"Congratulations! You have awakened a D-tier talent, Wound Tear!"
The Magic Godstone glimmered brightly, and immediately afterward, Rylan heard the system's notification. He paused for a brief moment, then opened the talent window to examine the details:
[Wound Tear]
Tier: D
Effect: When striking a target at close range, inflicts a bleeding debuff that deals 1 point of damage per second for 10 seconds. This effect does not stack and can only be applied a single time.
Clearly, this was a very ordinary talent. While inflicting bleeding is an effective way to dish out continuous damage, 1 point per second is trivial—practically nothing.
In "Myth," once you leave the newbie village, the monsters roaming outside can have well over 1,000 HP. A mere 1 point of bleeding damage each second just doesn't cut it.
For most people, awakening such a talent wouldn't be cause for celebration. But as Rylan read the talent's description, he actually grinned, even a little excited.
He had his reasons.
Though Wound Tear might not be strong on paper, it was precisely what he needed.
"Hey guys, look! He's smiling!"
"Could he have awakened an A-tier talent too?"
"No way—seriously? Another A-tier so soon?"
Noticing Rylan's sudden smile, the players around him started speculating. One particularly forward female player forced her way through the crowd, her F-cup chest bouncing as she sidled over to Rylan.
"Hey there, sir, do you need a teammate?" she asked. "I awakened a D-tier healing talent, so my heals are definitely big enough for you."
She tossed her hair back, and the moment she rose on tiptoe, her breasts became even more prominent, attracting the eyes of quite a few male players. She stepped closer, right up to Rylan.
But as soon as she saw the system message above the Magic Godstone, her expression changed to one of disdain.
"Bullshit, I thought you awakened an A-tier talent. Turns out it's just D-tier."
"What?! Just D-tier?"
"Hah, told you so! An A-tier talent popping up at all is rare, let alone two in such a short time."
"Hey, miss, I awakened a C-tier talent. Wanna team up with me instead? Mine's not much use in combat, but it makes my dick grow 100% longer and stay permanently erect…"
"Ugh, let's scatter. It's only D-tier. Nothing worth seeing. Time to start leveling up!"
Upon hearing that Rylan's talent was just a D-tier dud, the group of players who'd approached him melted away.
Rylan found the whole scene vaguely amusing, but he didn't bother correcting them. He simply squeezed through the crowd and left the novice central plaza.
Ordinarily, the standard newbie path involves talking to local NPCs in the village to pick up quests or using the little starter gold you have to buy equipment, then hunting low-level monsters outside to level up.
But Rylan didn't do that right away. Instead, he circled around the plaza to a secluded alley at the back of the novice village.
Once settled there, Rylan opened his status window.
––––
[ShadowLord]
Level: 1
EXP: 0/100
HP: 50
MP: 0
Talent: Wound Tear (D tier)
Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Magic: 1
Intelligence: 1
––––
He gave it a quick glance, then closed the panel. Next, he picked up a large rock lying in the alley and smacked himself in the head with it.
[Ding! You have attacked yourself!]
[HP -5…]
Incredibly, the very first thing Rylan did after awakening his talent was to kill himself.
He wanted to rack up ten deaths as quickly as possible. Only then would he fulfill the special requirement for a hidden objective.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
In that cramped alley, Rylan kept clobbering himself with the rock.
[You have attacked yourself!]
[HP -5…]
[Wound Tear effect triggered. You are now bleeding.]
[HP -5]
[HP -1…]
[Ding! You have died!]
[You are in a safe zone, so you may resurrect here immediately. Resurrect now?]
His health had dropped to zero in no time, announcing his first death in the world of "Myth." Without any hesitation, Rylan selected immediate resurrection and repeated this self-destructive sequence.
[You have attacked yourself!]
[HP -5]
[HP -5]
[HP -1]
...
[Ding! You have died!]
[Resurrecting…]
[HP -5…]
[Ding! You have died!]
…
About five minutes later, Rylan had hit his tenth death.
[Ding! You have died!]
At the sound of this particular system prompt, Rylan's heart gave a noticeable flutter. Then another message followed:
[Ding! You are the first player in the game to die ten times.]
[You have earned the title: Fragile Body.]
[Your weakness has stirred the mercy of the gods.]
[You have received the gods' blessing!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained "Sanctuary Blade."]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the skill "Eye of Insight."]
"…That's it!"
Rylan couldn't hide his excitement. This was precisely why he'd decided to die repeatedly right out the gate—to be the first to rack up ten deaths, thereby claiming these hidden rewards.
Of those prizes, "Gods' Blessing" was the crown jewel, key to what he planned to do next.
Thankfully, he had gambled right. At this early point in the game, most players were still busy awakening their talents in the square, and even the speedier ones wouldn't think to kill themselves so many times.
The last time around, this hidden reward was discovered on Day Two, when one especially hapless player got mauled by a boar boss outside the village ten times in a row.
Now, at game's start, the reward belonged to Rylan.
…
He clicked to resurrect one more time, tossed aside the rock in his hand, and stood up. If he wanted to gather even better bonuses, he knew he would have to keep dying in very specific ways.
However, he had other priorities first. If he was going to be dying anyway, he might as well use that time to clear some hidden quests in the village and pick up additional perks.
Before setting out, Rylan opened his inventory to inspect the system rewards.
––––
[Sanctuary Blade]
Tier: A
Attack: 1
Special Trait: Precision
Precision: Your attacks gain a +50% hit chance.
Description: Though its edge is dull, this blade was forged under divine blessing, greatly improving your accuracy.
…
[Eye of Insight]
Tier: E
Description: lets you view the stats of enemies up to 10 levels above or below you.
Friendly Reminder: Choose your targets wisely—after you lose the newbie protection effect, death can lead to significant losses.
––––
He'd gotten one weapon and one skill. Despite its A-tier ranking, Sanctuary Blade only had an Attack stat of 1—no better than the newbie sword sold by the village smith.
But it did come with a special trait, which Rylan knew was just one piece of the "Sanctuary set."
Overall, though, it wasn't a very impressive weapon at this stage. Meanwhile, Eye of Insight was quite useful, allowing him to check the stats of hostile creatures more easily.
After a quick glance, he closed his inventory and left the alley behind.
Touring around the newbie village, he picked up every basic quest he could find.
That was when he discovered something particularly interesting: in a damp corner to the east stood a homeless man-like figure with a crippled leg, sprawled on the ground.
The words in blue above the man's head indicated that he was an NPC.