Chapter 30: An Outrageous First Place!

Xu Xiao, whom Qi Zeyu regarded as a thorn in his side, had successfully leveled up from Lv.3 to Lv.4.

"Ah, as I suspected... he consumed my Tier 3 Origin Crystal..."

Qi Zeyu frantically refreshed the leaderboard. Although many players had reached Lv.3 by now, Qi Zeyu had reached it earlier than them, so he remained in second place and had not been pushed down. This did not align with his expectations. At the same time, he made another terrifying discovery: every player in the top one hundred, except for Xu Xiao and himself, was Lv.3!

"It's over, it's over. Can I lower my level? I don't want to stay in second place..." Qi Zeyu was on the verge of tears. Initially, he had been quite pleased when Xu Xiao took his top spot. After all, the loudmouths in the chat channels loved to stir up trouble, constantly demanding that he, the number one on the leaderboard, "sanction" this person or "finish off" that one. Being addressed as "boss" at every turn had made him truly anxious.

But now, everyone on the list was Lv.3! Since their levels were the same, those lower on the list would naturally want to kill those higher up to claim the rewards from the challenge mechanism. Perhaps his prayers had been answered, as the leaderboard shifted once more. A flood of Lv.4 players surged in, pushing Qi Zeyu out of the top 95. Among them were many foreign names.

"Whoa! Keep it up, my foreign friends! A few more and I'll be kicked off the list entirely!" Qi Zeyu muttered, eyes glued to the screen. In the end, his rank settled at one hundredth. The first 99 players were all Lv.4, and he, Qi Zeyu, was the only Lv.3, hanging on at the very bottom!

This wasn't just dangerous; it was humiliating!

"Ugh, don't do this to me..." Qi Zeyu sat down on the ground, trying to figure out his next move. Just then, the leaderboard flickered. His name was pushed out of the top hundred and vanished from the list.

"Hahaha, heaven hasn't forsaken me! Let me see which good soul reached Lv.4 and bumped me off—I must add them as a friend to thank them..." Qi Zeyu searched the list, but after checking all the Lv.4 players, he found no new names. It wasn't until he accidentally glanced at the top of the leaderboard that he saw a new Chinese name:

Lu Li, Lv.15.

***

"Level 15?!! Are you kidding me!!" Zhao Jin stared at the top of the leaderboard, his face filled with disbelief. In the first seven days after the apocalypse game arrived, the highest-tier Origin Crystal a player could obtain was Tier 3! This was information recorded in that ancient book; it couldn't be wrong! Calculating 100 experience points per Tier 3 crystal, even absorbing ten in a row would only get someone to Lv.9. It shouldn't be possible to break past Lv.10. Why was this Lu Li able to instantly reach Lv.15?!

A chill ran down Zhao Jin's spine. He slowly opened Lu Li's profile. When he saw the coordinates, his pupils contracted sharply! He was intimately familiar with that location—it was where the Zhao family had killed someone and stolen their book over a decade ago!

"Why that place specifically... Could Lu Li really be a survivor from that family?" He pondered. "No, that's impossible. If he were a survivor, why would the Lu family have let him grow up in an orphanage, ignored and neglected? It must be a coincidence!"

Convincing himself, Zhao Jin sent two messages to Lu Li. "Lu Li, I see your coordinates. Please keep your promise and leave Luo Hong there; I will send people to pick her up. Also, I hope you can meet with me face-to-face. The Zhao family highly values capable players like you and hopes you will join us."

Although Zhao Jin was brash, he wasn't stupid. As long as Lu Li wasn't a survivor from that family, their previous grievances meant nothing. This person could still be recruited. If he could get Lu Li to join the Zhao family, the Origin Crystals used to ransom Luo Hong wouldn't be a waste!

Lu Li hadn't blocked Zhao Jin's messages, and a reply came shortly after. It was just two simple characters: "Come here."

Zhao Jin immediately called his men to set off. Just as he got into the car, Zhao Quan sent a message. "What is going on?! Is the Lu Li at the top of the leaderboard the same one who has Luo Hong?!"

Zhao Jin quickly replied, "It is him. I am on my way to meet him now and retrieve Luo Hong."

"He's willing to see you? Very well! I don't care what happened between you before, you must make Lu Li join the Zhao family!" Zhao Quan commanded, his tone dripping with unquestionable authority.

"Don't worry, Elder. Lu Li will be in the Zhao family's pocket; he won't be able to escape! Even if he refuses, I won't let him leave alive..."

***

On the outskirts of Yong City, in a derelict villa, Lu Li didn't immediately claim his level-up treasure chest. Instead, he felt the surge in attributes brought by his massive level jump before opening his data panel.

【Lu Li (Title:越级击杀 / Over-level Slayer)】
【Level: Lv.15】
【Strength: 15.8】
【Physique: 15.6】
【Speed: 15.9】
【Spirit: 15.2】
【Talent Abilities: Soul Swallowing (Soul Points: 5142), Lightning Arrow (Diamond), Blade Arm (Emerald), Swarm Deterrence (Platinum), Bloody Slaughter (Platinum), Recon (Silver), Super Strength (Silver), Agility (Silver), Scale (Silver)...】

Because he had looted so many corpses at Tianyi Plaza earlier, his talent list was cluttered with useless, mediocre abilities, so he didn't bother looking further down. He opened the attribute allocation interface. In the apocalypse game, every time a player leveled up, their four main attributes increased by 1 point automatically. Additionally, they received 1 free attribute point to allocate as they pleased. Since he had jumped 15 levels at once, Lu Li had 15 free attribute points.

However, he didn't allocate them immediately. Instead, he pulled another item from his pocket: a golden jellybean. It was a rare find from a challenger's chest, and he had two of them.

【Item Name: Useless Jellybean】
【Quality: Excellent】
【Function: Consuming this item reveals hidden attributes for 1 minute.】
【Note: This thing is definitely not as useless as it looks...】

Lu Li popped the jellybean into his mouth and checked the attribute allocation interface again. A fifth attribute had appeared on the panel, which previously only showed Strength, Physique, Speed, and Spirit.

【Luck: 0.8】

The Useless Jellybean wasn't actually useless. On the contrary, its function was profoundly mysterious because it was the only item that could permanently increase one's luck! Of course, that required knowing how to use it. In his previous life, Lu Li had consumed several Useless Jellybeans, but by the time he learned the correct method, he had few free attribute points left, so his luck hadn't increased much.

Now, living a second life, Lu Li planned to dump all his free attribute points into Luck! After all, the other four attributes could be supplemented by equipment and items later, and there were many ways to improve them. While the luck attribute was visible, Lu Li poured all 15 free points into it. His luck score rose as expected, reaching 15.8.

Lu Li nodded in satisfaction and closed the data panel. His power had been upgraded—it was time for revenge. He turned his head and looked at Luo Hong, who was still kneeling on the ground.