ch85- Unstoppable Power

As Alex stared at his final attribute levels and HP, he was left utterly speechless. Not only had all five of his attributes surpassed SS rank, but his health had skyrocketed to over 160,000! He had been certain before that no player could possibly have more than 100,000 health, but now he found himself eating those very words.

The massive leap in HP and maxed-out attribute levels made Alex seem less like a player and more like the ultimate boss of the game, the kind you'd face in the final battle. These stats were so ridiculous that he didn't even dare to tell anyone. Not because they wouldn't believe him, but because if someone actually did believe it, he might scare them to death.

After sitting down and thinking seriously for over ten minutes, Alex could confidently conclude that he hadn't made any deals with strangers or inherited superpowers from some all-powerful deity. His parents were ordinary folks, and his missing brother, while handsome, was just a regular university student. 

Alex was stumped—he couldn't figure out why he had become so absurdly powerful. Even if he was selected to be someone's "chosen one," there was no way this kind of power-up was normal. He chuckled to himself, thinking, "If some higher being did choose me, I wonder if they could even survive one of my sword swings." Maybe he had accidentally stumbled upon a bug in the game that granted him these godlike stats.

As his mind wandered, Alex began to seriously question reality. Could it be that he had died already, and everything since then was just an elaborate fantasy? 

"Alex? Are you ready? We're about to head out!" Jessica's voice suddenly called from outside, snapping him out of his spiral of overthinking. 

"Oh, I'm ready! Be right there!" Alex responded instinctively, shaking his head with a smile. "Who cares what the reason is? Whether this is real or not, I might as well keep going!"

After buying today's **"Heart of Belos"** from the marketplace, Alex tossed it into his inventory without bothering to upgrade it just yet. He walked out of his room, gathered his classmates, and began preparing for the day's mission.

Looking at Mason and the others around him, Alex spoke cheerfully, "We have plenty of time today, so I'm thinking of upping the number of resource points we take over. Just a little bit."

"You're always pushing the limits, aren't you?" 

"No, that's called being greedy!"

"Please don't work us to death!"

Unlike the day before, when everyone was still in shock, today the group felt much more confident. After all, the number of resource points didn't necessarily correlate with difficulty. As long as they had enough time, ten resource points—or even a hundred—wouldn't be a problem.

Smiling, Alex waved off their complaints. "I found a way to get double the rewards from each task. After we clear out a resource point, we'll let the monsters take it over, and then we'll attack their nest. That way, we'll earn double the rewards, and the rewards for monster nests are even better!"

The group wasn't surprised by Alex's suggestion. After all, when they had received that "failed mission" message yesterday, they had already thought of this strategy. But since Alex was leading, they hadn't brought it up. If he hadn't mentioned it, someone else likely would have.

To give the monsters enough time to retake the resource points, Alex increased their target number to fifteen. By the time they cleared the last one, the first would have already turned into a monster nest.

With the plan set, the next step was selecting which resource points to conquer. To avoid interfering with other teams, they chose targets farther from East Sea City, moving in a circular pattern around it. This way, they wouldn't have to waste time flying back and forth; they could simply clear them out as they went.

As they set out, Mason couldn't help but comment, "Alex, it feels like you've gotten even stronger overnight. There's this aura around you now, like just standing next to you makes me nervous."

Chris quickly agreed, "Yeah, it's like in those novels where the hero has a complete transformation. Just being near you feels intimidating."

Alex chuckled warmly and casually responded, "Isn't it normal for me to double my strength every day?"

His honesty, paired with his outrageous claim, left the group speechless. They couldn't even argue, because it was, unfortunately, true. His casual remark about daily doubling made their teeth itch with frustration, but none of them dared to challenge him anymore. That aura, that pressure, was too real.

Once Jessica and the others were geared up for flight, they suddenly saw Alex shoot into the sky like a rocket, vanishing from view in an instant. The sheer force of his takeoff left the group stumbling as the shockwave from his speed cracked the ground beneath his feet.

By the time Alex realized he had flown way past East Sea City, he quickly turned back, having left his companions far behind. Landing back in front of them, Alex cleared his throat, pretending nothing had happened. "Sorry about that. My strength's increased a bit, so I had to show off a little. You understand."

Jessica and the others were somewhat used to Alex's antics by now, but Chris, ever the joker, said with a pained expression, "You don't usually show off this blatantly. You weren't even trying to look cool just now, which somehow makes it even worse!"

Alex had always been mindful of his teammates, never revealing his full strength. What had just happened wasn't him trying to show off; it was him being unable to control his own power. This realization only made Mason and the others feel even more helpless. How could anyone in this world possibly be this strong?

Alex was indeed struggling to manage his newfound speed. Although Agility was still his lowest attribute, his leap from D-level to SS had increased his actual speed by several dozen times. Trying to move at the same pace as his classmates was now far harder than pushing his abilities to their limits.

In the end, Alex decided to split up from the group. While they were still on their way to the first resource point, he used the time to scout ahead and take a look at the fifteen targets they planned to conquer.