Ethan? Everything okay?"
"Mom, come home."
Ethan said into the phone, voice steady. "I made 240,000 credits on the new server in Eternal Realm. More coming. You and Dad won't have to grind those long hauls anymore. My sister's treatment—we'll cover it properly."
"How much?"
"Exactly 240,000."
Ethan smiled. "Mom, Dad—finish the current run, then come back. It's not safe driving cargo trucks forever. I'm building a pro team and could use the help. Come home and let's do this together."
There was a pause. His mom, Sarah, glanced at his dad, Michael, beside her in the truck cab—her eyes asking the silent question.
"Alright, son," Michael finally said. "We'll wrap this load in a week, tops. Then we're back. But... be careful with this gaming thing. Luck can dry up fast."
"I know. But I've got an edge—experience ahead of everyone else. Trust me."
Ethan chatted with them a bit longer—updates on his sister Emily's condition, reassurances—before hanging up.
His parents had agreed, but he could hear the worry in their voices. They still saw him as the kid pushing too hard, chasing a dream that burned most people out.
But this was different. He had ten years of meta knowledge, god-tier talent, and now real cash flow.
"This is just the start."
His eyes hardened with determination. With top-talent alts in the pipeline and his main account snowballing, doubts would vanish soon enough.
…
Sarah stared at the transfer notification: 100,000 credits incoming.
She sighed. "He really did it. But Michael… you know how this goes. One big score, then nothing. Gaming careers chew people up."
Michael nodded slowly. He'd been a semi-pro in an older VR title years ago—never broke through, retired quietly. He knew the grind, the burnout, the house of cards.
"Save most of it for him," he said. "We'll head back soon. Check on Emily's bills, make sure he's not going off the rails. If it's real, great. If not… we pull him back before he crashes."
Sarah smiled faintly. "Agreed. No objections to him playing—just priorities straight."
…
Back in-game, Ethan logged in immediately. Early days were prime time—no distractions, pure development.
He pulled up the Nova Realm leaderboard.
"First place at Level 8, 61% EXP. Good. I can snag the system rewards for first to Level 10."
He was at Level 7, 49% EXP—ranked 29th overall. The massive EXP from massacring Drake Skyler's SharkStrike Syndicate crew had kept him climbing.
"First things first: max out Mutated Blood."
He opened his skill panel. Recent levels had netted 4 more potential points—enough to push Mutated Blood to Lv.5.
Mutated Blood (General Skill)
Lv.5
Use 1 bottle of monster blood to mutate target (mutation level = blood level).
Uses per charge: 5
Range: 300m
Cooldown: 12 hours
Cost: 1 bottle monster blood
"Perfect. With enough blood, I can spawn 10 mutant bosses a day."
Ethan grinned, satisfied. He opened his backpack, targeted Explosive Thunder Kano's corpse, and extracted.
[Extraction successful! Monster Blood (Domain Master-level) ×3 obtained!]
"Three bottles? Nice—drop bonuses at work."
His +200% drop rate (from Merchant Jin's Blessing + Boss Slayer) had doubled the usual yield.
But potential points were still tight. Even with Elena's Blessing doubling gains (2 per level), he needed more.
Every 5 levels unlocked 2 new class skills—each costing 1 potential point. Future class expansions via scrolls would demand even more. Plus Mutated Blood would unlock powerful general skills later.
He frowned at the big "0" in his potential pool.
Then his eyes widened.
"Hold on—Holy Light Burst is at Lv.5 now? It was lower before."
He checked his status bar—and nearly laughed out loud.
[Holy Light Contract: Temple contract power bonus. All Holy Light skills +4 levels (cannot exceed cap). Duration: ∞]
Permanent.
The Silver Treasure Chest's random blessing had given a massive skill-level boost to his holy tree—and Unlimited Buff locked it forever.
"Broken. Absolutely broken."
Normally these buffs were temporary (hours at best). For him? Eternal +4 to every Holy Light skill.
It eased the potential point crunch massively—Holy Light Burst now at effective Lv.9 (base Lv.5 +4), damage and efficiency skyrocketing.
"Still need Water of Oblivion to respec junk skills later. That's main-city stuff at Level 20+."
No problem—his leveling speed was insane.
"Priority: hit Level 10 for system rewards. Nightmare hidden quest is in a Level 10 zone—knock them out together."
Plan set, he headed deeper into the Shadowed Grove.
While moving, he checked the other Silver Treasure Chest rewards.
Pure White Wings (Special Equipment)
Level req: 10
Flight: Activate to gain flight, +100% movement speed for 60s. Cooldown: 300s.
Special Effects:
Holy Light damage +10%
Holy Light damage +10%
Holy Light damage +10%
"Special slot—doesn't occupy normal gear! And built-in flight skill? Insane mobility."
Special equipment was ultra-rare—even top players often went without one early. A first-kill Silver chest dropping this? Pure luck (or his drop buffs).
He pulled out the Stone Knives ×3 (special enhancement items).
[Stone Knife: Special item. Can strengthen or reroll equipment special effects.]
First enhancement: 100% success. Second: 50%. Third: 25%. Failures reset or wipe effects—risky past Lv.3.
But Ethan had three knives for three effects.
He applied them one by one.
[Enhancement successful! Holy Light damage +15%!]
[Enhancement successful! Holy Light damage +15%!]
[Enhancement successful! Holy Light damage +15%!]
All three maxed to +15% each—total +45% Holy Light damage!
"Top-tier enhancement already. Most people never see +45% without insane luck or resources."
Stone Knives came from hell+ quests or mutant boss drops. Mutants he could farm 10/day—easy supply.
"With Pure White Wings and the Ultimate Staff at Level 10… my stats will explode. Bosses in seconds."
Leveling and gear farming would accelerate even more—money pouring in faster.
"First: use the three Domain Master blood bottles. Spawn mutants, farm Stone Knives if lucky, then enhance the Ultimate Staff."
Ethan quickened his pace deeper into the Shadowed Grove. Level 8 Horned Brutes roamed everywhere—perfect EXP.
He spotted a lone wanderer.
No hesitation—Mutated Blood!
[Target mutated!]
[Mutated Horned Brute (Lv.8, Domain Master)]
Ethan's eyes gleamed. Staff raised.
Smite!
-5,000!
-13,000! (Spell Crit + Paralysis Ring Shock Bonus)
In a single second, two **Smite** casts shredded over 10% of the mutated Horned Brute's health!
"Not bad. 150,000 HP pool makes it a tanky one… but against me? Not even close."
Ethan smiled faintly, staff flashing as **Smite** landed every 0.5 seconds (thanks to Elena's Prayer 90% CD reduction). Ten seconds later, the Domain Master-level mutant let out a final wail and collapsed.
**[You killed Mutated Horned Brute (Domain Master-level)! +8,800 EXP!]**
His EXP bar surged—over 25% in one kill!
**[Level: 7 (76.5%)]**
"One more mutant and Level 8 is mine!"
Ethan swept the drops into his backpack without lingering. Level 10 first—system rewards and the Nightmare hidden quest were waiting in a Level 10 zone.
He extracted from the corpse.
**[Mutated Blood (Domain Master-level) ×3 obtained!]**
Backpack now held over 30 pieces of Silver+ gear: 5 Platinum, 12 Gold, 20 Silver. The five Platinums were all Level 10 req—he couldn't equip yet—but several Golds were ready.
He swapped out his remaining Bronze for Silver pieces. Stats updated instantly.
—————
**HP: 3,500**
**Mana: 4,200**
**Magic Attack: 850**
**Physical Attack: 300**
**Physical/Magic Defense: 300/500**
**HP Regen: 965/sec** (Lv.5 Holy Light Restoration + Intermediate Combat Health Potion + other buffs)
**Mana Regen: 165/sec** (50 from gear + potions)
**Physical Crit Rate: 10%**
**Magic Crit Rate: 30%**
—————
"Massive jump!"
Ethan admired the panel. Single **Smite** now hit for 8,500 true Judgment damage base. Crits? Terrifying. With Paralysis Ring synergy (shock +30% damage taken), burst windows approached 20,000 per second.
Even a Level 10 lord boss wouldn't last long—unless pure health sponge, maybe an extra second.
"My Spirit's over 300 with gear bonuses. Breaking 1,000 Spirit and unlocking 'Spirit Limit' is close!"
He grinned inwardly.
**Spirit Limit** (unlocked at 1,000+ Spirit): 10 seconds of 100% spell crit rate +100% crit damage. Cooldown 60s. A powerful buff skill.
And with his talent? Permanent once acquired.
Other limits existed too—Agility, Constitution, Strength—each granting broken stunts. He'd chase all four, but Spirit first.
"At this stage, top players are barely Level 8. Highest bosses? Lords at best. Gear? Mostly Platinum, rare Diamond. They get only 5 free points per level—no doubling like me. Hitting 1,000 in any stat is near-impossible for them early."
This was his window.
In his past life, first to break a stat limit got an **enhanced version** of the stunt—stronger effects. Details fuzzy, but guaranteed superior.
"Grab all four enhanced limits. With Unlimited Buff, the advantage snowballs massively."
His edge: 10 Spirit per level (doubled by Elena's Blessing), foreknowledge of limits, mutant farming for **Stone Knives** (reroll special effects), and +200% drop bonuses.
Platinum/Diamond gear + Stone Knife rerolls into pure Spirit bonuses? Easy stacking.
"Need to push harder. Who knows how long until others hit high gear and stat breaks?"
Urgency rose—but good news: three mutants dropped 9 Stone Knives total.
Bad news: no Limit-Breaking Crystals (low drop even with bonuses). Three general skill books, though.
**[Blood Surge (General, Lv.1)]**
+20% max HP (+20%/lv), 10 min duration (+1/lv), 1 hr CD (-0.1/lv).
**[Swift Stride (General, Lv.1)]**
+20% movement speed (+20%/lv), 12 min duration (+2/lv), 10 min CD (-1/lv).
**[Mana Spring (General, Lv.1)]**
Restore 1% mana/sec (+1%/lv), 6 sec duration (+1/lv), 10 min CD (-1/lv).
"General skills are busted. Shame I only have 2 potential points left."
Holy Light Contract had eased the crunch (+4 levels to holy skills permanent), but general tree still ate points.
After debate, he learned **Mana Spring** and **Swift Stride** first.
**Mana Spring** solved mana sustain forever (percentage regen + potion buffs = endless casts). **Swift Stride** fixed Priest's short legs—better kiting/mobility.
**Blood Surge** could wait—965 HP/sec regen already made him near-unkillable.
**[Mana Regen: 207/sec]**
"Perfect."
He moved to the next Horned Brute pack. Two more **Mutated Blood** uses—two fresh mutants spawned!
…
Meanwhile, in a upscale apartment in New Haven City…
"Azure, we need to up our investment!"
Jade Sterling leaned toward her cousin, Azure Vale.
"I've been pushing for more funding forever—you kept hesitating. What's changed?"
"I just bought a huge gear batch. High quality. If we handle it right, massive early advantage."
Jade raised an eyebrow. "Gear? Black Iron and Bronze?"
"Exactly. From that Priest—Inner Peace. The one we met earlier."
Azure recounted the trade—hundreds of pieces, solid pricing.
"Inner Peace? That name rings a bell…"
Jade pulled up her phone, searched Nova Realm forums.
Posts flooded: clips, analyses, leaderboard dominance. The "Battle Priest" massacre of SharkStrike Syndicate.
"It's him! The PVE king on Nova Realm—soloing Domain Masters, massacring guilds. And he sold us gear?!"
Jade's eyes widened. "Azure—I'm selling my apartment! Full investment. We need to recruit him into Azure Vale Guild—whatever it takes!"
"Sell your apartment?! That's your family's dowry gift—your dad will lose it!"
Jade waved it off. "Rent it first—200–300k credits/month easy. Covers initial push. As for shares… he asked for 51% before. Steep, but negotiable. Offer 20% equity? Or a gambling agreement—performance-based stakes. You're Harvard Business School top grad; close deals like this daily."
"Tricky… but if benefits are huge…"
"Exactly! Willing buyer, willing seller. We take risks too. Get him in—big rewards."
Jade grinned. "Settled. I'll rent the place, move in with you. Time to plan guild growth."
Azure thought, then nodded.
She'd always wanted to prove gaming could build a real career—big money, independence. Family doubted; now opportunity knocked.
"I'll log in soon—contact him again."
She murmured: "He's farming so much gear… imagine what else he can supply."
…
Deep in Shadowed Grove, Ethan glanced at his overflowing backpack—hundreds of glowing pieces: Silver, Gold, Platinum stacking fast.
"Need to offload soon. Can't carry forever."
A private message pinged—from Azure Vale.
"Inner Peace? Got more gear for sale? I'm buying—Black Iron+ quality, as much as you have!"
Ethan checked the backpack—rainbow of lights.
He grinned, sent coordinates.
"Waiting 5 minutes. Bring credits."
Another payday incoming.
Azure Vale arrived breathless—rushing through Level 8 territory.
"Let's trade."
Ethan opened the window, dumped the pile.
Azure's eyes widened.
"This much?!"
Hundreds of pieces—colors gleaming. Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, even Gold/Platinum mixed in.
She swallowed. This haul could propel Azure Vale Guild ahead of everyone.
"Name your price."