"Hahahahaha!!"
Yuan Feng was cackling like a madman.The guy looked completely unhinged—drunk on power, drunk on the spotlight.
And then, it happened.
[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Player Yuan Feng has become the first in the world to reach Level 1.][GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Player Yuan Feng has become the first in the world to reach Level 1.][GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Player Yuan Feng has become the first in the world to reach Level 1.]
The same announcement echoed in the minds of everyone—everywhere on the planet.
The students in the gym froze.
Every pair of eyes turned to Yuan Feng.
A mix of awe.Shock.Jealousy.Even worship.
And then… they turned to Kai.
Pity.
Everyone could piece it together.
Yuan Feng got that level-up because of the crystal cores.And who found those cores first?
Kai.
Think about it: in a world with billions of players—some with A-tier or even S-tier talents—only Yuan Feng had managed to reach Level 1?
Why?
Because Kai was the one who figured out the secret first.
And yet, he wasn't the one basking in glory.
Funny thing was—Kai didn't care.
Not even a little.
Let Yuan Feng have his stupid global announcement.Kai didn't need it.
First, the +1 bonus to all attributes was practically meaningless to him. With his bugged talent, he'd outscale everyone anyway.
Second—and more importantly—
This game had a hidden catch.
Leveling up wasn't as easy as it looked.
The system didn't hand out experience for kills.Rain Lin and Yuan Feng had both confirmed it already.
And yeah, people were starting to guess: the only way to gain EXP in the early game was through crystal cores.
But what nobody here knew—not yet—was this:
Each player could only absorb a maximum of 10 cores per day.
No exceptions. No loopholes.Unless you had access to rare soul treasures or alchemy items—which, of course, nobody had on Day 1.
That meant your daily EXP gain was hard-capped.
It was a mechanic designed to slow progress.To keep the strong from getting too far ahead.
Eventually, high-level players figured out ways around it—like boosting their "soul foundation" to increase the daily limit, or buying expensive EXP potions and meals.
But that was endgame knowledge.Right now, on Day 1, none of that mattered.
There was only one way to get ahead:
Absorb higher-level cores.
It was simple math.
A Level 0 core gave 1 EXP.Ten of those would get you to Level 1.
But if you got your hands on a Level 1 core?
Boom—10 EXP in one go.
You'd hit Level 1 with just one core, and still have 9 daily absorbs left for more high-level boosts.
Smart players would prioritize killing higher-level enemies.But most people didn't know the system worked that way.
So they wasted their daily cap on basic, low-level cores.
And just like that, they fell behind.Forever.
Kai had learned this lesson the hard way in his last life.He'd been five days behind everyone else—struggling to survive.It had taken him weeks to catch up using higher-level cores.
But this time? He wasn't going to lag behind.
This time, he'd be ahead. From the very start.
As for Yuan Feng?
Kai's lips twitched.
He's just a walking wallet.A corpse waiting to be burned.
Yuan Feng, still high from the global announcement, glanced down at the last remaining crystal in his palm.
He closed his eyes and muttered, "Absorb."
A beat later—his face froze.
[DING! You have reached your daily absorption limit. Please try again tomorrow.]
"What?!"
He blinked, stunned.
"There's a daily limit on cores?! What kind of dumb mechanic is that?!"
How was a real player supposed to get ahead if they could only absorb ten a day?
RNG?Talent?
That thought settled his nerves a little.
After all, he was an A-tier talent holder.He'd just gained +1 to all attributes.He was the first in the world to level up.He was special. Chosen. Untouchable.
With this kind of lead—even if he wasn't S-tier—he could still dominate the early game. Become a king.
Yuan Feng's chest swelled with pride.
And yet… a shadow of doubt crept in.
He'd just learned something else.
Dimensional worms?They didn't always drop cores.
But humans?
100% drop rate.
He stared at the corpses littered across the gym floor.One thought crossed his mind:
Maybe this game wasn't just about killing monsters.
Maybe… the real goal…Was killing players.
He wasn't ready to cross that line yet.
But he had no problem letting monsters do the work for him—and swooping in to grab the rewards.
"Hey, Kai," he barked. "Burn that worm Rain Lin just killed. See if it dropped a core."
"On it," Kai replied smoothly.He was more than happy to clean up.
Meanwhile, Yuan Feng turned back to the crowd.
"Seems like the only monsters on campus right now are these weak bugs," he announced. "Rain Lin took one down with a D-tier talent, no problem."
"Best we all split up and grind levels while we still can."
That was his polite way of saying:Get lost. I don't want to babysit you.
Some people hesitated.
"Wait, Brother Feng, let's not! Our phones aren't working—what if there are stronger monsters outside?!"
"Yeah, maybe we should stick together for now…"
"You're the strongest one here! Shouldn't you be protecting—"
Before the sentence was finished, Yuan Feng shot them a cold look.
They shut up immediately.
That was the power of a strong player.
Yuan Feng, with +1 to all stats, was easily double the strength of a regular person.To normal players, he was overwhelming.
And Yuan Feng loved it.This feeling—this pressure—this power.
It made him feel like a god.
He even considered making an example out of someone—kill one of these moralizing nobodies to send a message.
But his Dragonflame skill cost too much mana.
Maybe later.