In a world shrouded in gray mist, countless stars flickered.
Every person longing to advance to the Firefly-rank Transcendent could sense a star calling out to them here, thus anchoring their future path.
Selim was no exception.
In the darkness, several stars cast faint beams of light in her direction.
‘Demonbane Priest, Twilight Priest, Pale Hunter…’
These were all quite formidable classes.
But it wasn’t enough.
Spreading her hands, she ignored the stars that beckoned to her, and instead, began her well-practiced search for a particular star.
“Found it.”
A star, dim yet glimmering, fell into her palm.
“I never thought it would actually be possible to choose this disaster-bringing class.”
‘Do you wish to select Soul Eater Walker as your class?’
With a thought.
Yes.
NPCs only had a handful of choices, but as someone who was both NPC and player, she, like creating a game character, had the privilege of choosing any class.
Including those that should have been impossible for a human to choose.
Soul Eater Walker.
This class, which arrived with a later expansion, drew power from the soul, diverging completely from the traditional path of tempering the body with magic or casting spells.
From the perspective of people in this game world, choosing this class was no different from being a demon in human skin.
But for Selim, this seemingly insane decision was the result of careful deliberation.
Given her current physical condition, choosing any other class would likely leave her unable to wield even half its power.
Only the path of the soul field allowed her to excel.
Moreover, as the favorite of the new expansion, this class boasted overwhelming stats and bizarre mechanics.
Even if her melee abilities were somewhat lacking due to missing racial traits—
But didn’t she still have Sophia?
‘Drawing talents and acquiring class information. Please wait.’
‘Congratulations. You have obtained the class, Soul Eater Walker.’
‘Class-exclusive skills acquired: Soul Contract / Soul Tentacle / Soul Devour.’
‘All mana has been converted to soul force.’
As expected of a new expansion class—three exclusive skills right from the start, one more than most classes. The devs really knew how to sell power.
‘A special condition has been triggered. Talent acquisition has been fixed, Soul Extinction (Red).’
Selim’s eyes lit up. Her efforts to obtain that bead were well worth it, granting her this talent as she advanced to Firefly-rank Transcendent.
‘Soul Extinction (Red): Any unit affected by your soul force will be marked. The mark calculates its base chance of triggering based on the actual stat difference between you and your target. If successful, the target dies; if it fails, the target takes damage based on lost health; the mark can stack within 300 seconds.’
From today onward, she would no longer be a lamb awaiting slaughter, but a wolf with fangs fully bared.
But this was only the beginning of the advancement ceremony; to complete it, she still needed to clear a trial.
Pass, and she’d advance, keeping everything gained so far an exceptional performance could even bring bonus rewards.
Fail, and she’d forever lose this opportunity.
In the past, when playing the game, this trial mechanic was jokingly called the “cashback checkpoint”—countless players were stuck at the gate, forced to pay for a carry.
In her previous life as a gaming expert, she had carried others through these trials more than once.
But this was now reality after transmigration. There was only one chance she must succeed.
The mist swirled and faded. Selim found herself inside a cramped military tent, covered in shoddy leather armor.
At the same time, a voice boomed in her mind.
[There are five people, and three costs. Are you one of them?]
[Cooperate, compete, survive, then uncover the doomed truth of this town.]
[Three will be eliminated by score. The remaining two will advance.]
Cooperative exploration?
Selim’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.
As a gaming veteran, she knew that this seemingly gentle model was actually the cruelest among such trials.
On the surface, it looked like two would advance based on performance.
But just like that certain extraction game where two teams of six had only five evacuation slots.
With such a design, it was hard not to immediately think of one solution.
Kill, by any means necessary, all the other competitors.
If only two survived, wouldn’t that guarantee advancement?
No need for any real cooperative exploration.
However, considering the ELO system that matched people of similar strength, wiping out all others by oneself would be difficult.
Sabotaging others during investigation, or even framing them to put them in danger—these were the usual tricks for this type of trial.
With that in mind, Selim calmly swept her gaze around the tent at the others.
Besides herself, there were five more people in various outfits—both men and women—busy with their own tasks.
Outside the tent, faint, chaotic voices could be heard.
Judging by the numbers, there might be some other trial-takers, but certainly not all.
From experience, the first step was to hide her identity and identify her opponents.
The safest move was to bide her time, watch for anomalies, contribute the most during the event to rack up score, or… quietly dispose of a few competitors.
Everyone else was probably thinking the same. After all, it’s not like anyone would actually stand up and declare.
“Attention, everyone! Look at me, I’m a trial-taker.”
All she needed now was to check her own status and wait.
The incident was probably about to happen.
Selim tapped her toe on the ground and stood to stretch.
She wasn’t surprised she could stand up.
The body in the trial was just a temporary shell, unremarkable in appearance, no different from those around her.
Its strength depended on the original body’s attributes, a kind of fairness, but under this system, Selim had a slight advantage.
This body was barely usable, but enough.
Otherwise, she would have stood out right away her special condition would be too conspicuous in a military camp.
“All personnel! Assemble!” came a gruff shout from the tent entrance.
Here we go, the scenario was about to start.
Selim blended in with the crowd, showing nothing out of the ordinary.
Before long, hundreds had gathered inside the military camp.
Some wore uniformed attire, bearing various wounds soldiers. Others dressed like Selim, in mercenary garb.
With the growing crowd, things became a bit chaotic.
“Silence!” Irritated by the noise, a middle-aged man in armor on the dais slammed his sword hilt to the ground.
Almost instantly, all eyes turned to this camp noble.
After scanning the now-quiet crowd, he finally spoke again, “Reinforcements are on the way. For now, we must hold this pass.”
Squinting, as if envisioning a scene, he said with some fear, “If they break through, the consequences will be dire.”
“The safety of the town is in your hands!”
‘Clue acquired. Additional quest objective added.’
‘Repel the unknown enemy. Additional performance points will be awarded for enemy kills.’
A data panel with a quest prompt popped up, along with a ranking board.
Selim saw the quest panel, with a new ranking beside it. Besides herself (Selim), the other four were codenamed A, B, C, D, all at zero points.
This time, the prompt wasn’t a mental notification, but appeared through her player interface.
Even the smallest advantage she was confident she could tease it apart and box up her competitors.
A small “exploit” didn’t really count as an exploit.
With her current skills and talent combination, she felt she could blow the whole pond sky-high.
The speech on stage droned on, and Selim found herself drowsy.
She didn’t plan to obediently rack up battle merits on the field. Before the town was destroyed, she’d prepare enough supplies, then dive into investigating the monsters’ origins.
She wanted not only to win, but to gain bonus rewards. To achieve that, she’d have to go against the grain.
She had far too much prior “experience farming.” She was well-versed.
“Thank you all again.” The middle-aged man finally finished, pounding his fist to his chest.
The soldiers responded in kind, and just as Selim was about to mimic the gesture.
A figure suddenly stepped out from the crowd.
Clearly a woman, her gaze was sharp, and she stared straight at the dais, her voice ringing clear and firm, “Even if this town is doomed, I will do everything in my power.”
Huh?
Selim was stunned.
She could almost confirm: a fellow trial-taker.
But she never expected someone to be stupid enough to out themselves.
Making a declaration about the town’s destruction during a rallying speech, wasn’t that asking to be killed?
Especially in a scene meant to boost morale, saying the town was doomed would only enrage them.
Sure enough, the noble’s face darkened, “Spreading panic before battle, undermining morale! Seize her!”
Selim watched coldly, even a little gloating one less competitor.
“I swear on the name of the Ross Family, I mean it sincerely.” The woman struggled to defend herself.
“Ross Family?” Selim’s heart stirred, a wave of familiarity passing through her. A figure quickly overlapped with the person before her.
“Could it be her?”
In Selim’s mind, the image of someone overlapped with the person now struggling and shouting.
The prestigious Ross Family of the Blood Lion Empire.
That “foolish beauty” in the game’s plot, gifted, but ultimately betrayed by her most trusted, fallen into darkness.
Cecilia Ross.
The future mistress of Blood Castle.
Selim had once considered making her a target, but after much thought, had gone after Sophia instead.
Now, with a new little sister presenting herself…
She’d treat this as a gift from the heavens time to take all she could.
Selim no longer chose to stay low-profile.
Cecilia was worth disrupting her own plans for.
“Forgive me, my lord.”
“My lord, please be calm.” Selim stepped out from the crowd, blocking the soldiers, and deeply bowed to the dais, “My lord, please forgive my foolish little sister’s momentary recklessness.”
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