(C2) Old Enemy

"This sucks..."

Exhausted, HuanYing sank to the ground, his breath ragged from the exertion of dealing with slime spirit all day long.

In that moment, he thought to himself "Did I make the right choice?" His gaze locked at the sky above.

Having devoted an entire day to grinding slimes with a double expereince buff, the result were to say, underwhelming as he only managed to reach level 6, and the buff was nearing its due.

"If I had created a new account yesterday, I would have reach level ten..." HuanYing whisper to himself, regret show all over his face, he lamented allowing his initial excitement of being the first person in the underworld to waste his time.

"Level ten.... Job class...."

"Job class... skills..."

HuanYing starts muttering a few specific keywords repeatedly, he felt like he had forgotten something important.

"Wait a minute.... I forgot that I could unlock skills!" The sudden realization hit HuanYing like a train.

As dying will have you lose a level, his used skill points and attributes were also taken back by the game.

And since he goes back to level 1, All of his skill point and attributes were back to that of a newbie who just started.

"Damn it! If I had remembered it earlier, I could have leveled up faster!" Regret flooded HuanYing as he realized that he could have gained twice the experience with only half the effort if he had unlock and use his skills.

"Its fine-- I still have some time, Lets continue grindi--"

[System notification: First Pioneer buff had expired, Your expereince and loot drop rate were back to normal]

"Fuck!!" HuanYing cursed as he threw the random slime goo on his hand to the ground, Frustration was all over his face.

As he cursed at the top of his lungs, the thought of quitting the game and creating a new account abruptly crossed his mind.

Driven by his emotions, he navigated to the settings menu, ready to log out, when a humanoid figure at the corner of his field of view caught his attention.

HuanYing immediately removed the system panel floating before him and stare at the humanoid figure standing at a distance.

"This..." While looking at the figure, HuanYing's gamer sense was tingling non-stop, he was sensing an opportunity he should never miss.

Without hesitation, HuanYing concealed himself behind a tree, deftly alternating between various trees in the forest. Skillfully navigating his way through the woodland, he steadily closed the distance between himself and the figure.

However, HuanYing suddenly took a paused with his movement as he thought of something.

Since it was a humanoid figure, they may be a player or a human npc, either of those two would surely be strong since they managed to reach the underworld.

That's why HuanYing decided to become a bit more prepared and so he wanted to unlock a few skills he could use to either fight or run away.

HuanYing immediately summoned the skill tab and the system show him all the skills of his class-- Assassin.

However after looking at the skill tab for a minute, his vision darkened, most of the skill were hiding behind a level requirement, some even damanded the use of weapon, like darts and dagger.

Not only was he a mere level six player, but he was also without any weapons. As a result, most of the skills remained out of his reach, like a forbidden fruit that he could only gaze upon but not touch.

Despite the horrendous options, HuanYing somehow managed to scrap a decent skill set, He spent all six of his skill points for three skills.

And with the skills ready, HuanYing decide to continue approaching the figure, Soon he reached the bushes near the figure and managed to take a peek.

At the lake, Was a man, standing still without moving a muscle, he seems to be fixated at the lake before him.

Additionally, The man was also translucent like the mobs HuanYing had encountered before, the sole distinction was that the man had a reddish hued halo, instead of a yellow one.

"...." HuanYing continues inspecting the man and the more he observe the stronger the sensation of recognition grew within him.

"That man... Where have I seen him before" HuanYing rummaged his mind, trying to remember why the man was familiar.

"Oh I got it!" realization enters his mind, The man before him was the same man who tries to rob him before at the early days of the game!

At that time, the man was a fairly weak npc and HuanYing defeated him when he was level 5, albeit at that time both of them have a weapon.

After HuanYing defeated the man, He brought him to prison and thats the last time he ever saw him.

"So he died huh, Though why is his halo red? does it mean anything?" HuanYing wondered.

While HuanYing was lost in his own thought, The man suddenly turns around and immediately ran towards the bush that HuanYing was hiding at.

With a sly grin, HuanYing snickered and swiftly delivered a kick to the man's chin, causing the NPC to collapse onto the ground --a situation reminiscent of his first encounter with the slime spirit.

"I defeated you last time, I'll defeat you again" HuanYing said before using one of three skills he acquired.

"Stealth!" HuanYing's body suddenly disappeared. As the man got back on his feet, he looked around in confusion, bewildered by the sudden vanishing of his opponent.

"Roundhouse kick!" A voice echoed from behind the man, and just as HuanYing reappeared, he swiftly delivered a forceful kick to the man's face.

Seemingly annoyed, the man charged toward HuanYing once more. However, HuanYing skillfully sidestepped at the last second, causing the man to trip and stumble over.

"Grrr..." The man glared at HuanYing with unnaturally white eyes, lacking pupils. His gaze was akin to that of a crazed dog as he emitted a low, menacing growl.

"You seem dumber than before, is prison really that bad?" HuanYing commented, reminding himself not to do any illegal stuff lest he end up in prison too.

Once again, the man charged at him, but as usual, HuanYing effortlessly evaded the attack before he delivered a well-aimed kick at the man's back, sending him to the ground head first.

"Easy peasy" HuanYing mutter but the sweat droplets forming on his forehead say otherwise.

HuanYing was no expert when it comes to evading, especially now with his low agility, fortunately one of the skill he unlocked was "Improve five sense" which barely let him evade the attack of a craze opponent.

"Grrrr....." The man growls as it stays face-planted on the ground, its body unnaturally twitching continuously.

Then the red halo atop the man suddenly shines brightly and something magical happens, The man's skin suddenly turn red and his build become even more jacked and bigger.

"What the fuck..." HuanYing stare at the man's growing body with its shadow gradually covering him as a whole.

"Hey man, You look ill, Why don't we pau--" Not even letting HuanYing finish a sentence, The man unrooted a tree and wield it as a weapon.

"Roarrrrr!!!!"

"Plan B, Run!!" HuanYing said to himself as he turns around and run.