Lethal Advantage

Kaelen calculated the raw numbers on his glowing interface, his pulse thrumming against his temples. Every single point of Agility he gained moving forward came with a game-breaking bonus. His stealth mode effectiveness increased by a flat hundred percent. This meant that once his Stealth skill reached a specific threshold, he could remain invisible indefinitely. There would be no cooldown gaps and no visibility windows for his enemies to exploit.

Then came the combat multipliers. Attacking an enemy from behind doubled his base power. Striking from a hidden state boosted his movement speed, attack speed, attack power, and critical rate by fifty percent, while doubling his critical damage.

The math was staggering. If he started with a base attack of one hundred, a backstab pushed it to two hundred. The hidden state modifier bumped that to three hundred. A guaranteed critical hit skyrocketed the final output to an astonishing six hundred. His base attack power essentially sextupled before he even acquired a single piece of decent gear. Assassins thrived on one-hit kills. With this kind of instantaneous firepower, even a heavily armored Dragon Knight would crumble in seconds. If he continued to grow stronger at this pace, the gods of this world would eventually fall to his blade.

A mechanical chime interrupted his thoughts. The system countdown hit zero.

"Do you wish to log into Clash of Immortals?"

Kaelen confirmed the prompt without hesitation. A blinding flash of white light swallowed his vision, depositing him directly into the center of Emberpeak Town.

The quiet novice village from his past life memories was gone. Millions of freshly spawned players shoved against one another in a chaotic, bustling sea of bodies. Voices clashed in a deafening roar as people tried to figure out the game mechanics. During his previous life, he had entered the game a week late and missed this initial frenzy. He navigated his inventory interface with practiced ease, pulling out his starting items.

Rough Dagger. Rough Tunic. Rough Pants. Worn Boots.

He slipped into the familiar, worn starter gear. A long-missed sense of supreme comfort washed over his digital body. Most beginners were already grabbing their basic weapons and charging outside to grind low-level monsters. Kaelen knew better. Running out empty-handed to be mauled by Redfur Rabbits was a fool's errand. He needed to secure basic class skills first.

He shoved his way through the dense crowd, using his shoulders to clear a path. He ignored the complaints of the players he elbowed aside and headed straight east toward Elder Bramwell.

The elderly NPC stood near a wooden stall, watching the chaotic influx of players. He turned his attention to Kaelen. "You're a new Adventurer? What brings you here?"

"I want to learn the starting skills for the Thief class." Kaelen met the NPC's gaze, skipping the usual pleasantries.

Elder Bramwell stroked his white beard, his tone shifting into a rehearsed lecture. "There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world, young one. Learning skills requires payment, and I fear you might not—"

"Money is no problem. Show me the skills." Kaelen cut him off.

Three glowing skill icons materialized in the air between them. Stealth cost fifty copper coins. Sprint cost fifty copper coins. Fatal Ambush cost one hundred copper coins. Two other skills, Twin Thrust and Pickpocket, sat at the bottom of the list, priced at ten silver coins each.

Every new adventurer started with exactly two hundred copper coins. Kaelen purchased Stealth, Sprint, and Fatal Ambush without a second thought. The knowledge of the skills embedded itself into his mind. He intentionally left Twin Thrust and Pickpocket behind for later when his funds replenished. His virtual pockets were now empty.

He turned his back on the noisy town gates and headed straight for the treacherous back hills. He set his sights on the distant Wyrmcrash Cliff.

Atop those specific hills lay the prison of the Cloud Serpent. The sealed ancient beast possessed immense power. In Kaelen's vivid memories, the creature had eventually broken free from its bindings and mercilessly slaughtered over a hundred thousand innocent citizens. Kaelen himself had been the one to hunt it down years later, claiming its coveted SSS-Rank divine-level skill book, Soulreave Venom. The fully developed version of that poison bypassed all defenses and could rot the flesh of deities.

Originally, his plan had been to level up and acquire high-tier gear before daring to face the beast. His new Heavenveil class changed everything. Phantom Touch inherently ignored all physical and magical defenses while guaranteeing a hundred percent pickpocket success rate. He didn't need to wait months to fight the beast in a grueling raid. He could simply walk right up to the sealed monster and steal the divine skill today.

As he marched onward, the chaotic chatter of recruiting players slowly faded. The landscape grew darker, the ambient noise replaced by stark warnings from returning scouts.

"Does anyone want to help me level up? I'm a Cleric with great healing."

"Don't think I don't know, a level zero Cleric has no heals."

"Team up to farm rabbits! Need a Tank Knight!"

A group of players rushed past Kaelen, their faces pale. One of them stopped and yelled at the crowd. "The area ahead belongs exclusively to Level 3 Razorboars! Walking in at Level 0 is a guaranteed death sentence!"

Another scout nodded frantically, waving his wooden staff. "Several coordinated guilds already attempted to farm the boars. They got wiped out in under a minute! All of them got ported back to town for free!"

Kaelen kept walking, his pace steady.

The scout noticed him heading toward the tree line and scoffed. "Hey! Why won't you listen? You can't reason with the foolish. Go ahead and get yourself killed if you want."

Kaelen ignored the mockery. He understood their genuine concern, but he was no rookie charging blindly into danger. The Razorboars were brutal, fast, and lethal to any unprepared player. If he dared to step into their territory at Level 0, it was because he possessed a flawless plan. He adjusted his grip on the rough dagger and stepped past the invisible boundary line into the dark woods.