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Chapter 116: Who Exactly is David??
Chapter 116: Who Exactly is David??
With such high returns, Harriet felt that being a lackey for the Dark Moon Alliance wasn't so bad after all!
As members of the Shadowweave Tribe, a tribal nation that revered strength above all, it was only logical to submit to an alliance blessed by deities. And the rewards were incredibly high—it was a win-win!
The only thing that annoyed Harriet was the hypocrisy of players from other nations! They all complained about being exploited by the Alliance, but when it came to racking up points, they were more enthusiastic than anyone else!
If not for the fortunate encounter with several tribal members upon being teleported to the Netherworld, who could join forces in using secret rune magic to hunt down bosses, Harriet would have never been able to exploit the Alliance and climb to second place on the leaderboard!
That's right, Harriet believed that second place was his limit.
Because...
At present, Harriet was sitting at second place with a total of 34,000 points, while the third place player, Myron, was close behind with 32,000 points.
But the first place score was a staggering 60,000 points! And it belonged to the double-S rank player, Spike from the Principality of Morrow.
Harriet had no delusions of competing with such a prodigy. Competing with a double-S rank player was out of the question—he didn't have the capability!
A double-S rank player was destined to become a legend. Who would dare to challenge them for the top spot on the leaderboard?
"Being second isn't bad!" Harriet consoled himself.
Just then, an annoying notification rang in his ears.
[Your ranking has dropped to 3rd place.]
"Chasing up again? Myron must be farming bosses too?" Harriet was extremely displeased. He had just finished off a boss and hadn't even had a break, and now he had to find more monsters and resources.
But all the nearby monsters were wiped out, the NPCs in this town were all killed, and the items had been looted—every point-giving opportunity had been exhausted!
Finding points now was a real hassle!
The hourly rewards for the top ranks were 100 contribution points for first place, 80 for second, and only 50 for third. It might not seem like a big difference, but players could be stuck in the Netherworld for several days.
The cumulative difference between second and third place in hourly rewards could easily cost a purple-quality skill!
For a second-class player, that was an unbearable loss!
Harriet angrily opened the leaderboard and spat on the ground, ready to hunt for more monsters...
But when he opened the leaderboard, he was dumbfounded.
"Wait a minute, who the hell is David from the Divine Mountain Empire? Does this person even exist?"
First off, what the hell was the Divine Mountain Empire? Was there even such a country in the Dark Moon Alliance?
But what shocked Harriet even more was that this second-place player's score was displayed as 50,000 points!
At that moment, Spike was also farming monsters, but his score was only 60,500, which then ticked up to 60,600.
But Harriet saw that the second-place score of David from the Divine Mountain Empire suddenly jumped to 61,000!
"Holy crap!" He was stunned!
In Harriet's mind, Spike was unbeatable and undisputedly the top of the leaderboard. But in an instant, he was overtaken!
Spike dropped to second place!
"I must be dreaming..." Harriet rubbed his eyes and took another look. Sure enough, the numbers had changed, forming a stark contrast to the exaggerated figures he saw earlier—
David's score was now 70,800 points! It wasn't the 61,000 he had seen before.
"Isn't this a bit too ridiculous?" Harriet clutched his chest, feeling overwhelmed.
His frustration over dropping to third place vanished, replaced by extreme shock and fear!
If David had slowly climbed the rankings, like Spike from the Principality of Morrow, it would have been understandable. Perhaps David had found a good spot to farm monsters, or like Harriet, had gathered a team to grind together, which could quickly boost his score.
But David's rapid ascent to the top was absurd!
In just a few seconds, his score jumped, each time by nearly 10,000 points!
The only explanation was that David genuinely had the ability to earn tens of thousands of points in mere seconds! He must have been able to instantly defeat multiple bosses or hundreds of elite monsters!
As for the possibility that David accumulated points by collecting items? Harriet thought it made no difference. In a world so hostile, the better the items you obtained, the stronger the enemies you had to face. There was no room for trickery.
"Could this be a second-class player??" Such terrifying combat power made Harriet break out in a cold sweat, filled with a deep sense of fear!
It was monstrous!
At this moment, it wasn't just Harriet who was filled with wild thoughts. Almost every player competing for the leaderboard noticed their rank suddenly drop by one.
And when they opened the leaderboard, they saw a player named David rapidly ascending to the top with terrifying efficiency!
...
"Who exactly is this David? Divine Mountain Empire, Earth Human Tribe—are this country and this race really that strong?"
"Wasn't Spike supposed to be the only double-S rank powerhouse? What's the deal with this Divine Mountain Empire guy?"
"This point farming efficiency is ridiculous. Maybe David was the one who got the Netherworld Water earlier?"
"So what if his point farming is efficient? The stronger you are, the more the Dark Moon Alliance will want to control you. You'll never break free from the Lunar Restriction."
...
Countless players were speculating, some even guessing part of the truth. Sterl had indeed obtained a portion of the Netherworld Water.
Others were sarcastically suggesting that revealing such power would only make David a target for the controlling Dark Moon Alliance...
And once again, the players were partly right. David's sudden rise did stir up waves within the Dark Moon Alliance.
"Lady Goddess, why did you..." Richard's face was full of disbelief.
"You know I would never betray you."
"I know, but the emergence of a genius among the Primordial Earth Humans is news that should never leak." Gloria said solemnly.
"But... leaking it might not necessarily be a bad thing. Those major clans among the Earth Humans might support him." Richard continued to think loyally.
"Do you really think the Earth Humans would want a strong figure to rise among their Primordial kin?"
"They would most likely offer some petty benefits, only to stifle his potential." Gloria said.
Gloria was in a good mood. She hadn't expected that her plan involving "that item" would lead her to discover yet another genius from the Primordial Earth Human Tribe.
"Wait, why did I say 'yet another'?" Gloria paused, but the suggestion she had implanted in her own mind made her ignore this thought.
The goddess simply placed a cold hand on Richard's head, erasing all information he had about David from the Divine Mountain Empire and the Earth Human Tribe.
As for herself, she retained the memory. After all, it was just a top-ranked player with extraordinary combat power in the second class.
Gloria believed that if any real problem arose, she could protect this David.
...
At this moment, Sterl was unaware that his simple act of farming points had caused such a stir.
He was standing in a "basin."
It wasn't that he had found another basin while looking for monsters. This place had originally been a mountain range, now flattened.
Around Sterl lay the charred remains of elf-like beings, who had been carrying longbows.
These elves were from the "Song of the Wind" tribe in the mountains, ranging from level 80 to 90, with many elite members among them. Sterl hadn't initially planned to farm NPCs, but these elves had gone berserk at the sight of him flying in the sky, shooting arrows in rage. It seemed that the world's will had made them extremely hostile to outsiders.
Sterl wasn't going to stand for that, so he fought back!
After a few Celestial Star attacks, the mountain range turned into a basin. Using the "Song of the Wind" tribe, Sterl quickly climbed to the top of the leaderboard.
Anyway, instant-killing elite second-class units was only a small part of "David's" strength. Many NPCs and players from the Divine Mountain Empire were aware of this, so there was nothing to hide.
Sterl gathered the dropped items around him and then transformed into a blood-red light, flying towards the location of the third Netherworld Water.
...
"My dear disciple, can't you just listen to me and find a safe place to wait until Gloria takes what she wants, and then we can leave the Netherworld in peace?"
"You want to catch up with David. There will be plenty of opportunities once we're out of the Netherworld. Do you really doubt his ability to leave safely?"
At this moment, in a luxuriously decorated carriage equipped with a temperature control device.
Faye was sitting cross-legged in meditation, while Felicia's voice echoed in her mind, filled with earnest persuasion.
Felicia was really exasperated. The plan to absorb the Netherworld Water had gone perfectly.
Faye successfully evolved into a double-S tier powerhouse. With a clear path ahead to reach the legendary realm, becoming a demigod also seems quite promising.
So, Felicia's mindset instantly aligned with Sterl's.
No more searching for resources outside! Stay safe and steady! Once you reach legendary status, the world is your oyster!
Any attempt to gather resources now was idiotic and disrespectful to the power of the Netherworld Water!
But Faye insisted that she had promised David to help him break free from the Dark Moon Alliance's control. Given David's character, he would definitely be collecting the Netherworld Water.
So, she decided to try her luck at the location of the third Netherworld Water, hoping to run into David.
"Ancestor, of course, Mr. David's strength is more than enough to sweep through the Netherworld."
"But didn't you also say that this time even demigods from the Dark Moon Alliance might intervene, and that even a deity might act?"
"If the Lunar Restriction can't be lifted, what if Mr. David is controlled and used as cannon fodder?" Faye said seriously.