Free Web NovelChapter 23: Infinite EXP Glitch
Arc moved around the island for a bit, searching for something along the trails, when he finally spotted a faded code inscribed on a worn metal latch covered in dirt.
He approached it in anticipation and twisted its cranky wheels, pulling it open to reveal a metal ladder leading down into the bunker. He climbed down, closing the hatch above his head, but soon realized it was too dark for him to see and the air was stuffy. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
He wasn’t discouraged by this and began fiddling around, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, when his hands brushed a compartment of control switches and the bunker suddenly blared to life.
Its bulbs flickered on, momentarily blinding him, and the air filter kick-started with a hum. Arc slowly opened his eyes to the full view of the small but comfortable space.
A worn bunk bed stood in one corner, a table with miscellaneous items strewn about sat in another, and a chair was tucked beside it. There were a few old boxes stacked on one end, and just across the room was another door that led somewhere Arc had already guessed.
"Woah. It’s really what I thought it was," Arc mumbled to himself with a satisfied smile as he pulled up his system homepage to check for the latest icon.
|[Player Status System]|
• [Player Status]
• [Inventory]
• [Trade Market]
• [Forum]
• [Island Management]
The [Island Management] feature was only made available to players Level 12 and above. Meaning below that level, it was impossible to build on your island or absorb the resources of another island.
The bunker had been discovered by him on the Crimson Goblin island, and Arc had made a mental note to check it out. After defeating the Destroyer, the island was conquered as far as the system was concerned, and the conquering island could gain access to the island’s resources—such as supplies and other amenities, but not limited to infrastructure, water sources, and even vegetation.
An island could be stripped bare by transferring everything useful on it onto the conquering island. That was how Arc had moved the bunker to his island as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
As for why he stripped the Crimson Goblin island bare? That was because the island belonged to him now. The ownership had been forcibly taken from Sekolah the Beast by the Destroyer, and Arc had peacefully taken ownership from it.
And as for why he didn’t kill the Lv50 Authority Devil, which could have shot his own level through the roof? That was because he was looking at the bigger picture, thanks to Lilith.
The Destroyer had fallen under his Dominator skill and was the leader of the Crimson Goblin island as far as the system was concerned. For every bit of EXP earned by the Crimson Goblins of that island, the Destroyer received a fair percentage. And now, for every bit of EXP earned by the Destroyer, Arc got his own adjustable share of that.
Every point of EXP earned on that island now was simply coming back to him multiplied by two, thanks to the effects of the S-rank ’Double EXP’ Talent.
Infinite EXP glitch!
Arc was genuinely thrilled when he learned this from Lilith. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
He wasn’t settling for just the Crimson Goblin Island now. He was aiming to hijack as many monster tribe islands as he could. And if he deemed them too weak to survive long enough, he was going to supply them with upgraded weapons and equipment to create an unstoppable army across the Golden Age—one that would sail independently, but remain within reach.
He still had multiple questions to ask the strange lady regarding this world to know if more of his memories would be unlocked, or at least to connect the dots of the fragmented pieces from earlier.
But some things were already certain:
Lilith had been a close ally much later than the years he could recall from his past life. Why had she found him so early now?
He had also had a personal encounter with Goddess Zemira at some point in his past life, which explained the familiarity back at the starting zone.
But recalling the words Lilith had said to him in those memories, it sounded like he was being hunted by the Goddess and her allies. Why?
He thought he’d died a slave, but it was starting to look like he’d somehow broken free from those shackles and became powerful enough to do something that warranted the Goddess descending herself to hunt him down.
He hated the feeling of being in the dark. Every answer he had became a new mystery of its own. But when he tried to ask Lilith about them, she had brushed him off and simply said it wasn’t time to reveal her purpose for him.
Arc wasn’t happy with this. But at least he knew now that as much as he was lacking memories from his past life, so was she—who seemingly couldn’t remember a thing.
He returned his focus to the [Island Management] tab, which had only one piece of infrastructure available to view. It was his bunker.
Its power came from a solar-charged reserve that could fail anytime soon, and it had a barely functional bathroom with no water source. That was where its perks ended.
But that wasn’t what Arc was looking forward to with the bunker that had made him seize it in the first place. He only needed that underground space.
In his previous life, it had been impossible to build underground on the floating islands, and the best one could do was add a single basement floor to their manor.
Which meant that the more buildings you had on your island, the more exposure you risked from an opposing island, as they could easily look over to assess your infrastructure. Even if you built a fence around it, the enemy could just climb a watchtower for an even better view of your island.
This would become a troublesome issue for many players, but Arc had just found a priceless solution to that in a piece of junk.
With dungeon cores, he could upgrade the space to create an impregnable fortress beneath, making the surface of the island look dysfunctional except for a few unassuming buildings.
This was Arc’s grand plan for the bunker.
It wouldn’t be easy, but he was definitely going to get there.
"Liz? Are you okay?"
The party had safely returned to the island. They were now sitting together in a circle at their previous camping spot, feeling the absence of the odd one out in the party.
Liz was mostly herself now, but for some reason, she kept tilting her head to the sides as if she were looking out for something—or someone.
Joan had noticed this behavior and took the initiative to ask—though not out of concern.
"Huh?" Liz snapped her head around absentmindedly. "Oh, I’m fine. Thanks for asking," she said dismissively with a forced smile, turning away before the girl could extend the conversation.
But Joan wasn’t taking the hint and pressed on. "What happened on the Crimson Goblin island?"
"How did you end up there?" she asked with a piercing gaze, and the attention of the party immediately fell on Liz—everyone else was also curious as to what might have happened.
Liz turned to stare at Joan with the kind of eyes that told the latter she was being a bitch. But because the party’s gaze was entirely on her now, she couldn’t ignore or deflect the question.
She faked a weary smile. "I ended up at the island border while looking for Arc. I thought he might have gone in, so I went after him but got lost. It took a lot of courage to find my way back when I saw a legion of Crimson Goblins charging at me. I got scared, thinking I was going to die," Liz recounted sympathetically.
Her story sounded genuine to the party members, who understood how she must have felt at that moment, all alone. Except for Joan, who wasn’t buying the story.
"Are you saying you didn’t find any traces of Arc?" Joan pushed.
Liz paused to stare at her with a cold gaze. "That’s exactly what I just said."
"Where’s your book? You weren’t holding it when we found you either," Joan asked almost immediately.
Liz fell silent for a moment. "I... I lost it." She had indeed lost it.
But Joan caught something in her eyes and was ready to fire another question when Felix noticed the tension and spoke first.
"Joan, I know you’re asking out of concern, but your questions are only resurfacing bad memories for her," he said. "Liz, it’s okay. Any Grimoire found in the loot boxes automatically belongs to you, okay?"
"Guys, check this out. A new feature just appeared on my status screen that has something to do with the island," Jack suddenly called out.
"Oh, that’s true. And the World/Server Forums have finally been unlocked for me as well!" Rose quickly added excitedly.
