Chapter 900
Chapter 900
Anton had already informed his father and sister of the exact time the Diablo II ladder season would begin. Anna told him that she would enter the game the moment the season started.
What surprised Anton was that Anna had requested a one-month sabbatical from the Magic Academy for the sole purpose of leveling as many characters as possible during the ladder season. The academy approved her request only after she promised the principal that she would reach the Archmage Rank within three months. If she succeeded, she would become one of the youngest archmages in history at just fourteen years old.
She explained that, without classes or academic responsibilities during her sabbatical, she would have plenty of time to focus on the game. Her goal was to level at least four characters.
When Anton asked Anders and Anna which classes they planned to level first, both admitted that the Sorceress was the fastest-leveling class, so they would begin with that.
Afterward, they both intended to level a Paladin. Since they possessed the powers of both the Sorceress and the Paladin in the real world, they wanted to become equally proficient with the Paladin's skills.
The Diablo II class Anton had bestowed upon Anders in the real world was the Paladin, while Anna's was the Sorceress. However, Anders's non-ladder multiplayer character was a Sorceress, allowing the power of her spells and equipment to be reflected in his real body. Likewise, Anna's non-ladder character was a Paladin.
Just like Anton, the power and equipment of their ladder characters would not carry over to their real bodies. Instead, once a ladder character reached level ninety-nine, they would receive a reward: twenty percent of that character's primary attribute would transfer to their real body, and they would also be allowed to transfer one item from the game into the real world.
Because of this reward, Anders told Anton and Anna that he intended to level Paladins repeatedly, as he still wanted to remain a frontline warrior. He also planned to level Druids since, although the Diablo II community generally agreed that Vitality was not the Druid's primary attribute, Anton's Diablo System recognized it as such.
Anna's plans were different. She intended to focus primarily on the Sorceress because, unlike in the original game, the Energy attribute functioned as Intelligence, greatly increasing both spell damage and mana capacity.
Anton was different from both his father and sister because he could create all eight Diablo II character classes. If he managed to bring all eight to the maximum level, he would receive twenty percent of every primary attribute, making him exceptionally well-rounded.
Thanks to the loophole Anna had discovered—a loophole that Anton's Diablo System seemingly approved by making no attempt to fix it—the three of them could create as many ladder characters as they wanted. Their only limitation was the duration of the ladder season itself.
Finally, the Diablo II ladder season began.
Anton immediately created a Sorceress and started leveling her as quickly as possible. From experience, he knew that joining eight-player parties remained the fastest way to reach the maximum level, so he joined every full party he could find.
On average, it took Anton around two hundred hours to level a character from start to level ninety-nine. Under normal circumstances, that meant more than a week of playtime. However, if he pushed himself by playing almost nonstop, sleeping only a few hours a day, and taking only brief breaks for meals and the bathroom, he could reach level ninety-nine in roughly a week.
Since each ladder season lasted four months, he could comfortably finish eight characters. His personal record was eleven, achieved while traveling aboard a ship in the middle of the ocean with virtually nothing else demanding his attention.
Neither his father nor his sister could match his dedication, although Anna claimed she would try during this ladder season. Anton doubted it. Her sabbatical lasted only one month, and she had already mentioned wanting to catch up on the fashion television shows he had given her. Furthermore, her three roommates had taken a one-week leave from school to spend time with her, meaning she would likely have only a few hours each day to devote to the game during that week.
His father faced a similar problem. Anders had far too many responsibilities to neglect simply for the sake of gaming. Even so, he still intended to play whenever he could because the Diablo System offered a genuine path to increasing their real-world strength.
Even so, Anton was already impressed that both Anders and Anna had managed to max out three characters during the previous ladder season.
Over the next eleven days, Anton maintained an intense schedule. He slept for only three hours each day, spent two hours socializing with his friends, took roughly an hour for meals and bathroom breaks, and devoted the rest of his time to Diablo II. Thanks to that relentless routine, he successfully raised his Sorceress to level ninety-nine in just eleven days.
Since he had already begun collecting the Barbarian's Immortal King set and had transferred the Immortal King's Stone Crusher and Immortal King's Soul Cage during the previous ladder season, he decided to continue completing the set. This time, he transferred Immortal King's Will, the set's helm, from the game into the real world.
Without taking a break, Anton immediately created a Warlock as his next ladder character.
He felt comfortable maintaining such an extreme gaming schedule because his daily routine remained balanced in his eyes. Thanks to the Pearl of the Ocean, three hours of sleep provided the equivalent of a full night's rest. He also continued meeting Paul, Eric, and the rest of the group for two hours every day.
They spent those gatherings eating at restaurants—usually with Anton paying the bill—playing music on the ship's deck, or relaxing in various areas aboard the ship, including the theater, cafés, swimming pool, and countless other places they could think of.
Anton was strict with his time management. Exactly two hours after meeting his friends, he would excuse himself and return to his room to continue playing, no matter how much they complained.
Because of the way he played, Anton rarely had the opportunity to adventure alongside his father and sister. It hardly mattered, however, because they still occasionally played their non-ladder multiplayer characters together. They had reached level ninety-nine several weeks earlier and were now focused on collecting powerful equipment, as the abilities and items of their non-ladder characters continued to strengthen their real bodies.
In fact, Anders and Anna had become powerful enough to explore the deeper floors of the dungeon alone. Anton had been told that Anders ventured into the dungeon two or three times each month, while Anna did the same. As a result, the two of them had accumulated an unimaginable number of mana stones.
Eleven days later, Anton raised his Warlock to level ninety-nine as well. This time, he transferred Immortal King's Pillar, the boots of the Immortal King set, into the real world.
Anton was satisfied with his leveling speed. He hoped it would allow him to match his previous season's record of eleven max-level characters. With the enormous amount of attributes his Diablo System granted after each completed ladder character, he believed that after only a few more ladder seasons, he would finally reach the Invincible Rank.