Chapter 7: 50 Water Slimes and 2 Players

I doubt this talent shows up for other players too. But killing 50 monsters in three days using only Skill 1? That’s insane!

Still… the reward is worth it. My Skill 1 will jump up by a ton.

Ethan stood from the edge of the bed and slowly walked to the corner of the room, right in front of the window.

He looked down at the busy streets of the city center—some were players, others were NPCs.

Compared to the first day, the third day already looked much better. The chaos was gone, and the panic had faded from people’s hearts.

They seemed to have accepted their fate. After all, they were stuck in a fantasy game—something new and exciting for a gamer.

But that won’t last forever. If boredom sets in, the anxiety will come back.

If someone stronger appeared who could defeat the Three Gods, maybe everyone could go home.

Ethan froze for a moment, then realized something shocking. He had never thought about it before because he’d been too focused on leveling his character.

It was about the main quest that every player had—defeat the Three Gods and escape the game.

If players could log out safely once the gods were beaten, then the government would shut the game down and close the servers.

“That means my life ends here when the game dies.”

“Ah, damn it!”

“This is confusing.”

In short, to survive, Ethan would have to work with the Three Gods—protecting them from the millions of players in the game trying to kill them.

Do I need to take the villain route here? I have to, if I want the game to stay alive.

As long as the Three Gods survive, I survive. And so does the Tower of Ascension.

Ethan shook off the thought. Nobody knew where the gods were, and players weren’t nearly strong enough yet to challenge them.

With no more top-ups or pay-to-win, the game was now completely F2P. Everything came down to fighting skill, exploration, and teamwork.

“All right. I can’t waste time anymore. The higher floors might already be working together to conquer each level,” Ethan muttered.

“If I keep delaying, I won’t grow strong enough to stop them. In the end, my death will be because of my own laziness.”

Resolving himself, Ethan left his room and knocked on Elle’s door. She opened it, looking half-asleep.

“What is it, Ethan?” she asked.

“I’m going out to hunt low-level monsters. Since you’re tired, you should rest,” Ethan said.

“Hunting low-level monsters at night? Aren’t you exhausted?” Elle asked, yawning.

“I’m running out of time. I’ll hunt in the hills. If you get bored, you can come join me.”

“I’m sleepy. I’ll probably just sleep.”

“Don’t die out there, Ethan.”

“Of course not. It’s way too early for me to die,” Ethan joked.

Elle’s door closed. Ethan left the inn and walked through the city streets alone. His steps stopped when he spotted a supply shop selling all kinds of gear.

He decided to go in. The shop wasn’t empty—three others were there, one guy and two girls.

“Welcome,” the shop clerk greeted.

Ethan nodded and went to the counter to buy what he needed. They had armor sets, weapons, potions, and crystals, but the gear was all common quality.

“Give me 10 MP potions and HP potions, both level 2,” Ethan said.

[Transaction]

[Item: 10x MP Potion Lv.2 || 10x HP Potion Lv.2]

[Total Cost: 400 gold]

[Proceed with purchase? Y/N]

Ethan nodded and pressed confirm. The items appeared, and he stored them in his inventory.

With nothing else to buy, he left the shop. But two guys inside gave him suspicious looks, watching him as he walked away.

Later, Ethan arrived at the hills, where plenty of slimes spawned. There weren’t 50 of them at once, but he could wait for respawns.

He drew his sword and swung sideways, triggering Skill 1. His power had grown since earlier—two strikes were enough to kill the slimes.

[Water Slime (Lv.1) || HP: 0/50]

Not only did the slime’s HP panel pop up, but the Talent Quest panel also appeared, counting each kill.

[Talent Quest]

[Monsters killed: 10]

Ethan smiled. The quest counted slimes as valid monsters.

Perfect. I don’t have to risk fighting stronger ones just to clear this mission.

All right. Better than I thought. Time to hunt.

He kept swinging his sword, cutting through wave after wave of slimes.

[Talent Quest]

[Monsters killed: 45]

Almost there.

The timer on the upper-left panel showed he’d only spent about an hour hunting. Ethan was confident he’d finish the quest within minutes.

Ten minutes later, his last sweeping slash cut down the group of slimes. The count went past the requirement.

[Talent Quest]

[Monsters killed: 62]

[Congratulations! Quest Complete]

[1. Defeat 50 monsters (Lv.1–5) using only Skill 1 || CLEAR]

[Time Left: 70:45:23]

[Reward: Skill 1 Lv.1 → Skill 1 Lv.10]

Ethan’s whole body ached as the quest ended. His hands burned, his chest felt tight, and a dark red aura flared around him, reacting to the massive boost to Skill 1.

[Congratulations! Skill Level Up]

[Buff: Infinite Skill Level || MP Efficiency + Infinite Rage]

[Desc: MP cost reduced. Rage Infinite increases damage by 5x.]

[Skill 1: Crimson Slash || Lv.10]

[Cost: 100 MP → 75 MP]

[Effect: 45% Physical Damage + Bleed 15 HP/sec for 7 sec → 225% Physical Damage + Bleed 75 HP/sec for 7 sec]

Slowly, the pain faded as the system panel appeared. His breathing steadied, the heat in his hands vanished, and he finally felt relief.

The mission was over. No need to kill more slimes.

[Congratulations! You killed a monster]

[Name: Water Slime (Lv.1) || New Record]

[+620 EXP]

[Congratulations! You leveled up]

[Level 10 → Level 12]

[EXP: 1970/1950]

[+20 AP]

[Congratulations! You obtained loot:]

[+600 gold] [62x Slime Jelly Skin (Common)]

As Ethan checked his system panel, he heard footsteps behind him.

Turning around, he saw two men with swords—both warriors—coming toward him.

“Impressive. You spent the whole night killing slimes. Afraid people will see you’re a loser?” one of them mocked.

“You guys… weren’t you at the item shop earlier?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah. Hand over that gold if you want to live,” the other said.

Ethan smirked, facing forward again.

“I’ve got plenty of gold. If you can beat me, take it all.”

“You’re asking for it!”

Both men charged at him. Ethan gripped his sword tightly, swinging it sideways.

My Skill 1’s power has increased. Time to see if it’s worth it.

With a heavy swing, he released a deep maroon slash, crackling with sparks of lightning.

The two warriors froze, shocked. They planted their swords into the ground, forming a magic shield.

But when Ethan’s slash struck, the shield cracked under the force.

“What?!” they shouted.

The barrier shattered, and both men were cut down instantly.

[KurohigeAsh (Lv.7) || HP: 0/350]

[JackSparrowLite (Lv.8) || HP: 0/400]

[You killed another player!]

[Warning! Penalty applied]

[Penalty: PK Title + Red Name for 1 week]

Ethan felt nothing—but he watched the two players collapse, dead on the spot.

The truth was simple—his physical damage was far higher than their HP.

Base ATK 198… Skill 1 damage at 225%. That’s 198 x 2.25 = 445.5 damage.

“Talent: Infinite Skill Level… I wonder how strong it’ll be once Skills 2 and 3 get boosted like this.”

“I could become the strongest, even before reaching level 50.”

Still, his mind lingered on the penalty.

“PK… Player Kill. Will people look at me differently now?”

“I should head back before too many notice their deaths.”

Ethan came back to the inn that night, right at midnight when most of the players were already asleep. In the end, he managed to return without anyone noticing.

Elle was still fast asleep in her room, not disturbed at all by Ethan’s return.

He went back to his own room and got ready for bed—until the Talent Quest panel suddenly popped up again.

[Talent Quest:]

[2. Collect 25 Bone Beast-Type Monsters]

[Duration: 72:00:00]

[Reward: Skill 2 Lv. 1 → Skill 2 Lv. 10]

Oh crap!

Ethan let out a long sigh as he read the next mission from the talent quest. The system was asking him to gather 25 bones from beast-type monsters.

If he remembered correctly, Dire Wolves were considered beast-type monsters.

“This is insane. Where am I supposed to hunt that many beast-type monsters?”

Too much info for one day. I need to sleep and rest.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep