Chapter 5: End of Tutorial Looking at the map, Alex saw the two blinking red dots in the location of the Goblin Camp. He unlocked the Map Feature after reaching Level 1, allowing him to view the places he had been previously. Most of the map was grayed out, but the location of the two monsters remained visible. He also spotted a single green dot on the map, which represented none other than Dim Dim, who had stayed behind to observe the Goblin Camp from the top of a tree. Seeing that Alex was fine, Dim Dim waved in his direction, eliciting a warm smile from the young man. Alex continued to play safe and cautiously approached the camp, intending to observe his last two targets. Surprisingly, the Goblin Warrior’s health points had decreased by more than half, likely thanks to the injury Alex had dealt. Blood kept flowing from its wound even when the creature desperately tried to put pressure on it with its left hand. The goblin, whom Alex had hit with a stone earlier, guarded the Goblin Warrior. After confirming that the bigger threat was about to die from blood loss, Alex focused his attention on the goblin guarding it. Gripping a stone he pulled out of his storage ring, the young man drew back his arm and hurled it with all of his might. The stone hit the goblin square in the head, earning a pained cry and surprised snarl. Before it could even turn to face its attacker, another stone struck its chest, making it stumble backward. Alex didn’t waste the opening and threw another stone, landing another solid hit on the goblin’s head. He was about to throw another stone when the dying Goblin Warrior roared and charged in his direction. Alex swiftly retracted his arms and didn’t hesitate to run away, understanding that it was more advantageous to him if he let the Goblin Warrior run after him. Not only would its injury worsen, but its energy would also be depleted. ’I’ll just have to endure for a few minutes, and you’re dead meat,’ Alex thought as he glanced behind his back to look at the second goblin, who was shouting while running in his direction. The second goblin wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of the human who kept throwing stones at it. Unfortunately, Alex was too fast for it to catch up. Another game of cat and mouse ensued, with Alex throwing stones at the goblins whenever they took a break from running. In gamer terms, what he was doing was called kiting. Kiting was a very popular strategy in role playing games (RPG’s) and real-time strategy games (RTS). This strategy involved keeping a safe distance from your enemies while constantly using ranged attacks to deal damage to them. Many players, especially those who specialize in close combat, hated fighting against those whom they called "Cheap Shots." In games where Player versus Player (PVP) and Player Killing (PK) were the norm, dying without hitting your enemies once and dying without knowing how you died was the worst feeling ever. The first to die was the goblin, who died after getting hit on the head three consecutive times. Alex took advantage of its exhausted state and delivered the finishing blow when it could no longer defend itself. The Goblin Warrior now knelt on the ground, panting for breath. It glared hatefully at the young man, who had used despicable tactics to defeat them. Alex didn’t bother to say anything and simply threw one stone after the other until the Goblin Warrior died. The moment the last monster collapsed, he heard a notification sound inside his head. [Level Up!] Then, and only then, did Alex breathe a sigh of relief. "It’s finally over," he sighed before opening his Status Page. Every level up in ELO had three Stat points as a reward, which players could distribute as they wished. Alex quickly added two to Strength and one to Agility. He had already decided he would be a Glass Cannon, so he prioritized his Agility Stat, which would increase his speed, allowing him to better dodge and run away from his enemies. His Strength Stat now had 5 points, so his Constitution Stat gained an additional point as well. ***** Alex Stratos Age: 17 Mana: (N/A) Job Class: (N/A) Strength - 5 Intelligence - 1 Dexterity - 1 Agility - 14 Constitution - 8 Stamina - 8 Magic - (N/A) Luck - 3 Available Stat Points: 0 AP - 0 Active Skills: (N/A) Passive Skills: Improved Stone Throw, Head Shot [Difficulty Level: Hell Mode] ***** ’Too bad, I don’t have any Magic Affinity,’ Alex mused. ’But I can unlock it once I get into Frieden Academy.’ Those who were born with Magic Affinity could use Magic. However, since Alex’s Mana Parameter had (N/A) written in it, this meant that he couldn’t use Magic. For now, at least. "Dim Dim!" Dim Dim congratulated Alex, which broke the young man out of his thoughts. "Thank you, Dim Dim," Alex said as he picked up the Dim Sum God from the ground. "You helped me a lot." "Ahem~" Dim Dim raised its head cutely, which made the young man chuckle. Seeing how proud the little guy was, Alex placed Dim Dim on top of his head before looking at the bodies of the goblins on the ground. ’I need to cut off their right ears and loot their camp,’ Alex decided. ’I don’t have money right now. Selling them to the Adventurer’s Guild should give me enough funds.’ The young man then glanced at the sun, which was about to set in the west. He wanted to finish everything before night fell, so he could book an inn in the Town of Thaloria. Half an hour later, he arrived at the Goblin Camp and noticed a small chest in front of the Teleportation Gate. Alex couldn’t remember if Hell Mode gave this kind of freebie. Only hardcore players dared to choose Hell Mode, and he wasn’t one of them. He never got curious enough to create a character at this level of difficulty either because it was simply too cruel. When a character died in Hell Mode, it was permanent. That meant total reset—no respawns and all items gone. The only option was to start the game from scratch again, which was a pain in the *ss. Fortunately, Hell Mode was only available in Story Mode. Story Mode was the part of ELO that focused on the lore of the game. It heavily focused on the Story Quests of various characters that played important roles in the game as a whole. This was different from the MMORPG Mode, where millions of players played in a vast open world alongside others. Story Mode in ELO focused on the game’s lore, centering around the Story Quests of key characters. Players could choose from nearly 400 Heroes, Heroines, and Unique NPCs, many of whom also appeared in the MMORPG Mode as interactive characters. This added flavor to their characters enriched the overall game experience. ’I wonder what’s inside this chest,’ Alex mused as he opened it to check its contents. What he found inside made his eyes widen in shock. A purple skill book with the insignia [EX] lay inside the chest, making Alex wonder if he was just seeing things. Only when he grasped the Skill Book in his hand and pulled it from the chest did he realize his eyes hadn’t deceived him.