“An F- Rank boss huh?”

The corner of my lips curled slightly. I was Level 1, and the enemy in front of me was Level 5. The miss rate of attacks when the level difference was under five wasn’t too high, so killing it wasn’t beyond my reach.

After making my mind up, I immediately got ready!

Rustle...

My feet shuffled across the grass slightly, but the boss immediately reacted and attacked me as quick as lightning. Luckily, I wasn’t too slow myself, and I was able to bend my body out of the way and slash upward at the same time. The shabby sword sliced across the Big-eared Rabbit boss’s stomach!

21!

Wow, this rabbit’s defense is pretty high!

I quickly deduced that the Big-eared Rabbit had about 2500 total HP. This meant that I had to attack it at least 100 times before I could defeat it!

The boss squealed, turned around and swung its tail at me. The tail was short, but it slammed heavily across my back like a steel whip!

61!

Pain scorched my senses for a moment. This attack power is a bit too much, isn’t it?

I only had 110 total HP right now, meaning that I would die if I took another hit. There was just no way I could beat it right now. I also felt regret because the rules of Heavenblessed turned out to be quite different from Spirit of Grief. 

This isn’t worth it, I should’ve known better! Since I can’t beat it, I should run away while I still can. If I get killed here, all the time and effort I spent hunting Big-eared Rabbits since Level 0 will have been wasted.

I looked around me and confirmed the terrain with lightning speed. I chose to dash toward the road on my right because it had the least amount of Big-eared Rabbits. One boss was difficult enough, another Big-eared Rabbit or two would definitely seal my doom.

I ran like the wind while adjusting my steps constantly. Trees, shrubberies, bushes, they were all obstacles that could be used. The boss had to jump around while I traversed the obstacles with the minimal amount of movement. It was almost enough to make up for the gap between our movement speeds.

I didn’t stop scanning my surroundings while I was running. Suddenly, I found something that made my eyes light up with joy!

There was a thorny forest not far ahead of me. The plants it was composed of were called “Snake Venom Brambles”. This particular plant was mentioned in the publicly-released information about Heavenblessed. The Snake Venom Bramble was a deadly plant that inflicted a considerable amount of poison damage to any creature that came into contact with it. A production-focused player could gather them as ingredients and create poison for Assassin players. It was an item any killer must have!

Of course, no one had the ability to collect them yet because players’ levels were too low, but that wasn’t my plan anyway. My plan was to use these poisonous trees to save my life!

Swoosh!

I easily leaped over the brambles and landed in an open field. It was only a meter tall, and it was nothing I couldn’t overcome. I carefully avoided touching the poisonous brambles all around me and waited patiently for the boss to come.

“Squeal!”

It was clear that the Big-eared Rabbit Boss was on the verge of going berserk, and was too tired to clear the one-meter-tall brambles just like I did. Unfortunately for it, it was only about as big as a washbowl, and while it was in the air I smacked it right in the head with my shabby sword!

“Get down you!”

I hit the Big-eared Rabbit Boss like it was a ball. As I had predicted, it fell into the brambles and squealed painfully as the poisonous thorns bit into its flesh. Its HP started dropping at a rapid rate.

Utilizing my reach advantage to the max, I repeatedly stabbed the Big-eared Rabbit Boss in the ass again and again. It couldn’t do anything to escape because it was small, and it was completely trapped inside the thorny brambles. The more it jumped in pain and panic, the more holes appeared all across its body!

It took less than two minutes for the Big-eared Rabbit’s HP to reach the bottom. This was the first boss I’ve ever killed in Heavenblessed, and I felt like my blood was boiling with excitement. I shouted inside my mind: “Drop me something! Please drop a usable weapon for me, mister rabbit!”

“Wah!”

The Big-eared Rabbit Boss finally let out a scream and died. Two items were left in its place.

Swoosh!

The boss donated a generous amount of experience and increased my level by 2. I dumped another 5 free points into Strength and raised my attack power to 7~12. Now this is what I call damage!

However, the joy of leveling couldn’t come close to the joy of getting an equipment drop at all. My eyes were wide open as a chest armor with a greenish glow and a big stone that looked like a diamond dropped on the ground.

I carefully lifted the chest armor with my sword and pulled it closer. When it finally entered my hands, the equipment window appeared in front of me—

Big-eared Rabbit Glowing Battle Armor (Iron-grade)

Defense: 9

Stamina: +2

Level Requirement: 2

　　……

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the drop was an Iron-grade equipment that provided stat bonuses! In Heavenblessed, an equipment’s grades were split into Common, Iron, Bronze, Steel, Dark Steel, Silver, Gold, Dark Gold, Purple Gold, Spirit, Immortal and Divine. This Iron-grade equipment was almost rock bottom in the hierarchy, but during the early stages it might as well be a divine armor!

I immediately put on the chest armor and checked my stats—

ID: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand

Class: Undead Swordsman (Beginner)

Level: 3

HP: 140

Attack: 7~12

Defense: 10

I have 10 Defense now, meaning that killing Level 3 Big-eared Rabbits is no longer a difficult task, quite the opposite actually. Moreover, the 2 extra points of Stamina I got from leveling also increased my total HP to 140!

For a moment, my heart was filled with pure happiness. At this stage and with this level of defense, it probably wouldn’t be wrong to call me as hard as nails, right?

Wait, I almost forgot. The chest armor wasn’t the only thing the Big-eared Rabbit Boss dropped!

I lay on the ground and pulled the stone toward me with my hands. Yup, as I thought, it was a legendary magic stone—Big Magic Stone (Quality 77).

In Heavenblessed, monsters dropped magic stones instead of gold coins. All monsters with magic in them had a chance of dropping magic stones, and they could be traded to a merchant for cash. There were 5 types of magic stones, namely Small Magic Stone, Big Magic Stone, Phantasmal Magic Stone, Purple Crystal, and Divine Crystal. The higher the quality, the bigger the price it fetched.

The Big Magic Stone I got was an item of 77 Quality, so it should be worth a lot of copper!

I jumped out of Snake Venom Brambles and went on my way. My appearance had improved much thanks to the shiny Iron-grade chest armor around my torso. At the very least, my ribs were no longer exposed for all to see. Once I got a pair of greaves, shoes, and a helmet that covered up my face, I should finally look decent enough to meet someone.

I didn’t get far before a Level 3 Big-eared Rabbit pounced toward me. This time, I didn’t dodge out of the way. Come at me!

2!

I nearly snorted when I saw the number leaping off my head. Ten points of Defense were impressive alright, this Big-eared Rabbit almost couldn’t break through my defense despite being at the same level as me.

I killed the foolish rabbit in two hits before running back to the starting village. I then sought out the Corpse Heap Graveyard Guard and turned in my quest items: Five Big-eared Rabbit’s Thick Leg Hair!

“Very good, young skeleton. You’ve gained my newfound respect!”

The undead barbarian cackled while slapping me on the shoulder. “Come and take your rightful reward. Everything is for the return of the Night Creatures, and of course, riches and bitches!”

The undead barbarian’s reply was a literal eye opener. What an impressive and lovable NPC! Speaking of which, is it just me, or does it sound like I’m now a member of the Night Creatures?

Ding~!

System Notice: You have completed the quest [Kill the Big-eared Rabbits]. You have gained 150 EXP, 1 Reputation and 10 copper!

I gulped. This is what I got for all my hard work? Fine, at least I got 150 experience. I should have enough to level up to 5 once I killed a couple more Big-eared Rabbits.

The Corpse Heap Graveyard Guard continued, “It also looks like you’ve killed the Big-eared Rabbits’ leader. Well done, the Big-eared Rabbits are no longer a threat. I now have a more important quest for you. Would you like to hear it?”

That was exactly what I was hoping for, so I nodded repeatedly and said, “Do tell, do tell.”

“Alright!” The guard gripped his battle axe and started. “Outside our town is the vast and seemingly endless Sunshine Forest. Recently, our skeleton brothers sent word that a bunch of Green Praying Mantises had appeared inside the forest. Their physique is huge, and they are armed with sharp blades. You must head to Sunshine Forest, kill 100 Green Praying Mantises and bring back 10 Green Praying Mantis Armblades! Do that, and I shall reward you generously!”

Ding~!

System Notice: You’ve accepted the quest [Green Praying Mantis]! (Quest Rank: F)

Description: Head to Sunshine Forest, kill 100 Green Praying Mantises and collect 10 Green Praying Mantis Armblades for the Corpse Heap Graveyard Guard.

Mn, very good, an F Rank quest should net me a lot of experience.

Instead of heading out in a hurry, I chose to walk deeper into the graveyard. It was at this moment a skeleton merchant with a crooked back appeared before me. I walked up to him and produced the Big Magic Stone dropped by Big-eared Rabbit Boss, saying, “Hey bro, can you tell me how much this is worth?”

The skeleton shot me a complicated look before complaining, “Do I look like a man to you?”

I was immediately assaulted by a sea of goosebumps. How the hell was I supposed to tell when she was literally all bones? It wasn’t like she had a pair I could check out and confirm. “Ahem, excuse me, beautiful. Can you tell me how much this is worth?”

The bony belle finally accepted the Big Magic Stone and gave it a look. “It’s worth 1540 copper!”

I was stunned. My first quest only rewarded me 10 copper, but this rock fetched me a sum that was far beyond my imagination. I’m so happy!

The next second, 1540 copper—or 15 silver and 40 copper—entered my pockets. I guess I was now moderately well-off!

I checked if the bony belle had anything to sell and discovered that she had potions. Unfortunately, they were ridiculously expensive. One Basic Health Potion that restored 80 HP cost 50 copper? This is robbery!

Still, I acquiesced and bought 20 of them. Without health potions, I couldn’t fight higher-level monsters or obtain more magic stones to sell. One must think long-term when planning, right?

　　……

Now that I was stocked to the brim, it was time for more adventure!

I arrived at the rim of Corpse Heap Graveyard killed a couple of Big-eared Rabbits on the way. Again, I dumped 5 points into Strength and raised my overall attack power to 10~17. For now, it looked like Undead Swordsman had a pretty impressive Strength scaling since 5 points had increased my attack power by a range of 3~5. I had checked the introductions to all the classes on the forum before, so I knew that the class with the best Strength scaling was Warrior, with 5 points of Strength increasing their attack power by 2~5. Magic Knight’s was 2~4, and Wanderer’s was 3~4. In a sense, Undead Swordsman was among the better offensive classes.

Next, I brought up the ranking list. There were three starting villages in my area, with two under the Light faction and one—namely mine—under the Dark faction. Right now, the highest level players in all three starting villages were Level 7, meaning that I was way behind those people. As I thought, there will never be a lack of crazy levelers in any game. I need to work harder.

Under the moonlight, a sinister little skeleton wielding a shabby sword lightly trodded across a hill while humming, “The younger monk left to beg for food, but the older monk said to leave the wild flowers alone, so he asked: Why not? Why waste~?”