Chapter 47: Entering The Rankings

After clearing the area, Adam didn’t slow down.

He went after more Sirens, this time with a pattern in mind.

It didn’t take long to notice. Regions where the air felt heavier, where humidity clung to the skin and stagnant water pooled unnaturally close together, those were their nesting grounds. A simple observation, but a decisive one.

The descriptions didn’t mention this; one had to figure it out on their own. It wasn’t because it was too difficult, but because it was too simple to notice.

Once he understood that, the swamp stopped feeling vast.

His search tightened.

His efficiency skyrocketed.

Sirens surfaced only to die.

Twenty-two.

Thirty-four.

Fifty-six.

Sixty-seven

Eighty-eight.

At some point, Adam lost count.

He was on a streak, his roster filling with clean kills. No hesitation. No mercy. Every Siren that revealed itself dissolved into motes of light moments later. Digital or not, monsters were monsters.

Game is still game.

Adam was a menace.

He was moving toward another humid cluster when the world abruptly shifted.

A notification flared into existence before his eyes.

Adam halted mid-step, caught completely off guard. He’d been so deep in the flow state that the sudden intrusion snapped him out of it.

The text hovered in the air:

[You have entered the solo hunt rankings for Extermination Mode in Essence Online.]

Adam blinked.

“…What?”

Before he could process it, another line appeared beneath the first:

[You may now view your current position on the game leaderboard.]

Adam stared at the message for a second before muttering,

“How do I do that?”

The system answered immediately.

A translucent ranking interface unfolded in front of him, layers of light stacking neatly into place as a scrolling list materialized before his eyes.

****

The moment Adam’s name entered the leaderboard, people noticed.

Essence Online wasn’t some small, niche game, it was global.

There were millions of players across regions, servers, and time zones. Stepping into any ranking, no matter how low or new, was enough to turn heads.

It meant one thing and one thing only: you were doing something right… or something insane.

The game had three major ranking structures.

First was the Main Ranking, encompassing every player regardless of mode, it was a brutal hierarchy dominated by monsters and veterans.

Then came the Mode Rankings, split between Extermination Mode and Battle Mode, where specialists carved out their reputations.

Finally, there were the Game Rankings, sub-rankings tied to a specific game.

Adam had just entered one of those.

The Solo Hunt – Ranking.

And that alone was enough to light a fire.

Within minutes, the Essence Online forum erupted.

Rando123: bro just joined the game and already entered the rankings

NanaPacCliff: and he only did it from a single map, how insane

CNTplayer: The person upstairs is right. What dedication. We might have a stagnant water in our mist very soon

GG3000: pfft… what type of username is PtsDaddy T_T

NanaPacCliff: has blocked GG3000

Rando123: has blocked GG3000

CNTplayer: added GG3000 as friend

The thread exploded, replies stacking faster than moderators could skim them.

Speculation ran wild. Some called it luck. Others suspected an alt account. A few whispered about whales or exploits.

None of them were right.

The Essence Online forum was in chaos, and it was all because of one person.

A player who didn’t care in the slightest.

Deep within the swamp, Adam stood quietly, eyes scanning the glowing ranking list hovering in front of him.

[Solo Hunt Ranking]

-1989- ****

-1990- ****

-1991- ****

-1992- PtsDaddy — 1021 points

Adam stared at it for a long moment.

Beside his name was, his avatar profile but thanks to the anonymity setting he’d enabled, it showed nothing more than a cloaked figure, face hidden in shadow.

“1992 out of 2000,” he muttered. “Not bad.”

The words came easily, but the truth was he was stunned.

He hadn’t even known he was earning points.

The position was one thing, but the number beside his name caught his attention even more.

1021 points. That wasn’t something you stumbled into accidentally.

Curious, Adam tapped the small (i) icon beside [solo hunt ranking].

Information expanded instantly.

What he learned was simple, but important.

This leaderboard was exclusive to the Solo Hunt game. Not Extermination or Battle Mode as a whole. Just this specific game.

Anyone below the top 2000 technically existed, but without enough solo hunt points, they didn’t qualify to appear.

In the grand scheme of Essence Online, this ranking was minor.

Compared to the Mode Rankings or the World Ranking, this was barely a bronze league.

Still…

Reaching it this fast?

That was noteworthy.

Adam nodded slowly, understanding settling in.

He then tapped the (i) icon beside his own name.

A second panel appeared.

Playtime.

Active games.

Accumulated points.

Session history.

“So the only thing that stays anonymous,” Adam said quietly, “is my appearance.”

Everything else was visible.

And that’s when he noticed something else, something buried in the details.

A crucial piece of information.

The true value of points.

Essence Online was a popular game, but its mechanics weren’t common knowledge.

Non-players or fans knew the name. They knew it was exclusive. They knew only martial artists could log in. Beyond that? Nothing.

It was the same way someone might know League of Legends just because everyone talked about it, yet have no idea what a Nexus actually was. Surface familiarity without real understanding.

Adam was exactly the same.

He knew of Essence Online. He knew it wasn’t accessible to ordinary people. That was it. No guides. No deep dives. No theorycrafting. Him logging in tonight hadn’t been planned, it was a whim, nothing more.

Other than that shallow awareness, his mind had been completely blank.

Which was why what he just discovered hit him like a truck.

“…There’s a shop?”

Adam said it slowly, disbelief thick in his voice.

He’d been hunting bare-handed this entire time. No conduit. No weapon. He’d assumed drops worked like every other game, kill monsters, loot gear, move on. The idea that monsters didn’t drop weapons at all hadn’t even crossed his mind.

Not only did monsters give points, but those points could be spent in a shop.

“They should at least make this option visible,” Adam muttered irritably. “How is a newbie supposed to know this?”

A pause.

“…Don’t tell me saying ’menu’ brings up the menu.”

It did.

Adam exhaled slowly.

He was good at the game, thanks to his talents and instincts. But at the same time, he might have been the worst player imaginable. Zero preparation. Zero system knowledge. Running on raw ability alone.

After calming himself down, Adam finally brought up the menu properly. His eyes skimmed through it quickly, already planning to buy at least a basic weapon before continuing the hunt.

Then the menu vanished.

A system notification appeared instead.

[Your time is up.]

“…You’ve got to be—”

Adam didn’t even get to finish cursing.

His body broke apart, dissolving into motes of light as the swamp vanished around him, the world blinking out as he was forcibly ejected from the game.

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