Chapter 4: Dan A.K.A Slicer
Third-Person POV
Zeke fell asleep the moment he logged out of the game. It was still around 7:30 p.m., but he was already in deep slumber. It was typical for him—when he's tired, he's out like a light.
Meanwhile…
Dan had just managed to buy his own Enigma Online Console. Right after classes ended that afternoon, he rushed home. He'd begged his parents to lend him some money, and fortunately, they did. His savings from a part-time job at a computer company weren't quite enough for both the console and the game chip.
But now he had it. By 7 p.m., he was already setting it up. Eager and excited, he logged in and began creating his character.
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Dan's POV
Hi, I'm Dan Mendoza. A fellow gamer—and I've just entered the world of EOPH. I'm currently facing the game's black-armored AI, still in the class selection screen.
Without hesitation, I chose the Human race, and for my subclass, I picked Blade Master—a close-combat expert with extraordinary speed and unmatched sword skills. Unlike other warriors, Blade Masters don't use shields, which slows them down. Instead, they focus on pure speed and precision, wielding only a sword.
I named my character Slicer DM.
"This is awesome," I muttered as I was teleported to the starting village.
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The Human race's starting area was called Frontier Village. As soon as I respawned, I saw dozens of other players roaming around. Most were low-level, but I spotted a few high-level ones based on their armor and weapons.
One of them approached me—a mystic class, based on the long, glowing green-tipped Scepter they carried.
Verillion – Level 55 Mystic
"Need help?" he asked casually.
"Ah, y-yes, sure!" I replied, startled.
"Good! I'll help you out. Let's get you leveled up," Verillion smiled. "I'll send you a party invite. We'll head outside the village."
He sent me an invitation, and I saw that he had five other members in the party—also new players like me. He seemed kind and genuinely interested in helping out beginners.
"Let's go. The others are already waiting outside," Verillion said.
"Okay, sir!"
Before heading out, Verillion cast several buffs on us:
Speed Up – Increases movement speed.
Extended Reach – Extends range for long-range skills.
StealLife – Grants a vampiric effect, regenerating HP when attacking.
Metallic Armor – Boosts defense by 30%.
"Whoa! Thanks, sir!" I told him.
"No problem! You've also got an 'Ability Restart' skill. Use it to reset the duration of my buffs—it works like a refresh. Just make sure to use it before the 5-minute duration ends," he explained.
"Got it."
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Outside the village, we met the rest of our party. Verillion dashed toward the mob zone and, strangely enough, lured over a horde of Stone Lizards (Level 10). These creatures weren't aggressive by default, so how did he lure them? That was odd.
He came running back with a protective barrier surrounding him, unscathed despite having 35 mobs on his tail.
Then—
"Light Blast!" he shouted.
The skill had a 100-foot range and dealt 800 base damage—up to 2500 critical. It was only a basic Mystic skill, yet devastating. No wonder the mobs were instantly obliterated. He repeated the process until all six of us reached Level 10... without lifting a finger.
We teleported next to the Fairy Forest, a map with monsters ranging from Level 35–50. Verillion used Massive Teleportation to bring the entire party there.
"Why'd we move to such a high-level area?" I asked.
"So we can level up faster," one of my party members replied.
Once again, Verillion charged into the mobs—this time Forest Imps (Level 35)—tiny fairies with normal attacks dealing 300–470 damage. Using a new skill:
Tundra Blast – The caster leaps and smashes their weapon into the ground, dealing 1300 damage (normally 800, but boosted by his buffs).
The Forest Imps were annihilated instantly. Over and over, Verillion wiped them out until we hit Level 30 in no time.
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"You guys are strong enough now to help me with tougher mobs," said Verillion. "It'll be faster if we all work together."
"We're in!" said Jin, a pure Warrior subclass.
I activated Ability Restart again, renewing my buffs. My stats were far beyond what I started with:
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Level 30 – Slicer DM
HP: 2100
Defense: 310
MP: 2000
SP: 2500
Stat Points: 145 (Unallocated)
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 30
Intelligence: 20
Vitality: 25
Speed: 100 (+8%)
Evasion: 88
Weapon Skill: Savage Slash (Level 2) – 500 per slash
AOE Skill: Spinning Malice – 1000 damage
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"All right, ready?" Verillion asked. "Don't worry, I'll handle the aggro. I'm using a charm to boost my mob intimidation rate."
"Let's do this!" we shouted in unison.
Our next targets were Fignars—Level 40 beetle-type monsters the size of a human, high evasion rate, and a Poison Mist skill.
One was followed by a massive Maugnar, its evolved form—Level 50 and much larger.
"Let's try my skill out," I muttered to myself.
"Savage Slash!"
I slashed five times in three seconds, leaving deep gashes in the Maugnar's body. It dropped to 25% HP.
"I'm not done yet!"
I dashed forward and struck its side—a weak point I spotted thanks to my subclass's passive ability Spot, which highlights monster vulnerabilities.
Its HP hit zero. The monster exploded.
"Damn bro, you're a beast!" said Jin.
I glanced toward our party leader. Verillion seemed slightly frowny. Why? I brushed it off.
---
We continued grinding. With my speed and Verillion's AOE, we dominated. Within an hour, we all reached Level 40—enough to unlock a Secondary Subclass.
In EOPH, players unlock secondary subclasses at Level 40, third subclasses at 60, and ultimate subclasses at 80. The level cap was 150, with over 50 Boss Monsters scattered across the maps. Once all bosses are defeated, the Hidden Realm would unlock—a dimension with Level 200 monsters, increasing the player level cap. But for the past three months, it had remained sealed. Few had even reached max level.
"Zeke's gonna be shocked when he sees me in-game," I said with a grin.
We kept grinding until I hit Level 45. It was getting late, so we called it a day.
Back in the main village, we sold off loot and rare drops. We earned a hefty sum of game gold—and I got lucky.
I scored a Rare Weapon:
Erasmus Sword –
Attack: 1500–2000
+25% Attack Speed
+8% Damage Increase
2% Lifesteal
I equipped it immediately.
I also got a full Common Armor Set—black with red stripes:
+500 Defense Rate
Boots: +3% Movement Speed, +2% Evasion each
Gloves: +7% Accuracy
Mask: A white, Jason-style mask with a red slash across the left eye—stylish and intimidating.
For my secondary subclass, I chose Savior, a defense-oriented Blade Master subclass. My new skills were:
Offensive Skills:
Guardian Push
Blade Eruption
Vanishing Strike
Defensive/Buffs:
Hardened Body
Seismic Barrier
Guardian's Blessing (Passive)
We wrapped up the night, added each other as friends, and logged out.
I drifted to sleep instantly.