Carlos was livid. Never in his life had he felt such intense fury. He had been so close to escaping the nightmare filled with snakes, but at the very last second, his negligence got his leg caught in a rope trap. The embarrassment and rage he felt at making such a rookie mistake were overwhelming.
Yet, the worst part was the humiliation that followed. The snake, whose tail had served as the rope trap, used him as a plaything, smashing him into trees repeatedly. He was lowered just enough for smaller snakes to bite him, leaving him helpless and humiliated.
The venom accumulated in his body, paralyzing him slowly. As he felt his life slipping away, he thought bitterly, "It's over. If only I were immortal like those visitors. Why do they get immortality with such weak strength? I, a veteran with years of experience, should have it."
Barely able to move his fingers, he was on the verge of death. Just when he thought the snakes would kill him, he was suddenly pulled upwards. A glimmer of hope sparked within him. "Someone has come to save me!" he thought excitedly.
But his excitement turned to horror when he saw the smug, irritating face of Alois, a visitor. Carlos immediately understood what had happened. He, a seasoned veteran, had been outwitted and played by a level 0 visitor. His eyes turned bloodshot with rage, but his paralyzed body couldn't act on his fury. Watching Alois rummage through his bag and pull out a pocket knife, Carlos knew what was coming.
With utter hatred, he cursed, "It's... YOU! I will... fucking... kill you! NOO, I will... torture you... for eternity!"
Alois ignored the curses and plunged the knife into Carlos's head with all his strength. The blade broke through the skull with a sickening crunch and penetrated the brain tissue with a wet, squelching sound. The hate-filled light in Carlos's eyes vanished.
Alois felt his stomach churn. The act felt too real. He forced the feeling down, though he didn't regret his actions. Carlos had sent him to his death time and time again. It was a grim realization that his first kill in Genesis Frontier wasn't a monster, but an NPC—a veteran soldier.
As Carlos died, several game notifications chimed in Alois's mind, but he ignored them for the moment. The snakes were closing in.
Quickly, Alois searched Carlos's corpse for loot. To his disappointment, the corrosive acid had rendered most of Carlos's belongings useless. Even the armor was melted. Only the waist bag seemed salvageable. He couldn't check its contents immediately, so he slung it over his waist.
He tried putting the waist bag in the inventory but, unsurprisingly it failed as it was already filled with other items. "Looks like it is only poosible to store an empty bag inside the inventory."
The snakes were nearly upon him. Alois shoved Carlos's corpse off the tree. The body, still bound by the snake rope, swung and drew the snakes' attention. They pounced on it eagerly.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Alois leaped from tree to tree, using the foliage as cover. After a few minutes, he stopped on a branch with dense leaves for ample cover.
Alois examined the waist bag. "If I go back with this bag, I'll definitely be suspected or even killed on the spot. Better take care of this now."
Now that he was safe for the moment, Alois checked the game notifications, anticipating his level-up. He remembered that reaching level 1 required no experience, just a class, but leveling up further would be tough. He was eager to see how much he had gained from killing a level 15 NPC.
He started reading the notifications....
[ The player has killed level 15 veteran soldier, Carlos. ]
[ The player has killed an NPC above his level and gained 75000 EXP. ]
[ Congratulations! You have leveled up! ]
[ Congratulations! You have leveled up! ]
[ Congratulations! You have leveled up! ]
[ You have gained 10 free STAT points. ]
Alois was shocked. He had gained 75,000 EXP from killing an NPC 15 levels above him, leveling up three times. This meant he was now at level 3. His level-up from 0 to 1 hadn't consumed any EXP; the 75,000 EXP had only taken him from level 1 to 3, a mere two levels. He had also received 10 free STAT points, meaning he gained nothing from leveling up from 0 to 1.
He focused on his level information:
[ Level 0 to Level 1: Class Required ]
[ Level 1 to Level 2: 10,000 XP ]
[ Level 2 to Level 3: 25,000 XP ]
[ Level 3 to Level 4: 50,000 XP ]
"Fuck! Why is this game so difficult?" he cursed, taking a deep breath. "Forget it. At least I'm not level 0 anymore." There were more notifications, but he decided to check his status first.
[ STATUS ]
• Name : Alois Keke (Slave) (!!)
• Age : 18
• Race : Human
• Class : None
• Free STAT points : 10
• Level : 3
• Health : 300 HP
• Mana : 150 MP
• Strength : 14
• Endurance : 14
• Speed : 14
• Agility : 14
• Intelligence : 14
• Skills : [ Inspect ]
[Monster Harvester – Novice]
• Equipment : None
"Hmm... looks like leveling up from 0 to 1 didn't give me any benefits except the skill [ Inspect ], but I did get 5 free STAT points per level starting from level 1," Alois mused. "And I've got two new stats—Mana and Intelligence."
"Mana must be the energy source for spells," he thought, then focused on the Intelligence stat.
[ Intelligence – Intelligence is linked to Mana (MP) and can influence the total Mana pool, effectiveness of abilities that use Mana, and mana regeneration rate. ]
"So my current mana pool is 220, and my mana regeneration rate is... 0.7 per second?!Damn! Not even 1."
"Health has increased by 100 HP per level, and Mana has increased by 50 MP per level. The other stats have increased by 2 points per level. I think I'm starting to understand the game's mechanics a bit better now."
He sighed, "Anyway, overall, I've improved. How much? I'll have to see in practice." He could already feel his strength and speed had significantly increased since killing Carlos. He felt like a superhuman.
Alois then turned his attention to the remaining game notifications.
[ Judging .... ]
[ The player has killed an NPC above his level despite being level 0. ]
[ The player does not possess a class. ]
[ The player managed to level up without a class. ]
[ Judgement passed. ]
[ The player has achieved something no one has in this world. ]
[ The player has achieved something impossible. ]
[ Generating Rewards .... ]
( Author's Note : I've also published this novel on RoyalRoad. If you wish to donate then you can do it on RoyalRoad. Cheers !! )