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

Blackstone.

Beside the resurrection fountain, white light flashed.

The male warrior and female mage came tumbling out of the water.

The only things left on their bodies were the plain white undergarments provided by the system. They looked as though someone had stripped them clean and tossed them into a river.

The female mage collapsed onto the ground, her face deathly pale.

The warrior was not doing much better.

He had just opened his mouth to curse when he looked up and noticed someone standing beside the fountain.

The man wore a gray cloak, with his hood pulled low over his face. A dark mask concealed the rest of his features.

On the back of his hand was a tattoo of a skull resting atop a set of scales.

Behind him stood the archer and priest whom the warrior had shoved into the wolf pack.

Both women wore icy expressions.

There was not the slightest trace of warmth in the way they looked at him.

The gray-robed man lowered his gaze toward the miserable pair.

"Kane."

"Vera."

"Where’s the equipment?"

The warrior’s expression stiffened.

The female mage visibly trembled.

The moment Kane saw the skull-and-scales tattoo, he finally realized what was happening. He abruptly turned toward Vera.

"You borrowed the money from Gray Ledger?"

Vera gritted her teeth.

"Who else was I supposed to borrow it from?"

"You think getting a loan is easy these days?"

"We already used our car as collateral just to buy the gaming helmets."

"With our financial situation, who besides Gray Ledger would lend us anything?"

The color slowly drained from Kane’s face.

Gray Ledger.

One of the largest underground criminal organizations of the post-apocalyptic era.

Loan-sharking, black-market trading, contract killings, human trafficking—they had a hand in everything.

Rumor had it that the Rose Consortium was the powerful backer protecting them from the shadows.

There was only one thing Gray Ledger was truly famous for.

You could repay them late.

But you could never refuse to repay them.

The gray-robed man spoke calmly.

"Don’t even think about playing games with us."

"We have your login locations, real identities, and collateral documents."

"Now answer me."

"Where’s the equipment?"

Kane’s throat went dry.

"It’s gone."

The gray-robed man tilted his head slightly.

Kane hurriedly explained.

"We were just killed by another player!"

"All of the equipment dropped!"

The gray-robed man asked,

"Who killed you?"

Kane’s expression darkened.

"I don’t know his ID."

"He was carrying a huge club. His damage was absurd, and his defense was just as ridiculous."

"Our equipment... should all be in his possession."

The gray-robed man stared at him with undisguised contempt.

"Useless."

Kane’s lips moved, but he did not dare argue.

The gray-robed man turned away and said coldly,

"You two are logging out now."

"There are already people waiting outside your door."

Kane and Vera instantly turned deathly pale.

The gray-robed man did not spare them another glance. Instead, he opened his communication channel.

"The marks’ equipment loss has been confirmed."

"The batch of cash-shop equipment that was just sold below market price most likely belonged to Gray Ledger."

"Target player’s ID is unknown. Weapon is a large club. Abnormally high damage and defense."

"Last known location: the intermediate leveling zone. He probably hasn’t gone far."

A response quickly came through the channel.

"The amount isn’t that large. Are we still pursuing him?"

The gray-robed man sneered.

"Gray Ledger never leaves its money uncollected."

"This isn’t about the amount."

"It’s about our reputation."

He raised his head and looked toward the gloomy sky beyond Blackstone.

"Find the man with the club."

"Kill him until every last piece of equipment drops."

...

Meanwhile, John had no idea that an underground criminal syndicate had already set its sights on him.

After grinding through everything along the way, he quickly reached Lv.7.

[Current Level: Lv.7]

[Current EXP: 100/1,600]

[Free Attribute Points Obtained: 10]

Combined with the ten points he had saved earlier, he now had a total of twenty Free Attribute Points.

Standing outside Blackstone Mine, John opened his status panel.

Along the way, [Supreme Evolution] had activated twice more.

[SSS-Rank Affix: Mana Conservation]

[Type: Weapon-Exclusive]

[Effect: Reduces the MP cost of equipment skills by 80%.]

[SSS-Rank Affix: Projectile Amplification]

[Type: Weapon-Exclusive]

[Effect: Increases the damage of projectile-type skills to 500%.]

Both affixes were incredibly powerful.

However, there was no need to embed them just yet.

One focused on reducing MP consumption, while the other enhanced projectile skills.

Although John currently possessed a staff and a pair of Divine Gloves, he did not have any true offensive spells capable of making proper use of those effects.

His only reliable source of damage remained the Novice Club.

After a moment of consideration, John invested ten Free Attribute Points into Agility.

The next instant, his entire body felt noticeably lighter.

He could swing his club much faster as well.

As for the remaining ten Free Attribute Points, he decided to save them.

His current damage already overflowed by a ridiculous amount.

His defense was also supported by [Impact Guard].

There was no reason to throw attribute points around carelessly.

Saving them to cover a weakness at a critical moment—that was the habit of a veteran.

John raised his head and looked ahead.

The entrance to Blackstone Mine was embedded in the mountainside, surrounded by charred black rock.

The air carried a mixture of sulfur and metal.

A dim crimson glow pulsed within the depths of the tunnel, as though something beneath the earth were breathing slowly.

The moment John approached, a system notification appeared.

[You have arrived at the dungeon: Blackstone Mine.]

[Entry requirements met.]

[Recommended Level: Lv.15.]

[Player level detected: Lv.7.]

[This will be considered an underleveled challenge.]

[Confirm entry?]

John looked at the words "Recommended Level: Lv.15" and pressed confirm without hesitation.

The entrance to Blackstone Mine immediately shimmered with dark light.

John’s figure vanished into the tunnel.

Several seconds later, the grass behind a nearby boulder rustled softly.

A player dressed in dark leather armor slowly stepped out.

He looked at the mine entrance, then lowered his head and opened his communication channel.

"Target located."

"Coordinates have been sent."

"He entered a mine."

After a brief pause, he added,

"He’s alone."

When his vision returned, John was already standing inside the mine.

It was pitch-black.

There were no torches.

No mining lamps.

John raised the Novice Club and activated [Holy Enchantment].

Buzz.

Pale golden holy light spread across the wooden club.

The formerly shabby Novice Club instantly transformed into a glowing, sacred, club-shaped object.

John glanced at it with a complicated expression.

"I look like a goblin."

"Straight-up NPC energy, bro."

He raised the glowing club and used it to illuminate the path ahead.

The next second, he froze slightly.

Rows upon rows of humanoid figures stood densely packed along both sides of the mine tunnel.

They wore ragged mining clothes. Their skin was gray and pale, while their bodies were shriveled like corpses that had been completely drained of flesh and blood.

Every one of them had originally been standing with their back toward John.

But the moment the holy light appeared—

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Their heads slowly turned around one after another.

There were no pupils inside their hollow eye sockets.

Only a fiery red crystal embedded in each miner’s chest, pulsing steadily with light.

John stared at the miners.

The miners stared back at John.

The air remained silent for one second.

Then every miner opened its mouth at the same time.

Hoarse roars erupted from their throats as they charged toward him.

John greeted the first one with a swing of his club.

Bang!

The miner’s head exploded on the spot.

[Ding! You have slain a Lv.8 Crystallized Miner. EXP +120. Copper Coins +80!]

The corpse collapsed.

But it did not disappear.

John’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately retreated.

Two seconds later—

Boom!

The red crystal embedded in the corpse’s chest suddenly exploded, filling the tunnel with flames and flying shards of stone.

[Explosion Damage negated.]

John glanced at the shield surrounding his body.

The attack had not even broken through.

Still, the mechanic was disgusting.

"They explode after dying too?"

"Great. Digging up the game designer’s ancestral grave isn’t enough anymore."

"We’re going to need to expand the excavation site overnight."

John stopped allowing the monsters to approach.

The Novice Club swung again and again, mowing the miners down like rows of wheat.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Explosions immediately followed throughout the tunnel.

Crimson light, holy radiance, and firelight flashed in rapid succession.

The entire passage shook as shattered stone flew in every direction.

[Ding! You have reached Lv.8!]

[Current EXP: 100/1,800.]

[Free Attribute Points +5!]

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

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