Chu Tian lay on his bed, wearing his helmet. There were ten minutes until the official launch of "Tiandao."
Countdown: 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
"Little one, you've arrived!"
No game background appeared as he expected, no character creation interface, no sweet reception sprite.
A dishevelled old man, whose clothes looked as if they had been through a bombing, materialized before Chu Tian.
"Uh?"
Chu Tian's brain felt like it had crashed.
"Little one, as someone who has passed the test of character, you shouldn't be so surprised."
The old man smiled at Chu Tian and said faintly.
Test of character? Could it be...
"Yes, it's the quest you completed, 'Rescuing the Angel of Resurrection.'
The activation condition for this quest was to die more than 1000 times.
You were the only one to trigger this quest within the time limit, which shows you have a tenacious spirit."
The old man spoke to himself, recounting the details.
Chu Tian remembered that before his rebirth, he had ranked first on the death count leaderboard with 1389 deaths.
The second-ranked player had only 287 deaths.
At the time, some people had deliberately tried to farm deaths to challenge the leaderboard, but no one could endure it.
"Tiandao" simulated the fear of death 100%, and no one could withstand the torment of consecutive deaths.
It was said that the second-ranked player had driven himself mad.
"So, no one else will be able to trigger this quest?"
Chu Tian still found it hard to believe that a mere game could allow him to be reborn.
"Yes, no one else will be able to complete this quest. I know you have many questions, but now is not the time to answer them."
The old man seemed to know all his thoughts. Seeing Chu Tian remain silent, he continued:
"As the only one to pass the test, you will receive three divine-tier talents as rewards. However, you can only choose 'Druid' as your in-game profession."
"Why Druid?" Chu Tian felt resistant to only being able to choose this profession.
In his previous life, when he first entered the game, the profession introduction had stated that
The Druid was an all-rounder profession, divided into six forms: Bear, Cheetah, Owl, Treant, Elk, and Human. Other professions had an initial growth value of 12 stars, while the Druid only had 10 stars.
However, many believed that if the profession existed, it must have its purpose, possibly being a powerful late-game profession. Thus, when the game first launched, a group of players chose Druid. But later, they realized how laughable their ideas were.
The Bear form was not as tanky as a Shield Warrior.
The Cheetah form was not as functional as a Rogue.
The Owl form did not have the burst damage of a Mage.
The Treant form did not have the healing capabilities of a Priest.
The Elk form increased movement speed by 200%. Hilariously, it had no offensive skills but could be used as a mount.
In Human form, none of the other forms' skills could be used, as if to remind you, "You're still human!"
As the saying goes, "all-rounder, all-rounder, good at none!"
Consequently, this group of players could only transition into life professions as gatherers, as "Tiandao" had no feature to delete characters and start over.
Now, for this old man to force him to choose Druid, Chu Tian was a hundred times unwilling.
"Little one, don't worry too much. As the only one to pass the test, after choosing Druid, your character will receive a reward of +10 to all attribute growth."
"You have five years. After five years, the 'Doomsday Calamity' from the new player experience expansion pack will descend upon Earth.
Tiandao is not just a game; it's real. It realistically depicts the world after the calamity descends in five years, followed by tens of thousands of years of recovery.
You might not understand if I say too much. Alright, enter the game. Remember to choose Druid."
The old man didn't give Chu Tian a chance to speak and waved his sleeve.
The familiar scene interface and familiar music appeared before him.
"Protect my sister? What a scam! Doomsday, my foot! If the world after doomsday is as exciting as Tiandao, then let doomsday come sooner!"
"Ding... Player has chosen the profession 'Druid.' Please customize your character name."
While Chu Tian was still debating whether to listen to the old man, the system prompt sounded in his ears.
"What the hell? You said I could choose Druid, but you're forcing me to! What's with the mandatory assignment?"
"Ding... Character name 'What the hell You said I could choose Druid but you're forcing me to What's with the mandatory assignment?' is not available. Please enter again!"
Chu Tian sighed and cursed inwardly: Damn it!
"I am not a Druid," perhaps this name was his last act of defiance.
"Character creation successful. Logging into the Northern Dragon Country War Zone. Please wait..."
Tiandao distributed regions based on the initial login location. In his previous life, Chu Tian's server was also the Northern War Zone, so he was familiar with the adventures in that region.
"Ding... Congratulations, player, on logging into Novice Village 1314."
Chu Tian's eyes lit up. This was the novice village where, in his previous life, he had triggered a hidden quest and obtained the divine artifact [Wish Box].
This divine artifact had propelled him to godhood and then plunged him into abyss.
He had been worried he might be assigned to a different novice village.
"Ding... Activating Divine Bloodline [Elf King]!"
Bloodline? What is that? What happened to the divine-tier talents?
Thinking about the eleven yuan and fifty cents left in his pocket, he didn't even know how he would eat tomorrow.
He opened his backpack and found only three items: cloth clothes, straw sandals, and a polearm.
He had initially thought he would receive three divine-tier talent activation cards, one of which he could sell to enjoy the life of a nouveau riche.
He put on the cloth clothes and straw sandals from his backpack. Although they had no attributes, at least they wouldn't hurt his feet as he walked.
He also took the polearm with its meager 2 attack power.
Opening the attribute panel—
[I am not a Druid]
Profession: Druid
Race: Human
Level: 1
Faction: Not chosen
Bloodline: Elf King (Divine Tier)
Strength: 2 (Growth Index: 20) Increases physical attack power.
Intelligence: 2 (Growth Index: 20) Increases magic attack power, and mana pool cap.
Agility: 2 (Growth Index: 20) Increases attack speed, movement speed, and energy recovery speed.
Stamina: 2 (Growth Index: 20) Increases defense.
Constitution: 2 (Growth Index: 20) Increases HP cap.
Physical Attack Power: 2-6
Magic Attack Power: 2-4
Physical Defense: 2-4
Magic Defense: 2-4
Health: 40
Experience: 0/100
Free Points: 0
General Skill: Junior Appraisal (Can view monster attributes of a level no more than 5 levels higher than yourself.)
Opening the bloodline he had never encountered in his previous life—
[Bloodline: Elf King (Divine Tier) Unique]
Bloodline Passive: All attribute growth +10 stars.
Bloodline Talents (can stack with player talents): [Concentration (Divine Tier)] [Revelation (Divine Tier)] [Growth (Divine Tier)]
[Concentration (Divine Tier)] Skill effects increase by 50%.
[Revelation (Divine Tier)] Gain +10 allocatable attribute points upon leveling up.
[Growth (Divine Tier)] Experience gained from killing monsters and completing quests increases by 100%.
Description: The peace-loving Elves have never feared war. In every holy war recorded in history, the Elves have left an indelible mark.
He hadn't expected the divine-tier talents the old man mentioned to be exclusive bloodline talents. Why didn't he just tell me he was giving me a divine-tier bloodline? Was he afraid I wouldn't understand?
The bloodline talents were incredibly powerful. With Divine Revelation complementing his high attribute growth of 20, who would dare call him a weak profession in the future?
Moreover, they could stack with player talents, making the potential… unimaginable!
In his previous life, the number one player on the leveling leaderboard, the world's top Divine Priest, possessed the Divine Growth talent and dominated the leaderboard for four consecutive years, with a gap of a full 20 levels over the second-ranked player. Whether in 1v1 duels or in inter-warzone competitions, he could crush everyone with his level advantage.
The Divine Concentration was obtained by an Arcane Mage, who was rumored to be able to kill any boss with a single mana bar. Of course, as a profession requiring extensive setup and stationary output, no boss could withstand him activating his full burst before depleting his mana.
Seeing that he now possessed all three divine-tier talents, if he were to acquire the same talents in the future, it would mean double the bonus. Chu Tian no longer dwelled on the profession issue.
His first priority was to trigger the hidden quest. As long as he obtained the [Wish Box], he would ascend to godhood once more. Of course, this time he couldn't reveal this secret.
Transformation: Cheetah Form, movement speed increased by 30%.
Chu Tian used his only transformation skill at the moment, turning into a dark, cub-like big cat.