Kai didn't hesitate and sent the message:
[Consuming the Clear Spirit Fruit increases your daily crystal core absorption limit by one.]
He wasn't lying.
For most players, that was indeed the fruit's only visible effect.
But in truth, the Clear Spirit Fruit enhanced something far more fundamental—the soul.
The concept of the "Divine Soul" wouldn't even be introduced until much later in the game.
And the stronger the soul, the stronger the player—far beyond just absorbing more crystals.
For example:
Reduced level suppression
Breaking attribute caps
Before the first World Fusion, the hard cap for any player's four main stats was 100.
Very few ever reached that ceiling.
But Kai, with his bugged fireball talent, could hit those limits easily.
In his past life, Kai maxed out his stats early—but couldn't break past 100.
It wasn't until much later that he discovered: upgrading the soul lets you break attribute caps.
Each Clear Spirit Fruit could raise his attribute ceiling by 10.
Ten God's Chosen meant ten fruits.
+100 possible points.
This time, he wanted it all.
No compromises.
On the other side of the trade, Bakanov stared at the reply in shock.
A fruit that passively let you absorb more cores every day?
That was huge.
It meant permanent scaling—a compounding advantage over time.
He'd grow stronger day by day, outpacing everyone.
But… time was exactly what he didn't have.
With the entire player base tracking his location, Bakanov could die tomorrow.
What good was a long-term investment when death was right around the corner?
A B-rank offensive talent, on the other hand? That could keep him alive.
He was tempted.
But still reluctant.
Was the price worth it?
Did he really have to give up something he'd risked his life to get?
After a long pause, Bakanov messaged:
[Isn't the fruit actually way more valuable than a B-rank talent?]
Kai replied flatly:
[Depends on who's using it.]
Bakanov clenched his jaw.
[Add something else to the deal. I'm not trading otherwise.]
Kai sneered:
[Then die bitter. See if I care.]
Silence.
Kai could feel the urgency.
If he missed this chance at the fruit, he'd never reach his full potential.
He sent one last message:
[There are other ways to gain EXP besides cores.]
Bakanov perked up:
[Like what?]
Kai:
[I won't tell you. But I'll prove it—by reaching Level 3 today.]
Bakanov paused.
Kai felt different.
Like he knew things no one else did.
Eventually, Bakanov agreed:
[Fine. If you reach Level 3 today, we'll trade.]
Kai:
[Deal.]
With the deal mostly secured, Kai turned his attention back to reality.
Aiya was still in the rain, her white school uniform soaked through, body trembling.
Her face had gone completely pale.
Eyes glazed.
She looked like she could pass out any second from blood loss.
Kai didn't feel pity.
He glanced at her bloody palm and the red worms wriggling on the ground.
Then casually scooped them into empty water bottles.
Three bottles total.
Not enough.
He frowned slightly. "I need to find another wasp nest."
Aiya thought she misheard.
Another nest?!
More blood?!
She barely had the strength to think, much less protest.
She slumped sideways.
Kai caught her before she hit the ground.
Even with her soft, warm body in his arms, he showed no tenderness—only muttered, "It's just a little blood. Why are you so damn weak?"
"I... you..." Aiya wanted to scream at him, her chest rising and falling. But she didn't even have the strength to yell.
She closed her eyes, limp.
Kai frowned, unsure if she was really out or just faking it.
He pulled a crystal core from his pocket and offered it. "Try absorbing this."
Aiya's eyes lit up.
She absorbed it instantly.
But the dizziness didn't go away—she was still too weak to stand.
Kai asked, "Have you absorbed cores before? How many?"
Aiya checked her panel. "My EXP is at 4. I need 6 more to level up…"
She was about to ask if leveling would restore her health—
But Kai had already set her down.
He uncoiled the wire from her neck.
Not that she could run.
She didn't have the strength to crawl, let alone escape.
Kai simply said, "Stay here. I'll be back."
Then vanished into the rain.
Aiya sat there, alone in the mud, her uniform skirt ruined.
She wanted to run.
But she couldn't even stand.
Alone. Soaked. Shivering.
She felt... afraid.
Afraid of being alone.
Afraid of what might find her.
And strangely…
She found herself hoping Kai would come back.
Ten minutes passed.
Then—voices.
She looked up, hopeful.
But it wasn't Kai.
It was four armed men.
The leader was cursing:
"This apocalypse is bullsh*t! There're more people than monsters! We can't even find a damn bug to kill!"
One of his thugs piped up:
"Boss, I saw something in chat. Monsters only drop cores 1% of the time... but players? They drop every time."
Another thug chimed in:
"Yeah! I saw that too! That guy Yuan Feng got on the global announcements because he dug a core out of some dude's corpse!"
"He was trash too! If that loser can get famous, imagine what you could do, boss!"
The leader, Fan Hu, was a local thug—used to fights, not murder.
Besides, the system had posted a warning:
Killing players is prohibited. Violators will be hunted down.
Repeat offenders could be executed on the spot.
Fan Hu hesitated.
Then another thug grinned:
"But boss, look at Lei Ming! He's killed tons of people and made it on the rankings! People are talking about him in global chat! Don't you wanna be famous too?"
Tempting.
Too tempting.
Fan Hu's resolve started to crack.
Just as he was about to say something—
One of his thugs whispered:
"Hey! Boss! Look! I think I see someone in the grove!"
"Holy sh*t—it's a girl!"