Cole sold every card for 330 points. Loot cards had varied prices ranging from 1 to 30 points. The more valuable, the more expensive it became. Starter equipment cards were rather cheap too as they only gave 20 points. An active skill card he had sold gave him 50 points.

After selling things, Cole checked the skills he could buy. There were only eleven skills, including the one he had sold, and three of them were passive skills. First, [Raging Strength], boosted the user’s strength by 35%. Second, [Dexterous Motor], boosted the user’s agility by 35%. The third one, [Boulder Essence], boosted the user’s vitality by 35%.

These skills cost 100 points, but Cole needed to choose one as he only had one free skill slot. He didn’t think about it too much and chose [Raging Strength]. The reason was Cole wanted the strength to kill higher-level monsters.

Are you sure you want to buy [Raging Strength]?

“Yes,” Cole said.

You have used 100 points to buy [Raging Strength]

Currency Point: 1430

The system screen emitted a flashlight to the table and manifested a black card. Cole took and absorbed it immediately. At the same time, his veins popped out as if they were about to explode. Aside from that, his heart thumped fast, and he could hear it drumming in his ears. However, it was momentarily as his body suddenly adapted to his new condition. After that, he felt a lot stronger than before.

After inspecting his new condition, Cole pointed his screen to the consumable card dealer. This shop sold consumable cards like food, drinks, healing card, purification card, antidote cards, etc. He remembered he hadn’t eaten yet, so he bought some food cards, drink cards, and other consumable cards he would need in an emergency. They cost three hundred points.

Currency Point: 1130

After buying consumable cards, he moved to the equipment card dealer. This shop didn’t have too many cards to sell, but everything was expensive here. Cole darted his eyes around the list and found something he needed.

Name: Inventory Ring

Grade: Low

This ring has two dozen blocks to store cards. It can stack the same card up to 99 times.

Cole immediately liked this ring. It was more convenient to bring around than the sling bag. If he bought this ring, there was no need to carry the bag anymore, but the price was more expensive than other equipment cards. It cost five hundred currency points.

“I don’t care. I will buy it.” Cole clicked buy, and the system screen manifested a white card on the table. It changed into a ring when Cole touched it.

Cole wore it on his left ring finger. After staring at the ring for a bit, he took off his bag and put it on the table. “Goodbye,” he said as he offered a prayer to the bag.

Cole only had 630 currency points remaining, and he planned to buy more equipment cards. He used up 500 points to buy long leather pants, a leather shirt with long sleeves, and a pair of boots. They naturally increased his attributes, albeit by 15%.

Bonus attributes from equipment: 30% vitality, 15% strength, and 15% agility.

Bonus attributes from skills: 35% strength.

Total bonus attributes from skills and blessings: 70% strength.

There was a mirror nearby, and he approached it. He looked at his appearance. There was no size option for equipment, but somehow his outfits fitted him. He hadn’t worn cloth because fighters fought without them, so he was happy to wear them. The temperature had been cold, but this brown leather cloth warmed him.

Cole turned his consumable sandwich card into a real sandwich and ate it. There were tables and chairs, but he used to eat while standing or squatting.

While munching on the tasty treat, he looked around. This base area was smaller than the newbie building. There was another entrance on the back and a magic circle in the middle of the room. He approached the receptionist lady and asked about it.

“What is that magic circle in the middle of the room?”

“That’s a teleportation circle. It can take you to various places, but for now, you don’t have access to use it.”

“How do I get the access?”

“Getting a class will allow you to access to the next island. Defeating a Rex-titled monster allows access to an even higher level dimension. As a messenger, it is my duty to remind you that the void and void creatures will destroy this newbie dimension at a certain time, so you have to go to a higher dimension as soon as possible.”

Cole ignored her warning and thought of something else. If he got a class, he could access other islands. One of his goals was searching for his gladiator brothers since he had nothing to do. They didn’t have to follow him. Cole simply just wanted to know about their well-being.

“Thank you, sister. How do I get a class?”

“Only yourself can unlock it,” the lady said.

Cole nodded. “I understand. Then, farewell.” He turned his back and went to lie down on the table. The night was dangerous, so he could only wait until tomorrow.

The place was quiet. Cole liked this ambient atmosphere, but since he was with another person, it became awkward to stay silent, so he talked with the receptionist lady, but she only responded to only important things as if she was an automaton robot. In the end, he gave up on his attempt and meditated again on the table.

A few hours had passed. Cole opened his eyes to the marching footsteps. Jeff Doucette and his people entered this place. Their eyes met, and the man approached him. Cole looked at the man’s information and became surprised.

Name: Jeff Douchette

Level: 6

“You have reached level 6,” Cole exclaimed. To reach the same level as him was admirable, considering Jeff led many people.

Jeff smiled. “And you came here by yourself. I admire your strength, Mr. Xander.”

“Did you come here at night?” Cole rhetorically asked, even though the answer was clear to him. He genuinely admired his leadership. The night was the time when many monsters became active. He would never have thought the man could convince the crowd to go at night.

“We were lucky that some people could guide us at night. Through effort and cooperation, we had it done. This is the benefit of staying as a group. How about it, Mr. Xander? Would you like to become a part of our group? You can lead your own squad.”

Cole thought about Jeff’s offer seriously. Normally, he would say no because he disliked working under someone, but after knowing the difficulty of hunting alone, he was tempted to look for a few people that could support him.

“I—” Cole found his sound gluing in his throat. He felt heavy to accept Jeff’s offer for some reason. “I like to hunt alone, but thanks for the offer.” His eyes widened at the realization of his own words. He might be an introvert, but it wasn’t as if he was an antisocial person. His heart just couldn’t allow himself to say yes to Jeff.

Jeff patted Cole’s shoulder. “Just let me know if you change your mind.”

Cole was alone once again. No one bothered to get close to him, and even Jeff’s people looked at him with contempt. He didn’t understand why. He wore new outfits, so it wouldn’t be his body odor. Even though their gazes bothered him a bit, he maintained his stoic expression.

……

The building had a hologram clock, and Cole got out at 6.00 AM when many people were still sleeping. He met Jeff leaning against the entrance. He greeted the man with a nod.

“Hunting?” Jeff asked.

“I hunt alone, so I have to work harder than others.”

Jeff raised his hand. “Good luck with your hunt.”

“Thanks.” Cole slapped Jeff’s hand and walked past the transparent barrier. The Ace Frenzy Rabbits were still sleeping at the riverbank, so he didn’t feel worried about bumping against them. Not that he would walk carelessly too.

After he passed the bridge, Cole stopped for a moment to look at the forest. He summoned a consumable map card from his inventory ring and used it. This was one of the consumable cards he had bought for 10 currency points. The system screen appeared on its own and showed a new feature, Maps. Currently, he only had a map for Beginner Island Number #101.

Cole clicked the map, and the screen showed an image of the island. There was a green dot before the bridge, and it represented his position. He summoned a consumable monster detector card, and he used it. This card allowed him to detect monsters for one day, and he bought it for a pricy 50 currency points. Red dots appeared on the map, and they showed monsters’ levels when his finger clicked on them. With this, Cole wouldn’t be afraid of what he hunted.

Cole entered the forest. After reaching level 6, he had new targets. However, these level 6 monsters had a risky habitat. He needed to traverse the bush in order to reach their place.

As he walked, he occasionally glanced at the map to make sure he was on the right track. The map and the monster detector were important in this hunt.

“I have to make minimal 100 currency points today to replenish the monster detector and buy other necessary cards.”

Cole shifted the last tall grass on his way and peeked out. Ahead of him was an open field, and there were several ponds.

In the ponds, giant frogs at the height of his thighs lived. Unlike normal frogs, these green frogs had a bulging vocal sac on their back, and it occasionally inflated.

Name: ???

Level: 6

There were two types of monsters: aggressive and non-aggressive. Cole didn’t know which type these frogs were, so he just assumed they were aggressive. He thought of a way to approach them, but nothing came up in his mind. In the end, he stepped out of the bush and looked at their reactions.

Those frogs looked at him. Most of them ignored him and kept minding their business like bathing in the pool, but a few approached him out of curiosity. With this, he confirmed they were non-aggressive monsters.

Cole rushed to a frog, and the creature sensed his killing intent. It opened its mouth and stuck out its long tongue like a bullet.

Cole used the flat side of the blade to parry the attack and bash the frog’s head. As the creature was stunned on its feet, he delivered a clean cut to its neck.

Cole looked around. Other frogs didn’t care as the frog’s head dropped to the ground. This was a good thing for him. After taking a card from the corpse, he charged to another frock. After a while, he killed two more frogs, and he gained information about them on the monster knowledge list. According to the system, the frogs were called Sloth Bullfrog.

Cole continued his hunt. He was in a good mood because this place was an easy farm spot for him. Only he alone could hunt them, or so he thought.

After killing a dozen of frogs, he took a rest for a while, sitting on the ground. There were still many pools ahead, and the stock of frogs was abundant, so he wasn’t worried he would run out of his killing targets.

After a while, he was about to go ahead when the bush behind him swayed. Five people arrived at this place. A man stood in the middle, and he assumed he was their leader. The other four comprised two women and two men.

Those people were members of Jeff’s group. As they spotted Cole, they looked at him with contempt.

Cole had had enough of their gazes and decided to approach them. He wanted to find out their reason to look at him like that. As he stood in front of them, he smiled and said, “Hi. Is there something wrong? You people have been staring at me as if you are looking at garbage.”

They looked at each other and didn’t know what to reply. In the end, their leader replied, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Cole looked at each of them. Their hands gripped their weapons tighter. They were ready to attack him. “You look so tense. You see. I won’t bother any of you, so I will appreciate it if you guys stop looking at me like that.”

“You are a murderer, right?” the woman in the group asked innocently, and her teammates glared at her bluntness.

Cole blinked his eyes. He wasn’t sure what to reply because they were right. He had killed hundreds of people throughout his career as a deathmatch gladiator. “I won’t murder people wantonly.”

“So the rumor is true,” the woman said.

Cole frowned. There might be people who recognized him from Jeff’s group, and these people might have spread a nasty rumor about him. “What rumor?” he asked