A surge of joy filled my heart. It really was a First Kill!!
"You two...?"
Zhang Ruolin looked excitedly at Xiao Bai and me.
"Mm!"
I nodded. "First Kill, three achievement points. Same for everyone, right?"
"Same!"
"Excellent!"
I smiled faintly and took out a fist-sized Ability Crystal from the Dimensional Storage Space. This was a BOSS-grade Ability Crystal, and its chance of producing top-tier items far exceeded that of an ordinary Ability Crystal chest!
With a thought, I opened the chest!
"Zzt~~~"
Amid a soft sound, the BOSS Ability Crystal in my palm buzzed and trembled, cracks spreading continuously across its surface before it rapidly shattered completely. An extremely dazzling pattern immediately appeared before my eyes.
[Congratulations, your BOSS Ability Crystal has been successfully opened. Item obtained: Ring of Swarm Will (Quality: Blue)!]
"Buzz~~~"
My mind went blank for an instant. It had actually produced a blue ring? Blue Equipment was practically the best equipment in version 1.0, and rings were rare equipment with an extremely low drop rate. Yet the Ability Crystal from the Armored Ground Worm had actually yielded equipment like this!
In my palm, an azure-blue ring glimmered faintly. As my gaze rested on it, its attributes floated into view—
[Ring of Swarm Will] (Quality: Blue) Tier: 1 Strength: +20 Specialty: Attack damage +5% Blessing: Critical Hit +2% Blessing: Lifesteal +2% Requires strength: 120 ...
"Damn..."
Looking at the blue ring's attributes, my heart began to race. I could barely suppress my excitement. At this stage, this thing was absolutely a "divine artifact" among player equipment.
It had four attribute lines. Not only did it add 20 Strength, but it also increased damage by 5%. This damage increase was an all-encompassing boost, meaning even the damage from my firearms and grenades would increase by 5%. It looked like a simple attribute, but its returns were anything but ordinary.
Furthermore, ring-slot equipment had two special blessings: critical hits and lifesteal. In Star Abyss, the critical hit and lifesteal values of Blue Equipment ranged from 1% to 2%, so both attributes on the Ring of Swarm Will had already hit their maximum values. It was as perfect as perfect could be!
Its only flaw was the high requirement. It actually required 120 Strength, something ordinary players might not be able to gather. Fortunately, my Essence Furnace was high-tier and my skill level was high enough. Equipping this top-tier ring was effortless!
"Click!"
With a soft sound, the treasure was equipped.
By then, I had enough Experience Points to reach level 20, so I leveled up right away. When I checked the Essence Furnace's level again, it had reached level 18. With the Ring of Swarm Will equipped, my character stats and Overall Combat Level surged once more!
[Shadow Chaser] (Starry Sky Super Weapon · Sword Specialization · Tier 1) Level: 20 Attack: 110-238 Defense: 80 Health: 7900 Critical Hit: 3% Lifesteal: 2% Damage Increase: 5% Charm: 0 Essence: 100/100 Overall Combat Level: 554 Potential Point Allocation: Strength 203/Agility 96/Spirit 68.2/Stamina 54 Achievements: 6 ...
My combat level instantly rose to 554, making it absolutely unmatched at the moment. The massive increase was probably closely related to the blue ring's 2% critical hit, lifesteal, and 5% damage increase. Such core attributes provided no ordinary boost to overall combat level!
Just then, a ding-dong sound rang out beside my ear.
[Congratulations, you have triggered the Proof of Courage quest (Tier 2 Breakthrough Quest)! Quest objective: Enter the breakthrough quest map and complete the npc's request. Quest reward: Class advancement to Tier 2!]
Finally, I could break through to the next tier!
In Star Abyss, ranks were strictly divided. Players from level 1 to 19 belonged to Tier 1. Tier 1 players could only equip Tier 1 equipment and learn Tier 1 skills. To obtain stronger equipment and skills, they had to raise their class tier.
Levels 20 to 29 were Tier 2, levels 30 to 39 were Tier 3, and so on. As long as players worked hard enough, the game system naturally would not let them sit idle.
There was no rush. I would return to Creek City, rest and resupply a little, then consider starting the breakthrough quest.
I turned around and looked at Ruolin and Xiao Bai. "What did you two get from your BOSS Ability Crystals? They should both be pretty good, right?"
"Not bad."
Xiao Bai smiled. "I got a pair of blue bracers. The attributes are pretty decent."
Ruolin said, "My luck was average. I got a green heavy sniper rifle, but it's still pretty good. I didn't have a sniper rifle before, so it fills the gap. When leveling in the future, I can fire seven or eight shots from a distance before switching to a Submachine Gun. It'll be more efficient."
"Mm."
I nodded. "Looks like everyone got a decent haul."
"Ding Han."
Xiao Bai looked up at me. "What did you get?"
"Me..."
I was just about to show them the blue ring when, with a sudden "bang," a bullet drilled into Xiao Bai's chest and burst out through his back in a spray of blood!
"344!"
Amid the thunderous blast, nearly half of Xiao Bai's health bar vanished instantly. He staggered backward, and then the enemy's second shot rang out!
"Get down!"
The instant the gunshot rang out, I slammed Xiao Bai to the ground, then rolled over the hill with Ruolin and ducked behind a protruding rock. In that split second, I had already determined the enemy's direction.
"Fuck!"
After releasing Xiao Bai, I swiftly switched my main weapon to Wind Whisperer, rolled to another position, and set up my gun. Through the scope, I easily spotted the enemy hiding in the woods about 500 meters away!
Under the scope's magnification, I could even see that person's health bar and ID!
[Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar] (Psionicist · Tier 1) Level: 18 ...
"It's someone from Ragnarok."
My gaze remained calm.
Xiao Bai looked tense. He had just injected himself with Hemostatic Medicine, and his face was slightly pale. "Ragnarok is really going to make a move against us?"
"They already have."
I frowned, opened the system, and invested 1% of my experience. Smiling, I said, "Friends from Ragnarok, why go this far? We're all players. We have no one to rely on in this Star Abyss World. If players don't unite, are we supposed to wait for the natives to wipe us out one by one?"
Sure enough, several more stars lit up one after another on the star map. Two belonged to Ruolin and Xiao Bai, while the other five belonged to Ragnarok. Besides Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar, there was also someone I recognized—the Shadow Assassin who had followed Ruolin and me in an alley in Creek City last time. His name was Mid Lane Killing God!
"Boss Shadow Chaser, we don't want to do this either..."
Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar laughed. "But who told you to just kill a level-20 Blue BOSS? To be honest, we Ragnarok guys had been eyeing this Armored Ground Worm for days. We only just gathered enough ammunition today and came to collect it, but we never expected you people to beat us to it."
"Shadow Chaser!"
Mid Lane Killing God laughed. "We brothers are only out here to get equipment. Just as you said, we're all players. Maybe in our original world, we could have called each other brothers. So we only want your goods, not your lives. Leave behind the items from the BOSS Ability Crystals, along with the BOSS corpse, and we'll pretend nothing happened. How about it?"
"You're openly robbing us?" Ruolin said indignantly.
"You can't call it open robbery. We're merely taking back what originally belonged to us."
Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar smiled. "Boss Shadow Chaser, there are only three of you. Although you're level 20, you must have leveled up in the wilderness, so there's no way you could become a Tier 2 player in such a short time. That makes no difference from Tier 1. There are five of us. A smart person should know what to choose, right?"
"I understand."
I smiled faintly. "Ragnarok plans to use numbers to bully people, right?"
"That's right!"
Another player spoke up. "We're using our numbers to bully you, so what? Stop wasting experience talking on the star map. If you don't leave the equipment behind, you three will die. Once we kill you, the equipment will drop anyway."
"Fine."
I nodded. "Since talking won't work, let's fight first."
"Fight it is! You think we're afraid of you?!"
Two of them exited the star map in succession.
I swiftly exited the star map as well. The moment I left the chat, I cycled the bolt and aimed at Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar's exposed head, firing a brutal shot!
"Bang!"
"448!"
A huge damage number rose in the scope. Before Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar could raise his head, I fired three more shots in rapid succession, each one a headshot!
"443!"
"409!"
"428!"
Four rapid shots, all landing with perfect accuracy. I quickly rolled away, clutching Wind Whisperer as I changed firing positions. When I aimed through the scope again, a bandage icon had appeared over Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar's head—the sign of being Lightly Injured!
Once players were injured, their health would be locked. For example, Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar's health had fallen below 30%. Even if he used bandages or Hemostatic Medicine, he could not restore his health beyond 30%. He needed treatment or advanced medical items such as a First Aid Kit, Medical Box, or even medical nanobots.
While injured, a player's overall attributes would plummet, and their skills would be greatly weakened. Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar was no longer a threat!
Next, the next one!
I aimed swiftly. With a "bang," Mid Lane Killing God's head exploded, blood spraying everywhere as he lost more than 400 health directly. His expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly leaped forward. His body entered a dark, grainy shadow as he tried to use Shadow Veil to sneak away!
"Bang bang bang..."
I did not hesitate in the slightest, firing three shots instantly at Mid Lane Killing God's front, middle, and rear positions. Level 10 Basic Shooting ignored recoil. It was just that overbearing!
A spray of blood burst forth as Mid Lane Killing God staggered out of the shadows, blood gushing from his abdomen as his face turned extremely ugly.
After three more precise shots, a Lightly Injured warning icon for health below 30% appeared above Mid Lane Killing God's head as well.
Another one crippled!
"Holy shit..."
Xiao Bai stared wide-eyed. "Ding Han, how is your basic marksmanship so strong? At that distance, every shot is a headshot... What level is your skill, exactly?"
"Not that high. It's all talent!"
I kept aiming while talking nonsense with one eye open.
By then, several enemy players had begun returning fire. However, most of their Basic Shooting skills were only level 3 or 4, so their sniper rifle accuracy at 500 meters was extremely low, barely even reaching 20%.
For a time, the rocks and dirt around us kept bursting with dull thuds as bullets kicked up countless clouds of dust.
Zu'an Liberal Arts Top Scholar's voice came through the star map.
"Boss Shadow Chaser, forget it, forget it. We brothers admit defeat..."
Before you continue