[Dou Huang Expert] (male, level 5): "Bro, I spent the whole night grinding and only just hit level 5! How are you already level 10? Are we even playing the same game??"
[Milk Tea Girl] (female, level 5): "A hundred thousand yuan in prize money! With my wages at the milk tea shop, it'd take me three years to save that much... I'm so jealous! I want it so badly!!"
[Big and Ferocious] (male, level 6): "Girl above, come to me if you want it! I'm big and ferocious!"
[Cheater's Family Die] (male, level 6): "Fuck you! May your whole family die, you cheating bastard!!!"
Some were envious, others jealous.
The players' comments ran the gamut.
Meanwhile.
In the wilderness south of Cloudside Town, at the Lv8 Bat Cave.
Slash!
Wang Junjie brought his sword down, killing a Vampire Bat with a sliver of health that his teammates had weakened and delivered to him.
Splat!
He stomped on the bat's corpse, bursting it underfoot.
His face twisted as he snarled, "Fucking Mo Shou Cheng Gui! How dare you steal my first place!"
"You'd better hope I don't find out where you are, or I'll have you on your knees licking my shoes in no time!"
No sooner had Wang Junjie finished speaking than-
A lackey beside him named [Troubled Times Traitor] spoke up. "Boss, I just asked around in the guild. One of our guys said he saw Mo Shou Cheng Gui at the Class Advancement Hall! Should we head over and beat him up?"
Wang Junjie's face turned green.
For all his tough talk, the thought of Lin Mo made his skin crawl.
Especially that smell that shot straight through his skull. It still haunted him.
Facing a group of lackeys waiting for his orders, Wang Junjie had no idea how to save face.
A bespectacled lackey named [Troubled Times Zhuge] seized the moment to give Wang Junjie a way out. "Boss, in my opinion, we should avoid taking Mo Shou Cheng Gui head-on until all our guys reach level 10 and complete their class advancements!"
"Before level 10, PvP is all about stats. Mo Shou Cheng Gui's stats outclass ours by far. Even with superior numbers, we can't beat him."
"But! Once all our guys advance their classes and learn skills, just a few players with the wizard class will be enough to keep him locked down without letting him move! Then, no matter how strong Mo Shou Cheng Gui's stats are, he'll be nothing more than livestock on the chopping block!"
Troubled Times Zhuge adjusted his glasses and said gravely, "I've already investigated Mo Shou Cheng Gui in secret. His real-world background isn't even in the same league as yours, boss! You've got money, power, and influence. He's just a loser whose girlfriend dumped him for being poor, who doesn't know where his next meal is coming from!"
Hearing that, Wang Junjie's ingrained sense of superiority surged!
He looked at Troubled Times Zhuge approvingly. "Not bad! Keep going!"
Troubled Times Zhuge adjusted his glasses, looking as though Conan had possessed him. "From what I've learned, Mo Shou Cheng Gui is a Ning'an City local. His real name is Lin Mo. In college, he dated a girl named Su Yingxia for four years. But she thought he was too poor to give her the lifestyle she wanted, so she dumped him after graduation."
"I don't know if you've noticed, boss, but Mo Shou Cheng Gui is so strong because he seems to know every hidden opportunity in Cloudside Town! He's using opportunities that ordinary people don't know about to grow quickly!"
"If we could use this Su Yingxia to learn about some of those opportunities from Mo Shou Cheng Gui..."
Wang Junjie immediately agreed. "Brilliant!"
"Materialistic women are my favorite! If this Su Yingxia dumped Mo Shou Cheng Gui because he was poor, this'll be easy!"
"Hahaha! We'll start with her!!"
As he spoke, Wang Junjie patted Troubled Times Zhuge on the shoulder and said approvingly, "Starting now, you're the vice guild leader of the Troubled Times Guild. Send me your bank account number, too. I'll give you a hundred-thousand-yuan bonus! Once this works out, I'll buy you a car as well! Anything under a million-take your pick!"
Troubled Times Zhuge was thrilled. "Thank you, boss!"
The surrounding lackeys all cast envious looks his way.
Wang Junjie addressed them as well. "Stick with me, guys. As long as you bring me benefits, I, Wang Junjie, will never shortchange you!"
Everyone shouted in unison, "We'll follow you to the death, boss!!!"
Cloudside Town, Class Advancement Hall.
Lin Mo checked the title the system had awarded him: [Leveling Maniac].
Sure enough, another white title!
+1% EXP? That's pretty good!
Lin Mo was very satisfied with his new title's effect.
After all, it meant that even under identical conditions, he would level 1% faster than any other player!
And with Lin Mo's leveling speed-
That 1% was practically worth 100%!
After completing his class advancement, Lin Mo continued speaking with his mentor, Silina, to begin learning skills.
In Oracle World, every player could spend silver coins to purchase two E-rank basic class skill books from their mentor after completing their first class advancement.
The archer class's basic skills were-
[Flame Arrow] (E-rank): Fires a flaming arrow, dealing 110% physical damage to a single enemy and burning them for 3 seconds. Each second, the burn deals damage equal to 3% of the damage dealt by this attack. Cooldown: 7 seconds Skill cost: 5 MP
[Ice Arrow] (E-rank): Fires an icy arrow, dealing 110% physical damage to a single enemy and reducing their movement speed by 10% for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 9 seconds Skill cost: 6 MP
Both skill books cost 5 silver coins each.
Converted into cash, that was five hundred yuan per book!
For ordinary players, even after completing their class advancement, they might not be willing to spend that much on skill books.
Lin Mo, however, did not hesitate. He immediately spent 10 silver coins to purchase [Flame Arrow] and [Ice Arrow]!
Too bad there's a limit of two books per person. Otherwise, I could buy more skill books to incinerate and evolve an SSS-rank skill right away! Lin Mo couldn't help feeling disappointed.
Having skill books but no skill evolution points was his biggest problem right now.
Still, Lin Mo wasn't worried. He already had a plan.
Once the other players reach level 10, complete their class advancements, and buy their basic skill books, I'll offer them a high price. That'll make it easy to get a whole stack of skill books!
A skill book costs five hundred from the mentor. If I offer a thousand, surely someone will be willing to sell?
Only an idiot would pass up easy money!
For now, Lin Mo was in no hurry to learn skills.
With the rewards from leveling up and advancing his class, Lin Mo now had a total of 7 skill slots. He was still one slot short of equipping an SSS-rank skill. He would have to reach level 12 and earn another skill slot before he had enough.
So he had to reserve space for an SSS-rank skill!
Lin Mo turned his attention back to the boss, the Spider Queen.
With my current strength, I can damage the boss now. But there's one major problem: the Exploding Spiders...
Recalling his earlier visit to the Spider Queen's hiding place, the Shadow Nest, Lin Mo frowned.
If I want to get into the Shadow Nest and fight the boss, I have to deal with that swarm of Exploding Spiders outside first.
But one Exploding Spider's blast takes off 9,800 HP. Even in my current state, there's no way I can tank that. I can only trade one life for one Exploding Spider!
And judging by that dense swarm I saw, there must be at least eight hundred of them, if not a thousand. I'd have to get fucking blown up eight hundred times to kill them all...
The thought made Lin Mo's scalp prickle.
I'm screwed...
How am I supposed to deal with those disgusting Exploding Spiders?
Grrr...
While Lin Mo racked his brains, his stomach growled.
Food comes first...
Forget it. I'll log off and grab a late-night snack, then figure something out!
With that, Lin Mo logged out on the spot.
He had just exited the game and taken off his helmet.
Ding ding!
Lin Mo received a WeChat message.
He picked up his phone and saw a profile picture that felt both familiar and strange, belonging to someone he had once both loved and hated.
Su Yingxia: "Lin Mo,"
Su Yingxia: "Have you... been doing okay lately?"
Before you continue