No one could see it, but Riven was smirking. When he first met this "Elara," he hadn't recognized her. After all, in his past life, he had encountered too many people, how could he possibly remember them all?
But the moment he heard the words "Jan Industries," Riven recalled everything. The young woman before him, exuding the air of a noble lady, was none other than the daughter of Jan Industries' chairman—Elara Jan!
In his previous life, this woman had done some truly ruthless things. For example…
She had used cash to buy tradable lifespan, and after returning to reality, not only did she refuse to honor the deal, but she even pretended to hand over the money—only to seize the opportunity to kill the seller in the real world!
At least ten people had fallen victim to her schemes. By then, society was already descending into chaos. Murders in reality had become all too common.
And with the lifespan she had acquired, combined with her hidden class, Elara had risen to power at an astonishing speed!
Riven remembered that Elara only met her downfall in the fourth or fifth year after Eclipse of Eternity arrived…
Of course. None of that had anything to do with him.
In his previous life, he had spent much of his time leveling up alongside Lyra Kael, progressing at a moderate pace. As a result, he had little interaction with Elara.
As for now? There was no way Riven would fall for her lies.
1million dollars?
Right now, that was a significant amount of money. But only if he lived long enough to claim it.
Although Riven was the strongest player in Eclipse of Eternity. However, in the real world, he was still just an ordinary person.
Jan Industries had its own private enforcers.
If he went to collect the cash?
He'd be walking to his death.
"Besides, cash in this world will soon become worthless."
"The global currency of trade will soon be—lifespan!"
That was why Riven remained indifferent. He had no intention of entertaining Elara's nonsense. His attitude seemed to catch her off guard, as though she hadn't expected him to be completely unfazed by the temptation of 1 million.
Elara frowned. "Shadow. Sure, you're strong in this game, but no one knows what's really going on here. If you stick with me, I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury—money, cars, mansions, women—whatever you want!"
Riven waved her off. "If you're not here to buy anything, move along. Don't waste my time."
"You—!"
Elara was livid.
From the moment she was born, she had been the apple of her family's eye. In the public's view, she was the cherished heiress of Jan Industries, adored by its chairman.
Who would dare disrespect her?
She had never been treated like this before!
A cold glint flickered in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it. Instead, she smiled. "Fine. If you're not interested, then forget it."
With that, she turned and left, her expression darkening once more. Riven watched her go without a second thought.
"Right now, no one realizes that tradable lifespan can be used to extract equipment skills into reality..."
"No one knows that Eclipse of Eternity will soon plunge the real world into chaos."
"Strength is the only thing that matters..."
As for Elara? The powerful Jan Industries she took such pride in would soon become meaningless. After leaving Shell Town's central plaza, Elara was already plotting how to uncover Riven's real identity. Just then, a young man with a tattooed arm and a cocky grin approached her.
"Elara, my name's Miles Jon, but you can call me Miles."
The young man grinned. "I'm Level 2 now, and I know some tricks to level up faster. If I help you, does that 1 million offer still stand?"
Hearing this, Elara raised an eyebrow. "Tricks? What tricks?"
Miles smirked, "I don't tell just anyone. But for you, Elara… as a show of sincerity, I'll share a little tip. If you want to level up quickly in this situation, you need to put all five of your initial attribute points into Agility."
"That way, when you run at full speed, you'll be just a bit faster than the Creepers… You get what I mean, right?"
Elara's eyes lit up with understanding. But her expression soon darkened.
Because…
She had already allocated all five of her starting points into Strength. She had thought that raw damage was all that mattered. Only to get completely overwhelmed and slaughtered by swarms of Creepers…
"Fine. Help me level up."
Without hesitation, Elara declared, "But you're not as strong as Shadow. I can give you half a million instead. Get me to Level 3, and I'll pay you in cash when we return to reality."
Old Mao agreed immediately, "No problem!"
As he spoke, he thought to himself, That Shadow guy might be strong, but he's an idiot. Who turns down an easy million dollars?
Unfortunately, he had no idea what kind of person Elara really was.
That five hundred thousand…
Was never going to be his.
Meanwhile, Riven quickly sold off all his items. Compared to skill books, equipment was much cheaper. He had two pieces of Bronze-tier gear—one for warriors and one for clerics—both with mediocre stats. Each sold for only thirty to forty days' worth of tradable lifespan.
As for the lower-quality equipment and skill books, they went for even less. After selling all ten pieces of gear and skill books, Riven had gained nearly three hundred days of tradable lifespan.
——
[Tradable Lifespan: 546 Days!]
——
"Not bad."
"At this point, that Cursedborn should have advanced to Silver-tier, right?"
Packing up his stall, Riven left Shell Town. While remaining in stealth, he headed toward the Cursedborn's location. Along the way, he spotted Miles leading Elara out of town, presumably to help her level up.
The moment Riven saw this, he knew exactly how things would end for the guy…
But he had no interest in warning him. As long as others didn't provoke him, he didn't care what happened to them.
Ten minutes later—
Riven arrived at the depths of the Darkwood Forest. The spot where he had last seen the Cursedborn.
Sure enough, the boss had already advanced to Silver-tier. Gray mist swirled around its form, and it seemed to be undergoing yet another evolution…
"Advancing from Silver to Gold takes at least seven or eight hours."
"Not waiting that long."
Riven decided to act.
There would be plenty of Gold-tier bosses in the future. No need to waste time. Killing this one now and growing stronger was the real priority! This place was filled with danger. The forest was crawling with monsters.
Only Riven, with his permanent stealth, could move freely here. Without hesitation, he crept up behind the Cursedborn—a being that resembled a withered tree—and hurled a Toxic Dagger straight at its head!
"A Silver-tier boss has two to three times the health of a Bronze-tier boss."
"Which means… two or three Toxic Daggers should do the trick."
Riven attacked, then vanished.
The Cursedborn reeled from the hit, its health plummeting by nearly a quarter. Poison damage continued to whittle it down.
But when it turned around—
There was no one there.
Enraged, the Cursedborn let out a furious roar, raising its skeletal arms as a swirling mass of gray energy gathered in its hands.
Then—BOOM!
A massive area-of-effect explosion, over twenty meters wide, erupted in an instant!