Bang bang...
John was woken up by a knocking at the door. He blinked sleepily and checked the time—only 7 a.m.
"Who the hell is this early?" He frowned, looking annoyed.
He lived in a run-down neighborhood, and not many people came around.
"Who is it?" John got up, confused.
"It's me, John." A man's voice came from the door.
John recognized the voice. It was his homeroom teacher, Mell.
"What does this guy want?" He was confused.
Mell was a snob. He never really cared about John, but since John was good at school, Mell didn't really bother him.
He threw on a jacket, yawned, and opened the door.
"Teacher, what's up?" He looked at the fat man blocking the door and asked coldly.
Mell smiled widely, his fat face wrinkled. He said, "John, aren't you going to let me in?"
"My room is too small. You can't fit in here. Just say it here." John said coldly.
Mell's fat face twitched. What did that mean? Was he mocking his weight?
He took a deep breath and didn't get angry. He kept smiling and said, "To be honest, the principal made a mistake. It wasn't you they wanted to expel. It was another student who broke the rules. That's why I'm here to apologize. Please go back to school."
"Oh?" John perked up. He must have heard about what happened yesterday.
"Are you finally sorry?" He laughed coldly. "Forget it. I don't want to bring down the school's graduation rate again. Some people already want me out."
Mell quickly said, "No way, it was a mistake. John, look, I came here in person to apologize. Please do me a favor."
"Sorry, but no one's face means anything to me!" John said coldly and stepped back to shut the door.
"Wait!" Mell quickly put his foot in the way. His smile disappeared, and he said in a threatening tone, "You don't want to go back to the academy? Fine. But you can't target the students anymore. That's the headmaster's warning to you."
"Oh?" John looked at him with a challenge. "What if I don't listen?"
"Hmph. John, don't think because you woke up a powerful class, you're invincible. This world isn't as simple as you think. If some big shots want you gone, they can make it disappear without a trace. Think about it carefully." Mell said, and then walked away with his fat body.
John frowned. He had been a bit too bold. If he kept going like this, he would definitely be stepping on the toes of some big players in the academy and Karlove town. If they attacked him in the game, he wouldn't care. But in real life, he was no match for them.
"I need to merge the game abilities fast!"
John had an idea. He closed the door and locked it, had a quick breakfast, and logged back into the game.
A dizzying spin later, John found himself outside the newbie village, where he had logged off yesterday.
"First, get rid of the sin value. Go talk to the village chief."
He checked his sin value, then went to the wilds and continued killing goblins.
There were already a lot of players in the wilds. Most were in small groups, and sometimes you could see students from Karlove Academy.
Guess they still hadn't learned their lesson. John didn't hold back—he killed them and sent them back to the newbie village.
The graduates from Karlove Academy had been in the game for two days, and almost all of them had been killed once by him. The highest level among them was only level 2, way behind students from other academies. It wasn't surprising that the old principal was so angry.
But it was all his own fault.
John once again arrived at the 3-level goblin area. There were some grouped players here, but not many.
He started killing them right away. With the Physical Damage Amplification skill, he could now easily kill 3-level goblins in one hit. Even if he was surrounded by a dozen of them, he wasn't scared at all.
The only downside was that killing these 3-level goblins didn't give any experience points.
But John wasn't worried about leveling up. He kept an eye on the cooldown of the Physical Damage Amplification skill, and whenever it was ready, he cast it on himself.
His physical damage was now at 236 points. To be honest, besides the guards in the newbie village, he was basically invincible.
Within an hour, he killed over a hundred goblins. His sin value was cleared, and he returned to the newbie village to turn in the quest.
"Group up. Warrior players, recruit one strong mage. No Karlove Academy people."
"10-level violent DPS leader, get to 10 in a week. Just 1 gold coin. Prefer priest class. No Karlove Academy people."
"Green-quality newbie gear, only 1 silver coin. Fast hands only…"
The newbie village was still busy. People were shouting to find groups, and selling and buying items kept going.
John noticed that all these players who were grouping or leading others to level up were avoiding Karlove Academy students.
Were they scared of him?
"Interesting." John said, a smile on his lips. If this kept up, Karlove Academy's graduation rate might really hit 0%.
He felt no guilt at all. He pushed through the crowd and found the village chief.
"Chief, I'm here to turn in the quest." John shouted loud enough to wake up the chief, who was sitting on a chair, sunbathing.
The chief gave him a annoyed look and sat up. He said, "Kill one goblin, get one copper coin. Just show your kill log. And remember, only one player in a group can get the reward."
John nodded and immediately pulled up his kill log.
"Huh?" The chief jumped up from his chair, eyes wide, staring at the log in disbelief. "Over a thousand goblins? Most of them were level 3! You… you killed them all by yourself?"
John nodded.
The chief took a deep breath and changed his attitude completely, smiling widely. "You're an adventurer, I was right about you. You're the hope of humanity. The peace and safety of The Alternate World will depend on you in the future…"
"Wait! Where's my reward?" John cut him off. He thought the old man was being weird again.
The chief didn't get angry. He pulled out 14 silver coins and 62 copper coins and said, "Here's your reward. Adventurer, can you do me another favor?"
"Oh?" John took the coins and looked at him curiously.
The village chief continued, "I have another important task to give you. I wonder if you have the courage to accept it."
"First, tell me the reward." John's eyes lit up. He guessed this was a hidden quest.
"Eh…." the village chief hesitated. This trial had been around for a long time, but there was no reward—just the start of a hidden quest.
He thought for a moment and asked, "What reward do you want? As long as I can get it, I'll give it to you."
"Artifact Core, Second Career Change Card, and Demon Knight Class Change Scroll. Those three." John said directly. These were the things he needed right now.
The Artifact Core could let him manifest his game abilities into the real world. The Second Career Change Card would let him open a second class. He was a priest, and his combat skills were too limited—he needed to get stronger.
And the most perfect choice for him was the hidden class, the Demon Knight, which had both magical and physical damage.
The village chief's eyes widened, his beard trembling as he yelled, "Hey, kid, are you robbing me? Those things? Even a city lord wouldn't have them."
"Then what can you give me?" John knew how rare and valuable these items were.
The village chief said, "I don't have the Second Career Change Card or the Demon Knight Class Change Scroll. But if you pass my test, I can give you one Artifact Core."
"Do you actually have an Artifact Core?" John was shocked. He had only been testing the waters, but the village chief really had one.
The village chief nodded and set the quest.
[Ding. You have triggered a hidden quest: Village Chief's Trial. Kill Twin-Headed Wolf. Reward: Artifact Core ×1. Accept?]
The message appeared. This was definitely a hidden quest.
John accepted it right away.
"Chief, where is this Twin-Headed Wolf, and what level is it?" John asked curiously.
The village chief sat back down on his chair and said, "The Twin-Headed Wolf is hidden in the ruins of the palace altar west of the newbie village. As for its level… it's probably a 30-level elite silver boss now."
"What?!" John shouted in surprise. He felt like the village chief was messing with him. He yelled, "You want a newbie player to take down a 30-level silver boss? Do you think that's even possible?"