"Oh my god, how does he even do that?"
Lily stared at Ethan's movements, her eyes wide with awe.
Without realizing it, she started mimicking his gestures, mumbling under her breath: "First, grab the Rotting Grizzly's aggro. Wait for it to rear up, then dodge right as it slams down… and then slash its leg joint to sever it. Once it collapses, finish it off with a precise strike to the neck for a critical hit…"
The more she talked, the more excited she got, as if she could pull it off herself. But then, she couldn't help blurting out: "No way, this is insane! That's some god-tier gameplay right there!"
Thinking back to Ethan's flawless takedown of the Rotting Grizzly in Silverpine Forest, a bold idea popped into Lily's head: If Ethan can do it, maybe I can too?
Reality, however, wasted no time smacking her in the face.
Ethan's smooth, effortless moves were the result of countless hours of practice, razor-sharp instincts, and a wealth of experience. What looked easy in his hands was anything but.
Full of confidence, Lily tried to copy him, only to realize she was completely out of her depth.
Her learning process could be summed up in one sentence:
Brain: "I've got this."
Eyes: "I see how it's done."
Hands and feet: "Nope, not happening."
She tried pulling a single mob but couldn't figure out the Grizzly's aggro range. One wrong move, and she ended up dragging three of them at once, barely escaping a brutal death and respawning back at the checkpoint.
When she finally managed to isolate just one, she psyched herself up to replicate Ethan's strategy.
The result? The next second, the Rotting Grizzly swatted her twenty feet through the air like a ragdoll. She crashed into a boulder with a sickening thud, the pain making her question all her life choices.
"This doesn't make any sense!" she groaned, clutching her side and gritting her teeth.
After this humiliating defeat, Lily finally came to a harsh realization: she was hopeless. Even a summoned Wraith was more competent than her.
Three hours later, Lily's emotions had been on a rollercoaster ride, swinging wildly between confusion, joy, and frustration. Her gameplay was still a complete disaster, but thanks to Ethan's help, her level had skyrocketed.
She was now level 7.
Curious, she opened the leaderboard and casually glanced at it. What she saw made her freeze in place.
Level Leaderboard:
1.DerpyKitty (Level 7)
2.Overclock (Level 6)
3.Duskfang (Level 5)
Only players level 5 and above could make it onto the leaderboard, and somehow, she was sitting comfortably at the top!
"Wait… I'm higher level than Overclock?!"
Lily's eyes widened in disbelief.
Overclock. The Overclock. A legend in the gaming world, one of the "Twelve Gods" of online gaming.
This was the guy whose skills were unmatched, a leveling machine who lived and breathed grinding. He was so obsessed with leveling that in an interview, he once said: "Money? Got it. Fame? Got it. Skills? Got it. Power? Got it. But none of it makes me happy. The only thing that gives me purpose is leveling up."
And yet, this man—this relentless, resource-burning, leaderboard-dominating god—was now behind her, a regular player?
Lily stared at the leaderboard, feeling like she was dreaming.
"If I told my best friend about this, her jaw would hit the floor," she muttered, breaking into a grin.
She knew this was all thanks to Ethan and his "mutated summon." He had carried her through Silverpine Forest, clearing everything in their path, giving her the chance to claim the top spot.
She had actually surpassed Overclock, the leveling legend!
For an ordinary player like her, this was something she'd never even dared to imagine.
The Twelve Gods of the gaming world had always been untouchable, figures she could only look up to in awe.
And now, she had left one of them in the dust.
"Wow, I really hit the jackpot."
Lily watched as Ethan effortlessly took down the Rotting Grizzly, her eyes brimming with admiration.
At this point, she had completely resigned herself to being the kind of player who just hides behind Ethan and shouts, "Let's go!"—basically a freeloading sidekick.
"This mutated summon… Could it actually be the reincarnation of my idol, Ethan Carter? How else could it have such insane skills and godlike control?"
The name Ethan Carter meant the world to Lily.
He wasn't just her idol—he was the goal she had been chasing for as long as she could remember.
Ethan's skills and game sense had once dominated every leaderboard across countless games, leaving no one able to challenge him. He was known as "The Apex Tyrant", a living legend in the online gaming world.
In Everfall, a game with a staggering 60% realism rate, Ethan had single-handedly mastered sixteen different classes in just three years, leveling each one to the cap. Not only that, but he also managed to push all sixteen classes to the top of the ranked ladder. Every. Single. One.
Back then, Ethan was already considered a god-tier player. In fact, he was a myth even before the era of the so-called "Twelve Gods" in the gaming world.
If he hadn't later transitioned into game development, the so-called "Twelve Gods" probably would've been nothing more than his followers.
Even now, Ethan remained the person Lily admired most.
But three days ago, a piece of news had shattered her world.
The Gaming Daily reported that the genius gamer Ethan Carter had died of exhaustion after working through countless sleepless nights. He had collapsed in front of his computer during the final testing phase of Dark Scrolls before its public beta.
The news sent shockwaves through the entire gaming community, and the launch of Dark Scrolls was delayed by three days in his memory.
When Lily heard the news, she completely broke down. She cried for an entire day and night, and even now, she still hadn't fully recovered.
"Sigh… If only The Tyrant Ethan could really reincarnate," Lily thought as she stared at the summon creature, Wraith, who was soloing monsters in front of her. A wave of sadness washed over her.
Of course, she knew it was just wishful thinking. Stuff like that doesn't happen in real life.
Reincarnating after death into a game world? And conveniently becoming her summoned creature? Yeah, right.
"Just thinking about it is ridiculous…" She shook her head, trying to dismiss the absurd idea from her mind.
But when her gaze fell back on Wraith, she couldn't help but feel a flicker of doubt.
"This level of godlike prediction, this insane control… It's leagues ahead of Ryan."
Ryan was a high school classmate of hers and a skilled gamer in his own right. Back at Lincoln High, Ryan had been a big deal because of his gaming prowess. Lily had seen his gameplay firsthand—it was undeniably impressive, so much so that she felt like she was miles behind him.
But now, Lily had a strong feeling: Ryan was nothing compared to Ethan.
If Ryan ever went up against Ethan, he probably wouldn't even last three seconds before throwing in the towel.
"So, what's the deal with this mutated summon?" Lily stared at Wraith, her mind swirling with questions.
While she was lost in thought, Ethan had already finished off the last Rotting Grizzly. He paused, deep in thought for a moment.
"Level 7 now. Experience gain is slowing down. Time to switch grinding spots," he muttered to himself, opening his evolution point panel.
"Two thousand evolution points already? Guess it's time to evolve."
Ethan's eyes scanned the evolution options, and something caught his attention.
"Spend 1,000 evolution points. Evolution paths available: Rotting Hulk, Bladed Revenant, Bone Vanguard."
"A new evolution path?" Ethan's eyes lit up as he carefully examined the stats and skills of each option.
Evolution Path 1: Rotting Hulk
Stat Increases: +500 HP, +30 Attack, +50 Defense
Skills: Blade Awakening, Predator's Hunt
Evolution Path 2: Bladed Revenant
Stat Increases: +300 HP, +50 Attack, +20 Defense, +10 Agility
Skills: Blade Arts, Dual Blades
Evolution Path 3: Bone Vanguard (Hidden Evolution Path)
Stat Increases: +300 HP, +100 Mana, +50 Attack, +50 Defense, +20 Agility
Skills: Morph Armor, Pillage
"Hidden evolution path?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, a spark of excitement flashing in his eyes.
Compared to the first two standard options, the hidden evolution path had significantly better stats and far more powerful skills.
Looks like this is the best choice.
...