Kairon opened his stat panel with a surge of excitement, ready to allocate the free attribute points he'd gained from leveling up.

  In his past life, he'd been a Rogue, and knew the ins and outs of a high-burst, high-mobility assassination build like the back of his hand.

  He'd originally planned to go all-in on a max damage build this time around, dumping every single point into Agility and Intelligence to maximize the damage of his nature spells and summons.

  After all, the average player only gained 5 free attribute points per level. Thanks to his [Rooted] talent, he earned an extra 10 points with every level up, for a total of 15 points. Dump 5 into Strength and 10 into Agility every level? He'd be absolutely unstoppable.

  But the moment he opened his panel, a System announcement rang out without warning, shattering all his plans in an instant.

  Ding! Player attribute allocation detected. Auto-allocation settings for free attribute points have been configured: 20% Strength, 20% Intelligence, 20% Agility, 20% Stamina, 20% Vitality. This setting is irreversible once confirmed. Does the player wish to proceed?

  Kairon froze for a split second. He knew exactly what this auto-allocation feature was. Once configured, the System would automatically distribute his attribute points at the fixed ratio every time he leveled up, no manual input required.

  But virtually no player ever used this feature. There were too many unpredictable variables in the late game, and you needed to tweak your point allocation to shore up your stats on the fly. For example, if a piece of gear had a high Strength requirement to equip, you'd have to dump extra points into Strength to hit that threshold before you could wear it.

  "No..."

  Ding! Settings have been applied. The System had completely ignored his response.

  Kairon rubbed the bridge of his nose with a helpless sigh. He didn't need to guess who was behind this. It had to be the old man in the black suit with the blood-red rose in his breast pocket, the one he'd spoken to before entering the game.

  First, he'd force-locked him into the Nature Mage class, and now he'd outright locked down his attribute allocation.

  What's done is done. Complaining wouldn't change a thing.

  He knew full well that anyone who could directly override the System rules of World of Eldrath had to be someone with unimaginable authority.

  Kairon muttered under his breath. "He brought me back from the dead and gave me a second chance. Surely he didn't do all that to mess with me?"

  In the core nexus of World of Eldrath, the old man swirled his goblet of red wine between his fingers, watching Kairon's figure on the light screen with a faint, amused smile. "Lucky I set that restriction in place ahead of time for this boy.

  If he'd dumped all his points into max damage without a second thought, he'd have wasted this physique we've spent tens of thousands of years searching for, the only one perfectly compatible with the World Tree's origin. What a tragedy that would have been."

  Kairon turned his attention back to his stat panel, his fingertips brushing over each growth value, and he quickly pieced together what was going on.

  The average player had a base growth rating of 12 stars, translating to a 1.2 attribute bonus per level. Even if they dumped every single point into a single stat, they'd only gain a maximum of 6 points in that attribute per level.

  But he had a 20-star growth rating across every single attribute. Even with an even split, he'd gain a steady 3 points in every stat per level. His damage output wouldn't be any lower than a player who'd maxed a single attribute, and he'd gain a well-rounded boost to every single one of his stats in the process.

  More importantly, the core of the Nature Mage class was forging pacts with the living creatures of nature, and his summons inherited every single one of his attribute bonuses in full.

  Strength boosted his summons' physical damage, Intelligence amplified their spell damage and skill effects, Agility increased their attack and movement speed, and Stamina and Vitality improved their damage mitigation and maximum health.

  An even split across all attributes actually fits the rare class's core mechanics perfectly. Its ceiling was far, far higher than any single-stat maxed build could ever be.

  Once it clicked, Kairon let go of his frustration entirely, a bright spark reigniting in his eyes.

  Specializing in a single stat might let him push one aspect to its absolute limit, but well-rounded, balanced growth across the board would unlock far more possibilities, letting him truly tap into the full potential of the World Tree legacy.

  He pulled his focus back to the present, summoned the Shadowwood Panther, and stepped into the first basement level of the Abandoned Power Station.

  After hitting level 3, the Shadowwood Panther had automatically unlocked a new base skill: [Shadow Stealth].

  [Shadow Stealth]: The Shadowwood Panther enters stealth, reducing its presence by 90% and increasing its movement speed by 20%.

  The first basement level was crawling with level 1 and 2 Corrupted Spiders, low-level mobs that couldn't survive a single [Rip] from the Shadowwood Panther.

  He didn't even bother lifting a finger himself, letting the Shadowwood Panther clear a path all the way through. Every mob along the way dissolved into 2 or 4 experience points, doubled by his talent, and added straight to his bar.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  An hour later, he reached the entrance to the second basement level, and a glance at his experience bar showed he'd hit level 3, 78% of the way to level 4.

  Kairon frowned slightly, a thought crossing his mind. Still too slow.

  If any other player had heard that thought, they'd have flown into a rage.

  He glanced at his quest panel, filled to the brim with 20 quests, and steadied his resolve. He'd focus on clearing his quests first. Mindless mob grinding would never match the massive rewards from completing quests.

  But the moment he stepped over the threshold into the second basement level, a bone-chilling sense of dread washed over him, every hair on his body standing on end.

  The feeling was gone in a split second, but years of experience running from assassins had let him catch it clear as day.

  Rogue!

  Kairon reacted on pure instinct. With a flick of his fingertips, the Shadowwood Panther dropped into [Shadow Stealth] instantly, while he dove and rolled behind a broken concrete wall beside him.

  At almost the same moment, a pitch-black figure materialized where he'd just been standing, dagger still raised mid-strike from its ambush. When the gank missed, the figure didn't hesitate for a heartbeat, vanishing back into stealth instantly.

  It's him. Kairon's eyes turned ice-cold in an instant.

  The figure had vanished in the blink of an eye, but Kairon had gotten a clear look at his face. He was a little greener than the man Kairon remembered, but the cold, ruthless glint in his eyes was the same.

  The player's in-game ID: BlackMantis.

  In his past life, after Zareth and Virella had betrayed him together, stolen the [Wishing Box], and cast him down into the abyss, this BlackMantis had been his most relentless hunter. Rumor had it he was a top-tier assassin in the real world, too, and he'd take any hit if the price was high enough.

  After the launch of World of Eldrath, Kairon had used the unlimited enhancement power of the [Wishing Box] to deck himself out in a full set of +30 gear, climbing to the very top of the server and earning the title The Limitbreaker.

  BlackMantis, meanwhile, had earned the title The Grim Reaper with his unmatched, masterful assassination skills.

  Later, Zareth had paid BlackMantis a fortune to hunt him down, launching an endless, nonstop campaign of assassination.

  At first, he'd been able to hold his own and even trade wins with him thanks to his gear advantage.

  But after the [Wishing Box] had been dropped on death in a trap set by Zareth, the man he'd once called his brother, his gear could no longer keep up with his level progression.

  His power plummeted, and he slowly found himself on the back foot.

  In the end, BlackMantis had camped his respawn point, killing him over and over again, until nearly every last piece of his remaining low-level +30 gear had been dropped on death.

  Without his gear to back him up, he was trapped in an endless cycle of ambushes and hunts until he'd been killed all the way back down to level 1, forced to flee back to the novice village in disgrace.

  The blood debt from his past life would be settled here, in this one.

  In the split second, Kairon's mind was racing with memories, and that familiar, bone-chilling sense of dread washed over him again.

  Shit.

  BlackMantis's figure materialized directly behind him, casting the skill [Sap].

  Kairon’s body locked up completely in the blink of an eye.

  [Sap]: A stealth-only ability. Incapacitates a non-combat target for 1 minute. Any damage will break the incapacitation effect. Can only affect one target at a time.

  A bitter smile crossed Kairon's mind.

  This was The Grim Reaper, through and through. Even in the early days of the game, his attention to detail was terrifying. The tiny cloud of dust he'd kicked up when he'd jumped behind the concrete wall? BlackMantis had spotted it instantly.

  The incapacitation effect ticked down second by second, but Kairon was completely calm. He knew exactly what was coming next. More likely than not, BlackMantis would follow up with [Cheap Shot], triggering a 5-second forced stun.

  But he wasn't worried. This level 2 Rogue only had [Eviscerate] as a damage skill right now. He had no high-damage abilities to speak of.

  With his 160 health and 20 Physical Defense, BlackMantis wouldn't come close to one-shotting him. Hell, he most likely wouldn't even be able to pierce his armor.

  The second the 5-second stun wore off, all he'd need was a single command, and the Shadowwood Panther lurking in stealth would tear this unsuspecting Rogue to shreds in an instant.

  But to his shock, as the full minute of incapacitation neared its end, BlackMantis never launched an attack. He didn't even let a single hint of his presence slip.

  He left? Kairon thought to himself. Come on, just hit me once to break the Sap.

  He'd played a Rogue for four years. He knew this playstyle inside and out. Brush past someone, land a Sap, and dip immediately. Unless the target had a crowd control break, they'd be stuck there for the full minute, helpless.

  [Sap] was an infuriatingly cheap skill. It could only be used on a target out of combat, but once it landed, the target was stuck for the full duration unless they took damage or used a crowd control break.

  What made it even worse? The caster didn't break stealth after casting Sap.

  If he wasted a crowd control break recklessly, BlackMantis would still be lurking in stealth, and he'd have no way to track his position. He'd have wasted the break for nothing, and all that would be waiting for him next was an unavoidable [Cheap Shot].

  That's why the vast majority of players would just sit tight and wait. They'd hold their break until the attacker showed themselves, broke stealth to attack, and then use it to turn the tables, avoiding getting caught on the back foot.

  This was exactly why a Rogue's triple Sap was so infuriating. Even if the fourth application triggered immunity, the first three stacked up to a full 1 minute and 45 seconds of crowd control.

  Now that he was the one getting sapped and nailed dead to the spot, Kairon had to admit it to himself: Rogues are so fucking scummy.

  He counted down the seconds in his head. 3 seconds left until the Sap wore off, and he was ready to give the Shadowwood Panther the command to reveal the Rogue from stealth the moment it ended.

  3... 2...

  Ding! You have been afflicted with [Sap] by player BlackMantis. Incapacitated for 30 seconds. Original duration 1 minute, duration reduced due to consecutive application.

  The System announcement rang out again, resetting the crowd control duration entirely.

  A flash of icy fury crossed Kairon's eyes.

  He could barely believe it. The BlackMantis he'd known in his past life, the one famous for his ruthless, decisive, no-nonsense kills, was using this disgustingly scummy, hit-and-run playstyle in the early game.

  In his memories, the first time BlackMantis's name had exploded across the entire server was when he'd assassinated Wrotham, the guild master of Iron Dominion, one of the top guilds at the time.

  Wrotham was a fully kitted Warrior Tank, a high-defense class that Rogues had always hated to fight.

  For that assassination, Wrotham had brought his new girlfriend along and had three hundred of his guild brothers clear out an exclusive grinding spot for him, letting him level up with her in the center of the zone.

  No one knew how BlackMantis had slipped past the three layers of security three hundred players had set up without a sound.

  All anyone knew was that once he'd located Wrotham, he'd opened with [Cheap Shot], followed by [Kidney Shot], [Gouge], [Improved Stealth], then a second [Cheap Shot].

  It was a flawless, max-duration control kill combo that had kept Wrotham locked down for a full 49 seconds. A fully kitted Warrior Tank, whittled down to death without even getting the chance to pop a damage mitigation cooldown.

  After that, BlackMantis's reputation skyrocketed. Every single person who died at his hands was a big name, famous across the entire server.

  Kairon's eyes turned colder and colder, a silent vow forming in his mind. He would end this man, once and for all.