Silence fell over the scene.
Everyone stared blankly at the portal, at a loss for words.
Only one law enforcement officer, who had been knocked to the ground and pinned beneath a riot shield, had no idea what had happened and was still yelling.
"Help! Help!"
But after shouting for a while, he suddenly realized that it was eerily quiet outside and finally poked his head out slowly.
He discovered that the terrifying monster had vanished, and his colleagues all wore wooden expressions, as though they had seen a ghost.
"W-what happened... Where's the monster?"
"A teenager one-shotted it..."
"What?!"
Zhou Ya felt a lump in her throat, the shock in her eyes lingering for a long time.
She finally understood now. That teenager had not been an ordinary person at all, but a player of "Calamity," a true transcendent!
Without him, who knew how many of her colleagues would have died...
Thankfully, he had been there.
Yet she had actually scolded him and dragged him away to escape.
Thinking back on it now, she felt her face burn, somewhat at a loss.
"So powerful..."
"Is this the power of a transcendent?"
"No!"
The captain shook his head. "I've met a few volunteers. They had supernatural powers too, but they were nowhere near this strong! This person is an exception."
"B-but why did he enter the teleportation array?" Zhou Ya could not help asking.
"Ambition."
Admiration showed in the captain's eyes. "His primary goal probably wasn't to protect others, but to make himself stronger first!"
"In the future, I'm afraid only transcendents who are strong enough will be able to fight those powerful monsters."
"This world is about to change!"
Only then did Zhou Ya catch on and nod. "Then should we look up his information so we can recruit him later?"
"No. We mustn't restrict their development in any way. In the future, they'll be the main force keeping this world peaceful."
After passing through the teleportation array, Chen Nian arrived safely outside the main city.
After the game merged with reality, Linhai City, where Chen Nian lived, had also been divided into four "city gates," with monsters in the areas beyond them.
Killing that tier-one, level-50 Black Lin Tiger had earned him a full 100 points of Genetic Energy!
Level 10!
Upon reaching level 10, Chen Nian successfully comprehended a new Word Spirit.
[Sequence 10: Word Spirit-Flash Lightning]
One of the basic Word Spirits, it could summon lightning bolts to attack enemies and was quite practical.
At the same time, his stats had also changed.
Name: Chen Nian Talent: Word Spirit Sage (unique) Gene level: 10 (tier one) Constitution: 10 (affects strength and physical toughness) Agility: 10 (affects speed and reactions) Transcendence: 10 (affects all supernatural powers)
Normally, all talents granted one point to every stat per level, so a level lead provided an enormous advantage.
What Chen Nian needed to do was simple: level up!
"So many tier-one monsters!"
Looking around, he could sense monsters everywhere. He still did not know whether these monsters would respawn after being killed, so it was first come, first served!
They were all experience points!
Of course, Chen Nian certainly could not casually use terrifyingly powerful, high-risk Word Spirits like the "Golden Sword of Judgment" anymore.
First, they consumed a great deal of energy, so he could only use them a few times.
Second, players who knew him well from the game could easily recognize him.
Especially those fangirls...
Back when he played "Calamity," a wealthy woman had once offered a million in cash for Chen Nian's real-life contact details!
There was no helping it. He would not budge in the game, so many people wanted to approach him in real life.
Later, that price had been driven up past ten million...
Anyone who could provide information such as Chen Nian's real-life address, name, or appearance could claim ten million from the wealthy woman. Terrifying!
Boys really had to protect themselves online. Being too sought-after was dangerous too!
Fortunately, Chen Nian had always taken care to protect his information. He even used a virtual IP to go online and had spent a fortune setting up the most secure cybersecurity firewall, all to avoid getting doxxed.
His fear was that once his identity was exposed, his normal real life would be ruined outright.
And now, he had even more reason not to reveal it casually. If he were exposed, at best, wealthy women who admired him would fight over him. At worst, nations might fight over him, or even assassinate him!
Because in the game, "nation wars" would unlock in the later stages.
Chen Nian's existence would undoubtedly put enormous pressure on other nations, and they would not rest until he was eliminated...
There was no point thinking about that now. Chen Nian had already started pulling monsters.
The least strenuous way to level up was to gather a pack of monsters and kill them together, commonly known as a "one-pull clear"!
Goblins, Nether Wolves, Silver-Toothed Snakes...
They were all familiar tier-one mobs.
Chen Nian sprinted around once and drew over a dozen of them toward him.
Word Spirit-Flash Lightning!
Obscure syllables turned into thunderbolts in the night sky, which crashed down without warning.
Boom!
The ground erupted.
Several tier-one monsters were reduced to ashes on the spot.
[Genetic Energy +10] [Genetic Energy +10] [Genetic Energy +10]
[Congratulations! You obtained the equipment "Refined Iron Bracers" (common)]
[Congratulations! You obtained the equipment "Adamantine Greaves" (fine)]
Chen Nian was delighted.
Equipment had dropped!
He had not expected killing monsters in reality to drop equipment too. The mechanics were exactly the same as in the game!
Equipment came in seven grades: common, fine, rare, epic, legendary, mythical, and heavenly craftsmanship.
The better the equipment, the lower its drop rate!
He had actually gotten a piece of fine equipment just from killing a pack of mobs. His luck was pretty good!
------ Refined Iron Bracers (common) Defense: 10 Attack: 0 Bonus stats: none Special effects: none ------ Adamantine Greaves (fine) Defense: 30 Attack: 0 Bonus stats: constitution +5 Special effects: none ------
Chen Nian immediately equipped both pieces.
Equipment could automatically merge into his current clothing, adding stats without feeling cumbersome at all.
[Defense +40, constitution +5]
Chen Nian's stat panel had also changed.
Chen Nian: Word Spirit Sage (unique) Gene level: tier one (level 14) Constitution: 19 Agility: 14 Transcendence: 14 Bonus attack: 0 Bonus defense: 40 Combat power rating: 8 stars
Of course, this so-called combat power rating only accounted for his current stats, not any other factors.
If Chen Nian's high-level Word Spirits were included, his combat power would probably be impossible to rate...
After resting for a moment, he opened his phone to see how his classmates were doing.
[This is awesome! I just killed a monster and got a "Mage" talent card, hahahaha!]
[Killing monsters can drop talents too? For real? Doesn't that mean every one of us can become a transcendent?!]
[Boohoo, any big brothers willing to carry me through some monster fights? I can warm your bed for you afterward~~~~]
[Please carry us, big shots, QAQ!]
[A bunch of noobs. I'm already level 7.]
[Holy shit, level 7? Bro, you're way too badass! Have you been killing monsters and leveling this whole time? I've never seen anyone at such a high level.]
[I bet nobody at our school is more badass than you. Can I add you as a friend, bro? Please!]
Chen Nian said nothing.
If he mentioned in the group that he was already level 14, his phone would probably blow up instantly...