[Beep, would you like to spend 20,000 Gold Coins to purchase a special injury recovery potion?]
The prompt box appeared once again.
Johnnie didn't hesitate and clicked to purchase.
A special potion appeared before the girl. She swallowed nervously and drank it.
In an instant, the wounds on her body healed, her torn clothes now revealing her snow-white skin, and the wings on her back were fully restored, though they still lacked any radiance.
"Human, my injuries have healed, but my strength is completely gone. Can you help me again?" She looked at Johnnie with a pitiful expression, her voice filled with pleading.
[Beep, would you like to spend 30,000 Gold Coins to purchase a Nine-Turn Golden Elixir?]
The prompt box appeared once more.
Many players had noticed this task, but after spending tens of millions of Gold Coins, they had gained no benefits and eventually gave up, cutting their losses.
If Johnnie didn't know about the hidden quest, he wouldn't dare to spend such a fortune.
This was nearly all of his wealth.
"Purchase." He selected the purchase option again, feeling a pang in his heart as 30,000 Gold Coins were deducted.
A pill appeared before the girl: the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. Consuming it would restore her strength.
"Thank you," she said gratefully, quickly swallowing the elixir.
Boom!
A loud explosion rang out as a powerful aura erupted from her body. Her tattered dress was instantly restored, and her wings began to glow with a rainbow-like brilliance. She lightly flapped them, her agile form floating effortlessly in the small dungeon.
Clink! Her delicate feet tugged at the chains, her face contorted in pain as she fell to the ground.
She angrily tugged at the chains several times. Even though her strength had returned, she was still unable to break free. These were shackles set by a god.
[Beep, would you like to spend 40,000 Gold Coins to break the Goddess of Life's shackles and restore her freedom?]
The prompt appeared again.
Johnnie had anticipated this. He remembered that the wealthy player in his previous life had spent 100,000 Gold Coins, which, at that time, had been equivalent to a billion in real-world currency. Now, however, it was only worth 100 million.
He could afford it.
"Yes." He gritted his teeth and confirmed the payment.
Clang…
Two sharp flashes of light cut through the air as the chains were severed. The girl was completely freed from her shackles, and she broke down the dungeon door, rushing out.
She floated in the air, her body radiating a pure, holy light. Her grace and nobility made others want to kneel in worship.
This was the aura of a true goddess.
But Johnnie remained unmoved. He had seen real gods before, and he had even fought against them. This faint pressure from the goddess no longer had any effect on him.
"Human, you have saved me. You are my benefactor." The girl landed gracefully, folding her delicate wings. She looked at him with curiosity.
Johnnie's heart raced with excitement. Was the reward he had been waiting for finally coming?
The girl hesitated for a moment, then parted her lips slightly, her voice soft and melodious, "Benefactor, I have one more request. Could you perhaps give me a Divine Essence? Of course, even if you don't, I will still repay you."
Her divine essence had been shattered. Now, although she was free from her restraints and her strength had been restored, without her divine essence, she was still no match for a true god and could not exact her revenge.
[Beep, the Goddess of Life requests divine essence from you. The price is 100,000 Gold Coins. Do you agree?]
The prompt appeared once again.
How is there still more?
Johnnie furrowed his brow. He remembered that in his past life, the player had only spent 100,000 Gold Coins for this.
Now, they were asking for the same amount again.
He hesitated.
From the girl's earlier words, it seemed that not agreeing with her request would still result in some kind of reward.
But what if he agreed? Would the reward be even greater?
He decided to take a gamble.
He had 100,000 Gold Coins left. Gritting his teeth, he spent all of it to purchase a divine essence.
[Beep, you have obtained divine essence.]
The prompt flashed, and a small, diamond-shaped black gemstone appeared in his palm. This time, it didn't immediately appear in front of the girl.
Curious, he examined it.
[divine essence: The symbol of a god. A 9th-tier peak power user can directly refine it without going through the heavenly tribulation to ascend to the status of a demigod. Cannot be used currently.]
It bypasses the heavenly tribulation!
This was a rare item indeed.
Johnnie was surprised. In his previous life, many players had reached the 9th-tier peak, but they couldn't bring themselves to face the heavenly tribulation. They were too afraid to break through.
At that time, he had taken the risk of facing the heavenly tribulation himself. Although he had successfully passed, he had been severely wounded. He was then betrayed by Tyrande, who stole his divine essence, leaving him severely weakened and almost crippled…
This divine essence seemed to be available only when encountering this girl. To obtain more in the future, one would have to slay a god.
He stared at the divine essence in his hand, torn.
Even though he had been reborn, the terror of the heavenly tribulation still lingered in his heart.
With the divine essence, he could easily become a god-level powerhouse.
"Hmph. When did I become so fearful? In my past life, I passed the heavenly tribulation. Now that I've been reborn, why should I be afraid?" He muttered to himself, his expression defiant, his mindset returning to the fearless one he had once been.
It was just a divine essence.
"I'll give it to you." He casually tossed the divine essence to the girl.
"Thank you!" The girl exclaimed, her excitement palpable. She caught the gemstone with both hands, carefully stowing it away. Her eyes burned with intensity as she hesitated for a moment. Then, dropping to one knee, she spoke: "Benefactor, there is no way to repay the life-saving grace you have shown me. Maiev is willing to follow you for all eternity and will never betray you."
[Beep, the Goddess of Life, Maiev, has voluntarily signed a soul contract with you, pledging to serve you as her master. Do you accept?]
A prompt appeared, and Johnnie was astonished.
In his past life, he had never heard of that wealthy player subduing the girl. He had only received her blessings.
And yet, here she was— a goddess. Even as a demigod, she would be powerful enough to crush all other players.
It must be related to his gift of the divine essence.
"Agree." He clicked "agree" without hesitation.
[Beep, the Goddess of Life, Maiev, has pledged to serve you as her master, never to betray you for all eternity.]
[Beep, you have obtained a special ability from the Goddess of Life: 100x life regeneration, unaffected by combat status.]
100times life regeneration!
Johnnie was stunned. This meant that his health regeneration had increased from 0.1% per second to 10% per second.
The most terrifying part was that it was unaffected by combat status.
In combat, no player, regardless of their class, could regenerate health naturally. They could only restore health through potions.
Such a terrifying ability made Johnnie want to switch to a knight class, one with high health and defense.
"Master, after I get my revenge, I will come find you," Maiev said as she rose. She flapped her delicate wings and floated in front of him.
Before Johnnie could react, a pair of soft, cool lips pressed against his. The air around him was filled with a delicate floral scent.
Huh?
He widened his eyes, staring at the exquisite, stunning face so close to him. He didn't snap out of it for quite some time.
[Beep, you have received the Goddess of Life's blessing. Your base attributes and hidden attributes each increase by 10 points.]
[Beep, your luck stat is now maxed out. You have unlocked the unique hidden special class: Lucky Master.]
[Lucky Master: Unique, cannot be leveled up; all probability-based events in the game are 100% triggered. Killing a regular monster will always drop a gray item, killing ten monsters will always drop a white item, killing a hundred monsters will always drop a green item...]
The prompt flashed.
His base attributes and hidden attributes each increased by 10 points.
Especially the hidden attributes—critical hit, attack speed, cooldown reduction, etc.—which could usually only be boosted by certain high-quality equipment. They were difficult to enhance otherwise.
And with his luck stat maxed out, he had unlocked a hidden class.
Lucky Master!
He looked at the class description. All probability-based events would now trigger 100% of the time, and the most powerful aspect was that killing monsters would always result in item drops.
And the more monsters he killed, the higher the quality of the items dropped.
In the game Horizon, the two hardest things to increase were a player's level and the acquisition of equipment and items.
Players had tested it before; it took at least 10,000 monster kills to drop a single gray item.
The drop rate of one in 10,000 was ridiculously low.
And white, green, and higher-quality items were never dropped by normal monsters. Only by killing boss-level monsters was there a one in 10,000 chance.
"This is it, I'm set." He muttered to himself, thinking he had become a pauper after spending 200,000 Gold Coins.
But now, with his newly unlocked Lucky Master class, killing monsters would guarantee item drops.
Even if he sold the equipment, he could easily earn tens of millions of Gold Coins.
In his past life, he had never heard of that hidden wealthy player obtaining this ability.
It must be because he gave Maiev the divine essence that he received such a special reward.
"Hmm, she's gone?" He looked around the empty lobby, only then noticing that Maiev had already left.
She must have gone to get her revenge.
He had originally thought that after capturing a god-like powerhouse, he could simply rest and dominate the entire game world.
But now, it seemed he would still have to put in some effort.
"Enter the game." He no longer wasted any time, and with a thought, he chose to enter the game.