Buzz... buzz... buzz...
As the ringing in his ears faded.
When Rylan opened his eyes again, he found himself back at the respawn point in the Village.
He checked the time on the system panel.
The in-game time showed that five hours had passed.
However, the time he had spent in the 'Abyss of Death' was much longer than five hours.
It was then that Rylan remembered that the flow of time in some special abyss areas was different from reality.
Moreover, the time dilation ratio between some areas and reality could reach a terrifying one to one thousand.
The 'Abyss of Death' was clearly one of these special areas.
But because of this, Rylan had managed to salvage some development time in the early stages of the game.
Next, Rylan checked his status.
His talent had upgraded from D-Tier to SSS-Tier.
Honestly, he still felt like he was dreaming, even feeling a bit uneasy without confirming it.
However, just as Rylan opened the system panel.
A system prompt made Rylan pause.
[Detected that you are under a powerful curse. Your equipment 'Blade of Sanctuary' has been severely corroded and is badly damaged!]
[Detected that you are under a powerful curse. Your equipment 'Armor of Sanctuary' has been severely corroded and is badly damaged!]
[Detected...]
[Detected...]
...
Several messages in a row were about damaged equipment, and all of them happened to be from the Sanctuary series.
Seeing this, Rylan suddenly became a little nervous.
He quickly checked the effects provided by his set bonuses.
[Chosen One - Title (Damaged)]
Seeing this, Rylan's mood soured.
The Chosen One title being damaged meant that the various special effect bonuses he received from the Sanctuary Set were also nullified.
"I guess it's a trade-off."
"Or perhaps, this is the price for activating 'Phoenix Flame'!"
Rylan sighed.
However, he felt slightly relieved that the Sanctuary series equipment was only damaged, not completely gone, and the 5 extra points of Luck it provided still remained.
As long as he had the SSS-Rank(tier) talent and the Luck bonus, it was enough. Losing the special effects of the Sanctuary equipment wasn't a huge blow to Rylan.
After some thought, Rylan unequipped the Sanctuary gear and put the beginner set back on.
Then, he opened his attribute panel for a look.
...
[ShadowLord]
[Level: 1]
[EXP: 0/100]
[HP: 50]
[MP: 0]
[Talent: Master of Poison (SSS-Rank)]
[Attack: 5]
[Defense: 10]
[Strength: 2]
[Agility: 5]
[Magic: 3]
[Constitution: 4]
[Intelligence: 4]
[Movement Speed: 5]
[Luck: 10]
...
Looking at the Talent and Luck stats, a smile returned to Rylan's face.
An SSS-Rank talent, and it was one that could grow.
In Rylan's hands, this talent would surely become incredibly powerful in the future.
And the 10 points in 'Luck' was also a massive improvement.
In "Myth", Luck was an extremely rare hidden attribute.
It affected many things in the game, including monster equipment drop rates, item forging success rates, alchemy success rates...
Even the success or failure of some quests was influenced by Luck.
Furthermore, the 'Luck' attribute was the most difficult attribute to acquire in the entire "Myth" online game.
In his previous life, Rylan had struggled in the game for several years, and his Luck attribute ended up being only 2 points.
Even so, among his peers, his Luck was considered relatively high.
In the "Myth" online game, most players went from the beginning to the end with their Luck attribute remaining at 0.
This showed just how precious the Luck attribute was.
10 points of Luck was a number Rylan couldn't even have imagined in his previous life.
But just then, Rylan suddenly felt a slight dizziness. He shook his head and closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, he felt a strange sensation.
He seemed to have forgotten something, and couldn't recall it no matter how hard he tried.
...
"Strange, I actually have an SSS-Rank talent? This talent only deals 1 point of damage per second, it doesn't seem that strong."
"And I need to kill monsters 10 levels higher than me to get buffs? Is that even possible?"
Just as Rylan was spacing out, an annoyed voice suddenly came from behind him.
"What are you fucking doing!"
"Blocking the respawn point so nobody can get out!?"
Rylan turned his head and saw two players staring at him unhappily.
"Forget it, I'll turn in the quests first. I think I completed several quests earlier."
Rylan didn't pay them much mind and left the respawn point.
The game had just launched; this was no time to daze off. He had to seize the time to develop his strength.
Besides, right now, his backpack was still filled with a large amount of materials he had gathered earlier.
"Turn in all the quests I need to!"
"Then buy one or two pieces of equipment, it's time to leave the Beginner Village!"
Clenching his fist, Rylan then started turning in quests in the Beginner Village.
...
Five minutes later.
Rylan had turned in all the basic quests he had accepted earlier.
Because the resources he gathered included high-grade materials, the quest-giving NPCs were very satisfied, not only giving Rylan double rewards but also increasing their affinity level with him to some extent.
At the same time, Rylan also gained permission to purchase some hidden items and equipment from these NPCs.
This could be considered a hidden easter egg within the beginner quests.
After turning in these quests, the only quest left in Rylan's log was the 'Corrupted Rose' quest.
Soon, he returned to the alley entrance and saw 'Homeless Man Alistair' again.
Only now, Alistair was surrounded by quite a few players, many of whom were even trying to attack him.
Apparently, the news that Rylan had received a hidden quest from Alistair had spread, and players had already started trying to imitate Rylan.
Although Rylan couldn't remember why these players were doing this, his subconscious told him that these players staying here now were just wasting their time.
Frowning, Rylan didn't immediately step forward to turn in the quest.
He waited a while, watching this batch of players give up and leave, before hurrying forward.
Approaching Alistair, Rylan didn't speak, directly showing the 'Corrupted Rose'.
Seeing it was Rylan, a glimmer of light returned to Alistair's eyes.
The next moment, when he saw the 'Corrupted Rose' in Rylan's hand, his expression visibly dimmed again.
"Heh, you actually did it!?"
"You people from another world are truly mysterious, unkillable no matter how many times you die, as if possessing immortality!"
"Back then, back then, if I had been like this..."
Alistair mumbled, seeming lost in some memory.
"I've completed the task you gave me!" Rylan frowned and spoke up, "Now it's time to talk about your matter, and my reward!"
Saying this, Rylan held out the 'Corrupted Rose' towards Alistair.
But surprisingly, Alistair didn't accept it.
"Keep this flower! I don't need it!"
"However, since you managed to pick this flower, you must have met that creature?" Alistair asked.
As his words fell, he suddenly sat up straight, his gaze becoming sharp as he stared at Rylan.
"Tell me, did you kill that creature to get the flower?"
"Or did you steal the flower and escape from that place?"
Alistair's tone grew serious.
Ding!
A system notification suddenly sounded in Rylan's mind.
[You are currently facing a choice...]
[You can answer Alistair's question truthfully, or you can choose to lie!]
[Please note! Your next answer will affect the subsequent progress of the current quest. Please treat it seriously!]