How did Max escape KingMadwinner's wrath? Due to his quick thinking and swift actions.
Whilst he was faking his death, he saw a spot behind a bush and teleported there, letting KingMadwinner believe the illusion that Max had died.
This stunt required extreme precision, timing, and awareness, and failing even one would cause Max to fail, letting KingMadwinner discover his ruse.
Soon, the mysterious stranger had left, and Max could relax, especially after that gruelling fight.
Fuming with rage, he came to the realisation that his kill, which he had worked on for so long, had been stolen.
He wanted to immediately face KingMadwinner and kill him, but he knew that doing that would just cause him to die, especially now that he only had 1 health potion to keep him alive.
So Max decided to take a small break, leaving the game and returning to the real world.
Max didn't have to go to school, due to it currently being school holidays, with no more school for 2 more weeks.
Max quickly had his cereal for breakfast and then decided to go out for a jog, not wishing to neglect his real life fitness for the game.
While on the jog, all Max could hear people talk about was Genesis and how much fun it was to play it. Of course, he also heard lots of people whine about their talents and couldn't help but appreciate how lucky he was.
Returning to his home, he immediately hopped back into the game, ready to grind, improve and beat the crap out of KingMadwinner.
Max logged in and immediately looked at his quest, wishing to know if he failed it or not.
[Quest - Defeat The Bosses]
[Quest Description]
[This quest was made for the man who was the first to defeat the One-Horned Rabbit Boss, and was created to end the tyranny of the low-level bosses once and for all.]
[Mission]
[Kill all Bosses from the Level 1 zone to the Level 5 zone]
[Quest Timer]
6 Days
[Quest Reward]
+1 Level
50 Silver
Guild Creation Token
[Quest Failure Penalty]
-3 Levels
-All levels gained after accepting the quest
[Quest Progress:] 2/5
Max could see that he hadn't failed it, and it had been registered as his kill, even though he didn't deal the last blow.
Max entertained the thought of getting the other guilds to kill the bosses for him, but that thought went out as soon as it came, for Max wasn't playing the game just for benefits, he was playing to have fun.
He also tried to check his rewards for killing the boss, and while he might not have killed it, he still got a few rewards himself.
[You have gained 8 silver coins]
[You have gained Skillbook: Bite]
[You have gained 1000 Exp]
Level Up
While he may have only levelled up once, Max was sure that the next boss he faced would increase his level.
While he might not have received all the rewards he could have, he still managed to get a few, which were enough to rekindle his ambition to finish this perilous quest. He had managed to reach level 7.
He hadn't increased his stats yet, saving them for later so that he could add them in more urgent situations.
Checking his inbox, two notifications caught his attention. As he quickly scrolled through one, it informed him his skill book had been sold for 5 gold and 75 silver. However, this was the less interesting notification of the two.
The other one was the notification that had popped up during the boss fight. The title of the notification read 'New Features Unlocked'. As the game was revolutionising, Max expected this feature to be groundbreaking, and he was not disappointed, grinning as he perused the contents of the email.
---
[New Features unlocked]
[Luck Stat] [Critical Hits] and [Weakness Point]
[Luck Stat] - For every 10 free ATP, you can add one stat in luck. Luck affects multiple aspects such as loot, Critical hits and fortunate encounters.
Luck Stat - 1
[Critical Hits] - For each point in luck, critical hit damage rises by 0.5%, and Crit rate increases by 0.1%(Crit Damage starts at 1.5 times damage. Crit Rate starts at 5%)
[Weakness Point] - All creatures have a weakness point, and when hit, deal 1.5 times damage
---
While Max was disappointed that his luck stat was 1, he was going to work his best to increase it, but, when he checked the amount of attribute points needed to increase the stat he was astounded, as every point mattered and he wasn't looking forward to saving up to 2 levels worth of stat points just to increase his luck by 1.
Feeling reluctant, Max decided to increase his luck later, when his stats were higher and he could spare the extra ATP.
Now that Max was rich, he could finally splurge on whatever he wished for, so Max went to the potion store and, without a second thought, bought 15 HP potions and 100 MP potions. Most likely, no one else could afford this except for Max, and he had already finished 45 silver on these supplies.
After using up a lot of his gold, Max decided to put up both of his new skillbooks for sale, realising that he would require more and more money, and that he might lose his monopoly of them if he put it off too much.
After registering his new items, he wondered what could await him in the next zone.
Max also considered founding his party and guild, which would give him some teammates to depend upon, and after immense consideration between exploring the third level zone as a solo player and forming a team, he decided to stay as a solo player for the time being.
Just when Max was about to go to the third level zone, he decided to finish what he started in the second and plunder another perception talent to upgrade it to E-rank.
So he sets off to the grind once more, this time not just to kill the boss but having a personal goal instead.
He spent 2 hours in there, killing countless Rats, yet no notification came up, so he hunted some more. Finally, upon killing his 104th Giant Rat, Max got the notification he was waiting for.
[Increased Perception (F) is merging with Increased Perception (F)]
[New Talent Gained - Enhanced Perception (E)]
Even though Max could predict what his new talent entailed, he still pressed it, looking to confirm.
[E Talent - Enhanced Perception]
[Talent Description]
[This talent is half decent. It can help you sense your opponents and dodge their moves before they make it, being an overall acceptable talent.]
[Talent Effect]
[1. Increases Perception by 100%]
Now that Max had received the talent he was waiting for he could finally go to the level 3 zone, looking forward to the new talent he was to gain.
Max heard a rumour of the place he was going to, learning that it was by far the creepiest of all the levelling areas and could make grown adults piss their pants.
When he reached the outer layer, all he could see were a lot of tombs and purple smoke spreading around, blocking his view. The air was heavy, a nauseating scent almost spreading through his body.
As he followed the rough, uneven path, his instincts screamed at him to retreat. However, just as he entertained the thought of going back, he imagined KingMadwinner's smug face laughing at him, and that was all he needed to rekindle his determination.
Soon, he made his way deep into the graveyard and was ready to fight.
Unlike the previous areas, where he could still occasionally see people, Max didn't see anyone on his way here.
Not one person was in this levelling area, and Max saw it as a plus point.
'At least no one could steal my kill here, that is, if I find any monsters in the first place.'
Max was getting impatient, unable to find any monsters while actively searching for them, doubting if it was even a levelling zone, when he heard a small whisper.
Max dismissed it at first, not believing that anyone would be here without him sensing them, when he heard more whispering.
He turned around, getting ready to fight, when he saw nothing. He wondered if his enemy was hiding in the smoke, but dismissed the idea when he saw how thin the smoke was.
He got ready for a fight, waiting to find his enemy, when he suddenly felt a sharp burst of pain on his left hand.
-30
He immediately swung his staff towards it, expecting to do at least some damage, but he noticed his staff swinging through the air with no obstructions.
Changing his tactics, Max summoned a fireball towards the area where the majority of smoke had gathered.
-65
As the smoke dispersed, Max saw something he never expected to.
He saw a ghost.