Chapter 10: The Hidden Class
1002 Words
A skill book.
A priceless, unimaginably rare skill book.
If you asked Lin Ziluo about the drop rate of skill books, his answer would be simple—so small it was practically nonexistent.
The rules of the Apocalypse Game made this rarity even crueler. On the surface, there was no limit to the number of skills a person could learn. At first glance, it sounded like a broken mechanic—a cheat, almost. But when you learned the actual drop rates, you realized that so-called “infinite potential” was nothing more than a mocking illusion.
Even if you somehow managed to obtain a skill book, it might not even suit your class or fighting style. That brutal scarcity meant that for most players, their skill lists were barren and pitiful.
Aside from skill books, there were only three fixed chances in the entire game—at levels 10, 40, and 80—when you could receive one or two random skills for your class. If your luck was bad, you’d only ever gain three measly abilities in your lifetime.
That was the grim reality.
In his past life, even when the global player base had reached the 60s or 70s in level, the vast majority still relied solely on their meager class-given skills. They were poor, desperate, and woefully underpowered.
And then there had been that one man—the so-called Arcane Overlord—the player with the most skills in the world. His fame came from possessing a grand total of twenty-five. Twenty-five, out of billions of players.
Lin Ziluo himself had been lucky back then, possessing ten skills—already more than ninety-nine percent of humanity.
Which made the glowing book before him all the more precious.
Suppressing the trembling in his hands, he flipped it open.
[Whirlwind s***h]: Warrior-class skill. Hurl your weapon forward, dealing 120% Strength-based damage. Upon hitting an enemy or reaching max distance, the weapon will return to your hand. During the return flight, enemies struck take 80% Strength-based damage. (If obstructed by terrain, the weapon may fail to return.)
Lin Ziluo’s eyes lit up.
“Beautiful.”
A warrior skill—yet one that combined ranged attacks, automatic weapon return, and multiple damage instances. Skills with this kind of versatility were beyond rare. Of course, a skill this strong likely had a long cooldown, but that was a problem he could solve later once his Spirit stat was higher.
This was a jackpot.
[System: Skill ‘Whirlwind s***h’ detected.]
[Would Player ‘Yazi’ like to learn this skill?]
“Yes, yes, yes!” Lin Ziluo blurted without hesitation.
[Congratulations! Player ‘Yazi’ has successfully learned ‘Whirlwind Slash.’]
His fingers itched to test it immediately, but the cramped hotel room was no place for experimentation. For now, he suppressed his urge and carefully stored the precious book and other loot into his inventory space.
Today’s harvest was beyond satisfying.
• His level had already reached 3.
• He had gained three bronze-tier items: Meditation Necklace, Ring of Nightfall, and Tang Horizontal Blade.
• He now wielded a rare, powerful skill.
• His inventory overflowed with consumables and supplies.
In his past life, it would’ve taken him half a month to accumulate this much.
And most importantly—Yao Jinghan was finally dead.
That alone made every risk worth it.
A grin tugged at his lips as he pulled out a food supply card and activated it. In a flash, a steaming feast materialized before him—Peking duck with spring pancakes and sauce, two fluffy white buns, a perfectly seared sirloin steak with pasta and fried egg, and even a bottle of premium Maotai liquor.
After the bloodshed of the afternoon, his stomach was screaming in protest. Without hesitation, he dug in. The Peking duck was tender and rich, the steak juicy, the noodles fragrant. He ate with abandon, as if the world outside no longer existed.
Happiness, he thought as grease dripped down his chin, was this.
And it was fleeting. Soon, the plates were licked clean, the liquor bottle empty. Lin Ziluo leaned back, rubbing his satisfied stomach.
Comfortable.
But indulgence couldn’t last forever. Clearing the table, he pulled out a notebook and pen he had scavenged earlier.
It was time to plan his future.
The Apocalypse Game divided classes in the simplest way possible—Warrior or Mage. That was it.
At level ten, upon completing your class quest, you chose one path. Warriors gained Strength and Constitution with every level, plus two free attribute points. Depending on how you invested, you could become a tank, a berserker, an assassin, or even a makeshift archer.
Mages, on the other hand, gained Spirit and Agility each level, plus two free points. Most poured everything into Spirit, chasing raw magical power. A few reckless souls dumped their stats into Strength or Constitution, trying to forge the path of a melee mage. Brave… but foolish.
In truth, ninety-nine percent of humanity would follow one of these two basic paths.
The remaining one percent… pursued the hidden professions.
And that was where real power lay.
Lin Ziluo’s pen scratched across the paper, writing down two characters: Phantom.
His hidden class from his previous life.
The Phantom was one of the most legendary assassin classes, unmatched in agility and single-target burst. It was the reason he had survived a decade of pursuit from the Li family. Even before its second evolution, Phantom granted +2 Agility and +2 Strength per level, plus three free attributes—leagues above ordinary classes.
He knew exactly how to obtain it. The scars carved into his face and the brushes with death in his last life had seared the method into his memory.
But this time… he could claim it far more easily.
He paused, then jotted down more names: Paladin of Light, Necromancer, Asura, Titan, Reaper of Life…
Each one, a hidden class with its own unique path to supremacy.
And this time, he wasn’t going to settle for scraps.
- Writer
