Several hours passed, and the man finally left with all the grass in this place.
At that moment, the young boy just struggled to get up from the corpses nearby. Trembling, he looked at the severed head of the large goblin a short distance away with fearful eyes.
"Luckily, I'm not already running," the young boy said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hand as he looked around, particularly at the lawn in front of him.
According to his memory from the book, this grass would die if no one pulled it out within an hour.
"So, it's really true."
A few seconds later, the young boy turned his attention to the large goblin's corpse, and he slowly approached.
He remembered the large goblin had taken out a grass pack, so he needed to find it. That item would help him a lot.
Yet, Everything wasn't always beneficial for him.
"Fucking guy! He's really greedy," he muttered, rummaging the corpse in frustration.
When he couldn't find anything, he realized the man had stolen it all.
But this time, good fortune was on his side.
"Oh… That's it," the young boy exclaimed with a bit of amusement as he found something useful.
He picked up a pack full of blood from the large goblin.
Finally, after a few seconds of rummaging, he found two more things.
"Five pieces of grass and a knife?"
He scratched his chin and sighed.
"Yeah… What the hell else do I need?"
Afterward, the young boy examined the grass in his hand closely.
"This one is probably enough for me," he thought.
Immediately, he grabbed one piece of grass, put it in his mouth, and began chewing like a buffalo.
Yet, a few seconds later, his expression twisted into a grimace.
"It's bitter!" he exclaimed.
Instantly, a freezing sensation spread throughout his body, coursing through his bones, muscles, and every fiber of his being. It felt as though he had been reborn.
All his wounds healed, and even his hunger disappeared, leaving him with a satisfying sense of fullness.
"Amazing!" the young boy exclaimed, astonished. "I should save the rest for when it's truly necessary."
He carefully stored the pack and glanced around one last time.
"Well, this place isn't good for arranging my thoughts."
With that, he left the factory safely—unlike his chaotic entrance earlier. Now that his body was fully healed and the dangers of this place were known, everything seemed much easier.
Most importantly, he was filled with excitement.
After all, this world was the setting of a fantasy novel written by that lunatic patient.
Fortunately, he had already read it, though he could sense that things felt slightly different.
The book he remembered was, to put it bluntly, trash—predictable and full of clichés. The story revolves around a typical protagonist who defeated all his enemies, leveled up, and won the affection of countless beautiful girls. Yet, despite the mediocrity of the plot, one aspect of this world intrigued him deeply: its unique system, which was divided into five levels:
NoviceAdeptEliteAscendantMythic
To level up, everyone had to face a challenge sent by the world when they turned 15. Those who passed the first challenge would receive an invitation to the second at an unpredictable time.
What came next depended entirely on one critical factor: the number of participants invited from two opposing worlds. These worlds were Elysium and Noxoria—two realms as incompatible as water and fire. They could not coexist indefinitely. In the end, only one world would survive.
Luckily for him, fate seemed to have placed him on the winning side. Humans would eradicate all monsters from the world under the main character's leadership.
If everything was arranged properly, he could make a move to influence the main plot. For now, all he needed was enough strength to survive on his own. Then, he could marry a beautiful girl.
After all, the girls in this world were stunning. Even the least attractive among them far surpassed the most beautiful ones from his previous world.
The first step on his journey was to find a skill coin. It was an essential item for anyone who sought to grow stronger—especially for someone like him, a frail young boy with no experience in fighting or surviving against monsters.
In essence, the skill coin would compensate for his weaknesses, granting him the skills he desperately needed. However, he had to choose carefully, as he only had one chance.
"Let's see," he muttered, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"I've already seen that goblin. This must be Equilibria—the world where the first challenge begins."
Equilibria was a convergence of two worlds, teeming with diverse races. Though it was a simulation, the stakes were real. If someone died here, they would perish in the real world too.
In short, Equilibria was so enigmatic that it defied explanation—or at least, that's what the lunatic's book had said.
"Still, I need to find the arena to receive my challenge," he murmured, glancing around in confusion.
The surroundings were an endless expanse of grey, but his special eyes allowed him to see clearly.
"A desert? How am I supposed to find an arena in a place like this?"
The young boy trudged through the brown sand, exhaustion creeping into his steps. After walking a considerable distance from the factory, he finally allowed himself to rest.
"Forget it. I need to focus on the task at hand."
"What is the identity of this body?"
"System, respond to me."
As the words left his lips, a slow, resonant sound echoed around him.
Actually, he had a few reasons for calling the system only now.
It was the standard system available to everyone from birth.
Moreover, it only had one function: displaying information about a person using it. There was no way to cheat, and he liked that.
However, it would often make him distracted during dangerous moments. If this body belonged to a villain or was somehow connected to the main character, he would be furious.
After all, any fate related to the main character was bound to serve as a stepping stone for him.
At this moment, though, it wasn't an issue at all.
Suddenly, a large screen appeared in front of the young boy
—--------------------------------------------------
Name: Hector Lyder
Sex: Male
Bloodline: Maiyan( The eyes were enhanced by mana)
Age: 15 years old
Level: Newbie
Coin: Lysander
Skill free: Shoot coins
Skill 1: Mana Attribute(closed)-Request: Overcome the threshold of the life-and-death line. (Progress: 0.00%)
—---------------------------------------------------
"Hmm! Hector Lyder?" Hector stared at the system screen in confusion.
"That's my first name, but the last name doesn't feel right."
"Well, at least I can still use my first name. As for the last name…" He paused, focusing on the screen, scratching his head thoughtfully.
"Lyder… Lyder… Hmm... Ah! That's it."
"Lyder Clan—one of the three most powerful clans in the Elysium world."
Hector rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowing as he recalled the details.
"But the Lyder Clan was destroyed long before the story began. It's impossible for anyone from this clan to have survived. Even during the story, no member of this clan ever appeared. This body definitely couldn't exist in the world.''
He sighed after a few moments of silence.
"Anyway, I only read the main character's POV. It's possible that a few people from this clan survived. As long as I'm not the main character or anyone related to him"
"Maybe."
"Now, onto my bloodline," Hector muttered as he shifted his gaze from the system screen.
"Maiyan? … So, this is why I can see everything so clearly. But… is that it? How could they reach their peak with just this ability?"
"Fucking patient! You should've written more information about this clan in your book!" he growled, frustration etched across his face.
Hector sighed deeply, trying to calm his racing heart.
"Forget it. I'll never think about that patient again—it drives me crazy."
"Let's hope the next words I read will be more entertaining," he muttered, focusing back on the system screen.
"Lysander? Wait, I already have a skill coin? Amazing!"
"That means… this body is holding it." Hector quickly began searching his body, checking every corner with urgency.
After a few seconds, his fingers finally brushed against something.
"It's you!" he exclaimed, clutching the coin hanging from his neck with intense concentration.
In contrast to what he imagined as something luxurious, it was a shabby black coin engraved with intricate runes, shaped like all other cheap coins.
Hector looked at his coin with a slow grimace.
"Well, I probably shouldn't judge something by its appearance. Let's see what skills it holds."
Yet, when he checked his skills, his expression twisted with a mixture of countless emotions.
He sat down on the sand, trying to steady his racing heart.
"I don't know whether this coin will bring me luck or misfortune. But one thing is certain: my coin belongs to the Legendary level."
As he spoke those words, his voice turned angry, laced with sarcasm.
"The very first skill already demands me to cross the line between life and death? Really?!"
"Why don't you just say, 'You have to die,' huh?"
He paused, staring at the coin in frustration before adding.
"Can I even do anything with a shoot coin skill? It's not like it's going to deal any damage!"
"All I wanted was to be a normal person! Couldn't you at least give me an Enhanced coin instead?"
Even though all his groaning words made no difference, Hector still felt the need to say them.
And truly, he was right.
The coin was divided into three levels:
Basic Coin: One skill.Enhanced Coin: Three skills.Legendary Coin: Five skills.
The higher the coin's level, the more powerful its skills. But, of course, it wasn't that simple.
The difficulty of using and mastering those skills increased proportionally to the coin's level.
In the entire story, the only person capable of activating all five skills on a Legendary coin was the main character—with the help of some blatant cheating.
For others from big clans, activating three skills was considered an achievable feat, thanks to their clan's backing, exceptional talent, and a stroke of luck.
Naturally, Hector had none of those things.
"Maybe I should just sell this coin," he muttered. "It would probably fetch a fortune and help me survive. Anyway, there are only four coins of this level in the entire world."
Feeling slightly drained from overthinking, Hector finally decided to stop his negative spiral.
He moved his legs, brushing off the sand as he stood.
Taking a deep breath, he sighed.
"I'll deal with all of this later."