It held no weapon. It wore tattered rags.
[Class: The Drifter]
The Hall of Heroes was magnificent.
Pillars of white marble stretched up into a sky filled with nebulae and drifting constellations. Ethereal choirs sang in the background, designed to fill new players with a sense of wonder and destiny.
Sebastian looked at it with bored eyes. He stood before the gray statue of the Drifter.
[Class: Drifter]
[Description: A wanderer without a home. Jack of all trades, master of none. You have no class-specific stat bonuses. You have no specialized weapon mastery.]
[Base Stats]:
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Intellect: 5
Vitality: 5
[Special Trait]: Limitless Learning. (The Drifter can learn skills from any class tree, but skill costs are increased by 200%.)
In the forums of his past life, the "Drifter" was universally mocked as the "Trash Class." The balanced stats meant you were weak in melee compared to a Warrior and weak in magic compared to a Mage.
But the real deal-breaker was the Special Trait.
Learning a Warrior's Slash usually cost 1 SP. For a Drifter, it cost 3 SP.
Upgrading a Mage's Fireball to Level 10 might cost a Mage 50 SP. For a Drifter, it would cost 150 SP.
With the limited amount of Skill Points a player earned naturally, playing a Drifter was mathematical suicide. You would end up with a build that was mediocre at everything and good at nothing.
"But cost is irrelevant when your wallet is bottomless," Sebastian murmured.
He placed his hand on the gray statue.
[Are you sure you want to select the 'Drifter' Class? This is considered a Hard Mode start.]
"Confirm."
[Ding! Class Selected: Drifter.]
[Initiating Talent Awakening...]
Every player received one random Talent at the start. It ranged from F-Rank (e.g., +1% Movement Speed) to S-Rank (e.g., Double Mana Regeneration).
A giant roulette wheel appeared in front of him, spinning with a blur of colors.
Sebastian watched it spin. In his past life, he had drawn a B-Rank talent: Sharp Blade. It was decent. But the Drifter class had a hidden mechanic. Because the class itself offered zero benefits, the Talent Wheel was weighted toward "Chaos" attributes to compensate.
The wheel slowed. Click... Click... Click...
It passed a Golden S-Rank talent Dragon Blood.
It passed a Purple A-Rank talent Shadow Steps.
It stopped on a shifting, black-and-green rune that looked like a bubbling potion.
[Ding! Talent Awakened!]
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[Forbidden Alchemy] (Chaos Rank)
Effect: You can consume any item (Weapons, Potions, Monster Parts) to instantly recover Health and Mana.
Secondary Effect: You can combine any two items to create a new item with random properties. (Success rate depends on Alchemy Skill Level).
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Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Forbidden Alchemy... I remember this. The 'Mad Chemist' player had this in the previous timeline. He blew himself up trying to combine a Dragon Heart with a nuclear battery."
It was a dangerous, unstable talent. But paired with Infinite Skill Points? It was a resource generator.
[Character Creation Complete.]
[Enter Name:]
Sebastian typed without hesitation.
Zero.
It signified his return to nothingness, and the number of enemies he would leave alive.
[Login Confirmed. Transporting to Novice Village #109.]
A flash of light.
The smell of wood smoke and unwashed bodies hit him instantly.
Sebastian materialized in the town square of Novice Village #109. It was chaos. Thousands of players had spawned simultaneously. The noise was deafening.
"Woah! Look at the graphics!"
"Is this real? I can feel the wind!"
"Anyone want to party up? Looking for a healer!"
"Where do I get a sword?"
Sebastian was shoved by a burly man in leather armor—a Warrior.
"Watch it, rags!" the Warrior sneered, looking at Sebastian's Drifter starting gear: a tunic that looked like a potato sack and a rusty iron knife. "Drifter class? Hah! Another idiot trying to be unique. Have fun dying to chickens, trash."
Sebastian didn't even look at the man. He side-stepped, his movement fluid and precise, causing the Warrior to stumble into a mud puddle.
"You—!"
Sebastian had already vanished into the crowd. He had no time for NPCs or low-level banter. He needed his first skill.
He navigated the winding cobblestone streets, ignoring the flashing "!" quest markers above the heads of the Village Chief and the Blacksmith. Those quests gave meager EXP and copper coins.
He headed straight for the Magic Shop.
It was a dusty, cramped building in the corner of the plaza. A bored-looking NPC sat behind the counter.
"Welcome, traveler," the NPC grunted. "Spells aren't cheap. Do you have the coin?"
Sebastian checked his inventory. Every new player started with 10 Copper Coins.
He looked at the shelf.
Basic Fire Spark (Tier 0) - 10 Copper.
Minor Heal (Tier 0) - 15 Copper.
Stone Skin (Tier 0) - 12 Copper.
Most players would save their money for a weapon or armor. Buying a Tier 0 spell that did 2 damage was considered a waste of starter funds.
Sebastian slapped his 10 Copper on the counter.
"The Spark book."
The NPC raised an eyebrow but handed over the tattered, scorched book.
[Item Acquired: Skill Book - Basic Spark.]
[Effect: Creates a small spark that deals 1-2 Fire Damage. Range: 1 meter.]
It was barely enough to light a candle. It was the weakest offensive spell in the entire game.
Sebastian walked out of the shop. He found a quiet alleyway behind the tavern. He held the book in his hands.
"Learn."
The book dissolved into particles of light that flowed into his chest.
[Ding! Skill Learned: Basic Spark (Level 1).]
He opened his Skill Interface.
[Skill Tree: Fire Magic]
[Basic Spark (Lv. 1)]
Next Level Cost: 1 SP (Drifter Penalty Applied: 3 SP).
"Let's see what happens when you feed a spark the power of a sun," Sebastian whispered.
He looked at his Skill Point counter.
[Available SP: ∞]
He focused on the "+" sign next to Basic Spark. And he mentally held it down.