Chapter 238 - Announcement

As soon as Currway died, the EXP surge hit. Across the visions of countless players, the same exact message began to resonate repeatedly.

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

Every player felt it simultaneously. There was a massive surge of energy flooding into them like lightning. Previously, it was nearly impossible to feel the power increase on the spot. Players certainly noticed the difference between their real bodies and their Masteria bodies, but the actual gradual power increase wasn’t quick enough to be felt.

Now, they truly felt themselves actively grow stronger. The sensation was overwhelming, intoxicating, and impossible to describe. It rushed through their bodies, strengthening every single inch of them.

Lena gasped, her eyes going wide as saucers. "Oh my god! I’m getting so strong! How come!? WHY!?"

[EXP +321,847]

[Level 37 -> Level 38]

[Level 38 -> Level 39]

[Level 39 -> Level 40]

"How!? This isn’t, this isn’t how it works, is it!?" She snapped her head to Lumi. "LUMI!" As far as she understood, the concept of a boss didn’t exist. They were just fighting something at a higher level than them. Given that level wasn’t even real, but a measurement used by the system, then there was no reason for a high level enemy to drop an exorbitant amount of EXP.

Didn’t Lumi tell her so?

[Level 40 -> Level 41]

[Level 41 -> Level 42]

She felt her body changing with each level. It was the first time she understood many truths about herself. Despite none of her new points being allocated yet, and certainly none into Strength, she felt her muscles becoming more capable, her flesh hardening, her tendons becoming more flexible.

[Level 42 -> Level 43]

[Level 43 -> Level 44]

"Oooh~" Her eyes glazed over as considered the implications. It was little wonder that the system could falsify a metric such as level! After all, the very world clearly had something similar.

She didn’t know how to describe it.

A sort of... level of life? Your place in the hierarchy of existence. Where her strength as a biological individual didn’t go up, and yet, it went up anyways because her overall existence was at a higher level now.

That was how she internalized it. Yet she wouldn’t even know where to begin describing it to someone else. It barely made sense to herself, much less any outsider.

[Level 44 -> Level 45]

[Level 45 -> Level 46]

[Level 46 -> Level 47]

[Level 47 -> Level 48]

[Level 48 -> Level 49]

[Level 49 -> Level 50]

The surge finally stopped. Lena stood there, breathing heavily, feeling the new power coursing through her veins. Thirteen levels. She’d gained thirteen levels in a single fight.

She felt powerful. It was power beyond power. The overwhelming disparity between before and after gave her a high that could not be explained with mere words. Her face broke into a smile that quickly expanded. "Kill... EVERYONE! HAHAHA~"

Around her, similar reactions rippled through the crowd like waves.

"I gained eleven!"

"Ten here!"

"Twelve! Twelve levels!"

"I’m level 30 now! I’m finally at it Second Rank! Holy crap!"

Lumi felt his own surge, though less dramatic due to his already high level.

[EXP +489,271]

[Level 49 -> Level 50]

[Level 50 -> Level 51]

[Level 51 -> Level 52]

[Level 52 -> Level 53]

[Level 53 -> Level 54]

[Level 54 -> Level 55]

He had gained six levels total. Significant, but not the massive jumps the lower-level players were experiencing. Still, he felt the change.

Even in the death realm, where several players waited, they were all suddenly shocked to receive a notification.

[EXP +212193]

[EXP will be applied upon respawn.]

"WHAT!?" Some players were baffled. "Bosses store your EXP?"

More party oriented players, however, already knew the truth. It wasn’t anything about bosses. If you contributed to any enemy at all dying, you were credited, even while dead.

Ryan mentally did the math, checking his gains versus the requirement. "That’ll put me at... forty-five?"

Back in Currway’s realm, Vice lowered his bow slowly, a smile across his face. "Didn’t think I’d live that. What I gained today... is massive. To think that would have taken me weeks." He looked around to the others, who were also in awe.

Hazy materialized from the shadows where he’d been standing. "Nice work, everyone. Check me out!" He grinned, his own status being higher by eleven levels." He gazed over to Vice. "Got more than you, eh?"

Vice shook his head. "You took a big risk, for big reward. It’s only natural you’d get more."

"Aww." Hazy seemed disappointed, and turned around. "I thought you’d argue with me."

"Are you a madman?"

Even Tora, who’d stayed at the back the entire fight protecting Eden, gained substantial EXP from the shared pool.

[EXP +67,892]

[Level 33 -> Level 34]

[Level 34 -> Level 35]

[Level 35 -> Level 36]

[Level 36 -> Level 37]

[Level 37 -> Level 38]

[Level 38 -> Level 39]

He had gained six entire levels for doing essentially nothing but guard duty. The raid EXP distribution was incredibly generous.

The crowd erupted into celebration, thrusting weapons into the air as they shouted. "WE ARE GODS!"

Players hugged each other, some crying from the sheer joy of achievement, overwhelmed by what they’d just accomplished.

"WE DID IT!"

"WE KILLED A DEMON!"

"RAID BOSS DOWN!"

"LUMI! LUMI! LUMI!"

The chant started somewhere in the middle of the crowd and spread like wildfire. Eventually, a few hundred voices began to chant in unison.

"LUMI! LUMI! LUMI!"

Then Lumi received a notification.

[Congratulations! You are the first player to have killed a raid boss! A game-wide announcement will be made. Would you like to reveal your name?]

[Note: The announcement will list the other players involved, too.]

Lumi smirked.

Ah right, the "Raid Boss". The term which didn’t exist until just now. The system was really good at keeping up the illusion. Because enough people believed it was a raid boss, it decided to classify it as such and pretend it existed.

But Lumi already knew that would happen. It was part of the reason for doing this to begin with.

"Yes." Obviously, Lumi accepted.

After a couple moments, after the timer on the question had run out, it suddenly appeared.

Every player in Masteria saw it, regardless of where they were or what they were doing. It materialized as a golden banner across their vision, impossible to miss or ignore, accompanied by a triumphant fanfare that only the recipient could hear.

[System Alert - The first raid boss, "Demon Currway", has been defeated. Extend our congratulations to the following players for this feat!]

[Leader: Lumi]

[Co-Leader: Lena]

[Lieutenants: Ryan, Tora, Vice, Hazy]

[Raid Group: 1,047 players. (Listed in dropdown menu)]

[Successfully defeated: Demon Currway - Secret Raid Boss]

The message hung in the air for a whole minute before fading, burning itself into the memory of every player who saw it.

Across Masteria, players stopped what they were doing to stare at the notification in shock and disbelief.

In a bar near Comedy Bay, a party of five players froze conversation.

"Did you see that!?" The warrior spread his arms out wide. "You all saw, right!?"

"Of course, dude?" The mage’s spoke casually, but his brows were knotted in concentration. "No need to get so excited..."

"So excited!? Lumi did it again! That guy is insane!" Their pirate slammed his arms on the desk. "Damn, I shoulda been there! But..."

"Damn it, don’t remind me!" The archer groaned, slapping his forehead in frustration. "We’re too poor to travel there!"

"Over a thousand people..." The thief whistled low. "The coordination alone must have been incredible. How do you even organize that many players?"

In the markets of Macres, a merchant player suddenly yelped as he read through the message. "A raid boss!? There are raid bosses in this game!?"

Another merchant nearby was already calculating. His focus, however, was entirely elsewhere. "Hmm. And they had over a thousand people. That’s a level of organization we haven’t seen yet. The logistics alone... "

He looked around to his friends. "We know what this means, right? If he can organize so many people..."

His friend nodded along. "Lumi’s going to be able to charge whatever he wants for guild membership. After this? People will pay anything to be part of his organization. I want in, too."

"W-wait." The first player put his hand out. "Weren’t we making one?"

His friend looked at him like he was the fool. "Yes, we were." He emphasized the were. He gave a small grin.

...

In a quiet forest clearing, a solo player named Mil Tod sighed against a tree. He stood idly, then suddenly dropped to the floor. He lay against the dirt, depressed, unable to muster up the will to move.

His frustration?

As soon as he got the message, he logged off to check the forums. As he thought, there were already posts...

What he found upset him.

"I’ve been grinding for three weeks to hit level 30." He stared at the notification, his voice hollow with disbelief. "Three weeks of careful pulls, optimized rotation, studying, mapping the most efficient routes, min-maxing my build..."

"And these guys just gained ten levels in one fight. Ten. Levels. In one fight."

He took a deep breath. He stood up, and professionally wiped the dirt from his clothes. He gave a smile to nobody. "I’m depressed now!"

With that, he fell back to the floor.