Chapter 7: Level 10! The Level Ranking Board is Open!

Before the two could ask further questions, Karl had already taken Melz and walked away.

Niuzi Ge and Old Sophomore exchanged excited glances, their eyes reflecting each other's thrill.

"I remember now! The Supreme Hall is that grand building right in the center of the newbie village, isn't it?" Old Sophomore exclaimed, slapping his forehead. Out of habit, he always wandered around the newbie village when entering a new game, looking for hidden quests. He was quite familiar with the layout of the village.

Niuzi Ge nodded, "Exactly! It seems this is the hidden mechanism of the game. Leveling up by just grinding monsters seems tough, but if you spend a bit of gold, you can really take off."

"I see! Those greedy developers really know how to squeeze money out of players; it's outrageous!" Old Sophomore cursed.

After all that time fighting monsters, his axe was practically smoking, yet he had only gained a third of the experience he needed. Those developers were unbelievable!

"Let's go, I want to get one of those followers too! Let's enjoy ourselves first!"

Feeling they had discovered the game's secret, the two excitedly rushed toward the main city.

Sure enough, they found the magnificent Supreme Hall in the central area.

"Perfect! This will be the place where we strike it rich!" Niuzi Ge declared, looking up with grand ambitions.

The two charged into the Supreme Hall, brimming with confidence.

"Boss, we have business!" Niuzi Ge shouted, hands on his hips.

"I have plenty of gold!"

"Oh?" The archmage, who had been counting gold coins idly, couldn't help but smile at the duo's confidence.

This posture—could it be another generous Plutus?

The archmage stood up with a grin and approached them.

Two minutes later…

"Where did these poor fools come from?!"

"Get lost!"

Boom!

A deep, thunderous roar erupted, followed by a burst of blue light. [-290524] [-352004]

Two figures flew out of the Supreme Hall's entrance, their health bars instantly depleted.

Good Cow's Slide, dead. Old Sophomore, dead.

In the graveyard, the two, in their soul forms, stared at each other in disbelief, speechless.

They had been discussing things just fine, so how did a massive Water Ball spell suddenly come out of nowhere?

Is it reasonable for an NPC to be this volatile?

Besides, was nearly 100,000 gold really considered poor?

How much money did that guy have?

…

[Kill Large Slime, Experience +95] [Kill Large Goblin Warrior, Experience +92] [Kill Large Slime, Experience +95] [Kill Giant Wild Wolf, Experience +101]

Meanwhile, deep in Flower Language Plain, Karl was completely unaware of the farce that had unfolded in the Supreme Hall.

Even if he did know, he wouldn't care.

The experience points soaring in front of him were already dazzling enough.

What does it mean for a god-level sorcerer to arrive in a newbie area where the monsters are generally level 10?

One handsome warrior wielding a large sword had already provided the answer—

It would be a massacre!

Wherever Melz went, nothing could survive.

With a casual strike, he dealt over a million damage.

And it was area damage too.

The once harmonious valley was now a scene of devastation.

There were no living creatures in sight.

The only monster faction in the newbie village, the Goblin Village, had been nearly wiped out.

Even the sunbathing golden retriever by the roadside had to take a couple of hits.

[Ding! Congratulations, your level has successfully risen to lv5. You have gained 10 attribute points to distribute freely.]

With such terrifying efficiency, Karl also directly leveled up to 5.

At this point, it was uncertain whether other players had even reached level 2.

It could only be said that having money truly allows one to do as they please.

However, there were downsides.

After leveling up, a new entry appeared on Karl's status panel.

[Experience Permanently Reduced: 6] Experience Penalty!

In "The Apocalypse," whether players or NPCs, if the level difference exceeds 10 levels when in a party, the lower-level party member will suffer penalties when gaining experience.

Experience gain is reduced.

Moreover, this entry is permanent!

Karl's current experience penalty was 6, meaning he would only gain 94% of the normal experience.

As he continued to level up, this penalty would increase.

Karl estimated that if he relied on Melz to level up, by the time he reached level 10, the experience penalty would likely be around 10%.

Leveling up in "The Apocalypse" was already difficult, especially in the later stages, where the experience required for each level was massive. A 10% experience penalty would undoubtedly be despairing.

But it didn't matter.

Karl's main goal was to quickly reach level 10 and enter the main city.

The experience penalty was indeed terrifying,

But the advantage of being the first to enter the main city outweighed it.

You have to give to gain.

Next, Karl opened his attribute panel and began to allocate his free attribute points.

[Strength: 35] [Constitution: 35] [Spirit: 70] [Agility: 40]

After leveling up four times, he gained 40 free attribute points, all allocated to Spirit.

Having spent over a hundred million today, the "Plutus's Power" also granted him 100 attribute points, raising his other attributes significantly.

At level 5, his stats were already formidable, unmatched even by players who had reached level 10.

"Great! If I level up about three more times, I'll meet the requirements to unlock the hidden dungeon."

Karl smiled in satisfaction.

In the forums of his previous life, there had always been a highly confidential piece of information.

In newbie village 9527, there exists a hidden dungeon, the Dragon's Nest.

Aside from its concealed location, the basic requirement to unlock it is simple: Spirit must exceed 100.

However, this was for the top-tier players who were all level 100 at the time.

If one wanted to break the 100 Spirit threshold at this stage, the only way was to level up to 10 and allocate all free attribute points to Spirit.

But no normal person would do that.

Even for a magic-based profession, such an extreme allocation would mean other attributes would be severely lacking, especially Constitution.

One misstep could lead to a disastrous fate.

However, for Karl, who possessed "Plutus's Power," there were no such worries.

"Let's continue leveling."

After allocating his attribute points, Karl and Melz continued their rampage through Flower Language Canyon.

At precisely six o'clock in the evening.

[Ding! Congratulations, your level has successfully risen to lv10!] [Ding! Congratulations, you are the first player in newbie village 9527 to reach level 10, earning 10 attribute points!] [Ding! Congratulations, you are the first player in the world to reach level 10, earning 50 attribute points and the title: Swift as the Wind.]

Under Melz's relentless bombardment, the depths of Flower Language Plain fell silent.

Meanwhile, Karl's level skyrocketed to a terrifying 10!

Then, a world announcement was made.

[Ding! World Announcement: Player 'Night Cold' successfully leveled up to lv10, opening the level ranking board.] [Ding! World Announcement: Player 'Night Cold' successfully…]

The announcement echoed in every player's mind, ringing three times before it stopped.

At that moment, all players participating in the beta test of "The Apocalypse," regardless of who they were or what they were doing, halted their actions, their eyes filled with shock.

What the hell? Someone reached level 10 in less than a day?!!!