[The Fate Coin was successfully used!]
[Obtained Mythic-quality unique item—Regret Pill!]
Even the heavens wanted to give him another chance?
A smile tugged at Lu Li's bloodstained face. Summoning the last of his strength, he brought the potion to his lips!
Now that he'd lived again, every traitor would die!!
[Data Panel generated. The global apocalypse will begin in ten seconds. All players, please be prepared!]
The icy voice echoed in everyone's minds.
Lu Li jerked his head up. The familiar classroom came into view.
The Regret Pill had worked. He'd really come back!
At that moment, his classmates were looking around in confusion.
"Hey, hey, did you just hear some weird voice?"
"Holy crap, you heard it too? I thought I was the only one..."
"The global apocalypse? I just finished today's homework!"
"Hahahaha, forget the tests! I awakened Lightning Arrow! Diamond Rank!! I'm invincible, hahaha!!"
"Fuck, I'm so damn unlucky! My Talent Ability is Scout, and it's only Black Iron Grade..."
"Scout? Black Iron Grade?"
Lu Li turned toward the voice and saw Xing Anlin, who sat by the window, complaining with a miserable look on his face.
If Lu Li's memory was right, this man would be killed by a monster in the very first second of the apocalypse!
Sure enough,
Before the unlucky guy could finish speaking, the sound of shattering window glass rang out.
A mantis-like monster about the size of a child burst into the classroom. Its blade-sharp arms swept down, shearing off most of Xing Anlin's head!
The noisy classroom fell abruptly silent.
"A m-monster..."
"His head—half his head is gone..."
"It's turning this way..."
An even greater panic erupted in the classroom. The students scattered in chaos, jostling to get through the door.
Lu Li, however, advanced instead of retreating, slowly closing in on the mantis monster.
He recognized the creature before him—
The Blade Mantis!
As the first monster to appear when the apocalypse game began, the Blade Mantis had terrifying offensive power, but it was fragile.
A strike to its slender neck was all it took to kill it easily.
Lu Li knew that from his previous life. He'd already grabbed a chair and was preparing to attack.
Before he could make a move, a dazzling Lightning Arrow slammed into the Blade Mantis's face.
Lu Li froze, then immediately lowered the chair in his hand.
He'd almost forgotten about Zhao Hui, the lucky guy who'd awakened a Diamond Rank ability.
"Get the fuck out of the way! Watch my Lightning Arrow!"
Seeing that his sneak attack had worked, Zhao Hui's fear vanished, replaced by utter arrogance.
He'd awakened a Diamond Rank ability. He was a genius!
The mantis monster before him was nothing to worry about!
Unfortunately, Zhao Hui didn't know that the Blade Mantis's weak point was its neck.
The Lightning Arrow he'd thrown hadn't killed the monster. It had only enraged it.
As the Blade Mantis pounced ferociously at him, Zhao Hui could only keep hurling Lightning Arrows to hold it back.
Sparks crackled in every direction, and the classroom descended into chaos.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Li quietly made his way to Xing Anlin's corpse.
It wasn't because he had some perverted fetish. It was because the ability he'd awakened was extremely special—
[Soul Devour].
This ability couldn't be used on living creatures and had no grade.
In his previous life, Lu Li had thought he'd awakened a useless, worthless ability. Later, however, he'd discovered that Soul Devour was incredibly powerful.
Because it could devour the souls of corpses!
Regardless of level or grade!
As long as it was a corpse, Lu Li could devour its soul and convert it into Soul Points!
Plunder talents and make them his own!
At that moment, Lu Li had already placed his hand on Xing Anlin's corpse.
Ability activated!
[Devoured Lv. 0 Player's soul. Soul Points +1]
[Plundered ability—Scout (Black Iron)]
[Preserve soul consciousness? (Yes/No)]
Lu Li hesitated briefly, then chose yes.
When devouring a human soul, there was a chance to preserve its consciousness.
Xing Anlin was a decent guy. There was no need to erase his consciousness when devouring his soul this time around.
Once Lu Li's soul grew strong enough, he might be able to refine Xing Anlin into a Soul Guard and gain an ally.
With that thought, Lu Li looked toward the fight nearby.
It really was no wonder that the ability was Diamond Rank.
Even though Zhao Hui's aim was awful and he hadn't hit the Blade Mantis's weak point once, his relentless barrage had left the monster battered, with limbs missing and wounds all over.
At last, the Blade Mantis let out a mournful cry and died.
As soon as the fight ended, Lu Li hurried toward the corpse.
His Soul Devour ability worked on monster corpses just as well as it did on human ones.
[Devoured Lv. 1 Monster's soul. Soul Points +2]
[Plundered ability—Blade Arm (Bronze)]
Unlike human souls, monster souls usually didn't offer the option to preserve their consciousness.
Lu Li suspected it was because these creatures hadn't evolved intelligence.
"Lu Li, what are you doing?!"
Just as Lu Li pulled his hand away from the Blade Mantis's corpse, Ying Zi'an's unpleasant shout came from behind him.
Ying Zi'an had always been Zhao Hui's lackey. Now that Zhao Hui had awakened a powerful ability, he'd become an even more shameless sycophant.
Zhao Hui also turned his gaze toward Lu Li, his expression shifting.
Lu Li had already thought of an explanation, and he remained calm.
"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to test out my ability."
"Test your ability? What grade is it?"
"Black Iron Grade. Scout."
Lu Li casually claimed Xing Anlin's ability as his own.
Ying Zi'an sneered when he heard that.
"I thought it was something impressive. Turns out it's useless Black Iron. If you want to scout, go somewhere else. Don't touch Brother Zhao's spoils! Get lost, get lost..."
Zhao Hui raised a hand to stop him.
"Hey, let him finish."
Lu Li put on a grateful expression.
"My Scout ability can locate where Origin Crystals form."
"Where Origin Crystals form?" Zhao Hui's gaze sharpened.
"Where?"
When the apocalypse began, information had been implanted in everyone's minds, including the uses of Origin Crystals.
Origin Crystals formed inside monsters and were necessary materials for players to grow stronger.
"In its head."
Lu Li spoke as he took a step back.
The little gesture pleased Zhao Hui. He nodded toward Ying Zi'an.
"Go get the Origin Crystal."
Ying Zi'an had awakened [Sharp Claw], a Silver Grade ability. It had poor combat potential early on, but was surprisingly well suited to gutting corpses.
Before long, he'd dug out a grayish-black Origin Crystal.
Greed shone in Ying Zi'an's eyes as he looked at the crystal, but in the end, he handed it to Zhao Hui.
"Brother Zhao, it's a First-Order Mana Crystal."
Players could level up by absorbing Origin Crystals. A First-Order Mana Crystal provided one experience point.
A Second-Order Mana Crystal provided ten experience points, and so on.
This method of advancement seemed ordinary, but it concealed a trick.
Players could absorb only ten Origin Crystals per week, but there was no limit on the crystals' order.
If two players absorbed ten crystals each, the player who absorbed ten First-Order Mana Crystals would undoubtedly fall far behind the one who absorbed Second-Order Mana Crystals.
Of course, Lu Li was the only one who knew about this trick for now.
Zhao Hui absorbed the crystal without hesitation, then assumed the air of a superior.
"Good. We need to find a way to get more Origin Crystals. That's how we'll grow stronger quickly."
Ying Zi'an immediately chimed in.
"Exactly! Everyone, split up. Give all the Origin Crystals you find to Brother Zhao!"
A dissatisfied voice rose from the crowd.
"Why should we risk our lives to get Origin Crystals, just to hand them over to Zhao Hui for nothing?!"
"Why?"
Zhao Hui sneered, fixing his gaze on the dissenter as sparks crackled in his palm.
"Because I awakened a Diamond Rank ability, and you didn't!"
Before you continue