The Final Desperation

(You have reached level 50. Please find an advancement NPC for your advancement trial.)

Genji killed the Skeleton Necromancer for the nth time before finally reaching the next level for class advancement. He took his loot and returned to town. Genji looked at this unfamiliar town in wonder. He hasn't been back here since he was transported here. Just grinding dungeons the whole time and logging off to get meals.

Since he had healing skills and his personal cards don't consume any resources to use, he was able to camp outside the dungeon. What a weird twist for being a balanced class. To think the meager skills of his class were the reason he was so efficient in grinding.

"I need my advancement trial," Genji told the high priest at the church.

"You must have worked hard. May god bless you," the priest gave the standard phrase and opened the portal for Genji.

After Genji walked through, the priest let a sigh.

"No wonder that guy in the starter village said this guy's a monster. It's only been one week since he arrived and he's already at level 50."

Soon Genji found himself in the same hallway as the first advancement trial.

(Select your difficulty.)

To Genji, this wasn't a hard choice. Impossible. Then he found himself in the same colosseum with a familiar-looking dragon.

"Are they seriously using the same art for this? Don't they have any different dragons?"

The same fat dragon getting up cutscene as he walked in. This time, the dragon tilted its head slightly to look at Genji.

"Well, here we go again."

Teleport, Curses, poison, and finally daggers. Genji doesn't have any other powerful attacks so this was his go-to combo. This time, the dragon had higher stats so the debuffs didn't work as well.

"Oh well. Just a game of patience at this point."

Genji pulled out [Curse Bearer] from his hand and shot the dragon's eyes to speed up the process. No one's around so why wouldn't he take the extra damage?

*ROOOAAARRRRR*

"Roar roar. All you know is to roar. Can't you do something else?"

As if understanding him, the dragon became enraged and inhaled deeply. A spark of flame flicked through the gaps of its teeth as it pulled its head back. Genji had an idea of what was coming next.

"Nice heat. You can bake cookies with those."

Teleport

Genji appeared below the belly of the swelling dragon and used his Jaguar card. A green saber materialized next to him and shot at the stomach.

*Ding*

Barely a dent. The scales of this dragon are too tough for this beginner's weapon. Before the weapon could dissipate, Genji grabbed the handle and stabbed it in by himself.

Dagger Arts: Impact Strike

-5,098

-12,340

The first number was the damage Genji dealt to the dragon. The second was the reaction force. Kind of sad to realize he dealt more damage to himself from this attack than the dragon has done throughout the entire fight. This though, did not mean Genji made a weak attack.

The area of the collision sank inward, causing the dragon to split out the flames in a hazardous way. No aim or anything. Just staying the flames everywhere. It was like a person with a mouthful of water suddenly got punched in the stomach. That's the reaction the dragon had.

Before the dragon can recover from the attack, Genji used Flashstep to appear behind the dragon. Then more daggers. That was how the fight went. Every time the dragon tried to do something, Genji would interrupt it somehow and stall until his Lethal Opportunity card came off cooldown. That's his main source of damage.

Eventually, the curses finally kicked in and the dragon fell asleep. There's nothing else after that.

(You have cleared the Impossible Difficult for the 2nd class trial.)

(Please select 14 options from the following rewards.)

1. A powerful card of any class that you can use
2. Upgrade an existing card
3. Upgrade all your class cards
4. Gain a second class
5. Advance your class (selectable once)

Genji selected the fifth option and the second option for the rest. Class advancement is non-negotiable. He needs this if he wants to keep leveling up. As for the upgrades, of course, he pumped it into Lethal Opportunity. It's getting weak and having a hard time keeping up with the monsters he's grinding.

(Lethal Opportunity)

Effect: Summon 99 daggers that deal 100,000 damage or 10% of the target's maximum hp (Whichever one is higher)

"Not bad. I can take on some powerful creatures with this."

 

(Your class has advanced to Cardinal)

(Cardinal)

Details: All your class cards gain a huge boost in power. Reduction of all cooldowns and costs. More class cards are unlocked.

 

Genji walked through the portal and returned to the city he came from.

"You're back. I see that your trial was successful?"

"Yes."

Genji didn't say anything else and walked out. After the priest saw Genji had left, he curiously pulled up Genji's trial summary.

"Nope. Not even surprised. Breath, Brandon. Breath. Yeah, that's not happening."

The priest took out a bottle of alcohol and started chugging, trying to calm his nerves from the over-excitement.

 

---

 

As Genji was returning to his grinding zone, he saw a commotion in one of the lower-leveling zones. Curious, he found an open spot to enjoy the show.

"I told you, we got this card openly!"

Two teenagers were in an intense argument with a group of 20 people.

"Says who? We clearly saw you steal that from one of our members. You better hand it over or you will know the consequences!"

"You- shameless!"

From what Genji can tell, it's a dispute over some precious card. The two teenagers don't seem to be lying so he guessed that the group saw something they wanted and decided to snatch it.

"It's really a situation of a child holding a gold brick."

"I see that you are refusing to hand it over. Fine then. We will have to use force."

The leader of the group waved his hands and everyone in the party pulled out their tomes. A balanced party with about 4 of each class.

"Come. Who's afraid of you?"

The two teenagers got into a fighting stance and activated their cards. An orange glow surrounded one teen and a blue one around the other. From the covers of their tomes, Genji was able to distinguish that the orange-glowing teen was a warrior class while the other teen was a rogue.

The rogue dashed at the group and activated his cards while the warrior gathered energy into his fist and punched at the person at the front. Sensing the incoming force, the person hurriedly tapped on a bunch of cards in his tome.

*Boom*

A large amount of barriers appeared between them and blocked the attack. A dust storm was kicked up from the impact, but Genji moved his position to prevent his view from being blocked.

"Not bad. They seem decent, but why do I feel that those teens seem familiar?"

A few more attacks were exchanged before Genji finally realized where this feeling came from.

"What's their name? Hunter or something? Yes. It should be them."

From their levels, it seems like they have been playing the game for some time. Both were level 25. As for their opponents, they were a party of people in their 30s. Although they fought well, it soon became obvious that they were being overwhelmed.

Genji initially had no intention of interfering, but then he inspected their opponents.

[Member of EonRealm. Inspect does not work on members of the realms.]

"Oh. Well, this could be the perfect excuse to cull their numbers."

A wide smile appeared on his face as he pulled out his tome.

Holy Barrier, Smite, Bedevilment

Genji saw that Marks was about to be backstabbed and cast a shield for him. Then he struck down the attacker and used the new card he learned upon advancing his class. The card had a perception interference feature, causing the target to see his allies as enemies. A small commotion appeared around the group as they tried to control the disoriented teammate.

Attraction

Genji pulled Marks out of the crowd and toward him.

"Yo. It seems like you could use some help, Marks."

"Eh? Who are you?"

"Don't worry about that. It seems like you are getting bullied so I have to step in. How dare these guys try to kill a child in broad daylight. Let big brother help you out."

Dark Healing

This was another card Genji got upon his class advancement. It changed all his healing effects into damage. With this addition, this support class finally has some combat capabilities.

Group Healing

This area of healing effect caused everyone's health in the opposing group to drain.

"Scatter!"

The leader realized what was happening and swiftly gave his order.

"That wasn't nice. I spent so much mana to cast that healing spell. How can you not appreciate my good intentions?"

"Who are you? If you know what's good for you, you would stay out of our business!"

"That's not a nice way to greet people. But I'm broad-minded. Here, I'll cast another healing spell for you."

High Healing

A large been of holy light came from Genji's tome and hit the leader instantly.

"Arrrrhhhhh"

The remainder of the person's health emptied, instantly killing him. The body fell to its knees before slamming into the ground. Then the body started dissipating into shards of light.

[You have slain an Enforcer of an opposing realm. You have gained 1 privilege token and the member's scarlet card.]

[Scarlet Card - Enforcer]

Effect: Upon use choose from one of the following options as a reward

1. Gain 50% of the coins in their card
2. Randomly draw an item from their storage
3. Turn this over to EverRealm for another privilege token

Description: This is a guaranteed drop when you kill a member from another realm.

Note: This only applies to members of the other realms. Don't think about killing members of your own realm. Although you might not be penalized for such behavior, the act is frowned upon by EverRealm.

 

When Genji saw these options, he understood the nature of the relationship between the realms. It seems like they are hostile to each other, with some potential alliances. He made this assumption based on the rewards provided for killing an opposing member. These rewards are decent. It was as if EverRealm encourages such actions.

'In that case...'

Genji's eyes turned sharp as he looked at the scattered members of EonRealm.

"Oh my god, how did you suddenly die? I swear on the lord's name, I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm so sorry. Let me heal your injuries."

Holy boost, Medium healing

The unfortunate soul that received Genji's 'care' slumped over and died as well.

[You have slain an Explorer of EonRealm. You have obtained their scarlet card]

[Scarlet Card - Explorer]

Reward options:

1. Gain 50% of their coins
2. Randomly draw an item from their storage

Note: EverRealm doesn't accept scarlet cards below Enforcer rank.

 

This second card revealed that there are different values in the cards. The higher the rank, the more valued the card.

'So how bad is it to lose a champion?'

Genji was starting to understand the reason his trial world was so cruel when EverRealm doesn't typically bother with people that fail their missions. Why spend the energy on killing him when it normally abandons the people in the mission worlds?

It doesn't abandon people because it's merciful, but because it's not worth the energy to teleport them back. Why would it spend energy on making failures stronger when it would be more cost-efficient to train a new member?

"Why? Why did you die as well? I just want to heal you?"

Genji did not let these thoughts distract him as he continued his hypocritical act.

"Shut it. I don't have the patience to play along with you!"

One of the other people at the front finally reacted and charged at Genji. This also roar snapped everyone out of their shock, making them prepare for combat. Their leader might have died, but they should be able to get the item to compensate for their losses.

A sword appeared in the person's arms as he utilized several movement skills to close in one Genji. As he brought his weapon up to launch another skill, Genji opened his palm to the person.

Repel

A strong force acted on the warrior and sent him flying backward. The healers in the party quickly reacted and waved their tomes to cast their healing spells.

"Sorry, about that. You see, I like my personal space very much."

Then Genji used another card effect that he got as a Cardinal.

Undead curse

This caused the person receiving the healing to temporarily become undead. The only thing is undead are susceptible to healing...

"Arrrhhhhh"

The warrior screamed in pain as the healing beam from his party member burned his skin.

"Oh god! You're supposed to heal your teammates, not burn them! How could you! To backstab someone that trusted you so much. Have you no honor to do something so despicable? You don't deserve to be a priest! As the holy messenger of god, may he grant me the power to execute this heretic."

Jaguar

A green saber materialized and shot through the skull of the priest, killing him seconds later with the poison.

"There. No need to thank me. I have expunged that piece of filth from your party. As the good samaritan that I am, I won't ask for payment for my services."

"MOTHERFUC-"

The warrior finally couldn't hold his anger any longer and was about to express his feelings with a magic-based sword slash when the skill stopped working.

Genji had silenced him and smacked his face with a holy smite before the warrior could get the whole word out.

"I can understand your feelings at your friend's betrayal, but as a holy messenger of god, I have to kindly ask you to not curse in my presence."

"There's nothing kind about what you did," Marks, who was next to Genji thought to himself.

"Oh, I know. How about I make it so that none of your comrades can approach you to backstab you? Even better, how about I make it so that they can't move?"

Mass bind

Many vines came out of the ground and ensnared the other members in the area, leaving only Hunter, Genji, and Marks standing in the field.

"There. See how considerate I am?"

Genji nodded to himself as if congratulating his own kindness.

"Now that we have taken care of his trauma, let's talk about yours," Genji turned to Marks, "How do you want to deal with this case of bullying? Do you want to continue pursuing this matter or let it go?"

"Uhhhhh"

Marks didn't know how to react when the question turned to him. Why is this weirdo asking him how to deal with this situation?

"Let it go? Since they are defeated, I don't see any point in making things worse."

"I understand. What a merciful soul you are. I will heal them then."

While some of the EonRealm members relaxed at the sentence, others became fearful. Healing? Isn't that what killed their leader?

God's descent

*Ahhhhhh*

Genji turned his strongest wide-area healing into the deadliest of damage, killing half of the group. The only ones that managed to survive were those that used skills to boost their health or the priests that managed to get a timely heal in.

Marks's eyes widened at this sudden massacre and started breathing heavily.

"W-why did you do that? I thought you said you were going to let them go."

"Oh, I see. You didn't mean you wanted to heal them. You wanted to stop their torture."

Genji put his fist into his open palm, acting like he realized Marks's true intentions.

"To put them out of their misery so they don't have to suffer the pains of the mortal world any longer. What a merciful soul you are."

Genji put his hands together and pretended to pray to Marks, making him more flustered at the psychotic implications behind the statement.

"Very well then. I will follow your kind wishes and put them out of their misery."

"Wait-"

But before Marks could finish his sentence, multiple bone spikes came from the ground and impaled the eyes of the bound members, killing them instantly. That's the difference between their stats in the game.

"There. Suffering relieved. Hey, what's wrong? Why do you seem so upset about them joining the graces of our all-mighty Father? Come on. Cheer up. It was only under your orders that they were able to enter the afterlife so peacefully."

Marks clenched his fists as he realized what was going on. He's been played.

"SHUT UP! Don't you dare put words into my mouth. You never intended to let them go! Everything was just an excuse you made up to kill them! How dare you try to guilt trip me!"

Marks huffed as he screamed his frustrations at this stranger, frustrations he never thought he would have. Genji paused for a few moments before clapping.

"You are correct. I never intended to let them live."

Genji stopped his hypocritical, self-righteous tone of voice and answered normally. Then a large killing intent was directed at Marks, stunning him in place.

"Yes. You got everything right, but you know what you failed at? You lost control of your emotions."

Then a bone spike came up in the distance and impaled Hunter through the stomach.

"You-"

But as if showing Marks the consequences of talking back, another spike stabbed into Hunter.

"Go ahead. Keep talking. Each time you interrupt me, I'll add another accessory to your friend."

Hearing his cold voice, Marks knew better than to test this psycho.

"Now back to what I was saying. You lost control of your emotions. You know what happens when you do that?"

Marks tried to rack his brain for an answer but found none. So he said nothing.

"Your friend gets punished for your mistakes. Only this time, you're not on the receiving end."

"It's you!"

Marks finally remembered who said that. It's the crazy teacher from a week ago that changed his expression at the drop of a hat.

"Ding ding ding. Seems like you understood, but I try to keep my promises so guess what your friend gets?"

"Wait! You'll kill him!"

But Genji ignored his outcry and clicked on another card in his tome.

"Nooooo!"

As Marks tried to reach out to stop him, Genji stepped aside and clicked another card.

'It's too late.'

Marks's eyes turned bloodshot as he watched his friend get killed. Killed. Killed? Why did the spikes retract and Hunter's health started to recover? Seeing his stunned expression, Genji burst out laughing.

"Haha, you should have seen your face. You actually thought I was going to kill him. Can't blame you. I am a good actor. That being said, you should have learned your lesson."