One SSS Affix per Level: My Novice Club Can Slay Gods!

Without hesitation, John immediately embedded [Impact Guard] into the Novice Club.

Buzz!

A burst of rainbow-colored golden light erupted once again.

The pack of Crimson Wolves that had been preparing to pounce on him froze under the sudden radiance.

Then, as if they had instinctively sensed danger, they actually veered around John and continued chasing after the fleeing warrior and female mage.

"Trying to run?"

John reached out, grabbed one of the Crimson Wolves by the tail, and forcibly dragged it back.

He brought the club down.

[-1,024!]

[Ding! You have slain a Lv.5 Crimson Wolf. EXP +80. Copper Coins +50!]

[Impact Guard activated. Dual-Resistance Shield +512!]

A faint golden barrier appeared around John.

With the Novice Club resting on his shoulder, he charged straight into the wolf pack.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

One swing, one wolf.

To everyone else, Crimson Wolves were dangerous monsters from the intermediate zone.

In front of John, they were nothing more than red-furred dogs lining up to deliver EXP.

Tall grass snapped apart.

The ground repeatedly caved in.

The wolves’ miserable howls advanced across the grassland along with him.

The male warrior and female mage had not made it far before three Crimson Wolves pounced on them and knocked them to the ground.

Their shields had already shattered, and their HP was draining like water from a broken tank.

One wolf had its jaws clamped around half of the warrior’s shoulder while he desperately tried to shove its head away with his shield.

The female mage curled up on the ground, screaming as she wildly swung her staff and threw Fireballs in every direction.

Yet each Fireball that struck a Crimson Wolf only produced a pitiful two-digit damage number.

Their HP was already about to fall into the critical zone.

Dragging the Novice Club behind him, John finally arrived in front of them.

He said nothing.

He merely raised his hand.

Bang!

One Crimson Wolf was smashed into the ground.

Bang!

The second wolf’s head exploded.

Bang!

The final Crimson Wolf, which was slightly larger than the others, had just begun to turn around when the wooden club crushed its entire spine inward.

[Ding! You have slain 19 Crimson Wolves. EXP +1,520. Copper Coins +950!]

[Additional EXP +100 for defeating the pack leader!]

[Ding! You have reached Lv.5!]

[Current EXP: 700/1,200.]

[Free Attribute Points +5!]

[Total Unassigned Free Attribute Points: 10!]

[Ding! God-Rank Talent "Supreme Evolution" activated!]

[You have obtained the SSS-Rank Affix: CD--!]

[CD--!]

[Effect: Reduces the cooldown of equipment skills by 50%.]

The wolf pack had been completely wiped out.

The grassland fell silent once more.

The male warrior and female mage lay collapsed on the ground, covered in blood. Their HP bars had been reduced to the thinnest sliver of red.

John stood in front of them and looked down.

His eyes were cold.

The warrior stared at John, his lips pale.

"Bro, what happened just now... I didn’t do it on purpose."

"Everything was too chaotic. I was only trying to—"

John looked down at him as though he were already staring at a corpse.

The warrior swallowed and immediately changed his tune.

"How about this? I’ll give you my shield."

"We’re all pioneering players. Let’s just call this the start of a friendship."

John sneered, raised the Novice Club, and began charging his attack.

[Overcharge activated.]

The warrior’s expression changed completely.

He exchanged a glance with the female mage.

The next second, both of them attacked at the same time.

Red light appeared along the warrior’s blade as he unleashed a horizontal combat slash.

The female mage raised her staff and launched a Fireball directly at John’s chest.

[-0!]

[-0!]

Both of their pupils contracted.

"Impossible!"

"Aren’t you only Lv.3?"

John could not be bothered to explain.

He had never divided his enemies by gender.

The Novice Club came crashing down.

Bang!

The charged damage and Cleave erupted simultaneously.

[-2,867!]

The male warrior and female mage’s HP bars were instantly emptied.

[Ding! You have slain two Lv.6 players.]

[Player kills do not grant EXP.]

The entire four-person party had been wiped out.

A pile of equipment burst onto the ground.

John crouched down and began taking inventory.

[You have obtained a B-Rank Staff.]

[You have obtained a B-Rank Longsword.]

[You have obtained a B-Rank Round Shield.]

[You have obtained B-Rank Divine Arts Gloves.]

[You have obtained a B-Rank Longbow.]

[You have obtained an A-Rank Monocle.]

There was also a pile of clothing, boots, and accessories.

All of them were cash-shop items.

Although their attributes could not compare to his Squire Set, they were still extremely valuable.

John immediately listed all the equipment he did not need on the marketplace at ninety percent of the official cash-shop price.

Only two pieces of equipment truly caught his attention.

[A-Rank Monocle]

[Equipment Skill: Scan]

[MP Cost: 10]

[Cooldown: 10 seconds]

[Effect: Displays the basic attributes of a target whose strength is not significantly different from the user’s.]

[B-Rank Divine Arts Gloves]

[Equipment Skill: Holy Enchantment]

[MP Cost: 20]

[Cooldown: 30 seconds]

[Effect: Imbues a weapon with the Holy attribute. Targets struck by the weapon suffer 20 Judgment Damage per second for 20 seconds.]

John raised an eyebrow and immediately equipped the gloves.

Then he gripped the Novice Club and activated Holy Enchantment.

Buzz.

A layer of pale golden radiance immediately appeared over the surface of the otherwise pathetically plain wooden club.

A broken wooden club.

Holy special effects.

The contrast was absurd.

It looked like some indescribable object covered in a holy mosaic censor.

At that moment, a system notification suddenly appeared.

[All consigned equipment has been sold.]

[After transaction fees, Gold Coins +300.]

John stared at the additional three hundred Gold Coins in his inventory and fell silent for two seconds.

Three hundred Gold Coins.

According to the public exchange rate, one Gold Coin was equal to one thousand US dollars.

That meant this single haul was worth three hundred thousand dollars.

Killing monsters was nowhere near as profitable as killing players.

John rested the glowing Novice Club on his shoulder and clicked his tongue.

"If this game doesn’t end up producing a bunch of lunatics who specialize in hunting other players..."

"I’ll eat this club on the spot."

After finishing with the loot, John did not linger.

He opened the map again and checked the location of Blackstone Mine.

Northeast.

It was not especially close, and he would have to pass through two separate leveling zones along the way.

John equipped the A-Rank Monocle.

The lens settled in front of his right eye, and a faint blue data frame immediately appeared at the edge of his vision.

[Scan]

[MP Cost: 10]

[Cooldown: 10 seconds]

He casually used Scan on a gray lizard lying on a distant rock.

[Graystone Lizard]

[Level: Lv.6]

[HP: 1,280/1,280]

[Physical Attack: 74]

[Physical Defense: 32]

[Skill: Petrified Hide]

John’s eyes lit up slightly.

Good stuff.

With this, he would no longer have to test a monster’s strength with his face.

As he continued northeast, he scanned quite a few monsters along the way, as well as several player parties.

He had to admit that early-game pay-to-win equipment was ridiculous.

Many classed players were already wearing complete cash-shop sets, giving them attributes far above those of ordinary players.

Some had even reached Lv.7 or Lv.8.

John had been delayed for a while by the hidden quest and the wolf-pack incident, so his level advantage was no longer quite as overwhelming.

It did not matter.

The server had only just opened.

"Since I’m passing through anyway..."

John gripped the Novice Club and looked toward a rocky slope ahead that was crowded with monsters.

"I might as well grind while I travel."

The next second, he charged straight in.

Boom!

Light erupted.

Holy radiance wrapped around the Novice Club as it smashed down, sending shards of stone and chunks of flesh flying at the same time.

[-1,024!]

[-1,024!]

[-1,024!]

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The sound of the club striking the ground echoed continuously across the rocky slope.

One monster after another was turned into EXP and Copper Coins before they even had the chance to display their skills.

Several player parties in the distance heard the commotion and turned their heads.

All they could see was rainbow-colored light flashing wildly in the depths of the rocky slope, accompanied by an endless chorus of miserable screams.

Someone swallowed.

"What’s happening over there?"

"A monster stampede?"

"Doesn’t look like it."

"Then why are all the monsters screaming?"

The players fell silent for a moment.

Then, as if they had reached the same conclusion without speaking, they collectively took several steps backward.

On the first day of pioneering a new server, minding your own business was the best way to stay alive.