Chapter 6: Chapter6-Flameserpent Ring, a 10,000-Damage Ray!
The moment John chose not to conceal his ID, every player heard a majestic voice resound across the sky.
[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to player "Outlander" for achieving the first clear of the dungeon "Catacombs" on Hell Difficulty! Clear Time: 4 minutes 32 seconds!]
[Reward: EXP +80,000, Gold Coins +100, Reputation +1,000!]
Every player on the entire server instantly fell into a daze.
What was going on?
Someone had already achieved a dungeon first clear?
...
Inside the Underground Chapel.
[Your level has increased to Level 5. You have obtained 30 Free Attribute Points!]
After this single dungeon run, John had obtained a total of 140,000 EXP and 113 Gold Coins.
As for free attribute points, he had gained over 4,000 of them!
"Not bad."
John nodded in satisfaction.
From the moment he entered the game until now, probably less than half an hour had passed.
Reaching Level 5 within half an hour was the kind of speed that would probably scare countless players senseless if word got out.
...
Meanwhile, the guilds outside were completely dumbfounded after hearing the announcement.
They had not even reached the dungeon entrance yet, and someone had already taken the first-clear reward?
Countless discussion posts instantly flooded the forums.
"Outlander! Just hearing that name, you can tell he must be powerful!"
"Clearing it in 4 minutes and 32 seconds? That’s terrifying!"
"Just who in the world is this monster?"
Practically everyone was speculating which top-tier expert was using the ID Outlander as an alternate account.
...
Outside the dungeon.
A flash of white light appeared, and John’s figure materialized.
Sweeping his gaze around, he discovered that the five players from earlier were still standing guard at the entrance.
At this moment, all five of them were staring at him blankly, clearly still unable to recover from the announcement they had just heard.
John did not bother paying them any further attention. He directly selected the option to teleport back to Starter Village.
Not long after he disappeared, a figure rapidly shot over from the distance.
[Overlord_Frost]!
He was the chief captain of Overlord Guild. At present, he had already reached Level 13 and had undergone his class advancement into an assassin.
The moment Overlord_Frost arrived, his gaze landed on Overlord_Freewill and Overlord_Casual.
He barked in a low voice, "What exactly is going on with this dungeon? Where is the Outlander who achieved the first clear?"
Overlord_Freewill and Overlord_Casual opened their mouths, but for a moment, neither of them knew how to explain the situation.
They could hardly say that they had watched helplessly as the man entered the dungeon, speedran the entire thing, and then casually left right under their noses, could they?
Seeing their reactions, Overlord_Frost’s expression sharpened.
"I asked you a question! Where is he?"
He was just about to lose his temper and reprimand them when another figure swiftly approached from the distance.
[Overlord_Dawn]!
The moment the three of them saw the ID, their bodies trembled slightly.
They immediately saluted and called out in unison, "Guild Leader!"
The newcomer was none other than the guild leader of Overlord Guild, Overlord_Dawn.
He had already reached Level 15 and advanced into the knight class. Among all current players, his strength could be considered top-tier!
Overlord_Dawn waved his hand slightly.
"Mm. How long have you been standing guard here?"
"Guild Leader, I only just arrived myself. Unexpectedly, someone had already obtained the first clear of this dungeon before I got here."
Chief Captain Overlord_Frost spoke with utmost respect, completely different from his earlier manner.
At this moment, Overlord_Freewill and Overlord_Casual finally recovered from their daze.
They both bowed and reported, "Guild Leader, that Outlander has already left."
Upon hearing the ID Outlander, Overlord_Dawn felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
He walked up to the dungeon entrance and looked at the first-clear information displayed on its interface.
"Four minutes and thirty-two seconds. Participating player: Outlander... Hm?"
Seeing that there was only a single name on the list, he froze.
Overlord_Dawn immediately turned toward Overlord_Freewill.
"How many players entered this dungeon just now?"
The latter hurriedly replied, "We only saw one person enter!"
Upon hearing this, Overlord_Dawn’s pupils contracted sharply.
Outlander had gone in alone and speedrun the entire dungeon?
Why did both that ID and his style of play feel strangely familiar?
He immediately asked again, "What did Outlander look like? Do either of you remember?"
Hearing this, Overlord_Freewill and Overlord_Casual both looked somewhat bewildered.
They truly had not paid attention to that detail.
Overlord_Casual shook his head.
"We didn’t notice his appearance, but he was dressed in a set of pajamas. He wasn’t wearing beginner equipment."
Pajamas?
Overlord_Dawn frowned upon hearing this.
He searched through his memories for a while, but nothing relevant came to mind.
After a moment, he waved his hand and turned toward Chief Captain Overlord_Frost.
"Forget it. First, investigate what John is doing right now.
"If he has also entered this game, then there is a good chance this Outlander is him.
"If it is merely a coincidence, then recruit this person at all costs.
"But if it really is him..."
Overlord_Dawn paused for a moment.
"Notify me immediately!"
"Yes!"
Overlord_Frost immediately accepted the order and left to arrange the investigation.
Then, Overlord_Dawn opened the guild’s internal channel and issued an announcement.
"All members above Level 10, immediately gather at the dungeon in Starter Village No. 616. We must clear this dungeon in the shortest time possible!"
...
Meanwhile, inside the Armory.
The blacksmith was still forging longswords.
Suddenly, he heard movement from the entrance. When he raised his head, he discovered that the young adventurer who had left earlier had returned.
The blacksmith immediately sneered.
"I was just thinking of reminding you that you forgot to take your clothes. I didn’t expect you to return so quickly.
"Well? That dungeon wasn’t easy, was it?
"But don’t worry. Next time, I’ll call a few more adventurers to go with you and—"
Clatter!
Before he could finish speaking, John waved his hand, and a stack of longswords and suits of armor instantly appeared on the table!
These were all items dropped by the zombies he had killed inside the dungeon.
The blacksmith was instantly dumbfounded.
Then, wild delight appeared in his eyes. He picked up one of the longswords and examined it carefully.
The blacksmith exclaimed repeatedly, "As expected of weapons from a hundred years ago. The craftsmanship is truly extraordinary!"
Unable to put the weapon down, he continued, "Young man, it seems I misjudged you.
"This batch of weapons should provide me with plenty of inspiration and allow my forging skills to advance even further. Thank you."
John nodded slightly before stretching out his hand.
Seeing his gesture, the blacksmith suddenly came to his senses.
"Oh, right. I nearly forgot."
With that, he turned around and rummaged through the pile of wooden boxes behind him.
Before long, he pulled out a ring box.
"Take a look. See whether you’re satisfied.
"This was given to me by a powerful archmage I once saved. Judging by its appearance and material, it should be worth quite a lot.
"However, it’s useless to a blacksmith like me, so I might as well give it to you."
...
When John opened the box, he discovered a ring carved with the image of a crimson serpent.
At the same time, the sound of a quest completion notification rang beside his ear.
[Congratulations, player. You have completed a Hidden Quest! You have obtained EXP +10,000, Gold Coins +100, and Reputation +1,000!]
[Congratulations, player. You have obtained A-rank Equipment: Flameserpent Ring!]
[Flameserpent Ring]
[Rank]: A-rank
[Effects]: Fire Element Resistance +30%, Intelligence +20
[Skill]: Flameserpent Ray
...
"It’s actually an A-rank piece of equipment, and it even comes with its own skill."
John’s eyes lit up.
[Flameserpent Ray]
[Effect]: Fires a solidified ray of flame, dealing damage equal to 20 + Intelligence ×100% to the target.
...
Intelligence ×100%?
John looked at the value of 10,010 displayed beside his Intelligence stat, his eyes flickering slightly.
In other words, he now possessed a skill capable of dealing over 10,000 points of magic damage!
During the Starter Village stage, any kind of skill was extraordinarily rare.
After all, Starter Village did not even have a single class instructor. Players could not undergo class advancement here, so naturally, there were no skills available for them to learn.
The only way to acquire a skill was to search the wilderness for treasure chests and gamble on their luck.
Even an ordinary skill book could easily be auctioned off at an astronomical price.
Yet now, John already possessed an A-rank summoning skill and an A-rank mage skill!
John could not help marveling inwardly.
"Excellent. I finally have a ranged attack method as well."
