When Qin Feng made his choice, the gray-white wheel before him began to turn.
It spun faster and faster, until the air itself seemed to tremble. The space around him rippled like disturbed water.
A faint, ethereal tick… tick… tick echoed through the darkness as the pointer slowed, gradually coming to rest over an area marked only by a single question mark.
Qin Feng's pupils shrank. "A hidden class?"
The moment the pointer stopped, the question mark began to distort, twisting into an eerie black symbol, a shape reminiscent of the Greek letter φ, yet more sinister. Its upper and lower ends tapered into blades, sharp and cold, dripping with killing intent.
Then, the voice of the system, ancient and divine, rang out:
[Congratulations. You have obtained the Unique Hidden Class — SHADOW.]
[Shadow: Born of darkness and Light, you are its Incarnation. You are the unseen, the hand of death itself.]
Class Passives:• Stealth Duration ×2 • +1 Stealth Level • When attacking outside the enemy's line of sight, damage ×2
The grey light faded, replaced by stillness.
Qin Feng stood frozen, heartbeat pounding like war drums in his chest.
"Unique… Hidden Class."
Then a grin broke across his face, cold and maniacal.
"This Class… it's made for solo play!"
He recalled some memories from his past life. Rumours of a player who had obtained the class Shadow, but died early, before anyone could uncover its true power.
Now that Class belonged to him.
The passives alone were monstrous: double stealth time, boosted stealth level, and double damage when attacking unseen. In a game where lifespan itself was the currency of survival, this meant everything.
"Survivability… that's the real key," he murmured.
In his previous life, people had fought, farmed, and died in confusion. Only later did humanity realise the truth:
In the God Forsaken Game, death meant losing half of your remaining lifespan. And if your lifespan reached zero, you didn't just die in the game. You died in reality too; your existence erased.
Life became the new currency. Monsters dropped years. Players bartered days and decades like gold. And death… was bankruptcy.
"To survive is to live. To live is to rule," Qin Feng whispered the mantra that had marked its place in the soul of every human in his previous life.
And now, as a Shadow, his existence was built for survival..... and slaughter.
"Double damage from stealth… this is a godsend for me."His tone hardened. "Even the tankiest Warrior can't survive if they never see the blade coming."
He summoned his interface. The air before him shimmered with the System Interface, revealing two glowing icons.
[Initial Skills]• Shadow Cloak (Inferior): Enter stealth for 8 seconds. Attacking breaks stealth. Upon exit, Attack Power +30 for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
• Backstab Enhancement (Inferior): Passive — attacks from behind deal +10% damage.
Qin Feng scanned them, nodding."Low-tier, but that's normal. Everyone starts somewhere."
Then his eyes gleamed. "Wait. My class doubles stealth duration… that's already 16 seconds of invisibility."
He paused, calculating. "With a 30-second cooldown, that's not quite infinite stealth…" He clicked his tongue. "A pity."
But the thought barely left his mind before a new notification appeared, pulsing with that same divine grey light as before.
[The Authority of Judgment activates.]
[Talent is being assigned…]
The void around Qin Feng shook, trembled. A sight which even Qin Feng was witnessing for the first time. Then,
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Talent — Infinite Evolution.]
Infinite Evolution (Primal Level, Gray-White): When you kill monsters in a solo state, you gain a chance to obtain Evolution Points, which can be used to evolve your skills.• Automatically generate +5 Evolution Points every 24 hours.• Killing a Boss-level monster solo guarantees Evolution Points.• Current Evolution Points: 5
Qin Feng blinked. "Gray-white quality… Primal Level?"
For the first time since awakening, he was caught off guard.
He had expected Immortal-grade. But "Primal"? He had never even heard of it.
And gray-white?
"Are you kidding me…?" he muttered.. This wasn't the dull grey of mediocrity. This was the colour of Origin, the void before light.
"Let's see what you can do."
He focused on Shadow Cloak, and an option appeared beside it:
[Evolve Skill — Cost: 1 Evolution Point.]
"Let's try it."
He confirmed.
[You have consumed 1 Evolution Point. 4 remaining.]
[Shadow Cloak (Inferior → Normal): Stealth 8 → 12 sec, Attack Bonus +30 → +60, Cooldown 30 → 28 sec.]
The upgrade completed in a burst of faint grey sparks, and for the first time, Qin Feng tasted the sweetness of his talent. An occurrence that would become frequent in the future.
Qin Feng's eyes widened."Stealth time increased again… 12 seconds doubled is 24. That's already most of the cooldown."
A thrill of adrenaline surged through him. "Keep going."
[You have consumed 2 Evolution Points. 2 remaining.]
[Shadow Cloak (Normal → Bronze): Stealth 12 → 16 sec, Attack Bonus +60 → +90, Cooldown 28 → 26 sec.]**
The shadows around him stirred, clinging to his form like living smoke. His outline flickered, fading and returning as if reality itself struggled to hold him.
"Sixteen seconds of stealth… doubled to thirty-two."
His lips curved upward.
"That's longer than the cooldown."
His eyes flashed with predatory light.
"Infinite Stealth."
Every time he vanished, his timer reset before reappearing. And every reappearance came with a +90 attack bonus, doubled when unseen.
"That's 180 extra attack…" he murmured, stunned. "In the early stages, that's devastating."
He could already visualise it, slipping into shadow, striking from behind, disappearing again before his target even fell. An endless dance of death.
The shadows coiled tighter, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Qin Feng clenched his fist, feeling the power settle in his body.
"Primal-level… Infinite Evolution. You're not just a simple talent at all, are you?"
His gaze burned brighter than ever.
"A Hidden Class, a Primordial Authority, and a Primal Talent. This time, I won't just survive. I'll thrive, I'll reign over the shadows of this world, until gods themselves kneel before me."
And with that vow, the void around him stirred, bowing in silence.