Return as a God-level Assassin

"As expected, it's Shadow again! The first Gold-tier boss kill was his, and now he's also the first player in the world to reach level 10!"

"Shadow is absolutely insane! And I just heard that he killed some little celebrity multiple times just now!"

"You mean Elias? I saw his post on X—he's talking about buying lifespan! Hilarious! Does that idiot actually think he can take revenge on Shadow?"

"That Elias guy only made it to level 6 because he had dozens of girls escorting him. How does he expect to compare to Shadow?"

…

Across the Great Empire of Ross, players were buzzing about Shadow and Elias's conflict.

Not a single person believed Elias had any chance against Shadow.

As for players from other countries, the name 'Shadow' had now been deeply etched into their minds.

"Ah… shibal! Shadow is actually from the Empire of Ross?"

"Wtf! The highest level player in our nation is only level 7. I refuse to accept this!"

"F*! I, Smith, have the only hidden class in my country, and I'm only level 8! What the hell is up with Shadow?"**

"Are you telling me that among all 1.5 billion people in Indrana, not a single one can keep up with Shadow?"

"I heard this guy from Ross has been solo grinding the entire time, which is why he levels up so fast!"

"Impossible! The mobs in this game are ridiculously hard to kill. How could anyone solo grind and still level this fast?"

Countless people around the world were in shock.

Everyone wanted to know—who exactly was 'Shadow'?

Even the Ross government had begun an undercover investigation.

But for now, no one knew Shadow's real identity.

Firefly Town

After reaching level 10, Riven checked his stats.

[Codename: Shadow]

[Class: Shadow (Unique Hidden Class)]

[Level: 10]

[Non-tradable Lifespan: 1219 years, 128 days]

[Tradable Lifespan: 7455 days]

[Strength: 39]

[Endurance: 39]

[Agility: 111]

[Spirit: 41]

[Reputation: 47]

"Only 7,000 days of tradable lifespan left? Not nearly enough…"

Riven sighed and logged out.

After level 10, the experience required to level up was over ten times higher than before. Grinding mobs alone would take an eternity.

Besides, level 10 was also when players had to spend experience points on Class Advancement.

Advancing a class not only increased base stats but also unlocked exclusive class skills.

For hidden classes, this was especially crucial.

A hidden class's strength depended on the exclusive skills unlocked after each advancement.

"From now on, I either need to hunt bosses or wait for six more players to reach level 10 so I can leave the starter town."

"But before that, I have something to take care of in the real world…"

Riven closed his eyes.

His blurry figure at the Firefly Town coastline slowly faded away…

Riverbay City, Great Empire of Ross

In a regular apartment complex—Building Eleven of Mountain & River Residences, on the 11th floor…

Inside a simple, tidy bedroom, Riven, who had been floating transparently above the bed, began to solidify.

Just as he logged out, a system notification popped up in his vision.

—

[Would you like to spend tradable lifespan to extract your abilities into reality?]

[Yes / No]

—

Riven selected "Yes".

A list of extractable abilities appeared before him:

—

Extract Class & Level

Extract Equipment

Extract Skills

Extract Bloodline (Unavailable for now)

Extract Divinity (Unavailable for now)

—

The first thing to extract was his class.

In Eclipse of Eternity, extracting any class—whether common or hidden—required a fixed cost of 1,000 days of lifespan.

Riven didn't hesitate. He immediately extracted his Unique Hidden Class: Shadow into reality!

—

[You have consumed 1,000 days of tradable lifespan.]

[You have extracted 'Shadow (Unique Hidden Class)' into reality.]

[Your class passive is now active!]

[Strength +3, Endurance +3, Agility +8, Spirit +5!]

—

Next was level extraction.

Extracting levels granted stat boosts in real life, but the attribute distribution remained the same as in the game.

"Before level 10, each level costs a fixed 1,000 days of lifespan to extract."

"Alright then… I'll extract two levels into reality."

—

[You have consumed 2,000 days of tradable lifespan.]

[You have extracted Level x2.]

[Your real-world level has increased to Level 3!]

[Strength +4, Endurance +4, Agility +14, Spirit +4!]

—

He now had 4,455 days of lifespan left.

But what excited Riven the most… was Skill Extraction!

"My talent allows me to evolve skills."

"Normally, the higher the skill rank, the more lifespan it costs to extract—sometimes exponentially more."

"But for me… the cost is based on the skill's initial rank!"

For example, Shadow Step.

It had already evolved to Platinum-rank, meaning it should have cost over 10,000 days of lifespan to extract.

But for Riven, it only required 900 days—the cost of its original Bronze-rank version!

Even better…

Extracted skills would stay synchronized with their in-game counterparts!

If a skill ranked up in Eclipse of Eternity, it would automatically rank up in reality as well—without requiring extra lifespan.

"This is too good."

Riven quickly selected two skills to extract:

—

[You have consumed 900 days of tradable lifespan and extracted 'Shadow Step(Platinum Rank).']

[You have consumed 2,262 days of tradable lifespan and extracted 'Toxic Dagger (Silver Rank).']

—

With these two extractions, Riven was down to 1,292 days of lifespan.

A steep cost, yes.

But the benefits were insane.

In the real world, Riven had been just an ordinary human. Now, his physical stats had doubled compared to normal people.

Especially his speed—he had already surpassed human limits!

With 32 Agility, he could sprint 100 meters in just over 5 seconds!

"Too bad I don't have more tradable lifespan left…"

"But it doesn't matter."

"With these stats… killing Elias will be a piece of cake."

Riven narrowed his eyes.

After surviving nine years in the apocalypse, he had long since grown numb to killing.

He wouldn't let Elias rise to power.

"I just extracted a Platinum-rank skill for the price of a trash-tier one… an absolute steal."

"With my class passive doubling my stealth duration, I can now stay invisible indefinitely."

"And with my Toxic Dagger, which can hit from 14 meters away, I can kill Elias before he even knows I'm there."

The only issue was finding Elias's real-world location.

In his past life, tracking him would've been difficult.

But now? Elias was publicly buying lifespan.

And lifespan transactions had to be done face-to-face.

In other words—his real-world location was basically exposed!

Riven already had a plan…

Riverbay City, Afternoon

Riven opened his eyes.

As his body fully solidified, he clenched his fist, flexing his muscles and adjusting to his new stats.

A smirk appeared on his lips.

"Time to go."

Just as he was about to move, his phone suddenly rang.