5 Episode 1: Leveling System (5)
— Episode 1 Chapter 10: Leveling System
'It would've been nice if I could unlock more achievements,' Gwak Joon thought as he quickly stared down at his inventory slots.
He could see 2 shimmering ropes stacked together on the first slot of the inventory row.
He then took one of the shimmering ropes and handed it to Lu Piao.
"This looks cool, bro. What exactly is it?" Lu Piao fiddled with the rope in his hands, surprised by the concealment rope's attractive appearance.
Gwak Joon was startled when he heard that.
Should he tell the actual effect of the rope to Lu Piao?
After some contemplation, he decided to tell the truth. In any case, if Lu Piao suspects him, he would just come up with a fabricated lie. For instance, he has a mysterious master.
"This is known as concealment rope," Gwak Joon said as he gripped his concealment rope, "a life-saving treasure. Remember, never use it unless the situation calls for it.
"When you wear it, the snow-furred monsters will not attack you," Gwak Joon continued.
Lu Piao nodded slowly, astonished by the effect, though he doubted it.
——
Gwak Joon then opened his status bar.
Even though he had previously opened his stats, he was still surprised by how good it is.
Gwak Joon pondered and inquired the artificial machine, "Can you explain to me what my stats are all about. I'm still confused how this works."
[This is to be expected from my disciple~~]
The artificial machine responded, smirking. [Your Agility, Vitality, Strength, and Spiritual Force are high because your body, soul, and spirit improve as you rank up your cultivation.]
[For more information, see the Breakthrough formula]
[Breakthrough Formula
Body → Strength & Agility = 8 points, each realm
Soul → Vitality = 5 points, each realm.
Spirit → Spiritual Force = 100 points, each realm.]
A/N (3-star bronze rank → 4-star bronze rank means: realm)
Gwak Joon's eyes gleam with realization. So his 3-star bronze rank cultivation allowed him to have his current 358 spiritual force, 30.5 strength, 25.8 vitality, and 29.8 agility.
So, if Nie Li did not reach the 1-star bronze realm, his initial stats would be as below:
——
Name: Nie Li
Cultivation: None
Strength: 6.5
Agility: 5.8
Vitality: 10.8
Spiritual Force: None
———
Long story short, each realm of cultivation would gain 8 agility and strength, 5 vitality points, and 100 spiritual force. When you accumulated enough of them, you would be able to advance to the next cultivation realm.
'Since my agility, strength, and vitality are already at their peak, all I need is 42 spiritual force to reach 400 spiritual force." Gwak Joon gave a nod. "After that, I'll be promoted to 4-star bronze."
Then, Gwak Joon abruptly remembered his three skill points and thus inquired the artificial machine. "I know it's stupid, but is it possible to convert my skill points into spiritual force?"
[Yes. You can convert them. You can see an ellipsis to the left of your ability slots. Click it and enter the number of points you want to convert into spiritual force.]
[The conversational ratio would be 1 S.P → 10 Spiritual Force]
Gwak Joon's eyes shone as he rushed through the ability slots, clicking the ellipsis.
The phrase 'Skill Point Converter' then appeared in front of him. He typed '3' and pressed the yes button.
Gwak Joon felt a warm sensation pass through his body as the conversion was completed. He then opened his stats to see what had changed.
———————
STATS
Name: Gwak Joon (Nie Li)
Divine Title: None
Age: 19
Cultivation: 3-star Bronze Rank
Level: 2 (Exp needed for next level: 200)
Current Exp: 0/200
Strength: 30.5 (Max) (Please advance to the next realm to increase)
Agility: 29.8 (Max) (Please advance to the next realm to increase)
Vitality: 25.8 (Max) (Please advance to the next realm to increase)
Spiritual Force: 388/400(↑30) (Accessible once integrated with a demon spirit)
Mana: 100/100 (↑90) (Usable for abilities) (Will rise as level increases)
Status: Good Condition
Skill Point: 0(−3) (Use for allocation of strength, agility, and vitality)
———————
Gwak Joon was disappointed. He only needs 12 more spiritual forces to achieve the 4-star bronze rank.
'That's too bad.' As he stood up, Gwak Joon sighed. He then fixed his gaze on the east, his eyes solemn. "Let's go," he said to Lu Piao. "We're leaving."
—Episode 1 Last Chapter: Leveling System
As they traveled to the east, Gwak Joon suddenly remembered the three middle snow-furred monsters.
'F*ck, I forgot about them,'
Gwak Joon cursed as he slowed down cautiously.
Going east was the only way to meet up with Ye Ziyun and others; there was no other option. He couldn't go back now that he'd come this far. If something unexpected happened, he could simply wear the concealment rope.
At this point, the artificial machine made a loud noise.
[Caution! Caution!]
[Strong monsters are charging in the direction of the host.
[The probability of monsters noticing the host has changed.
[80.48 percent chance of death]
'Wait, what the f*ck?!' Gwak Joon's head was surrounded by big question marks. He was speechless.
'Why this bro is so unlucky?'
He cursed as he put on his concealment rope. "Quick," he said to Lu Piao, "wear the concealment rope!"
"But...there aren't any monsters." Lu Piao was confused.
[Warning!]
[In 3 seconds, the monsters will arrive]
Gwak Joon was so scared that he didn't waste any time grabbing Lu Piao's concealment rope and forcing him to wear it.
Following this, hundreds of snow-furred monsters appeared around them as Gwak Joon attached the rope to Lu Piao's neck.
Gwak Joon and Lu Piao could overhear them conversing.
"That's odd. Is there a problem with my scent? I definitely just smell humans around here...somewhere." said one of the gorillas.
"You're a sh*t. You wasted our time, Old Gorilla." One of the monsters who arrived was irritated. "We could have killed more people if we hadn't come here. I heard the King has already surrounded this city's Legend Spiritualist."
"Everyone, please calm down. The King ordered us to eliminate all of them, which is why Old Gorilla led us here."
"Eh? What are you doing here?" The tiny Gwak Joon and Lu Piao were noticed by one of the gorillas. The gorilla knelt and stroked their heads, treating them as tribesmen. "Return to the camps; you're so young and already involved in the war. Were your parents compelled to force you both?"
Gwak Joon's heartbeat quickens. He could still feel rough, large hands caressing his hair.
However, he was overjoyed at the same time. Since the gorillas didn't notice anything strange, that means the concealment rope was effective!
As he looked at the monster in front of him, Gwak Joon signaled Lu Piao not to do anything strange. He lowered his head and quaver, "We...We just came to watch."
"Oh. So your parents aren't aware of this?"
The gorillas were flabbergasted.
"Go back home, kid," one of them sighed. "Hais, if it weren't for the Demon Lord forcing our tribe to attack this city, we wouldn't attack it. Even my niece, who had just turned 18, was killed as a result of this meaningless war."
Gwak Joon was shocked by his statement. "The Demon Lord?!"
Gwak Joon tried his hardest to recall this name until a specific memory began to resurface in his mind. He did, in fact, recall the Demon Lord, a villain on the Tales of Demon and Gods' Tiny World Arc.
"Didn't the Demon Lord also cause these monsters to attack Glory City on the novel?" Gwak Joon assumed as he felt this situation was far from simple.
Thinking of that, Gwak Joon inquired of the gorilla who was patting his head out of curiosity. "Uncle, uhm, what is legend spiritualist?" he pretended. "And did the King killed that Legendary Spiritualist?"
Gwak Joon understood what a Legend Spiritualist was. He also recognized this legendary spiritualist. And that is Ye Mo. Only Ye Mo has reached this level in Glory City. So he simply asked this question to learn more about the situation.
However, Gwak Joon was astounded at the same time. How do the monsters know how to communicate?
[Oh, my sweet disciple, you haven't changed at all.] At this point, the artificial machine made a sudden commentary. [Since you're wearing the concealment rope, naturally, you can understand them.]
"Oh." Gwak Joon was surprised, then he smiled in his thoughts.
He had no idea that the useless 'rope' would turn out to be this useful!
One of the gorillas was indifferent about the question. However, he didn't mind giving some pointers to the newborn tribesmen who asked him. "The highest realm on the human side is the realm of legend spiritualists. Only our King could fight him on the demon side. That's why the King encircled this city's Legend Spiritualist, kid. What was his name, again? That's right, Ye Mo. That guy is a monster; he's still killing a lot of our tribesmen."
Gwak Joon nodded. Ye Mo was unquestionably powerful. Ye Mo was already at the pinnacle of Legend Spiritualist when he was introduced in the novel. Naturally, nobody could easily kill him.
His brow furrowed as he pondered up here. Two minutes have already passed since these monsters came. In any case, he had three minutes until the concealment rope's effect disappears.
'But what about the Demon Lord?' Gwak Joon clenched his teeth as he remembered this man. 'This guy is undoubtedly my greatest foe. The question is, how powerful was he now? And what is his intention for attacking Glory City?"
As Gwak Joon was deep in his thoughts, the artificial machine suddenly sounded out.
[You trigged the Main Quest]
[Main Quest: Investigate the purpose behind the Demon Lord's evil act]
[Reward: ??]
[You trigged a Secondary Quest]
[Secondary Quest: Save at least 20 people]
[Reward: Title: Brave Hero, Courageous Spirit (Demon Spirit, Rank: ??), ?? EXP, and one ability]
Gwak Joon was stunned. Now that he had trigged a mission, he had no choice but to meet with Ye Ziyun and others. Otherwise, he could only glance at the alluring rewards of the secondary quest.
