Cheat!

[Song Shige: alive]

[Age: 26]

[Level: 3 (49%)]

[Strength: 10.2]

[Spirit: 8.2]

[Constitution: 8.4]

[Magic Power: 4]

[Talent: Demon-Seeking:

Effect 1: While using this Talent, you gain 4 temporary free attribute points.

Effect 2: Offense and Defense as One: When you are attacked, a check is performed. If the attack is weaker than your maximum attack power, its effect is greatly reduced. If the attack is stronger than your maximum attack power, the damage you actually take is (the attack power minus your maximum attack power)]

[Skills: (collapsed, 27 in total)]

"Holy shit! Isn't this a fucking cheat?!" Su Luo's eyes widened as he stared at Song Shige's Talent, swearing repeatedly.

It was a long while before Su Luo replied.

[Su Luo: That's ridiculous. Your stats are good all around. The only thing limiting how fast you can level now is how efficiently you can farm monsters.]

[Su Luo: How is your Talent any different from a cheat?]

[Song Shige: Hehe, I can't keep it on all the time. It consumes stamina.]

It only consumes stamina, with no cooldown... Wouldn't that mean he could keep it on all the time by using items to restore his stamina?

[Song Shige: I still have a free attribute point I haven't used. I don't know anything about classes yet, so the organization told me to save it.]

[Su Luo: Fireball should be a skill suited to mage-related classes. With your stats... learning Fireball would be a bit of a waste.]

Song Shige's heart pounded as he instantly remembered the messages the squad leader had secretly sent him after the meeting.

[Little Song, the people in the technical department said it would be a waste for you to learn a pure mage skill when all three of your attributes are so high.]

[I heard that Consultant Su is exceptionally good at learning on his own.]

[Find an opportunity and see if you can exchange it for a skill that suits you better...]

Before he could find an opportunity, Su Luo had brought it up himself!

[Song Shige: Yes, exactly! I... I happen to have a Skill Book here, but I'm too dumb to learn it!]

"Damn it! Why was I so direct?!"

Song Shige punched himself twice. He had shown his hand too quickly!

He just wasn't good at beating around the bush. To him, fighting through a horde of monsters was much easier than dealing with people!

Su Luo didn't respond. Song Shige waited anxiously and thought, somewhat disappointed:

Why would he waste so much precious time learning your skill?

Su Luo had already helped the Mutual Aid Association several times, while the association hadn't been able to help him much in return. He didn't owe the association anything. On the contrary, the association still had to thank him for selflessly sharing his discoveries and research findings.

Fortunately, after two minutes, Su Luo's message box finally flashed, and Song Shige breathed a huge sigh of relief.

[Su Luo: Send it over.]

[Song Shige: Thank you, Consultant Su! (heart gesture)]

Consultant Su is a good person! Song Shige thought.

[Flame Attachment]

Su Luo opened it and skimmed through it. The skill consumed Magic Power to generate flames, which could be attached to a weapon or the body to continuously burn the target. At advanced levels, it could even reclaim some of the flames and convert them back into Magic Power.

[Su Luo: Raise your Magic Power. Once I've learned the skill, I'll come teach you.]

[Song Shige: Okay! How high does my Magic Power need to be?]

[Su Luo: Above 12, I'd say.]

[Song Shige: Okay!]

Song Shige used Experience Stones to raise his skill levels and, with the help of Stamina Potions, managed to bring his Magic Power all the way up to 12. Then he happily went off to farm monsters.

Su Luo spent ten minutes learning the first chapter of [Flame Attachment], then set the images aside and returned to studying his own spells.

"Damn it! Why has that guy Song started farming monsters again?!"

Ye Xu saw Song Shige's level data change and was disgusted by the tryhard. Cursing, he hurriedly took his equipment and went out to farm monsters. He didn't want to fall too far behind.

Everyone had a bright future.

[You have leveled up!]

Han Song panted heavily as he strained to pull his axe free from a pool of rotting Slime corpses. He picked up the Wooden Chest that had dropped and staggered back to his Sanctuary.

"Ha... haha! What great luck! I leveled up and got a chest!"

As soon as he rushed through the door, he collapsed onto the floor like a puddle of mud. His chest heaved, but his face was lit up with an excited smile.

After finally catching his breath, he looked at the precious free attribute point on his panel and grew excited all over again. Overcoming his immense fear and going out to fight had been worth it.

It was the fifth day, and he had just reached level 1. Although he couldn't compare to the monsters at levels 2 and 3 on the leaderboard,

he had killed nearly twenty level 0 monsters. His progress was already far ahead of those survivors who still didn't dare kill monsters and had zero experience!

Following a top player's attribute allocation guide on the forum, he carefully added the point to Constitution.

[Constitution: 5.6 (↑1)]

He had previously obtained [Basic Axe Strike] from a chest. Days of use and practice had raised the skill to level 4, adding 0.4 Constitution and 0.2 Strength. His Talent could temporarily increase his Strength by 1, making combat easier for him.

He rubbed his hands together and opened his newly acquired chest with great anticipation, only to find some basic resources.

"Sigh..." Deeply disappointed, Han Song walked dejectedly to the corner of the room and squatted on a Wooden Chest that had long been empty to take care of his bodily needs.

At the same time, he habitually opened the Regional Channel and the forum, looking for some entertainment to relieve his stress.

[@Su Luo, my Sanctuary is level 1 now. What level is yours?]

Someone had started the teasing, and the people in the channel looking for a laugh immediately joined in.

[@Su Luo, my boss asked you a question!]

[@Su Luo, what level is it? It's so hard to guess.]

[...]

Soon, Su Luo replied with a short video.

In the video, a hand with prominent knuckles hung casually in the air. The next second, a scorching, rapidly spinning fireball abruptly formed and quickly swelled above the palm, emitting a heart-pounding hum and a dazzling light!

Then the hand gave a gentle push, and the fireball shot out with a whistle like a cannonball, its power astounding!

[Su Luo: Don't ask pointless questions. Didn't a lot of you say you'd save resources for me? Once I find a Sanctuary, I'll come ask you for them.]

[Su Luo: I'll take the original flavor too.]

[Su Luo: Mere little monsters are a piece of cake.]

Han Song's mouth fell open wide enough to fit a light bulb.

"He's... that strong?"

He suddenly realized that Su Luo, the "unlucky guy" who had lost his Sanctuary on the first day and could only crawl through the darkness, had probably long since had an unimaginable fortuitous encounter in the darkness, unbeknownst to anyone. His strength was already above that of most survivors in the region.

That fireball could clearly blow him to ashes! And Su Luo had cast it instantly!

Thinking about how Su Luo also posted those tutorial threads on the forum, with crowds of people asking him for advice in the replies... Han Song couldn't help feeling a complicated mix of envy, admiration, and a trace of wistfulness.

He dumped all the waste he had produced into the Wishing Well, and the Wishing Well dutifully sent a wooden plank flying out.

The Wishing Well was so useful. It was a pity he could only use it five times a day.

Han Song took out his axe and started grinding experience.

Every day, he spent eight hours sleeping and doing chores, eight hours exploring and gathering supplies, and eight hours practicing skills, while finding spare moments to chat on the forum...

He was busy, fulfilled, and thrilled. Han Song had even begun to grow a little addicted to the exhilarating rush of fighting monsters, with his blood surging and his life on the line.

He hurried and pushed himself, finally maxing out the experience for [Basic Axe Strike] before resting.

[Strength +0.1]

[Constitution +0.1]

Taking a break from his busy schedule, Han Song opened the channel before bed and browsed aimlessly.

Suddenly, a large crowd began frantically tagging several people in charge of the Mutual Aid Association, demanding supplies from them.

"What fucking nerve... Just asking people to give them resources for no reason," Han Song said, somewhat indignant.

"They're the ones too scared to go out exploring. All they do is stay in their crappy shelters chatting in the group all day. The Monster Tide should hurry up and take them all away! Then they won't disgust people in the channel..."

The Mutual Aid Association couldn't possibly give them resources either. Leaving aside whether it could afford to, if it did, what would be the point of the efforts of people like him who worked to earn their own resources?

If people could get resources and grow stronger just by begging in the channel, who would still go out and risk their lives?

Han Song closed his eyes slowly, full of disdain and hope.

Everything's getting better... Next goals: a new Skill Book! Get on the leaderboard!