Sersei loosed her final arrow with practiced precision. The Moss Guardian staggered backward, its stone body crumbling as bits of glowing green moss scattered across the forest floor. A notification shimmered into existence before her eyes:
【SYSTEM NOTICE】 Experience gained: 340 Level Up! You are now level 10 Attribute points available: 5 Skill points available: 1
"Finally!" Sersei pumped her fist in the air, allowing herself a rare moment of celebration. Ten days of grinding, precisely on schedule according to her meticulously planned leveling route. She'd even shaved six hours off her projected timeline by discovering that Moss Guardians dropped 15% more experience during rainstorms.
She ducked behind a massive tree trunk and opened her interface to allocate her hard-earned points. Her current stats glowed before her:
Strength: 8 Dexterity: 27 Constitution: 15 Intelligence: 2 Wisdom: 2 Luck: 10
Perfect progression so far. Two more levels and she'd be wielding the Windwhisper Bow, a level 12 rare craftable : She had already gathered all the craftable mats required.
"Five more dex" she muttered, reaching toward the glowing plus sign next to the attribute.
Her interface flickered, just for a millisecond. A drop of rainwater had fallen through the canopy, passing through the holographic display. Sersei blinked away the moisture and tapped what she thought was the dexterity row.
The system chimed pleasantly.
Intelligence: 7 (+5)
Sersei froze, her finger still hovering in the air. She blinked rapidly, certain she was misreading.
"No. No no no NO!"
She frantically tapped the display, trying to undo the allocation. A red error message pulsed in response:
【ERROR】 Attribute points already allocated. Changes cannot be undone.
"This can't be happening," Sersei whispered, her voice barely audible over the gentle patter of rain. "Five points. FIVE POINTS in INTELLIGENCE?!"
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She slumped against the tree trunk, pulling up her character planning spreadsheet with trembling fingers. She stared at the Windwhisper Bow's stat requirements:
Windwhisper Bow (Rare) Level Requirement: 12 Dexterity Requirement: 32 +18% Critical Hit Chance +25% Damage vs. Airborne Targets Unique Passive: Arrow velocity increases by 5% per 10 yards of distance
At her current progression, she would only have 27 dexterity at level 12. Five points short.
"My entire plan is RUINED!" she wailed, startling a nearby flock of pixel-birds. "An entire level of having suboptimal gear!"
Her chat notification pinged.
【CHAT: Mom】 How's the leveling going, sweetheart? Just checking in as promised. Dad wants to know if you've used any of the health potions yet. Love you!
Sersei ignored it. This was a disaster. She was about to lose so much time just because of a stupid bug.
She pulled up her mental map of Eonia. The Labyrinth of Reflection in northern Ashenreach was her only hope for a restat. But that was a level 30 zone, and the dungeon itself required a full party to complete.
She'd planned to tackle it at level 35, once she'd joined the Crimson Vanguard guild as outlined in step 47 of her 103-step progression plan.
Her chat pinged again.
【CHAT: Mom】 Sersei? Are you there? Please respond or we're sending out a search party.
【CHAT: Mom】 Sersei? Are you there? Please respond or we're sending out a search party.
【CHAT: Mom】 Sersei? Are you there? Please respond or we're sending out a search party.
With a sigh, Sersei opened the chat window.
【CHAT: Sersei】 All good mom.
She couldn't bear to tell them about the misallocation. They wouldn't understand the severity, they'd probably say something maddeningly reasonable about how five intelligence points didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.
But they did matter. The Windwhisper Bow mattered. Her entire carefully crafted build mattered.
Sersei pulled herself to her feet, checking her equipment durability and remaining arrows. She'd have to completely rework her progression path now. The Twilight Glade dungeon she planned to do in loop once she hit level twelve was now undoable without the windwhisper damage against airborne targets.
And she wouldn't party: She hated parties... Cooperation was usually inefficient, and most beginners were too casual for her.
As she set off through the rain-soaked forest, a new notification appeared:
She pulled up the GOD-INTERFACE forums on a separate window as she walked, frantically searching for alternatives. Maybe there was a gear allocating dexterity bonuses she could use at level 12? Or perhaps a questline that rewarded bonus attribute points?
Twenty more levels until she could fix this catastrophe.
And all because of one stupid raindrop.
