The Chitterfiends were still looking around in confusion, so Kai took advantage of the moment and loosened two more arrows, striking down another Level 9 one before the rest fled far from the area. He had now killed four of them, yet he still hadn't leveled up to 7. His experience bar was about 30% filled, though.
Kai noticed that Deimos was online, with her status indicating 10 hours of continuous in-game time. Besides her, he had also spotted many other players—both human and alien—gathering in the village, some even heading toward the forest. The leveling area had been established, and everyone was busy grinding.
There were also a few shabby beginner-level crafting shops in the village, Kai had noticed. The men who had been tearing apart pieces of the pod that day were now the ones crafting makeshift weapons for hunting. However, their prices were steep—over 5 to 7 silver coins—while most players barely had 5 copper coins to their name. The village quests did reward some money, but grinding for hours just to afford a single weapon wasn't something most players had the patience for.
As players often do, they would first try to manage with whatever they had. Only after getting killed over and over again would they finally realize the importance of better weapons. Still, most players at this stage carried basic gear—bows, daggers, axes, or something similar taken from their own huts.
Kai jumped down from his perch and collected his loot.
The Chitterfiends dropped Chitinous Splinters, Mandible Shards, and Rodent Ichor—all common except the ichor, which was uncommon. The monster they had been eating had dropped Thorned Scale Fragments, Ashen Moss Spores, and a Beast Core (Rare Drop). That was pretty good. Of course, he had no idea what any of it was used for yet, or whether it was valuable or completely worthless.
Among the Stonebinders, there were crafting classes capable of making spirit emblems, enchanted weapons, and potions. With the introduction of two new species, there should be even more of these classes now. Kai had always been interested in crafting, but as a melee damage dealer, his time was mostly spent leveling and gathering resources to upgrade his gear. And when he was offline, it was hell—nothing new could be learned with everyone focused on combat all the time.
Kai continued hunting for monsters he could handle.
He took down some lone Echo Toads—amphibians capable of mimicking player voices and sounds—then spotted Sap Crawlers clinging to the trunks of red trees. Using his knife, he ambushed them before they could react. But then, a Murk Howler completely escaped his notice—until it suddenly let out an ear-splitting scream.
The small, primate-like creature had multiple eyes and a sonic screech that alerted nearby monsters whenever a player was close. Within seconds, the whole herd came rushing at him. Kai tried fighting them off with his flimsy arrows, but the numbers were overwhelming. After a brief struggle, he had no choice but to retreat, using his newly learned skill. Taking on the whole herd was still far too much for his low-level character no matter how good his fighting skills were.
Just as he exhaled in relief atop a tree branch, a strange green vine suddenly latched onto his loot and began draining his stamina. Kai tried cutting it off with his dull knife, but the process was agonizingly slow. In the end, he abandoned the effort and instead shot an arrow straight into the sky—then used Godstep.
The weird-looking creature was still clinging to his foot, but now it was completely exposed. Kai was over 40 meters above the ground, yet he still managed to aim at the monster's glowing core and finish it off with a single shot. Hurriedly, he fired another arrow at the ground and prepared to land.
But the skill wouldn't light up!
Kai plummeted toward the ground, his heart pounding, until—finally—it refreshed. Without hesitation, he triggered it. The momentum carried over, but luckily, he always reappeared along the long side of the arrow. Instead of crashing face-first, he was dragged across the grass for several meters, the impact tearing into him. By the time he came to a stop, his body ached from the damage he had taken.
Panting, he quickly ate all the healing berries he had left, but the healing was minuscule. He had already consumed too many of them while fighting earlier, and they weren't as effective anymore.
He needed to find more.
Actually, he needed something better than those damn berries.
Maybe it was time to head back to the village, see if he could sell some loot, and trade for healing items and proper arrows.
It would also refill his MP bar.
Kai carefully walked out of the forest, avoiding any encounters that might drop his HP to zero. All around him, players were battling monsters with knives and axes, looking like ragged scavengers covered in blood and dirt. The real-time simulation of blood and grime made them look even more miserable, their battered gear telling the story of everything they had been through—if they even had gear at all. Most of them were buck naked with their genitals censored.
Watching the familiar sight of players dying, losing everything to others, and still pushing forward with leveling brought a smile to Kai's face. He felt a chill of dread just thinking about returning to the real Stonebinder planet and surviving all of that once again. But despite everything, he still remembered the thrill of playing this game for the first time.
Even knowing who was behind this and what the future held, Kai couldn't deny the exhilaration of diving back in. This was just the beginning, and already, the changes in game mechanics felt like a massive improvement over the last version. He was eager—even excited—to see how it would all unfold.
His need for strength, his goal to make a big enough impact in this timeline, would never change. But he could at least enjoy the process this time.
Checking the leaderboards, he saw Deimos ranked 12th at Level 9. He himself was 17th at Level 8. Scrolling through all ten pages of the Top 100, he didn't find a single one of his old friends. There were, however, a few names he recognized—players he had met offline, ones he had fought alongside before. But the top player? MaouMeisha.. A complete unknown to him.
The third-ranked player was The_Firecracker77—now that was an interesting name. Kai remembered meeting him before.
Not that he had expected his friends to be here. They had always talked about joining late, once the game blew up online.
Kai sold off only the perishable items, knowing from experience that the village had just one shop, meaning the NPC dictated all the prices. If he made it to a city, he could sell for a better profit—for now, he just needed enough money for healing items and food.
He also checked out the weapons and tools, but everything was overpriced. Grinding for them would take far too long, and the event would start before he even got much use out of them.
And the weapons themselves?
Shabby.
The repurposed metal from the crashed pod was obvious—the blacksmiths had simply combined it with wood from the forest to craft the most basic weapons.
On top of that, losing them was a real risk. With no enchanters in the village, only that single NPC could bind a weapon to a player. If they died, they could lose everything. His bow was far more valuable than anything being sold here anyway. He did get another better knife though.
Finished with his errands, Kai returned to the forest with a fresh stock of arrows, food, and healing items-more berries and a homemade medicine.
He had a lot of catching up to do.
For days, he repeated the cycle: Hunting monsters, going back to village to refill his supplies, sleeping in the hut at night, then doing it all over again the next day.
But he wasn't alone.
As the event drew closer, more and more players swarmed the forest, making monsters increasingly scarce. They had to travel farther and farther to find monsters and regularly return to the village for supplies.
Some players began teaming up to take down stronger monsters. Kai saw Deimos every now and then, though they ignored each other.
Still, she always acknowledged his presence whenever their paths crossed.
Kai wasn't sure how to interact with her, but it didn't matter. For now, he was fully focused on leveling and getting used to handling his new bow.
Before the event, that was his only goal.
He needed to win this.
Deimos and he had the best shot, but he held the greater advantage. If he lost despite that, he might as well stop calling himself a gamer.