NOVEL NEXT X – Beastkin’s Never Be Slaves
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! What just happened? Why did the building collapse? And… why am I still alive?" Ye Lan groaned as she slowly climbed out from the rubble, brushing off dust and debris from her clothes.
Her health bar showed a single remaining point. If it weren’t for her high defense, she’d almost think she was using cheats. The fight with the man in sunglasses had brought her to the edge of defeat, and the building’s collapse had dealt even more damage. How could she still be standing?
Looking down at her hands, a sudden thought crossed her mind. "Could it be… when the building collapsed, that guy with the sunglasses died before I did? And by getting the experience from his defeat, I leveled up and recovered some health?" she murmured, still stunned by the possibility.
She raised her hand and checked her stats. Sure enough, her level had jumped from 2 to 5, boosting her attributes significantly.
Name: Ye Lan
Gender: Female
Race: Beastkin (Feline Subgroup)
Class: Priestess
Skills:
- Blood Armor
- Charm
-
(Locked Skill)
Attack: 300
Defense: 200
Speed: 250
Magic: 5
Ye Lan glanced at her stats without much surprise. After all, she wasn’t familiar with typical human values, and she knew the true strength of her race wouldn’t fully reveal itself until around level 20.
After closing the stats panel, she shook her head vigorously and slapped her cheeks a couple of times. “Ling!”
Only then did she remember that mysterious girl with her seemingly immense power, capable of bringing down an entire building in an instant. She even wondered if, like herself, Ling had experienced some kind of race transformation.
But… Ling didn’t seem all that extraordinary at first glance. Aside from her silver hair, she had no unusual features and appeared no different from an ordinary human. So, if she had transformed, what race could she be?
An angel, maybe?
Ye Lan shrugged and dusted off her clothes as her health bar continued to recover, little by little, above her head.
Ye Lan carefully stepped out of the collapsed building, breathing heavily as she scanned her surroundings. In the sky, a floating sphere caught her attention, and she clenched her fists, worried it might signal another enemy attack.
The sphere began scanning her body, and suddenly, a large map materialized before her. It appeared to be a layout of the city she was in. A single green dot marked her location, while several red dots showed her enemies positions.
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any enemies nearby, the closest were about five kilometers away. It looked like both the man in sunglasses and Ling really had been eliminated.
A description surfaced in her mind.
[Virtual Map: Scans every thirty minutes to prevent players from intentionally hiding and prolonging the game. Each scan lasted five minutes, displaying the current locations of all participants.]
“Seriously? I can’t even hide?” she muttered in frustration. Just then, the map screen showed unexpected movements, one of the closest red dots was closing in fast. At that speed, it would reach her in five minutes.
“Five kilometers in five minutes? What are you, a cheetah?” She grumbled. Without wasting another second, she looked around and took off in the opposite direction.
If I’m going to fight, I should at least wait for my health bar to recover. I can’t face anyone with half my life. She thought, breathing heavily, she focused first on increasing the distance, and as soon as the five minutes of map visibility ended, she quickly ducked into an abandoned building.
“Hopefully, this buys me some time… I haven’t even recovered half my health. I can’t fight like this” she murmured, crouching in a corner and trying to catch her breath.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the building, and her ears twitched.
“From the sound... height close to Six feet, weight around 330 lbs, no metal weapons… unarmed?” She closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds. The ears of a beastkin weren’t considered a skill but an innate ability. Her hearing was far superior to a human’s, allowing her to pick up precise details.
Thud…
Thud…
Thud…
Thud…
The footsteps grew closer. How did he find me so quickly? He shouldn’t have detected me… Wait, this is…! Ye Lan frowned, keeping her eyes closed and focusing on the approaching sounds.
From below, the tall man struck the wall with a powerful blow, like a demolisher bent on destruction without restraint.
"Hey, hey! Where did you go? Are you a coward? Or are you not even a man? If you’ve got guts, come out already!" The man’s voice boomed through the building as he punched through wall after wall.
"Quite the attack power, but... who knows if his strength is above or below my 300 attack points?" Ye Lan muttered under her breath. She pulled up her status panel, noting that her health bar had recovered halfway.
"Is half health enough? Maybe, but… I can’t risk it. What if it’s not?" She shook her head, dismissing any thought of jumping in recklessly. Keeping her eyes on her status screen, she searched for any advantage that might help against her pursuer.
Huh? What’s this ‘locked skill’? Ye Lan’s attention was caught by an option in her skill list, and she blinked in surprise.
Let’s see what this does. she thought, tapping it without a second thought. Instantly, a golden light radiated from her, sending nearby birds scattering. The man below noticed the flash coming from above.
"So, you were upstairs! Hiding away like a timid little girl, huh? Let’s see what kind of person you are!" he grunted, rushing up the stairs.
Within moments, the man stood before Ye Lan on the upper floor. She was waiting for him, her gaze fixed, unflinching.
Golden light surrounded Ye Lan’s body, and her health bar filled at an incredible pace.
60%...
70%...
80%...
90%...
100%
[Passive Skill Activated!]
[Beastkin's Never Be Slaves]
[Beastkin's Never Be Slaves: When health drops below 50%, there’s a 10% chance to activate this passive skill and restore health to full.]
Just a 10% chance, not 100%, not 90%. It’s a powerful ability, but the odds are so low that only a truly ‘lucky’ beastkin could ever trigger it.
But…
Ye Lan’s class was [Priestess] and as a beastkin priestess, instead of gaining attack or defense bonuses, she received a unique and rather peculiar stat…
Luck +100
At this moment, Ye Lan’s luck was legendary. This was nothing short of the ‘Abandoned Tower of Lucky Ye Lan’’
She clenched her fist with a smirk. “Now I almost feel a bit of sympathy for humans. They really do have it rough!”
