ALL NOVEL Chapter 19 - Leveling (3)
Chapter 19: Leveling (3)
Yeonwol returned to the city immediately after reaching level 31 by hunting Fried Madwolf.
The destination he headed to was the city library.
This place had a subtle presence of users—some were simply book lovers, while others were gathering information for Eltube content.
Especially noticeable were the mage-class users, as finishing a book would increase their wisdom and mental strength stats.
Of course, this required an overwhelming amount of reading, so only those desperate for stats would be so obsessed with books.
Yeonwol was crazy about stats but had no intention of suddenly halting his level-up journey to increase wisdom or mental strength.
He felt the need to study the anatomy of beasts and monsters.
“I can consider myself somewhat of an expert on human anatomy.”
In his past life, he had studied human transmutation to enhance his own body, so creating transmuted humans wasn’t difficult for him.
Hadn’t he successfully transmuted the Steel-Plated Knight Eltis on his first attempt?
But beasts and monsters were a different story.
Yeonwol also felt the necessity to study animal or monster anatomy extensively.
It would take quite a while.
During that time, he could have raised a few levels through hunting.
But it wasn’t a wasteful investment of time.
Yeonwol planned to use not only humans but also monsters as part of his specter army.
It was an investment for the future.
He sought advice from monster researchers and animal experts at the library and visited monster slaughterhouses.
Slaughtering monsters wasn’t difficult for him.
In his previous life, he had needed to butcher monsters and distinguish edible parts.
While studying, Yeonwol’s decision to upload a video was more of a spur-of-the-moment idea.
“Oh, right. I should upload a video.”
He wasn’t an Eltuber, so he didn’t store videos or upload them as a routine.
It just hadn’t become a habit.
When Yeonwol briefly turned on the internet to upload his video, he belatedly discovered that he had become a subject of controversy.
[Author: Let’s report Yeonwol’s videos to customer service and get them all taken down!]
[Views: 1,912,712 / Likes: 12,123]
Seeing this, Yeonwol chuckled.
If people knew this game was essentially another reality, they wouldn’t be making such claims about “hacks” and whatnot.
There were many minor bugs, like errors in system text displays, but hacks that directly affected reality didn’t exist.
Even gods couldn’t create such things.
“Ignorance isn’t a sin.”
However, the moment that ignorance is used to impose on others, it becomes one.
“If they’ve already collectively reported me to customer service, there’s no need for me to respond. They’ll handle it.”
Yeonwol coolly closed the community page and uploaded his video.
In other words…
Members of the Edit community assumed Yeonwol uploaded his video either to explain the so-called hack or to achieve some intended goal after the controversy had peaked.
But in truth, he had simply forgotten to upload it earlier!
[Author: Yeonwol just posted a new video!]
A few who had set alerts for Yeonwol’s Eltube channel reported this to the community, and within minutes of uploading, the view count soared to tens of thousands.
Those who caught wind of it late, as well as self-proclaimed “Elthera World analysis experts,” began streaming live to dissect Yeonwol’s video for their content.
As a result, within an hour, the video comfortably surpassed 5 million views and stirred up immense buzz.
[Author: Attention, damage analysis expert Eltuber here! Let’s watch Yeonwol’s video in real-time and analyze it together.]
Eltube videos, even in first-person perspective, didn’t display all buffs and skills.
Because his stats and skills were shrouded in mystery, viewers could only speculate about the power of specific skills and attributes by observing the damage output.
Of course, there were limits to such analysis.
If buffs and passive skills were deliberately hidden, damage calculations became meaningless.
In party hunts, support buffs and their levels of mastery had to be considered, allowing rankers to freely include hidden skills in their videos.
After all, no amount of analysis could reveal the true identity of a skill!
Yeonwol’s case, however, was different.
Since he wasn’t party hunting and was at a low level, many assumed he didn’t have many hidden buffs or skills.
They believed they could deduce his stats and skills based on the video.
[Author: Something feels off.]
Users watching Yeonwol’s video were bewildered.
[Author: The damage seems strong yet oddly weak.]
Indeed, while Yeonwol’s stats were extraordinarily high, leading to impressive damage, the problem lay in the lack of passive skills unique to the swordsman class, making all his damage consistent.
[User102: Don’t swordsmen usually trigger a power attack about 10% stronger once every five hits?]
└[User107: Exactly. And he’s not even using any swordsman skills—only hidden skills.]
└[User148: But even taking that into account… isn’t he way too strong?]
When attacking normally, his passive skills didn’t activate, and he wasn’t using basic swordsman skills, so his damage seemed unusually low.
But every time he used the hidden skill Sea-Splitting Blade, the damage spiked to an astonishing degree.
Even the boss-level Madwolf in the 70-level range was staggered heavily by a single strike of his skill!
Since critical hits were guaranteed every time the hidden skill was used, the high damage made sense.
[Author: Something’s definitely off. The passive not activating during basic attacks and the critical hits only occurring during skill usage—it’s all strange.]
Yeonwol’s swordsmanship was so unusual, from the damage to the lack of skill activations, that suspicions grew even stronger.
Could it be a hidden class?
A class that sacrificed normal attack damage for concentrated skill damage might explain it.
But even considering that, his monster hunting speed was absurdly fast for his level—unreasonably so.
There had been a few instances where videos of lucky players obtaining A-rank hidden classes as beginners were leaked, but none had been as overwhelming as Yeonwol.
[Author: Yeonwol confirmed to be using hacks. This doesn’t make sense at all.]
└[User12: What kind of confidence made Yeonwol think uploading this video was a good idea?]
└[User106: Right? It’ll just get taken down if it’s proven to be a hack.]
Public opinion worsened further.
As the atmosphere solidified around the conclusion that Yeonwol was indeed using hacks, even neutral rankers and notables began to weigh in.
[Eltio: After reviewing Yeonwol’s videos thoroughly, I can say with certainty that it’s a hack. Disappointing, to say the least.]
[Views: 907,793 / Likes: 10,437]
For famous rankers, even brief posts garnered massive views and likes.
[User713: If Eltio from the Verkil Guild says it’s a hack, it’s game over for that user.]
└[User1073: Yeonwol won’t ever step into this game again.]
Among those criticizing Yeonwol were individuals who had gained fame by writing comprehensive guides, as well as those known for their unique hunting content and in-depth analyses.
With all these knowledgeable and sharp-minded notables concluding that Yeonwol was using hacks, public opinion seemed set in stone.
Even then, Yeonwol hadn’t posted a single explanation or response.
But the controversy was unexpectedly resolved by someone else entirely.
[Velkiri: This is Velkiri from the Calisodia Guild. Let’s fact-check the claims about Yeonwol’s alleged hack.]
A world-class top-tier high-ranker swordsman, well over level 200, had appeared!
Known for her popularity both in the game and in reality as a kendo prodigy, the Korean user Song Yeon-Ju stepped forward, referencing her own videos.
[Velkiri: This is a video taken by Song Yeon-Ju, a promising member of our guild, when she was level 60. At the time, she didn’t even have stat allocations for critical hits, yet over 70% of her attacks landed as critical hits using only basic swordsmanship skills. When I asked her directly, she said that by focusing and only aiming for gaps, every attack could potentially land as a critical hit.]
Velkiri edited and cross-played videos of Yeonwol and Song Yeon-Ju.
First, Yeonwol’s video.
Yeonwol usually conserved his skills, only using them when the wolf exposed a large opening, ensuring he struck its weak points. In such cases, it was inevitable for critical hits to occur!
By freezing such scenes and adding captions for explanation, even users unfamiliar with critical hits could easily understand.
The same applied to Song Yeon-Ju.
She only cast skills after the opponent revealed a gap following a large motion, and every time, a critical hit occurred.
[User237: Wow… So that’s how you trigger critical hits.]
[User471: Even if I know, I can’t pull it off.]
Cross-checking every single attack from Yeonwol through editing confirmed the point. Watching the slow-motion analysis revealed just how precise and accurate his swordsmanship was!
Of course, some users nitpicked even amidst such analysis, criticizing Yeonwol’s swordsmanship skills.
[User1078: Then what about not using swordsmanship skills at all? If it’s not a hack, this kind of strange fighting style doesn’t make sense.]
Upon seeing such comments, Velkiri sighed deeply before responding.
[Velkiri: I’m not teaching elementary school students… Do you seriously not understand? He doesn’t use sword skills because he isn’t in the swordsman class. ♡91,124]
Her reply garnered over 90,000 likes and spread across various communities.
One simple fact, obvious yet overlooked.
It was the possibility that while Yeonwol wielded a sword, he might not be a swordsman!
[User1687: Wow, that’s true… Considering he only uses hidden skills, it’s possible he didn’t class-change into a swordsman. It’s not a hack-induced bug but genuinely a lack of skills.]
[User2017: So you’re telling me someone not even a swordsman soloed a level 70 boss with a sword?]
Until now, people had naturally assumed Yeonwol was a swordsman.
Since the tutorial boss stage, Yeonwol had used bladed weapons, and even during the Kaladoro hunt, though the sword was more ornamental, he still wielded it.
Using a sword equates to being a swordsman.
That assumption was deeply ingrained.
But exceptions existed.
Considering there were often rankers who wielded swords as secondary weapons without being in the swordsman class, Yeonwol using a sword wasn’t particularly strange.
[User671: Then what’s this person’s class…?]
Before the debate over Yeonwol’s class could ignite further, Velkiri firmly established her stance.
[Velkiri: Those without skill wouldn’t notice, but Yeonwol’s swordsmanship is incredibly precise. Such actions can’t be executed even with helper hack programs. VR helpers are limited to dodging and hitting simply. Seeing such refined movements and calling it a hack? Surely, you’re joking, right?]
[User71: Now that you mention it, VR helpers in previous games were trash-tier, weren’t they?]
[User109: But doesn’t Song Yeon-Ju’s swordsmanship seem similar to Yeonwol’s?]
└[User137: I felt the same.]
Velkiri subtly put down those criticizing Yeonwol.
‘Shut up, amateurs! Only true masters recognize mastery!’
As one of the rankers in the strongest existing guild directly spoke up, the hack debate began tilting in Yeonwol’s favor.
Even rankers with real-life martial arts certifications started defending her, and public opinion completely reversed.
It wasn’t just because she was a big name. By presenting precise evidence and logically explaining her points, her argument left no room for refutation!
[Author: Just because they’re rankers? How do you know they aren’t aware of hacks?]
Of course, there were those who stubbornly criticized with baseless arguments, claiming there might be hacks even rankers didn’t know about.
However… A few days later.
When thousands of users who reported Yeonwol for hacking received the same response from customer service and a second unprecedented official announcement was made, the controversy ended.
[To challengers traveling across the continent of Elthera, greetings.
Based on the video attached to the link, we reviewed the suspected hacking of user code nickname ‘Yeonwol#0104’ and confirmed no use of illegal programs.
Thank you.]
In the end, Yeonwol did nothing, yet the public opinion kept spinning in circles with twists and turns.
Naturally, the end for those who bashed Yeonwol wasn’t pretty.
[Author: Sharing the game nicknames of those who bashed Yeonwol.jpg]
Content: Spent every day capturing hundreds of names and tracking them. Enjoyed blaming someone for hacks, didn’t you? Time to clear your karma. ㅇㅇ
└[User41: Repten? Is that person on the list too? Weren’t they famous for critical hit guides? And yet, they disgracefully attacked a newbie?]
└[User79: For real, I liked reading their guides, but this is just pathetic…]
The people who criticized Yeonwol couldn’t show their faces anymore, while those who defended him were hailed as ‘experts capable of recognizing true masters.’
Attempting to crush a rising star only backfired spectacularly!
The dislike-bombed videos on Yeonwol’s Eltube skyrocketed in views. Likes and subscribers increased significantly, naturally. With the community ablaze, his fame soared severalfold.
For nearly a week of game time, debates and controversies centered around Yeonwol’s name lit up the community, yet…
Yeonwol himself was busy learning monster anatomy at the library and slaughterhouse.
[You have acquired the special skill ‘Basic Butchery’!]
[You have gained a profound understanding of monster anatomy.]
[Critical hit rate and damage against studied monsters have increased!]
[Intelligence +3, Mental Power +1!]
There was no time to spend all day browsing the community.
At most, he’d occasionally check updates and information during breaks.
Every second had to be spent grinding or studying to build his stats and knowledge.
After a week.
With minimal sleep and intensive study of monster anatomy, Yeonwol finally realized he had reached a certain level of expertise.
‘I can now transmute Freed Mad Wolf.’
His short-term goal was to command two quasi-boss-grade spirits and solo a level 70 dungeon that ordinary level 30 players couldn’t even attempt.
Of course, he could wait until he was stronger to challenge such dungeons, but…
‘In a few days, that dungeon will be cleared by another party. I must claim the first clear reward before then.’
For a mere level 70 dungeon, the loot was unusually rare. Yeonwol had no intention of missing out.