The vortex swirled, spitting Lin out onto the concrete of the Dungeon Plaza.
He stumbled, falling to his knees. The transition from the sulfurous heat of the Slime Caverns to the cool, smoggy air of Sector 7 was jarring.
He looked like a corpse that had been dragged through a swamp. His clothes were little more than acid-burned rags clinging to his frame. His skin was red and raw, though visibly healing. He smelled of ozone, blood, and burnt meat.
"Whoa!" A Federation Guard stepped back, hand hovering over his stun baton. "ID check!"
Lin slowly stood up. He didn't look at the guard. He looked at the sky. It was night. He had been in there for twelve hours.
He pulled his ID card from his tattered pocket and handed it over.
"F-Rank Porter... Lin," the guard read. He looked around. "Where's the rest of your party? The system registered five entries."
"Dead," Lin croaked. His throat was parched.
The guard stiffened. "All of them?"
"We hit a Spider Swarm," Lin lied. His voice was flat, devoid of emotion. "Then the Acid King showed up. Vane tried to tank it. He melted. I hid in a crevice."
The guard grimaced. A total party wipe wasn't uncommon in E-Rank zones, especially for freelance squads like Viper. "And you survived?"
"I'm small," Lin said. "And I ran."
The guard scanned Lin again, noting the burns. It fit the story. A coward who abandoned his team and got lucky.
"Get out of here," the guard sighed, waving him through. "Go to the medic."
Lin walked away. He didn't go to the medic. He didn't go home.
He pulled his hood up and vanished into the shadows of the trade district.
Old Jack's Scavenger Shop
The bell chimed as Lin pushed the door open.
Old Jack was cleaning a shotgun. He looked up, his cybernetic eye whirring as it zoomed in on the figure in the doorway.
"You look like hell, kid," Jack grunted. "Did the slime try to eat you?"
"Something like that," Lin said.
He walked to the counter. He didn't waste time. He opened his loot sack and turned it upside down.
THUD. CLATTER.
A mountain of items spilled out.
Dozens of glowing Spider Eggs.
Three stacks of Slime Cores.
A pile of poisonous dagger sets (Rat's).
A battered steel pauldrons (Vane's).
And finally, rolling to a stop in the center... the pulsating, fist-sized Boss Core of the Acid King.
Jack stopped cleaning his gun. The shop went silent.
Jack picked up the Boss Core. His mechanical hand trembled slightly.
"An E-Rank Boss Core," Jack whispered. "And... are those Vane's pauldrons?"
He looked at Lin. The kid wasn't shaking. He wasn't traumatized. He was standing there, calm and predatory, waiting for a number.
"Vane had an accident," Lin said. "I'm liquidating his estate."
Jack's cybernetic eye spun, scanning Lin's body heat. "You killed the Acid King? Solo?"
"Does it matter?" Lin asked. "Do you want to buy, or should I go to the Black Tower?"
Jack swallowed. He realized he had misjudged the F-Ranker. This wasn't a scavenger. This was a killer.
"I'll buy," Jack said quickly. "The Boss Core is worth 15,000. The eggs... 8,000. Vane's gear is scrap, too recognizable, I have to melt it down... 2,000 for the lot."
"25,000 Total," Lin countered. "And throw in a Tier-3 Gene Repair Serum."
Jack's real eye widened. "Tier-3? That's for curing genetic defects. That's a 10,000 credit item."
"Take it out of the total," Lin said. "And I need arrows. Your best ones. Armor piercing."
Jack grumbled, typing on his console. "Fine. You're bleeding me dry, kid."
He placed a metallic vial on the counter, along with two quivers of black carbon-fiber arrows.
[ Transaction Complete. ]
[ Credits Received: 15,000 ]
[ Item Acquired: Tier-3 Gene Repair Serum ]
[ Item Acquired: Obsidian Arrows (x40) ]
Lin pocketed the credits. He grabbed the serum.
He didn't wait. He uncapped the vial and jammed the needle into his neck.
HISS.
The cool blue liquid flooded his veins.
[ System Alert: Genetic Repair Initiated. ]
[ Analyzing Defect: Mana-Deficiency Anemia... ]
[ repairing... ]
Lin gripped the counter. It felt like ice water was washing through his marrow. The constant, dull ache in his bones—the one he had lived with since birth—vanished. The dizziness, the shortness of breath... gone.
[ Status Condition Removed: Anemia ]
[ Base Constitution Restored to Normal parameters. ]
Lin took a deep breath. It was the first full, unrestricted breath of his life.
"Thanks, Jack," Lin said.
He turned to leave.
"Hey," Jack called out. "The School Assessment is in three days. You going?"
Lin paused at the door. "Yes."
"Vane had friends in the Iron Blood Guild," Jack warned quietly. "If they find out you have his gear..."
"Let them come," Lin said. "I need the XP."
Lin's Apartment - Sector 7 Slums
The apartment was a tiny, concrete box with a mattress and a leaky sink. But to Lin, it was a sanctuary.
He sat on the mattress, stripping off his ruined clothes. He looked at his body in the cracked mirror.
He was no longer the skinny, sickly boy. Muscles coiled under his skin like steel cables. His scars from the acid bath were already fading into faint white lines.
"System," Lin whispered. "Show me the numbers."
[ Name: Lin ]
[ Level: 5 ]
[ Unassigned Attribute Points: 102 ]
(From Level 4 and Level 5)
102 points.
It was an obscene amount of power.
He thought about his new skill, [Multi-Shot]. It allowed him to fire three arrows at once.
To use it effectively, he needed to draw the bow fast. He needed Agility.
But his damage came from Health.
"Balance is for the weak," Lin muttered. "But speed is necessary for the hunt."
He made his choice.
[ Agility: +32 ]
[ Constitution: +70 ]
Confirm.
[ Attributes Updated ]
Strength: 8
Agility: 82 (Base 50 + 32)
Constitution: 140 (Base 70 + 70)
Wisdom: 11
[ Calculating Max HP... ]
[ Base HP (CON x 20) = 2,800 ]
[ Bonus from Kills = ~550 ]
[ Total HP: 3,350 ]
3,350 Health.
Lin clenched his fist. The air popped in his palm.
With 82 Agility, his perception of time had shifted permanently. He could see the dust motes floating in the air. He could hear the heartbeat of his neighbor through the wall.
And his damage?
[ Eternal Hunt Damage: 33.5 True Damage per arrow. ]
With [Multi-Shot], firing three arrows...
100.5 True Damage per volley.
He could one-shot a Level 10 Warrior. He could melt a tank.
Lin lay back on the mattress. He pulled the new Acid-Etched Bone Bow from his inventory. It glowed with a faint green light.
Three days until the School Assessment.
Every student in Sector 7 would be there. The Guild scouts. The S-Rank geniuses who looked down on him.
They were expecting a sick, F-Rank porter to show up and fail.
Lin closed his eyes.
"I hope they bring their best armor," he whispered into the darkness.