Chapter 37: The Mystery of Vocations

"As we discussed earlier regarding the difference between chores and professions, whether you are a hunter, a blacksmith, a lumberjack, or a woodcutter, these are merely [chores] rather than [professions]. You need to distinguish this clearly.

The degree of freedom in this game is extremely high, and it does not strictly limit the types of skills a player can learn.

In other words, theoretically, you can learn any type of skill as long as the conditions are met.

However, there is indeed a system of professions.

The purpose of a profession is primarily to provide additional perks and exclusive professional quests.

Players truly obtain a [profession] only when they reach level 10, at which point the system generates one for them.

The system provides a choice of selectable professions based on the player's gaming experiences prior to reaching level 10—typically a choice of three. The specific options depend on how you leveled up through those ten levels and which skills you have learned.

If you used a sword to kill monsters and gain experience, then upon reaching level 10, there is a high probability that the system will roll a sword-wielding profession, such as a swordsman, a blade master, or a wandering hero.

As you mentioned earlier, you have axe weapon mastery. If you were to use axes in combat to slay monsters and level up, the system would likely generate a class like a battle axe fighter or a mountain splitter.

However, since you have now also learned archery, if you predominantly use bows and arrows to kill monsters, the game will most likely offer you an archer-type profession.

In short, your primary combat experiences before reaching level 10, along with your most proficient combat skills, will determine the available professions generated for you at level 10.

Therefore, if there is a specific profession you wish to pursue, you must frequently use that particular type of weapon and its corresponding skills in combat to avoid ending up without the profession you desire."

Xiao Jie listened with a sense of astonishment, never expecting the game's profession system to be designed in such an unconventional and distinctive manner.

Fortunately, he learned about this in advance; otherwise, if he had carelessly experimented with various weapons without paying attention during the leveling process, heaven knows what kind of random profession might have been rolled.

Typically, online games strive for balance in their character classes, doing everything possible to avoid creating classes that are overly overpowered or excessively weak. Even so, every game inevitably has stronger classes—commonly referred to as the "meta"—and weaker classes, often dubbed the "sewer tiers."

According to what Wang Kai had mentioned previously, the professional imbalance in this game was even more pronounced. If one were to be stuck with three garbage professions to choose from, it would truly be heartbreaking.

Fortunately, he had learned the rules in advance.

Trading that ebony sword for information to I Desire Immortality had definitely been worth it.

"I see!" I Desire Immortality exclaimed in sudden enlightenment. "Then if I want to transition into a magic-based class, how should I go about it? Do I have to use spells to kill monsters and level up?"

Ye Luo replied, "Logically speaking, that is indeed the underlying principle. But to learn spells, you must first encounter a similar stroke of luck, and such encounters are often elusive and entirely dependent on chance. That is precisely why magic-based professions are so difficult to acquire.

Of course, there is a more opportunistic method as well. For instance, there was once a wealthy whale who spent tens of millions to buy up a massive stack of talismans, and then used those talismans to hunt monsters and grind levels. Eventually, he successfully unlocked the Talisman Master profession, which barely counts as a magic-based class."

Upon hearing this, I Desire Immortality gasped in disbelief. Tens of millions, just to barely scrape by! Although his brother had left him some money, it amounted to only around one million, making such a method completely out of the question for him.

As for Xiao Jie, he didn't even entertain such a playstyle for a moment.

He still had a certain degree of confidence in unlocking a magic-based profession. Up to this point, he had already encountered two lucky serendipities.

Even though one of them had been triggered by I Desire Immortality.

Still, generally speaking, these lucky encounters didn't feel overwhelmingly impossible to come by.

Combined with his gaming skill and the luck of I Desire Immortality, an opportunity would eventually present itself.

As long as it was a game, it had rules that could be deciphered. Backed by his decade of professional gaming experience, he was confident in cracking this puzzle.

I Desire Immortality, however, asked another question, "Then if I fail to roll a magic-based profession at level 10, does that mean I'm completely out of luck?"

"Not necessarily. This game reassigns professions to players every 10 levels, so there are still opportunities at level 20, 30, 40, and 50.

However, the further you progress into the later stages of the game, the harder leveling becomes—primarily because the monsters are exceptionally powerful, while players only have one life. You cannot mindlessly grind mobs for experience like in ordinary games.

Consequently, reaching level 30 is already considered high-tier, and level 40 players are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. The vast majority of players remain stuck in the teens and twenties, making every single opportunity to acquire a profession exceptionally precious."

Hearing this, Xiao Jie suddenly thought of a question.

"Is there any connection between the professions generated at each milestone? For example, if I choose to become a swordsman at level 10, and continue to use a sword to kill monsters and level up, will the swordsman class appear again at level 20? Or is there an advanced evolutionary version of the swordsman?"

Ye Luo smiled in pleasant surprise. "You certainly have a knack for making connections. That's correct; the concept of advanced classes does indeed exist. If you possess a basic profession and achieve substantial mastery and breakthroughs in that profession's skills between levels 10 and 20, it is entirely possible to roll an advanced version of that profession upon reaching level 20.

Upon reaching level 30, a second-tier advancement is even possible.

For instance, at level 10 you might acquire the Swordsman profession, at level 20 you advance to Sword Master, and at level 30 you become a Sword Saint.

With each advancement, you can unlock even more powerful perks and exclusive quests, resulting in a qualitative leap in your combat power.

Beyond that, there is another very powerful category known as dual-transition professions.

So-called dual-transition professions require a special progression derived from the combination of two basic professions.

For example, a player might class-change into a Military General at level 10, and acquire Divine Supplicant as a secondary class at level 20. If the player manages to master the skills of both professions simultaneously, they have a chance to unlock the hidden profession—Divine General—upon reaching level 30.

Currently, the strongest players in this game either possess double-advanced professions or dual-transition professions.

The worst possible approach is to dabble in everything without mastering anything, ultimately winding up with three completely unrelated classes—a main profession coupled with two garbage sub-professions, such as Spearman + Swordsman + Archer. Although you gain enhanced skills across three branches, none of them will ever reach the pinnacle of excellence. A player built this way will remain utterly useless even past level 30, serving at best as high-level cannon fodder."

Xiao Jie listened with rapt attention, feeling a profound sense of clarity and understanding wash over him once the explanation concluded.

So the profession system in this game was this deep and intricate.

Given this reality, his goal became crystal clear: he would aim either for a double-advanced profession or a dual-transition profession.

A surge of interest stirred within Xiao Jie. He would definitely need to thoroughly research this later on, using his ten years of gaming experience to map out a flawless professional developmental route.

Ye Luo continued, "Aside from that, there is also a legend circulating among players regarding so-called triple-transition professions—hidden classes that require three basic professions and are unlocked at level 40—as well as triple-advanced professions, which require advancing the same class three times and are also unlocked at level 40.

However, both of these remain purely mythical; no one has ever actually witnessed either of these two types of professions."