Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

As he walked into the antique shop, the same clerk was at the entrance, seemingly in a perpetual doze. He didn’t even lift his head.

Lloyd tried to [Inspect] him again, but the result was the same as before. Even his mental state was "??".

’This guy’s Attributes are very high, all exceeding 80 points. If I have to fight him... can I win?’

Since the Dream Theater might be related to the theft, Lloyd couldn’t help but consider the possibility of a PvP encounter.

According to the experience the butler shared in his notes, nothing could completely determine the outcome of PvP, not even the most important factor: ’Tier’.

He had even imagined an idealized scenario of ’the weak defeating the strong’—

A mentally handicapped person with 0 Inspiration and 0 Cognition happens upon an extremely dangerous forbidden book containing poisonous Forbidden Knowledge. He then hands this book to a High-ranking Powerhouse...

The powerhouse, who happens to be in a terrible mental state, carelessly opens the book, instantly falls into madness, and just as he’s transforming into a Demon at his most vulnerable stage, the handicapped person chops off his head. This would complete a seemingly impossible victory of the weak over the strong.

Of course, this was all just something the butler had imagined in his youth. He knew it was impossible in practice, but he used this incredibly extreme hypothetical to illustrate that no enemy is truly unbeatable.

Therefore, when you encounter a powerful enemy, don’t think about running. That will only lead to a faster, more miserable death. Instead, you must not give up. Resist tenaciously and look for a chance to turn the tables.

This just went to show how high-spirited and recklessly confident he had been in his youth...

From a practical standpoint, however, the most important and core ’stat’ in PvP was still ’Tier’.

A one-tier difference might still be winnable. A two-tier difference might still be escapable. But a three-tier difference... you could only pray for a Miracle.

Besides Tier, the second most important factor was ’numbers’.

The saying "two fists are no match for four hands" is a hard truth everywhere. Even someone as strong as the Advisor, the ’Strongest Tier Eight Below Saint’, couldn’t hold out against superior numbers.

Third was ’equipment’.

The existence of Holy Artifacts could indeed make up for a significant power gap and had a major impact on the outcome of PvP.

After that came factors like ’build’, ’experience’, ’luck’, and ’life form’.

Of course, all these factors applied to combat below the level of a Saint.

As for Ninth-Tier Saints, he summarized them in a single sentence:

"They are completely different beings from us, standing at a height unattainable by mortals. I cannot even imagine... no, I dare not imagine a scene where one is an enemy of a Saint."

However, these conclusions were merely the butler’s personal opinions from his youth.

The Chief Judge’s notes, in contrast, placed more emphasis on ’saving money’, ’mentality’, ’focus’, and ’Rationality’, believing these were what made an Extraordinary Being truly powerful.

In any case, the lazy clerk’s "???" stats weren’t enough to intimidate Lloyd, who began to ponder in his mind how to defeat the guy.

’The Twisted Realm might affect him, but his Attributes are likely higher than mine, so the effects of various Twists would probably be greatly diminished.’

’Using the Seed of Distortion for a sneak attack might work, and the newly mastered ’Pause’ function could have a miraculous effect. But I’m afraid he’d discover it the moment I made a move. I probably wouldn’t even have time for it to take effect, would I?’

’As for Extraordinary Swordsmanship... I wonder if he could withstand it? But my Inspiration is lower than his, so locking on and guiding it might be troublesome.’

Just as Lloyd was secretly pondering these things, the clerk, who hadn’t even lifted his head, suddenly sat up. He opened his hazy, sleepy eyes and said, completely out of the blue:

"Stop wasting your effort. Can you even be sure that I am me?"

Lloyd’s expression immediately hardened. He quickly took two steps back and subconsciously reached for the Short Sword at his waist.

But the clerk opposite him seemed completely unbothered by the hostility Lloyd was showing. He maintained his lazy demeanor, even smiling as he continued:

"Never fought a human before, have you?"

The question immediately stumped Lloyd...

’Come to think of it, I really haven’t had a proper face-to-face fight with a human...’

"Try not to be so obvious with your hostility in the future. It’s quite rude."

The clerk muttered, looking listless, then lay his head back down and went back to sleep.

At that, Lloyd completely gave up any thought of fighting the guy.

’This guy’s strength is probably far more than a few "???"s would suggest...’

At the same time, he realized his own weakness in PvP. He was truly inexperienced, unable to even conceal his own hostility.

’Although ’hostility’ is invisible to the naked eye, that doesn’t mean it can’t be detected. There are probably many ways to perceive it, like my Square Ring.’

’Looks like I’ll have to be careful about these details if I plan to make a move on someone in the future.’

Lloyd didn’t become angry or frustrated by this minor setback. Instead, he quickly calmed his mind, humbly accepted the advice he was given, and began to internalize these detailed lessons.

’Truly, one should never underestimate the powerful people of the world...’

As he reflected on this with a sigh, he arrived on the second floor, took the little kitten out of his pocket, and let it play nearby while he walked into the first room.

As his vision blurred, he found himself in the exquisite garden. His mind suddenly felt an itch, as if a book were flipping its pages inside his head.

[Codename: ?-????, Its Name: A Secluded Land Where Wealth and Dreams Converge]

[Description: ■■■■■■■■]

Lloyd looked at the new content in the *Book of Truth* and scratched his head.

’A new page has been turned, but aside from a name, there’s no other information?’

’Even the accompanying illustration is just a jumble of chaotic lines...’

’This place is truly mysterious. And this ’A Secluded Land Where Wealth and Dreams Converge’ must be its true name, right?’

But Lloyd remembered that he already possessed the *Book of Truth* when he came here before, and this hadn’t happened.

’Is it because of a change in the interpretation progress?’

As he was pondering this, he saw the familiar Attendant walking toward him, his face wreathed in smiles, and began to speak:

"Oh~ welcome, esteemed ’Newbie’. Although a very, very long time has passed since our last meeting, I remain ever-ready to serve a being such as yourself, who can touch upon ’greatness’."

’Er... what’s with this guy now?’

’His attitude was enthusiastic before, but only moderately so. Why is he so sickeningly enthusiastic today?’

’Also, can someone please translate for me, what does ’a being who can touch upon greatness’ even mean?’

A flood of questions surged in Lloyd’s mind as he heard the Attendant continue to ask:

"May I ask what sort of content you would like to experience today? How about trying our latest new feature? It’s the current craze taking the second floor by storm."

"Let’s not rush. I’d like to ask about something first."

"Oh~ then please, allow me to listen to your voice."

Lloyd then chose his words carefully, briefly describing the case of the stolen cargo. His phrasing was as friendly as possible, subtly hinting that the ’Dream Theater’ might be a suspect.

The Attendant seemed to understand the meaning behind his words. He smiled again and replied:

"The case you describe may indeed be related to us."

’He actually admitted it so frankly?’

But then, he offered a defense:

"But we were absolutely not the ones behind it. I believe that with your wisdom and understanding of us, you can comprehend that this kind of unprocessed, raw material holds little value for us."

He was telling the truth. At least, judging from the exchange list he had shown, almost everything on it was processed material ready for direct use.

Lloyd also understood that the true value of a material lay not in its raw form, but in the subsequent complex and tedious processing steps. That was the key to making it valuable.

"Then why did you say it might be related to you?"

Lloyd pressed.

"Because we often encounter some strange guests here. They tend to do things that are unusual, but not against the rules, which causes the outside world to have some minor misunderstandings about us..."

As the Attendant spoke, he produced a mirror from his hand as if by Magic and held it out to Lloyd.

The mirror did not reflect Lloyd’s face. Instead, it showed a heavy-duty truck floating in a dark void...

Around the truck, more than ten blurry figures could be seen. Their specific features were unknown, but he could recognize the Holy Judgment Court uniforms they wore, the exact same style as the escort team’s.

Lloyd quickly counted them. From his perspective, he could see a total of fourteen people, all motionless, their fates unknown.

He remembered that the escort team had fifteen members. It seemed only one was missing...

But he couldn’t be sure about the two figures in the driver’s cab; they could have been the drivers.

And the Space they were in was somewhat like the spatial rift that had opened when the butler wrote him a letter, but this one was deeper, more vast, and much darker.

"What is this place? Are they still alive?"

Lloyd asked hurriedly.

The Attendant explained patiently:

"This is a spatial rift that leads here. It is a dead place with no air, light, or temperature. You can consider it the ’edge of the world’. It is extremely dangerous. You must be very careful not to fall into such a place."

’Hearing that, the people inside are probably as good as dead...’

Lloyd mourned the sacrifice of his colleagues for a dozen seconds before asking the most crucial question:

"Can you get the truck, and their bod... no, can you get *them* out?"

He planned to get the cargo and the people out first, then investigate everything else.

"We can."

The Attendant first gave an exciting answer.

But his tone immediately shifted as he added:

"But it is very troublesome. Even for us, it is very troublesome."