Lives were one of the most important systems in [Eternal Soul].
Every single player started the game with 10 of them.
Upon dying, you would lose a certain number depending on the loss rate of the location you were in.
The [Novice Towns] had a lives loss rate of one, meaning that for now, players only lost one life if they died.
But of course, as one might expect, the deeper you went, the more dangerous it became, and some locations could take thousands of lives with every death.
In addition to that, after a while, lives became the main currency worldwide, as they could be exchanged.
Players could gain lives by killing monsters in [Eternal Soul].
If you ever reached zero lives, you would die instantly.
Furthermore, these lives allowed players to transfer their in-game strength to the real world.
Meaning, as said before, lives were one of the most important mechanics in [Eternal Soul].
Stark needed to gain a large number of them if he wanted an advantage.
But of course, the monsters in this game were extremely dangerous.
In fact, many people stayed in the [Novice Towns] as they were scared.
But it was pointless as you couldn't leave [Eternal Soul] before meeting a certain level requirement.
[To leave "Eternal Soul", you need to reach level 3.]
Many others pushed their luck and died, losing all their lives.
Stark, in his previous life, had many lives, that was true, but the reason he was able to die instantly was simple:
[Judgment Battlefield]
[Lives loss rate: Instant Death.]
As stated, this realm would kill you instantly if you died in it.
In exchange, the reward for completion was the [Eyes of Oblivion], which were helping Stark at this moment.
After that, Stark decided to directly check his own status panel.
---
[ID: Oblivion]
[Class: Mage of Oblivion]
[Talent: Infinite Evolution (SSS)]
[Level: 1]
[Lives: 10]
[Constitution: 10]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 10]
[Spirit: 10]
---
[Eternal Soul] was extremely fair from the start, meaning that every player began with the same points in each of the four core attributes.
But that wasn't all, because Stark also had combat attributes, which were used in battle.
These combat attributes were determined by your core attributes:
---
[Health Points: 100] (Constitution x 10)
[Mana Points: 100] (Spirit x 10)
[Magic Damage: 10 (+3)] (Spirit x 1)
[Physical Damage: 10] (Strength x 1)
[Magical Resistance: 10] (Spirit x 1)
[Physical Resistance: 10] (Constitution x 1)
---
His current combat attributes were average, but it didn't bother Stark at all, since he had started with the same stats in his past life.
In addition to those attributes, he also noticed the staff he held in his hand.
Every class would start with a weapon related to their role, and since Stark was a mage, he had a low-level weapon.
[Low-Level Mage Staff (Common): The most basic staff of them all. +3 Spirit to spells when wielded.]
That was the reason why his [Magic Damage] had a +3 next to the number: the staff increased his spell damage.
However, it only applied to spells, which was why none of the other attributes tied to [Spirit] had increased.
But just as he was about to head to the town's boundary to begin his journey…
Fwish! Ding!
He heard a soft sound, and saw white particles gather before forming the figures of three people.
One of them was slightly chubby, the other wore glasses, and the last was rather muscular.
"D-Did we just die?"
"Holy shit… and now our lives dropped from 10 to 9… I guess this is the real deal…"
"What were we even supposed to do? That level 1 shadow wolf was way too strong. Even the three of us together couldn't take half of its life…"
"Don't worry, if we can find a better group and team up, I'm sure we can do better!"
"Yeah, we have experience now!"
Hearing that, Stark couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
'You have experience in dying, maybe.'
It was normal for new players to get overwhelmed and die in their first few moments.
But Stark didn't care any more than he already did, so he walked toward the outskirts of the town.
After a few minutes, he reached the boundary of the [Novice Town], marked by a small fence.
Beyond that, he would no longer be in a safe zone.
This meant monsters could attack, and other players could kill each other.
But Stark didn't need to worry too much about that, so he left the town.
Ding!
[You have left the "Novice Town #783" (Safe Zone)]
Stark didn't mind. With his staff in hand and years of experience, he was confident in his abilities.
Stark walked for a few minutes through the open plains before eventually arriving at a forest.
[Shadow Forest]
[A beginner zone to help new players get used to the mechanics of "Eternal Soul", though still dangerous the deeper you go.]
Stark was in the game's first zone.
In his previous life, he had been here with his two "best friends," Max and Seren, and even then, they had struggled to kill some of the monsters.
But strangely, now that he was alone, he had never felt safer.
He stepped into the forest without hesitation.
[You have entered the "Shadow Forest"]
There was one more thing players would eventually learn in [Eternal Soul], aside from the fact that strength was absolute and lives were the most important mechanic.
They would discover that monsters were also extremely strange in their own ways.
Not only were they unusually strong, even at the lowest levels, but… they could evolve.
Just like players, monsters could grow stronger by killing players and absorbing their lives.
A few minutes after entering the forest, Stark sensed something and took his stance.
Through the shadowy outlines of the trees, he saw a monster resting.
---
[Shadow Wolf (Level 1)]
[Rank: Common (Evolving...)]
[HP: 250]
---
'Evolving,' Stark noted.
This was exactly the kind of evolution he had mentioned earlier.
This monster had probably killed the three players from before, and likely others as well.
Once a monster advanced, its rank would increase by one, making it much stronger.
In this case, the [Shadow Wolf] would go from [Common] to [Uncommon].
But Stark wasn't going to let that happen.
'Give me those lives you took,' he thought with a grin.
He had never been a mage in his past life, in fact, he had never cast a single spell, but even so, Stark felt strangely calm as he approached the monster.
The shadow wolf was, as its name suggested, a dark-furred wolf with purple eyes, large enough to intimidate most people.
As soon as he was close enough, the wolf noticed Stark's presence, baring its teeth and preparing to strike.
If it absorbed any more lives, it could evolve and become far more dangerous.
But Stark didn't hesitate.
Great Fireball!
He conjured the spell, a blazing sphere of fire quickly forming at the tip of his staff before hurtling toward the wolf.
'The speed is incredible… is it because of my class? Though it's not a passive.'
Fwish! Boom!
The fireball struck the shadow wolf directly, and in an instant—
-390![1]
The wolf's body was engulfed in flames, its life snuffed out in a single blow.
"Hah…" Stark looked at the corpse in astonishment. "Incredible…"
As the first passive of his [Oblivion] class stated, he indeed dealt ten times more damage than normal.
But it also helped that [Great Fireball] had been upgraded to rare rank.
Ding!
[You have killed "Shadow Wolf (Level 1)"]
[You have gained 10 experience points.]
But aside from that, Stark noticed small orbs of light floating beside the corpse.
He reached out, and the moment he touched one of them—
Ding!
[You have gained 2 Lives.]
'Bingo,' he grinned.
[1] 10 Spirit from attributes + 3 Spirit from staff = 13 x 300% of spirit from great fireball = 39 x 10 = 390.