The initial low attribute points were acceptable to Ye Yun, as Tian Dao directly allowed the purchase of attribute points with real currency. The price, however, was quite staggering: one free attribute point cost a whopping 100,000 silver dollars.
As for talents, everyone started at D-level. To upgrade, money was also required. For example, upgrading from D-level to C-level cost 10,000 silver dollars, but an increase in level after upgrading would grant 6 free attribute points, double that of a D-level.
However, the cost to upgrade from C-level to B-level was terrifying, twenty times the previous upgrade cost! And so on!
Initially, some people suspected this was a money-grabbing scheme by the game developers, as the model was truly frightening.
Their concerns were allayed only when the central governments of various countries announced that for every amount of money deposited into the game, an equivalent amount of in-game gold would be generated. This gold would be distributed across different aspects of the game, including monster drop rates, thus dispelling their worries.
After all, hundreds of countries worldwide were backing this.
Ye Yun pondered for a moment, then looked at his innate divine ability. The four words "unique in the entire server" at the end immediately suggested it would be incredibly powerful. This somewhat soothed Ye Yun's restless heart.
In his previous life, his innate divine ability was the legendary "Physical Defense Doubled!" Though he was a fragile mage, he could stand toe-to-toe with ordinary warriors.
As for innate divine abilities like "Gold Touch," even with three years of experience from his past life, Ye Yun had never even heard of it.
This was a god-tier skill for the early game, but almost useless in the late stages due to its extremely long cooldown. However, it could reduce the cooldown by killing monsters ten levels higher than oneself. This was practically impossible, as the highest level monster in the beginner village was only level 10, and players could not leave the beginner village until they reached level 10. The same applied to the towns and villages.
Unless…
Ye Yun thought of an event from his past life.
"Ding, the game has officially begun! Do you wish to enter?"
"Enter!"
Ye Yun's vision immediately went black, and he found himself in a dilapidated small mountain village. At this moment, tens of thousands of white lights flashed, turning the once quiet village into a bustling scene.
"Tian Dao! I want to top up. Transfer all the balance from my 'My Agriculture is Great' card into gold coins!"
As soon as he entered the game, the first thing Ye Yun did was top up all the money from the card he had left with Mu Yun.
Although he could re-issue and report the card lost at the bank, the waiting time was too long.
Especially now, with Tian Dao integrated with real-world finance, the banks were already crowded with people who were uneasy.
"Ding... Top-up successful. 1.66 million gold coins have been credited to your account."
In less than two seconds, 1.66 million gold coins appeared in his inventory, allowing Ye Yun to exhale lightly.
1.66 million gold coins seemed like a lot, but it was only enough to purchase 16 free attribute points. For Ye Yun, who only had one attribute point initially, this would at least significantly boost his strength.
However, with an innate divine ability like "Gold Touch," Ye Yun would be a fool to spend it all on attribute points.
"Upgrade Talent!"
"Ding, 10,000 gold coins deducted. Talent upgraded to C-level! Current free attribute points gained per level up: 6."
"Ding, 200,000 gold coins deducted. Talent upgraded to B-level! Current free attribute points gained per level up: 12."
His talent upgraded two levels in an instant. After using the remaining gold to purchase 14 more free attribute points, Ye Yun looked at his innate divine ability again and grinned.
"Congratulations, player! You have used your innate divine ability to upgrade your talent to A-level. Current free attribute points gained per level up: 24. 'Gold Touch' skill cooldown: 1 hour."
Hearing the system's prompt, Ye Yun's eyes lit up. He had originally thought such a overpowered innate divine ability would have a very long cooldown, but he never expected the initial cooldown to be only one hour.
How were others supposed to play? Telling them that his talent could upgrade just by playing would surely drive them crazy.
Keep in mind that upgrading talent from D-level to A-level cost a total of 4.21 million gold coins. More importantly, after an hour, his talent could upgrade again, reaching S-level, his peak talent value from his previous life.
What was the concept of S-level talent? That was over 80 million gold coins. In the early game, no big spender would dare to upgrade their talent so drastically.
With this thought, Ye Yun was no longer in a hurry. Every upgrade of an A-level talent granted 24 free attribute points, while S-level talent granted a staggering 48 free attribute points per level. Ye Yun wouldn't miss out on this opportunity, saving himself 2.4 million silver dollars.
"Holy cow, this game is such a rip-off! A normal level one 'Cute Rabbit' in the beginner village requires over ten attacks to kill. My three-person party got one of us killed by a level one Cute Rabbit! Tell me, where is the 'cute' in this rabbit?"
"Tell me about it. I've figured it out, this game is all about making us spend money."
"Spending money is fine! The problem is, I can't even afford one attribute point with all my assets combined. I thought I could come here and make some money to improve my life, but now I've even lost this week's meat money."
"Are you eating dragon meat? That costs 100,000 yuan."
…
While Ye Yun was lost in his own thoughts, countless players were constantly complaining. Hundreds of millions of players flooded the official game forums, spewing profanities.
However, they received no official response because, after Tian Dao was activated, Tian Dao had already taken over the game and the forums.
Player attack power in the beginner stage was generally around 10 points, while level one monsters had 100 HP and 3 to 5 defense. A two-person party could barely damage them.
Therefore, besides spending money to buy attributes, the only option for players was to team up. To defeat a Cute Rabbit without casualties, a party of at least five people was required.
Ye Yun sat at the entrance of the village, watching the milling crowds with a smile.
Whether in reality or in the virtual world, the wealthy were always the masters. Especially since this game was a reflection of reality.
With its integration with real-world finance, in-game gold would eventually become real-world electronic currency. Thus, as soon as Tian Dao launched, it attracted the attention of many influential figures. Many of them were even diverting funds and actively recruiting players to join.
Ye Yun looked at his attributes, pondered for a moment, and then added 7 attribute points to his HP. The remaining 10 points were all added to his attack power. This brought his HP to 100 points, and with his original 2 attack points, it reached 10.
Due to the increase in his own attributes, his companion beast, the Black Ant, also had its HP increased to 150 points. However, its physical attack power was only 8 points. Although its attack power was a few points lower than a level one monster, its HP far surpassed it.
This companion beast was quite awkward. Its HP increase was 1.5 times that of its master, while its attack power was 0.8 times the master's magic attack, clearly designed to keep its master busy.
However, as a reincarnator, would Ye Yun, who possessed the god-tier skill "Gold Touch," be content to be a mere support player?
That was clearly impossible.
Half an hour later, the area outside the beginner village was practically overcrowded. Often, a Cute Rabbit would be instantly obliterated by several parties as soon as it spawned, dying before it even knew what happened.
"Hey, buddy, what's your class? Wanna team up?" Amidst the bustling crowd at the village entrance, someone suddenly stood in front of Ye Yun and, seeing him alone, asked.
Ye Yun glanced at the crowded wilderness and smiled before declining. What a joke. Hundreds, even thousands, of people fighting over a single monster, and even if they got it, they would only gain one experience point.
It took 100 experience points to go from level 1 to level 2. At the current rate, leveling up once in five hours would be considered good.
Of course, a small number of people were already heading towards the level 2 monster zone, and some were even heading towards the level 5 monster zone. These people were either fools or the legendary money-spenders, who had directly topped up their accounts to raise their attributes to a high level, allowing them to get a head start.
In his previous life, there was a formidable player in his beginner village who dared to solo the level 8 monster zone right from the start. Later, he learned that the player was a member of the national team and had initially funded the game with one hundred million!
After deducting the cost of upgrading his talent three times, the rest was used to purchase over 950 attribute points. His strength was beyond imagination.
As Ye Yun waited idly, an hour quickly passed. He stood at the village entrance, trying his best to recall any high-end quests or boss monsters in the beginner village.
"Congratulations, player! You have used your innate divine ability to upgrade your talent to S-level. Skill cooldown: 2 hours."
Looking at the cooldown time, Ye Yun was overjoyed.
Would Ye Yun be satisfied?
How could that be possible? It was just two hours. He had another six months to live, he could wait!
With this thought, Ye Yun directly set himself to idle. He set an alarm and closed his eyes to rest.
This was a game that absolutely required spending money. In Ye Yun's previous life, besides essential living expenses, everything else was used to improve his strength.