CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34: REACHING LEVEL 15, AWAKENING THE MAN OF STEEL

The weapon floated in front of Stark’s eyes, glowing faintly with a crimson outline.

[Alley Reaper Scythe (Elite): Assassin-type weapon. +73 Strength, +35 Agility, +10% movement speed while equipped. Requirement: Level 15.]

It looked sharp enough to cut through steel.

Stark didn’t plan to use it, but a weapon of this caliber was worth keeping.

He stored it in his inventory with a flick of his hand, then turned to the real prize.

At the end of the narrow alley, a chest shimmered into existence.

Brown light radiated off it, marking it as [Elite]-rank.

Stark moved closer and poured his aura over the lock.

Click—

The chest creaked open.

Ding!

[You have opened the "Elite Chest" and obtained the "Alley Reaper Cloak."]

"Hm?" Stark raised his eyebrows.

---

[Alley Reaper Cloak (Elite): Assassin-type equipment. +28 Strength, +50 Agility, +83 Physical Resistance, +68 Magical Resistance. Requirement: Level 15]

[Short Invisibility (Active Skill): Use the power of your cloak to make yourself invisible for 10 seconds. 5-minutes cooldown.]

---

"An active skill..." Stark muttered.

That alone made this cloak special.

Gear with their own skills was extremely rare.

Even if he couldn’t use it himself, the value was high.

He could sell it later, trade it, or even maybe for other stuff.

For now, he stored it away.

Once that was done, a familiar sound greeted him.

Ding!

[You have reached level 15.]

[Head back to the square to activate "Ruined City Travel."]

The system prompt was clear.

In his first life, Stark hadn’t been the one to trigger it.

He only heard about the chaos that unfolded.

This time, though, he was ahead of the curve.

He would activate it himself, and then decide how to deal with the boss that came after.

Still... it was no joke. An epic-rank level 17 boss.

Stark wasn’t sure he could beat it alone. But that didn’t mean he would back down.

[Free Points to Allocate: 25.]

[Current Evolution Points: 16.]

He quickly opened his stat panel and began distributing points.

Twenty into Spirit. Five into Agility.

Then came the real move.

[Do you wish to consume 10 Evolution Points to evolve "Annihilating Fireball"?]

"Yes," Stark said firmly.

Ding!

[You have evolved "Annihilating Fireball" (Epic) to "Cataclysmic Fireball" (Legendary).]

[Current Evolution Points: 6.]

---

[Cataclysmic Fireball (Legendary): Conjure an annihilating fireball that deals 700% → 1000% of Spirit. 14 → 12 (6)-seconds cooldown.]

---

"Perfect."

His strongest spell had now reached legendary rank.

The power gap was enormous. But there was more.

Because he was now level 15, Stark could finally equip the higher-level gear he’d been carrying.

---

[Undead Soul Mage Robe (Epic): Mage-type equipment. +43 Spirit, +25 Constitution, +78 Physical Resistance, +102 Magical Resistance. Requirement: Level 15.]

---

[Soul Staff (Epic): Mage-type weapon. +100 Spirit, +43 Agility, Cooldowns reduced by 5%. Requirement: Level 15.]

---

The moment he put them on, a surge of energy coursed through him.

His body felt lighter, sharper, stronger.

He opened his status window to see the difference.

---

[Constitution: 80 (+25)]

[Strength: 80]

[Agility: 107 (+43)]

[Spirit: 123 (+149)]

---

"Good enough," Stark muttered.

The old [Bear Mage Robe] was useless now, so he discarded it without hesitation.

No other player would actually want this piece of equipment as they all had better.

The [Revenant Staff] on the other hand still had value, so he kept it in reserve.

With everything settled, Stark stepped through the nearby portal.

Blue light wrapped around him, and he emerged back outside of the [Alley of Shadows].

’Time to head back.’

He could grind a few more levels, sure.

But time was limited.

It would take hours to get to level 16.

Or worse, other players would eventually hit level 15, and when they did, they wouldn’t hesitate to trigger the event themselves.

If that happened, Stark would lose his chance to control the battlefield and also on the [Prestige Points] from that.

So he ran.

His upgraded agility let him glide through the ruined streets faster than ever.

After about twenty minutes, the familiar sight of the spawn square came into view.

This time, however, it was far more crowded than before.

’Not optimal,’ Stark thought, ’But it can’t be helped.’

He wasn’t about to slow down his progress for no reason.

He really wanted to defeat this boss for the experience, but also for the possible loot and EP gains.

The square was buzzing with activity.

Players rested in groups, bartered for items, or simply waited.

As he looked around though, he noticed that several of the top tier players were here.

"Hm."

None had reached level 15 yet, they were still here taking a break for some reason.

And as he turned his gaze...

"Oh." Stark narrowed his eyes.

Stark noticed Grace talk to someone, and that person was none other than... Ghost.

She wore assassin gear, white hair flowing down her back.

Her face was hidden under the [Hide Face] feature, but her presence alone was enough to stir whispers in the crowd.

PrinceLucas barked orders to his party, preparing them for a run.

EvilDemon sat in silence, meditating.

This was a collection of some of the most dangerous players in this ruined city.

’I wonder how they’ll react,’ Stark thought.

He turned toward the edge of the square.

Just like the first time he saw it, there stood the statue of a tall, eyeless figure cloaked in stone, hands folded as if in silent prayer.

It was ominous, but Stark knew what lay beneath.

This was only its "dormant" form, the moment it activated, it would become a terrifying monster.

As he approached, a system prompt appeared.

[To activate "Ruined City Travel", you will have to defeat a unique boss.]

Unique bosses were another type of monsters you could encounter.

They didn’t respawn. Once killed, they were gone forever.

Every [Ruined City] only had one of those statues, and the moment they were gone, they wouldn’t come back.

The [Unique Boss] title was reserved to extremely powerful bosses though.

Zones could regenerate. Bosses inside them could respawn.

Even special bosses sometimes reappeared in variations.

But not unique bosses. These were once-in-a-lifetime fights.

Stark placed his hand on the pedestal at the statue’s base.

Mana surged into it, and the stone began to hum.

Ding!

---

[You have met the conditions to activate the unique epic-rank boss: "Man of Steel (Level 17)."]

[Are you sure you want to activate it? This cannot be undone.]

[Yes] [No]

---

Stark stared at the prompt.

His eyes flicked across the square.

Starfall, Ghost, PrinceLucas, EvilDemon, all of them were there, though they didn’t yet know what he was about to do.

’If I kill it fast enough... it won’t matter,’ he thought.

And with no hesitation, he selected [Yes].

It had happened in his past life anyway, and every ruined city would have to go through it.

Might as well be now.

Fwish! Boom!

The statue exploded with force, sending dust and shards across the square.

The ground shook, and gasps filled the crowd.

The stone figure trembled... then moved. Its hands unfolded.

The hood cracked apart, revealing the steel-like surface of its body beneath.

Ding!

[The "Man of Steel" has awakened.]