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"Hey everyone, I'm currently working on editing and adjusting this novel. I plan to rewrite the first 50 chapters, but it'll take some time. The first ten chapters have been revised and are different from the later parts of the story. I've placed the original chapters here, so if you like the novel, please start reading from there. Thanks a lot!"
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1 Well, being a girl isn't too bad
At a wild office party, Alex went all out on the booze and ended up totally plastered. He felt like he was spinning in a dizzy haze, as if the whole world was doing somersaults around him.
Right then, a voice that sounded like it was straight out of a sci-fi movie echoed in his head.
[Galactic Announcement: Everyone will be transported to the planet Astralon in six hours.]
[Countdown: 05:59:52]
[Here, everyone gets a fair shot at supremacy.]
[Astralon is massive, larger than a star system, home to a hundred thousand races, filled with opportunities, dangers, and challenges.]
[You start with a castle and a barracks.]
[Summon troops, raid resources, grow your empire, dominate the planets.]
[Here, you can have everything you desire—power, wealth, even immortality!]
[Lords, go forth and conquer!]
Alex couldn't care less about the voice; he just wanted to crash and sleep off the booze. He wasn't in the mood for games!
But in the next moment, he snapped open his eyes and found himself in a strange room.
[The game is about to begin, please select your character's appearance]
[Available genders: A Male B Female C Other]
Though confused, as a seasoned gamer, Alex had a peculiar habit.
He wasn't keen on staring at male characters' ass, so he almost always played as female characters!
So, completely sloshed, Alex took this all as just another game and instinctively picked option B.
[Gender confirmed, generating character appearance...]
Under the influence of alcohol, Alex couldn't hold up any longer and just collapsed onto the floor, passing out.
When Alex woke up again, he found himself in an unfamiliar room, and despite it being a scorching summer, the room was surprisingly cool.
Alex lifted his head to scope out the surroundings when suddenly a strand of hair slipped past his ear, and he was totally gobsmacked.
"White hair! When did I turn into an old dude?"
"Wait, why's this hair so long?"
Alex blurted out in surprise, but what came out was a crisp, pleasant female voice.
He shot up from the floor, and immediately, a pair of boobs caught his attention.
Pfft...
Alex was stunned. Was this game seriously this realistic?
He then peeked between his legs and his face turned beet red...
Alex couldn't believe how lifelike this game was; it felt like he was literally in a woman's body. Now, he was starting to wonder, is this really just a game or is it reality?
If it's just a game, he could just log out and end this madness. But if it's real, suddenly switching from a dude to a chick was seriously awkward!
Thinking this, Alex couldn't help but peek again and suddenly thought, well, being a girl isn't too bad, lol...
Right then, a virtual panel appeared in front of Alex, displaying some basic info about his current state.
Name: Alex
Age: 18
Height: 5.5 feet
Weight: 95 pounds
Measurements: 33 / 23 / 34
Appearance Rating: SSS
Though the body looked great, Alex couldn't just stay naked, so he grabbed some clothes from a nearby dresser.
Alex shyly tried on a bra, but struggled big time to clasp it from behind.
Then it hit him, why not clasp it in front and spin it around? Genius!
Afterward, Alex changed into a white sailor dress.
"Why does this feel a bit tight? No, wait, it's just the boobs are too big!"
Once dressed, Alex's figure was undeniably prominent.
Alex slipped on a pair of white knee-high socks, pulling them up to his calves, then looked down at his tiny feet in white socks.
"These feet are so small, they're smaller than my hands."
Then Alex reached out with his hands and suddenly realized they were tiny too. Oops, he had forgotten he had crossed over.
Next, Alex found a pair of black leather shoes under the bed, picked them up, and saw they were only size 36 (EU).
Alex put on the shoes, got out of bed, and walked over to a full-length mirror to check out his reflection. His beautiful face was even prettier than models at Paris Fashion Week. The white sailor dress paired with white knee-high socks exuded a youthful vibe.
The real Alex, introverted and self-conscious, wouldn't even dare to talk to a girl like this, but here in this confusing game-or-reality scenario, his dream had come true.
Alex admired his reflection in the mirror.
"Ah, it's a pity it's a game, such a waste."
Just then, a divine-sounding voice echoed in Alex's mind again.
[Galactic Announcement: Preparation phase has ended, you will enter the continent of Eldoria in one minute.]
[Countdown: 00:00:58]
"What the heck, am I not already in the game?"
Alex realized something was off and instinctively tried to quit the game. But despite trying everything, there was no option to exit!
"No way! Can someone tell me if this is just a prank?"
2 The undead don't feel fatigue or hunger, so their Stamina is infinite
[Countdown: 3, 2, 1, 0]
As the countdown hit zero, Alex felt a wave of weightlessness, her body yanked backwards by an invisible force. She tilted back involuntarily, losing all sense of support. The scene before her blurred, and she instinctively closed her eyes.
[Initiating Lord status check.]
[Tired bones reignite the soul's fire, and thousands of subjects will bow at your feet.]
A voice echoed in her mind, but the expected fall never came. Alex's feet landed firmly, and she opened her eyes.
Alex found herself in a dilapidated castle that looked extremely old. The collapsed stone walls were covered with cracks and the marks of time, with moss tenaciously growing in the crevices. Tattered tapestries hung on the walls, their colors faded, but the patterns of the past were still faintly visible.
The sky around was a dull gray, with almost no trace of sunlight. Heavy clouds hung low, as if pressing down upon the ground. A few dead trees were scattered outside the castle, and occasionally, the wind would blow through, making their branches creak as if they were singing an ancient lament. The ground was covered with a thin layer of dust, indicating that no one had set foot here for a long time.
The overall atmosphere felt incredibly oppressive.
"Is this the real game world? Then what was all that before?"
Alex looked down at herself, black leather shoes and white socks, sexy straight legs, still in that sailor dress.
Phew, Alex breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness I didn't turn into a monster, that's a lucky break in an unlucky situation!"
[Welcome back to your domain, esteemed Lord!]
[Congratulations Lord, you have obtained the Companion Weapon: Grim Reaper's Scythe]
[As you possess the most noble bloodline of the undead, your troops will be summoned as the undead race, with uniqueness.]
"Ah, what?"
Before Alex could react, a red bracelet with two small bells appeared on her right arm.
Alex touched it, and the bracelet detached from her arm, transforming into a massive scythe.
The scythe was about 6 feet long, taller than Alex, with a blade about 32 inches long, half the length near the handle. It was red and black overall, with a huge blade that curved and emitted a chilling light.
At the top and bottom of the handle were two skulls, the larger one at the top with blue flames in its eyes. The handle was wrapped in white cloth, and two bells and two white ribbons were tied where the blade met the handle.
"Whoa, this is too cool, talk about maxing out the special effects!"
Alex held the scythe in her hand, and details about it popped up in her mind.
[Companion Weapon: Grim Reaper's Scythe]
[Quality: Commanding level weapon (upgradable)]
[Active Skill: Undead Summoning Magic (Tier 1)]
[Passive Skills: Attacks include soul strike and withering effects, base values doubled]
No wonder Alex felt a surge of strength holding the scythe, but how strong can a girl weighing just 95 pounds be? Even doubled, Alex still felt pretty weak.
With a thought, the Grim Reaper's Scythe transformed back into a bracelet on Alex's right arm.
[From now on, your castle will receive a seven-day newbie protection period.]
[During the protection period, the castle is in an invincible state.]
[After the seven days, all Lords will face the first wave of beasts.]
[If the core crystal of the castle is destroyed, you and your castle will cease to exist.]
[Be warned, this is not a traditional game, this is reality, and if you fail, you will truly die!]
Suddenly, Alex noticed a huge protective shield appearing around the castle.
This wasn't just any game; a real defeat meant really kicking the bucket.
Feeling the urgency, Alex took a tour around the castle. It had various rooms but was completely unfurnished. Basically, the castle was just a shell, totally empty, no kitchen, no bedroom.
Are they expecting me to sleep on the floor?
Alex stepped into the small courtyard outside the castle and found a green crystal. Approaching it, a virtual button appeared.
Alex pressed the button.
[Undead Crystal: lv1 (Unique Barracks)]
[Barracks can randomly summon skeletons, zombies, specters, death knights, liches, bone dragons, ghost dragons, zombie titans, and other undead troops.]
[Level 1 Barracks can summon: skeletons, zombies, specters (random ten units) with a 1% chance of summoning higher-level troops.]
[Upgrading Barracks requires: 100 magic crystals, 1 Essence Shard]
"Am I really stuck hanging out with these brainless things forever, oh man!"
Alex was on the verge of tears. This place was creepy enough, and now she's got a bunch of undead for company.
[Undead Crystal fully charged, would you like to recruit now?]
Two buttons popped up, and Alex, without hesitation, pressed the one on top,
[Yes]
The Undead Crystal emitted a burst of green light, condensing into ten skeletal figures.
The empty skeletons, ten skulls tilting with a creaking noise, then saw Alex and knelt down to show their allegiance.
"Why do they look kinda dumb?"
"1% chance and I still can't get any other troops?"
Alex couldn't believe her bad luck, considering how back in the day, she was the lucky star who could succeed on a 0.1% chance when enhancing equipment.
Looking at the ten Skeleton Soldiers in front of her, each armed with a round bone shield and a bone sword as long as an arm.
"Hey, can you guys talk?" Alex asked, puzzled.
The ten skeletons, upon hearing Alex's words, lifted their empty skeletal heads, their tiny skulls filled with great confusion.
"Alright, I expected too much."
Alex sighed, her expression saying 'I should have known.'
"Hey, I can check their stats!"
Then Alex tapped in the air.
A display popped up showing the basic information of the ten skeletons.
[Skeleton Soldier]
[Race: undead race]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv1 (can be increased by killing enemies)]
[Health Points: Undead trait, immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Strength: 6]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 5]
[Growth Limit: Commanding level]
[Note: Troop levels include Standard, Commanding, Monarch, King, Emperor, Sovereign, Divine]
[Undead Crystal recharging (recharges fully every midnight)]
"Ah, I get it now, the undead don't feel fatigue or hunger, so their Stamina is infinite."
Life Tier is the growth limit of the troops.
As for the level classification, the note made it pretty clear.
An ordinary skeleton can only grow up to Commanding level.
A normal adult male's Strength and Agility are around 3 or 4 points, maxing out at 5.
So, a level one skeleton soldier isn't too bad, especially with the undead trait.
Alex thought to herself. "Okay, I'm pretty good at comforting myself."
Alex decided to ignore the dopey skeletons for now, since there were system prompts to explore, she figured she'd better get a handle on the other facilities and features first.
She headed inside the castle to check out the internal info.
[Castle Level: lv1]
[Health Points: 3k (Invincible mode)]
[Territory Area: 0.5 square miles]
[Feature: Within the territory, the Lord has the power to see everything, as well as to Disassemble and recycle at the Warehouse.]
[Special Buildings: None]
[Upgrade Requirements: 1k wood, 500 stone]
"Upgrading the castle needs wood and stone, upgrading Barracks needs magic crystals and Essence Shards. Wood and stone are easy enough, but what the heck are these magic crystals and Essence Shards?"
Alex pondered, then suddenly a more pressing issue popped into her mind.
"Looks like there's no food in this castle, and what if the outside is just slimes and goblins?"
"Ew, I'm not eating that stuff!"
"Hey, you numbskulls, don't just stand there, go out and hunt!"
Alex shouted to the skeletons outside the castle.
The ten skeletons looked at each other, clearly not getting what Alex was ordering them to do.
"It means go outside the castle and fight, duh~"
This time the skeletons got it, and with their 5 Agility, they started moving towards the outside of the castle.
After getting the hang of the castle and crystal features, Alex was ready to dive into the other features. Inside the castle, there was a central system that could pull up all the features, making it unnecessary to run outside every time she wanted to summon troops.
The system was divided into five modules: [Castle], [Barracks Crystal], [World Chat], [All-Races Fair Trade], and [My Profile].
All-Races Fair Trade was pretty self-explanatory—it was a trading platform.
Alex clicked to check it out. Although all humans from Earth had arrived on the continent of Eldoria, the platform was currently as empty as a ghost town, nothing for sale.
Next, Alex tapped on [My Profile], which was split into [Personal Information] and [Warehouse].
She opened her personal info:
[Lord: Alex]
[Power Level: lv1 Standard (can be increased by killing enemies with personal and troops)]
[Territory Level: lv1 Initial Castle]
[Troops: undead race]
[Equipment: Grim Reaper's Scythe]
[Health Points: 100]
[Magic Points: 20]
[Strength: 2]
[Stamina: 1]
[Agility: 2]
"I'm this weak? No way!" Alex was in disbelief.
She then clicked on [Warehouse]:
[Wood: 0]
[Stone: 0]
[Magic Crystal: 0]
[Essence Shard: 0]
"Great, starting from scratch here," Alex muttered, realizing she had her work cut out for her if she was going to survive and thrive in Eldoria.
3 Undead Summoning Magic
These features reminded Alex of some strategy games she used to play, so she caught on pretty quickly.
Upgrading the castle seemed straightforward, just needing wood and stone. Based on typical online game mechanics, Alex guessed that later upgrades would probably require gems, mercury, sulfur, and the like.
She noticed the default Lord name in the top left corner of the page, "Undead Castle."
Curious, she clicked on it and realized she could change it!
Ditching the generic castle names, Alex punched in a new, catchier name for herself: Hamburger.
Next, Alex opened the World Chat, where messages were zipping by so fast they were just a blur. Luckily, there was a pause button next to the chat, which she quickly used to catch her breath and read the messages.
[NotARobot]: "Hey guys, what kind of troops do y'all have?"
[CtrlAltDefeat]: "Why did I summon a lv1 slime that can only bounce? I want to complain, I need a restart!"
[Error404]: "Haha, I summoned an ogre, unbeatable from the start!"
[BaconWrapped]: "I recruited elves, not only are they powerful, but they also have big butts! Most importantly, they are very obedient, helping me out with a blowjob right now!"
[SirLaughsALot]: "Dang, I'm so jealous, I summoned a bunch of hyenas. They keep sniffing my butt."
....
Alex peered at the World Chat, realizing just how uneven the playing field was. So much for a fair and square battle royale.
Some folks started off with hydras, while others got stuck with mere peasants.
"Ah, so it's all down to luck, huh?" Alex mused.
There was a newbie protection period of seven days, but who knew how many would survive the beast wave after that.
Everyone started with a castle, and from there, it was all up to individual effort.
Clearly, the so-called protection period was just a safe window to beef up.
If she did nothing and just holed up in her castle, not only would the beast wave post-seven days likely overrun the city, but starvation would get her first.
Curious about the outside world and how her Skeleton Soldiers were faring, Alex stepped up to the castle gate.
Inside the castle, resources were non-existent; everything had to be sourced externally.
Knowing she was only level 1 and unlike her Skeleton Soldiers, couldn't resurrect if killed, Alex cautiously stayed within the protective barrier.
Outside, the landscape was a mix of thickets and rocky terrain, with a few withered ancient trees and no visible water sources. In the distance, through the mist, a majestic snowy mountain loomed—undeniably white and several dozen miles from her castle.
That mountain surely held high-level monsters and rare materials!
Meanwhile, not far from her, Alex spotted her Skeleton Soldiers clashing with a group of wild boars.
The boars charged, scattering the Skeleton Soldiers, but their bone blades managed to stab into the boars' backs.
Bleeding profusely and losing balance, the boars started crashing around wildly. Luckily, the Skeleton Soldiers had the advantage in numbers and could reassemble after being scattered, rendering the boars' attacks virtually ineffective.
Eventually, ten Skeleton Soldiers teamed up and took down the boars.
[Your troops have killed a lv1 wild boar, gaining five experience points]
[Your troops have killed a lv1 wild boar, gaining five experience points]
...
One-on-one, a Skeleton Soldier versus a level 1 wild boar was no easy match, and the odds weren't great. Even though Skeleton Soldiers don't die, those boars, man, they just bolt when they can't win, and the slow-moving Skeleton Soldiers can't keep up.
Alex's gorgeous face was etched with worry.
"Man, these Skeleton Soldiers are kinda weak sauce!"
But hey, Alex ended up bagging 30 experience points and leveled up to level 2, feeling all sorts of beefed up.
"Leveling up feels awesome!"
The Skeleton Soldiers that took down the boars also hit level 2.
Looks like that's the sweet XP from knocking out enemies. Not a bad way to level up while chilling.
Soon enough, a few Skeleton Soldiers dragged back the boar carcasses. Alex looked at the dark-skinned boars and a prompt popped up.
[Found wild boar carcass, do you want to Disassemble it now?]
"Disassemble!"
[Wild boar carcass successfully Disassembled, obtained 120 portions of wild boar meat, 12 boar tusks, 6 boar skins, and 2 magic crystals.]
The boar carcass vanished in a flash, and the Warehouse got stocked with all the goodies from the Disassemble.
"Nice little haul, y'all keep taking out enemies and bring back the bodies!" Alex commanded her Skeleton Soldiers.
Out of 6 boar carcasses, only 2 magic crystals dropped; the rest of the loot was standard, with only the magic crystals being a random drop.
One boar carcass could be Disassembled into 20 portions of meat, 2 tusks, and a skin, with a level 1 boar dropping 5 experience points.
"Wait a sec, don't I have some skill to summon undead too?"
Alex touched the bracelet on her right hand, which instantly transformed into a massive scythe.
[Companion Weapon: Grim Reaper's Scythe]
[Quality: Commanding level weapon (upgradable)]
[Active Skill: Undead Summoning Magic (Tier 1)]
[Passive Skill: Attacks include soul strike and withering effects]
Checking out the pop-up info, Alex tapped on the description of the active skill.
[Undead Summoning Magic (Tier 1): Consumes 3 Magic Points to summon a Skeleton Soldier from a target corpse (cooldown 5 minutes)]
Alex had 20 Mana Points, meaning she could summon up to 6 times, netting her 6 more Skeleton Soldiers in half an hour.
Soon, notifications of her troops killing wild creatures popped up again.
[Your troops have killed a lv1 wild rabbit, gaining three experience points]
[Your troops have killed a lv2 wild chicken, gaining four experience points]
Alex immediately ordered one of the Skeleton Soldiers to bring back the bodies, eager to test out the undead magic.
Standing over the rabbit corpse, Alex wielded the scythe and used the Undead Summoning Magic.
Mana Points 17/20.
Mana Points regenerate at one point per minute, and after her first magic use, Alex got the hang of the regeneration rate.
A gray magic circle appeared under the rabbit corpse, and a Skeleton Soldier slowly crawled out from it.
"Whoa, it actually summoned a humanoid skeleton, and the corpse is still here!"
Alex looked at the dorky skeleton in front of her.
[Skeleton Soldier]
[Race: undead race]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv1 (non-upgradable)]
[Health Points: Undead trait, immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Strength: 6]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 5]
Alex also spotted a catch—the Skeleton Soldiers she summoned were locked at their summoning level.
Meaning, the Skeleton Soldiers she summoned couldn't level up by killing enemies.
Based on her years of gaming experience, Alex guessed that the level of the summoned Skeleton Soldiers probably depended on the level of the corpse used.
4 I'm so smart
"The rabbit corpse is still here, so can I just keep summoning forever?"
Alex waited another five minutes, all hyped up, and tried summoning from the rabbit corpse again.
[Summoning Failed]
Mana Points 17/20.
"I knew it; how could there possibly be such a good thing? I just wasted three Mana Points for nothing."
Once the cd was over, Alex immediately used her undead magic on the nearby wild chicken corpse, and just as she expected, this time the summoned Skeleton Soldier was level 2, with its level locked.
"Disassemble, disassemble!"
Alex hit the Disassemble button on both the rabbit and chicken corpses.
[Rabbit corpse successfully Disassembled, obtained 10 portions of rabbit meat, 1 rabbit skin]
[Chicken corpse successfully Disassembled, obtained 5 portions of chicken meat, 1 magic crystal]
"Whoa, jackpot! The level 2 chicken dropped a magic crystal. Looks like higher-level creatures have a better chance of dropping magic crystals."
"Y'all go fight some more, and remember to bring back the bodies!"
Alex commanded the skeletons in front of her.
Alex crouched down and started crunching numbers. Mana Points 20, takes 20 minutes to fully regenerate, skill cooldown 5 minutes, skill costs 3 points.
"30 minutes for 6, an hour makes 12, and in an eight-hour day, that's 96! Plus ten daily summons from the crystal, that's over a hundred Skeleton Soldiers a day, seven hundred in a week!"
"Time to go full zerg rush!"
Alex stood tall, raised her hand confidently.
"Chickens are easier to kill, rabbits work too. Right now, the Skeleton Soldiers are low level, taking on boars isn't efficient."
Alex entered the castle and headed to the Warehouse, looking at the neatly stacked food in the corner.
The food stored in the Warehouse stays exactly as it was when put in, never spoils—that's a pretty sweet deal.
Alex planned to have the Skeleton Soldiers level up by fighting monsters first. That way, both the Skeleton Soldiers and she could level up and potentially get more troops.
Once they had the numbers, gathering resources like wood and stone would be a breeze.
"Lol, I'm a genius!"
Alex was just chilling, squatting on the side, watching her Skeleton Soldiers hunt while peeking at the World Chat where other Lords were bragging. Honestly, that chat was the only entertainment around here.
But Alex was kinda puzzled,
This is the All-Races Battle Royale, a survival game, folks!
Are all these Lords really that chill? Shouldn't they be freaking out about how to get back to Earth? Don't they need to gather resources? Don't they eat?
Why are they all just trash-talking in the World Chat?
Alex's head was buzzing with questions, and she really wanted to ask, but she was afraid of being labeled a weirdo by these folks.
People in this world sure are quick to adapt...
Meanwhile, at the All-Races Fair Trade, many Lords were listing resources for trade.
Alex, bored out of her mind, clicked to check it out.
One portion of food for ten portions of wood or five portions of stone.
At the end of this trade info, there was a gray horizontal bar.
And there were other messages too.
One portion of food for twenty portions of wood or ten portions of stone.
This trade had a green upward arrow at the end.
Alex got it—the gray bar probably represented the system-set market price, and the green upward arrow meant it was overpriced, a heads-up that Lords would be at a loss with such trades.
But on the flip side, some Lords were offering twenty pieces of wood for one portion of food, marked with a red downward arrow.
That meant you'd score a bit if you traded with this Lord.
But Alex noticed something—trades offering wood or stone for food were snapped up almost instantly, while offers of food for wood or stone just sat there, untouched.
What does that tell you?
It shows that these Lords, right at the start, find food super precious, so they're willing to pay several times the price.
On the other hand, trying to trade basic materials for food? Hardly anyone's biting.
Because Alex's troops are undead, and hey, undead don't need to eat! But the other Lords aren't so lucky—they not only need to feed themselves, their troops need grub too.
Alex was just hanging out, watching her Skeleton Soldiers do their thing, when she caught something interesting in the World Chat.
Turns out, if troops go hungry, their loyalty drops. Who knew?
It's wild to think about how much grub those Lords who summoned dragons or Titans must need early on.
Most Lords can scrape together enough food for themselves and their troops, but that leaves zilch for trading. Plus, they gotta hustle for stone and wood too.
But here's the kicker—Alex only needs to keep a bit of food for herself; the rest she can trade off!
This way, she can quickly stock up on stone and wood.
Her Skeleton Soldiers aren't just good for leveling up—they also bring in stone and wood.
"Pretty slick," she thought.
Alex spotted a business opportunity and jumped right in.
In her Warehouse, she had 120 portions of wild boar, 10 portions of rabbit, and 10 portions of chicken.
Each portion was about a kilogram, enough for a Lord to have a hearty meal. For Alex, though, a portion was more than enough.
"But what's the right price?" Alex pondered, chin in hand, scrolling through the market rates.
"Every man for himself, right? I've made up my mind!"
[Hamburger initiates a trade!]
[One portion of food for forty portions of wood or twenty portions of stone.]
[Remaining quantity: 100 portions.]
"People are marking up two or three times the price, so why not four times? Plus, I'm dropping a hundred portions on them, bam!"
With billions of people in this game world, Alex was sure someone would bite.
She continued to squat by the castle gate, refreshing the trade info like a boss.
In less than ten seconds, a bunch of messages popped up.
[Successful trade: one portion of food for twenty portions of stone]
[Successful trade: ten portions of food for four hundred portions of wood]
[Successful trade: twenty portions of food for eight hundred portions of stone]
...
Just seconds after Alex listed her stash, all 100 portions of food were snapped up. She raked in 2,000 portions of wood and 1,000 portions of stone. The goods were automatically transferred to her Warehouse.
Upgrading the castle only needed 1,000 wood and 500 stone. Time to level up!
Alex pulled up the castle interface and hit upgrade without a second thought.
[Castle Level: lv2]
[Health Points: 6k (Invincible)]
[Territory Area: 1 square miles]
[Feature: Within the territory, the Lord has the right to oversee everything, along with the ability to Disassemble and recycle the Warehouse.]
[Special Buildings: None]
[Upgrade Requirements: 2k wood, 1k stone]
"Doesn't seem much different—just more HP and a bigger turf," Alex mumbled. She was hoping for some cool new features, but nada.
Feeling a bit let down, she went back to scrolling through the World Chat.
"Wait, am I famous now?" Alex noticed a lot of chatter about her.
[SirLaughsALot]: "Hamburger is so clutch, I'm literally eating shit here, and she had a hundred portions of food!"
[NotARobot]: "@SirLaughsALot, did you fill up? How's the taste?"
[BaconWrapped]: "I've got some trained elf slaves here, wanna trade for some food?"
[BigEarBull]: "@BaconWrapped, take a closer look; I suspect that Hamburger's Lord is a lady. Keep your elves for yourself."
[KingOfTheForest]: "Anyone else got food? I've got loads of wood to trade!"
[CtrlAltDefeat]: "Why can't we see Error404 anymore? Why aren't they talking, did their troops eat him?"
[BlackTiger]: "Stop yelling, someone else just listed food for sale!"
Seeing this, Alex also checked out the marketplace and noticed a Lord named "Flame Spirit" had listed 30 portions of food. Shortly after, another Lord called "King Ultraman" listed 50 portions of food.
Both were charging four times the going rate, just like Alex had. She guessed these guys probably summoned troops that didn't need to eat, just like hers.
"Flame Spirit" made sense to Alex—probably elemental troops that don't require food. But "King Ultraman"? What's up with that? Did he summon actual Ultramen as troops?
With billions of players worldwide, it's inevitable some would summon powerful troops like Behemoths, Trolls, Titans, Dragons, and of course, those that don't need food like Vampires, Demons, Golems, Elementals, and Plants.
Even if people summoned these types of troops, they'd still be a drop in the bucket compared to the global player base. Even if all these players started selling food, the market could totally handle it without affecting Alex.
And since it's only day one, most Lords are still scrambling for food. Maybe in a few days, food won't be as big of a deal, but for now, it's prime time.
"Alright, time to roll up the sleeves and get to work!"
Alex was all fired up.
5 What a bountiful harvest
[Congrats on leveling up to lv3.]
"Man, leveling up feels awesome!" Alex exclaimed, already pumped for the next level up.
It was the XP from slaying skeletons in the wild that bumped Alex up a level. She'd been glued to the World Chat and missed the kill notifications.
Alex felt a bit stronger, not enough to KO a buffalo with one punch, but definitely could take out a rabbit.
[Lord: Alex]
[Power: lv3 Standard (Personal and troops' kills can increase level)]
[Territory Level: lv2 Starter Castle]
[Troops: undead race]
[Equipment: Grim Reaper's Scythe]
[Health Points: 100]
[Mana Points: 30]
[Strength: 6]
[Stamina: 5]
[Agility: 6]
Alex stared at her stats panel, kinda speechless.
"Why do my lv3 stats look almost the same as a lv1 Skeleton Soldier?"
It was nearing noon, but Alex didn't feel hungry at all, and her Skeleton Soldiers had brought back all the corpses.
She noticed a few of her Skeleton Soldiers looked different—taller, and their aura felt stronger.
[Skeleton Warrior]
[Race: undead race]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv3 (Increases with kills)]
[Health Points: Undead trait, immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Strength: 15]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 10]
[Growth Limit: Commanding level]
"Did they just class up to lv3?"
Alex looked at the three Skeleton Warriors in front of her, standing about 7 feet tall. Their old bone shields and knives were gone, replaced by huge bone longswords. Their bones looked shinier, probably tougher.
Besides the three Skeleton Warriors, the remaining nine had all reached lv2.
Then Alex pulled out her Grim Reaper's Scythe, ready to start a troop boosting plan.
Suddenly, she noticed the Grim Reaper's Scythe's info had changed too.
[Companion Weapon: Grim Reaper's Scythe]
[Quality: Commanding level weapon (upgradable)]
[Active Skill: Undead Summoning Magic (Tier 2)]
[Passive Skill: Attacks include soul strike and withering effects, victims slain by the scythe will be converted into undead]
Undead Summoning Magic (Tier 2): Summon double the Skeleton Soldiers.
"Got a new passive skill, huh? So anything I slice up with this scythe turns into undead?"
"And the active skill, Undead Summoning Magic, leveled up to Tier 2."
Alex decided to test it out on a nearby wild chicken corpse.
Using Undead Summoning Magic!
Mana Points: 27/30
Alright, still burns three Mana Points each time.
But Alex noticed that instead of one Skeleton Soldier crawling out from the chicken corpse, now there were two!
And these Skeleton Soldiers kept their original levels, though their levels were still locked.
Alex was stoked—this meant she could summon even more Skeleton Soldiers.
She spent some time casting Undead Summoning Magic on all the corpses.
Five lv1 wild boars, two lv2 wild boars, thirty lv1 wild chickens, ten lv2 wild chickens, eight lv1 wild rabbits, and two lv1 gazelles.
That was the morning's haul for twelve skeletons.
In total, Alex summoned ninety lv1 Skeleton Soldiers and twenty-four lv2 Skeleton Soldiers.
But this Tier 2 Undead Summoning Magic was only good for doubling the number of Skeleton Soldiers. To double summon other types of undead creatures, she'd probably need to level up the skill.
Adding the originally summoned skeletons, Alex now had a whopping 126 skeletons—three lv3 Skeleton Warriors, thirty-three lv2 Skeleton Soldiers, and ninety lv1 Skeleton Soldiers.
And that was just half a day's work—Alex could hardly believe it.
She then disassembled all the corpses.
[Wild boar corpse disassembled successfully, obtained 140 portions of wild boar meat, 14 wild boar tusks, 7 wild boar skins, 3 magic crystals.]
[Wild rabbit corpse disassembled successfully, obtained 80 portions of wild rabbit meat, 8 wild rabbit skins, 1 magic crystal]
[Wild chicken corpse disassembled successfully, obtained 200 portions of wild chicken meat, 18 magic crystals]
[Gazelle corpse disassembled successfully, obtained 20 portions of gazelle meat, 1 gazelle skin, 1 magic crystal]
"Jackpot! All this food can be traded for a ton of stone and wood."
"Yo, grab that chicken over there for me, alive and clucking!"
Alex pointed at a bush not too far off, commanding her skeleton crew.
Three Skeleton Warriors, now with Agility at ten, not the measly five they started with, quickly nabbed the chicken.
One of them held the chicken by the neck and brought it to Alex.
"Cluck cluck!"
The chicken struggled, but Alex, with a swift swing of her Grim Reaper's Scythe, chopped it right in half. The body hit the ground, and instantly a magic circle appeared, spawning a Skeleton Soldier, just like the ones summoned by magic.
But now, with Undead Summoning Magic at Tier 2, she could summon two at a time.
The cool part? Slicing them up with the scythe didn't use any Mana Points. Talk about perks!
After disassembling the body, Alex sent all 126 of her skeletons out to hunt.
With the castle grounds getting crowded, they spread further out.
With over a hundred Skeleton Soldiers on the prowl, who knows how many bodies they'd drag back by dusk? Alex might have just found her gold mine.
Tired of standing at the castle gate, Alex headed back inside. The Warehouse now held 400 units of food.
Deciding she wasn't hungry, Alex threw all 400 units up for trade in one go!
[Hamburger initiated a trade!]
[One unit of food for forty units of wood or twenty units of stone.]
[Remaining quantity: 400 units.]
Same old trade, same old rates. As soon as Hamburger's trade hit the market, it sparked the usual buzz.
[Everyone, hustle! Big Hamburger's dropped food on the market again!]
[Seriously, what kind of troops does this lord have? Bags 500 units of food in no time!]
[Can someone drop a guide? My troops are farmers, surrounded by desert, and they've stopped working they're so hungry.]
[Same here, all grasslands around, no wood to chop, no stone to mine, I'm just grazing to stay full, feel like a bipedal rabbit over here.]
6Frost dragon
"The fact that the trading post doesn't charge a fee is pretty legit."
In less than five minutes, all 400 units of food Alex put up were snatched up. She scored 6,000 units of wood and 3,000 units of stone.
Time to upgrade the castle again. Even though Alex isn't quite sure what upgrading the castle does, upgrading is always the way to go.
Who knows, maybe there's something special at troopslv3 or for the castle too!
In a flash, 2,000 wood and 1,000 stone vanished from the Warehouse.
[Castle Level: lv3]
[Health Points: 10k]
[Territory Area: 1.5 square miles]
[Feature: Within the territory, the Lord has the power to see everything, as well as to Disassemble and recycle the Warehouse]
[Special Building: None]
[Upgrade Requirements: 4k wood, 2k stone]
Just when Alex thought upgrading to lv3 was no biggie, a notification popped up.
[Congrats Lord, on leveling up your castle to level 3, you've earned a random special building blueprint!]
"Sweet, there's actually a special reward!"
Alex realized that hitting level 3, whether it's her own level, her troops, or the castle, always brings some mysterious changes.
She received the random special building blueprint,
[Special Building Blueprint: Maiden's Wardrobe.]
[Building Level: None]
[Feature1: The wardrobe has an auto-cleaning feature.]
[Feature2: It can repair all clothes inside.]
[Feature3: Increases other Lords' favorability, but only if they're already neutral or better.]
[Building Materials: 1 magic crystal.]
"What? A wardrobe?"
Alex was stunned, her mouth agape.
"Are you sure this thing has anything to do with Lord wars?"
The system, being a fixed program, of course, didn't answer Alex's question. But luckily, it only needed one magic crystal to build, and a lv2 chicken could drop one, so Alex wasn't sweating it.
"Build it!"
One magic crystal disappeared from the Warehouse, and Alex headed to her bedroom.
Alex's bedroom setup was extremely simple: it didn't even have a bed for sleeping. Until now, that was all there was.
Suddenly, a massive wardrobe appeared out of nowhere, occupying an entire wall. It was decked out in light blue and pink, with sliding doors and a simple yet stylish design that definitely didn't blend in with the rest of the castle—or the world, for that matter. It almost gave Alex the feeling of being back in a modern city. Besides the huge wardrobe, an additional bed appeared, so that Alex no longer had to sleep on the floor.
Curious, Alex slid open the wardrobe doors and was blown away again. The wardrobe was packed with clothes, all neatly arranged, easily a thousand pieces, giving off major department store vibes.
The wardrobe was divided into sections: tops and pants, suits, underwear, socks, and shoes. The underwear section was the smallest, followed by shoes.
Inside, it seemed to contain every type of women's clothing imaginable. There was a whole row of pleated skirts, plus all the usuals—shirts, dresses, bodycon skirts, low-cut gowns, shorts, long pants, and bodysuits.
But what really got Alex jazzed was the underwear section. The drawers were stuffed with all kinds—cartoon-themed, lacy, sporty. There were white crew socks, thigh-highs, over-the-knee stockings, tights, and Alex's favorite, black Balenciaga stockings.
And of course, the shoe section wasn't lacking either, with sneakers, casual shoes, leather shoes, and even high heels.
It dawned on Alex that everything in the wardrobe was her size, even the bras matched her cup size.
There was even a lift feature designed for easy access to the clothes.
"And with the repair feature, I could literally rip my stockings and they'd just fix themselves?"
Seeing all this, Alex got super excited about trying on the wardrobe's offerings for a wild new look.
Since it was just her, why not...
Hold up, Alex, what are you doing? Don't let those desires mess with your head, girl! This is Eldoria, a land with a hundred thousand races, countless Lords, and wars that can get real deadly!
Alex snapped back to reality, resisting the urge to dive deeper into her wardrobe adventures.
"Got to focus on the real deal, the real deal. Darn wardrobe, messing with my willpower!"
"But hey, having some fresh clothes is pretty sweet. Can't be rocking the same outfit forever, right?"
Alex changed into a new outfit and stepped out of the bedroom.
Back in the Warehouse, there were still 4,000 units of wood and 2,000 units of stone—just enough to level up the castle again.
With no other immediate use for the wood and stone, Alex decided to go ahead and upgrade the castle.
[Castle Level: lv4]
[Health Points: 20k]
[Territory Area: 2 square miles]
[Feature: Within the territory, the Lord has the power to see everything, as well as to Disassemble and recycle the Warehouse]
[Special Building: Maiden's Wardrobe.]
[Upgrade Requirements: 6k wood, 3k stone]
Now, Alex's Warehouse was empty of food, wood, and stone. She'd have to wait until evening to gather more resources from wild creatures.
As for the boar tusks, boar skins, and rabbit skins in the Warehouse, Alex figured they were probably for crafting gear, but her current level was too low to unlock those options.
But Alex's undead troops not only could change classes but also came equipped with their own weapons, so she didn't need these materials for crafting.
"Guess I'll just have to sell these materials later."
Other Lords might guess that these materials could be used for crafting gear, but without knowing their specific uses, they definitely wouldn't trade blindly.
Suddenly, while standing in the castle courtyard, Alex spots a massive creature high in the sky.
"Some kind of giant bird?"
As the creature descends, getting closer, Alex finally sees it clearly.
"Holy smokes, it's a dragon!"
A blue dragon, about 15 feet long, eventually lands gently on a snowy mountain not too far from Alex's castle.
Alex figures it must be a frost dragon—this is Eldoria, after all.
From the novels Alex read in her past life, dragons were always at the pinnacle of power, the highest tier of creatures.
"Can't believe there's actually a dragon living on that snowy mountain!"
Alex had thought the mountain might harbor some high-level wild creatures, but she never imagined something as high-level as a dragon!
The snowy mountain isn't too close to Alex's castle, and because it's so tall, it's visible from her location. After two upgrades, the castle's Territory Area has reached 2 square miles, but the mountain is still a bit away. Alex really wants to check out the dragon's stats, but alas, it's not within her territory.
The sense of urgency hits her—Alex doesn't want to end up as dragon food once her castle expands and the seven-day newbie protection expires.
"I was just starting to enjoy being a lord!"
7 Darkness descends
The first day in Eldoria has wrapped up.
[Lord: Alex]
[Power Level: lv4 Standard (can be increased by personal and troops' kills)]
[Territory Level: lv4 Initial Castle]
[Troops: undead race]
[Equipment: Grim Reaper's Scythe]
[Health Points: 150]
[Mana Points: 30]
[Strength: 9]
[Stamina: 8]
[Agility: 9]
Stats are nearing ten points, Mana Points haven't increased, but Health Points are up by fifty.
Another round of joyful leveling up!
As evening falls, Alex watches her Skeleton Soldiers return loaded with loot, a charming smile playing on her lips.
So far, Alex hasn't spotted any signs of native forces nearby.
The area is mostly populated by low-level wild creatures, the toughest being level three—mostly wild boars, rabbits, chickens, and antelopes, which stand no chance against Alex's undead army.
Of course, the frost dragon on the snowy mountain is an exception.
Alex needs to level up fast to capture that frost dragon from the snowy mountain and make it her mount.
"Riding a dragon, just thinking about it feels epic!"
While tirelessly casting Undead Summoning Magic, Alex fantasizes about the moment she'll dominate the world.
As the sky darkens, Alex finishes summoning all the wild creatures and sits down, panting, disassembling their bodies back into the Warehouse.
Currently, the Warehouse holds a total of 900 units of food. Although just a dozen skeletons managed to gather 500 units in the morning, Alex knows the wild creatures around her castle aren't infinite.
After a morning of hunting, the number of wandering creatures around the castle has noticeably decreased.
Gathering 900 units of food in one afternoon is quite a haul.
The magic crystals have reached 155 pieces, but there are still no Essence Shards. Alex guesses that higher-level creatures might drop Essence Shards.
The skeleton army has gained new members, now boasting 2 lv4 Skeleton Warriors, 10 lv3 Skeleton Warriors, 67 lv2 Skeleton Soldiers, and 150 lv1 Skeleton Soldiers.
Most of the lv1 Skeleton Soldiers are summoned using undead magic and can only maintain a lv1 status, unable to level up.
[Skeleton Warrior]
[Race: undead race]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv4 (can be increased by killing enemies)]
[Health Points: Undead trait, immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Strength: 18]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 12]
[Growth Limit: Commanding level]
The lv4 Skeleton Warrior's Strength has increased by three points and Agility by two points compared to lv3.
Alex noticed something odd; it's been a day, and she still isn't feeling hungry.
Maybe it's related to some undead lineage she's awakened, inheriting traits from the undead race.
That's Alex's guess anyway, because what normal person doesn't get hungry after a whole day? At first, Alex thought maybe she just wasn't eating enough.
Alex puts up 900 units of food for sale again at the All-Races Fair Trade.
[Hamburger initiates a trade!]
[One unit of food for forty units of wood or twenty units of stone.]
[Remaining quantity: 900 units.]
As soon as Alex's offer hits the market, it grabs the attention and astonishment of the crowd—900 units of food isn't something you see every day.
"Damn, Hamburger's at it again!"
"LOL, I've already traded for a hundred units."
"Dude! Are you a quick shooter or what? How'd you trade so fast?"
While Alex is enjoying the banter in the World Chat, a new system alert pops up.
[Blood Moon in the sky, darkness descends!]
[Nightfall brings double strength to wild creatures and a risk of higher-level creatures appearing.]
"Guess it's just a rage mode at night, huh? Does double the stats mean double the loot?"
Alex isn't too worried about any high-level creatures showing up; after all, there's nothing around, and high-level creatures can't just appear out of nowhere.
Besides, the undead race is immortal!
"Keep up the good work, go back out and hunt!"
Why not make the most of an undead with infinite stamina?
The first seven days of newbie protection are crucial for pulling ahead of other Lords.
The World Chat continues its heated discussion, though the topic has shifted from Hamburger to the nightfall.
As Alex watches the flashing system alerts, she zones out for a moment, and by the time she snaps back to reality, all 900 units of food have been sold.
Alex ends up with 18,000 units of wood and 9,000 units of stone.
Alex went straight for the upgrade after checking the stash.
[Castle Level: lv5]
[Health Points: 30k (Invincible)]
[Territory Area: 3 square miles]
[Feature: Within the territory, the Lord has the power to see everything, along with the ability to Disassemble and recycle stuff at the Warehouse.]
[Special Building: Maiden's Wardrobe]
Next level up needed 8k wood and 4k stone.
Peeking into the Warehouse, Alex saw there was still 12k wood and 6k stone left—enough for another level up.
She was already getting hyped about unlocking a new special building at Castle lv6.
[Castle Level: lv6]
[Health Points: 40k (Invincible)]
[Territory Area: 4 square miles]
[Feature: Within the territory, the Lord has the power to see everything, along with the ability to Disassemble and recycle stuff at the Warehouse.]
[Special Building: Maiden's Wardrobe]
Next upgrade: 10k wood, 5k stone.
[Congrats to the Lord on reaching Castle lv6, scoring a random special building blueprint.]
Just as Alex guessed, every three levels up, you snag a special blueprint.
She grabbed her reward and checked out the blueprint details.
[Special Building Blueprint: Bone Throne.]
[Building Level: Monarch level]
[Feature1: Boosts troops' loyalty to the Lord.]
[Feature2: Within the territory, boosts the strength of the Lord and troops by one level (effective below Monarch level).]
[Feature3: Inside the castle, boosts the experience gained by the Lord by 1.5 times (effective below Monarch level).]
[Building Materials: 10k wood, 10k stone, 100 magic crystals, 10 Essence Shards.]
"Nice, snagged a Monarch level blueprint this time, looks super fancy," Alex grinned, glad it wasn't some random junk.
Alex checked out the three features of the Bone Throne, and man, they were killer—especially the part about boosting her XP.
"Speeding up the leveling fun, hehe..."
All the Skeleton Soldiers in her territory got an instant upgrade, with over a hundred of them jumping to lv2 temporarily.
"Give it a week, and I'll show all the lords the might of the undead wave!"
Alex flicked a strand of white hair behind her ear, all confident.
But this whole boosting troop loyalty thing, she didn't quite get it—felt a bit useless. Her Skeleton Soldiers were already 100% loyal.
And those building materials? Way too pricey. Ten Essence Shards? She hadn't even seen one, let alone owned any.
Despite the darkness creeping in, the Blood Moon hanging over the lords' heads still cast a faint red glow, adding a touch of eeriness to the dark lands of Eldoria.
Now, Alex's territory stretched over 4 square miles, a diameter of about 8 square miles. For a lord who just landed on Eldoria, that was pretty impressive.
Suddenly, Alex sensed another creature entering her territory. All she could see was a white figure, about the size of a wild boar, way off in the distance.
Too far to make out clearly.
"Right, I can check the info since it's my territory!"
8 Essence Shards
Then Alex pulled up the deets on the mysterious critter.
[Moon Silver Wolf]
[Race: Moon Wolf Clan]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv5]
[Health Points: 150]
[Mana Points: None]
[Strength: 18]
[Stamina: 25]
[Agility: 20]
[Skills: None]
Alex finally got what that white shadow was—it was a wolf, probably out hunting at night.
"A lv5 wolf, huh? Its Strength's the same as a lv4 Skeleton Warrior, but its Agility's a whole 8 points higher."
But Alex only had two lv4 Skeleton Warriors. She wasn't sure if they could take on this lv5 Moon Silver Wolf.
The rest of her Skeleton Soldiers were too low-level; the huge gap in attributes meant they couldn't even touch the high-Agility Moon Silver Wolf.
Wolves usually roll deep, but it was odd seeing this lone wolf. Still, Alex sent her two lv4 Skeleton Warriors and ten lv3 Skeleton Warriors to attack the lv5 Moon Silver Wolf.
The Moon Silver Wolf, not the sharpest tool in the shed, didn't get what these moving skeletons were all about. It was just chilling, gnawing on a wild boar carcass, enjoying its meal.
It ain't no dog, and had zero interest in bone-only Skeletons.
As the Skeleton Warriors approached, the Moon Silver Wolf's white ears twitched, clearly hearing them coming.
The lv4 Skeleton Warrior, still a ways off, hurled its massive bone blade, aiming to take the enemy down in one hit.
The Moon Silver Wolf nimbly dodged the sneak attack, spun around, and snarled at the Skeleton Warrior, as if it thought they were after its food.
Seizing the moment, the Moon Silver Wolf lunged and bit. Without his bone blade, the Skeleton Warrior could only swing its arm, which the Moon Silver Wolf promptly bit off.
The Moon Silver Wolf tried to crunch the bone but spit it out because it was too hard.
Guess it really isn't a dog.
"Man, my lv4 Skeleton Warriors just can't handle that lv5 Moon Silver Wolf!"
But lucky for Alex, she's got numbers on her side. Soon enough, the Moon Silver Wolf was wounded, while her Skeleton Warriors kept fighting even without their heads.
The Moon Silver Wolf, bloodied and surrounded by Skeleton Warriors, still glared fiercely at its enemies.
Suddenly, it threw back its white head and let out a howl that echoed through the silent night.
The crows perched on distant dead trees scattered, spooked by the wolf's cry.
That's when Alex figured out where this Moon Silver Wolf came from—it had come down from the nearby snowy mountain!
Turns out, there were about seven or eight more Moon Silver Wolves on that mountain, and hearing their buddy's howl, they all started sprinting down towards Alex's expanding territory.
As Alex's castle and land grew, it got closer to that snowy mountain, home not just to frost dragons but to Moon Silver Wolves too.
Soon, those seven or eight Moon Silver Wolves joined the fray, each one lv5, and with their night-time double stats, they could scatter the bodies of even lv4 Skeleton Warriors with a single strike.
Alex quickly had all her Skeleton Soldiers swarm them. Despite the Moon Silver Wolves' high attack and low defense, even a lv1 Skeleton Soldier could land a hit.
These wolves showed some serious pack smarts, each knowing their role. Surrounded by a skeleton army, they rarely got ambushed. Sometimes, they wouldn't even dodge the lv1 Skeleton Soldiers, focusing instead on avoiding hits from the tougher Skeleton Warriors.
As the battle dragged on, the pack of Moon Silver Wolves realized they couldn't kill these undead foes and started to retreat, protecting their own.
The first Moon Silver Wolf, badly injured, didn't make it out. Another wolf tried to go back and save it but ended up getting caught too.
In the end, only two Moon Silver Wolves were killed.
"Boom! Your troops just bagged a lv5 Moon Silver Wolf and scored thirty XP points."
"Boom! Another lv5 Moon Silver Wolf down for another thirty XP."
The system chimed in with the kill alerts.
"Argh!" Alex was about to lose it. All this effort for just two wolves? It's not that the undead race isn't tough, it's just that the lowly Skeleton Soldiers are clearly the weak link.
"Man, don't even think about giving me ten Skeleton Soldiers tomorrow!"
The Skeleton Soldiers hauled the two Moon Silver Wolf carcasses back, while the rest of the troops went off hunting again.
The local critters had all bolted thanks to the Moon Silver Wolves, so the Skeleton Soldiers had to hunt further from the castle. But hey, being undead, Alex wasn't sweating their safety.
Though it was only two wolves, those were lv5 Moon Silver Wolves, no less.
Alex, pumped, used her Undead Summoning Magic on the wolf carcasses.
Underneath the wolves, a summoning circle appeared, and up crawled four Skeleton Warriors.
[Skeleton Warrior]
[Race: undead race]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv5 (Maxed Out)]
[Health Points: Undead trait, immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Strength: 21]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 14]
[Growth Limit: Commanding level]
"Smashed through twenty points just like that!"
Alex seemed to have cracked the pattern: aside from the big jump from lv2 to lv3, each level up meant a fixed increase in stats—like for a Skeleton Warrior, each level meant +3 Strength and +2 Agility.
[Detected Moon Silver Wolf carcass, initiate Disassemble?]
"Disassemble!"
[Disassembly of Moon Silver Wolf carcass successful, yielded 80 wolf meat, 4 magic crystals, and 4 Essence Shards (Double Drop).]
"Score, Essence Shards!" Alex was over the moon.
Double stats meant double loot. High risk, high reward. If Alex wasn't rolling with undead troops but some other kind, who knows how many would've been lost tonight.
Looks like the Barracks could be upgraded now!
Alex recalled that upgrading the Barracks needed 100 magic crystals and 1 Essence Shard.
She had the crystals covered for a while, but those elusive Essence Shards? Finally snagged not just one, but four!
Alex is guessing that maybe only creatures above level 5 have a shot at dropping Essence Shards, but with so little info, she's just gonna put a pin in that for now.
"Let's upgrade the Barracks first!"
[Undead Crystal: lv2 (Unique Barracks)]
[The Barracks can randomly summon skeletons, zombies, specters, death knights, liches, bone dragons, ghost dragons, zombie titans, and all sorts of undead troops.]
[At level 2, the Barracks can summon: skeletons, zombies, specters, and death knights—ten random troops with a 2% chance of snagging a high-tier troop, and a super slim chance of pulling a Race King.]
[Upgrade requirements for the Barracks: 1000 magic crystals, 10 Essence Shards]
"It's still just ten random summons, only now there's a death knight in the mix and a tiny bump in the chance for high-tier troops. And the materials for the next upgrade? They've gone up tenfold..."
Alex is kinda speechless, was hoping that upgrading the Barracks meant at least bumping the daily summons from ten to twenty, but nope, just the summon types changed.
As for that super slim chance of summoning a Race King, Alex figures it's just hot air—probably a 0.01% chance, maybe even 0.001%.
What's she gonna summon, a Skeleton King? Or a Lich King?
Every draw is like a ten-pull because each summon is separate; you won't get lucky one day and pull all high-tier troops.
Despite the equal odds for the three major troops, Alex somehow managed to summon ten Skeleton Soldiers in a row.
"Who am I supposed to complain to about this?"
"Let the skeletons keep fighting; I'm off to bed!"
Back in her bedroom, Alex kicked off her shoes and tossed her socks aside, walking barefoot on the floor. With an auto-cleaning feature in her wardrobe, she didn't have to worry about dirty clothes.
Stripping down, Alex headed to the bathroom for a cold shower.
Why a cold shower, you ask? Because there's no hot water!
This old-school castle is pretty basic—just having water is a luxury, let alone a warm bath.
Dreaming of hot water? Keep dreaming.
Luckily, the bed is still clean, just a bit old-fashioned.
Alex made do and slipped naked into bed.
9 Bone dragon king
Lying in bed, half-asleep, Alex suddenly had a lightbulb moment.
"Wait a sec! Can't I summon troops again at midnight?"
Summoning at midnight means her troops can hunt all night long—hello, extra food!
Alex pulled up the system screen to check the time. It was just eleven o'clock.
Still early, what to do?
...
Five minutes later, Alex strolled out of her room, casually rocking an oversized T-shirt that showed off her long legs.
She headed to the kitchen. Not really hungry, but feeling snacky.
"Wonder if the meat in this game world tastes any good."
Soon, Alex emerged with a giant pork chop, bigger than her face. Holding it with both hands, she took a big bite.
The wild boar meat was tough, hard to bite through, so Alex had to tear at it vigorously.
Finally, she managed to rip off a mouthful. The pork chop, now slobbered on from her efforts, surprisingly tasted pretty good.
Alex was pleasantly surprised; she thought it would be awful.
After finishing the pork chop, Alex's mouth and hands were greasy and sticky.
It took her a while to clean up, and by then, it was nearly midnight.
Alex checked out the World Chat for a bit, and soon it was twelve o'clock.
She was already by the Barracks, familiar prompt popped up again.
[Undead Crystal fully charged, recruit now?]
[Yes] or [No].
Alex took a deep breath and hit yes without hesitation.
The Undead Crystal glowed green, and slowly, ten figures formed behind the light.
One was massive, about 20 feet tall.
The others were smaller, mostly the size of Skeleton Soldiers.
Alex was instantly drawn to the huge figure.
"Ha, luck's on my side tonight!"
Alex finally got a good look at the troops she summoned this time—a massive bone dragon, three zombies, two specters, and four death knights.
Talk about hitting the jackpot with beginner troops!
The bone dragon laid its skeletal head on the ground, blue flames flickering in its eyes, wings sprawled out.
"Your Majesty, your servant greets you."
Alex jumped when both the bone dragon and the specters spoke. High-level undeads are smart, she remembered.
Specters, being ethereal undead, are among the few lower-tier spirits with intelligence.
A panel popped up with info on the four major troops. The bone dragon was clearly the top-tier creature here, so Alex didn't hesitate to check its stats first.
[bone dragon king (unnamed)]
[Race: undead]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv1 (Can level up by killing enemies)]
[Health Points: Immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 50]
[Strength: 20]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 20]
[Max Potential: Divine level]
[Active Skill: Nether Dragon Breath]
Nether Dragon Breath: Spews a chilling blue soul fire that corrodes the enemy's soul and freezes their body.
[Passive Skill: Elemental Magic Immunity]
[Note: Troop levels range from Standard, Commanding, Monarch, King, Emperor, Sovereign, to Divine]
Alex's jaw dropped.
She couldn't believe it wasn't just any bone dragon, but the king of bone dragons—bone dragon king!
"This is insane, its base stats are even higher than a level 5 Moon Silver Wolf!"
"Hold up, its max potential is Divine level! Wow, that's awesome!!!"
This means the bone dragon king could ascend to godhood! With such high initial stats, its growth potential is off the charts compared to regular troops.
Alex noticed that there were more skills listed behind the bone dragon king, but they were locked and grayed out, probably because the level was too low to unlock them.
"Arthur!"
"From now on, you'll be called Arthur!"
Alex decided on a name for the bone dragon king.
Suddenly, Alex felt that the frost dragon up on the snowy mountain wasn't so terrifying anymore. Given enough time for Arthur to grow, she could totally crush that frost dragon.
Alex didn't even want the frost dragon as a mount anymore because now she had the way cooler Arthur.
Then, she turned her attention to the other three standard troops nearby.
The death knight was decked out in floating, tattered armor, with blue cursed flames burning inside, riding a skeletal horse that also blazed with blue flames, wielding a green scythe as a weapon.
The specter floated in the air, its body in an ethereal form, radiating a chill and skilled in soul attacks.
In contrast, the zombie was in a corpse form, slow-moving, and although not quite your typical zombie, Alex felt it was in the same ballpark, and it didn't even have a weapon.
This zombie seemed even lamer than a Skeleton Soldier.
Alex first checked out the zombie's stats, because the zombie was a real letdown.
[zombie]
[Race: undead]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv1 (Can level up by killing enemies)]
[Health Points: Immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Strength: 6]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 5]
[Max Potential: Commanding level]
To Alex's surprise, this lame zombie could actually reach Commanding level, but its other stats were pretty much identical to a Skeleton Soldier.
Next, Alex checked the specter's stats.
[specter (ethereal)]
[Race: undead]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv1 (Can level up by killing enemies)]
[Health Points: Immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Mind: 6]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 8]
[Max Potential: Commanding level]
The specter didn't have a Strength stat, replaced by a Mind stat instead. Being ethereal, it was much quicker than both the Skeleton Soldier and the zombie. Luckily, it was smart enough to hold a conversation.
Finally, Alex started checking out the death knight's stats, which could only be unlocked after upgrading to a level 2 Barracks.
[death knight]
[Race: undead]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv1 (Can level up by killing enemies)]
[Health Points: Immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Strength: 8]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 10]
[Max Potential: Monarch level]
The death knight's Strength and Agility were way above those of the Skeleton Soldier, zombie, and specter, and its growth potential was higher, hitting Monarch level, but nothing too crazy—pretty standard stuff.
Since even the most basic Skeleton Soldier could change class after reaching lv3, Alex was pretty sure these troops could too, and she was already getting excited about it.
"Arthur, take them out hunting to level up!"
"Yes, my respected Queen!"
Arthur led the three major troops out of the castle, joining the Skeleton Soldiers in the wild for some leveling up.
"Yawn~"
"I'm heading back to sleep, see ya tomorrow!"
10I'm gonna be the richest person in Eldoria
On her second day in the land of Eldoria, Alex woke up to a system announcement.
[Night retreats, dawn arrives.]
Alex slipped into some fresh new clothes, tossing yesterday's outfit into the closet.
She threw on a casual white tee, her long white hair loosely hanging down her back, paired with blue denim shorts and flip-flops, and stepped out.
Time to check out last night's loot!
As days passed, every Lord was beefing up their strength, and soon, food might not even be a scarce resource.
As the saying goes, the early bird catches the worm.
At the castle's entrance, Alex was stunned by the mountain of animal carcasses piled up.
"Wow, that's a lot!"
With Arthur in the mix, even those high-agility antelopes were easy prey.
Alex noticed that after a night in the wild, Arthur had leveled up to lv3.
[bone dragon king (Arthur)]
[Race: undead]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv3 (Can level up by killing enemies)]
[Health Points: Immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 60]
[Strength: 30]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 30]
[Max Potential: Divine level]
[Active Skill: Nether Dragon Breath]
[Passive Skill: Elemental Magic Immunity]
Arthur's Strength and Agility had each spiked by ten points, and his Mana Points had increased by ten as well, though no new skills had unlocked.
But that was already terrifying enough—if they encountered a Moon Silver Wolf at night, Arthur could totally dominate.
As for the three zombies, only two had made it to lv2, with one still stuck at lv1, probably because zombies are just too dopey.
Couldn't snag enough kills, Alex figured.
The two lv2 zombies hadn't even hit lv3 or changed class, so Alex didn't bother checking their stats.
On the flip side, both specters had reached lv3. Being ethereal undead immune to physical attacks, snatching kills from the clueless Skeleton Soldiers was a piece of cake.
[Phantom]
[Race: undead]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv3 (Levels up by defeating enemies)]
[Health Points: Immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Mind: 15]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 10]
[Max Growth: Commanding level]
The lv3 specter has evolved into a Phantom, with significant boosts in Mind and Agility. Despite being one of the basic three troops, it still lacks skills, primarily relying on soul attacks.
Though the specter has class-changed, the difference isn't too drastic—probably just an enhanced soul attack.
The real freaks of nature are the death knights, who've undergone a radical transformation.
Their usual blue flames have vanished, replaced by eerie, temperature-less red flames. Their scythes have turned blood-red, and they've bulked up significantly.
[Death Conqueror]
[Race: undead]
[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]
[Life Tier: Standard]
[Level: lv3 (Levels up by defeating enemies)]
[Health Points: Immortal as long as the soul fire burns]
[Mana Points: 0]
[Strength: 16]
[Stamina: ∞]
[Agility: 14]
[Max Growth: Monarch level]
The death knights have also class-changed into, well, death conquerors. As troops unlocked from a level 2 Barracks, their growth stats are significantly higher than those of Skeleton Soldiers.
After reviewing her troops' stats, Alex started to check out her loot.
Of course, she didn't count it herself—the system automatically did that.
Alex also noticed dozens of unread messages in the top right corner of her panel, all about the XP gained from killing wild beasts.
She realized she had leveled up again, but hadn't noticed anything off while she was asleep.
[Lord: Alex]
[Power: lv5 Standard (Can level up by killing enemies)]
[Domain Level: lv6 Initial Castle]
[Troops: undead race]
[Equipment: Grim Reaper's Scythe]
[Health Points: 150]
[Mana Points: 40]
[Strength: 12]
[Stamina: 11]
[Agility: 12]
In just one day and night, Alex had zoomed up to level 5, feeling like leveling up was pretty swift.
After checking her stats, Alex turned to start her day's grind—summoning, disassembling, recycling!
She dealt with 10 wild boars, 15 antelopes, 25 rabbits, and 150 wild chickens.
"Man, did I just raid a chicken coop or what?"
With so many bodies, it took Alex the whole morning to summon them all.
She felt totally wiped out, plopping down on the ground, drained.
"Man, using magic is exhausting!"
It must be because Alex recruited other troops, but this time using Undead Summoning Magic, she not only summoned Skeleton Soldiers but also managed to bring forth zombies and specters.
Of course, there were death knights too, but they were fewer in number compared to Skeleton Soldiers, zombies, and specters.
45 lv1 and lv2 Skeleton Soldiers; 15 lv3 Skeleton Warriors.
35 lv1 and lv2 specters, 25 lv3 Phantoms.
25 lv1 and lv2 death knights, 15 lv3 death knights.
40 lv1 zombies, 20 lv2 zombies.
Alex figured out this tricky system—she couldn't summon lv3 zombies since she hadn't unlocked that level for her own zombies, no matter how hard she tried.
When she summoned using lv3 wild beast corpses, she got either Skeleton Warriors, Phantoms, or death knights, but not a single lv3 zombie.
However, through summoning, she noticed that the double summoning effect from the Grim Reaper's Scythe wasn't consistent; sometimes it only summoned one undead creature, but its stats were significantly higher than normal.
Though she didn't know why it was like this, Alex didn't really sweat it.
"This undead army just got bigger again. I wonder what that others Lord with only twenty troops will think when they see my hundreds of undead."
Playing games with me? You're way out of your league!
Alex smirks, feeling pretty smug.
"Disassemble! Disassemble! Disassemble everything!"
[Successfully disassembled wild boar corpse, obtained 400 food portions, 40 wild boar tusks, 20 wild boar skins, 12 magic crystals, 1 Essence Shard.]
[Successfully disassembled antelope corpse, obtained 300 food portions, 15 antelope skins, 10 magic crystals, 2 Essence Shards.]
[Successfully disassembled rabbit corpse, obtained 350 food portions, 35 rabbit skins, 20 magic crystals.]
[Successfully disassembled wild chicken corpse, obtained 750 food portions, 77 magic crystals.]
Total haul: 1800 food portions, 119 magic crystals, 3 Essence Shards.
"I'm gonna be the richest person in Eldoria!"