Chapter 10 - Going Beyond Beginner Status

Instantly, Broken readied himself as five players suddenly encircled him from every direction. From Boo-ba's report and their aggressive posturing, it was obvious that these players had murderous intentions.

"Tsk!" The warrior class shook his head in disbelief. "Useless," he exclaimed firmly, a cruel smile appearing on his face. "Why are we robbing this poor soul?" he asked, gesturing to the figure standing before them. "Just look at him. He doesn't even have any clothes on."

"Ha ha ha." The other replied, "Maybe it would be more enjoyable if we still teach this player a lesson. He has the audacity to come to such a dangerous place. It seems he wants to play games with us."

"Yeah, look at his name, Broken!" one of them chuckled. "I wonder what he was thinking when he chose that name! And look at him now—walking around here naked! Has he lost his mind?"

Broken swallowed hard, struggling to think of a way to fight the five players. A quick glance revealed they were not high-level players, likely between levels 20-50. Unfortunately, some players had a sick hobby of mistreating new players simply for their own amusement.

Standing menacingly beside Broken, Polly growled and snarled at the player killers.

"Hey, look at that," one of them said, gesturing toward the spirit. "Can we take that from him? It looks pretty cute."

"A three-tailed fox?" another questioned, curiosity glinting in their eyes. "Will it grow more tails as it develops?"

"And will it turn into a beautiful woman if it grows even more? I mean, having a spirit beast that can take a human form would be fun," another suggested.

"A spirit is soul bound, you dumbass. And all that's on your mind is your libido, idiot." another revised.

"But at least, we can reduce its level to one, and after that, its proud spirit beast will abandon him," another corrected.

Broken smiled faintly at their words, musing inwardly, "They don't know that my level is already zero, so I won't get another level reduction penalty, even if I die." He thought to himself.

When players died in Immortal Legacy, the consequences were severe; they would not only lose a portion of their experience, but also have their level reduced. Even those players who were hostile and bickering with each other were willing to go so far as to make the person they despised suffer the most extreme punishment possible by bringing them back down to level 1. this was the most punishing form of torture for Immortal Legacy players, the most extreme form of punishment available to players.

Gaining experience for high-level players can be a time-consuming and laborious process, let alone leveling up. Consequently, it is essential to do whatever is necessary to avoid being killed at all costs!

In addition to the level reduction penalty, if a player were to die, any items they had equipped or were carrying would fall out of their inventory - such as weapons, armor, or anything else. Consequently, no matter how challenging the situation, a player would never willingly allow themselves to be killed by anyone unless their allies were able to secure any dropped items, even if that was due to them being defeated by monsters. However, if they were to die from a player kill, all their goods would be taken by the killer.

"You won't get anything by PK-ing me, hahaha..." Broken said with a mischievous chuckle on his face. "Are you just having fun with your stupid actions? Don't you realize how risky these actions are? You could easily be thrown in prison by the kingdom."

Players of the Immortal Legacy game can opt to increase the sensation of pain they feel during the game, ranging from a light 5% to a more intense 30%. This simulated pain transmission was similar to a slight electric shock at its lowest level and a light blow across multiple body parts at its highest.

Nevertheless, the experience was incredibly realistic due to the sensation of pain and the players' complete immersion in the game, almost as if they were living in another world. Some players even devoted their entire lives to the Immortal Legacy.

In order to ensure that players didn't get too immersed in the game and neglect their physical lives, Immortal Legacy imposed a rule that players could only log in for a maximum of sixteen hours per day. After that, a mandatory waiting period of eight hours was put in place to make sure that no one spent days on end in the game, unaware of the outside world.

"With the class I have, and only one sword," Broken said thoughtfully, "it looks like I'm going to have a tough time fighting them. Hmm...what can I do to take them on?"

He checked the skills in his Novice class, attempting to recall what he could do with his current abilities.

[Class: Novice - 3 Skills]

[First Aid (Active Skill) Lv. 1]

[Grants the user the ability to heal their own wounds.]

[Heal yourself for 10 HP; this is only basic healing, which unfortunately won't be of much help in battle. This is the reason why it is important to improve your level and gain better skills.

Mana Cost: 10

Cooldown: 5 seconds.]

"Skills for the Novice class are really just the basics of the game," Broken chuckled lightly, considering his basic healing skills. "The amount of healing it produces is indeed very low, but that's to be expected since it's made for novice players. So, this skill won't be very useful if someone was not in a safe situation."

[Melee Attack (Active Skill) Lv. 1]

[This skill involves close-range physical combat using weapons such as swords, maces, and axes.]

[Inflict a powerful melee attack using 160% of your physical attack power on your opponent. This strategy is sure to help you triumph over the lowly slimes.

Mana Cost: 10

Cooldown: 5 seconds.]

[Ranged Attack (Active Skill) Lv. 1]

[This skill involves using ranged weapons such as bows or guns to attack enemies from a distance.]

[Launch long-range assaults on your opponents with an impressive 140% physical attack! Make sure to save yourself, but there is still much potential to enhance your skills.

Mana Cost: 5

Cooldown: 3 seconds.]

"But then," Broken continued, "there is one thing that is unique about the Novice Class: they can simultaneously use two skills for both melee and ranged weapons. Unfortunately, the weapons they can use are only of low tier, so the damage done isn't that great, and they won't be able to take advantage of a weapon with a higher tier."

He was aware that he wouldn't be penalized with a level reduction if he were to die, and, moreover, he wasn't carrying anything substantial, apart from the Ironwood sword he had already used so often; he wouldn't have much to lose.

Humiliation was something that Broken could not take lightly. He was determined to put up a fight before allowing himself to be killed by those player killers.

In addition, he now has a spirit beast that can assist him in battle. At least Polly can distract the player killers a bit while he attempts to eliminate one of them.

"Are you ready, Polly?" Broken exclaimed, his excitement palpable. Polly shifted into her larger form, her eyes gleaming with delight as she menacingly growled at the five opponents before her.

"Look at that," one of them said, gesturing towards Broken. "Our cute noob is trying to fight back. I think this will be more fun; how about we just beat him up? It seems he really wants his level to drop to level 1!"

[Self Transcendence Blessing and the Novice Class had an unexpected interaction, resulting in an unforeseen development.]

"Huh?" At the same time, Broken noticed a notification appear in front of him.

"What's this?" he asked, perplexed.

[With the permission of the most powerful and majestic goddess of Sloth, the Novice Class will be upgraded to an advanced class!]

"Are all the skills I have received thus far still not enough?" Broken asked incredulously.

[The player has been granted a new class: Super Novice.]

"A Super Novice?" Broken swallowed hard, realizing once again he had something he didn't expect. He had never heard of a class with such a name. "This is surely beyond what the blessing is called. It seems this class is designed for players who don't meet the level criteria for an advanced specific class. Then, what skills does this class offer?"

Broken was trying to prepare himself for any potential attacks he might face soon, but he was also eager to learn all the new skills he had just acquired with his new class.

"Alright," he whispered. "Show me the skill lists for the Super Novice Class," he asked quietly. Immediately, a flood of information about all the abilities he had just gained presented itself to him.