NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: Level Up
"No wonder the third floor is so safe. Most of the zombies are clustered on the sixth floor," John muttered to himself. Determined, he decided to set a small goal: eliminate every zombie in the apartment building before venturing outside to hunt even more.
"But before that," John reminded himself, "I should focus on leveling up. Maybe it'll make me stronger..." After all, the reason he entered the Ashen World was to grow stronger. That goal was never far from his mind.
Status Panel
Name: John Young (Level One)
Race: Human
Occupation: None
Level: LV.1 (0/100)
Soul Points: 330
"I just hope the number of Soul Points needed to level up isn't too much..." John frowned slightly at the thought. Though he hadn't started the process, he was already worrying about what might come next. Taking a deep breath, he made his decision and clicked the button to upgrade.
Prompt: Would you like to consume 100 Soul Points to increase your level to LV.2?
"Yes, level up to LV.2."
John had heard vague rumors about the Ashen World in the Brightwater City Awakeners' group chat. While the others had mentioned it was a place to grow stronger quickly, nobody had explained the exact process. Now that he was here, John was starting to piece things together.
As he sat on the rickety wooden bed in his apartment, a brief flash of white light surrounded him. Then, it was gone.
"That's it? Just a little flash?" John raised an eyebrow. "Huh, so upgrades are really this simple."
Upgrade Complete!
Successfully leveled up to LV.2. Free attribute points: +4.
"So straightforward," John muttered. He had expected something more—like enhanced spiritual power or a boost to his Aura abilities. Instead, the system simply handed him attribute points. It felt almost... lazy.
"Well, I guess it makes sense. The whole point of training is to become stronger. If I can skip the grueling effort and directly boost my physical stats, then yeah, this system is way more efficient."
He thought about how long it used to take him to improve his abilities. Before entering the Ashen World, breaking through to a new level of strength could take months of painstaking effort. Killing monsters and earning Soul Points was clearly the faster option.
Updated Status Panel
Name: John Young (Level One)
Race: Human
Occupation: None
Level: LV.2 (0/200)
Soul Points: 230
"Let's see how many Soul Points I'll need for the next upgrade," John mused, scanning the new requirement. His heart sank a little when he saw the number.
Prompt: Would you like to consume 200 Soul Points to increase your level to LV.3?
"The cost doubled..." John sighed. "Hopefully, it doesn't keep doubling. Otherwise, I'll be in serious trouble later on."
He did some quick mental math. If the Soul Point requirement kept doubling, reaching LV.10 would cost him a staggering 25,600 Soul Points. Even with each Goblin Merchant yielding 30 Soul Points, he'd need to kill 854 of them to make it happen. The thought made him shudder.
"And if I wanted to reach LV.11? I'd need double that—1,707 Goblin Merchants. Then LV.12 would take over 3,400 kills... Yeah, no thanks. I'd be grinding forever."
Shaking off his worries, John decided to focus on the present. He still had enough points to upgrade again, and hesitation wasn't going to help him survive.
"Alright, let's do this," he said, clicking the upgrade button.
Prompt: Would you like to consume 200 Soul Points to increase your level to LV.3?
Action: Confirmed.
Another white light flashed, and just like before, the upgrade was complete.
Upgrade Complete!
Successfully leveled up to LV.3. Free attribute points: +4.
"Sweet, another four attribute points," John said. Adding the four from the previous level, he now had eight points to distribute. But before assigning them, he checked the next upgrade requirement.
Updated Status Panel
Name: John Young (Level One)
Race: Human
Occupation: None
Level: LV.3 (0/300)
Soul Points: 30
"Thankfully, it's just 100 more Soul Points per level," John muttered, feeling a wave of relief. "If it had doubled again, I'd be in serious trouble."
The fixed increment of 100 points made his path clearer. If he continued earning Soul Points at a steady rate, he wouldn't have to kill an impossible number of monsters to keep progressing.
"Alright, time to use these attribute points," John decided. He opened the attribute menu, where multiple options were available.
Attribute Options
Strength +1
Agility +1
Endurance +1
Intelligence +1
Charisma +1
"I've got eight points. Distributing them evenly sounds like a good plan for now," he reasoned. "But Charisma? That's useless for me right now. I'm not trying to charm anyone."
With that, he assigned one point each to Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Intelligence, saving the rest for later. After making his choices, John checked his updated stats.
Updated Status Panel
Name: John Young (Level One)
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Age: 20
Occupation: None
Level: LV.3 (0/300)
Soul Points: 30
HP: 180/180 (Endurance × 15; recovery rate: 2 per hour)
Energy: 120/120 (Intelligence × 10; recovery rate: 6 per hour)
Strength: 12
Agility: 12
Endurance: 12
Intelligence: 12
Charisma: 6
Luck: ??? (Hidden Attribute)
"Adding points directly is so convenient," John thought. His HP had risen by 30 points, and his energy capacity increased by 20. It would have taken him half a year of rigorous training to achieve the same results in the real world.
"The difference is night and day. Back in Brightwater City, I spent months grinding just to improve my stats by a couple of points. Here, I just kill a few Goblin Merchants, and bam, instant results."
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Read up to chap 20 at [email protected]/Onesword