MMORPG: The Almighty Ring Chapter 4 - Hack Leveling!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Eh? Something is wrong!”

While shifting items out of his character's inventory, Jiang Fei noticed that a bunch of stuff in the ring's storage had vanished.

“Hmm? Did I lose them somewhere?”

Jiang Fei raised the ring before his eyes. Just then, a faint chime echoed in his ears.

“Ding!”

The sound was so delicate that it could slip past anyone unnoticed. Right as it tinkled, a chunk of Delicious Rabbit Meat faded away before his very gaze.

“What the f-”

Jiang Fei was stunned. Was the ring secretly feeding on his items?!

Peering at it more intently than before, he unveiled a hidden feature of the ring. Outwardly, it boasted 36 slots, yet they differed vastly from a typical inventory. The space split into an upper and lower half—the top with a subtle blue glow, the bottom a dim red hue. Without sharp focus, he never would have detected it.

This fresh discovery revealed that anything tossed into the red zone of the ring's inventory would “vanish” roughly every ten minutes. The interval wasn't consistent. With each “devoured” item, a crack-shaped line etched onto the ring—not true harm, merely a visual trace. The line extended further as more items fed it. Two hours later, the mark stretched nearly full circle.

“Ding!”

When the final piece dissolved amid the chime, those “crack-like” lines sealed a perfect ring around its surface.

“Woosh!”

A dazzling glow burst forth, wiping the scar clean and restoring the ring's pristine silver gleam, as though straight from the forge.

“What is going on...?”

Jiang Fei tilted his head in bewilderment.

“Huh! What’s this? Bonus attribute!”

Beyond the 36 slots from the mysterious ring, an extra treat appeared! Luck +10!

Luck counted as a secret stat in the game. Players dubbed it so because it stayed invisible and unmeasurable on the Attributes Window. Certain gear offered it as a hidden buff, influencing Evade rate, Critical chance, and item Drop Rate too!

Luck-based Evasion ignored physical dodging. A blow might connect perfectly, yet inflict no harm at all!

Critical strike odds worked the same way. Active skills or weak-spot hits could triple normal damage, but true Crits hinged on the R.N.G system (Random Number Generator). A successful proc doubled output while bypassing Defense entirely. Versus tanky enemies, it often spiked beyond triple the usual harm.

Drop rates had always plagued MMORPG players with endless frustration. Nothing left to do but beseech the R.N.G gods for mercy. High Luck, though, stacked the deck in your favor—especially on loot. Even so, it wouldn't cough up Celestial gear from a Level 1 Chicken. It merely boosted pulls from the monster's fixed drop table. Say a Chicken dropped grades A, B, or C—great Luck upped A chances, while the unlucky got stuck chasing shadows of greatness.

“Just what is this ring...?” Jiang Fei muttered under his breath. No doubt, it wasn't official game content. It acted more like a cheat tool than any standard item! The system ignored it completely, yet it operated flawlessly within the game!

“Crap... I don’t exactly condone hacking, not to mention how I might even get banned from this game... But if not for this ring, I would not even be in the game, to begin with!”

The inner conflict boiled Jiang Fei's blood. Still, this ring served as his sole ticket to the game—no alternatives existed.

By then, Jiang Fei had pieced together the ring's mechanics. The enigmatic band “ate” items to advance. That surface scar tracked its “experience bar,” while the red inventory section marked the “sacrifice zone.” But what about the blue area?

After a brief ponder, Jiang Fei found no clues or oddities there. As always, he shrugged it off and plunged back into the game without a second thought.

After seven or eight hours, Jiang Fei made his way back to the village, hauling every necessary quest item with him. He remained at Level 4. Such a drag! Dawn Break progressed at a sluggish and grueling pace, since leveling up demanded plenty of time. Drop rates posed the same issue. Even boasting 10 Luck, Jiang Fei struggled immensely to obtain his target items. Each quest item had cost him nearly an hour!

“Bless you, adventurer! Bless you! You have saved me! Please take this Deer Skin Leather Jacket!”

“Ding! You have completed the quest “Collecting Deer Skin.” Obtained 550 Experience Points. Obtained Deer Skin Leather Jacket!”

Upon turning in the initial quest, Jiang Fei earned minimal experience points along with a piece of White tier gear. Though it sold for next to nothing, such rewards suited a basic task in the Beginner’s Village.

Equipment grades in the game fell into these categories: Gray, White, Green, Blue, Violet, and Gold. Beyond them existed Unique varieties, Chromatic Evolving Equipment, and the pinnacle, Celestial grade.

Gray gear marked the bottom rung of the equipment ladder, suited only for players in the Beginner’s Village. It offered under 50% of basic attributes. Once players left the starting area, Gray items typically got sold to NPCs, worthless for personal use.

White gear delivered standard basic attributes without extras. Players could vend it to NPCs or dismantle it into Metal Ingots for sale to others. Those ingots served as Smithing skill materials, fetching a better price than the gear itself.

Green gear earned the Fine label. It granted 130% of basic attributes plus one or two extras. Two extras elevated it to Refined status within Fine. Most players roamed with this grade equipped.

Blue gear qualified as Superior Grade. It supplied 150% basic attributes and two or three additional ones. Even matching Refined Green in extras, it outshone thanks to higher base stats. Three extras made it exceptionally prized and powerful. As the game matured and more players hit mid-game, those wielding Blue gear counted as elites.

Violet text denoted the next tier, Epic. It provided 180% basic attributes with three to four extras. Even the base three-extra version surpassed Blue counterparts. Violet gear resembled a Lamborghini or Birkin bag—luxuries for the elite few. Possessing even one piece marked a player as top-tier, even among pros.

Gold text signaled Legendary gear, offering 200% basic attributes and four to five extras. As with prior tiers, lower-end versions still topped equivalents from below. True to its name, assembling a full Legendary set proved near-impossible. A single piece turned its owner into a star!

Chromatic Evolving gear stood out as special and Unique, sourced solely from Hidden Class Quests. Their strength rivaled Legendary items. Uniquely, they leveled up alongside users, making discard unthinkable! Hidden Class Quests rarely yielded them. Less scarce than the 36-game-wide Hidden Race quests, they still demanded massive Luck!

Reigning supreme was Celestial Grade, acquired only by felling a God! Its stats stunned the imagination, matched by the insane path to claim it.