4: Chapter 4: An unexpected encounter with a C-rank classmate; one hit takes half of his health.

Lin Yan was immersed in the thrill of hunting and stacking health. Experience was rising steadily, his health was skyrocketing, and the Heartsteel stacks were increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He had completely adapted to the rhythm of the Dungeon—marking, waiting, striking the weak point, kiting, cooling down, and attacking again; the entire process was already deeply ingrained in his mind, flowing as smoothly as instinct.

Just as he was preparing to continue hunting the next Rift Rat, a burst of noisy footsteps and unbridled mockery came from around the corner of the ruins in the distance, breaking the quiet of the area.

"Hahaha, the Class C Talent I Awakened allows me to walk sideways in this 1-star Dungeon! A few tiny Rift Rats are not enough to even look at!"

"Exactly, Class C Talent is the ceiling for ordinary people. Those Class D and Class E ones are just cannon fodder, not to mention that one-in-ten-million probability F-rank trash."

"I wonder if that guy from my school named Lin Yan is dead yet? He only Awakened an F-rank Talent. I reckon he was torn to shreds by Rift Rats the moment he was teleported in. After all, F-Rank Weak Constitution is trash among trash."

"Someone actually Awakened an F-rank Talent!"

The harsh ridicule and mockery reached Lin Yan's ears, every word clearly heard.

His eyes turned cold; he stopped and slowly looked toward the source of the sound.

He saw three teenagers walking together, holding standard issue daggers, looking high-spirited, their faces full of arrogance and pride. The leader was slightly chubby with an arrogant look in his eyes; it was Zhang Hao, who had Awakened a Class C Talent at the same Awakening Ceremony as Lin Yan at their school. When they were at the orphanage, this person had always been stuck-up and bullied the weak.

In his understanding, Lin Yan, with his F-rank Talent, could not possibly survive in the Dungeon and had long since become food for the monsters.

Zhang Hao swept his gaze casually and happened to see Lin Yan standing in front of a broken wall. He was slightly stunned at first, then his face erupted with undisguised ridicule and mockery.

"Yo, who is this? Isn't this our Seventh Safe Zone's one-in-ten-million probability 'super genius', the F-rank trash Lin Yan?"

"You're actually not dead yet? What a huge miracle!"

The two companions beside him immediately burst into laughter, their eyes filled with disdain and contempt.

"F-Rank Weak Constitution, only adding 2 points of Constitution, and you managed to survive until now? You weren't just hiding in a corner shivering, not daring to come out, were you?"

"Hurry up and hand over the remaining potions and low-rank dimensional crystals you have! Anyway, with your talent, it's a waste to carry them. Even if you go deeper into the Dungeon, it's a dead end, so you might as well give them to us; they might actually be useful."

Lin Yan's expression was calm; there was no anger, no excitement, not even a ripple of emotion.

He couldn't be bothered to waste any words on these people.

"Get lost."

The light sentence, devoid of any emotion, was like a cold blade, instantly freezing the smiles on the faces of Zhang Hao and his two companions.

A piece of F-rank trash actually dared to speak to them in that tone?

Zhang Hao's face suddenly darkened, and a flash of cruelty and violence appeared in his eyes: "Lin Yan, you're courting death! Do you believe I'll kill you right now and take all your things? You need to understand, in a dimensional Dungeon, there are no laws, no rules, and survival of the fittest is the only truth! Even if I kill you, the Federation will never find out!"

In the Dungeon, the Awakened killing each other and snatching resources was already an open secret. The Federation wouldn't care, and couldn't care. Here, strength was everything, and only those who survived had the right to speak.

Lin Yan's eyes turned completely cold.

He had wanted to develop steadily, stack health in the shortest time possible, and increase his strength as quickly as possible. But there were always people who didn't know what was good for them, actively coming to provoke him, wanting to step on him.

Since that was the case, he would let them understand what true despair was.

"In the Dungeon, only those who survive count as strong."

"Talent is just a starting point."

"You don't really think that a Class C Talent allows you to do whatever you want in front of me, do you?"

The moment his voice fell, Lin Yan stepped forward, no longer holding anything back, and charged actively toward Zhang Hao.

Zhang Hao was stunned for a moment, then sneered, his eyes filled with disdain and mockery.

F-rank trash, actually daring to attack him first? He was simply courting death!

He gripped the standard issue dagger in his hand and met him head-on without fear, having already decided in his heart to severely wound Lin Yan with one strike, then humiliate him viciously, letting him know the consequences of offending him.

"Kneel for me!"

Zhang Hao roared, channeling all his strength into his arm, and stabbed his dagger straight at Lin Yan's chest, the move fierce and merciless.

Before Lin Yan attacked, he had already quietly activated Heartsteel. The invisible mark fell directly onto Zhang Hao and his two companions; the three seconds passed in a flash, and the fatal weak point on Zhang Hao was instantly exposed!

Lin Yan's eyes sharpened, his wrist flipped slightly, and the standard issue dagger, without any fancy tricks or unnecessary movements, accurately stabbed toward that pale red spot.

"Steel!"

The crisp, pleasant sound of steel rang out once again. This time, it wasn't triggered on a monster, but on a human Awakened!

[Ding! Successfully hit the Heartsteel weak point, dealing 102 points of true damage, which is 10% of your maximum health, to the target! An additional 8 points of basic attack damage from the standard issue dagger is added!]

True damage! Ignoring defense! Ignoring talent! Ignoring all damage reduction effects!

The arrogance and cruelty on Zhang Hao's face had not yet fully dissipated when an indescribable, sharp pain swept through his entire body. His face turned pale as paper in an instant, blood sprayed wildly from his chest, and his body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, slamming heavily into a pile of rubble and making a dull, loud thud.

One strike! Just one strike!

Zhang Hao, who had Awakened a Class C Talent, was directly beaten into serious injury by Lin Yan, losing half his life!

The other two saw this scene and, without even looking back, ran away directly. They and Zhang Hao had only met by chance, having just encountered each other in this Dungeon and formed a team to develop together. How could they possibly avenge him? Seeing that he had provoked such a powerful figure, they cursed Zhang Hao in their hearts as they ran.

Lin Yan ignored the other two and continued to attack Zhang Hao directly.

"How is this possible... This is absolutely impossible..."

Zhang Hao lay in the pile of rubble, clutching his chest tightly with both hands, looking at Lin Yan with a face full of terror, his eyes filled with disbelief and extreme fear. If he hadn't added points to his Constitution, he would have died from that blow.

F-rank trash... how could he possess such terrifying attack power?

He crawled backward subconsciously, looking at Lin Yan as if he were looking at a devil crawling out of hell.

This was no F-rank trash; this was clearly a monster wearing an F-rank skin!

Lin Yan, holding the dagger, ran toward Zhang Hao. Every step he took was like stepping on his heart, making him feel cold all over and causing his breathing to stop.

"You... don't come over!" Zhang Hao screamed in terror, his voice trembling, "I have a Class C Talent, I am a future elite of the Federation. If you kill me, you definitely won't have a good ending!"

Lin Yan did not stop, his tone indifferent and without a trace of warmth: "Just now, didn't you want to rob me? Didn't you want to kill me?"

"I was wrong! I was wrong! Big Brother Lin Yan, I won't dare to do it again! Please, let me go! I won't mock you anymore, and I won't cause you trouble again!" Zhang Hao was completely terrified, crawling backward, where was there any trace of his previous arrogance and pride?

Lin Yan ignored him; before attacking him, Zhang Hao should have understood that by reaching out to steal treasures, daring to treat other Awakened as prey that could be bullied at will, he should have been prepared to be counter-killed.

His mercy would never be reserved for vicious dogs that actively brandish their blades.

The faster Zhang Hao crawled, the more bone-piercing the sharp pain from his chest became; blood gushed out from between his fingers, dragging a long trail of blood across the rubble. He trembled all over, his teeth chattering, his voice hoarse and unrecognizable:

"I was wrong... I was really wrong! Please spare my life, I will be your beast of burden, I will give you all my crystals and potions... Please, don't kill me..."

"The moment you decided to rob me, the outcome was already sealed."

The moment his voice fell, Lin Yan moved his wrist slightly.

The dagger had no fancy tricks, moving so fast that only a cold glint remained.

Puchi—

Blood splashed onto the rubble, staining the dusty ground red.

Zhang Hao's pupils suddenly dilated, then quickly lost their luster; his body twitched twice, and then there was no more movement.

[Ding! Successfully killed human Zhang Hao, gained 0 experience points.]

Lin Yan indifferently retracted his dagger, bent down, and picked up the low-rank dimensional crystal and the remaining bottle of health potion that Zhang Hao had dropped.

There wasn't much, but it could be considered a meager harvest.

He looked up toward the direction the two followers had fled, his eyes showing no fluctuation; he hadn't added points to speed, so he couldn't catch up now anyway.

If they ran, they ran; a few ants fleeing in a panic weren't worth his time.

Even if the two Awakened wearing standard equipment made it out of the Dungeon alive and told the Federation, it would be useless; not to mention the lack of evidence, even if there were evidence, the Federation simply didn't care about the life or death of these low-rank Awakened.

Lin Yan brushed the dust off his body, put the loot into his pocket, turned around, and walked toward the depths of the Dungeon without looking back.

His goal was to stack health and develop, to become stronger, to break the shackles of fate, not to waste time on these clowns.

"So what if it's a Class C Talent?"

"In the face of an absolute cheat, all talent ranks are nothing but passing clouds."

Lin Yan lowered his head and looked at his attribute panel.

[Heartsteel stacks: 635!]

[Current maximum health: 1035 points!]

Just from one brief encounter, his health had increased once again.