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"You know what free stat points are?" An 8-foot-tall blurry guy asked the person in front of him.
The guy clad in light armor with a sword at his waist looked toward the bulky guy.
"Uh... no, I didn't know anything like that. I only know about level-up stats points that we get with each level up. So, what are they?!"
"Well, Mr. Sword King, or should I say Arya, do you know why I am so strong? Why is there a difference between the top 5 Ranker and those who are below them?"
Saying this, the Martial God, the second strongest person in the world, looked at the seventh rank, the Sword King, and released a deep sigh.
"Again with your bragging about strength. Tsk, tsk, tsk...!!"
Though Arya said this, he did want to know.
"There are a few things, and one of them is these free stats points."
Not offended by any of this, the Martial God continued.
"Have you heard the quote, 'The wider the foundation, the taller the building'? It's the same with power too."
"What do you mean? Talk in a language that can be understood by normal people," Arya said to the Martial God.
"Well, buddy, let me tell you. Though it doesn't make any difference now, as they can only be earned in the tutorial trial. But let me still tell you about them.
So, you remember the tutorial trial where we had to pass those five trials, right?
During those trials, if you level up, you get the leveling up stat points as usual.
But there's one extra thing: when we kill a significant number of monsters or achieve a special accomplishment, we start getting these free stat points.
These points can be allocated to any of the stats, allowing us to increase any of them.
For example, I increased my strength and constitution, and by the end of the trial, my level was between 30-40, but these two stats were in the range of 50-60.
And you know what happens after the first class advancement.
So, understand why I am Rank 2 in the world and stronger than you, even though we both are at the same level.
This is one of the reasons, as my foundation is stronger than yours."
Arya was astonished. He couldn't believe it. If he had known such a thing was possible in the tutorial, he could have been the Sword God today, not the Sword King.
Because at their current stage, even one single stat point can create a difference like that between heaven and earth.
Other than leveling up, only a few things can increase a person's stat points, like treasures, which are very difficult to find and even more difficult to acquire.
"This is one of the main reasons for my strength. As for the other four members of the top 5, though I am not sure, they must have received these free stat points too."
...
"Status." Arya said this in his mind, and as the announcement told a blue coloured box shape screen appeared infront of Arya.
****
Name - Arya Dev
Level - 0
Title - None
Class - None
HP - 100
Mana - 50
Strength - 10
Dexterity - 10
Constitution - 10
Perception - 10
Intelligence - 10
[Skills] [Shop] [Inventory]
***
Arya saw his status window, which was the basic window that everyone has. However, the last three options—the shop, the skills, and the inventory—were grayed out.
He ignored this, knowing when they would be unlocked.
After looking at his status window, Arya tightened his grip on the basic sword he received.
He then started sprinting towards the zombies.
Arya soon reached the first zombie and executed a quick horizontal slash.
*Thud*
[You've leveled up.]
He killed the zombie. Without waiting, he started running towards the rest of the zombies.
When the other people saw how easily Arya killed the zombie, they thought it was easy to kill them.
"L-look at him... are these zombies really that weak?"
"I think it might be possible for us to do it too."
"Yeah... I'll kill them all."
"Yeah...!!!"
One person tried to kill the zombie near him with a one-handed axe he had, but...
"Uhh...? W-why is this...?" He couldn't understand as his weapon got stuck in the zombie's torso.
"Ahhh-h!" he screamed as the zombies bit him.
'You can't do anything with just normal strength.'
Arya thought to himself, seeing the man dying.
'Although these zombies are weak and slow, they can't feel pain and are difficult to kill.'
'On top of that, the poison they eject with their bites is fatal.'
Arya was only able to kill them because of his past life memories. Though he was not on the same level as his past life, he still had very good mastery of the sword.
As that was in his muscle memory, and though his body was weak, the output he could get from it was still more than enough to kill these zombies.
"Ahhh-h... he died, let's run away."
Seeing the person who tried to do what Arya did die, the rest of the people were scared and started running away.
Arya, who was fighting, didn't stop and just kept killing the zombies.
[You've leveled up.]
[You've leveled up.]
[You've leveled up.]
....
....
....
[Unbelievable Achievement Obtained. You have killed 20 zombies in the first 10-minute span of the tutorial.]
[You have obtained 1 free stat point.]
[Free stat points: Like normal leveling-up points, these can increase your stats. You can allocate them to any of the stats.]
'Yes...! I really got them, but it's still not enough. I want more.'
'Should I use them?... No, I'll do it later.'
Thinking this, Arya continued killing more zombies and continued killing all the zombies that came his way.
[Last ten minutes remaining. The zombies will be annihilated automatically after the time is over.]
Hearing that only ten minutes remained, Arya, who had already killed all the zombies in the street, started walking towards the city center, knowing he would find many zombies on the way.
Just as he expected, he found many zombies on the way and killed them all.
As soon as he was about to reach the city center, the tutorial ended.
[The first tutorial has concluded.]
[Participants remaining: 4077.]
'So many died.'
[Everyone will receive points according to their accomplishments.]
Arya received his rewards:
[You cleared the first tutorial.]
[You will receive 100 points.]
[You killed 300 zombies.]
[You will receive 3000 points.]
[Unbelievable Achievement.]
[You will receive an additional 1000 points.]
[You killed the most enemies.]
[You will receive an additional 500 points.]
[You earned 30 free stat points.]
[The second tutorial will start shortly.]
Arya soon received many window pop-ups, which he read one by one.
'I earned 4,600 points plus the free stats. Whereas in my last life, I earned only 150.'
Arya couldn't help but giggle a little at the situation, as the difference between his past life and current life was so big.
'Well, let's distribute these free stats before the second trial starts.'
"Status."
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