GOD FORMULA

14 Down Under!

| Wyrm Mines |

| Zanzibar Forests |

| Outskirts of Troth City |

~Ring! Ring!~

"Hello? Who is it?"

"It's Lia, your Devil Sister!"

"Lia! Oh, my God! How have you been?" 

"Teehee! Lia is doing good, bro. She misses her big brother a lot!"

"Well, my little sister should know that I am away for work purposes." 

"......"

"Are you still there?"

"Why did you really leave, bro? Was it because of mom and dad?"

"Nah. I did not care about their hatred for me. It was not enough to make a major life decision."

"Then, will you come back one day?"

"I will definitely come back to my sister one day, but never to that house."

"Promise?"

"Hmm. Promise."

"Okiesta! Now tell me, did you find a girlfriend in Troth city?"

"Hmph. Why would any girl want to be with me in the first place?"

"Eh? Because you are AWESOME! And based on your recent snap, you are a hottie!" 

"Haha! You are too biased towards me. Okay, Lia, my sweet sis, I gotta go back to work now."

"Okay, fine! But I will call you every weekend."

“Deal.”

“Muah. Buh-bye.”

“Bye, Lia.”

Beep!

Noah disconnected the call on his communicator (com). He missed his foster sister Lia, too. She must have turned fourteen already. Lia was the only one who had mattered to him before-

Before the world changed.

The Trinity Network had transformed the world in an unimaginable way. Its most significant impact had been the rise of guilds, parties, and adventurers. The youth had taken God Vaccine on a large scale, leading to widespread participation. Nobody really understood what God Formula was, but they knew how to play video games. 

Through the eyes of Trinity, G*****a was one big MMORPG.

A user could convert real-world objects into game objects and vice versa. Experience and skills could be gained from completing tasks and missions. Weapons and inventory earned could be kept on the Trinity server and accessed anytime. Leveling up in the game translated to physical and mental transformation.

Noah, an avid gamer, had taken the first leap, joining the network on the very inaugural day. He had meant to lead the system the same way he ruled the Knights of Regia. Incidentally, the administrators had found that he already possessed God Formula Affinity. Also known as God Affinity or GF, the factor determined natural inclination to operate Trinity UI and the likelihood to find and equip new abilities. Research on it was still ongoing.

Noah's GF factor had come out indeterminate. That was very common for those with negligible numbers. Hence, it was overlooked.

So, yeah, the world did change. 

Noah focused on his sole objective.

Leveling Up.

Over the past few months, he had grown from a measly kid to a six-foot-tall, athletic young man. His hair had lengthened to his shoulders, and no matter how many times he cut it short, it grew right back. His intelligence, strength, mana reserve, speed, and other parameters had also increased tremendously.

Noah switched on his device and slid it onto his arm. It was home-crafted, open-ended, and assembled, unlike the standard-issue models of Griffin technologies. The latter was a company set up as a joint venture between the Covenant Government and the private sector to build satellites, raise communication towers, and manufacture armlet devices for the public. The recent advancement was neurochips implanted in the skull so that armlets would become redundant.

Noah went online on the worldwide Trinity Network. 

[ Connecting to Worldwide Trinity Network ]

[ Please Wait… ]

[ Connection Established ]

[ Welcome User: Lovelord ]

[ Human: Level 63 ]

He checked the updated rankings in the database.

[ Trinity User Rankings ]

[[............. 

#1Legion

#2 KKK

#3 Starless

#4 Lovelord

#5 Evangeline 

......................]]

"Still at number four, huh?" Noah wondered whether Legion and KKK had already reached Level 100. Scientists of Griffin Technologies had put forward the theory that a race evolution could happen at the highest level.

"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Noah sat on a ledge in the cavernous mines of Wyrm. Below him was a thirty-foot drop into a Cyclops-ant nest. These were hostile monsters living in the mines and had terrorized miners for centuries. 

An adult cyclops-ant grew up to three feet in height. It was carnivorous and had developed a palate for human flesh. The species was also reported as cannibalistic.

Noah had been dipping into their nests over the past couple of weeks. They served as excellent material for leveling up.

[[ Select Mode ]]

[ Battle Mode ]

[ Research Mode ]

[ Sleep Mode ]

[ Shutdown ]

[ Manual ]

“Battle Mode!”

[[ Choose Weapon ]]

“Hmm. I’ll take these.”

[ Twin Blades ]

A pair of outlandish-looking twin swords appeared in his hands.

"Best of luck, man." A voice said on his com. It was none other than Piper’s.

"Time to level up!" Noah jumped from the ledge, plunging down the thirty feet drop.

[ Dynamic Skill ] [ Lightfoot ] [Activated ]

He landed on the rocky surface with a thud and rolled to a stop.

As soon as he rushed to his feet, a swarm of cyclops-ants surrounded him. 

[ Appraise Monster ]

[ Species: Cyclops Ant ]

[ Level 20: Wyrm Cyclops Ant ]

[ HP: 5000/ 5000 ]

[ Status: Normal ]

Chitter! Chitter! Chitter!

They had large black mandibles, antennae, enormous compound eyes, and foot-long powerful stings that they used to kill prey. Their coloration was black combined with red and yellow with hairy appendages. Both the sting and the teeth on their mandibles were laced with poison. Of course, their Queen had different anatomy, much larger and with unique abilities. However, Noah made sure the Queen was away when he raided a nest. He was strong and leveled up, but a cyclops-ant Queen was over Level 75, and not even Noah could take her on without the support of an adventurer party.

Noah walked through the ants, swinging his arms dexterously. 

Swish! Jab! Clip! Cuff! Smash! Thump! Slam!

The limbs and heads of the ants fell like rain.

[ +35 Exp ] 

[ +35 Exp ] [ +35 Exp ] 

[ Combo Hit! ] [ +200 Exp! ]

The task was effortless, as Noah's level was much higher than the ants. The battle appeared one-sided.

Beep!

“Noah, come in!”

"What is it, Piper?"

The young cyborg sat in a mobile vehicle outside the mine's entrance. His eyes were on an advanced AI screen, taking live, real-time scans of the mine.

"I know this is out of the blue. But get out of there immediately!"

"What? Tell me what's wrong!" Noah was almost done cleaning up the nest.

"The Queen ant! She came back early from her grub collection. She is headed to the nest right now!" Cyclops-ant species did not have worker ants. The Queen did most of the food collection for her children. The older ants also helped. Noah had cleaned up the more significant Level 30 creatures the previous day. 

"Oh, fuckballs!" he exclaimed.

The gamer had to flee immediately, and he looked for an escape route the way he arrived.

The cyclops-ants crowded around him, clouding his line of sight.

Was it an ambush? Surely, the ants did not possess the intelligence to ambush a Trinity User!

Noah ducked and somersaulted out of the horde. He had to make it to the mine wall and climb as if his life depended on it.

After a few acrobatic jumps, he reached the wall. He was about to climb when the system alerted him.

[ Warning! ] [ Monster Proximity ]

Noah kicked back off his soles and jumped away from the wall.

A blob of liquid landed on the wall. The lump hissed and melted the rocks on which it fell.

"Cyclops-acid!" Piper shouted into the com. "Avoid getting hit by it at all costs! It'll melt you like a candle!"

If his system alert and speed were not all leveled up, he would have ended up a mound of molten flesh. 

Noah turned towards the source of the attack in horror.

Buzzz!

A fifteen-foot-tall insect loomed over him, acid dripping from its mandibles.

Piper exaggerated descriptions of monsters most of the time. Still, the creature before Noah right then was something to be terrified of. 

[ Appraise Monster ]

[ Species: Cyclops Ant ]

[ Wyrm Queen Cyclops Ant: Level 75 ]

[ HP: 50000/ 50000 ]

[ Status: Normal ]

[ Fire Resistance ] [ Water Resistance ]

[ Metal Resistance ] [ Magic Resistance ]

[ Acid Tongue ]  

"Oh, fuck! I am screwed!" Noah screamed into his com as a long list of overwhelming stats appeared on his HUD.