A pair of Level 20, two-star, rare-quality purple armor boots—powerful attributes, decent defense, and even a "special effect." On paper, that sounded amazing.
But Lucas wasn't smiling.
"Why is this skill effect so dumb?" he muttered aloud.
He had just looted the "Witch's High Heels," a female-only armor piece with decent stats but a bizarre passive ability that dealt almost no damage and... came with an inappropriate flavor description.
A 1% stomp damage effect with a weird twist? Really?
Other than some quirky individuals with very specific preferences, who in their right mind would want this?
Even worse, as a male with a weapon-based combat class, Lucas couldn't equip it anyway. So the decision was simple: sell it.
Maybe it'd fetch a few hundred thousand yuan if someone recognized its rarity. Maybe not. He sighed and tossed it into his space backpack. That was a problem for another day.
For now, there were monsters to kill.
---
Ever since hitting Level 20 and completing his first advancement, Lucas noticed something immediately—the experience curve had ballooned. It now took several times more EXP to reach each new level.
Three days of intense grinding—slashing through dungeons, slaughtering monsters in jungle zones—had only gotten his experience bar to 44% toward Level 21.
Doing the math in his head, that was roughly 14.6% per day.
"At this rate, I'll need an entire week to gain just one level!"
Even with his elite efficiency—he could kill most monsters in a single strike—Lucas still spent more time finding monsters than fighting them.
Which begged the question: how were other students supposed to level up at all?
They didn't have hidden combat classes. They didn't have precision blade skills. They didn't have the same combat awareness.
They'd be lucky to level up once or twice a month.
"Poor guys…" he mumbled, shaking his head. "This is just the first advancement stage. What about the second? Or the third? Will we be leveling up yearly after that?"
He hoped not. That sounded exhausting.
With a sigh, Lucas exited the dungeon and started trekking toward a deeper wilderness zone. There were still more monsters to clean up before the day was done.
---
Meanwhile, his fame had exploded.
The moment the national assessment results went live, recruiters from top-tier universities had practically stormed his phone line.
Some even made personal trips to Tianhai City just to offer him lucrative scholarships and exclusive access to training resources.
The incentives were outrageous—tuition waivers, VIP dormitory suites, dedicated instructors, and one university even offered him a custom combat suit worth over two million yuan.
But Lucas wasn't swayed.
He had already made up his mind: Kyoto University.
It was the most prestigious school in the country, with the best instructors, rarest resources, and strongest legacy. The university didn't try to flatter him with empty words either.
Instead, they went straight to the point:
"All tuition fully waived."
"Annual scholarship: One million yuan."
"Total package for four years: Four million."
They clearly didn't want him poached.
Lucas appreciated the honesty. He submitted his application that same day.
---
Just yesterday, he received the official admission letter from Kyoto University.
Only four days left before he had to report.
He did a quick mental calculation: with three full days to grind and a little luck, he might just reach Level 21 before leaving.
But time was tight.
"Even if I push to the last day," he thought, "I might not have time to finish a full dungeon run before departure."
Still, he was determined to try.
As he wandered through the wild zone, he casually eliminated stray monsters, scooping up whatever scraps they dropped—mostly Low-Level materials, which he tossed into his space backpack.
"Even mosquito legs are still meat," he joked to himself. "Every bit of income counts when you're broke."
---
After a full day of grinding, Lucas returned to Tianhai's main city, sore but satisfied.
That night, he began researching the Witch's High Heels online, trying to figure out its market value.
Nothing. Not a single mention.
Apparently, the item was rare enough to not even have an entry on gear forums. Or maybe no one wanted to publicly admit they'd used it.
The next morning, he took it to a local armor merchant, hoping for a better idea.
But the shopkeeper took one look and said, "50,000 yuan."
Lucas froze.
"Excuse me?"
The item was rare-quality. Purple. Two-star. High stats.
And this guy offered him a price barely above scrap?
Lucas nearly shoved the heels down the merchant's throat.
"Fifty thousand?! I wouldn't sell these for less than eighty!"
He stormed out of the store, fuming.
If someone with unusual preferences came across the listing, he might get 100,000 or more.
So for now, he tossed the heels back into his backpack and posted them to a gear-trading platform. If someone wanted to contact him privately, he was all ears.
---
Next, Lucas sold off all his worthless Low-Level materials, which earned him a few hundred yuan.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
With that cash, he headed to the City Lord's Mansion to buy a new dungeon ticket, then made his way to the south city gate, en route to the Ogre's Lair—his favorite farming spot.
This time, he chose Nightmare difficulty without hesitation.
He tore through the outer zones, eliminating entire clusters of werewolves and low-tier ogres like they were training dummies.
By the time he reached the dungeon boss, his blade practically hummed with anticipation.
One slash.
The ogre dropped like a sack of bricks.
And then, something beautiful happened.
A glowing blue light appeared among the loot.
"Huh?! Did I just get a rare drop?"
Lucas sprinted over to check.
There it was—Ogre's Leather Boots.
---
He grinned.
This armor piece was part of a Level 20 blue-quality set. Not only did it provide solid base stats, but it also offered +5% resistance—a rare passive effect across boots.
Lucas immediately equipped it, replacing his current green-tier light leather boots, which looked and felt like rain boots.
His character model now looked way more stylish—a proper adventurer rather than someone caught in a monsoon.
"Two pieces down," he muttered, admiring the sleek new look. "All I need now is the helmet and gloves."
The full Ogre Set would grant a powerful synergy bonus. But with only three days left in the city before he had to leave for university, completing the set was unlikely.
He considered two options:
Buy the remaining pieces, which required money he didn't have,
Or craft them, which meant gathering rare primary materials—which he also didn't have.
Still, he wasn't that bothered.
This was just Level 20 gear. Sooner or later, it would be obsolete. He didn't plan on wearing it for long.
---
He tapped his chin thoughtfully and stared at his old green boots.
"Let's just sell these," he decided. "Should be worth at least ten thousand yuan."
Satisfied, Lucas exited the dungeon.
He still had two dungeon runs left for the day. If his luck held, maybe he'd find another rare piece… or better yet, complete the Ogre Set.
Either way, he was ready to grind.
---
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