--- New Equipment and a duel with a Redhead

Crescent Moon City is the only city on the southernmost part of the territory of the Moon Empire. It is also the smallest of all the cities, with only about a hundred thousand NPC residents.

But despite that, Crescent Moon City is one of the most populous in terms of player count on the whole human continent in Gaia, as the area surrounding the city is full of monsters that range from level 75 up to level 250.

On the beach, just a few hundred meters outside the walls of Crescent Moon City, Chris was sitting on top of a rock. He just finished cleaning his inventory and was now looking at the items that he kept for himself that he got from the holiday event.

Most of the items he got from that event are related to mounts and pets, and some are consumable items that give a player permanent bonuses to attributes, and all of those were either given to his friends or put in the guild treasury. He didn't care about those consumables because he already has a system for increasing his attributes.

After distributing all of the stuff he didn't need, he completely forgot about the stuff he kept to himself because he spent most of his time either with his fiancée and his friends or rushing towards Crescent Moon City.

Now that he has some free time, he has finally remembered and decided to check out his stuff. The smile on his face was from ear to ear while he looked at the stats of the first item as if he had just won the lottery. Because he really did. No, it's even better than that.

[Spirit Angel(SSS)^: Accessory (Bracelet).

+1,000,000 HP/MP

+2,000 Each to Special Attributes

+5% HP/MP regen/sec.

Ability - Spirit Gift, Spirit Shield, Angelic Guardian, Spirit Angel.]

(Hidden Recipe: Spirit Angel(SSS) + 10K Bracelets(A) + 10M Blood Stones + 10M Spirit Stones + 10M Godly Shards = Spirit Angel(EX) or Spirit Angel(SSS) + Platinum Angel(SSS) + Golden Angel(SSS) = Primal Angel(EX).)

[Spirit Gift: Auxiliary Spell - Use 100K Platinum Coins to obtain 100K Spirit Coins.

CD: 1 Week, Uses up all mana.]

[Spirit Shield: Defensive Spell - Cast a shield that protects the user from God-Ranked spells and below.

Lasts for 1 week or 5 instances.

CD: 1 Week, No Manacost.]

[Angelic Guardian: Auxiliary Spell - Summons 100 Angels at user's command. Each angel has 1M base HP, 100K base DMG(PAtk, RPAtk, MAtk) and Armor(PDef, MDef) and gets 2X bonus from the user's Charm attribute and lasts for as long as the user has mana or until unsummoned.

CD: 1 Week, Manacost: 100K/Sec.]

[Spirit Angel: Auxiliary Spell - Summons an Archangel for the user. It has 10M base HP, 1M base DMG and Armor and get 5X bonus from user's Charm attribute and lasts for as long as the user has mana or until unsummoned.

CD: 1 Month, Manacost: 10%/Sec.]

"The design is somewhat ordinary, but the stat bonuses and skills are insane..." Chris murmured. "I can pretty much summon the angels indefinitely..."

It was one of the three accessories that he got from the three Ultimate Holiday Giftboxes that the World Boss dropped.

The bracelet was made from a metal with three colors, of which the red and white one is braided like a rope and the black one is at the center. It also has a black glow, indicating its rarity.

*Sigh...*

"Just with this alone, anyone can become almost invincible." He sighed in relief, thankful that such a thing had fallen into his hands. "Well, it's not like an immobile, god-ranked world boss appears every day."

With a shrug, he continues.

"Next..."

[Skillbook - Fire from the Sky(SSS)*: Offensive Spell - Allows the user to learn the said spell.]

This time, it was a skillbook that was dropped by the world boss as a random SSS-ranked item.

"Man, just by the name alone, you know that it's going to be dangerous."

"This must be some kind of meteor attack."

"Who the heck will resist me if I drop a spell like this on their face?"

He has stars in his eyes, imagining the faces of his enemies when he casts the spell. Although he couldn't see the effect as he hadn't learned it yet, the name alone gave him an idea of what it was and how terrifying it will be.

"It's too bad that I can't learn this for now as my offensive skill slots are all fully occupied."

Although he can just unlearn a spell to free up a space, he doesn't want to do that because his current spells and skills are quite useful to him. He then put the book back into his inventory. 

"This is the last one..."

[Havoc(SS)^ Lvl.25^: Polearm(Glaive, Scimitar).

+96,000 Melee Attack

+20% Critical Hit Rate

Retractable(Sword, Half Damage)

Ability - Slice then Dies!, Cyclone Slash, Havoc.]

(Hidden Recipe: Havoc(SS) + 1K Polearms(A) + 1M Spirit Stones + 1M Divine Shards + 1M Obsidians = Havoc(SSS).)

[Slice then Dies!: Active Skill - Sends multiple waves of slashes in a cone and each slash deals 50% of the user's PATk and gains a bleeding status that deal 10%HP(1% on Bosses) per second that lasts for 8 seconds(2 seconds on Bosses). Up to a maximum of 10,000 Slashes that travels for up to 3 kilometers.

Cooldown: 1 Day, No Manacost.]

[Cyclone Slash: Active Skill - Throws a powerful slash in a straight line and stops on it's track when in hit something. It will then turn into a full cyclone that will wreak havoc on the battlefield. The initial slash will deal 1,000% of the user's PATk and the recurring cyclone will deal 3% of the enemy's HP per second while slowing them down for 25%. The cyclone has an effective range of 3 kilometers and will last for an hour.

CD: 6 hours, No Manacost.]

[Havoc: Passive - Each normal attack bleeds the target for 5%HP per second that lasts for 10 seconds(0.5% and 1 for bosses), 25% chance of conjuring a clone(Up to 50) that fights on it's own with 10% attributes of the user that lasts for an hour each. Clones are counted as summoned units.]

It was also dropped by the world boss as one of the random SS-ranked items.

The weapon is made up of pure white metal from the blade to the handle, with red highlights all over. The blade was at least a half longer than his previous one, and nothing else. It was very ordinary in his eyes.

He has mixed feelings about it as compared to his previous one because he thinks that this one looks really ordinary in terms of aesthetics. Some might call him stupid for such a reason, but he cares about it, and he doesn't care what other people say.

"Haaah... I guess it's better than nothing." He sighed with a look of defeat. "At least, its sword mode looks pretty cool, and the skills it has are extremely dangerous, much better than my previous one."

In the end, he gave up on his previous one as the stats and skill were very tempting. He then retracted it, turning it into a sword, and replaced his previous one that was hanging on his left waist.

He finally stood up after equipping the two pieces of equipment, and since none of the higher-ups in his guild have contacted him about the assassins yet, he has nothing to do for now, so he decided to explore and maybe accumulate more experience points as his system will wake up soon.

It's not like the assassins will just attack immediately anyways, as the moment Chris caught wind of it, he ordered his people to group up when doing some activities. So now, there will be up to 5,000 people grinding in a certain area, and as for the dungeon runners, there is also a cluster of people grinding nearby.

Even the assassins think that it is an impossible task now because, aside from their numbers, they are strong and well equipped too. There's no point in killing something for its meat, as they'll die immediately anyway the moment the meat lands on their hands. 

The only one arrogant enough to be with a few people is a certain fatty, but he and his team have the equipment and skillset to back it up anyways, so Chris didn't mind at all.

The members of their allied guilds, Radiant Wings and Dark Divas, are also in similar areas, making it even more impossible for the assassins to attack.

There are also some watchers outside the Moon Empire's outer wall gates, trying to spot if there is a cluster of suspicious players getting out, especially those from other empires.

These watchers volunteered on their own, but Chris still gave them a high salary for the job they were doing. They tried to refuse, but their leader insisted, so they just happily accepted.

As for the other guilds that are based on the Moon Empire, they just kept their distance. They are fully rooted in the Moon Empire, and they don't want their guild to become extinct. Even a beggar knows that if an extremely powerful individual loses it, they will be the ones who suffer the most if he gets back on them.

Some of the guilds in Moon Empire that are from major powers are just silently watching Chris' guild's every movement with jealousy. A certain law was proposed in the real world, and they are waiting for that. They had no idea that if that proposal ever passed, they would suffer the consequences.

Chris was now walking nonchalantly while checking out the forums, fully focused. His destination was the forest, a few kilometers to the east of Crescent Moon City.

He's not worried about getting attacked despite being the only lowest-level player here because he's currently using his HighRoller avatar. With such an ordinary face and equipment, no one will pay attention to him.

"Hey, you!"

Or that's what he thought...

Just as he was immersed in reading the forums, a red-haired man a few meters away called, or rather, the man has been calling him for a while now. His engrossment in reading broke as he faced the person who just called him.

"You called me?" Chris flatly asked.

"Yes, and for a while now..." The red-haired man circled around him as if checking him out. Then, after a full circle, he said, "I permit you to join my guild."

"..."

'The hell?' Chris frowned inwardly. He doesn't like the arrogant tone of this guy in front of him. And he replied flatly, "I'm not applying to your guild or anything, though."

And before anyone could speak, Chris spoke again.

"If nothing else, I'll be on my way."

He then walked away and continued on to his destination. He has no time for any bullshit, as he is busy reading the forums.

"""..."""

The red-haired man's face turned red. He felt somewhat humiliated. This area was the territory of his guild and his allies, and he got slapped on the face by some random noob here. The people who were with him were surprised and looked at Chris as if he were a dead man.

"Bastard... I have given you some face and you spat on it..." The redhead murmured as he unsheathed his greatsword strapped to his back.

"Wait up, brother!"

"Hm?"

Just as he was about to attack Chris, another redhead, this time a teenage girl, stopped the male redhead. Chris, on the other hand, was already on full alert, ready to retaliate at any moment. He relaxed a little bit but was still on high alert in case someone tried their luck on him. After all, he was already surrounded.

The redheaded female teen walked towards Chris, introducing herself.

"I am Dark Star, the vice leader of Eleshtra, one of the dominant guilds here in Crescent Moon City."

She was a slender girl, fully clothed in a tight black outfit meant for assassins. Only her deep blue eyes and red hair tied in a ponytail can be seen. Her amazing figures are accentuated by that tight outfit she was wearing.

[Sonja Petrov(Dark Star) Lvl.96

Class: Shadow Blade(S)

Talent: Night Queen(SS+), Pulverizing Blows(S+)

(Stats Omitted.)]

"Oh?"

"..."

The red-haired girl, Dark Star or Sonja, as seen on her character information, was speechless at the nonchalant reply of Chris. She didn't know that he replied like that because of her amazing class and talents. He then finally broke from his dazed expression, focused on her, and introduced himself.

"Sorry, as you can see, I am a High Roller, just some ordinary player who was passing by."

'Heh, ordinary, he said...' Sonja rolled her eyes inwardly, and her mouth twitched behind her mask. 'As if a level 25 player can actually reach this place alone!'

Chris, with his ordinary looks and equipment, was actually noticeable. Although the players here who were grinding ain't that rich as compared to his standards, theirs was still better compared to his, or what he was showing thanks to his avatar.

His level is also very low, and the way towards this place is full of dangerous and very aggressive monsters that will kill on sight.

He won't survive as well even if some high-level players carry him because, thanks to his level, he will be the first target.

There is also no point in a low-level player coming here, as the monster's lowest level is 75. With a gap of over 30 levels, he won't get any experience points at all.

These are the very reasons why this particular guild has become so interested in him that even the leader himself comes his way just to "invite" him.

"So... what is it gonna be?" Chris asked while looking left and right. His right hand was already on his weapon handle, ready to take action and also showing that he wasn't afraid even if surrounded.

Everyone in the vicinity who was surrounding him snickered at his antics, but they commended him, a noob, for being ballsy. The redheaded man was already losing his patience, but Sonja spoke again.

"As you can see, our guild has taken an interest in you, and we would like to invite you to our guild."

She then bowed towards Chris, startling him and the rest of the people.

"I'm sorry for my brother's rash behavior, giving you the wrong impression towards us."

"Heeeh... you're quite a reasonable person, aren't you?" Chris looked at her profoundly, then at the red-haired man mockingly. "Not like that trash."

Chris was intentionally provoking the guy now because he doesn't like his arrogance and wanted to teach him a lesson. Furthermore, he has a new weapon that he wants to test out, and some arrogant bastard is the best test subject for it.

He also took a liking to Sonja and wanted her. Not in a perverted way, though. He believes that she'll blossom in his guild, as it has the best resource in the game. It will be such a waste of amazing potential if she stays in a crappy guild.

He can also see that she's a very kind and trustworthy person, thanks to his abilities, so he wanted her even more.

"""!!!"""

Everyone was surprised at what he said and immediately prepared their weapons. The red-haired man was already pissed at the noob for not giving him face. And now his noob was calling him trash? What a joke!

"You Fuc-!"

"I said, Wait, Brother..."

Just as the red-haired man was about to attack, he was stopped once again. Although he was the guild leader, it was just in name, and the one running the show was his little sister, so he was really apprehensive towards her. He can only grit his teeth while staring daggers at Chris.

"Aren't you a bit too arrogant, Mister High Roller?" She looked at him with squinting eyes, wanting to know where he got his bravery.

"No, not really." He now had a playful look on his face, making the girl irritated. "How about this? Let's have a duel."

"Huh?"

"""???"""

Sonja and the rest were confused at what he said, but she decided to just look at him, urging him to continue.

"If you can win against me, I'll join your guild."

Everyone now gets what he was going for, but then people snickered at him, especially the ones around. They knew how powerful their vice guild leader is after all, and some noob is challenging her to a duel? Ridiculous! This is as good as their win.

Sonja, on the other hand, frowned inwardly. She can feel through her instinct that this man in front of her is bad news. It's the very reason why she cut off her brother before their guild suffered an incredible loss.

"Oh?" She then asked seriously. "And if I lose?"

"You'll be mine." Chris replied with an equally serious face.

"""!!!"""

Everyone was dumbfounded, and their killing intent was now prominent. With his current ordinary face, it made him sound like a creep. He didn't mean it in a perverted way, though. But they had already misunderstood him.

*Pffft!*

"Bullshit!"

The red-haired man couldn't take it anymore and blurted it out. He tasted something metallic in his mouth, not knowing why or what it was, and what his sister said next made him almost faint.

"Alright, I agree!"

"""!!!"""

"W-why sis...?"

"Shut up."

"..."

Sonja was oozing with confidence, as she didn't think that she would lose to a newbie despite feeling danger towards him. Her amusement towards Chris has increased by many folds, and she wants to know his secrets.

She also wanted to know why her instincts were telling her that this guy was dangerous even though he only had ordinary gear and a very low level.