Free Web NovelChapter 8: Level 0
The pillar of blue light in midair slowly dissipated, dropping a green goblin onto the damp corridor floor. Vyral tumbled several times before crashing into nearby skeletons like a bowling ball hitting ten pins.
He grumbled as fighting to stand up.
’’Why can’t I land properly?’’
Dizzy, Vyral rolled his eyes to regain his vision, but right then, glowing texts slowly appeared in front of him instead of the usual welcome message to the dungeon.
[You logged out during a fight. A penalty will now be applied to you.]
[- 184 XP]
[Level]: 1 → 0
Experience: 45/100
Vyral’s expression showed sourness and frustration, deep down, he knew this was only the beginning of a far worse situation.
Ting!
[You failed King Arthur’s mission.]
[-50 favorability points with King Arthur.]
"...It’s over?"
Vyral forced himself to smile, hoping there wouldn’t be any more penalties for him. As there were unavoidable consequences of logging out under certain circumstances. Losing XP was probably one of the gentlest punishments possible. If he repeated this again, what awaited him would be far worse.
Ting!
[You received 3.45 Mystic Energy after 14h 34m offline.]
[Mystic Energy: 4.55]
Finally, there was something that made him happy. Thanks to the effect of the Earring of the Moon, the time he spent offline was no longer wasted.
"So this is how passive energy generation works? Yeah... it has to be." He chuckled as he recalled his decision to choose Option 2 for the Earring of the Moon.
Indeed, a wise choice would lead him toward a brighter future, while if he had chosen Option 1, he would’ve probably be crying over his own stupidity right now.
"Good... I can already imagine myself clearing this hell-mode dungeon."
However, now his level had dropped to 0. As a natural outcome, he couldn’t even use a [Lv.1] battle axe and Earring of the Moon, too.
In other words, he would have to fight with his bare hands.
He tried summoning the battle axe from his [Inventory], but all he got was a glitching image of the axe appearing in the air.
He nodded himself and opened the list of basic evolutions. Before continuing his journey, he would upgrade several basic evolutions while leaving a certain amount of reserved Mystic Energy for risky situations that required adaptation, flexibility.
Muscle Enhancement Lv3 → Muscle Enhancement Lv4 1 Mystic Energy
Steel Skeleton Lv2 → Steel Skeleton Lv3 0,5 Mystic Energy
Enhanced Regeneration Lv2 – Enhanced Regeneration Lv3 0,5 Mystic Energy
Hardened Skin Lv1 → Hardened Skin Lv2 – 1 Mystic Energy
[Mystic Energy: 4.55 → 1,55]
+4 Strength
+3 Dexterity
+7 Constitution
He was already prepared to endure the pain, but unlike before, this time he only felt a faint ache spreading through his body for less than a minute. Vyral examined his body and gave his conclusion.
"My body has already been enhanced a lot, so now it’s sturdy enough to withstand the evolution process."
Satisfied with the evolution process, Vyral stretched his body a little before advancing deeper into the dungeon.
His next goal was to return to Lv.1 before logging off again. frёewebηovel.cѳm
Just a few minutes later, he clashed with another group of [Lv.2] skeleton knights. One of them charged toward Vyral with a rusty sword in hand.
Vyral frowned, thinking of a new way to fight the skeleton knights barehanded. Yet he only snorted and decided there was no need for a special method. Just the basics – punches, kicks – pure brutality.
After all, his body had been greatly enhanced thanks to his basic evolutions. Those skeleton knights stood no chance against Vyral.
He lunged at one of the skeleton knights, grabbed its neck, then slammed it onto the floor – the skeleton shattered apart, sending pieces of its bone flying everywhere.
[You have slain a skeleton knight lv.2]
[+2xp]
[+0,4 Mystic Energy]
Another skeleton knight took the opportunity to deliver a precise kick to the goblin’s back, yet its foot instantly separated from its ankle the moment it struck Vyral.
It felt as if it had just kicked a metal wall.
"It actually hurts, damn you..." Vyral roared, whirling toward the skeleton knight that had sneakily attacked him and charged straight at it.
Over time, more and more skeleton knights appeared, as if there was no end to them.
It was getting quite annoying for him, and at some point, he realized something important he’d forgotten.
[Stamina] — one of the secondary stats derived from the primary stat [Constitution].
Although his stats had risen dramatically, fighting relentlessly against the skeleton knights was still pretty harsh.
Normally, once stat [Constitution] increased, the other secondary stats would automatically increase as well. However, those secondary stats were distributed quite evenly. As a result, when the stats were too well-rounded, there would be no outstanding points at all.
The players barely got the exact secondary stats they wanted, so the solution to this problem was using weapons and support items with effects that boosted specific secondary stats.
Obviously, Vyral had none of them. Even worse, he couldn’t use even the most basic weapons until his level returned to Lv.1.
And now, a crazy idea flashed through his mind.
Vyral opened the long list of available basic evolutions and studied it carefully. He had to choose only the necessary ones with his scarce amount of mystic energy.
"It sounds good."
[Hypoxia Adaptation Lv.1] – 0,5
[Cells become three times more efficient at utilizing oxygen, significantly reducing the body’s symptoms of hypoxia.]
+1 Stamina Point
[Cardiac Overdrive Lv.1] – 0,5
+1 Stamina Point
[The heart pumps blood at three times the normal output per beat]
After buying them, he felt a noticeable difference in his body. Oddly enough, his breathing became steadier and smoother.
His chest still rose and fell, but at a pace he couldn’t really perceive, as if he wasn’t even out of breath.
Still suspicious, Vyral moved forward and faced another horde of Lv.2 skeleton knights.
Surprised, this time, he began to understand what was truly happening to his body. At the start of the fight, there wasn’t much to say, but as it went on, the difference became clear.
He no longer showed any signs of gasping.
He fought as if he had just stepped into battle with full power.
When his fight dragged on, his body would start demanding more oxygen. The respiratory muscles would become more active than before, and panting was the first symptom. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
His body would also feel heavier.
But by buying those basic evolutions, he could greatly reduce unnecessary responses during combat.
His cells now didn’t need much oxygen to function, while his heart pumped blood more efficiently, delivering oxygen to the body’s organs in greater amounts.
A perfect duo.
It felt like a breathing technique from a cultivation novel he’d read.
’’Breathing technique?’’
Vyral boomed a bright smile as he remembered a basic evolution in the list.
After killing 3 skeleton knights, and receiving 1,2 mystic energy, Vyral opened the list.
’’A perfect trio.’’
[Breathing Efficiency Boost Lv.1] – 0,5
[Respiratory muscles activate more efficiently, reducing unnecessary movements to a minimum.]
+3 Stamina Point
—
[The coordination between the basic evolutions has been established.]
+6 Stamina Point
Turns out, those vague basic evolutions weren’t useless at all, even if their descriptions never mentioned increasing the [Stamina] stat. Their high price existed for a reason.
And obviously, to choose the basic evolutions effectively, he needed a certain amount of knowledge about biology and physiology. This cheat was meant for educated people, not some uneducated thug.
Luckily, Vyral was one of the educated ones. Back when he was still in school, researching how the human body functioned had always been his hobby—reading biology, studying physiology, even dissecting animal corpses for research. Because of that, he was called a weirdo and bullied throughout his school years – a memory he didn’t want to recall.
But now, he could finally make use of those experiences and knowledge. This cheat suited him strangely well.
By using micro-level body evolutions, he was capable of increasing his secondary stats without needing weapons or support items.
An exclusive advantage that anyone would be jealous of.
