The dense forest was quiet except for the faint rustle of leaves in the breeze. Miguel stepped into a small clearing, his eyes settling on the massive corpse of the Boar King lying at his feet.
"Sacrifice!" he commanded.
In an instant, the monstrous body dissolved into a radiant beam of white light that surged into his forehead and vanished.
[You have sacrificed a Rankless corpse. Randomly gained: 800 Free Attribute Points.]
[Ding! You have sacrificed a World Boss. Special Rewards obtained:]
Skill: Berserk (Rankless)
World Reputation: 1,000 Points
Hidden Attribute: Luck +10
[Berserk]
Rank: None
Requirement: Constitution 10
Effect: Sacrifice 10 HP per second to increase Attack Power by 50% and Defense by 50%, but Movement Speed decreases by 50%.
A grin tugged at the corner of Miguel's lips. For most players, the constant HP drain would make this skill situational at best—but for him, with his natural regeneration of 100 HP per second, this was practically a permanent buff.
Without hesitation, he activated Berserk.
The moment the skill flared to life, his blood boiled like molten lava. A wave of searing heat surged through his limbs, every muscle taut with newfound strength. His defense solidified, his strikes felt like they could shatter stone—but his movements grew heavier, almost sluggish, his speed cut in half.
"Fifty percent more attack power… that pushes my base Lightning Strike damage to 12,000. With the hundredfold boost from Heart of the Thunder God, my final damage hits 1.2 million. If I crit… that's 2.4 million."
A low chuckle escaped him. Two-point-four million damage—something few players could survive even in the late stages of Godmaking Online. Here in the early game, when most players' HP didn't even break ten thousand, it was absurd. A rare few "HP tanks" might cross that threshold, but Miguel's own 20,000+ HP placed him in the realm of monsters.
"Shame about the speed penalty… otherwise, I'd keep this buff on forever."
With a shake of his head, he deactivated Berserk. The fever in his blood cooled instantly, his strength ebbed, but his body felt light again—his speed restored.
The second reward, World Reputation, caught his attention next. Normally, reputation could only be earned after reaching a main city—there were no ways to gain it inside a starter village. But his Supreme Sacrifice talent broke rules like twigs; it didn't care where he was.
In the main cities, reputation points could be traded at the quartermaster for valuable items—each point worth a full gold coin. One thousand points meant a thousand gold coins. Miguel smirked. That was a fortune for someone still in the beginner zone.
But it was the third reward that truly made his pulse race.
Luck.
It was the rarest hidden attribute in the game, and one of the hardest to raise. In his past life, Miguel had clawed his way to just seven points of Luck by the endgame—and those seven points had been game-changing. Players with high Luck often seemed to bend fate itself: stumbling upon hidden quests, pulling legendary loot from common chests, critting far more often in combat while rarely suffering crits themselves.
Some had ascended to godhood on luck alone.
And now, with a single sacrifice in the starter zone, Miguel had gained ten points—more than he'd ever had in his previous life.
As the thrill of his windfall still hummed through him, movement stirred the foliage ahead. A familiar figure emerged—tall, armored, and carrying a massive blade.
"Miguel, brother! Long time no see!" Thunderblade's booming laugh filled the clearing.
Miguel's grin widened. He couldn't help it; the surge of joy from his ten Luck points hadn't worn off.
Thunderblade's eyes lit up at the sight. Looks like my little 'investment' paid off… snagging a future powerhouse like this? Not bad, not bad. In truth, his so-called investment had been nothing more than a promissory note for one hundred million gold—worth about as much as the paper it wasn't printed on. But Miguel's smile convinced him otherwise.
If only he knew… even a real hundred million wouldn't be enough to buy this kind of grin.
"So, Miguel," Thunderblade leaned forward eagerly, "what's the big score? You wouldn't have called me here for nothing, right?"
Miguel nodded. "I just finished a quest. Got a map from an NPC."
"Map? What kind of map?"
"According to him, he once stumbled across a Gate to Another World, but couldn't open it. So he drew this." Miguel pulled out the weathered parchment given to him by the village blacksmith, letting it flutter in the sunlight.
Thunderblade's eyes went wide. "A… Gate to Another World? But the guides on the forums say there aren't any dungeons in starter villages—"
Miguel's smirk was almost mocking. "Those 'pro players'… how long do you think they actually explored the starter zone? The forest here is endless. Even in a year, no one's mapping it all. And this dungeon? That NPC spent years finding it. The ones who rushed to the main city? They never had a chance."
Thunderblade scratched his chin, realization dawning. "Makes sense…"
"Enough talk," Miguel said, folding the map. "We move now."
Thunderblade's mouth twitched. Move now? In gaming slang, "go up the road" didn't exactly have the most fortunate connotations. Still, he fell into step behind Miguel.
Whatever awaited beyond that Gate, one thing was certain—Miguel was about to break the game all over again.