Chương 25: The Class-Change Plaza

Reaching Level 10 and entering a tier-three main city meant a player had formally left the novice phase and begun their otherworldly adventure on the continent of Heaven's Descent in earnest. Worth noting: after Level 10, every five levels brought new dungeons to challenge. Inside, monsters were stronger than in the field, but in exchange, gear and item drop rates were steadier—and clearing one earned dungeon points to exchange for powerful dungeon gear.

By clear difficulty, dungeons split into five tiers: Normal, Elite, Hero, King, and Hell. The harder the dungeon, the richer the rewards. Different main cities had different dungeons, designed around each city's backdrop, so players could travel to different cities for different dungeon experiences and distinctive gear. For now, though, everyone was still feeling things out; even Normal-difficulty clear rates were low, never mind higher tiers.

As a mark of strength, dungeon clear-record leaderboards signified a guild's power—so barring surprises, in these next few days the guilds of every main city would go wild over those records. Ryan didn't rush to take Dragon Blood City's hidden quest. First he went to the warehouse keeper to open his private storage, and spent a heap of gold expanding his bag from 20 slots to 100.

For him, a large enough bag was essential: with his Luck now past 60, his drop rate was downright unreasonable, and too few slots would leave him miserable. Mailing items cost gold, after all; mail everything constantly, and the daily total would be staggering. Of course, 100 slots still didn't meet his needs—but for now it was his ceiling. Expanding further took more than gold; he'd need to gather special materials. So it would have to do for the time being.

Notably, Fane's Mystic Spirit Token really was handy, saving him half the bag-expansion fee. Bag upgraded, Ryan jogged toward the Class-Change Plaza to try his luck and see if he could pick up some potent classes. As an exceedingly rare non-combat player across the whole game, he enjoyed the System's favor: six job slots in all. With only the one Mystic Spirit Disciple class so far, he could still take five more non-combat classes.

But he held himself to a strict standard—having decided to walk the elite road, he'd make sure every class he took was formidable. The Class-Change Plaza was a Class-Change Hall south of the Dragon God statue in Dragon Blood City's central plaza. Inside, like a job fair, stood densely packed little stalls, each with a placard listing the classes on offer and a brief description. [Spear Warrior: Wields a spear; swift, fierce attacks, suited to ambush combat. Requirement: Physical Combat Class] Enjoying the story?

Show your support by reading it on the official site. [Shield Knight: Shield in hand, go where you please; astonishing defensive damage reduction. Requirement: Physical Combat Class] [Fire Mage: Specializes in fire magic; explosive attack power. Requirement: Magic Combat Class] [Summoner: Masters summoning arts; can summon contract-beasts to fight. Requirement: Magic Combat Class] … So this was the Class-Change Plaza—a great many classes to choose from, each with its own requirements.

Class faction was only one factor; to take a more specialized class, you had to pass certain assessments. At the low end, that might mean meeting some attribute threshold; at the high end, attributes were merely the entry test, and a whole series of assessment quests followed before the change completed. So claiming a powerful class—or a hidden one—took more than luck alone; you needed exceptional strength to match. Only with both could you stand a chance at a class stronger than the ordinary fare.

Otherwise, you'd be stuck advancing into a plain Warrior, Mage, or Assassin with no real class identity—which would put you at a sizable early-game disadvantage against players with distinctive classes. That was why, on hitting Level 10, many players' first move wasn't to rush a change, but to spend real thought picking a class that fit their attributes and suited them well.

Of course, Ryan viewed the matter through a reborn man's eyes, paired with his own experience; what other players thought was none of his concern. Still, the Class-Change Plaza was quite lively. A tier-three main city governed at least ten surrounding starter villages, so the number of Level 10 players now reaching Dragon Blood City was considerable. In Dragon Blood City alone, over two thousand had hit Level 10—and those in the Class-Change Plaza made up at least half of them.

They wandered like headless flies, dazzled by the countless options. For ordinary players, that is. For a "life-class player" like Ryan, limited to non-combat classes, the choices were vanishingly few. He'd looked over at least twenty class stalls, and without exception, not one suited him.

"Class-changing really is hard labor…" Ryan smiled wryly and glanced around, his head aching at the wide swath of stalls he had yet to check. Going through them one by one would eat half a day—a serious drag on his pace.

"Hello, sir. Is there anything I can help you with?" Just as he stewed, anxious and uncertain, a gentle voice sounded behind him. Hm? He turned—and found a girl in gold-red armor standing gracefully before him, her gaze fixed on him with curiosity. [Lillian Owen: Dragon Blood Warrior, second daughter of the Dragon Blood City Lord. No small strength; currently overseer of the Class-Change Plaza. Level: 35] Lillian Owen? Ryan was startled, his brows snapping together.

An NPC this important—how could she appear here, at this point in time? Was it because of his sky-high Luck? Or… his Charm?

"Sir?" Lillian waved a hand before his face, full of curiosity.

"I'm the overseer here. Is there anything I can help you with?"