Chapter Four: The Heaven-Defying Double Card!

Xu Yang truly felt as if the world was spinning out of control. Only moments before, she had been teaching her class as usual, but without warning, the majority of her students had transformed into terrifying monsters in the blink of an eye. Blood instantly stained her classroom red. To make matters worse, some students desperately tried to escape, only to be jammed at the door in a chaotic crush.

Panic-stricken, she hid beneath the lectern, heart pounding so fiercely it threatened to leap from her chest, her face drained of all color. But soon after, she was yanked into a strange new space.

It took considerable effort for her to accept the reality of this so-called “Global Monster OL” game. With a heart full of anxiety, Xu Yang pushed open the door of light and officially entered the game.

Who could have guessed that the moment she arrived, she would inexplicably collide with someone? Instinctively, acting out of a woman’s natural reaction, Xu Yang raised her hand and slapped at the student’s face without thinking.

Zhao Nan squinted, his reflexes honed by three years of gaming experience. Just as Xu Yang’s hand was about to land, he swiftly caught her wrist.

“Let go of me!”

“Fine, but get off me first.”

She scrambled off Zhao Nan in a hurry, but as soon as she stood, she felt a sudden chill below—her torn skirt slipped down between her legs.

A piercing scream echoed through the air. Xu Yang squatted on the ground, her voice trembling on the verge of tears. “Don’t look!”

Was it really that bad? Zhao Nan frowned. In the game worlds he’d experienced, it was common for female players to have their clothes shredded by monsters in battle. In his eyes, Xu Yang’s level of exposure was hardly more revealing than a swimsuit.

“Your skirt is beyond saving. Here, use this for now.” With a sigh, Zhao Nan took off his jacket and tossed it in front of her.

Xu Yang murmured a word of thanks, quickly tying the sleeves around her waist before standing up again, cheeks flushed.

With that settled, Zhao Nan turned to leave without hesitation. Double experience was on a timer; wasting even a second was a disgrace.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Monster hunting!”

Xu Yang was stunned and rushed over to grab Zhao Nan’s arm. “Are you crazy? There are so many monsters out there!”

Zhao Nan shook her hand off, his expression grave. “A word of advice: if you think it’s dangerous, just stay here and hide. If you make it until dusk, you’ll be safe.”

“What?” Before Xu Yang could react, Zhao Nan was already sprinting toward the stairwell.

“Teacher!”

At that moment, a student finished logging in and appeared in the classroom, bursting into tears. “Xiao Li is dead!”

Xu Yang’s eyes reddened, her path ahead shrouded in uncertainty.

As time passed, more and more players completed their login. Zhao Nan could no longer hunt monsters alone. He had no desire to stand out in front of others, especially since the game had only just begun—a particularly exceptional player would only draw suspicion and speculation.

Lowering his head, Zhao Nan imitated the frightened expressions of the newly arrived students, yet moved with remarkable speed toward the school’s athletic field.

There, monsters were far more plentiful than inside the academic buildings, and few players had chosen to log in there.

Once someone became a monster, their original appearance was altered. Even if a familiar face stood before you, you wouldn’t recognize them. Perhaps this was a humane touch in the game’s design, making it easier to raise one’s blade against monsters who might otherwise be loved ones. After all, who could truly kill a monster knowing it was their parent, spouse, or child? Although, to Zhao Nan, this seemed a bit self-deceiving... But “Global Monster OL” was a brutally real game.

Zhao Nan didn’t spend much time hunting monsters on the field. After about half an hour, groups of student players began to explore from the academic building. With no other choice, Zhao Nan blended in among them, pretending to be a novice and slowing his pace of monster hunting.

By the time double experience ended, Zhao Nan had barely reached level 2.

“Level: 2, Experience: 34/200”

By now, most of the monsters within the school had been cleared out. Some of the teachers quickly gathered the student players and led them into the school auditorium.

Zhao Nan sat quietly in a corner, surrounded by sobs and anxious chatter. His silence was no different from anyone else’s; at such a time, no one cared what someone hiding in a corner was doing.

Meanwhile, the surviving faculty gathered on the stage, clearly in the midst of a serious discussion.

Zhao Nan paid them no mind. No matter what they speculated, after the first game update, many mysteries would be clarified. Anyone of normal intelligence would then understand what kind of world they were in and what they needed to do to survive.

Lowering his head, Zhao Nan summoned his character panel with a thought, his left wrist’s bracelet responding. The panel appeared before his eyes:

Name: Zhao Nan
Class: Human Mage
Level: LV2
Constitution: 8 (10)
Strength: 7 (10)
Spirit: 16 (10)
Agility: 6 (10)
Health: 300
Mana: 180
Status: Good
Equipment: White Novice Staff, Green Elemental Ring
Skills: Small Fireball (LV0, Proficiency 121/500)
Items: Small Healing Potion x5
Money: 5 Silver Coins
Experience: 34/200
Remaining Attribute Points: 4

After reviewing these stats, Zhao Nan’s expression turned strange. The attributes themselves were perfectly normal... but the issue lay with the remaining points.

Four points!

He distinctly remembered that before level ten, players received just one attribute point per level up. At level two, he should only have two points.

How could this be?

Hurriedly, Zhao Nan checked his battle log. Scanning through the system messages, his finger suddenly froze, breath growing rapid as he stopped at a particular line.

There was a system notification that made his heart race:

“Ding! Congratulations, player Zhao Nan, you have leveled up and gained 1 free attribute point. Because you hold a Double Card, you receive 1 additional free attribute point!”

Double Card...

Could it be...

Zhao Nan swiftly closed the character panel and opened his inventory again. Other than five novice healing potions, there was a card occupying the first slot.

“Double Card (Bound): Unique hidden special item, chance to drop from King-class bosses. While under level fifty, the holder gains double free attribute points upon leveling up.”