Chapter 55: Respect and Hate
The moment the Moon Wolf collapsed and the adrenaline coursing through his body finally began to fade, Vlad felt it, a creeping pressure along the back of his skull.
It was a cold ache that started behind his eyes and spread like frostbite through the folds of his mind—the aftershock of pushing himself too far.
His body was fine, battered but mostly fine, but his mind had been forced to operate in a state that was previously unknown to it. The results had been spectacular in combat, but the price came now, exacted with quiet violence.
His vision blurred slightly, his focus wavering. It took all his strength just to walk, and with the dungeon reset countdown having only a few minutes left, Vlad kept silent and made his way out.
He didn’t speak to anyone as he passed the edge of the barrier and didn’t glance at the other players watching from afar. But just before logging out, he sent a quiet message to Elisha through party chat.
’Tell the stream that one only needs the cores of the two unique bosses to summon it. Nothing else.’ Elisha did as she was told and relayed the message live.
By the time the battle ended, the stream had crossed over one hundred thousand live viewers, and after she revealed the truth about summoning the hidden boss, tens of thousands rushed to follow her profile, thinking she had some connection with V.
Vlad earned recognition because, until now, his name, while famous, had existed in a strange space. He was the player who stopped a world event, but no one knew the whole truth.
They knew the event was linked to a forced beginner village quest that required killing a monster an entire Rank higher, an impossible feat for anyone except someone with a very high-ranking trait, which Vlad did not possess.
Some praised him, while many dismissed it, calling it a lucky instance. But now the world saw that Vlad not only had great skills for his Rank, but he even had a king, if not a higher-ranked spirit companion.
He had not used any flashy ultimate skills, no high-grade items, no tricks, just control, precision, and a dominating execution of skills.