---
[You have leveled up!]
---
The corners of the system screen flickered with a soft luminous glow.
Looking at the screen with a stern gaze, Lucian let go of his body. His legs collapsed as he fell on his back over the ground. His head, though, did not slam into the ground, as he had already placed his hands behind.
He was still holding onto the daggers, but from the very corners. All for the sake of his comfort.
Then again, it was his way of rewarding himself for surviving such a threat.
At that time, his eyes and mind had both been completely focused on the suspended system screen.
---
[Congratulations! You are the 50th human to have successfully subjugated a monster!]
[You have killed an F-rank Kobold!]
[You have gained 50 Exp!]
[...]
---
Again, the same old alert sound rang in his ears. This time, slightly softened as if trying not to disturb Lucian's rest too much.
---
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
[You are now the 50th human to ever achieve Level 1.]
[Special rewards are being calculated!]
---
"Huh? Wait, what the heck? Special rewards for being the 50th?" The sheer idea of rewarding some so back in line simply rubbed Lucian the wrong way.
Up until now, he had seen so many things that connected a dot of familiarity to him. The way the system was integrated, the rewards, and even the first monster—kobold—everything remained the same as what he had originally created within his book.
But the fact that someone as low as 50th in any rank was getting rewarded just didn't make sense to him.
"If this really is a copy of mine, then what is this with the reward system?" He muttered under his breath, pondering.
His confusion was justified, since the rules he had created in his book were far crueler than this. Let alone the 50th, there wasn't a reward for even the 2nd. In his ideology, Lucian had established a picture. Only the first is worthy.
It was something he had learned from both his real-life experiences and the stories he had read to isolate himself from that same reality.
Although strange, it was enough for him to begin doubting the whole situation. Rebellious thoughts that contradicted his newly established beliefs surfaced in his mind.
*Maybe it wasn't the same as he remembered...'
'Maybe there were some things that had been changed...'
'Or worse, the things I've seen until now weren't significant enough to reflect the entire situation...'
As of now, he had no way to prove or even test his doubts. All he could do was to simply not think about them any longer.
---
[Your level has been adjusted in your status!]
└ [Level] - 1 → 2
[Your trait—Transcendence—is in effect!]
[You have gained additional stat points as your reward!]
└ [Stat Points] - 6 (x2↑)
[You have also gained the basic rights to use the 'System'!]
└ [Due to the active quest, the basic rights have been restricted. You may unlock them once the task is over.]
---
For a brief moment, Lucian sat completely silent. Looking towards the system screen, his eyes seemed to have gotten diluted. And all of a sudden, he began to simply deny the reality.
"It can't be, right?" His expressions remained completely dazed as he mumbled to himself.
"How... What the hell? No, it can't be..." Out of doubt, he began rubbing his eyes and then looked at the screen again with his eyes wide open.
It was the same. The screen hadn't disappeared, nor had the text changed. It really said stat points.
But this was only more shocking than the reward system. Tens of hundreds of folds stronger than that.
From what he remembered, there were times when continents waged war just to get their hands on a single item deemed divine, as it possessed the attribute to offer an additional stat point.
And just as of now, he had been offered 3 stat points for free! And thanks to his ability, it had now become 6!
"Ok, yeah, no... Hell no... I'm not thinking about that..." He said, closing his eyes shut and rubbing them in complete disdain.
He did not want to keep looking at the system window for longer, as it may lead to some brain damage for him.
But this new information was nothing to scoff at, since it had revealed so many new facts to Lucian.
With that, he decided to get up, as lying completely defenseless for long may only invite the bad omen.
But just as he was collecting himself up, a strange, yet familiar low growl entered his ears.
They were muffled, yet clear enough to hear the wet echoes of the saliva flooding through their mouths.
"Krrr..."