Another gray vortex unfurled in the void. Two more sword-wielding skeletons stepped forth, joining the hunt. A mere Tier-2 rabbit stood no chance against four skeletal warriors that suppressed it in every attribute. Within moments, its death cry split the air, and it collapsed in a pool of blood, leaving behind nothing but a mangled carcass and a single round copper coin.
The rabbit's shattered soul-light drifted into Alex's body.
[Killed Tier-2 Rabbit. +50% Cross-Tier Bonus. Experience +3.]
Alex glanced at his panel. The experience bar flickered and leapt to 3%.
"So it's not that hard to reach Tier-1 after all."
By his reckoning, thirty-three rabbits would be enough to complete his Evolve.
The four skeletal soldiers swept through the thickets, while Alex saved every drop of mana instead of wasting it on weak spells like Burn. Even with his Greed trait doubling the damage, ninety points over five seconds was laughable once monsters' magic resistance cut it down further. The cost-to-effect ratio was abysmal. Better to pour everything into summons.
But he never forgot his curse—one single point of life. As his staff swept down, a ray of light linked him to his summon. And strangely, where Life Link should only bind one skeleton, now two were tethered at once.
The panel glowed with new values:
[Life: 1/1]
[Life Link 1: 400/400]
[Life Link 2: 393/400]
"Oh?"
A flicker of surprise passed through Alex's eyes before he chuckled in realization.
"Almost forgot—every skill effect is doubled."
Which meant his fragile life was no longer a candle in the wind, but shielded behind two layers of bulwarks.
In less than the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, rabbits fell one after another, raising his experience to 21%. Yet these low-tier monsters were miserly to the extreme—aside from the odd copper coin, they dropped nothing of value.
The currency system followed a hundredfold progression: Copper, Silver, Gold. Legends spoke of higher currencies beyond, though such things were far beyond his reach at this stage.
He had once been tempted—recklessly tempted—to use [Greed] to Evolve a copper coin. But in the end, he held back. After all, there were still too many eyes watching nearby. With only four skeletons at his side, he maintained just enough "low profile" and slipped deeper into the forest.
Only after his figure vanished beyond the rabbit territory's border did the other player squads whisper among themselves:
"Look at him—leveling up just by strolling around. Necromancers really have it good."
"Good, my ass! You think your summons can compare to his?"
"Hey, you're the one who picked Necromancer without awakening a summoning talent. What did you expect?"
"At least SSS-rank, minimum… that guy's absurdly strong."
"He's probably going to rank near the top of our No. 9527 Novice Village. We'll know for sure when the leaderboard updates tomorrow."
…
Not long after, golden light erupted from his body.
[Congratulations, Trial-taker 'Alex,' you have Evolved to Tier-1. All Attributes +1, Skill Point +1, Free Attribute Points +15.]
For ordinary players, leveling up granted only +1 to all attributes and +1 skill point.
But Alex, with the Reaper's exclusive bonus, saw his free attribute points tripled outright.
He pondered for a moment, then dropped four points into Agility, pouring the rest into Spirit. Strength was meaningless to him, and as for Constitution? —No matter how high it rose, he would still have only one drop of life.
The wilderness grew quieter the further he went. He deliberately veered off from the player routes, stepping into the domain of Tier-3 monsters—lynxes. Ten skeletons materialized at once, filling his summoning capacity. With his Spirit now at 22 points, his summons' stats spiked again:
—Their four attributes surged to 44 apiece, balanced to the point of being terrifying.
Alex closed the [Book of the Dead] with a soft snap and turned his gaze to his inventory. Out of twenty slots, only nineteen remained free. Low-tier monsters dropped pitifully little; not a single decent piece of equipment had appeared along the way.
"Copper coins… let's try it."
He drew out twelve coppers. His will stirred:
[Greed—Activate.]
Target: 12 Copper Coins.
A prompt surfaced:
[Select Evolve Tier: Tier-1 / Tier-2 / Tier-3.]
He cautiously tested Tier-2.
[Evolve Requirement: 1 Silver, 20 Copper. Insufficient resources. Evolution failed.]
Alex arched a brow and clicked his tongue.
"So the cost is actually this low… If the value really doubles, this could be a faster path to wealth than grinding monsters."
Without further hesitation, he selected Tier-1.
[Confirm: Evolve twelve Copper Coins at no cost?]
"Confirm."
The coins gleamed faintly with an ancient luster.
[Obtained: Twelve Ancient Copper Coins.]
Alex froze for a second.
"Tier-1 Evolution should've produced Silver, right? What the hell is an Ancient Copper Coin?"
A prompt surfaced:
[Ancient Copper Coin: An obsolete currency of uncertain value. Considered worth about ten Copper each by collectors.]
"…"
His mouth twitched. He tossed the ancient coins back into his pack. No profit, and worse, they took up slots.
Still, he wasn't discouraged—if such oddities could be generated, they might prove useful in the future.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. His gaze slid toward the pack itself.
"Wait… even the backpack can be Evolved."
He invoked Greed once more.
[Confirm: Evolve Novice Backpack?]
"Confirm."
[You have obtained: Large Backpack (50 slots).]
A satisfied smile tugged at Alex's lips.
"Good. Let's keep going."
His eyes slowly shifted to the bone staff in his hand.
Before the real hunt began, he would first evolve everything he possibly could.
—Wasting a no-cost chance would be nothing short of stupidity.