The Strongest Lord Is A Hack
Jay, an orphan teenager, along with the rest of humanity, had their understanding of reality shattered when Earth was consumed by a cosmic entity known as the Astral Arena. This entity abducts different civilizations from various corners of the universe and compels them to partake in its game for their survival. Now, the cosmic entity compelled the Earthlings it had abducted to participate in its game, categorizing them into two groups: those eligible to become Astral Lords and those entering as memoryless wandering souls. Those who ascended as Astral Lords were endowed with unique skills and an Astral domain. Conversely, those who failed had their memories erased, and their souls wandered the Astral Arena, awaiting to be accepted by Astral Lords as their subjects to be trained into troops or workers. Dragged into a cosmic game beyond his comprehension, Jay faced an uncertain future as the cosmic entity compelled him to engage in its endless cycle of struggle and warfare for resources and power to ensure his survival in the Astral Arena. Against all odds, Jay strove to become an Astral Lord, acquiring the unique skill 'Astral Hack,' unique title 'The First Murderer,' and his Astral domain. As he further navigated the treacherous game of the Astral Arena, Jay encountered numerous challenging quests imposed on him by the entity. As such he grappled with uncertainty: would he meet a grim fate attempting to fulfill these quests, or would he overcome them? If he did, when will this gruesome cycle ever end or was there no end to it? Join Jay's struggle for survival in the cosmic game, Astral Arena, as he contends with the finest and brightest in the universe fighting for their existence. ... [Title Name: The First Murderer Title Grade: Innate (Passive) Title Effect: As the first player to murder Earthlings in Astral Arena: i) Murder is like second nature to you. It is rare for something to move your heart and shake your emotions. ii) You have mastered every means of murder and torture the Earthlings have ever developed to the maximum. Note: i) Innate titles/skills are unique to the player. ii) The means mentioned here include combat arts, tools, firearms, and armaments.] [Skill Name: Astral Hack Skill Grade: Innate (Active) Skill Level: Max Skill Effect: i) The Lord can hack all units to retain the maximum crit rate to gain the unit's information, critical strike, max drop rate, etc. ii) A purple alignment marker will help the Lord use the 'Astral Hack' skill on hackable units. iii) The targeted unit will never detect being hacked, even if the 'Astral Hack' fails. Note: i) Astral Hack efficiency is limited to Lord's level. Units with higher levels/grades than lord/lord's domain have a higher chance of resisting Astral Hack. ii) Active skills have skill proficiency level. In the case of innate skills skill proficiency level is max.]
Astral Domain Fountain
Returning to his domain, Astral Ark, Jay offered two resource cards to the astral beacon to avail dried meat and fermented blood. The dried meat weighed about half a pound and was wrapped in parchment made from the Horned Joey monster's skin while the fermented blood was about 200ml and filled in a pouch made from what he thought was the Horned Joey monster's stomach. As for taste, he felt the meat was chewy and the fermented blood felt like a cheap beer. He could get used to the fermented blood if he had to.
Availing another random resource card for fermented blood, Jay turned his attention to the two random item cards he got from killing the monsters and the random aesthetic card for completing the quest. He planned to use them before heading back to the dungeon.
"Astral Hack," Jay muttered locking the purple alignment marker on a random item card. When the purple digital distortion and the glitch settled, he received a system prompt:
[System notification:
> Hack successful! You have used Astral Hack to hack into the 0-grade random item card
> You have triggered the maximum crit rate on the unit.
> You can now access the unit's entire information.
< Unit name: Random item card
Unit grade: 0-grade
Unit effect: Randomly give the player one of the following items,
i) Smoked Horned Joey meat x1
ii) Horned Joey horn knife x 1
iii) Horned Joey fur shoe x1
iv) Horned Joey skull bowl x1>
> You can now select one of the following items as a reward from the hacked unit…]
"Smoke meat!" Jay exclaimed. He was glad to learn he had choices other than chewy dried meat. However, only the Lv3 Horned Joey would drop random item cards. This was a problem as out of the 50 monsters in the dungeon only 10 were Lv3 while the rest were at Lv2. Making random item cards a luxury in the Horned Joey dungeon. The information on the dungeon said he could also get random skill cards, Jay guessed he would have to kill the Boss monster for it.
Since he was not hungry, Jay hacked into the two random item cards and chose Horned Joey fur shoe and horn knife as his reward, planning to upgrade his straw slippers and kitchen knife. When he offered the two item cards to the astral beacon, the two items he selected appeared by his feet. When he intently observed them, he saw their stats:
[Item Name: Horned Joey Fur Shoe
Item Grade: 0-grade
Item Class: none
Item Title: none
Item Durability: (100/100)
Item Effect: +1 physical stats]
[Item Name: Horned Joey Horn Knife
Item Grade: 0-grade
Item Class: none
Item Title: none
Item Durability: (100/100)
Item Effect: +1 physical stats]
Equipping them, Jay felt a little more stronger. Then, he turned his attention to the random aesthetic card. Locking the purple alignment marker on a random aesthetic card, activated the astral hack skill. When the purple digital distortion and the glitch settled, he received a system prompt:
[System notification:
> Hack successful! You have used Astral Hack to hack into the 0-grade random aesthetic card
> You have triggered the maximum crit rate on the unit.
> You can now access the unit's entire information.
< Unit name: Random aesthetic card
Unit grade: 0-grade
Unit effect: Randomly give the player one of the following aesthetics,
i) Novic Astral Lord Robe x1
ii) Astral Domain Flag x 1
iii) Astral Domain Fountain x1
iv) Astral Domain Lamp pole x1>
> You can now select one of the following aesthetics as a reward from the hacked unit…]
"These things are useless," Jay muttered, deciding to choose the Astral Domain Fountain. Even if its water wasn't drinkable he could use it to wash himself and his only pair of clothes. After all, killing monsters for a living was a bloody and dirty job.
Choosing the Astral Domain Fountain, Jay offered the aesthetic card to the astral beacon. Soon on the eastern corner of the domain, a 7ft wide round concrete pool with a simple jet positioned at the center, shooting water vertically into the air appeared. The water shot from the jet, created a blooming effect as it fell back into the pool, adding movement and sound to the surroundings.
The fountain seemed to operate magically, but what surprised Jay was that a purple alignment marker appeared on the fountain showing that he could hack it. This surprised him because he did not think the fountain would have any other function than an aesthetic choice. Still, when he hacked into it he received a system prompt:
[System notification:
> Hack successful! You have used Astral Hack to hack into the 0-grade astral domain fountain.
> You have triggered the maximum crit rate on the unit.
> You can now access the unit's entire information.
< Unit name: Astral Domain Fountain.
Unit grade: 0-grade
Unit effect: The fountain will increase the charm of the domain making it more likely for the wandering souls to visit the domain it is built in.
Unit insider: Add a water mana stone of equal grade to the fountain to make its water fit for drinking and agriculture use.
Note:
i) Water from the fountain isn't fit for drinking or agriculture use.]
"Now where am I supposed to find a water-type mana stone?" Jay uttered scratching the back of his head. However, he did not worry too much about it.
Washing his face in the fountain water, he safely placed the animal parchment that came with dried meat by the astral beacon and carried the two pouches that came with fermented blood into the dungeon since the dungeon had a small pond where the Horned Joey monsters quenched their thirst. He planned to use the pouches to ration drinking water. Fermented blood was alright but it was not water.