Volume One, Chapter Two: Awakening—the Divine-Level Talent "Absolute Defense"

Qingteng University,
Male Dormitory P316.

Since the official launch of "Divine Demon Continent" was set precisely at noon, and Lin Yu and his companion returned to the dorm after 11:30, Lin Yu quickly ate a light meal to fill his stomach and reminded Lin Xin to log in as soon as possible. Then, unable to contain his excitement, he donned his gaming helmet and entered the virtual world.

Lin Xin stared in astonishment; it was the first time he had seen Lin Yu so engrossed in a game. Even Lin Xin himself, a notorious gaming addict, had never been this obsessed.

Lin Yu offered no explanation. From his experience in his previous life, many hidden talents in the game were triggered right at character creation. If someone else claimed them first, the opportunity was lost forever. Therefore, the earlier he logged in, the greater his chances—every second counted.

Upon entering the game, a beautifully rendered promotional animation unfolded before Lin Yu’s eyes. The trailer introduced the game’s storyline and then detailed the seven character classes.

In "Divine Demon Continent," there were seven professions: Knight, Warrior, Mage, Summoner, Assassin, Archer, and Priest, each corresponding to the seven grand temples of the human faction.

[Game server will open in 10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8...]

Shortly after finishing the class introduction, the system’s cold countdown echoed in Lin Yu’s ears. As the timer hit zero, the familiar character creation screen appeared.

“Name: Ji Yu; Class: Warrior.”

Without hesitation, Lin Yu selected the same name and class he had in his previous life. Although the warrior was considered a balanced class, and logically, to show off, he might have chosen a high-damage, burst-oriented class, Lin Yu had his reasons.

He needed to verify a hypothesis—one that might very well determine his future.

[Class selected. Please allocate your free attribute points.]

The system prompted again. At the start of "Divine Demon Continent," players had ten free attribute points to distribute as they wished. Lin Yu took a deep breath.

In the next moment, he dragged all ten points straight into Defense without hesitation!

[System warning: Your allocation is extremely unorthodox. Confirm?]

The system’s prompt appeared again. Although the Warrior class had a shield warrior specialization, that came after a job transfer. Allocating all free points into Defense was extremely rare and unconventional. Defense wasn’t even the warrior’s highest benefit attribute.

To ordinary players, Lin Yu’s choice was downright madness.

“Confirm.”

Ignoring the warning with a hoarse voice like sandpaper scraping, Lin Yu’s eyes fixed tightly on the loading screen, his breathing growing rapid.

When the countdown ended and a new system notification appeared, his tense nerves finally relaxed.

[Congratulations! As the first warrior player to allocate all initial free attribute points into Defense, you have unlocked the god-tier hidden talent: Absolute Defense!]

[Absolute Defense (God-tier): Lv1
Effect 1 (Ultimate Defense): Each time you are attacked by wild monsters, permanently increase your Defense by 0.02. (Note: This effect only applies to wild monsters; damage from players does not trigger it.)
Effect 2 (Retaliation): When attacked by enemies, reflect damage equivalent to 10% of your maximum Defense as true damage.
Proficiency: 0/5000.]

“Did I really guess right?”

Lin Yu stared at the prompt with a relieved smile finally breaking across his lips. He had bet correctly!

Having lived this life again, he had reawakened the god-tier skill!

In his previous life, he triggered this skill because he had heard the game was realistic and caused pain when injured. Afraid of pain, he had put all his points into Defense.

Now reborn, he wasn’t sure if history would repeat itself.

But clearly, he had won the gamble; this rebirth had not altered the course of events.

“With Absolute Defense, I will never be inferior to anyone in this life,” Lin Yu said with excitement, gazing at the game panel.

Despite entering the game months later than others in his previous life, he had been invincible thanks to Absolute Defense, earning the nickname “Iron Turtle.” His greatest feat was defeating an opponent more than twenty levels above him without defeat.

Sadly, he eventually died at the hands of Su Yao due to misfortune. Even so, it proved just how formidable Absolute Defense was.

Now, entering the game at the proper time and armed with prior experience, he could carve out his own path with this skill.

Though thrilled, Lin Yu remained composed.

Among the first batch of players, more than five had awakened god-tier talents. The most famous was Xiahou Qingqing from the Xiahou family, whose talent, “Divine Protector,” allowed summoning high-level pets regardless of level.

At the newbie stage, Xiahou Qingqing’s summoned pets were unmatched, elevating the Xiahou family from the bottom ten clans in Huaxia to the top three.

This was the impact of "Divine Demon Continent."

Hence, major clans spared no effort in investing in this game last time.

Snapping back to the present, Lin Yu habitually opened his attribute panel.

[Name: Ji Yu
Level: 1 (0/100)
Class: Warrior
HP: 100/100
Energy: 50/50
Attack: 7
Magic Power: 2
Defense: 21
Special Attributes: None
Talent/Skill: Absolute Defense (Talent, God-tier) Lv1: Proficiency 0/5000
Warrior Specialization: Attack and Defense attributes increased by 5%
Equipment: Battle Axe (Starter Equipment)]

Aside from Absolute Defense, the attribute panel perfectly embodied the warrior’s balanced nature.

For example, Knights specialized in Ultimate Defense, increasing Defense by 10%. Archers doubled attack speed, Mages gained 10% magic power, and Priests boosted healing by 10%. Warriors, however, only increased Attack and Defense by 5% each.

Despite this, Lin Yu didn’t mind, for Absolute Defense alone was enough for him!

“It’s getting late; time to enter the game.”

Glancing at the time, Lin Yu closed the panel and stepped into the teleportation array ahead.

The gaming helmet allowed only eight hours of online time, and he had already wasted some time creating his character. He couldn’t afford to delay further.

[Ding! You are about to enter Newbie Village No. 332.]

With the system’s prompt, a familiar golden light flashed, and when Lin Yu opened his eyes again, he stood at the entrance of Newbie Village No. 332.

“Already number 332? This game’s popularity is terrifying.”

Hearing the village number, Lin Yu was deeply moved. According to the game’s design, each newbie village could hold only 300 players. Being at Village 332 meant over 99% of the first batch of players were already logged in.

And Lin Yu had logged in early, though a bit late, yet still landed in Village 332—a testament to the game’s craze.

Knowing he was already behind, Lin Yu wasted no time and headed toward the wild monster spawn area outside the newbie village.