"If that's the case, isn't a D-rating for my highlight performance today kind of stingy?" Alex pouted. He didn't get it—he landed the first kill!
"The final highlight rating is determined by multiplying the base score by your highlight coefficient. Your current coefficient is too low, so the score capped at a D."
"Highlight coefficient?"
"Positive high-engagement comments from outside viewers on your actions, along with the number of recommendation and vote tickets you receive during those actions, will increase your coefficient. Conversely, if your foolish actions get popular negative comments, your coefficient will drop."
"Ohhh…"
Alex more or less got what Annie meant and continued browsing.
[End of Day 1 Report: Remaining Players – 98]
Only two players had died on the first day—and both were killed by Alex. Just as he'd expected, those players who had formed pacts or alliances hadn't yet arrived at the agreed meeting point.
After checking the mailbox, Alex opened the quest log.
It was clear that he'd already met the conditions to complete the first main quest, The Golden Road.
He clicked "Claim" under the quest.
A new mail promptly popped up.
[Main Quest I: "The Golden Road" completed. Reward: 5 Points, 3 Attribute Points, 3 Skill Points]
He tapped "Collect All," then opened his character panel.
[Alex: Strength 23, Agility 19, Spirit 2
Skills: Basic Etiquette, Common Tongue (Read/Write) – Basic, Swordsmanship – Intermediate, Horsemanship – Intermediate, Lancing – Intermediate
Available Attribute Points: 6
Available Skill Points: 6
Total Points: 14]
"Annie, what's the best way to allocate these points?"
Alex was still a bit lost when it came to the system's stats. At least, the tutorial hadn't gone into much detail.
"I'm not authorized to answer questions that interfere with game progression."
Right… asking Annie for point distribution advice would probably be considered interference from the 'organizers.'
"Then just explain how point allocation works."
"Each Attribute Point raises the corresponding stat by one."
"Wow, such innovative design. Truly groundbreaking," Alex muttered dryly.
"As for skills, they're divided into seven tiers: Basic, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Proficient, Master, and Legendary. Upgrading from one tier to the next costs increasing Skill Points—1 for Basic to Novice, 2 for Novice to Intermediate, 3 for Intermediate to Advanced, and so on."
"So what about learning a brand-new skill? From 0 to Basic? That costs… zero skill points?"
"New skills must be learned manually by the player, or obtained through special items. These items may appear in the Points Shop or as quest rewards," Annie replied in her usual scripted monotone.
Alex nodded thoughtfully, then got to work on upgrading his stats.
He evenly split the six Attribute Points between Strength and Agility, and used his Skill Points to upgrade Swordsmanship and Horsemanship from Intermediate to Advanced.
What? Why didn't he level up Lancing?
Well, historically speaking, spear users always roll low on luck. Alex wasn't about to make life harder for himself. Plus, he'd already decided to stay out of future knight tournaments. That particular skill just wasn't worth investing in anymore.
When the distribution was done, his updated character sheet popped up:
[Alex: Strength 26, Agility 22, Spirit 2
Skills: Basic Etiquette, Common Tongue (Read/Write) – Basic, Swordsmanship – Advanced, Horsemanship – Advanced, Lancing – Intermediate
Attribute Points: 0
Skill Points: 0
Points: 14]
Right after the upgrade, a wave of dizziness hit him. New memories surged into his mind—intense training sequences in swordsmanship and horsemanship.
That's right. Only training memories.
It made Alex realize something about this system's structure: Strength and Agility had immediate physical effects—maybe it'd take a few days to fully adapt, but the results showed quickly. Skills, on the other hand, came with memories but not muscle memory. They still needed time and practice to become truly useful.
So no, you couldn't just dump points and instantly become OP. That dream was a lie.
After recovering for a couple minutes, Alex decided to check on his core NPCs to reassess his team's overall strength.
He opened up Rore 's character card:
[Rore : Strength 34, Agility 32, Spirit 4
Skills: Swordsmanship – Proficient, Horsemanship – Advanced, Lancing – Advanced, Coaching – Advanced, Common Tongue (Read/Write) – Basic, Valerian (Fornos Dialect) – Intermediate]
"No wonder he's an S-Rank card. Not only can he fight, he can also double as a coach and Valerian language tutor," Alex muttered in awe.
"Should I be paying him three salaries? Wait… no, he's a religious zealot bound to me. I don't have to pay him anything!"
Chuckling, Alex shook off the absurd thought and eagerly opened Kess 's info next.
[Kess : Strength 46, Agility 38, Spirit 2
Skills: Swordsmanship – Master, Horsemanship – Advanced, Lancing – Proficient, Great Axe – Proficient, Common Tongue (Spoken) – Basic, Valerian (Spoken) – Basic]
If Rore was a utility-type NPC, then Kess was a full-on super soldier. His Strength and Agility stats dwarfed Rore 's, and his weapon skills were stacked—a Master level and two Proficient ones.
His actual combat ability was even more impressive. In one fight, Kess had soloed three mounted mercenaries, taking two down in a single blow, without breaking a sweat.
"But… aren't Rore and Kess supposed to be the same class? Is it really normal for there to be such a huge stat gap?"
Alex asked Annie mentally. "Kess 's Strength is 12 points higher than Rore 's."
"The higher the class rank, the greater the stat variance. For S-Rank classes, a single-attribute gap of up to 15 is within the normal range," Annie explained. "Exceeding 15 is rare but not impossible."
"So it's like pulling Kingsguard units—lucky players get Arthur Dayne, the guy who can piss with one hand and cut down the rest with the other, while unlucky ones get… Ser Meryn Trant, who'd lose to three drunk brothel workers?"
Annie, ever the emotionless AI, didn't respond to irrelevant banter.
Alex shrugged, gave up, and turned his focus to the mission system.
To his surprise, even though Main Quest I was marked as complete, Main Quest II hadn't updated yet. The same went for the second Bounty Quest, which remained blank.
"Annie, is the system bugging out? Why aren't there any new quests?"
"Each main quest includes a one-week buffer period before the next phase is released. Bounty quests follow their preset schedule."
Alex nodded in understanding and logged out of the system.