"Open Reputation Shop!" Isaac hesitated for a moment, then decided not to log out just yet.
A translucent interface popped up in front of him.
He currently had 5 points of Monster Reputation, and only two items in the shop were within his reach:
[Talent Evolution Shard (Tier 0)] and [Quality Evolution Point (Star 0)]
Isaac remembered seeing those in his status panel earlier:
[Talent Evolution Shard: 0/10 (Tier 0 Shards)]
[Quality Evolution Point: 0/10 (Star 0 Points)]
So these Reputation Shop materials were exactly what he needed to upgrade his Talent and Quality!
"If I can earn XP Orbs, then that means I can level up. And if I collect enough Shards and Points… I can evolve too?" Isaac frowned in thought.
"Wait… before players pick a class, they don't even have a Talent. Mine might be trash, but at least I have one… and I've got a weapon too!" He glanced at the rough wooden club in his hand. Those girls had said it could go for $200–300!
To be honest, Isaac hadn't joined Celestia: The Eternal Realms to become a champion or flirt with NPCs—he was here for one reason: to make money.
If he could level up and evolve, maybe turning into a monster wasn't such a bad deal after all.
With that in mind, he shelved the idea of logging out.
"Killing players gives XP Orbs and Monster Reputation… what about killing mobs?" Isaac looked around at his "teammates."
Level 1 Feeble Hyenamen were only slightly stronger than level 1 players. Thanks to a healing potion one of the girls had used, they'd managed to leave three Hyenamen nearly dead, and two more at critical HP.
Why hadn't they used more potions? Simple—potions had cooldowns, and the girls hadn't lasted long enough.
Isaac eyed a nearly-dead Hyenaman. He met its eyes, sighed, and raised his club. "Sorry, bro. I'm a Hyenaman with ambition."
One swing. The wounded mob collapsed instantly.
[Feeble Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 10 XP Orbs. Received Talent Evolution Shard x1 (Tier 0). Received Quality Evolution Point x1 (Star 0).]
"Holy crap—XP, Shards, and Points? Jackpot!"
"Even better, attacking these mobs doesn't make the others turn hostile!"
With his hunch confirmed, Isaac wasted no time. He quickly took out the remaining wounded Hyenamen, chugged a potion, and finished off the rest.
"50 XP Orbs… plus the 50 from before… that's 100! And I've got 5 Tier 0 Shards and 5 Star 0 Points!" His heart was practically pounding out of his chest.
If he exchanged his 5 Monster Reputation points now, he could upgrade either his Talent or Quality!
The Inferior Hyena Bloodline was complete garbage. It wasn't going to get him anywhere fast. Without hesitation, Isaac redeemed his 5 Reputation points for Star 0 Quality Points.
[Quality Evolution Point: 10/10 (Upgradeable)]
"Yes! It actually works! Upgrade!" he shouted, slamming the button.
A golden light descended onto his head. He glanced up at the floating name above him. "Feeble Hyenaman" had changed to just "Hyenaman."
"No more Feeble! No more looking up to other Hyenamen!" Isaac burst into laughter. "Let's check the panel!"
[Character Bound: Isaac]
[Race: Hyenaman]
[Quality (Star 0): Normal (No base stat modifier)]
[Level: 1 (EXP: 100/200)]
[Attributes – STR: 5 | AGI: 5 | CON: 5]
[Attack Power: Physical 7–10]
[Defense: Physical 3]
[HP: 100]
[Talent: Inferior Hyena Bloodline (Unranked): Normal attacks have a 1% chance to crit for 2x damage.]
[Talent Evolution Shard: 0/10 (Tier 0)]
[Quality Evolution Point: 0/20 (Star 1)]
[Monster Reputation: 0]
"Finally! My stats are normal!" The earlier frustration vanished in that one beam of golden light.
"Looks like I can evolve further too… huh." Isaac narrowed his jackal-like eyes, a glint of mischief flashing within. "Now this is starting to get interesting."
Having tasted success, Isaac naturally set his sights on his fellow mobs again.
Now that he was a standard Hyenaman, he could easily solo any Feeble Hyenaman nearby.
But just as he was about to make his move, a commotion erupted in the distance.
"Hey! Mobs just spawned over there—go get 'em before someone else does!"
"There are people everywhere now. And more new accounts keep popping up…"
"Shit, I just checked the official site—there are 80,000 players in the newbie village already! And the number's still rising!"
Isaac turned toward the noise and saw countless figures moving through the forest—at least a dozen, probably more.
"Damn it, that many?!" His mind raced. If they spotted him, even with his fellow Hyenamen, he'd be toast.
Forget grinding—he needed to get the hell out of here!
Without wasting another second, Isaac grabbed his club, turned on his stubby bowlegs, and bolted into the woods in a panic.
…
In Celestia: The Eternal Realms, there were three main physical stats:
Strength determined physical attack and defense.
Agility affected attack and movement speed.
Constitution dictated HP and stamina.
It was said that at level 10, players would unlock spirit power and other attributes, but that was a long way off.
Both running and attacking consumed stamina.
Isaac had no idea how far he'd gone, but by the time he collapsed next to a tree stump, he was completely out of stamina.
There were plenty of Hyenamen along the way—some in small groups, even level 2 and 3 ones—but luckily, none of them attacked him.
"Whew… this spot should be safe. No way the players are getting here anytime soon."
Sure, killing players granted Monster Reputation… but did you hear what those people were saying?
Tens of thousands of players fighting over mobs like rabid dogs. As a level 1 monster, that did not bode well for his future.
One newbie village had tens of thousands of people?
And Celestia: The Eternal Realms had only been live for a few minutes!
The very thought made Isaac's scalp tingle.
"Yeah, I'd better lay low for now. Stick to killing monsters."
Once his stamina recovered, Isaac began scouting for targets.
He was very clear about his goal: hunt only Level 1 Feeble Hyenamen.
This game was hardcore as hell. The system only gave five healing potions and 1,000 copper coins at the start. Isaac couldn't go to the newbie village to buy more, and he'd already used one potion—he had to conserve.
The good news? No matter how crowded the newbie area was, around him there were only monsters.
Literally just monsters—including himself.
And since mobs didn't aggro unless provoked, he didn't have to worry about pulling extra enemies.
So he found a Feeble Hyenaman—and went to work.
[Feeble Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 10 XP Orbs. Received Talent Evolution Shard x1 (Tier 0). Received Quality Evolution Point x1 (Star 0).]
[Feeble Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 10 XP Orbs. Received Talent Evolution Shard x1 (Tier 0). Received Quality Evolution Point x1 (Star 0).]
[Feeble Hyenaman (Level 1) killed. Gained 10 XP Orbs. Received Talent Evolution Shard x1 (Tier 0). Received Quality Evolution Point x1 (Star 0).]
…
After finally taking down five Feeble Hyenamen, Isaac paused to catch his breath and opened his character panel.
"Time to upgrade my Talent!" he said excitedly.