"-12!"
"-11!"
"-13!"
…
System notifications flooded Miguel's vision one after another:
Ding! You have been maliciously attacked by player [Luo Tian Shark]. You have gained the right to retaliate. Killing this player will increase their death penalty.
Ding! You have been maliciously attacked by player [Luo Tian Bonecrusher]. You have gained the right to retaliate. Killing this player will increase their death penalty.
Ding! You have been maliciously attacked by player [Luo Tian Blaze]…
Godmaking Online had no real-name system like other VRMMORPGs. But when players attacked another unprovoked and got counter-killed, the system punished them heavily: level drops, currency loss, and sometimes even equipment destroyed.
The five members of Luo Tian Guild struck in unison, wooden clubs slamming down on Miguel's avatar. Five small damage numbers floated up from his health bar.
"-12!" "-11!" "-13!" "-12!" "-9!"
In a flash, he lost over fifty hit points. For any normal level 0 player, that was half their life gone, a terrifying start to any PvP fight. But Miguel wasn't just any rookie. His max HP towered at 20,000, higher than even the starter zone's world boss.
He didn't even bother dodging. Instead, he glanced at the attackers with something close to boredom. His absurd constitution stat—1005 points—meant his natural regeneration restored a hundred HP every second. The damage they dealt vanished the next moment, as if nothing had happened.
Of course, players could only see their opponent's HP dropping, not recovering. If Luo Tian's thugs had noticed the regeneration, their confidence would've shattered instantly.
A little further back, Thunderblade's annoying blond cousin was cackling, smugness replacing his earlier fear. "Haha! Did you see that? This idiot's toast. Who's dumb enough to piss off Luo Tian Guild? They're one of the top guilds in the entire Flame Nation server. He's dead for sure!"
Thunderblade shot his cousin an irritated glare. He'd been watching closely, noting Miguel's lack of panic, his calm expression.
"Either this guy's a complete moron… or he's so strong that five people from Luo Tian don't even register as a threat to him. And from what I've seen of his demeanor, he's not stupid… which means he's terrifying."
Meanwhile, Luo Tian Shark's anger simmered hotter with every second. Something about Miguel's composed face—no fear, no begging, just quiet disdain—infuriated him beyond reason. Maybe it was the calm, maybe it was Miguel's annoyingly perfect looks. Whatever it was, he wanted this pretty boy erased.
"Brothers, send this fool back to the respawn point!" Shark barked, swinging his club down again.
"-26!" A critical hit. The others followed up with their measly swings.
"-12!" "-11!" "-12!"
But the expected white light of Miguel's death never came. Shark blinked, confusion flashing across his face. Then, an idea struck, and he barked out a laugh. "I get it! Your awakened talent's got to be HP-based, right? Makes you a damn tank. But I don't care if you're a walking mountain of meat—piss me off, and I'll kill you today no matter what!"
He raised his club for another strike, but this time Miguel's eyes narrowed. His voice cut through the noise, calm yet razor-sharp.
"Pathetic. If you clowns don't have the strength to back up your big talk, do the world a favor and die quietly."
In one smooth motion, the Heavenpiercer Sword flashed through the air.
"-1075!"
A blinding arc of light, a sickening slash—and Luo Tian Shark vanished in a burst of white pixels, instantly killed.
The remaining four froze, their clubs hanging mid-swing. Their brains struggled to catch up with what they'd just witnessed: their supposedly invincible leader erased in a single hit by a level 0.
Miguel didn't hesitate. His blade danced again.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Each stroke a clean, devastating cut. Each strike flashing "-1050!", "-1090!", "-1078!", "-1085!". Four bodies dissolved into white light, one after another, until nothing remained but silence.
Thunderblade had suspected Miguel was strong, but seeing it firsthand sent a jolt through his chest. An epic-tier talent? At zero level, he's this strong? That's insane…
He had no idea Miguel's talent wasn't epic—it was two full ranks higher: Main God-tier, a rarity that defied logic itself.
Behind him, the blond cousin was trembling now, the memory of his earlier insults crashing down with suffocating terror. Five on one, and they got slaughtered like toddlers. Holy crap, what kind of monster did I mouth off to?
Swallowing hard, he tugged on his cousin's sleeve. "Uh… bro, I think I'm… not feeling well. I'm logging out." He didn't wait for an answer before his avatar dissolved into white light.
Thunderblade didn't stop him. His decision was made: never again would he party with that loudmouthed fool. Sooner or later, that idiot was going to piss off another terrifying player, and next time, collateral damage could mean his own death.
Meanwhile, system notifications chimed for Luo Tian Guild's fallen members:
Ding! You were killed by player [Stellar Mist]! Due to increased death penalty, your level has dropped by 2! You lost 50% of your current in-game currency!
Respawn lights flashed inside the dim, cramped resurrection room of Starter Village #10086. Luo Tian Shark materialized, standing stock-still with a dazed expression.
"Who… who am I? Where the hell am I?" he muttered blankly, before the full memory hit him.
A level 0 just one-shotted me? Me?
He fumbled open his stat panel with shaking hands, and his heart plummeted.
"NO. No, no, no!" he roared. His level had dropped from 4 all the way down to 2. It had taken him three full days of grinding twenty hours a day to reach level 4, battling hordes of players for the few scattered monsters outside the newbie zone. Now, all that effort had been deleted in seconds.
Rage burned through him, his face twisted as he screamed, "Stellar Mist! I swear on my life, this isn't over! I'll hunt you down to the ends of the server!"
The other four guild members were just as distraught, their levels also gutted by two. They slammed fists against the wall in shared despair, howling in frustration.
At last, Shark opened his friend list, scrolling to the top where a single name glowed ominously: Luo Tian Doomslayer. Grinding his teeth, he sent a message.
"Big bro, are you online? Some bastard just killed me…"
Far away, in the bustling main city of Thunderstrike, inside a massive player-owned shop, a tall, broad-shouldered man lounged on a plush sofa. A soft chime signaled a message. Reading it, his lips curled into a dark smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Minutes later, that smile was gone, replaced by pure malice. His aura darkened like a storm.
"Stellar Mist…" he growled, voice dripping venom. "You dared to kill my brother? Pray you never set foot in Thunderstrike City… because the moment you do, I'll make sure you regret ever touching Godmaking Online."