The class group chat, which had been spamming messages at a breakneck pace seconds earlier, slammed to a dead stop.
The whole channel fell into a short, suffocating hush.
Every pair of eyes was glued to the faint glowing 2 right next to Jack’s avatar. Under the system’s level status update prompt, that number was so glaringly obvious it practically burned a hole through the screen.
Campbell had an A-rank talent, universally recognized as the current ceiling in the class. He was always a lone wolf by nature, barely saying two words to anyone, but not a single person in the class dared mock him for it. In this world where hard data and raw power called all the shots, a high-rank talent meant absolute, unchallengeable status.
Just half an hour ago, Campbell had hit level two. With his A-rank talent, he’d been able to steadily farm low-level mobs without breaking a sweat—a pace that, for students without rich backers or family resources, was already insanely fast, practically unheard of.
But now, Jack was the third person in the entire class to level up.
An F-rank Archer with not even a single starter skill to his name. A broke kid with zero connections who couldn’t even afford a low-grade health potion. And his leveling speed was practically nipping at the heels of an A-rank prodigy, lagging behind Campbell by a measly thirty minutes.
No one could wrap their head around it.
Out on the edge of the plains, in the level one zone.
Ginny’s four-person party had also caught the status update in the group.
“Jack actually hit level two?” Peri muttered, gripping her Cleric staff, eyes wide with disbelief.
Ginny stared at the party interface, blinking thoughtfully for a second. Then she turned to Pedro, who was standing at the front of the group.
“Should we invite Jack over?” Ginny suggested. “We’ve got four people right now. Add one more, and we’ve got a full five-man squad.”
The party mechanics were straightforward. Five members made a complete standard squad. Once a party was full, the system recognized the formation as valid and granted the entire group an experience gain bonus. Sure, Jack was a useless F-rank reject, but he was still an Archer at the end of the day. If they stuck him way in the backline and had him fire off a few arrows just to meet the participation requirement, everyone else could cash in on that full squad bonus no problem.
Pedro rested his longsword on his shoulder and shrugged casually. “Whatever floats your boat. I one-shot these level one mobs anyway. Dragging along one more deadweight isn’t gonna put a dent in my damage output.”
With his go-ahead, Ginny opened her communication panel. She tapped Jack’s avatar and sent a private message.
“Jack, our party’s out here on the outskirts plains. Pedro’s carrying the group. We’re putting together a full five-man squad for the exp bonus. Wanna come join us?”
In Ginny’s mind, this was an offer no newbie could possibly turn down. They had a level five powerhouse Warrior tanking the front line. All Jack had to do was hide in the back and leech exp totally safely. For a squishy, blank-slate Archer like him, this was a straight-up gift from the gods.
A dozen or so seconds later, the terminal on her wrist buzzed.
Ginny got Jack’s reply.
“No thanks. I’m heading to the level four monster zone to farm right now. Too far away. Doesn’t make sense to party up.”
Ginny froze on the spot. She stared at the line of text on her screen, reading it twice just to make 100% sure she hadn’t misread it.
Without thinking twice, she screenshotted Jack’s reply and dropped it straight into the four-person party’s internal chat.
The party channel went dead silent for two whole seconds. Then the group burst into unhinged, howling laughter.
“The level four monster zone? Has he fully lost his mind?” Peri was doubled over, laughing so hard her sides hurt.
A single level four creature only needed to land a couple of lazy swipes to wipe the entire health bar of a newbie wearing zero defensive gear. Jack, a blank-slate Archer who’d just barely scraped his way to level two, heading into a level four zone was nothing short of a suicide run.
Pedro saw this as the perfect chance to flex. He let out a loud, mocking laugh, his tone dripping with contempt and arrogance.
“Him? An F-rank piece of trash talking about solo farming level four mobs?” Eager to play the tough guy in front of Ginny, Pedro spat out a disgusting boast. “If that blank-slate Archer can actually solo a level four monster, I’ll rip my own dick off and shove it straight up my own ass!”
The crude, gross line made Ginny’s brow furrow, but she didn’t say anything.
Chuck stood off to the side, his eyes darting back and forth craftily.
He’d been sick of Pedro’s condescending attitude for some time. Ever since they’d gotten out here, Pedro had been hogging all the spotlight in front of Ginny nonstop, making him—her actual boyfriend—look like some useless tag-along. Chuck had a belly full of simmering resentment and wanted nothing more than to see Pedro humiliate himself in front of everyone.
“Since Jack says he’s in the level four zone, why don’t we just head over there and check it out for ourselves?” Chuck proposed, faking innocent curiosity with just a tiny edge of instigation in his voice. “I mean, we’ve got Pedro leading the party. Wandering around the edges of the level four zone should be totally safe. We can see what the hell Jack’s actually doing over there. Who knows? Maybe he actually got some crazy lucky drop or something?”
Pedro puffed out his chest with total confidence and agreed immediately, no hesitation.
“Let’s go. You think I’m scared of some loser?” Pedro snorted coldly and took the lead, striding toward the rolling hills in the distance—the exact territory where level four creatures roamed and hunted.