of disorganized people. They didn't know how to work together. And with John's 20-point dodge, he could avoid two out of every five attacks.
"This demon is coming! Run!"
Someone screamed in fear, watching John rush toward them. They stopped attacking and turned to run back to the starter village.
"It's too late to run now!"
John moved like a ghost, pushing his speed to the limit and going after the fleeing players.
A flash of cold light. Blood sprayed.
-70
-75
-80
...
Damage numbers flashed. The ranged players were even worse. Once they were close, they became easy prey with no chance to fight back.
"John, it's me!" A scared voice called out. Anna fell to the ground, pale and terrified, staring at the sword hovering above her head.
She sighed in relief, a hint of joy in her eyes.
John didn't kill her. He still had feelings for her.
"John, I know I was wrong. Let's get back together, okay?" Anna quickly got up, trying to grab John's arm, but he easily dodged her.
"Hmph, you don't know you're wrong. You just know you're scared!"
John sneered and killed Anna in a flash.
Last time they broke up, he had finally seen through her. She was a scheming woman. She was only with him for a deal, using him to help her grades.
Just like she was now using Macbeth to level up.
John felt nothing inside. He kept killing the other players who were running away.
The massive battle had drawn the attention of other players in the starter village. They stood far away, watching the scene in shock, unable to believe their eyes.
"Who the hell is this guy? Why is he so strong?"
"I've heard about him. He was an alumnus of Karlove Academy, but got expelled. Now he's taking it out on the students."
"An alumnus this year? How is that possible? Even a 10-level veteran player couldn't be that crazy."
"It must be some kind of hidden class." one guessed.
"He's a priest, I think." said a warrior player, his voice still shaking. "I was once in a group with Karlove Academy students, and he killed me. I know his class."
"A priest? What the hell are you talking about? That's the worst support class in the game."
The others nodded in agreement, still not believing John was a priest.
"No matter what class he is, we should stay away from Karlove Academy students from now on. This demon is way too strong for us."
"Right."
"Man, I just got two Karlove Academy players to pay me to help them level up. Looks like I'm gonna have to back out."
"At least you're lucky. Tom got killed by him once, and even lost his Green Jade Ring. He was planning to team up with us, the 10-level players, to take this guy down."
"Team up with us old players to take down a newbie? I'm not risking my reputation for that. You guys have fun. I'm gonna take the newbies from other schools and level them up."
With that, he turned around and left.
Meanwhile, the battle outside the starter village was coming to an end.
Only a dozen students had managed to react quickly and run into the village. The rest, over three hundred players, were all killed by John alone.
"FUCK! I can't get into the starter village now." John cursed, his Corruption Value now at 149. As soon as he approached the village, two guards at the gate stared at him with open hostility.
The starter village guards were elite 20-level players. John was strong, but not stupid enough to fight them.
"Looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow, clear my Corruption Value, and then come back to turn in my quest." he sighed in frustration.
His whole body ached from over nine hours of non-stop fighting. He wasn't built for this kind of endurance.
He found a safe corner outside the village and disconnected from the game.
A dizzying rush, and John's consciousness snapped back to the real world. Spirit hazy, his body ached all over.
His physical condition wasn't good enough to stay in the game for too long. He needed to find a way to bring his in-game abilities into reality.
There were conditions for transferring in-game abilities into the real world. Players needed a special item called an Artifact Core to do it.
With an Artifact Core, a player's current abilities could be manifested in the real world.
But Artifact Cores were rare. They were only in the hands of special NPCs, and required specific quests to obtain…
"Maybe the village chief has one." John muttered to himself. The village chief was an NPC with a special status.
But he hadn't heard of the village chief being able to provide an Artifact Core.
"Time to sleep." John yawned. The night was deep, his spirit exhausted. He quickly washed up, climbed into bed, and fell into a deep sleep.
...