[Buyer: Dragon Slayer · Rhine]
The moment he saw that name, a faint gleam flashed through Daniel's eyes.
"Someone from Rhine Guild."
Rhine Guild—one of the top five major guilds from his previous life.
Behind it stood the Rhine River Consortium, with assets worth hundreds of billions.
Their guild leader, Rhine Watcher, was a ruthless man who acted swiftly and decisively. But some of his subordinates were far from clean, bullying solo players by relying on the guild's power.
But none of that mattered to Daniel right now.
What mattered was this—
[Ding! Detected sold item: Shadow Step Skill Book (A-rank), sale price: 100 Gold Coins. Millionfold Boost activated!]
[Obtained Gold Coins: 100,000,000]
[Sold item is a skill book. Quality Boost triggered!]
[Congratulations, player has obtained skill book: God Speed (SSS-rank)]
One hundred million Gold Coins, plus an SSS-rank skill book!
Daniel took a deep breath and opened his inventory.
A golden skill book lay quietly inside one of the slots.
[God Speed (SSS-rank)]
Type: Active Skill
Effect: Instantly teleport in a designated direction, up to a maximum distance of 1,000,000 meters
Cooldown: None (MP cost increases with distance)
MP Cost: Base 10 points + additional cost per meter
(No extra distance cost within 1 kilometer. Beyond 1 kilometer, consumes 1 additional MP per kilometer.)
Special Effects:
1 — Afterimage Clone: When the skill is used, afterimage clones are created. Clones last for 30 seconds, inherit 100% of the user's Attack Power, and can act independently. The number of clones depends on MP consumed: one clone is created for every 100 MP spent (maximum 10 clones).
2 — Divine Perception: When using this skill, you can sense the locations of all living beings within a 1-kilometer radius centered on yourself.**
Description: A divine spatial skill from the Age of Gods. One step forward, and the ends of the earth lie within reach.
Daniel stared at the description.
After the initial shock passed, he couldn't help but laugh.
A one-million-meter teleport?
The straight-line distance from Starter Village to the main city was only about eight hundred kilometers.
With this skill, he could take one step from Starter Village straight to the gates of the main city!
And as long as he had enough MP, he could even chain teleports and cross the entire continent!
Then there was the clone effect.
Ten clones, each inheriting 100% of his Attack Power, lasting for 30 seconds—
That meant he alone could unleash the firepower of eleven people.
It was absurdly overpowered.
And most importantly—
Divine Perception!
Every living creature within a radius of one kilometer would be exposed to him. Any ambushing players would have nowhere to hide.
Without question, it was a god-tier skill.
If he really had to name a flaw, it was that it could only detect the existence and location of living beings, not every detail about them.
But that hardly mattered.
Daniel took a deep breath and clicked Learn without hesitation.
[Ding! You have learned skill: God Speed (SSS-rank)]
A golden icon appeared in his skill bar.
He tried activating the skill.
His vision blurred for an instant, and the next second he was already standing at the other end of the mine, at least five hundred meters away from where he had just been.
And his MP had only dropped by 10 points.
"WTF..."
Daniel couldn't help but curse under his breath.
This skill was simply too broken.
At a stage when everyone else was still crawling like turtles, he was already driving a top-tier supercar.
He was just about to continue testing it when his private message channel suddenly chimed.
He opened it.
[Rhine Watcher (Private Message)]
"Lord Faustus, would you be interested in having a chat?"
"Rhine Guild sincerely invites you to join us. The待遇 is excellent—starting salary of 100,000 Earth Credits per month, full equipment reimbursement, plus profit-sharing!"
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
He hadn't expected Rhine Guild's leader to really notice him so soon.
A salary of 100,000?
In his previous life, he remembered that when Rhine River Consortium tried to recruit top-tier experts, the opening offer had been 200,000, minimum.
Offering him only 100,000 now...
Did they think he was easy to buy off?
A few seconds later, another private message came through.
[Rhine Watcher]
"The price is negotiable! Feel free to name your terms. Rhine Guild is more than sincere..."
Daniel still didn't reply.
Soon after, friend requests and private messages from several other guilds came flooding in as well, but the contents were all more or less the same.
Without the slightest hesitation, he blocked every single one of them.
He had seen the true face of these guilds long ago in his previous life.
When they wanted to recruit you, they smiled and flattered you.
The moment recruitment failed, they turned hostile.
Rhine Guild, in particular, was especially disgusting.
On the surface they acted fair and righteous, but behind the scenes they suppressed solo players, monopolized resources, and even colluded with players from foreign servers to sell intelligence.
There was nothing they wouldn't do.
Across four reincarnations, Daniel had watched these resource-hoarding conglomerates drag humanity into the abyss for their own selfish profit.
Cooperate with them?
In their dreams.
Still...
Daniel glanced at the 100 million Gold Coins in his inventory, then at the God Speed icon in his skill bar.
Disgust was one thing.
But emotions shouldn't interfere with business.
"Alright. Time to get back to work."
He stretched his body and walked toward the iron gate deeper in the mine.
Beyond that gate...
Lay the underground church.
And inside that church, a boss called [Beast-Turned Father] was waiting for him.
This boss was incredibly fast, had wide attack coverage, enormous HP, and could summon crystal spikes to attack!
Under normal circumstances, it required a full party to clear—at least a twenty-man team around Level 50, all equipped with Iron-grade gear or above, plus strong coordination, to have any chance of success.
Because the difficulty of clearing it was so absurdly high, it had once earned the nickname:
The Newbie Butcher.
But now...
Daniel looked at the newly learned God Speed, then at the Moon Reaper in his hand.
Fast, are you?
Then let me show you what it means to be a man made of lightning.
Daniel took a slow breath.
He could already feel a faint but unmistakable pressure behind the gate, like a needle pricking the center of his forehead.
This was Divine Perception, the passive sensing effect granted by God Speed, already taking effect.
Behind the door was a gigantic life signature.
Far stronger than the Beast-Turned Guard from earlier.
"A Gold-grade Boss."
Monster tiers were divided into:
Common-grade, Bronze-grade, Iron-grade, Silver-grade, Gold-grade, Platinum-grade, Blackgold-grade, Epic-grade, Legendary-grade!
A Gold-grade Boss had already crossed a critical threshold.
In terms of raw strength alone, it could crush all ordinary players of the same level.
Daniel licked his lips and tightened his grip on the Moon Reaper.
Behind the iron gate stretched a stone staircase descending downward.
On both sides of the walls, glowing crystals had been embedded, casting the whole passage in a dim, sickly green light.
Daniel lightened his steps and descended one level at a time.
At the end of the stairs, the view suddenly opened up.
It was a naturally formed underground hall.
At the center of the hall stood a church.
A Gothic spire. Stained glass windows. Even a rusted iron cross planted outside the entrance.
The church was surrounded on all sides by dense masses of black crystal, like thorny brambles encircling it at the center.
Those crystals emitted light, illuminating the underground space with an eerie radiance.
Daniel frowned.
This place was just as unsettling as ever.
He followed the narrow path winding through the crystal growths toward the church.
He had only just reached the entrance when a low growl came from inside.
It didn't sound like a beast.
It sounded more like...
A human.
Inside the church, more than a dozen pews lay overturned in disarray.
The pulpit was covered in dust.
More than half the stained-glass windows had shattered, and that ghastly green light streamed through the broken openings.
Standing before the pulpit was a gigantic figure.
It wore a tattered black robe, and around its neck still hung a silver cross.
The figure stood nearly four meters tall.
Its entire right half was covered in thick black crystal.
The left half barely retained a human shape, but its skin was a lifeless ash-gray, crisscrossed by black vein-like patterns.
Half of its face was human.
The other half was crystal.
One eye was murky gray-white.
The other burned with a dark crimson glow.
From its back grew three tentacles, each as thick as a bowl, ending in bony spikes.
A blood-red prompt appeared above the figure's head.
[Beast-Turned Father · LV45 (Gold-grade Boss)]