Alex winced as he felt the pressure through his armor. He slammed the mace into the wolf's ribs at close range.
Crack! The blow sent the wolf flying backward, landing with a pained yelp.
The alpha staggered to its feet, wobbling. It growled weakly but refused to back down. Alex raised his mace for one final attack. "Stay down this time." He charged forward, delivering a devastating final blow.
[Boss Defeated: Striped Alpha Wolf]
[You get Alpha Pelt x1, Small Gold Coin Pouch]
The remaining wolves, seeing their leader defeated, whimpered and fled into the forest, tails between their legs. Alex rest his mace on his shoulder. A faint glow surrounded him as a notification appeared.
[Level Up! Level 29 → Level 30]
[Loot Collected: Wolf Fang x3, Wolf Hide x5, Alpha Pelt x1, Small Gold Coin Pouch x1]
He shook his arm to ease the lingering ache. "That wasn't so bad," he muttered, glancing at the loot. 'Material and gold, well I will check it later.
Alex returned everything to his inventory, then reached for the corpse—only for it to disintegrate into nothing before he could even touch it. "Hmm... so it's that kind of system," he muttered, narrowing his eyes. He found an empty spot and sat cross-legged, focusing on filtering through the body's memories. 'Name, Jack Rasefield. Born to a mistress of the kingdom's general… What a cliché start.'
After a few minutes, Alex opened his eyes, lips curling into a smirk. This game world was set in a medieval era where slavery ran rampant, and rules meant nothing in front of a noble's whims. But there was a huge difference—every territory had limited resources. To replenish them, they needed to consume an energy called Lithe. Each kingdom acquired Lithe based on its population, but the amount was barely enough to survive. If they wanted to prosper, their only option was to pillage it from enemy kingdoms.
Every time they killed soldiers or destroyed enemy territories, a portion of the enemy's Lithe was absorbed by their own kingdom. Because of this, war never stopped. The majority of able-bodied men were sent to fight, while only a select few remained as farmers, blacksmiths, or other support roles.
As for classes, everyone was assigned one upon reaching the age of 14. According to Jack's memories, it depended on their dedication to God—the more devotion they showed, the better the class they received. But Alex had his doubts. "Sounds like bullshit," he scoffed. "It's probably just pure RNG."
This so-called "God" backing each kingdom was likely nothing more than a machine—some kind of weapon created using Lithe. There was no way Lithe was just for resource renewal. If anything, it was probably the key to unlocking technology, modifying classes, and a bunch of other things. And Alex was willing to bet that only the royal family of each kingdom knew the full truth.
The whole religious system was just another method of control, justifying every single action. From Jack's perspective, class assignments, Lithe, the never-ending wars—all of it was a divine blessing. They were fighting for their gods, spreading their influence through bloodshed.
'How convenient.' Alex also learned that there were ways to upgrade one's class. The first method was to reach level 40 and visit the temple. The second was to find a hidden quest in the wild areas outside the kingdom. "If it were up to me, I'd get the hell out of here and hunt for that hidden quest," he mused.
In every game he played, Alex had always been known as the Whale God. But spending money alone wasn't enough. His true skill lay in finding and monopolizing hidden secrets. Just like in his last game—he bought the hammer that could defeat the apocalyptic dragon, but by the time he used it, the dragon was already weakened from a special quest he had triggered beforehand.
Of course, people still belittled his achievements, chalking everything up to his $$$ spending. "Too bad I can't just leave this kingdom," he sighed.
This body still had a mother back at home—sick, fragile, barely surviving thanks to the priests' regular healing. "I should head back first. Heal her, then plan my next move."
Alex wasn't going to use runes or anything that involved life force. That would risk triggering the system's alarms. He needed to figure out a way to infiltrate the system. Alex speculate they should have a AI-like NPCs managing everything behind the scenes.
With that in mind, he started making his way back to the kingdom. He wasn't worried about anyone questioning his survival. It was rare but not impossible. Everyone in this world had three lives, and sometimes, they could gain extra ones from hidden quests or divine blessings. But people kept that secret—if others knew, they'd just be thrown into even more dangerous situations.
On his way back, Alex looted everything he could. He also took down any monsters he encountered, grinding experience to level up. Each level granted him more stat points, but the distribution was locked to his class. His last level-up had only raised his Strength by one point, while Agility and Intelligence remained unchanged. "Looks like stats only go up every five or ten levels," he speculated.
It didn't take long for Alex to reach Rudwina, the capital of the Evermore Kingdom. As expected, the moment he approached the gate, a guard stepped forward to block his path.
"Who are you? Where's your identity?" the guard demanded, eyes sharp.
"Jack. Survivor soldier. You can ask General Asmon if you need proof," Alex said casually.
The guard narrowed his eyes, then grunted. "Wait here."
He disappeared inside, leaving Alex standing in front of the massive gate. A few minutes later, the sound of chains rattling filled the air as the gate slowly lifted. As Alex stepped through, the guard called out behind him. "You're lucky. The General wants you to report to him tomorrow. Take it easy today."