CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: MYTHICAL-RANK HAND OF AVARICE, CITY UNDERGROUND MAZE KEY

[You have killed "Ruined City Giant Rat (Level 21)" and "Exploding Mutant (Level 22)"]

[You have killed "City Vigilante (Level 22 Elite-Rank Boss)"]

[You have gained 140,000 experience points.]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 20!]

[You have gained 5 points in all of your attributes, and 5 free points to distribute.]

[You have gained 13 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 126 Lives!]

---

"Good," Stark muttered with a grin.

The system panels stacked in front of his eyes, each notification better than the last.

Just like that, he had reached level 20.

He was only five levels away from his first real milestone, level 25, the number he had set for himself before the first event began.

And more than that, the experience gain was huge.

The reason was obvious.

Two of the monsters he killed, the mutant and the boss, were three levels higher than him.

For most players, fighting something that far above them was suicide.

But for Stark, it had become his best shortcut.

His methods, his knowledge, and his firepower let him crush enemies others couldn’t even scratch.

And then came the loot.

A pair of daggers glinted on the ground where the vigilante had fallen.

Stark picked them up, checking their description.

---

[Vigilante Daggers (Elite): Assassin-type weapon. +104 Strength, +47 Agility. Requirement: Level 22]

[Flurry Strikes (Active Skill): Allows you to slash your daggers several times in a short period to deal a lot of damage. Cooldown: 3 minutes.]

---

"Oh shit," Stark’s grin widened, "another weapon with an active skill."

That was a jackpot.

Weapons with active skills were some of the most sought out weapons in [Eternal Soul], especially later.

An epic weapon might boost your stats by a hundred points, but a weapon that granted you a skill? That could change your entire build.

Some players would actively throw away a legendary weapon without hesitation if an epic one gave them a powerful new ability.

It was always smarter to have more tools than raw numbers.

Of course, there were exceptions.

If a legendary weapon’s stats were overwhelming, even a top-tier skill couldn’t replace it.

Most of the time, players were desperate to get their hands on anything that gave them a new way to fight.

’Guess [Ghost] is going to be pretty happy,’ Stark thought.

These daggers were practically made for her.

He was about to use [Hand of Avarice] on the corpses to see if he could pull more loot, but he froze.

’Wait. Evolution points.’

He pulled up his stats.

[Current Evolution Points: 62.]

His eyes narrowed.

With his latest haul, he now had more than fifty EP.

That was enough to evolve one of his legendary skills into mythical rank.

And he already knew which one he wanted to upgrade.

[Do you wish to consume 50 Evolution Points to evolve "Hand of Avarice"?]

Stark didn’t hesitate.

"Yes. Maybe I’ll get something better."

Ding!

[You have evolved "Hand of Avarice" (Legendary) → "Hand of Avarice" (Mythical)]

[Current Evolution Points: 12.]

---

[Hand of Avarice (Mythical): Can be used on corpses, has a 100% → 125% chance to obtain another loot reward. In addition, if the loot is an item, there is a 10% → 30% chance to increase the rank by one.]

---

"Oh... shit." Stark blinked.

The description hadn’t changed much.

But the numbers? The numbers were insane.

First off, what the hell did 125% even mean?

A hundred percent was guaranteed.

That was the ceiling. So what did an extra twenty-five mean?

’Wait. No... that has to mean 100% for the first loot drop, and then a 25% chance for another on top of that.’

It was the only explanation that made sense.

If that was true, then every corpse he touched would guarantee him loot, with a quarter chance of spitting out yet another drop.

And the more corpses, the more rolls of the dice.

And if this was just mythical rank... then if evolved it more, would it reach 200%? Allowing him a guaranteed second drop?

Stark’s grin sharpened.

But even that wasn’t the part that caught his attention most.

The second effect.

The chance to increase an item’s rank had jumped from 10% to 30%.

That was huge.

Every three items, on average, one would get pushed up a whole tier.

Rare into epic. Epic into legendary. Legendary into mythical.

’Perfect,’ Stark thought, satisfied.

Spending fifty EP here wasn’t a gamble, it was an investment.

In the long run, this would snowball his power more than any other choice.

Of course, curiosity tugged at him.

He checked the next evolution tier.

[Do you wish to consume 100 Evolution Points to evolve "Hand of Avarice"?]

"Yeah, not happening," Stark muttered.

Doubling the cost was brutal. He’d hold off.

Later, when his EP gains were higher, maybe then.

For now, he would reap the rewards of what he had.

He activated the newly evolved [Hand of Avarice] on the corpses of the three monsters.

Ding!

[You have gained 1 Evolution Point!]

[You have gained 48 Lives!]

The results weren’t surprising, until they were.

As the spectral hand clawed the corpse of the [City Vigilante], it lingered longer than usual.

And then, with a final jerk, a golden glow erupted from the body.

Stark’s eyes widened.

’No way. Did I just...?’

The glow settled, and an item clinked to the ground.

He bent down, inspecting it.

---

[City Underground Maze Key: Allows the user to open the "City Underground Maze" (Level 23–24 zone) and access it.]

---

Stark burst into laughter.

"No fucking way."

It was his first rank increase from [Hand of Avarice], and it was beautiful.

Not just another piece of gear, but a zone key.

As said before, there were three locked zones in the [Ruined Cities].

The [City Sewers], the [City Underground Maze], and the [Church Sanctuary].

Those were the three "gate zones," all of them locked behind keys.

They were notorious in Stark’s past life as the hardest challenges before players left the ruined city.

And now, with this, he held two of the three.

He couldn’t enter the sewers, but he had the keys for the Maze and the Sanctuary.

’Perfect. The Maze will give me the push I need. And after that... the Sanctuary.’

Of course, he still planned to clear the [Ghost Hunt] and the [Tower of Divinity].

Both had unique rewards he wasn’t about to miss.

The only problem was finding the entrance.

The ruined city was sprawling, and the gate zones were tucked away in hidden corners.

Most players could search for days and never stumble across them.

Still, he wasn’t discouraged.

He pressed deeper into the outskirts, scanning every ruined square and crumbled street.

And after half an hour, his patience paid off.

Another square opened up before him, even more shattered than the one where new players spawned.

The protective barrier of the city pulsed faintly in the distance, he was close to the edge now.

And in the middle of the square stood something out of place: a stone gate.

Stark froze.

His staff lowered slightly as he approached it, steps cautious.

The gate wasn’t part of the city’s broken architecture.

It was too clean, too deliberate.

The moment he extended his hand—

Ding!

---

[You need the "City Underground Maze Key" to enter this zone.]

[It is highly advised to not step inside unless ready. This is a dangerous zone.]

[Note: Using your key and dying inside the zone will remove that key, forcing you to find another one.]

---

Stark read the warnings once.

Then he grinned.

After all his failures searching for the [Church Sanctuary], after failing to find the sewers’ key, here it was.

One of the hardest zones in the ruined city.

And it was practically inviting him in.

"Well then," Stark muttered, stepping toward the gate. "No point in not going."