Player Level 999

Overpowered

I stood like a small child in the middle of a court-like room surrounded by the four main administrators of Halcyon Dawning.

All of them are using non-human characters, which is the reason why they all stand out from the crowd. It's their way of making sure that no one makes any kind of trouble in their presence.

To be honest, I expected to wake up at the top of the rock where I left my character. Not here in this suffocating room that's triggering my anxiety.

But despite the nervousness, I felt something odd within my character. I just can't put it into words.

Did they do something to my character while I was gone?

"Blair Moonwell, do you know what you've done?" One of the admins, the High Elf King, spoke in a booming voice. I think his name is Eldiorah.

I almost forgot that Blair Moonwell is my name here as it's not allowed to use your real name for the sake of privacy.

"Y-Yes and I deeply regret what I've done." I stuttered as I looked up at him.

"And we hear that the reason you've done that is because you've spotted several high-level Orcs near the dungeon that you and your group are trying to loot?" Another one of the admins asked, this time it was Malo the famous Succubus Demon Queen.

"Yes. I was killed by a high-level player and I respawned on the entrance of the cave. I was checking my supplies in my bag when I heard them coming." I answered truthfully and she only nodded while looking at me intently.

The admins looked at each other as if they were silently talking to one another.

"Your friend, Midoss Ashe, has confirmed that he heard the Orcs roars while you're communicating. Is that true?" Lastef, the Giant Sentinel, asked as he crossed his arms made of stone in suspicion.

"Yes, it's true. I told him that I spotted Orcs and he originally thought that they were Hobgoblins since the two giant creatures look alike. But I have confirmed that they were indeed Orcs. Unfortunately, they saw me and roared loudly as if they were angered by my presence." I explained further.

Most of the admins nodded as of they believed what I was saying. Meanwhile, I really feel like I'm going to puke out of anxiety.

"And why and how did you resort to burning down the forest?" This time the person who asked was Siegfried, the Vampire King. His red eyes felt like they were staring into my soul.

"I-It was purely out of desperation. Because of my low level, I could only conjure up basic elemental spells. I figured that since Fire has the highest damage, I could use it to scare them away. I didn't really thought about the consequences as long as I make sure that they go away." I admitted as I swallowed a lump on my throat.

Eerie silence followed and it really did seem like they were all communicating.

Finally, Eldiorah sighed.

"You should look at your Character Menu, Blair Moonwell." He said and I blinked in confusion.

Fearing that there's something wrong with my character, I immediately popped open my Menu.

As soon as the window opened, my jaw dropped.

[ Player Level: 999 ]

[ Achievements: 439 ]

[ Finished Special Quests: 309 ]

[ New Titles: 249 ]

[ Remaining Skill Points: 987 ]

[ Unclaimed Rewards: 2,356 ]

I looked over my entire character and noticed that I got buff as hell. I now looked like I have the body of a Diamond Rank Berserker instead of a Bronze Rank Arcana Mage. The admins distracted me so much that I didn't even notice that my body has changed so drastically.

"Wha-What?" Is the only thing that came out of my mouth.

"When you burned down the entire forest, you also killed all of the monsters living in it. Including the monsters in hidden lairs, special quests and events. It's also worth mentioning that you've killed both Ultimate Bosses of the forest; Leviathan, who is more than 600 levels above your previous one and Beelzebub, who is 100 levels above Leviathan. This caused your jump from level 12 to level 999." Eldiorah explained, sounding more impressed than angry.

I closed my menu, still feeling like I'm going to suddenly burp out my lunch.

Holy freaking mother of Jesus, this is so unexpected.

"You are now the strongest player in all of Halcyon Dawning, Blair Moonwell. You are even stronger than all of us combined." Malo commented and giggled even though I have no idea what's funny.

"I-I... uhh... Am I not going to be punished for burning down the forest? Is this considered as cheating?" I asked as I'm lost for words.

"Before you woke up, we asked the developers themselves of what we will do to you as we were more than shocked when we saw your level. We thought you were a cheater or a hacker, but they have proven to us that this leveling-up of yours is due to the result of your stupid stunt." Siegfried said with an eyebrow raised. It doesn't really look like he's too happy with me.

"They were the ones who decided your punishment." Lastef said and huffed out a scoff.

I gulped once again. If this was the real world, I would be sweating like I'm the next one to guillotined. I'm never really good at being put under pressure, but at least I haven't fainted yet so that's a good sign for me.

"According to the devs, your punishment is to be a solo player until the day another one surpasses your level." Eldiorah said and I deeply frowned.

"Solo player?" I asked despite the fact that I could feel my vocal chords shaking.

"Yes. That means you can't join or create a guild and you can't join any team of adventurers when entering dungeons or during map explorations. From now on, you will do every task, quest, side quest, event and battle all by yourself." Malo further explained, grinning at me.

I silently gaped, but I could see why they chose this punishment for me.

People would surely want me in their team so they could enter high-level dungeons and level up faster. And if I join a guild, I would be their ace in the Guild Wars which isn't fair at all.

"What about the Arena?" I asked again.

"You can now beat the current first place in the Arena, seeing how you're now more than capable to do so. Besides, it's a solo battle so it's not part of the rules that the developers have made for you." Lastef answered.

I scratched the back of my head, feeling a little dizzy because of the sudden change of pace of my gaming life in Halcyon Dawning.

Damn, I only wanted to level up a few digits so I could catch up to the rest of the players in this game. I didn't want to become the literal top player.

"Is there any way to reduce my level?" I asked, noting the surprise in their eyes.

"Why?" Siegfried asked back.

"It's just that... It's too sudden and too overwhelming. Plus, if people saw me and heard about what I've done to gain this level, they would surely do the same thing that I did so they could level up." I tried to explain.

Eldiorah nodded, understanding my point. Malo, on the other hand, just giggled once more.

"The game will be updated in a few hours to make sure that nothing similar happens in the future. Interestingly, I think they plan to release a public statement about this incident and since what you've done is purely an accident and even helped them discover an unusual loophole in the game, they think that you deserve to keep everything." Malo said, rendering me speechless again.

I deserve to keep everything because of that?

Oh god, what would Ryan think of this? Even our previous team mates?

This is going to cause a huge ruckus in the community and I'm not mentally, emotionally, psychologically and socially prepared for the massive attention that I'm probably going to harbor.

They'll probably think that I'm a cheater or something and, knowing how toxic gamers can be, they would probably force the devs to either delete my character or permanently ban me from the game.

"Relax, Blair." Eldiorah's voice snapped me out of my overthinking brain.

"You're overpowered now. If anyone messes with you in-game, just kick their asses." Lastef's laugh vibrated throughout the room, followed by Eldiorah and Siegfried's audible sighs and Malo's giggle.

Oh god, if only it were that easy...