From the Abyss of Stars

82. Hierarchical Concept

 

Luo Le scratched his head and said:

 

"According to the setting, the GTB organization has unified and ranked the level of human individual ascension and danger standards."

 

"Using Greek letters as the markers: from Alpha to Omega, a total of 24 levels."

 

Lu Run scratched his head: "Why not use FEDCBA, Super A, SSS for grading, much simpler."

 

"…I don't know what you're implying, but as far as I know, the main reason is that the patent rights for using Greek letter ratings haven't been claimed. The company can avoid property rights fees and legal battles."

 

Luo Le laughed:

 

"That's interesting, I've never seen a company as stingy as Qiqiao Network."

 

"So, is this rating system useful?"

 

"Very useful, as you noticed, the player's panel has a 'Total Level' that adds up the levels of the main profession and sub-professions."

 

As the video was still loading, Xue Nian decided to take a break and introduce the game background to Lu Run, preventing him from being overwhelmed during work.

 

"There are only six factions for main professions—Destruction, Dominance, Craft, Eerie, Plunder, and Redemption."

 

"The Destruction faction is known for physical output and destructive power, with [Strength] as the main attribute. Initial professions include [Warrior], [Ranger], and [Assassin], with low entry barriers, suitable for beginners."

 

"The Dominance faction, represented by Li Aozi, uses psychic abilities, akin to superheroes with various powers. Their main attribute is [Charisma], and the initial profession is [Mutant]."

 

"Craft faction's main attribute is [Intelligence]—choosing Craft converts the [Will] attribute to [Intelligence]. Although Blue Star only offers initial professions of [Biochemist] and [Mechanic], other planets have [Magician] and [Architect] legacies."

 

"The Eerie faction mostly deals with ghosts and evil spirits, not for the faint-hearted. Their main attribute is [Will], with initial professions of [Medium] and [Shaman]."

 

"The Plunder faction includes [Gambler] and [Plunderer] as initial professions, with [Agility] as the main attribute, characterized by periodically stealing others' strengths."

 

"The Redemption faction comprises healers and tanks, excelling in [Constitution], with initial professions of [Doctor], [Priest], and [Inquisitor]."

 

"So my task is quite simple, just need to shoot a [Mutant]."

 

Lu Run felt relieved, imagining the workload if he had to shoot all four professions of the Craft faction.

 

Suddenly, he realized something was off, suspecting Xue Nian was intentionally wasting time. He quickly asked:

 

"Hey, you talked a lot, but what's the relation between professions and hierarchy?"

 

"Don't rush." Luo Le leisurely said, wanting to slack off a bit more. "You'll understand soon."

 

"In traditional games, higher levels = stronger combat power, but not in 'Star Abyss.' The level of the main profession impacts combat power more than the total level, but even more crucial is the hierarchy."

 

Xue Nian explained slowly:

 

"For instance, Luo Le's total level is 20, with a main profession of Destruction—lv.8 [Warrior], and a sub-profession lv.12 [Hacker], making him seem like a level 20, but his combat power is only that of a lv.8 Warrior."

 

"In reality, since leveling up in 'Star Abyss' is very challenging, a high total level might be from multiple low-level sub-professions, making it deceptive. But the hierarchy doesn't lie."

 

Xue Nian pondered and said:

 

"In the game, roughly every 20 levels form a tier, as the main profession unlocks a 'Tier Ascension' quest at level 20. Completing it allows one to ascend a tier."

 

"Of course, 'Star Abyss' has no level cap; if you want and have time, you can grind to thousands of levels."

 

"As for why hierarchy is important, you can check the GTB documents: they view hierarchy as a symbol of an individual's step into transcendence."

 

"Ordinary professional soldiers can implant a military-grade prosthetic, using it once a day before the brain can't handle the computational load. But an Alpha-tier Warrior can easily implant two sets, using them five or six times in one battle."

 

"A regular Mechanic racks their brain but can't master complex mechanical knowledge and physics formulas, which an Alpha-tier Mechanic can understand at a glance."

 

"This ascension based on main attributes brings about more severe dangers than ordinary people."

 

Xue Nian pointed at Li Aozi in the data projection:

 

"This guy has at least Beta-tier combat power, roughly equivalent to the threat level of a reinforced mechanized company in Frost-Plated."

 

Lu Run, unfamiliar with military terms, instinctively said: "That doesn't sound too strong?"

 

Xue Nian gave him a strange look:

 

"—The latter includes 140 professional soldiers with military-grade implants, averaging level 15.

 

Each equipped with a 5.8mm automatic rifle as the main weapon, disposable anti-armor rocket launchers, exoskeleton power armor to resist standard rifle bullets, four heavy machine guns per platoon, four grenade launchers, with officers carrying 0.48 caliber high-stopping power smart pistols.

 

Frost-Plated has no light infantry, all mobilized by BRM 'Wolverine' armored personnel carriers, moving extremely fast. Besides infantry, there are two artillery platoons, four 125mm self-propelled guns, eight 88mm recoilless rifles, an engineer platoon, and a 12-man medical team."

 

As a veteran, Xue Nian was particularly sensitive to such things. After reading a few Frost-Plated recruitment materials, he knew their armament inside out.

 

But for the purely ignorant Lu Run, he was dumbfounded, not grasping the concept.

 

"Only 140 people, doesn't seem that strong."

 

"He doesn't understand. Outsiders don't realize the combat power of professional military forces."

 

Luo Le smirked, bluntly explaining:

 

"Simply put, a Beta-tier individual can destroy the city you live in."

 

"Hierarchical ratings, though based on combat power, actually indicate threat capability."

 

"The mentioned force can cause serious panic in a county or city of 50,000 people. If he wants, by attacking water and power facilities, he can force these people to flee their homes."

 

"Villages might fare better, being self-sufficient, but cities lack that capability. Individual actions are hidden and hard to detect."

 

"Thus, the actual situation could be more severe. If a Beta-tier expert launches a terror attack, they can achieve their goal before the military responds, destroying Xue Nian's mentioned force and escaping."

 

"As for Alpha-tier experts, they can single-handedly take on SWAT and riot squads. Imagine the impact if a few of them infiltrate a protest or strike."

 

The danger level suddenly became clear to Lu Run.

 

"If Beta-tier is this powerful, how terrifying are ultimate Omega-tier experts?"

 

If Alpha-tier's danger level causes village-town destruction, Beta-tier causes county-city level disruption.

 

Gamma-tier, by extension, could devastate a city, causing mass evacuation, turning it into scorched earth.

 

Delta-tier would mean province-level disaster, displacing millions, unimaginable in scale.

 

And Zeta-tier would be national…

 

"It's not that extreme; destroying a nation is very difficult. Besides, there are no Delta-tier or higher experts on Blue Star."

 

Xue Nian joked:

 

"A nation, however small, has millions of people. Even killing that many pigs would take days. High danger level still requires time to act—alright, break's over, let's watch the loaded video."

 

Time needed to act… but it's still possible, right?

 

Lu Run thought, it's just a game, why worry?

 

Anyway, he could respawn. The idea of an individual endangering a nation seemed far-fetched—but then again, there are differences among nations.

 

The Four Nations and small countries are all nations. If individuals were so strong, yet the Four Nations still stood, it meant national power remained reliable.