Long before the public beta of "Gods and Demons," John Carter had already read the official game information released by the developers. The official website claimed that the greatest appeal of "Gods and Demons" lay in its fairness—if you put in the effort, you would be rewarded. Next was its complexity and variability: for players, online games are always full of unknowns, waiting to be explored. Then there was its intelligent NPC system, as well as a truly realistic gaming experience that felt identical to the real world.

One feature, though cliché, that always excites players is the hidden class system. By triggering certain quests, players can change classes—a rare occurrence, but once it happens, the benefits are enormous.

Each class has five attributes: strength, agility, stamina, magic, and spirit. Every time a player levels up, these attributes increase accordingly, but the growth pattern differs by class. For example, warriors gain more strength, while mages gain more magic. Although the growth options differ, the total number of attribute points gained per level is exactly the same for all classes: before level 30, each level-up grants a total of 12 points.

However, hidden classes get more—they receive 16 points.

So, the earlier you change to a hidden class, the greater the benefits. The official minimum level for class change is level 20. If you can change classes at level 20, that's ideal, but very few players manage to do so, because the class change quest is hard to encounter, and it only takes a few days to go from level 20 to 21.

John Carter is a self-aware person. He managed to reach level 20 among the top 100 players in the entire server, not only because of his own cleverness and hard work, but also due to a bit of luck. Trying to stay in the top 100 before level 30 would be too difficult, and as for the global top ten, that was simply impossible.

This was because John Carter had invested too little money in the early stages of the game, resulting in a significant equipment gap compared to other players.

Of course, the game company developed the online game to make money. From the very beginning, they enabled a system for exchanging in-game currency with real money, at a rate of 100 to 1. Many players exchanged large amounts of real money for in-game currency upon registration, then used that currency to buy equipment obtained by other players.

John Carter's family wasn't well-off. He even hoped to earn some living expenses by playing the game, so he had no extra money to invest. This gap wasn't obvious at the start, since no one had good equipment yet—even if you had money, you couldn't buy anything. But as the game progressed, the equipment gap between John Carter and the wealthy players would only become more and more pronounced.

Continuing like this would mean a life of mediocrity, but John Carter was unwilling to accept that. He wanted to take a gamble—a gamble on the low-probability hidden class. In the early stages of the game, very few people had the patience to do quests, since questing was as slow as a snail for leveling up, so quest scrolls were very cheap.

He bought up large quantities of quest scrolls, had them appraised in bulk at the quest NPC, then analyzed which ones might be hidden quests, and tried to complete them. If it didn't work out, he'd move on to the next one.

In this way, John Carter spent two straight months doing quests.

His roommates, who also played "Gods and Demons" with him, all said he was crazy—putting so much effort into such a low-probability event. In their eyes, it was like selling everything you owned to buy lottery tickets, destined to lose everything.

However, two months later, something happened that left them all stunned: John Carter actually triggered a hidden quest and changed from a rogue to a Ghost Slayer!

Seeing his roommates' jaws drop, John Carter grinned mischievously, and at his request, his roommates gave him a good beating.

Much later, when a cute junior asked John Carter what he was thinking at the time, he replied in a mystical tone, "The official website said the greatest appeal of the game is fairness—if you put in the effort, you get rewarded. Only then come the game's unknowns and advanced technology. Whether you believe it or not, I believed it."

Chapter 002: The Ghost Slayer's Famous Sword

Some people have money, and investing money in "Gods and Demons" is a form of effort. Some people have time, and investing time is also a form of effort. John Carter put in both—he sold everything he owned and went all in, so he deserved some reward.

John Carter made the right bet, though luck played a big part. The so-called Ghost Slayer is a rogue with psychic powers—in essence, a combination of the Controller and Rogue classes.

Ordinary rogues have a spirit attribute that rarely exceeds twenty, but with each level-up, the Ghost Slayer's spirit attribute increases significantly. With psychic powers, you can move objects at a distance, control monsters, use psychic attacks, and more.

Rogues are already skilled in assassination, but if you add remote control and mastery of psychic abilities, reaching a level where you move unseen and everything in the world can be a weapon, then your assassination skills become truly terrifying. That's where the name Ghost Slayer comes from.

John Carter originally wanted to level up quietly, but the opening of a new dungeon and the high rewards for clearing it tempted him. However, he couldn't clear the dungeon alone, so he showed off his skills in the Celestial Sovereign guild and eventually made it into the Celestial Sovereign squad.

Although John Carter was a hidden class Ghost Slayer with great potential, he hadn't had time to level up yet and had only learned the most basic Controller skill, Telekinesis. In terms of combat power, he was hardly worth mentioning in the Celestial Sovereign squad.