Negative Leveling

A boy with white hair, Azael, smiled brightly despite a big humanoid monster standing in front of him. The danger didn't matter because finally, he was chosen by the White Programmer and awakened as a Player.

Since the entity only known as The Dark Programmer started sending endless monsters from outer space, becoming a player was everyone's hope and dream for survival. Even now, humanity could only reclaim 30% of this world. The survival of humanity was still far away, but hope never faded.

At first, he’d planned to level up with his friend, Corvo, but Azael couldn’t wait any longer. He was just too eager to taste the feeling of being a player and not stuck helplessly in the situation of the world anymore. The monster lumbered closer, its shadow falling over him. Azael’s grin didn’t waver.

"Come, you brute monster!" Azael taunted the monster as he pulled out his sword.

As a level one player, he wasn't really different from a normal human. Players truly show their potential after leveling up, raising their stats and gaining new skills. But he’d trained hard for years. Beating this low-level monster shouldn’t be a problem.

The creature swung a heavy fist. Azael sidestepped easily, his movements honed by practice.

He countered with a single smooth motion, slashing his sword toward the monster's body, cutting the monster into two.

The creature collapsed. Sparkling dust – experience points – began gathering around Azael's body. He braced for the surge of strength. But then...

Level down.

Azael froze. He stared at his status panel floating in his vision, disbelief washing over him. Level zero. He rubbed his eyes roughly, blinking, but the numbers didn’t change. The sparkling dust faded away, leaving nothing.

"What the hell...?"

A low growl echoed nearby. Another monster emerged from the ruins. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe the system glitched. He snatched up his sword, heart pounding, and rushed the new creature. He killed it quickly, efficiently.

Level down.

Level negative one. The sword slipped from Azael's numb fingers, clattering on the broken pavement. No mistake. Killing monsters made him weaker.

Azael thought he was ready for anything. Even if he was weak or didn't receive special skills, he always thought the moment he became a player, he would be willing to grind as much as possible to become a strong player. But this? He stood there, lost.

Footsteps crunched on debris behind him. Azael didn’t turn. He knew that walk.

"Oh, hey, seems like you're already starting without me," Corvo said, his familiar voice cutting through the silence. He looked around, taking in the two monster corpses. A grin spread across his face. "Eager to level up, I see?"

Corvo said it with a hopeful tone, but the mood around his friend was kind of weird. Azael looked depressed. Corvo dropped his grin and asked seriously, "What happened?"

Azael sighed, then he explained the impossible level downs, the sinking feeling of power draining away to his friend.

"That was..." Corvo was speechless. He wasn't sure what to say in this situation. Leveling down after killing monsters? There had never been such a case before!

"Weird?" Azael offered flatly, staring at the ground. "Stupid? Pathetic?"

"Okay, I get your situation now," Corvo said, stopping his friend. "That's definitely weird. But you shouldn't get pessimistic yet!"

"Yeah?" Azael said, his voice barely a whisper.

"Remember the Blood Princess?" Corvo asked. "Initially, she had a hard time because she was unable to gain experience points from ordinary monsters. But then she figured out she gained multiplied experience points when she killed unique or boss monsters. Soon, she became super strong because of it. The same thing must be happening to you! There's no way such a heavy disadvantage didn't come with an advantage!"

"But what exactly is my advantage?" Azael asked as he looked at his own hand, flexing his fingers weakly.

Corvo thought about it, pacing a few steps. "If killing monsters and gaining experience makes you level down," he mused, turning back, "maybe the opposite happens too?" he said.

"I've been thinking the same thing," Azael admitted. "There are monsters that have skills that will temporarily level you down. But I'm not too eager to check it. Not with my stats. They're deep in high-level areas."

"How about using items?" Corvo snapped his fingers. "I know someone who has an item that levels them down when used. Wait here, I can borrow it for you!"

Without waiting for Azael's reaction, Corvo was already running. Azael sighed. His friend came and went like the wind, doing whatever he wanted. Not that he complained, though—he wanted to test it out too.

Soon, Corvo came back with a certain item in his hand. He passed it to Azael.

"Go on," Corvo said encouragingly. "Try it out."

Azael looked at the ring in his palm. It was the Ring of Defense—it raised your defense at the price of leveling down.

He gulped. The moment of truth had come.

He slipped the ring onto his finger. Immediately, a subtle firmness settled over his skin, a slight strengthening.

He then looked at his status panel with a little hope, heart thudding against his ribs but his spirit sank again. His level dropped to negative two, and besides his defense, his overall stats dropped too. No positive effects could be seen anywhere.

"How is it?" Corvo asked.

Azael was a little annoyed. "Can't you see for yourself?" he said, gesturing toward the status panel in front of him.

With a serious expression, Corvo replied, "I can't see your status panel."

"What?" Azael said, confused.

"Well, to be exact, it's redacted," Corvo explained. "Think of it like when you try to check a high-level player's stats—usually, the info's hidden because of the level gap."

"So it's the same for me?" Azael asked.

Corvo nodded. "Sometimes low-level players have skills that block others from seeing their stats too."

Azael looked back at his status panel. "But there's no such skill listed here," he muttered. "So does that mean normal players can't see stats below level zero?"

"Oh, maybe that's the advantage of being negative level?" Corvo said with a positive attitude.

Azael snorted. "But what's the point of hiding my stats when I'm weak as hell?" he asked with frustration.

Corvo laughed awkwardly, scratching his head. "Well, that's true," he conceded. "Anyway, what are you going to do now? In this area, there's a unique monster called King Bull. Maybe your condition is a more extreme version of the Blood Princess, you know? Like you can only level up if you kill unique or boss monsters, but..." He trailed off, the unspoken word hanging heavy.

The risk. Azael felt it acutely. He was already weaker than a normal human. If this didn't work, and he continued leveling down... he’d be utterly helpless.

But then again, it's not like he had any other choice.

"Fine," he finally said, the word tasting bitter. "Let's try it out."

"Great!" Corvo said, picking up Azael's sword from the ground and tossing it to his friend. "Just stick behind me. You just need to do the final attack on the King Bull—leave the rest to me!"

Azael felt pathetic, but it couldn't be helped. If he fought too, he might accidentally kill some monsters and level down again.

Corvo, using only his fists, tore through the monsters in the area. It was brutal efficiency. Fists blurred, bones cracked, creatures fell. That wasn't surprising, though—Corvo had already awakened as a player six months ago, and he was one of the rising stars in Blue Sapphire, one of the three biggest Player groups in the world.

Soon enough, a mountain of monster corpses lay everywhere until they met the unique monster called King Bull.

As its name implied, the monster was in the shape of a giant bull, standing upright, muscles rippling, wielding a massive, crude axe.

The King Bull roared and immediately rushed toward them.

"Alright, here it is," Corvo said, cracking his knuckles, utterly unconcerned. "Are you ready?"

"Just do it already," Azael said, gripping his sword tightly.

Corvo smirked. Energy crackled around his fist. "Meteoric Punch!"

His fist ignited, hardening like stone. He swung, meeting the King Bull’s charge head-on. The impact was thunderous. The gigantic creature lifted off its feet, flying backward before crashing to the ground with a ground-shaking thud. It lay still, unconscious, a smoldering fist-shaped burn seared into its chest.

Looking at that, Azael felt a tingle of envy toward his friend. Well, this wasn't exactly the first time. He had been envious of Corvo since he awakened as a player six months ago, but now, with his own path seemingly broken, the feeling was raw and complex.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Corvo asked, glancing back. "Are you going to do it or not?"

Azael snorted, forcing himself to move. "This might decide my fate," he said, approaching the downed beast. "Can't I get nervous for a second?"

Corvo grinned. "Come on now, you'll be fine!"

"Where's that confidence coming from?" Azael muttered, shaking his head. He stood over the King Bull’s massive neck. "But well, there's only one way to find out."

He raised his sword near the King Bull's neck, and then, in a single movement, he stabbed it.

The King Bull jerked, a wet, gurgling scream tearing from its ruined throat. Blood started rushing from the wound. Azael kept pushing his sword deeper and deeper until the King Bull stopped moving and died.

A torrent of sparkling experience points, denser and brighter than before, swarmed around Azael.

"Alright, show me the result," he said, feeling tired.

Level down.

Level down.

Level down.

Azael wanted to close his eyes and run from reality, but he clearly saw on his status panel that he was now level negative five.

But then, before Azael fell into total despair, beneath the level display, something new flashed. A notification. He’d gained a new skill. His eyes widened, scanning the label: Negative Skill.

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