Self-taught?

The post had already documented seventeen kinds of monsters. Its author undoubtedly had an exceptional ability to gather information.

[All monsters can move in the dark. Please fight where there is a light source!]

[Fourth: Zombie (?) or Living Corpse (?)]

[Strength around five, Constitution six to seven, afraid of fire, no intelligence, only a predatory instinct]

[Danger level: Low. You might be able to kill one by making proper use of the supplies at hand]

[Drops rotten flesh, bones (recommended for gambling at the Lucky Well), and a small amount of experience when killed]

[Seventh: Little White (the MC name, because it really looks like one!) or skeleton]

[Strength six to seven, Constitution around three, no intelligence, ranged attacks, automatically attacks the nearest enemy. Attack range: ten meters, much farther than the range of most players' light sources!]

[Danger level: Extremely high! Its bones make a scraping sound. Run as soon as you hear it!]

[Drops bones, decayed arrows, and a small amount of experience when killed]

[Thirteenth: Carnivorous bird]

[Strength two to three, Constitution one. Watch out for its high-speed dives! Note that these monsters live in flocks!]

[Danger level: Extremely high! You can't even see which direction it's attacking from!]

[Drops meat, feathers, and a small amount of experience when killed]

[During the seven-day safe period, monsters won't attack shelters. You can use this to explore the surrounding area and farm monsters]

[If you have information on any new monsters, please contact me as soon as possible! Payment offered!]

After reading through all seventeen monsters, Su Luo found that the one with the lowest danger level was actually a Mask-Faced Hound that stood as high as an adult's thigh!

Without a light source, any one of those monsters could kick Su Luo to death like a dog.

Su Luo said nothing and just kept crawling along in the dark.

In the system's Regional Channel, Wang Ming was sending frightened messages while a bunch of people watched for entertainment.

[Wang Ming: I can't see anything. Damn it, I can't even tell if my eyes are open.]

[You'll be just fine. Pretend you're sleeping (smirk)]

[Actually, you two aren't the only ones who haven't found a shelter. Guess where the others are now?]

[Wang Ming: They're all dead, right... I think I can hear something moving in the distance... rustling...]

[666]

[Shit, I just got chased by a dog! Now I can't find my way home either!]

[One more joins the club]

[Haha]

As Su Luo stared speechlessly at the messages in the Regional Channel, a notification interrupted his lurking.

There was a little red dot on his personal channel. Su Luo opened it.

[Qin Lang: Hello, hello, I'm Qin Lang. Greetings on behalf of our Mutual Aid Association!]

[Su Luo: Hello]

[Qin Lang: Hello, Mr. Su Luo. We're studying the negative effects of prolonged exposure to absolute darkness, and you're one of the few survivors who meet the conditions that we can contact!]

[Qin Lang: If you notice anything unusual, please be sure to tell us. We'll offer information of equivalent value in return. We'll do everything we can to help you! The top post on the forum right now was put up under our president's direction.]

[Su Luo: Okay]

[Su Luo: I've been in the dark for about an hour. Apart from psychological distress and loss of body heat, there's nothing unusual]

Qin Lang paused for a moment, stopped typing, and went back to Su Luo's earlier message in the Regional Channel.

[Su Luo: I can't see anything, so I'm crawling on the ground]

"Is he really okay?" Qin Lang wondered.

More messages appeared in the chat box.

[Su Luo: If possible, I'd like to ask you a favor]

[Qin Lang: Go ahead!]

[Su Luo: Could you take pictures of the contents of the two basic Skill Books and send them to me? I'm too bored]

[Qin Lang: Sure, just a moment.]

Qin Lang opened another chat box.

[Qin Lang: You haven't used your Skill Books, right?]

[Didn't the Mutual Aid Association ask some people to keep theirs as samples? They're not much use early on anyway, so I kept mine]

[Qin Lang: Great. Screenshot all the contents and send them to me. Two loaves of bread]

Su Luo continued crawling toward the point of light. His hands and feet had begun to stiffen, and he was exhausted.

Ten minutes later, a pile of pictures arrived in Qin Lang's chat box.

[Qin Lang: OK]

[Su Luo: OK]

Su Luo opened the pictures and began memorizing their contents.

Using the two Skill Books would have let him learn the skills directly, without having to study them himself. But Su Luo wanted to test his Talent: Learning Gains.

Strangely, although the symbols were unfamiliar, the Survival System had translated them into writing Su Luo could read.

[You are currently studying...]

[Appraisal, level 0 (1/50)]

The book was unexpectedly scientific. He glanced at the table of contents: cognition, judgment, identification, reasoning...

It was divided into twenty chapters in total, progressing from basic to advanced and easy to difficult. It was clearly organized, with the amount of knowledge building layer by layer.

Su Luo had always loved reading. As he crawled, he read and memorized, ignoring the rough ground and uneven terrain for a while.

More than ten minutes later, the moment he finished the first chapter:

[Your "Appraisal" has leveled up!]

[Appraisal, level 1 (0/100)]

[Eat my Appraisal!]

"That simple? I don't need to waste the Skill Book?" Su Luo opened the forum and began searching.

Sure enough, he wasn't the only one who had discovered that the skills in Skill Books could be self-taught. Someone had already started a post to document it.

[Real-world systems of knowledge—the skills in Skill Books can be self-taught]

[As the title says, the Skill Books issued by the system are actually highly condensed academic disciplines! They're packed with knowledge, but thanks to the system's translation, it's been confirmed that they can be self-taught.]

[Maybe our civilization's knowledge will turn into Skill Books too...]

[Skill Books are incredible. Using one lets you learn the basics of a discipline immediately]

[We can use skills repeatedly to increase proficiency]

[But we don't learn any new knowledge in the process. In other words, skills don't level up because we're learning! It's the system's mighty power!]

[Then... would skills we master on our own... be stronger?]

[Just thinking about it gets my blood pumping...]

The post ended there. The author hadn't updated it yet, so Su Luo clicked to request an update.

"Then... can I still use the Skill Book?"

[You have already learned "Appraisal." You cannot learn it again!]

All right, he couldn't.

Using the same method, he learned the basics of Gathering in ten minutes.

The basics of this skill were even easier to learn than Appraisal's.

But Su Luo had already memorized an enormous amount of knowledge, more than he might have managed in a week before.

"Talent..."

Su Luo looked at his panel and pondered. This Talent didn't look strong, yet it was surprisingly useful.

[Talent: Learning Gains:

Effect 1: You are guaranteed a minimum gain while learning

Effect 2: Your concentration while learning is significantly improved]

It seemed the first effect had helped him: a minimum gain, Learning Gains.

Shaking his head, Su Luo continued crawling and quickly studied the second chapter of Appraisal.

Meanwhile, Wang Ming was tumbling down a slope in a panic. He had stepped into empty space and rolled down a steep incline in a sorry heap, finally managing to stop.

"I lost it... I think I lost that sound..." He lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath, thankful that he'd escaped with his life.

He hadn't died falling down the slope, and he'd gotten away from the monster in the distance. He did have some luck.

He stumbled to his feet, thought for a moment, then got down on all fours.

In the dark, moving on all fours was much safer!

No wonder Su Luo had said he was crawling!

He struggled to find something to lean on, feeling his way through the darkness on his hands and feet.

Soon, he touched an enormous object that was cold and hard, with the feel of metal.

"A chest? Could it be a treasure chest?"

Joy at finding hope in a desperate situation surged through him. He seemed to forget the pain as he eagerly felt around the "metal" with both hands, trying to find an opening. "I knew it! Survive a great disaster..."

Suddenly, the "ground" beneath him surged upward!

A pair of scarlet lights, like searchlights and bright enough to dispel the thick darkness around him, abruptly lit up above his head!

It wasn't a treasure chest at all! It was an enormous humanoid battle boot! He was lying on the foot of a giant creature seven or eight meters tall!

Wang Ming's blood froze in an instant. His mind went blank, leaving only one last desperate thought: "Survive a great disaster... and a greater disaster... is sure to follow!!!"