[American Region Rankings]

[1. Zord Kane, Apprentice Swordsman, 21]

]2. Solely Loving Autumn Rain, Apprentice Swordsman, 20]

[3. War Fire Debt Man, Apprentice Mage, 19]

[4. Sea Sky Horizon, Apprentice Priest, 18]

[5. Stormfall, Apprentice Crossbowman, 17]

[6. Bane, Apprentice Thief, 17]

[7. Madly Loving the Ninth Heaven, Apprentice Knight, 16

[8. Blizzard Raging Heaven, Apprentice Knight, 16]

[9. Sword Song Cloud Wind, Apprentice Mage, 16]

The rankings were shifting rapidly. After more than eleven consecutive hours online, Don had finally climbed into the American region’s top ten. The players ahead of him were still staggeringly strong, though. Diana had caught up and was sitting at second, while Zord Kane held first. Impressively, two Knight players, a class notorious for slow leveling, had still managed to claw their way into the top ten.

But of the players ranked above him, only two from the War Fire faction were currently online. The other four were logged off, which gave Don an opening to keep pushing.

With that in mind, he ran up the mountain without stopping.

Along the way, wherever he found tents, there were three or four Brugg Scouts guarding the area. No bosses, unfortunately, so he could only vent his frustration on the smaller elites. His newly acquired bow was excellent, a single shot dealt around a thousand damage, keeping his efficiency high.

But despite being elite monsters, the scouts were far stingier than the Orc Overseers had been. He fought his way nearly to the summit, killing around thirty scouts, before finally getting three pieces of armor.

One was a Level 15 white iron shoulder guard, nothing special. But the other two were pleasant surprises, both bronze leather armor with substantial hidden attributes.

[Loess Mountain Breastplate, Bronze Grade]

[Leather Armor]

[Level Req: 15]

[PDEF +90]

[MDEF +90]

[+10 STR ]

[+12 AGI ]

[+10 CON]

[Unsealed: +2 HP regen per second]

[Loess Mountain Leather Boots, Bronze Grade]

[Leather Armor]

[Level Req: 15 ]

[PDEF +45 ]

[MDEF +45]

[+5 STR ]

[+6 AGI]

[+5 CON]

[Unsealed: +0.1 m/s Movement Speed]

His level climbed to 18 along the way. Going from 17 to 18, an elite monster only netted him three percent experience, partly because he needed more to level, and partly because the level gap between him and the monsters had shrunk.

Realms Online heavily encouraged fighting above your level, scaling experience rewards accordingly. His ranking rose one place to sixth in the region.

There was only one tent left, with the last two Brugg Scouts inside. Further up, the mountaintop waited, though what lay there was still unknown.

Don checked the time. One in the afternoon. The system warning light had turned yellow, indicating his body was exhausted and that he needed to log off to recover. His eyes were drooping badly, he simply couldn’t stay awake any longer.

For over three years, his routine had been painfully stable, ten at night, up at six. Now that the rhythm was broken, his body was protesting immediately.

Fighting off sleep, he pulled the two scouts out, dropped one’s aggro, and slowly worked the other down.

When the last scout collapsed with a heavy thud, something fell to the ground alongside it. Don’s heart lifted. Equipment? Hopefully gloves or shoulders, those were the last two pieces of his gear still sitting at basic grade.

But when he kicked the corpse aside, he discovered something even better. A green-covered skill book.

[Killing Intent, Skill Book]

[Increases current attack power by 40% and critical hit rate by 5% for 8 seconds.]

[Release: Instant ]

[Cooldown: 45s ]

[Skill Level: Lower]

[Learning Level: 15]

[Classes: Thief]

He opened the book and learned it directly. Skill books dropped in the wild couldn’t be purchased from NPC instructors, and plenty of American players preferred the Rogue class, the going price for this book had to be skyrocketing.

The drop rate here was painfully low, though. If even one more had dropped, he could have stockpiled them for two weeks and sold them online for thousands of dollars without breaking a sweat.

But nothing in this world came that cheap. If money were so easy to earn, everyone would be driving a BMW.

He tested the skill’s power immediately, sneaking up behind the final scout. He activated Killing Intent, a crimson beam of light erupted from beneath his feet, and a powerful surge rushed through his hands. The activation also broke his stealth, but before the scout could register him, his dagger had already plunged deep into its flesh.

[Critical Hit, 8,578!]

’Brutal.’

The scout winced and turned, swinging its blade. Don immediately activated Evasion and unleashed a Consecutive Slash.

[1,498!]

[1,585!]

The numbers were exhilarating. This skill was genuinely amazing. His next normal attack dealt another 2,500-plus without even critting.

But he didn’t let the six-second burst seduce him into fighting head-on. As soon as the buff expired, he switched back to his bow and waited for cooldowns. People made more mistakes when tired, and losing a level right now would be a disaster.

About forty seconds later, Killing Intent was off cooldown again. The scout had only a quarter of its health remaining. Don switched back to the dagger, rushed in, and executed a clean Backstab for over four thousand damage.

His luck turned then, two critical hits in succession for another six thousand combined. A final red potion’s worth of healing let him finish the job.

The scout let out a mournful cry and died. Its loot was still tragic, one gold coin, nothing else.

Don’s head was spinning. ’Where is that wine gourd?! Brother Long Wu, you must be mistaken!’

There was nothing for it but to bite the bullet and climb to the final hillside. After less than two minutes of walking, a checkpoint appeared, not too large, with two guarding monsters at the entrance. Both elites wielding longbows. Brugg Patrolmen.

But when Don glanced past them into the checkpoint itself, his breath caught. The monsters inside were incredibly dense, patrolling in groups of three to five, most of them elite-level, with several bosses mixed in. The structure suggested a true base camp, with stone houses and tents of various sizes scattered everywhere.

He wisely realized that exploring this map alone would be extremely difficult.

’Forget it. Head back to town first, sell the loot, then sleep. I can deal with the rest when I wake up.’

Hadn’t he just made a handful of solid friends? At worst, he could ask them for help clearing the camp.

With that thought, he tore a Return Scroll.

Back in Vilali Village, he went straight to the fountain in the center of town. After speaking with the teleporter, he transported himself to the village where he had met the Sword Song team earlier that morning.

The place was packed now, players crowding every corner, making it difficult to find space to stand. Fortunately, the teleportation point sat right at the central fountain, so he didn’t need to move.

He immediately pulled out the Black Hills metal armor and his Level 10 bronze breastplate and began selling.

Just like before, buyers appeared before he even finished announcing. Bronze-grade metal armor sold exceptionally well, especially given how many warrior players Realms Online had and how many wealthy ones came from the East Coast and tri-state regions.

The same rich young master from that morning appeared before him again, practically bowing as if he’d spotted a god. "Big brother! I finally caught you! This time you have to sell to me, no matter what!"

Don smiled faintly. "I’ve saved you a full set of bronze metal armor. Make an offer. If it’s right, I’ll sell."

The young man was a Level 14 swordsman now, and when he saw the Level 15 gear, his eyes lit up with envy. He immediately turned to one of his underlings. "How many gold coins have you farmed for me?"

"Boss, over eleven hundred..."

Don frowned and remained silent. This was a psychological game, the underling’s number was clearly not the real one.

The rich young master caught his expression and immediately turned back with a glare. "Damn it, tell the truth. How much?"

The underling stammered, "More than fifteen hundred, boss. The brothers did their best."

The young master turned back to Don with a pleading expression. "Brother, that’s all of it. Please sell. I know you’re taking a loss. If it really doesn’t work, consider it a favor, and I’ll make it up to you later."

Don nodded reluctantly. "Alright. Fifteen hundred for the full set of five."

"Yes, yes!" The young man submitted a transaction request immediately.

Once the deal was done, he took the equipment and rushed off to level up, overflowing with gratitude. After reaching the required level, he’d have a full bronze set, and just like that, another top-tier warrior would be born.

That was Don’s last transaction. Everything sold out. The number of gold coins in his inventory had reached two thousand. Even Don found the number hard to believe. Calling this his first pot of gold in this virtual world wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Satisfied and exhausted in equal measure, he logged off.

He took off the light-sensing glasses. No one was on either side of him. On his desk lay a note, the handwriting crooked and messy, like branches tangled by a broken east wind.

[Brother Don,]

[I’m tired. I’m going to find a hotel to rest now. See you tonight. If you need anything, just text me, I’ll get back to you when I wake up. My number is: 135********.]

[Lily Wright]

Don sighed. As they said, the Creator was fair to everyone. Lily was beautiful, yet her handwriting was completely unrestrained.

He removed the glasses from the computer desk, shut the machine down, and headed home. His place wasn’t far, just behind the building.

Back in his apartment, he turned off his phone and collapsed onto the bed without a second thought. He hadn’t slept in over thirteen hours, and the exhaustion hit him like a tide.