"Sure enough, it was Dark Shadow again! He got the first Gold Tier kill, and now he's the first player in the world to reach level 10!"
"Dark Shadow is incredible! And I just heard he killed some minor celebrity several times!"
"Song Fei, right? I saw his post on social media saying he wanted to buy lifespan. What a joke. Does that dumbass actually want revenge on Dark Shadow?"
"Song Fei barely reached level 6 with dozens of girls escorting him, and he thinks he can compete with Dark Shadow?"
Across Great Xia, on the forums and in every town, players buzzed with discussion.
No one thought Song Fei stood a chance in his conflict with Dark Shadow!
As for the players overseas, the codename "Dark Shadow" left an even deeper impression on them.
"Ah... fuck! This Dark Shadow is from Great Xia?"
"Shit! Our highest-level player in Sakura Country is only level 7. I can't accept this..."
"Fuck! I'm Smith, and I have a unique hidden class, but I'm only level 8. What's the deal with Dark Shadow?"
"There are 1.5 billion of us in India, and not a single one can catch up to Dark Shadow?"
"I heard this guy from Great Xia has been soloing the whole time. That's why he levels so fast!"
"Impossible! Even the regular monsters in this game are so hard to kill. How could anyone solo them, let alone that fast?"
Countless people around the world were stunned.
Many wanted to know just who this "Dark Shadow" was.
Even Great Xia's authorities were investigating him in secret.
But so far, no one knew Dark Shadow's real-world identity!
Firefly Town.
After reaching level 10, Qin Feng glanced at his stat panel.
-- [Codename: Dark Shadow] [Class: Dark Shadow (Unique hidden)] [Level: 10] [Non-tradable lifespan: 1,219 years, 128 days] [Tradable lifespan: 7,455 days] [Strength: 39] [Constitution: 39] [Agility: 111] [Spirit: 41] [Reputation: 47] --
Only seven thousand-odd days of tradable lifespan. Nowhere near enough...
Qin Feng sighed, then logged out where he stood.
After level 10, the experience required to level up was more than ten times what it had been before. Leveling through regular monsters alone would be painfully slow.
Besides, after reaching level 10, he also needed to spend experience on "class advancement."
Advancing his class would not only increase his four core stats but also unlock more class-exclusive skills.
This was especially important for hidden classes.
The key to a hidden class's strength lay in the exclusive skills unlocked through class advancement!
Next, I either need to find bosses to kill or wait for six more people to reach level 10 so I can leave the starting town.
Before that, I can return to reality and take care of something...
Qin Feng closed his eyes.
His hazy figure slowly faded from the coastal area of Firefly Town...
River-Sea City, Great Xia.
The eleventh floor of Building Eleven in Mountains and Waters Impression, an ordinary residential complex.
In a simple, tidy bedroom, Qin Feng's translucent body, which had been floating above the bed, gradually began to solidify...
When Qin Feng chose to log out, he received a system notification because he had already reached level 10.
-- [Spend tradable lifespan to extract abilities into reality?] [Yes/No] --
Qin Feng selected "Yes."
A list of abilities available for extraction appeared before his eyes:
-- [1. Extract class and levels] [2. Extract equipment] [3. Extract skills] [4. Extract bloodline (Currently unavailable)] [5. Extract divinity (Currently unavailable)] --
First came class extraction.
The Godforsaken Game treated everyone equally in this regard. Whether a class was ordinary or hidden, extracting its abilities into reality cost 1,000 days of lifespan.
Without hesitation, Qin Feng first extracted his unique hidden class, "Dark Shadow," into reality!
-- [You have spent 1,000 days of lifespan (Tradable)] [You have extracted "Dark Shadow (Unique hidden class)"] [You have acquired "Dark Shadow (Unique hidden class)." Class passive is now active!] [Your strength +3, constitution +3, agility +8, spirit +5!] --
Levels came next.
Extracting levels primarily increased his real-world stats, but it did not allow him to redistribute his free stat points.
Whatever allocation he had used in the game would remain fixed when extracted into reality.
Before level 10, extracting levels costs a fixed 1,000 days of lifespan per level.
Then... I'll extract two levels into reality!
-- [You have spent 1,000 × 2 days of lifespan (Tradable)] [You have extracted 2 levels] [Your real-world level has increased to level 3!] [Your strength +4, constitution +4, agility +14, spirit +4!] --
That left him with 4,455 days of lifespan.
Next came what surprised Qin Feng the most... skill extraction!
My talent lets me evolve skills.
Normally, the higher a skill's grade, the more lifespan it costs to extract, sometimes multiplying several times over.
I never expected my skill extraction costs to be based on the skills' original grades!
Shadowmeld, for example.
Qin Feng had already evolved this skill to Platinum Tier. Under the usual calculation, extracting it would cost over ten thousand days of lifespan.
But now, it only cost the base amount of 900 days!
And...
The extracted skill would be Platinum Tier, matching its version in the game!
If the skill advanced further in the game, its real-world counterpart would advance along with it, without requiring any additional lifespan for extraction.
Nice.
Qin Feng quickly selected two skills and extracted them!
-- [You have spent 900 days of lifespan (Tradable) and extracted the skill "Shadowmeld (Platinum Tier)"!] [You have spent 2,262 days of lifespan (Tradable) and extracted the skill "Deadly Poison Dart (Silver Grade)"!] --
After extracting those two skills, Qin Feng had only 1,292 days of lifespan left.
He had spent quite a lot of lifespan.
But the benefits were staggering!
Originally, Qin Feng had been just an ordinary person in reality. Now, his four core stats were almost twice those of an average person.
His speed, in particular, had already surpassed human limits!
With 32 agility in reality, Qin Feng could now sprint a hundred meters in just over five seconds!
Too bad I don't have enough tradable lifespan left...
But that's fine.
With these stats, killing Song Fei will be easy enough.
Qin Feng narrowed his eyes.
After living through nine years of the apocalypse, Qin Feng was long accustomed to killing.
He would never give Song Fei a chance to rise.
I extracted Platinum Tier Shadowmeld for the price of a low-quality skill... Now that's one hell of a discount.
With my class passive doubling its duration, I can already stay invisible indefinitely!
Add Deadly Poison Dart with its fourteen-meter range, and I can easily find a chance to kill Song Fei!
The question now was where to find Song Fei.
If events had followed the course of his previous life, Qin Feng would have had a hard time locating him...
But now, Song Fei was buying up lifespan on a massive scale.
And lifespan trades had to be conducted face-to-face.
In other words, Song Fei's real-world location was effectively out in the open!
Qin Feng already had a plan for that...
River-Sea City, afternoon.
Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes in his bedroom.
With the extraction complete, his body had become fully solid.
He clenched his fists and moved around a little, adjusting to his stats as a smile curled his lips.
"Time to go."
Just as he was about to act, the phone beside him suddenly rang.
Before you continue