webnovel

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.]

IGotStones · Games
Not enough ratings
15 Chs

Class And Skills

"Will this grass be enough for the bonfire kiln?" I asked passing Sova the bundle of grass blades I reaped from the Horned Joey dungeon.

After talking to Sova about her past, skills, and role in the domain I learned that the reason for Sova's athlete body was not that she was a model rather she used to practice gymnastics during her teenage years and hopped to represent her country in the Olympics but had to quit and learn her family's trade because of her knee injury. Even after she quit Sova continued light gymnastics as a hobby allowing her to obtain a curvy and toned physique in her early thirties. 

I then learned that Sova has been dabbling in ceramist since a very young age and only took it seriously when her career as a gymnast was over. However, with guidance from her family and decades of experience, she quickly got a hang of it and started making custom art pieces as she pursued a degree in fine arts at a prestigious university back home. Very quickly, her life as a professional ceramist filled the gap in her life left behind by her dead career as a gymnast. 

From Sova's life story, I understood one thing, that it was very hard for the system to accept a person's profession as class and their capabilities as skills. Sova would be considered a trained gymnast, after all, she planned to represent her country in the Olympics until her injury. 

However, not only did the system not recognize her failed career as a gymnast as a class, but it did not even award her any related skills even though Sova continued to practice gymnastics for the rest of her life as a hobby. Not even a level-one skill was given to appreciate her effort. 

Nonetheless, it was different when it came to Sova's cooking, she was given a Lv2 cooking skill. When asked Sova swore that she only cooked for herself and occasionally for her family, friends, and relatives. This led me to believe there must be certain conditions or achievements that need to be met for the system to consider a player's past life profession and knowledge as class and skills. 

So this led me to guess that the reason Sova did not get a gymnast-related class and skills was because of her injury. My suspicions were further confirmed when Sova revealed that she lost her qualification to become an astral lord because of injury. 

That was to say Sova had made enough achievements/conditions to gain gymnast-related class and skills but those achievements/conditions were void because of her injury. The system's judgment was harsh but the good thing was Sova's kneel injury was cured as she materialized as my subject. 

Based on this hypothesis, I judged myself as an example, I had received no class or skill from my life on Earth whatsoever because, in 19 years of life on Earth, I had made no notable achievements whatsoever other than surviving as an orphan when everyone told that I wasn't supposed to. 

"Is this all we have my lord?" Sova asked taking the bundle of grass blades that were as long as a person's leg. It was still fresh and not suitable to be used to make a bonfire. They could try to dry grass but based on the domain's weather it would at least take a few days to dry the grass. However, they did not have the time. 

After discussing her past life, we discussed her role in my domain. Besides her proposal to use her body to reveal my stress, she also proposed to use the mud in my domain and water from the fountain to make clay and then use the clay to make bricks and utensils. 

However, to make pottery we needed a kiln to bake the clay bricks and utensils though we did not have a traditional brick oven, Sova proposed that she could achieve the same with a bonfire kiln. It was the most primitive way to bake clay bricks and utensils and needed a lot of firewood to make the bonfire. 

But neither my domain nor Horned Joey dungeon had trees in them. That was why I went back into the dungeon and reaped a buddle of grass. Planning to use the grass as the replacement to make the bonfire. However, from the look on Sova's face, my fears deepened. 

We could not use the grass from the dungeon as freshly cut grass contains a lot of moisture, which makes it difficult to ignite and sustain a fire. Even if we forcefully tried burning it, it would only produce a lot of smoke and would not burn efficiently. Since, we planned to start the bonfire to back clay pottery, such an inefficient bonfire would only ruin the pottery and lay waste to Sova's work. 

"Sigh~, this is all we have right now," I replied dejectedly. 

Then shaking my head I took out the random 0-grade dungeon card I acquired for my achievement. I wondered if the dungeon summoned from this card would have trees but, I did not want to use the card until I had cleared the Horned Joey dungeon at least once to gauge if I could sole the Horned Joey dungeon five times a month and have enough strength left to sole another dungeon. 

After all, if the dungeon was not cleared the required minimum number of times, then it would lead to a dungeon break and my domain would be crawling with monsters. Yes, the Horned Joey monsters were an easy target but I had yet to meet the Boss Horned Joey so I could not say anything prematurely. 

As the Lord, I had to make the right choices for my domain, if I lost my domain then it was game over for me and my subjects. Therefore, after thinking for a while, I instructed Sova, "For now just focus on making clay. Until I figure something out about the firewood." Resolving to clear the Horned Joey dungeon in my next raid.