Cipher added the final four points from the level up all into Stamina and summoned the system screen, sitting on the ground.
[Name: Cipher]
[Level: 22 (9,000/22,000)]
[Species: Human]
[Class: Cheater]
[Health: 1800/1800]
[Mana: 190/190]
[Strength: 19]
[Stamina: 18]
[Agility: 19]
[Intelligence: 19]
[Stat Points: 0]
[Cheat Points: 260]
[Skills (4/5): Mana Manipulation (A), Aura (D), Assassinate (E), Mana Recovery (E)]
[Cheats: Cheat Shop (Max Level), Absolute Appraisal (Max Level)]
He had leveled up quite a bit, he thought. The next D-rank monster he killed would shoot him straight into D-rank True Rank. That meant he could no longer farm stat points as easily. Unless he wanted to face C-rank monsters, which he wasn't particularly interested in at the moment.
He looked at his Cheat Points. This was the most he'd gathered.
He decided to see what he could afford. The packs were a Code Pack and a Mega Mod Pack.
As for the cards:
Exploit Card (Mod Card): Applies "Corrupted" edition - becomes unstable with dangerous side effects
Malware Card (Mod Card): Applies "Glitched" edition - all numerical values are randomized
He had already seen malware before and wasn't interested. As for exploit, it also didn't seem all that great. He wondered if he should open a pack since he could afford one now.
After some thought, he decided it wasn't worth it. In the end, it was all gambling.
The Voucher section was still there, but this time it had changed to "Overstock," which gave him an extra card slot. It was still worth a thousand points.
He concluded that vouchers changed every major level up and were all worth a thousand points.
Speaking of major level up, he remembered that he had just surpassed Level 20. Looking to the side, he noticed the Roll for a Cheat button he had almost missed.
He clicked it.
[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Infinite Inventory (Level 1)]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: Store non-living objects in a frozen time pocket dimension. Items do not age, decay, or change while stored. No weight or size limit. Living creatures cannot be stored.]
His eyes widened as he read the description. This was quite useful.
According to Ryker, they raided these worlds mostly for resources. If he could use this skill to store all sorts of resources, they should be able to increase conditions outside quite a bit. Still, this depended on the exact resources he took.
He looked at the cheat. He was quite surprised that it was actually Level 1 and not Max Level like the others. Could this possibly get any stronger?
Well, maybe it could gain abilities like allowing for living things, or maybe adjustment of the time freeze. Living things? Could he use this to take people out of the apocalypse?
He thought of the Heavenly Demon.
"What are you doing?" her voice came from behind him.
"I'm resting," he said.
"Still resting even now?" she asked.
"I already defeated the monsters," he explained.
She glanced at him suspiciously.
"It's true. Can't you feel I've become stronger?" he asked.
She observed him much more carefully. "Mmmh, you have indeed gotten stronger."
"It seems those monsters I brought were too weak. I'll pick even stronger ones next time," she said.
"Even stronger?" he asked in surprise.
But she didn't respond.
"Anyway, now that you've rested, get up and begin training your sword," she said.
"Training the sword? Now?" he asked. It was already night. Wasn't it better to train tomorrow?
"That's right. This will be the last time I train you," she said. "Tomorrow, I'll be leaving for the final battle, so I'll tell you everything I know and you can train by yourself from then on."
…
Morning the following day.
Cipher was looking at the meditating Heavenly Demon.
She opened her eyes. "What are you looking at?"
"Are you going to die?" he asked.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"The apocalypse will still end the world. Why do you have to fight a losing battle?" he asked.
"What losing battle? Are you implying that I'll lose to the demons?" she asked angrily.
"Doesn't the world always end and reset? Doesn't that mean you always lose?" he asked.
"Hmph, what do you know," she said. "I stopped losing to the demons about ten thousand loops ago," she said dismissively.
"How is that possible?" he asked in surprise.
"Through training, of course. I just trained every loop until I was able to beat it," she said.
"But how come the world still loops then?" he asked.
"That's what I need your help to find out," she said.
"My help?" he asked.
"That's right." She jumped from the rock she sat on. She drew her sword and swung it, cutting through space before her and creating a portal.
Cipher's eyes widened in amazement.
"Let's go," she said, grabbing his hand and rushing with him into the portal.
…
They appeared in a place consumed by darkness.
The ground beneath them was cracked and broken with rivers of black miasma flowing through the fissures. The sky - if it could be called that - was an endless void of shadow. And everywhere, monsters teemed.
Thousands of high-level monsters, their forms twisted and grotesque.
The Heavenly Demon exerted her power.
A wave of qi exploded outward. The monsters didn't even have time to scream - they simply dissolved into dark mist, swept away like dust.
At that moment, something began to shake.
Cracks appeared in the space before them. Then, slowly, a massive arm pushed through - covered in black scales, each one the size of a building.
Cipher couldn't breathe due to the extreme pressure the monster exerted. He felt as though he was being crushed by an invisible mountain. His vision blurred.
The Heavenly Demon exerted her power again, releasing an overwhelming wave that countered the pressure.
Cipher gasped, air flooding back into his lungs.
"Thank you," he said, breathing heavily.
"You can thank me by using that weird skill of yours on that thing," she said.
"Weird skill?" he asked.
"Yes, that skill you used to see through me. I want you to use it on that monster. Try to see if it has any time-reversing skill," the Heavenly Demon said.
Cipher's eyes widened. Her reasoning made sense. Maybe the demon was the one looping this world.
All worlds looping didn't make sense - no wonder he had never heard about that before.
He activated Appraisal.
[Name: Demon God]
[Rank: Earth Immortal]
[Level: 100,000]
[Species: Demon God]
[Health: 10,000,000/10,000,000]
[Mana: 1,000,000/1,000,000]
[Strength: 100,000]
[Stamina: 100,000]
[Agility: 100,000]
[Intelligence: 100,000]
[Skills: Law of Death (Awakening), Demon World Domain (Absolute)]
He was shocked. This one had ten times the stats of the Heavenly Demon. How could she win against this?
He told her the stats he saw.
"So it really isn't the one causing the loop," she said.
Even Cipher was surprised by this. Did this mean that all the apocalypse worlds were really looping then?
"Alright, come with me," she said and teleported with him before he could respond.
Cipher found himself standing in space, alongside the Heavenly Demon.
"I'm using my qi to protect you. I want you to see through this world," she said.
He looked down at the Murim World from above.
He noticed that half of it had actually been consumed by darkness, and it was accelerating.
He sighed and activated his skill.
[Name: Murim World]
[Status: Dead World]
[Description: A world that has experienced its apocalypse. The God of Time used his divine power to save it from complete destruction, creating a temporal loop to preserve what remains. However, his power is slowly running out. The world will fully collapse soon.]