For the four hundredth forty-eighth time, Dena fell upon her own scythe, and death spread through her body.

  “Why?” She hissed.

  “Becuase you killed my daughter,” I said.

  Dena shivered. “I did?”

  “Yes.” I said.

  A smile split across her face. “Did she scream?”

  My hands started shaking, so I held them behind my back, until Dena finally died.

  She was an evil, evil woman. She killed my friends, so I killed her back.

  The wind blew a little harsher, rippling my skin with goosebumps.

  I could keep killing her, if I wanted.

  She was a powerful opponent, so I would grow stronger and stronger, faster than I ever thought possible.

  My stomach tightened.

  There was a line, just a step beyond revenge, beyond which there would be no return. Under no circumstances could I take death casually.

  I would never harm a human, Npc, or monster more than they harmed me, or others.

  I let out a sigh and started shoveling. Since my strength had grown so strong in such a short period of time, I kept it low. But even holding my strength as low as I could was more than enough to dig a deep grave.

  Once I laid Dena into it, I filled the grave and covered it in moss.

  For the first time in a long, long while, adrenaline and cold anger left my body, and it finally dawned on me that I killed someone. I’d actually, finally, killed a real human being.

  And I’d killed her a hundred and twelve times.

  My breath turned ragged, and I struggled to get back to my feet.

  {NOTICE}

  [The defeated enemy has dropped loot exceeding the limit cap. This loot has been downgraded, but will offer additional bonuses as compensation.]

  ~

  [STRENGTH UP (+1000 Str)]

  [HEALTH UP (+1000 Hp)]

  [ATTACK SPEED UP (+1000 AtkSp)]

  [DURABILITY UP (+1000 Dur)]

  [DEXTERITY UP (+1000 Dex)]

  [MANA UP (+1000 Mana)]

  Because I’d killed Dena in the first area, which was physically incapable of processing densities of power beyond a thousand, I was forced into something of an awkward position.

  Whether for better or worse, the game greatly rewarded the defeat of another player, offering an exact copy of their exp and stats, or, in my case, what the system considered an equivalent boon.

  {NOTICE}

  [Enemy contains a raw quantity of loot exceeding the regional carrying capacity. This loot has been denied. Additional bonuses will be offered as compensation.]

  ~

  {NOTICE}

  [You have defeated an enemy of a caliber far, far exceeding your [pathetic] existence. Due to various drawbacks and dangers of this method, additional bonuses will be offered as compensation.]

  ~

  {NOTICE}

  [You have defeated a member of several notable greater-regional wanted lists. You have not been applied or licensed for dealing with these threats, and cannot claim the rewards. Other bounty hunters have been notified. Additional bonuses will be offered as compensation.]

  The bonuses were…alright…I guess.

  If I was being honest, I didn’t really know what to do with all of it.

  {Radiant Echo}

  [You have achieved the title {Radiant Echo} for the manner and method in which you defeated a transcendent-level being. This gives each attack the [Transcedent Echo] attribute, causing it to deal additional [Transcendent] damage, unless the target is of transcendent rank]

  ~

  {Help : Transcendent damage cannot be dodged, cured, or avoided, and grows more potent when healed, or when additional damage is applied. This damage is twice as effective against incorporeal enemies, and mana constructs.}

  ~

  {Additional bonus : you have increased immunity to [Trancedent] damage}

  ~

  {Additional bonus : [Trancedent] damage deals [True] damage]

  ~

  {Help : True damage cannot be stopped, even by incorporeal forces, extending to the point that it shrinks victims maximum health pool for a temporary period of time, after which, substantial therapy and healing procedures can reverse this process.]

  ~

  {Additional bonus : Your aura density has been increased, feeding off spent mana. Mana you personally waste will reverse this effect. Less mana wasted will result in stronger effects.}

  ~

  {Help : aura density is an intrinsic feature, improved with training. Its limits were affected by the mind. By stretching your bounds in a time of great emotional strain, your exterior of personality on your aura has been substantially improved.]

  ~

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  ~Unique~

  [This bonus is unique to you and you alone.]

  {Additional bonus : Comotosis: You can put yourself into a death-like state, experiencing hyper-extended sensation, spatial awareness, with temporary immortality [able to take damage but not to die]. After state is ended, die, unless health is both positive, full, and unsuppressed, during which you will merely fall unconscious. If a potion is used to survive the effects, there will be a longer-lasting period of backlash.]

  I blinked hard, shoving the notification away.

  As far as I could tell, because Dena was scaled to the fourth area, and I beat her, the game assumed that I also scaled to the fourth area, and thus, gave me bonuses to make the fourth area easier.

  But I’m not in the fourth area, I’m in the first area, so not only do I lack the understanding to use it, but some things, like comostasis, instantly killed me when I used it.

  That could actually be useful, assuming I got trapped in quicksand or something and needed a quick, painless way to off myself.

  But what am I supposed to do with transcendent damage resistance? Or additional true damage on transcendent damage? Or aura density?

  If that wasn’t already enough to give me a headache, the bonuses were in the same group as abilities, meaning they stuck around between resets, meaning I had a hundred and twelve copies of each of these “minor bonuses.”

  I took a deep breath, sitting down in the forest.

  My stats popped up.

  {GRIND}

  Level 0

  Rank “Radiant Echo”

  [ 124,255 Hp 113,132 Str]

  [112,030% AtkSp 112,002 Mana 112,503 Dur 112,500 Dex]

  [10% AuraMP 10% SwrdAff]

  [3 Int]

  Despite everything, I started laughing.

  All this time, I’d been wasting my powers. If I figured out how to win a fight, then I could just die over and over again, building up a hoard of power, until I find a more efficient way to stockpile stats.

  I just had to find a player I justifiably kill—perferably someone in the second area—and then kill them.

  Over and over and over and over and over.

  My stomach churned, and I fell on my knees, puking into the grass.

  …

  Later, I cupped water into a bowl, running it over my head, then over my back, before washing each hand in the lake.

  Without the adrenaline of constant fighting, I was tired. Beyond that, there was a weight between my shoulders, clouding my thoughts. I wasn’t thinking right.

  The water settled, clearing from muddy black to glassy blue.

  I got a good look at myself in the water. Black hair, not yet greasy, above two rather normal ears and a nose. My eyes were gold-yelled, like my shovel’s blade, which shouldn’t be possible, medically speaking, but this was a video game, so, video game rules apply. My chin was a little too square, and my face was a little too long, and my skin was awfully pasty for a white guy living outside.

  “Not much of a looker, am I?” I chuckled, scooping more water over my head. It’s funny. After a month of fighting the same person over and over, I’d almost forgotten what I’d looked like.

  I laid down on the grass and tried to sleep.

  What resulted was a lot of tossing and turning, and a lot of grumpy mumbling, before something jabbed me on the head.

  “What?!” I snapped.

  The notification skittered away, hiding behind a tree.

  I rolled my eyes, waving it over. “Come on.”

  The notification peeked out from the tree.

  “Get over here,” I groaned, standing to my feet. “What?”

  {CLASS ASCENSION}

  [This is a forced change in root class as a result of a previous life-marking experience

  [Current Class : Merchant.]

  [Results are : [Hidden] (Unknown) (Semi-Unique)]

  [Y/N]

  I perked up.

  On one hand, learning that class carried over meant that I could be stuck with the merchant class…forever…which was bad, but if it was going to change, that implied that it’d be something other than a merchant, right?

  ~Semi-Unique~

  {Reaper Merchant Hunter of Death/ Merchant of Death}

  [This is a dual Class, with two weaker affects that form one unusually strong class]

  [This Class is Semi-Unique. While you are technically the only person with this exact combination of classes, other players have partially awakened these classes before.]

  [This class is really cool.]

  [Trust me.]

  Two notifications opened up beside it.

  A dual class?

  I took a moment, processing.

  “So…this is two classes.” I said. “Both are merchant classes. Both involve death.” I squinted, skimming over each screen. “What on earth am I supposed to do with you two?”

  {Reaper Merchant Hunter of Death}

  [Class Core: Merchant.]

  [Attribute : Reaper]

  [Some enemies bear the mark of the Reaper. This occurs when an enemy kills a lot of people who have not killed people. The stronger the mark, the greater the bonus the Reaper will bestow upon you, as a measure of thanks.]

  ~

  [NOTICE]

  [This ability is in the [Harvest] class. Your [Harvest] ability has been modified. It now only works on enemies with the reaper mark, but with grant proportionally equivalent buffs that match the defeated enemy.]

  I pounded my fist in the dirt, before letting out a low groan.

  “I just got that…”

  The other ability was considerably worse.

  Considerably, considerably worse.

  {Merchant of Death.}

  [Class Core: Merchant.]

  [Attribute : Reaper]

  [Trade instances of death to gain various perks.]

  [Only unique deaths count towards perks.]

  [Only your deaths count toward perks.]

  [A unique death only counts if it makes one of the slots on the Death Carousel.]

  [Hidden Death Carousel slots : 10/10]

  [Visible Death Carousel slots : 0/10]

  [This is an extremely powerful class type. This may make you a target.]

  [This is an extremely dangerous class type. This may make you a target.]

  [This is an extremely cool class type. This may make very powerful people very jealous.]

  [This class type feeds off emotional and mental power.]

  [You do not yet meet the requirements to use this class.]

  [Bound : This class cannot be changed, except in exceptional circumstances. (in which none of this matters anyway)]

  I grabbed the second ability screen and chucked it in the water. I could get behind beating particularly murderous enemies. Beating myself to a pulp for +0.1% Shovel Affinity? No thank you.

  “Can’t I just grow an orchard or something?” I muttered, reclining in the grass.

  The wind whistled, scattering leaves on the forest floor.

  I took a breath in, then out, then in, and out, then in…

  “What am I going to do now?” I whispered.