ONLINE GAME: I STARTED WITH MAX CHARISMA AND CAUGHT THE GODDESS'S EYE

“What is this thing?” Donlow finally realized what was happening, quickly retreating with a look of lingering fear on her face.

If Luca hadn’t intervened earlier, she wouldn’t have even had time to react.

Luca glanced at the kill notification and said, “It’s a high-level Wood Elemental Elf. It’s likely just a normal monster in this instance. You’re not hurt, are you?”

Donlow shook her head. Fuzzsir, standing nearby, took a few steps forward, crouched down, and poked at the severed vines and branches with interest. “A normal monster being this fierce? Interesting. I’ll catch a few later to study them.”

“You two, stay close to me.” Luca ignored him and, after a quick reminder to the others, took the lead, holding his long blade.

The monsters at the edge of the forest were already this strong. This high-level Secret Realm was more dangerous than he had imagined. If they weren’t careful, they could easily find themselves in serious trouble.

Donlow quickly calmed herself down and, along with Fuzzsir, followed his lead. Having learned from their previous experience, the three of them remained alert, not getting too close to any more of the Elemental Elves.

However, the monsters in the Elf Forest were far more numerous than they had anticipated. Not long after, they encountered a steed entirely engulfed in crimson flames.

Its hooves and tail blazed with intense fire, and before they even got close, the air around them began to feel scorched and burning.

“A Fire Steed, a purple-gold rare monster,” Luca breathed deeply, then said, “Leave this one to me.”

Before either of the others could speak, Luca had already vanished from his spot. When he reappeared, he was standing right in front of the Fire Steed.

The Fire Steed noticed the three of them at that moment. Its previously calm gaze instantly turned wary.

It reared its head and let out a shrill whinny, flames bursting from its nostrils. In an instant, two fiery serpents materialized, flying toward Luca.

Luca’s expression remained unchanged. With a flick of his wrist, the long blade in his hand became a flash of silver, effortlessly slicing the two Fire Serpents in half.

At the same time, a flash of silver appeared beneath his feet, and he instantly reappeared in front of the Fire Steed. Without hesitation, he slashed at its neck with his blade.

The threat of death caused a look of fear to flash in the Fire Steed’s eyes, but Luca’s movements were far too fast for it to react. By the time it registered the danger, Starseeker was already at its throat.

Buzz! The blade flashed through the air, but surprisingly, no blood splattered out. The flames churned, and Starseeker sliced through the body of the Fire Steed as if it were cutting through air, passing right through it. The Fire Steed’s form completely turned into flames, and it quickly fled into the distant mountains, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

It ran? Everyone stood frozen, shocked at the sight.

Luca was also somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected the Fire Steed to have such an escape mechanism. He had never encountered something like this before. But it made sense—some monsters with a high bloodline rank could awaken special talents, much like humans. This Fire Steed was likely one of those high-bloodline monsters that had awakened a special ability.

“Forget it, it’s not important. Let’s head deeper into the forest,” Luca said, not too concerned, and continued toward the depths of the Elf Forest.

As they progressed further, it became obvious that the monsters in the forest were far stronger than the ones they had encountered before. They came across several Diamond-level high-tier monsters, such as Rock Giants, Cannibal Goblins, and Man-faced Ghost Trees.

However, with Luca’s strength, he could practically walk through this high-level Secret Realm without any trouble.

Whether it was a purple-gold level monster or a Diamond-level one, they all met the same fate at his hands—instant death. Donlow and Fuzzsir didn’t even get the chance to land any finishing blows. The two of them felt like they were just tagging along for the experience points. And that was indeed the case. In less than two hours, Donlow and Fuzzsir had leveled up three times, and Luca’s level had reached 65, with his mental attribute boosted to 50,000 points.

In addition, he had gained a number of high-level pieces of equipment. Although most of them, apart from a single piece of jewelry, were unusable by him, they still represented a considerable wealth in the early days of the game’s arrival.

[Elf’s Ring: Diamond-level equipment. When worn, increases mental attributes by 300 points, provides 200% magic recovery speed, and reduces skill cooldown by 15%.]

“You two see if any of these are useful for you. Keep what you can use, and take the rest to sell when we get back. We’ll split the earnings,” Luca said, keeping only the Elf’s Ring and two pieces of equipment for Donlow and the others. He threw the rest of the gear, including a number of Diamond-level items, to Donlow and Fuzzsir.

The generosity left both of them stunned.

Wasn’t Luca supposed to be somewhat greedy? Why was he suddenly being so generous?

“No… you don’t have to split it,” Donlow said, feeling a little embarrassed. After all, since entering the instance, she hadn’t really contributed much. It was Luca who had been carrying them through the whole thing.

Luca didn’t look back and said, “Since we’re in this together, I won’t let you run around for nothing. Besides, none of this stuff is useful to me, so take it if you want it.”

In the early days of the game’s arrival, while high-level equipment was valuable, it couldn’t really be monetized yet.

And with the Global Human Federation still not established, the situation was unstable, and Federation Coins had not yet been released. It was only when things settled down that game items would truly be able to fetch a good price.

By the time that happened, his level would likely have already reached Superclass, and these high-level pieces of equipment would be even less useful to him. It would be better to use them to help improve the strength of those around him.

Upon hearing this, Donlow felt a bit embarrassed and promptly put the equipment away.

As for Fuzzsir, this guy didn’t think too much about it. He happily picked up a red robe and put it on, looking excited as he turned to the others and asked, “How does it look? Do I look good?”

“Uh, it’s fine,” Luca replied with a glance, barely holding back a chuckle. After putting on the red robe, Fuzzsir now looked like a bright red chili pepper.

Fuzzsir was clearly not satisfied with the answer. He pouted and said, “That’s so dismissive! You used to be more enthusiastic. You’ve definitely got someone else out there, don’t you?”

Luca, feeling a bit frustrated with this guy’s antics, decided not to respond and just ignored him. Donlow, on the other hand, couldn’t hold back her laughter. It seemed that only Fuzzsir could get Luca to just let him be.

The pressure to level up in the Elf Forest wasn’t too great, and with Fuzzsir’s antics, the atmosphere remained light and enjoyable.

Amidst this relaxed mood, the three of them quickly reached the deepest part of the Elf Forest.

They arrived at a vast, clear lake, where the warm sunlight reflected off the surface, shimmering with a silver-white glow. The surrounding trees were lush, and many monsters were drinking from the lake. Floating on the water were several Water Elemental Elves, including some rare Diamond-level Elves.

[Ding! You have reached the core area of the Elf Forest, “Elf’s Harbor”!]

A game notification appeared in front of the three.

“This is where the boss of this high-level Secret Realm should be. Let’s observe for now,” Luca said. He was well aware of the difficulty of high-level nodes. While they were simpler than Secret Realms, it was still unlikely they could just breeze through.

Although they had encountered many high-level monsters in the Elf Forest, they hadn’t yet encountered any truly powerful ones, so they needed to remain vigilant.

Upon hearing this, Donlow and Fuzzsir suppressed their auras to avoid attracting the attention of the monsters around the lake. They then began to carefully observe the area around the Elf’s Harbor.

Luca, meanwhile, extended his mental perception and began to scan every corner of the lake.

To their surprise, after observing for a while, they couldn’t detect anything unusual, as if the lake was just an ordinary body of water.

“This doesn’t feel right. Didn’t the game notification say this was the core of the entire node?” Fuzzsir scratched his head in confusion.

“Exactly. It shouldn’t be this calm,” Donlow frowned, also unable to figure out what was going on.

“I’ll go check… wait!” Just as Luca was considering whether to head over and investigate, his eyes suddenly snapped to the center of the lake. At that moment, as the three were talking, his mental perception clearly sensed an extraordinarily powerful presence gradually awakening from the center of the water.

Roar!! At that moment, a golden-patterned flower leopard, which had been drinking from the lake, seemed to sense something. It let out a terrified roar, its eyes filled with fear. The other monsters nearby also displayed similar expressions, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. One by one, they immediately dropped to the ground, unable to muster the courage to flee.

At the same time, the once-calm surface of the lake suddenly rippled, and these ripples grew larger and larger. Below the surface, a huge shadow began to form.

The center of the lake started to swell with a massive water bubble. The lake churned violently, as if some enormous creature was about to burst forth from the water. A powerful aura immediately spread throughout the entire Elf Forest.

“What is that?” Donlow’s face turned pale, and just the pressure from the aura alone made her feel an overwhelming force. This was the kind of oppressive aura typically associated with a Superclass monster.

“There’s a Superclass monster in a high-level node?” Fuzzsir gasped, his voice full of disbelief. With his strength, even encountering a Superclass monster would leave him completely outmatched.

In contrast to the other two, Luca, though equally surprised, felt more of a sense of excitement. Danger always accompanied opportunity. The chances of encountering such a high-level monster in a node instance were very slim. Explore more adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

However, the rewards for clearing such a node were far beyond what regular nodes could offer. If they could kill this Superclass monster, it would be equivalent to the rewards from several high-level nodes, if not more. Just as Luca was thinking this, a deafening crash echoed through the air. The colossal creature that had been lurking beneath the lake finally revealed itself.

Boom! Water sprayed into the air like a torrential downpour. A massive black turtle, its back resembling a mountain, emerged from the depths of the Elf Harbor, filling the view of the three.

Its scarlet eyes fixed on Luca and the others, and it opened its mouth, unleashing an earth-shattering roar!

Superclass monster—Deepdark Giant Turtle!

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