"Huh?"
Ethan snapped back to reality, staring at the small black stone figurine in his palm. It had suddenly come alive—glowing faintly, almost pulsing with energy.
He'd skimmed guides in his past life, but nothing mentioned this thing triggering a quest on its own.
[System: You have triggered the Unique Hidden Quest — Elena's Request! Difficulty: Nightmare. Accept?]
Nightmare difficulty. Unique hidden.
Ethan's pulse quickened. In Eternal Realm, quest difficulties scaled: Normal → Hard → Nightmare → Hell → Purgatory. Higher tiers meant exponentially better rewards.
Unique hiddens? Rarer than rare.
He tapped Accept without hesitation.
A faint, ethereal voice echoed from the figurine, fragmented and fading:
"Go… to the hidden cave… in Murloc Bay… east of Radiant Hollow… find the Magic Crystal…"
[System: Elena's Request (Unique Hidden, Nightmare)]
[Objective: Investigate the hidden cave in Murloc Bay.]
[Rewards: Class Expansion Scroll, 10,000 EXP, 100 gold credits]
[Failure Penalty: None]
Ethan's eyes widened. "A Class Expansion Scroll? Jackpot."
With that scroll, he could unlock a second class—once he hit the main city at Level 20, of course. Right now he was still Level 1.
"Time to grind hard."
He leaped down from the tree branch, glancing at the figurine as its light dimmed. "Don't worry. I'll handle it."
"Thank you… adventurer… May the Light guide you…"
A pure white radiance shot from the stone and merged into Ethan's body.
[System: Your respectful attitude has earned Elena's favor! Favorability +20. Current: 20/100.]
[System: You have received Elena's Blessing! For the next 2 hours, free attribute points and potential points gained from leveling are increased by 100%!]
[Elena's Blessing: Attribute & Potential Points from level-ups +100%. Duration: ∞ (permanent due to Unlimited Buff).]
Ethan froze, staring at the status.
God-tier.
Normal players got +5 free attribute points and +1 potential point per level.
Now? Doubled. Permanent.
With his talent, what should have been a temporary 2-hour boost became forever.
Even without the talent, two hours of hardcore grinding might net 2–3 levels max for most players. Still broken.
But permanent? Insane.
"I didn't expect politeness to pay off this big," he muttered, checking his stats. The +1 Charisma from the Radiant Hollow Blessing had clearly helped trigger the extra favor.
Fixed attributes were no joke—Charisma boosted NPC interactions, quest triggers, everything.
"More room to maneuver now."
He decided: head back to Radiant Hollow first. There was still that hidden chest he'd skipped earlier while rushing for the figurine. Grab coins, stock up on consumables to stack more buffs, then power-level.
"Murloc Bay… that's a Level 10+ zone, right? And there's a dungeon there too, I think."
He grinned. "With the Expansion Scroll waiting, luck's on my side."
Normally, Class Expansion Scrolls came two ways: ultra-rare hidden quests like this, or tiny drop chance from King-tier bosses (Level 30+ monsters, nicknamed "Wipe Engines" for a reason). Guilds needed thousands to even attempt them, and the drop rate hovered around 5% after hundreds of kills.
Hidden quests were lottery-tier.
No point wasting time killing low-level mobs now. Buff stacking first—sharpen the blade before chopping.
Ethan sprinted back toward Radiant Hollow Village, aiming for the Radiant Hollow Church on the west side.
Outside the church, a crowd of players buzzed around the entrance. Guards in gleaming armor blocked the way—no entry for randos. These NPCs were Level 30+, stats rivaling lords. Trying to force in? Suicide.
Inside lurked even stronger Holy Knights—King-tier threats that could solo-wipe the entire village population right now.
Ethan didn't bother joining the mob. He circled around to an abandoned courtyard beside the church, climbed a low wall via a tree, and dropped inside.
Empty. Perfect.
He moved to the old dry well in the center, jumped in without hesitation, counted to ten in his head, then fired Smite at the well bottom.
Golden light flared, briefly illuminating the dark shaft.
There—a prismatic stone embedded in the wall.
Ethan snatched it.
[System: Congratulations! You have discovered a Hidden Silver-grade Chest!]
[System: Player "Anonymous" has found the first Hidden Chest (Silver-grade) on Nova Realm in Radiant Hollow Village. Server-wide announcement incoming. Display name?]
Splash—he landed in shallow water at the bottom.
Silver-grade hidden! Massive.
He chose anonymous instantly, then opened it.
[System: Obtained Mithril Staff (Silver-grade)!]
[System: Gold credits ×10!]
[System: Intermediate Combat Recovery Potion ×2!]
"Silver weapon—and a staff! Plus combat pots? Huge!"
He checked the staff first.
Mithril Staff (Lv.5, Silver-grade)
Magic Attack: +170
Special Effects:
Magic Crit Rate +5%
Mana Recovery: Restore 10 mana per second for 60 seconds (Cooldown: 10 min)
Dual-effect beast. Magic crits were rare on spells; this pushed Priest DPS/holy output to another level. Mana regen in combat? Lifesaver.
Top-tier silver for early game—practically an artifact hours after launch.
"Level 5 equip requirement. Close enough."
Next, the potion.
Intermediate Combat Recovery Potion: Usable in combat. Restores 100 HP per second for 10 seconds.
Ethan chugged one without hesitation.
[System: Intermediate Combat Recovery added as permanent buff!]
[Intermediate Combat Recovery: +100 HP/sec regen. Duration: ∞]
His current max HP? 100.
Full heal in one second. Immortal farming.
Mood soaring, he looked up the sheer well walls. No climbing out with Level 1 stats.
"Guess I'll drown. Hope gear doesn't drop."
Death at Level 1 = zero EXP loss. Gear drop risk existed, but items lasted 2 hours on ground. Respawn to well was quick—3 minutes tops. Worst case, a few extra trips.
He submerged, held no breath, waited for the screen to fade to black.
…
Back in Radiant Hollow Village, "Big Bro Ji Is Huge" had just finished recruiting over twenty Priests.
He strutted to the SharkStrike Dynasty rally point.
Guild leader "Flying Dragon In The Sky" grinned at the line of Priests behind him.
"Nice work, Ji. With yours, we've got 100 Priests locked in. Solid!"
"Haha, of course, Brother Dragon. Efficiency is key!"
A massive system announcement boomed across the village.
[System Announcement: Player "Anonymous" has discovered the first Hidden Chest (Silver-grade) on Nova Realm in Radiant Hollow Village!]
The plaza erupted.
"Server-first hidden silver? Already?!"
"Silver chest = at least one silver piece of gear. Artifact-tier right now!"
"Lucky god! Carry me!"
"Whoever it is, absolute European king!"
Flying Dragon stared, then lit up. "A legend in our village! Ji, send scouts. Find them—politely. Recruit if possible. Do NOT piss them off!"
"Got it, Brother Dragon. My eyes are sharp—I won't mess up with a whale like that."
Suddenly, Ji's expression froze, smile stuck.
"What's up?"
Ji pointed, laughing. "Haha, nothing. Just spotted that Discipline Priest from earlier—the one who rejected me. Respawned naked, sprinting in his underwear!"
The group turned. A half-naked figure dashed past—back turned, ridiculous.
Laughter exploded from the thirty Priests.
"Level 1 Discipline learner? Dead in minutes!"
"Rookie of the year!"
"Total noob! Ignore him."
Flying Dragon glanced once, shrugged. "Just trash. Forget it. Rally up—we're claiming the village boss spawn soon. Move!"
The naked sprinting figure vanished into the distance.
No one connected the dots.
Yet.
After leaving the item shop, Ethan sprinted toward the Shadowed Grove on the village outskirts.
Along the way, he kept glancing at his buff list, barely containing his grin.
"These buffs… each one is completely broken."
Elena's Prayer slashed his cooldowns and jacked up holy damage; Elena's Blessing doubled his attribute and potential gains forever; Merchant Jin's Blessing cranked drop quality and rates sky-high.
Any single one would be considered god-tier talent fodder.
And he had three stacked—permanently—barely thirty minutes into the game.
Insane.
Add in the sustain from his other buffs, and even a total newbie could level like crazy. With 105 HP regen per second, he could stand still spamming skills without dodging a thing.
No party needed. Solo EXP hogging. Upgrade speed? Off the charts.
"Time to grind."
Ethan pushed harder, not forgetting the stack of potions he'd just bought for 5 gold credits. He started chugging them mid-sprint.
[System: Used Basic Mana Potion. Restores 10 mana per second for 10 seconds! Unlimited Buff active—duration extended to ∞!]
[System: Used Basic Swiftness Potion. Movement speed +20% for 10 seconds! Duration: ∞]
[System: Used Basic Toughness Potion. Physical Defense +20… Duration: ∞]
[System: Used Basic Vitality Potion. Max HP +100… Duration: ∞]
[System: Used Basic Spirit Potion. Max Mana +100… Duration: ∞]
[System: Used Basic Constitution Potion. Constitution +5… Duration: ∞]
[System: Used Basic Agility Potion. Agility +5… Duration: ∞]
Buffs layered on endlessly, all locked permanent by his talent.
"Hahaha, this is ridiculous!"
Ethan laughed out loud. SSS-grade talent was just unfair.
Same-type buffs replaced each other—higher tier overwrote lower—so the +100 HP cap got bumped by stronger ones later. A minor downside.
But who cared? The talent was already OP enough.
The Radiant Hollow Blessing regen hadn't been overwritten either, so Ethan figured only identical-named buffs clashed. Good to know for future stacking.
"With my current stats, these mobs are free EXP."
He pulled up his panel. After the potion barrage:
HP: 1160
Mana: 340
Magic Attack: 58
Physical Defense: 20
HP Regen: 105/sec
Mana Regen: 15/sec
He checked the Nova Realm leaderboard. Top spot: some player "Forest Wood" at Level 6, 42% EXP.
"Not bad… but not for long."
Ethan smirked and stepped into the Shadowed Grove.
The area was a Level 10-and-under zone: Gremlins, Shadow Cats, Horned Brutes. His Level 1 Smite dealt 150% magic as true Judgment damage. With Elena's Prayer adding 100% holy bonus, one cast hit for 174 true damage.
Shadow Cats had the lowest HP at same level—perfect for quick kills.
He headed straight for the Venomous Mire section.
[System: Affected by toxic fog—HP -1 per second!]
Ethan chuckled. 1 damage? With 105 regen, it was background noise.
He spotted a pack: five brown Shadow Cats prowling.
Smite!
-174!
Golden holy light crashed down—one cat dropped instantly.
[System: Killed Shadow Cat (Lv.3). +24 EXP!]
The rest meowed furiously and charged.
Ethan stayed calm. 2-second base cooldown on Smite—but Elena's Prayer cut it by 90%. Effective cooldown: 0.2 seconds. Practically instant after the first.
Smite!
-174!
[System: Killed Shadow Cat (Lv.3). +24 EXP!]
Smite!
Another down.
In under five seconds, three dead. The last two closed in, claws flashing from left and right.
Ethan sidestepped smoothly—no panic. He stepped forward instead, dodging the pincer perfectly.
As they leaped past, he swung his Mithril Staff hard at the neck of the left one.
-48! (Weak point crit!)
-48! (Weak point crit!)
The cat staggered, balance broken, and collapsed.
Ethan finished it with two more staff whacks—dead.
The final cat got a point-blank Smite to the face.
Golden light flared around him.
[System: Level up! You are now Level 2!]
[System: +5 free attribute points!]
[System: +1 potential point!]
[Detected Elena's Blessing! Additional +5 attribute points and +1 potential point gained!]
Ten seconds, Level 2.
Level 1→2 was easy—only 100 EXP needed.
Level 2→3 jumped to 1,000 EXP.
A Level 3 Shadow Cat gave ~20 base EXP. A five-man party splitting it? 4 EXP each per kill. They'd need 250 cats for one level-up—plus poison fog ticking them down.
Nightmare for normals.
Free ride for Ethan.
He dumped all 10 free points into Spirit (Magic Attack skyrocketed), and both potential points maxed Smite (now Lv.5 full).
Magic Attack hit 68. Smite bonus jumped to 190%—over 250 damage per cast.
"Level 5 Shadow Cats next."
He looted the five corpses: 3 Black Iron pieces + 15 copper credits.
Merchant Jin's Blessing at work—normal mobs dropping upgraded gear!
Shadow Cat Robe (Lv.2, Black Iron)
Defense +12
Special: Magic +5, Magic +5
Shadow Cat Pants (Lv.2, Black Iron)
Defense +6
Special: Magic +2, Magic +3
Shadow Cat Ring (Lv.2, Black Iron)
Special: Poison – 3% chance on hit to apply Poison: -20 HP/sec for 10s to target.
Solid upgrades. Total +15 Magic from gear.
Ethan equipped them, then pondered the ring.
"Poison is a debuff on the enemy… but it benefits me. Does Unlimited Buff make enemy debuffs permanent too?"
Breath quickening, he tested it—kept farming deeper.
Minutes later: success.
[System: Poison applied! Target HP -20/sec. Duration: ∞]
"Yes!"
Debuffs on enemies became permanent damage ticks. Bleed, burn, slow—anything harmful to foes could stack forever.
Game-changer for DPS.
He pushed deeper into the Venomous Mire. Poison fog damage rose to -5/sec (still irrelevant). Shadow Cats leveled to 5.
His level climbed to 3.
All points to Spirit; all potential to Smite.
Now wearing 5 Shadow Cat pieces—another +25 Magic total.
Magic Attack: 138.
But the real spike: Smite at full Lv.5.
Smite (Lv.5, Max)
Deals 230% holy Judgment damage (317 base) — ignores defense.
+100% holy bonus from Elena's Prayer → over 634 damage per cast
Range: 35m
Cooldown: 10s base → 1s effective (90% reduction)
Mana: 35
At Level 3, he was nuking for 600+ true damage on 1-second cooldowns.
Terrifying.