Chapter 2: When Trash Becomes Overpowered
I walked through the starting town gates while other players were still figuring out their skill bars.
The sun was setting over the forest ahead, casting long shadows across the dirt path. In my previous timeline, I spent my first three hours in town reading tooltips and watching tutorial videos because I was scared to go out and fight.
What a waste of time that was.
This time I knew exactly where I was going.
The Whispering Caves. A hidden dungeon located about fifteen minutes northeast of the starting area. In my old timeline, a hardcore guild discovered it during week three and kept it secret for almost a month while they farmed it for rare drops.
By the time the location leaked to the public, the good loot had been nerfed and the experience gain cut in half.
But right now, on day one, it was completely untouched.
I followed the main path for about five minutes before cutting into the forest. Most players stuck to roads early game because the forest had level 5 wolves that could two shot you if you weren't careful.
I saw one almost immediately. A gray wolf with red eyes, prowling between the trees about twenty meters away.
It spotted me. Its ears perked up. Then it started running straight at me, growling.
In my previous timeline, I would have panicked. Run back to town. Maybe died and lost experience.
Now I just raised my hand and thought the skill name.
"Arcane Missile."
A bright blue projectile shot from my palm and slammed into the wolf's chest.
The wolf exploded.
Not died. Literally exploded into pixels and light.
CRITICAL HIT! 2,847 DAMAGE!
[Gray Wolf] DEFEATED!
+15 EXP
I blinked at the damage number floating in the air.
Two thousand damage. At level 1. On a basic skill.
The normal version of Arcane Missile did maybe 30 damage at this level. I just did almost a hundred times that.
This was stupid. This was absolutely broken.
I loved it.
Another wolf came running at me from the left. I didn't even bother aiming properly. Just pointed in its general direction and fired.
CRITICAL HIT! 2,634 DAMAGE!
Dead in one hit.
A third wolf. Same result.
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 2!
I grinned. In my previous timeline, it took me four hours to hit level 2 because I kept dying to these wolves and losing experience.
This time it took me like thirty seconds.
I kept pushing through the forest, killing every wolf that came near me. They gave decent experience for this level and I wanted to be at least level 5 before I entered the caves.
After about ten minutes of walking and casually one shotting everything, I reached a rocky hillside covered in moss and vines. To most players, it just looked like terrain. But I knew better.
I walked up to a specific section of the hill where the vines grew thicker. Pushed them aside. Behind it was a narrow cave entrance, barely wide enough for one person.
The Whispering Caves.
I squeezed through the entrance and the environment changed immediately.
The forest sounds disappeared. Now I heard water dripping and wind howling through stone tunnels. The cave walls glowed with some kind of blue moss that gave off just enough light to see.
A notification popped up.
YOU HAVE DISCOVERED: WHISPERING CAVES (HIDDEN DUNGEON)
RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 10-15
RECOMMENDED PARTY SIZE: 5 PLAYERS
ENTER ALONE? WARNING: DEATH IS LIKELY
I dismissed the warning and kept walking.
The tunnel opened into a larger chamber. And standing in the middle of it was my first real challenge.
A Stone Golem. Level 12. Twice my height, made of gray rock, with glowing red eyes.
In my previous timeline, these things were nightmares. They had high defense, hit like trucks, and could one shot cloth armor classes like Mages.
The golem turned its head toward me. Its eyes flared brighter. Then it started walking forward, each step shaking the ground.
I raised both hands this time.
"Fireball."
A massive sphere of orange flame materialized above my head, easily the size of a beach ball. It shot forward and slammed into the golem's chest.
CRITICAL HIT! 8,492 DAMAGE!
The golem staggered backward. Cracks spread across its chest. It roared and tried to charge at me.
I cast again before it got close.
"Ice Spear."
A jagged spike of ice formed in the air and launched like a missile. It hit the golem's head dead center.
CRITICAL HIT! 7,856 DAMAGE!
The golem's head exploded. Its body collapsed into a pile of rocks.
[Stone Golem] DEFEATED!
+847 EXP
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 3!
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 4!
Two levels from one mob. The experience in this dungeon was insane.
I kept pushing deeper into the caves. More golems appeared. Some were level 13, some level 14. Didn't matter. They all died in two or three hits.
My mana bar barely moved because the enhanced versions of my skills cost almost nothing. In a normal playthrough, I'd run out of mana after like five casts and have to sit and regenerate for two minutes.
Now I could spam skills endlessly.
I reached the deepest chamber after about twenty minutes of non stop fighting. My level was sitting at 9 now. In one dungeon run, I'd gained more levels than most players would get in their entire first day.
The final chamber was huge. Cathedral sized, with a ceiling so high I couldn't see it in the darkness. And in the center stood the dungeon boss.
Stoneheart the Ancient. Level 15. Elite monster.
It was a massive golem, at least four times the size of the regular ones. Its body looked like it was carved from black marble instead of gray stone. Veins of red energy pulsed through the cracks in its armor.
In my previous timeline, the guild that discovered this place needed a full party of level 12-15 players and it still took them three attempts to kill this boss.
I was level 9. Solo. And I was about to try it.
Stoneheart noticed me immediately. It raised both arms and slammed them into the ground.
[STONEHEART THE ANCIENT] HAS ENTERED COMBAT!
WARNING: BOSS MONSTER DETECTED!
The entire chamber shook. Rocks fell from the ceiling. Smaller golems started spawning from the walls, four of them, all level 10.
Adds. Of course there were adds.
I targeted the small ones first. Raised my hand and cast the skill I'd been saving.
"Meteor Strike."
The ceiling above exploded with orange light. Four massive flaming rocks materialized out of nowhere and dropped like bombs.
They hit all four adds at once.
CRITICAL HIT! 15,847 DAMAGE!
CRITICAL HIT! 16,203 DAMAGE!
CRITICAL HIT! 15,694 DAMAGE!
CRITICAL HIT! 16,441 DAMAGE!
All four adds evaporated instantly.
Stoneheart roared and charged at me. Each step left cracks in the stone floor.
I stood my ground and started chain casting.
"Fireball. Ice Spear. Arcane Missile. Fireball. Ice Spear."
Explosions of fire and ice slammed into the boss one after another. Damage numbers flooded my vision. Its health bar dropped so fast it looked like a glitch.
Stoneheart tried to hit me with a massive overhead slam. I dodged to the side. Not because I was skilled, but because the boss was so slow it telegraphed every attack.
I kept casting. The chamber lit up with magical explosions like a rave.
Stoneheart's health hit 20%. It roared again and its body started glowing red. Enrage phase.
In my old timeline, this was when most parties wiped. The boss doubled its attack speed and damage.
I didn't care. I just cast Meteor Strike again.
Four more flaming rocks dropped from the ceiling and crushed the boss.
CRITICAL HIT! 18,392 DAMAGE!
Stoneheart's health hit zero.
Its massive body cracked apart and crumbled into dust.
[STONEHEART THE ANCIENT] DEFEATED!
FIRST CLEAR BONUS: +5000 EXP
RARE LOOT ACQUIRED
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 10!
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 11!
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 12!
Three levels from the boss kill. Plus first clear bonus.
I was level 12 now. On day one. When most players were still level 3 or 4.
A treasure chest materialized where the boss died. I walked over and opened it.
[Staff of the Ancient] ACQUIRED
RARITY: EPIC
LEVEL REQUIREMENT: 15
+200 INTELLIGENCE
+150 MAGIC POWER
SPECIAL EFFECT: ALL SPELL COSTS REDUCED BY 30%
An Epic tier weapon. At level 12. Most players wouldn't see an Epic item until level 40 or higher.
I couldn't equip it yet because of the level requirement, but I'd hit 15 soon enough.
I stared at the staff in my inventory. Then at my level. Then at my skills.
Six months ago in my previous timeline, I was trash. The worst player in the game. Someone people laughed at in zone chat.
Now I was probably the strongest player in the entire game.
And it was only day one.
My second chance was already paying off.
I turned and started walking back toward the cave entrance. I had more plans. More dungeons to clear. More rare items to collect before anyone else knew they existed.
This timeline was going to be different.
This timeline, I was going to be a legend.