Soaring Levels

I was not some self-sacrificing fool, but I was also the only one with nothing to lose from a death. As I was Lv1, my level could not drop any lower. I also had no equipment that I could lose. 

If I really died, all I would lose was 30 minutes of my time. 

This gave me the confidence to face the Dog and hopefully prevent the team from being wiped out. If the Dog focused on me, it would also give HardBro enough time to catch up. 

With this thought in mind, I bravely confronted the Dog. It bared its fangs at me with a loud grrrr, warning me to get out of the way but I did not move. The Wild Dog walked closer in response and the putrid stench from its mouth wafted to my nose, almost burning my nose hair. 

I made a slashing motion with the dull knife, making it step backwards but it saw through my ruse. With a loud bark, it pounced towards me. My heart thumped as the Wild Dog came at me with its wide-open maws, ready to bite off a piece of flesh from my body. 

At that instant, I did not have a chance or time to think of a plan. I instinctively stretched out my right hand and stabbed my dull knife at the Dog, hoping it would deter the beast. 

I never intended to fight the beast, as the level of suppression in Dreamverse was brutal. For every level, one would face a penalty of a 5% reduction in attributes up to a maximum of 30%! 

As such, my already low attack had been lowered by 20% more as soon as I faced the Wild Dog. Let alone killing it, I should not even be able to penetrate its skin! 

Yet, the unexpected happened. 

With a loud puchi, the dull knife in my hands pierced the Wild Dog's eye! 

It was a Critical Hit!

The Dog stood rooted in its place from pain and surprise. It let out a low, threatening growl while my knife was still embedded in its right eye. Before it could recover and resume its attack, I pushed the knife further in, trying to deal as much damage as possible. 

Suddenly, I encountered some resistance which stopped my knife from going further but I pushed in with all of my strength and drilled through the resistance, not letting go of this chance.

The 7-inch blade was now buried to the hilt in the Dog's eye socket, and bold red words appeared above its head, shocking everyone. 

-484 (Lethal) 

It was actually a Lethal Strike, the special feature that could kill any opponent in one hit regardless of its health bar! I watched as the Wild Dog let out a whimper of pain. It swayed on the spot before falling to the ground, dead. 

I looked at the Dog and then at the dumbfounded HardBro, who had just caught up with us. The cheeky grin on his face was replaced by a dazed shock, and he yelled, 

"Dafuq!? What Dogshit luck is this?"

I agreed, as even I could not believe what had just happened. My body had moved on its own, and I had delivered a Lethal Strike. It was such a weird sensation that I felt like I was dreaming. 

I looked at the small knife in my hands absentmindedly, unable to determine what that feeling was. Suddenly, a ding sounded beside my ears, letting me know it was definitely not a dream. 

[You have killed an Lv5 Wild Dog. You have gained 225 exp.] 

Immediately after, I was bathed in white light. My experience bar shined brightly, and my level increased to 2. 

All my worries about the unusual experience disappeared as soon as I leveled up. I opened the notification, and my eyes widened with shock. 

"Damn! 225 Exp!" 

I could not contain my joy after seeing the number. 

From what I had read on the forums, an Lv1 Biting Sheep only gave around 25 Exp points. You had to kill 6 of them to level up once, and yet killing a single Wild Dog had helped me level up. 

It was not because Wild Dogs gave me too much exp, but because of the level difference between us. 

I was merely Lv1 when I killed the Lv5 Wild Dog. Hence, I received 80% more exp, 20% extra for each level difference. 

Dreamverse was fair in that aspect. A player faced 5% attribute suppression for each level difference and would be compensated with an extra 20% exp per difference in level if they could still emerge victorious. 

While I reveled in my level up, Zamir had returned. He helped Stivi and BigSoftie weaken the two dogs until only a sliver of their health was left. 

"Samar, kill these two as well!" 

Zamir called out as he grabbed one of the Wild Dogs by his neck and sliced the tendons of his limbs, making it immobile. All I had to do was deliver the last hit, reaping their lives and exp. 

"Coming!"

I rushed towards the dogs with the dull knife in my hands, eager to enjoy the feeling of leveling up once again. 

This time I was not so lucky. I did not trigger that strange state, and my attack only cut the Wild Dog in its neck. 

-7

A pitiful number floated above the Dog's head, making me speechless. My attack was already pitifully low at only 12 points. On top of that, the level suppression penalty lowered it even further by a total of 15%. 

The final attack of 10 points was barely enough to penetrate the Dog's defense. 

Had I not triggered a Lethal Strike earlier, it would've been impossible for me to injure that Dog, let alone kill it. 

Realizing my weakness, I decided to use the stat points I obtained from my recent level-up. 

I was tempted to put all 4 of my stat points in Strength to increase damage, but I decided against it. A good Archer needed both Strength and Agility. So, I allocated two points each to the two stats. 

I looked at my 10 points of Strength and 8 points of Agility and then at my attack power which had risen to 15 points. 

A smile of satisfaction appeared on my face as this attack power was higher than most Lv 4 players who did not possess a weapon. 

Feeling confident, I once again sliced at the Wild Dog's neck. 

-12

A much bigger number appeared above the Dog's head, but it was not enough to kill it. The Dog snarled and was about to bite me when Zamir stepped forward and restrained it. 

"This one also has only 1% HP left. Kill that Dog quickly and come here!"

Stivi shouted at us, fending off the other Wild Dog with the help of BigSoftie. 

I increased the speed of my attacks after her reminder. The last few health points of the Wild Dog disappeared, and it too fell to the ground, dead.

[You have killed an Lv5 Wild Dog. You have gained 200 exp.] 

Another white light flashed and I rose to Lv3. I quickly distributed the 4 points from my recent level up to Strength and Agility, 2 points each raising my attack even more. 

Zamir and I quickly went over and took care of the other Wild Dog too. After killing the dogs, my exp bar had filled to almost 80%, and I needed just one more kill to level up again. 

If I could maintain this speed, maybe I would really reach Lv10 by the evening! However, I knew I was daydreaming. My successive level ups were only possible because I was hunting Wild Dogs 4 levels above me.

As my levels increased, the Exp I received from Wild Dogs had also decreased as was evidenced by the second notification. 

However, the factor that slowed down the leveling speed of the players the most was their need for rest.

All of us needed a break after every intense battle. A player was not just using his game character to fight in the game but also his body in real world. After all, his in game avatar only imitated his body's actions in the VR room. 

As time passed, players would get used to it but it was the very first day of the game. Right now, we were tired. So, we sat down to recuperate our frayed nerves and depleted energy. 

"That was intense." 

Stivi commented, taking in large gulps of air. As she breathed, the exaggerated movement of her chest did not go unnoticed. 

I moved my gaze away from her flushed form and gazed toward the dead Wild Dogs. At the moment, they were even more alluring than her heaving chest, as they would be my first loot in Dreamverse! 

I quickly checked the corpse. As soon as my hands touched one of the corpses, it rapidly turned to dust, leaving behind only one bony white fang. 

"Damn! Such bad luck!" 

I cursed as I picked up the fang. Zamir and HardBro smirked, seeing my frustration. They watched me as I moved to the other two corpses. 

These corpses also turned to dust but left 3 more White Fangs behind. I picked them up and handed them to Stivi, only to see the shock on everyone's faces. 

"Haha! Jackpot!"

HardBro laughed raucously as Zamir looked at me with a smile. Even shy Mamamia and constipated BigSoftie looked happy by the harvest. 

"Hey, have they gone… cuckoo?"

I whispered to Stivi, hesitating for a lack of a polite word. I did not receive an immediate answer from her. When I looked at her face, I saw that even Stivi looked at the junk White Fangs with a wide grin! 

What the Hell? Even Stivi is a gone case? Could anyone tell me what the hell was going on? 

Was I the only sane person left in this world?