BXBX NOVEL Chapter 51: Fiance Kean and the Ghoul Tribe
The outfit, combined with Ritchie's stench, made him look more like a ghoul than the actual ghouls.
"Hey, I kind of look like I'm cosplaying." Ritchie remarked, unfazed and even finding it amusing.
Without lingering, the group continued deeper into the Death Plains.
Jeremy had already reached level 25, but needed nearly 210,000 experience points to level up further. The monsters on the outskirts of the Death Plains provided too little experience. His target was the hidden boss in the core area, the only one that could give him a significant boost.
At the moment, Kean, who topped the level leaderboard, had reached level 29, a full four levels ahead of Jeremy.
Jeremy estimated that Kean would soon reach level 30. If Kean didn't waste time on the second class change, he could even reach level 32 by the end of the Sunseeker event.
Jeremy also had to deal with the class change goddess Janna during his second class change, and he had no idea what trials she might set up for him.
Therefore, he not only needed to surpass Kean in a short time but also leave some buffer for the second class change.
Fortunately, players could still gain experience from killing monsters even if they couldn't level up due to not yet completing a class change.
This meant he still had a chance!
...
Meanwhile, a few kilometers away from Jeremy and his group, on a hilltop.
Ella and Kelvin's team of five were besieging a level 25 elite Thorn Serpent.
Kelvin, surrounded by lightning, swung his staff, sending a bolt of lightning crashing onto the massive body of the Thorn Serpent, shattering a large patch of its scales.
The Thorn Serpent hissed in pain, its massive body writhing and rolling, sending dirt and grass flying everywhere, but unable to harm any of them.
Ella, standing at the highest point of the hill, her silver-white hair flowing in the wind, aimed her massive sniper rifle, arcs of red electricity dancing on it. Through her blue virtual glasses, a red dot moved over the Thorn Serpent's body.
At last, her pupils contracted, and the red dot locked onto the serpent's head.
Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger.
The sniper rifle's muzzle erupted with a blend of lightning and flame, sending a red energy beam as thick as an adult's arm barreling out.
"Boom!!!"
The energy beam pierced through the Thorn Serpent's head and even blasted a terrifying crater into the hill behind it.
The serpent collapsed, and the group was enveloped in the glow of leveling up.
Meanwhile, Tre, who was on lookout duty, witnessed Jeremy's battle with the ghoul warriors through his binoculars.
Lowering the binoculars, he remarked in surprise, "No wonder this kid is so cocky. He's got some skills."
They had just experienced the strength of an elite monster themselves. Although it wasn't too difficult to deal with, taking one down as cleanly and efficiently as Jeremy did wasn't easy even for them.
Kelvin said calmly, "If I remember correctly, Jeremy is already level 25. If we were the same level as him, it wouldn't take much effort for us to kill that monster either."
Rafael held a lady's cigarette between his slender fingers and frowned. "If it weren't for that guy, our levels wouldn't be so low."
"Captain, should I go teach them a lesson?" Ramone's eyes gleamed with a fierce fighting spirit.
He loved battling strong opponents, and Jeremy's skills had earned his respect.
Rafael scoffed. "Even though I don't like the guy, he did manage to surpass the captain's fiance and top the leaderboard. He must have some skills. Be careful, or he might chop you up."
At the mention of Ella's fiance, Kean, a look of apprehension flashed in Kelvin and the others' eyes.
Kean's name was almost universally known in the capital, not just because he was the heir to the Kean's family, but also due to his notoriously violent temperament. Anything that displeased him would invoke his wrathful vengeance.
When the apocalypse struck, many thought they'd have a chance to get back at Kean.
But no one had expected that he would awaken a terrifying SS-level ability and obtain a hidden class, becoming the strongest recognized genius among the players.
A few days ago, Kean had even soloed a beginner dungeon, becoming the first player in the apocalypse game to clear a dungeon.
Those who had hoped to take revenge on him were shocked to find that the gap between them and Kean had only grown larger.
Hearing Kean's name, Ella's expression shifted slightly, but she said nothing more. She turned and started walking deeper into the plains, saying calmly, "Forget him. The most important thing now is to level up. We've wasted too much time these past few days."
The other four nodded in agreement.
Their main goal in entering the dungeon was to quickly level up. Anyway, Jeremy couldn't run away.
Ultimately, aside from the Federation leaders and a few others like Benjamin, no one really took this young man seriously.
In fact, whenever Ella thought about how these people had placed all their bets on Jeremy, she considered them insane.
No matter how talented a young man might be, what the Federation and humanity needed was a hero who could bring hope.
Even Kean, her fiance whom she greatly disliked, seemed a hundred times more capable than Jeremy.
It wasn't that Ella wanted to belittle Jeremy.
It's just that an eighteen-year-old boy, no matter how remarkable or impressive, he couldn't bear such a heavy burden.
Ella shook her head.
Instead of wasting time and resources on this boy, it would be better to find other solutions.
That way, humanity might still have a chance to survive the increasingly brutal apocalypse.
...
Meanwhile, on the Death Plains.
A dark red figure bulldozed through waves of monsters, rapidly advancing towards the core area. Behind him, Emma and the others struggled to keep up.
Jeremy's pupils had turned dark red, and he was enveloped in a shroud of sin flames, exuding an overwhelmingly terrifying aura.
Moving swiftly among the monsters, his dual blades cut through them like the scythes of the Grim Reaper, each strike claiming a life.
[You have killed a level 25 Terror Blossom (Normal), gaining 4519 experience points!]
[You have killed a level 24 Plains Great Wolf (Normal), gaining 4038 experience points!]
[You have killed a level 26 Thorn Serpent (Elite), gaining 26160 experience points!]
As a series of kill notifications appeared, Jeremy's experience points rapidly increased, and it didn't take long for him to reach level 26.
Emma and the others were also leveling up quickly, with one of them glowing with golden light every so often.
Despite being mentally prepared, it was only when Jeremy got serious that they truly understood just how terrifying his strength was.
The path they had traversed was now littered with blood and monster corpses. Jeremy's figure darted among the dense swarm of creatures like a phantom, each strike of his blade efficiently claiming the lives of one or even several monsters.
The monsters that required their combined effort to defeat seemed like paper under Jeremy's dark red blade, easily torn apart.
They struggled to even track his movements, only able to see flashes of his blade dancing through the monsters.
Watching Jeremy gracefully weave through the horde, they felt like they were witnessing a breathtaking stage performance.
Jeremy's mental strength had doubled after coming out of the Spirit World.
This not only enhanced his skills but also greatly improved his observational and self-control abilities, allowing him to manage his power with perfect efficiency, wasting not a single ounce of energy.
This improvement was monumental, significantly boosting Jeremy's stamina and making his attacks faster, fiercer, and more precise.
Jeremy understood that in battle, simple and effective moves were often more practical than flashy techniques. He abandoned complicated attacks in favor of basic slashes, chops, sweeps, and stabs.
This approach greatly increased his efficiency in killing monsters.
While the others were starting to feel the strain in their hands and feet from finishing off the monsters, Jeremy remained as energetic as ever.
Ritchie lamented, "The gap is just too wide!"
Emma and the other two nodded silently.
Jeremy was like a monster!
Their abilities and classes were already considered top-notch among players, even genius-level.
But next to Jeremy, they felt no different from ordinary people.
The disparity was so vast it was almost despair-inducing.
Bonnie finally had a clear understanding of Jeremy's capabilities and stopped deluding herself into thinking she could surpass him in the future.
As more monsters fell, Jeremy's body glowed with golden light once again.
[You have reached level 27, gaining 30 free attribute points!]
[You have gained fixed class attributes: Strength +40, Spirit +40, Stamina +20, Agility +20!]
At the same time, Jeremy's movements began to slow down. It wasn't because he was tired, but because a large stone-built settlement had appeared not far ahead.
The Ghoul Tribe!