Chapter 19

His blade moved like the wind. He was so fast that his blurred figure was almost impossible to track.

Again and again...

Adrian's lunges grew faster and faster, his movements almost ghostlike.

He could feel himself improving. Step by step, he was approaching the point where he could create a skill of his own.

Time passed, and the sun sank toward the horizon.

Shhk—

Adrian lunged and swung once more. This time, the [perfect feeling] he had pursued for so long suddenly filled his mind.

He felt his sword cut through the resistance of the wind with perfect clarity. His body and blade became one as he surged forward, reaching a terrifying speed.

Adrian had only just begun his strike when another "Adrian" appeared more than ten meters away. For an instant, two identical figures existed at once.

The faint trace of a sharp blade flash lingered in midair.

Only then did the "Adrian" left behind slowly fade.

[Evaluating self-created skill...]

[Evaluation successful. You have mastered a self-created skill!]

[Please name your self-created skill!]

More details surfaced in his mind, and the panel automatically recorded every principle behind the skill.

Adrian glanced at its effects and mused, "I'll call it Lazy Fish Thrust... As if! It's Dashing Slash!"

[Name confirmed! You have mastered the self-created skill [Dashing Slash]!]

[Dashing Slash] LV1 (0/10,000): When swinging your sword at a target enemy, you can instantly dash up to 10 meters.

Now that was a skill he could have fun with!

E-nough fun to go around?

Adrian could not resist swinging his sword again. His figure followed the blade flash through the air in silence, leaving afterimage upon afterimage and one sharp streak of light after another across the clearing.

Only after using it more than ten times in a row did Adrian stop.

With each slash, his blade's momentum grew fiercer!

I'm having so much fun!

A 0-21-0 smile spread across Adrian's face...

"I need to find a victim... an alpha-test player to try this out on!"

Adrian entered Ghostification again and flew toward the docks.

Before long, he was back. A quick glance around revealed that Cao Renqi's ID was still there!

"Boss Cao! Long time no see!"

Adrian hurried over and caught hold of the abalone seller, who was about to close his stall.

Cao Renqi never even saw him approach. Someone suddenly grabbed him, and he jolted in surprise.

"Huh? It's you!!" The moment he saw who it was, he froze.

The words he had been about to say went straight back down his throat.

Holy shit! Big Lethal! Cao Renqi kept that thought to himself.

What Adrian did not know was that a player had already posted footage of him taking down Hog in town on the Player Forum. Caught up in the fight at the time, Adrian had failed to notice the player's ID.

Nor did Adrian know that the players had since given him the nickname [Big Lethal]!

Even now, the Player Forum was buzzing.

"Help: one Extremely Lethal guy instantly killed another Extremely Lethal guy. Which one is more lethal? [Video attached]"

"Some Extremely Lethal guys are Big Lethal. Some are Little Lethal. Little Lethal didn't stand a chance against Big Lethal!"

"No exaggeration, if Little Lethal hit me with his blade, he'd have to drop to his knees and beg me not to die!"

"He'd need a blade? With that armor and that build, one touch would put you on your knees!"

"So this is what a high-level NPC can do?"

"Does anyone know what that ghostlike thing was? It was amazing!"

"By the way, to the guy who uploaded the video: did you film it with a door lock? It's blurry as hell! I wanted a good look at that babe at the end!"

When the news first broke, Cao Renqi had joined the discussion and shown off Adrian's [Personal Shop], which he had spotted earlier. He had earned plenty of envy and jealousy from other players, along with his share of snide remarks.

"Holy shit! Could Big Lethal be some kind of Mysterious Merchant?"

"Very possible! Native NPCs don't give us alpha testers the time of day at this stage. Only a Mysterious Merchant handing out beginner perks would take an interest in low-level players like us."

"What kind of idiot shows everyone an NPC that good instead of keeping him to himself?"

"Seriously, I have a friend who really wants to learn [Life Return]. Did the OP learn it from Big Lethal? My friend wants to see how it works."

"Bro... is your friend a girl?"

[A Chance to Fleece Him Again]

Why has Big Lethal come looking for me again?

Could it be...

He's had a change of heart and wants to pay me back for those two bottles of water this morning?

Cao Renqi's mind was a mess. He had no idea what was going on and could only stand there in a daze.

"Hey, Boss Cao, are you all right?" Adrian gave Cao Renqi's shoulder a firm shake. "Can you hear me?"

What's wrong with this abalone guy? Is his head really busted? Should I find a more reliable player? Looks like I'll need to spend more time checking the forums before approaching players from now on...

Thoughts raced through Adrian's mind.

"Yes! Yes!" Cao Renqi snapped out of it and nodded frantically. "Big—Mr. Adrian, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Uh..."

Adrian faltered. He suddenly realized he had no reason to open his Personal Shop for Cao Renqi, so he cobbled together another quest.

[You have triggered the D-rank quest [Bread]. Accept/Decline?]

Cao Renqi immediately accepted. He wanted to build a better relationship with Adrian if he could!

But the next second, he looked at Adrian with wounded eyes again.

This morning, you bought two bottles of Purified Water worth 100 Beli each from me for 10 Beli...

Now you want bread, and this time you're even worse. You're only offering 1 Beli...

You might as well rob me!

Abalone sellers are players too, you know!

Even a little experience would be better than 1 Beli!

Tears welled in Cao Renqi's eyes as he took all four pieces of bread from his bag—his dinner for the day—and handed them to Adrian.

"That's the last of my bread!"

Damn it! Does he really think I'm trying to steal his bread?

Exasperated, Adrian took the bread and set it aside, then opened his Personal Shop for Cao Renqi again.

Cao Renqi looked at the shop. Its once-dazzling selection had been reduced to a single skill.

"I miss Life Return... What's this? Dashing Slash? Let me read the description... Holy shit! This is a blink!"

With the speed he had honed over twenty-eight years of being single, Cao Renqi snatched up [Dashing Slash] in a flash.

[Dashing Slash (Player Version)] LV1 (0/200,000): When swinging your sword at a target enemy, you can dash up to 10 meters. Costs 10 Stamina. Cooldown: 30 seconds. (Note: Requires base Strength 5, Agility 5, and a Swordsman Class.)

A god-tier skill!

Cao Renqi's eyes shone as he roared inwardly.

Just then, Adrian shook his head. "Too bad you aren't a Swordsman. You can't use this skill."

What?

Cao Renqi looked up, eyes wide. If I can't use it, why the hell did I buy it?

He checked the requirements again. He could understand falling short on attributes—his level was low, after all—but what was this [Swordsman Class] business?

Cao Renqi checked his panel. Drifter was still his only class.

He had made some progress toward the Fishmonger class, but a fishmonger clearly had nothing to do with a Swordsman!!

Then Adrian asked, "Do you want to become a Swordsman?"

Cao Renqi understood: Big Lethal was a Career Mentor too!

He nodded like a pecking chicken. Only a fool would say no.

"I do!"

Good. He's a quick learner.

Adrian nodded to himself and added [Basic Swordsmanship] to the shop.

[Basic Swordsmanship] was different from [Dashing Slash].

Dashing Slash was bait to attract players, so Adrian could not price it too high. Like the other basic skills, it cost 1,000 experience and 1,000 Beli.

[Basic Swordsmanship], however, was a knowledge-based skill and the key to unlocking a main class. He priced it at 10,000 experience and 5,000 Beli—a fortune for a beginner.

Cao Renqi nearly bankrupted himself buying [Basic Swordsmanship], wiping out everything he had earned in five days of play.

At the same time, his game panel informed him that he had learned the fundamentals of swordsmanship and unlocked the Swordsman class.

"Main class [Apprentice Swordsman], plus one Strength and one Agility... I've unlocked Stamina too. It's at 100, just like my health and physical energy, but I don't know what it's for... Oh, and I got two Free Attribute Points and one Skill Point. Time to spend them!"

Cao Renqi put both Free Attribute Points into Agility, then raised Dashing Slash to LV2. Its cooldown fell by three seconds, leaving him thoroughly pleased.

"Huh? Wait! I still can't use the skill. My attributes aren't high enough!"

Cao Renqi blinked and checked his stats: total level 1, Strength 2, Agility 4.

"What a letdown!"

Meanwhile, Adrian received the experience and Beli Cao Renqi had paid.

When Adrian uploaded [Dashing Slash] to his Personal Shop, he had discovered that he could freely change the name and description of a self-created skill, but its actual effect would stay the same.

Take [Dashing Slash], for example.

If Adrian wanted, he could call it [Lazy Fish Thrust], [Happy Wind Man], or even list it in his Personal Shop as [Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon Sword].

But its effect would not change. It would still be an explosive dash of up to ten meters.

That was undoubtedly good news. He would not have to devise other high-speed movement skills with similar effects.

When the time came, he could simply change the name and description, slap on a new coat of paint, and sell it to the players again.

He could even sell the same skill repeatedly to players with more money than sense: first [Dashing Slash], then [Lazy Fish Thrust], then [Spirit-Sundering Slash]...

The players paid for skills, and Adrian gained experience. Everyone won!

In high spirits, Adrian closed his Personal Shop and was about to leave.

Seeing this, Cao Renqi hurriedly asked, "Boss, is there anything else I can help with?"

Now that he had a god-tier blink skill within reach, Cao Renqi was fired up to level up.

To level up, he needed experience. That meant quests—high-level quests, preferably!

Was there any NPC in Flower Country easier to talk to than Big Lethal right in front of him?

No!

Even if there was, Cao Renqi doubted he would be lucky enough to meet them, let alone get a quest.

Adrian was the only one he had a connection with. Cao Renqi would have loved Big Lethal to bury him in high-level quests!

Adrian looked Cao Renqi up and down. After letting the moment linger, he shook his head. "You're still too weak. There's nothing more you can help me with."

Cao Renqi instantly remembered how helpless Little Lethal had been once Big Lethal got serious, and a chill ran through him.