Isaac was browsing the official site when he dozed off, only to be poked awake by someone.
Still groggy, he opened his eyes and realized he'd fallen asleep. The two pages he'd left open—AishaDoll's stream and the guild list—were still up, though her stream had ended sometime during the night.
"What time is it...?" Isaac muttered, closing the browser and refocusing on the game.
Time in Celestia: The Eternal Realms was synced with real life, and in-game, it was already morning.
The game clock showed: 7:30 AM.
"Crap, I slept through the whole night?!" Isaac exclaimed. Guess all the grinding yesterday had completely wiped him out.
The ones poking him were the Red Team—his three Hyenaman subordinates—who had been hovering around him, prodding at his sides with their claws.
"Stop poking me, I'm up!" Isaac snapped, rubbing his forehead. "Why didn't you wake me sooner? I told you to keep an eye on Daffino!"
He looked down the hill. Sure enough, the massive Hyenaman commander was swaggering around like he owned the place. Daffino had respawned.
Red Team finally stopped poking him but looked... almost apologetic?
Isaac checked his system log.
[07:00:01] Your subordinate attempted to wake you.
[07:00:02] Your subordinate attempted to wake you.
[07:00:03] Your subordinate attempted to wake you.
"Huh, so he respawned at 7 AM?"
The Red Team nodded in unison.
"No way... we killed him around 11 PM last night. That means an eight-hour respawn timer? That's insane."
But now that Daffino was back, there was no way Isaac was missing this chance. He stretched lazily, a bit shocked he'd actually managed to sleep inside a game. On the bright side, he was fully refreshed.
"Alright then. Gear up, kill Daffino, then I'll wash up in real life." First, he spent 150 Reputation Points unlocking two additional gear slots. He was gonna need them eventually anyway.
He equipped the shoulder pads and vest, swapped out his regular Hyenaman Club for Cragstone, and then opened up his character panel.
What he saw left him speechless.
[Character Bound: Isaac]
[Race: Special Sturdy, Special Agile, Special Robust Hyenaman]
[Quality (Star 2 - Perfected): +100% Strength, Agility, Constitution]
[Level: 8 (XP: 26,101 / 50,000)]
[Physical Attributes: Strength: 30 (24+6), Agility: 32 (24+8), Constitution: 30 (24+6)]
[Attack: 53-59]
[Defense: 27 (12+15)]
[HP: 1,060 (830+230)]
[Talent: "Inferior Hyena Bloodline" (Tier 2): 14% chance to deal double damage on basic attacks]
[Talent Evolution Shards: 0 / 80 (Tier 3)]
[Quality Evolution Points: 0 / 80 (Star 3)]
[Monster Reputation: 38]
[Legion Recruitment Order (Three Units): 38 / 2000 Reputation]
"Wait, what?! I'm level 8 already? Nearly level 9?!" Isaac gasped. "Don't tell me... was it you guys?"
He turned to look at the Red Team.
Apparently, while he was knocked out for eight hours, the Red Team hadn't stopped grinding. Without his orders, they'd continued to roam, kill, rest when HP dropped below 40%, then get right back to it.
In one night, they'd farmed 56,000 XP Orbs.
That was 7,000 XP per hour. Better than Isaac's own grind efficiency.
"Damn! You guys are beasts!" Isaac said with admiration. They might be a little dim, but right now they looked adorable. Cold-blooded XP machines!
His current stats made him a whole different creature than he was at level 7—especially with three equipped items.
"Alright, Daffino's done for this time!" Isaac cracked his knuckles. "Red Team, let's go!"
This time, Isaac tanked first while Red Team went all-in on DPS. When his HP dropped to around 400, Red One stepped in. Then Red Two, then Red Three.
[You have slain Hyenaman Warlord Greedy Daffino (Lv. 8 Elite). You gained 360 XP Orbs.]
[You received Tier 3 Talent Shards x3, Star 3 Quality Points x3.]
Another six Star 3 materials!
Then came the sweet sound:
Ding...
Isaac held his breath. "Cragstone... please Cragstone..."
[You obtained "Leather Shoulder Pads" (Lv. 5, White Quality)]
[You obtained "Worn Hyenaman Club" (Lv. 1, Gray Quality)]
[You obtained "Cragstone Hyenaman Club" (Lv. 5, Green Quality)]
"YES! JACKPOT!" Isaac's eyes locked onto the green text. That was all he needed to see.
After looting, he hurried back to his hilltop hideout with the Red Team. Time to cash in.
"Let's see… 16 Hyenaman Clubs, one shoulder pad, one Cragstone," he muttered as he sorted his spoils.
Then he paused. "Wait... didn't Red Team farm all night too?"
They remained silent.
Isaac checked their inventories himself—and nearly had a heart attack.
Red One: 6 Hyenaman Clubs.
Red Two: 7 Hyenaman Clubs.
Red Three: 7 Hyenaman Clubs.
Total: 20 extra weapons.
"Holy crap... you guys are monsters!"
They had probably taken down around 700 mobs total overnight, and thanks to the high number of special variants, the drop rate had been surprisingly decent.
Isaac had no choice but to admit the age-old rule: "The stuff you hesitate to invest in ends up being the best decision you made."
What once felt like a painful expense now had him screaming:
"Worth it!"
Now that he had 33 Hyenaman Clubs in total, it was time to work.
He picked out 3 of the best rolls and added them to his previous 3 "mini-god-tier" weapons. Then he logged into the marketplace.
A quick check revealed the standard Hyenaman Club market had dipped a bit. Most listed at 280 credits, and they still sold quickly.
"Alright... 33 basic clubs at 280 credits each."
"The high-attribute ones are dropping in price too. Still, these six can fetch a bit."
He tossed them up on the auction house:
One with +2 STR, +1 AGI, +1 CON – $1200 buyout
Others ranging from $700 to $800
One with full AGI bonus – "Congrats, you dodged every valuable stat..." He listed it for $450.
Next up: the white-quality shoulder pads.
8 DEF, +110 HP—not bad at all.
"Starting bid $700, buyout $1500."
Then came the final challenge.
Cragstone.
How much was this beast worth? Isaac stared at it, completely at a loss.