"ROARRRRR!!!"
After one last suppressed explosion, that was the last sound they heard. The dragon roared in pure agony before its voice died down as soon as it came out, sending the wasteland into an eerie silence as the dark clouds dispersed overhead and streams of sunlight beamed upon the catastrophic scene.
When Black Rose and Cindra cautiously arrived at the edge of the vast crater, they looked down in fear and anticipation as the dust slowly settled within it.
The visibility was poor, with a mix of white mist and thick dust. But through the fog, Black Rose could detect and make out movement below in the crater.
She squinted her eyes to catch the reflection of the sunlight against a body of water that was slowly receding to the center of the crater, as though it were drying up. But that water disappeared as soon as it appeared because, no matter how hard she looked after that, to her greatest dismay, the crater was empty.
There was no sign of the colossal dragon, whose silhouette had been easily spotted through the cloud of dust on their way up the mountain. Neither was there any sign of its formidable foe.
The dragon was large enough to be easily spotted if it had taken off, even from the valley. But now, the only evidence there had ever been a dragon and a formidable battle there was the meters-deep crater and the entire wasteland, which was once a vibrant mountain and forest with a thriving city in its valley. Now all gone.
"Just what the hell happened here?" Cindra spoke up amidst heavy breaths. "It looks like the battlefield of gods, rather than a dragon... but where could they have gone? They were fighting right here only a minute ago..."
At that moment, several flying ships broke through the clouds and slowly soared toward the wasteland below, but every single player on the ships stood over the rails, looking down at the devastation below in pure shock.
These were the different powerful guilds with their banners hanging from their ships, and every one of them looked around in search of the dragon but found none. At the center of the entire disaster were two battered individuals standing over the largest crater, which could just as well have been a dried-up ocean, and everyone’s eyes widened in terror and disbelief.
They had all seen the dragon before the last livestream went dead, and the wasteland below proved just how devastating a battle had taken place on that map. With two figures the entire guilds immediately recognized on sight, it made them forget to breathe as they all had one thought in mind.
In the archives of Evolution Online, the White Vanguard was the first guild to conquer a mythical beast, and seeing the last people standing after the battle only meant one thing...
Black Rose had officially become the seventh player to slay a dragon, carrying on her father’s legacy—the Emperor.
***
[You have slain the Devourer of Seven Planets.]
[10,000× Reward Multiplier Triggered...]
[You have received 750,000,000 Evolution Points.]
[You have received (1) Loot Bundle.]
[Quality or Quantity?]
[(2) Genetic Traits Available for Extraction.]
[Do you wish to extract?]
[You have successfully completed the Hidden Class Quest.]
Kaelen had just spread himself thin to absorb every last bit of the blown-up dragon when he detected movement from above, but didn’t pay it any attention as he tried to accept his rewards.
When—
[You have reached the maximum usage limit for your gaming headgear. Please upgrade the product to enjoy longer gaming sessions. You will be forcibly logged out now.]
"W-What?"
Kaelen didn’t have time to protest before his vision went blank, and his eyes slowly fluttered open to the darkness beneath the gaming headgear.
He took off the headgear as he sat up, staring at it in disbelief.
"What the hell?!"
"Is that even a thing, or did they get jealous of my achievements?" Kaelen frowned in displeasure when he was suddenly interrupted by a series of system notifications.
[You have received 750,000,000 Evolution Points.]
[You have received (1) Loot Bundle.]
[Quality or Quantity?]
[(2) Genetic Traits Available for Extraction.]
[Do you wish to extract?]
[Congratulations! You have unlocked a Hidden Class (Mythic)]
His eyes widened in disbelief.
The 10,000× Reward Multiplier System had already carried over to real life?!
That was when he remembered he had officially become a Tier 5 Lifeform in-game, rumored to awaken a percentage of their strength in Evolution Online.
He hesitated for a moment, but seeing the system still blinking in his vision, he slowly shut his eyes to check himself.
For a moment, the shack was silent as Kaelen remained unmoving, before a powerful aura of pure energy suddenly exploded from his chest, spreading beyond the walls of his house in an invisible shockwave that sent chills down the spines of everyone who felt it.
At the same time, everything in his room slowly began to levitate—including the bed he was sitting on in a lotus position—defying the laws of gravity.
This power was a percentage of Kaelen’s strength from Evolution Online... it was the unadulterated aura of a peak Tier 5 Lifeform. And the projection of a slime manifested from pure energy in the room, floating behind him like a spirit animal.
It was only after a while that Kaelen finally opened his eyes, his gray eyes glowing in the dark room, and he slowly began descending with the bed, along with every other item that had been levitating with him.
He looked at and caressed his exposed chest through his torn clothes, feeling the smooth and flawless skin beneath his touch, and the muscles that had seemingly formed overnight.
His hand also instinctively went to his hair, feeling lush, messy hair that came down to his neck and shoulders, taking Kaelen off guard.
"What the... why’s my hair so long now? And when did I become this athletic?" he mused in disbelief.
Then the thought struck him, and he quickly stood and ran for the gap in his wall that had a view of the black screen, which usually displayed the date and time in real time.
That was where he got the shock of his life. Two shocks.
The first was that the date was reading a month ahead of when he remembered entering the game.
And the second was the news being broadcast live on the black screen, with the Evolution Online headline.
"...Player Black Rose, leader of the White Vanguard Guild and daughter of the Emperor, becomes the seventh player to slay the extremely rare and powerful mythical beast—a Tier 9 dragon. Despite declining to comment, Black Rose’s presence at the battlefield has led every major guild to recognize her as humanity’s seventh Dragon Slayer, carrying on the Emperor’s legacy...."
Kaelen stared blankly at the screen.
"...What?"