After modifying the talent values,
John rose to his feet and set his sights on the Lv.3 wolf still wandering nearby.
Even after he had just slaughtered so many guild members, that wolf was still leisurely roaming the area.
At that moment, it was lazily sprawled on the grass, basking in the sun, completely indifferent to the corpses around it.
John raised his dagger and said with a faint smile, "Monsters around Novice Village really are easy to kill. As long as you don't attack first, they won't enter an aggro state at all."
He tightened his grip on the dagger and activated the [Boundary Break] talent.
The wolf was instantly locked on.
Aim, gather strength, throw!
The entire motion flowed as smoothly as water.
The dagger shot out like a streak of cold light and pierced straight into the wolf's forehead with perfect accuracy.
The wolf had no time to react before its head exploded under the terrifying force.
[-1797!]
The wolf, with its 1300 HP, was killed on the spot.
[Killed Lv.3 Wolf, EXP +300!]
[Level increased to Lv.2!]
Sein's group had spent half an hour grinding just to get one person to Level 2.
John, on the other hand, leveled up almost instantly the moment he made his move.
That was the difference a talent made!
Unfortunately, the drop rate was just too low. No equipment dropped.
"Judging by the timing, those guys should have revived by now.
Time to head back."
John retrieved the dagger and turned toward Novice Village.
…
At the same time,
inside Novice Village,
at the Revival Spring,
members of the Opportunists Guild were reviving one after another.
Sein was the first to come back.
He staggered out, pale-faced, clutching his throat.
The pain simulation in Apocalypse was extremely realistic.
The agony of having his throat slit by a dagger before death had left Sein covered in cold sweat even now.
"I... got killed?"
Sein lowered his head—and immediately noticed something was wrong.
All of his equipment, even the clothes on his body, were gone!
Not only that.
The moment Sein instinctively opened his status panel, his mind went blank.
"Where's my talent?"
The golden, shining [Universal Synthesis] that had previously occupied his talent slot had vanished without a trace.
"No... impossible... how could it disappear...?"
Sein muttered to himself, panic rapidly spreading across his face.
He refreshed the panel frantically, but [Universal Synthesis] never reappeared.
Splash!
Another person emerged from the Revival Spring.
It was the swordsman Raymond.
His situation was exactly the same as Sein's—completely naked, with his talent mysteriously gone.
"Fuck! Where the hell is my sword? My gear?!"
Raymond stared at his empty hands and hurriedly covered himself in panic.
Then came—
the warrior Kaer, the blond mage Pierre, the sword-and-shield fighter Hansen, Vice Guild Leader Ham...
One after another, the members of the Opportunists Guild crawled out of the Revival Spring.
When they saw that everyone else was also stark naked,
their expressions became absolutely priceless.
It was as though all of them had been struck by the same curse.
Talents, equipment, copper coins—all gone!
Even their novice starter outfits had disappeared!
A whole group of them stood there bare-assed in the Revival Spring, like a flock of plucked chickens.
The scene was ridiculous beyond words.
Passing female players and female NPCs all stopped to watch, covering their mouths as they giggled.
"Huh? Why is there a bunch of naked guys over here?"
"Tsk tsk, the server's only just opened and we already have a whole group of perverts."
Some bolder female players even pointed at Sein and laughed.
"Heeheehee, look at that guy—so tiny."
Sein's face instantly turned the color of pig liver.
Covering himself with one hand, he roared, "Get the hell out of here! Keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out!"
The crowd fell quiet for a moment—
then erupted into even louder laughter.
"He's mad, he's mad. Tiny down there, but huge temper."
"Put on some pants before you start yelling!"
"If I were him, I'd already have quit the game."
Every mocking word drilled into Sein's ears, making him tremble with rage.
Grinding his teeth, he roared, "John! I'm going to kill you!!!"
"G-Guild Leader," someone behind him asked timidly, "without our talents and equipment... how are we supposed to get revenge?"
Sein took a deep breath and forcibly calmed himself down.
His face darkened.
"I've built up some connections over the years.
When the time comes, I'll borrow some copper coins first and buy a basic set of white-grade gear to make do while we develop.
Even if I have to borrow money, I'll tear John to pieces.
Otherwise, he'll ruin my reputation completely!"
Vice Guild Leader Hansen, one hand covering his crotch, asked cautiously, "Equipment can be bought with money... but what about talents?
That kind of thing... doesn't seem like something money can buy, right?"
Sein froze.
Then he fell into silence.
In the game Apocalypse,
there was almost only one chance to obtain a talent.
That was when a player first logged into the game— the system would randomly assign an F- to SSS-rank talent based on the player's class.
Once assigned, it could no longer be changed.
The only other way to obtain a new talent afterward
was through a Talent Stone, which would only appear in the later stages of the game.
But at this point in time, the only person in the entire game who knew how to obtain a Talent Stone
was the reborn John.
So for Sein's group, it was almost impossible to ever gain talents again.
The moment Sein realized that,
his mentality completely exploded.
He started cursing wildly.
"Bastard! I never should've taken in that ungrateful little traitor in the first place.
All that trash assassin knows how to do is sneak attack and betray people!
That dog bastard—if he's got the guts, let him fight me one-on-one. I'd crush that piece of garbage with one hand—"
Bang!
Before Sein could finish cursing, a tremendous force struck the back of his head.
His whole body flew through the air like a kite with its string cut.
Sein rolled across the ground several times like an old dog.
By the time he scrambled back up, half his HP was already gone.
His ears rang violently as he struggled to look up.
Only then did he see that a figure had appeared where he had been standing just moments earlier.
It was none other than John, who had returned from the wilderness!
Fights inside Novice Village were extremely rare.
This scene immediately attracted a huge crowd of players.
Even the NPCs in the village came over after hearing the commotion.
"J-o-h-n!" Sein shrieked in a trembling voice.
He had no idea when the other man had appeared behind him.
But one thing was obvious—
John had just sent him flying with a single slap.
He had even lost half his HP from that one blow!
"You bastard actually dared to come back to the village!"
With so many players and NPCs witnessing his disgrace, and with his enemy standing right in front of him,
Sein had completely lost his mind.
"I'll kill you!"
With a furious roar, Sein directly yanked a short blade from the side of a village militiaman.
"Die!"
Screaming shrilly, he slashed at John.
The sight made the surrounding crowd cry out in alarm at once.
The short blades carried by the Novice Village militia were no joke—a single strike might well kill someone!
And yet—
faced with the crazed Sein hacking at him,
John did not dodge.
He did not even blink.
Clang!
The short blade struck the cloth robe on John's body.
And astonishingly, it produced a loud metallic collision sound, sending sparks flying.
A huge white damage number appeared above John's head.
[-0!]
That strike had dealt absolutely no damage at all!