"You have been assigned to Beginner Village #616."
Riven Locke quickly opened his inventory.
A mysterious scroll lay quietly inside.
He activated it.
Ding—Mysterious Scroll activated. SSS-rank Main Quest triggered: Path of Salvation!
"Do you accept the quest?"
Epic orchestral music rang in his ears.
Riven's heartbeat quickened.
An SSS-rank quest?!
In the world of Glory, quests—especially rare ones—were incredibly valuable.
The rewards? Extremely generous.
But the most notable feature of an SSS-rank quest wasn't its difficulty.
It was its length.
Which meant it could provide a constant stream of experience, gold, and even equipment!
"I accept the quest!"
Congratulations! You've accepted the quest: "Path of Salvation"!
The epic music swelled dramatically.
Riven felt a surge of destiny—like he had just been chosen as the savior of the world.
"Path of Salvation — Chapter One: A Humble Beginning."
Objective: Kill 100 Rabbits, 100 Wild Boars, and 100 Wolves, then report to the Village Chief.
He will reward you handsomely and gift you a treasured item he's kept for years!
A treasured item kept for years?
That definitely sounded valuable.
…
After closing the quest window, Riven noticed a chest lying in his inventory.
He chose to view details.
The small treasure chest instantly appeared before him in 3D projection.
The lid wasn't fully closed.
Inside, treasures shimmered with dazzling light.
Extremely tempting.
[Beginner's Chest]Level Requirement: Lv10Description: Can be opened upon reaching Level 10.[Shared Global Reward Pool — The earlier you open it, the greater your reward!]
…
By now, Beginner Village was bustling with players.
None of them had been blessed by the angelic guide like Riven had.
When they saw the same treasure chest:
"Wait… a shared global reward pool? That means the sooner you open it, the better the reward?!"
"If someone opens it first in the world… would they get a legendary artifact?!"
"Legendary item? That's totally possible! It is the first global reward!"
"So the slower you level, the more garbage you get?!"
"Screw this! Grind time!"
"Level up! Go go go!!!"
A crowd of players dashed out of the village like madmen.
But Riven wasn't in a rush.
Because he remembered something.
His class had a unique trait — the ability to dual-wield daggers!
That was a huge advantage.
Dual daggers meant double the damage.
Plus, one of his passive talents — Dagger Mastery — doubled dagger damage again and increased attack speed.
Which meant:
2x (dual wield) × 2x (damage) × 2x (attack speed) = 8x output.
"Time to get my second dagger."
"Then the hunt begins."
He headed to the blacksmith shop.
Faced with a tanned-skinned apprentice girl, Riven grinned.
Then—he began stripping.
…
He sold all his beginner gear.
Only a system-mandated pair of underwear remained.
He used every last coin to buy a basic dagger.
With it, plus his starter dagger—
Dual blades, ready to go.
He walked out to the fields beyond the village.
Immediately, he caught the attention of many.
"Dude… is he running around in his underwear?!"
"Bro, don't you know there's beginner gear in your bag?"
"LOL, this guy must be a total noob—first time gaming?"
"Haha, Glory really did go viral if even clueless players are jumping in."
"Wait… this guy's hot though. Great body… but a bit dumb maybe?"
"Cute and dumb? That's the best combo! C'mon girl, let's go talk to him!"
Two girls approached, intrigued by Riven's looks.
As Riven raised his dagger toward a Level 1 Rabbit—
They hurried over.
"Hey handsome! You should wear your gear before fighting!"
"Yeah! Those rabbits might look cute, but they bite hard… want us to guide you?"
Right as they finished speaking—
Riven silently pulled out his second dagger.
Dual daggers slashed through the air.
The class trait of [Shadow Walker] triggered!
+100% Attack Damage!+100% Attack Speed!
Swish swish swish swish!
Riven's daggers danced like lightning.
-4!-5!-3!-6!
Four hits per second!
With only 15 HP, the rabbit instantly dropped to zero.
It squealed and fell.
One-hit kill.
The two girls were frozen in place.
The other nearby players?
Also stared in disbelief.
Swish!
A warm sensation washed over Riven.
He glanced at his EXP bar—it increased by just 1%.
That slow?!
Riven sighed.
This really was Glory—hell difficulty right from the start. No mercy.
Thankfully, his SSS-rank quest did require him to kill 100 rabbits.
So he wasn't in a rush to level.
Slow and steady would work.
He bent down and picked up the loot — two copper coins.
In Glory, currency worked like this:
1 Gold = 1000 Silver = 1,000,000 Copper
Currently, 1 Gold was roughly equal to ¥100,000 (~$14,000 USD).
1 Silver = ¥100
1 Copper = ¥0.10
So killing one rabbit earned him ¥0.20 — twenty cents.
Riven thought of the 30,000 yuan he owed his sister.
Plus all the payday loan apps he was juggling.
He couldn't afford to waste anything.
Even pennies mattered.
He pocketed the coins, then turned to the two stunned girls.
"So… what were you saying?"
"We wanted to ask if you needed our help—uh, no no!"
The girl quickly corrected herself.
"I mean—can you help us, big brother?!"
They looked at him with adoring eyes.
Riven didn't even hesitate.
Help you?
Why should I?!
Freeloaders.
In your dreams.
He waved them off and walked deeper into the plains.
His insane talent had already drawn enough attention.
If he stayed here, he'd be asking for trouble.
Right now, he had one goal:
Make money.
Well, maybe two.
He also wanted to race to Level 10 and open the Beginner's Chest ahead of everyone.
With his insane luck…
What if he actually got a legendary item?
So yeah—
Women only slow down my blade.
Once Riven left…
The crowd finally exhaled.
They exchanged stunned glances.
And started whispering.
"Did you see that? He one-shotted a rabbit!"
"Damn! I had to wrestle with a rabbit for 30 seconds—he killed it in one second?!"
"I even laughed at him for being a noob earlier… shit, you think he'll come back and kill me?!"
"Kill you? A guy like that doesn't have time to waste on trash like you."
The two girls looked especially frustrated.
They began arguing.
"This is your fault! You called him a newbie and pissed him off!"
"Ugh! How was I supposed to know he was such a beast?!"
…