Dungeon
I'll make a post to alert the Mutual Aid Association. Ideally, they'll take screenshots to preserve the knowledge before using their Skill Books.
That was Su Luo's simple, unassuming idea.
[Qin Lang: You... succeeded in teaching yourself?]
[Su Luo: I succeeded with Appraisal. The others should be possible too.]
[Qin Lang: It's related to your Talent, right? One of our scholars originally studied archaeological appraisal, and he only just managed to grasp the basics by relying on his old profession.]
[Su Luo: Yeah.]
[Qin Lang: Understood. We'll make collecting the contents of Skill Books a high priority and issue a task later to gather screenshots from all survivors.]
[Qin Lang: When are you planning to enter the Dungeon? We don't have any firsthand information about Dungeons at the moment. You're our only source.]
[Su Luo: When I'm about to starve to death.]
[Qin Lang: ...Please, you have to hold on! We're looking for relevant items or player Talents to see if we can help you.]
[Su Luo: Thanks.]
The conversation ended. Su Luo sat alone on the cold, rough stone wall, the faintly flickering point of Dungeon light behind him and the thick, suffocating darkness that devoured everything before him.
It was dark. Truly dark.
Su Luo stared for a while, somewhat dazed. He stopped looking around and lowered his head, pulling a sausage and half a bottle of AD calcium milk from his crotch.
He ate carefully, then scraped up a lump of mud beside him to cover the trash. Su Luo sat back down on the stone wall and immersed himself in the ocean of knowledge once more.
After repeated testing, he had come to understand ever more clearly just how terrifying his Talent, [Learning Gains], was.
[Effect one: A minimum guaranteed benefit is always obtained during the learning process.]
The first effect was the reason his progress far outstripped that of ordinary people.
[Effect two: Your concentration while learning is significantly increased.]
The second effect allowed him to remain utterly calm and focused on learning, even in desperate circumstances.
Given time and resources, his future was limitless.
When twenty-four hours had passed since all the survivors arrived in the Land of Darkness, that grand, cold voice, impossible to identify by source or gender, rang out directly in every survivor's mind once more:
[Survival Log updated: Day one.]
[Current area (Zone 76) survival rate: 85.74%.]
[Based on an assessment of first-day survival data, minor regional adjustments have been completed.]
[Supply refresh mechanism: [Wooden Chests] will refresh in 24 hours (contents random). [Iron Chests] and higher-tier chests currently have no refresh mechanism.]
[Monster activity: As exploration in some areas is lower than expected, monsters in the darkness will become more active, and there is a low probability of small-scale migration toward areas with weak light sources. Level 1 monsters have begun to spawn. Please remain vigilant.]
[New mechanism preview: The [Leaderboard System] will open in 48 hours, covering multiple categories including level, Sanctuary strength, and kill contribution. Those ranked at the top will receive system rewards.]
[Finally, congratulations on surviving the first day.]
[The real trial has only just begun. Stay alive.]
"This announcement really sounds like a game, doesn't it?"
Su Luo stared blankly ahead. His stomach no longer had the strength to growl.
[Your "Gathering" has leveled up!]
[Gathering: Level 8 (0/800)]
[You can now gather complete materials from targets one level higher than you.]
Su Luo instinctively ran his hand over the stone brick beneath him, instantly recognizing its structural weak point:
Here... one hard punch... could smash the stone brick.
The sensation of being able to find the weakness in virtually anything was extraordinary. Having learned it to this level, he could already carve an ox like a master butcher and pick a lock with instant noodles.
"Gathering" encompassed countless things and was profoundly mysterious.
That was how Su Luo felt.
The forum flickered slightly. Someone else had commented on his post.
[Let's see who posted this... Su Luo! Did you crawl out of the darkness? Why are you posting here?]
[Hey, poster, let me quiz you. What level is your Sanctuary? (doge)]
[I'm tearing up. So inspirational, still studying in absolute darkness. The king of grinders!]
[So Su Luo is a research talent too, huh?]
[Let's wait and see if he can make it back to his Sanctuary alive...]
Ignoring the pointless replies, Su Luo quickly composed and published two posts with a thought.
["Appraisal" beginner's guide]
["Gathering" beginner's guide]
Su Luo consolidated the contents of the first chapters, reduced their complexity, and rewrote the explanations using the simplest, most intuitive language and examples.
Having fully mastered the first few chapters, Su Luo had the broad understanding needed to do this.
Replies soon arrived:
[I don't get it...]
[Don't you learn it just by having a Skill Book? Why study this?]
[There's barely enough time to go out exploring. Who has the energy to learn this stuff?]
Su Luo didn't read the replies at all. He had written the two posts simply to organize his knowledge.
He looked through several newly popular forum posts, then browsed the monster compendium, which had expanded to thirty-eight types.
"They still haven't published those giant monsters. Is there not enough information?"
A powerful wave of exhaustion washed over him. Su Luo had not closed his eyes for twenty-four hours. He forced himself into Meditation to refresh himself.
"Hahahaha! Heaven is on my side!"
Ye Xu was ecstatic as he looked at the mountain of Skill Books piled up inside his Sanctuary.
[Basic Movement Technique]
A full thousand of them!
Almost delirious, he opened his personal panel and planted a hard "kiss" on his Talent slot.
"Mwah~ baby! You're amazing!"
[Thousandfold Increase Effect: Multiplies the quantity of one randomly selected personal item by one thousand every day.]
Simple, brutal, and an indisputable numerical advantage!
"This! This is me, Ye Xu! I'm the protagonist!"
"Hahaha..."
"List them! List them!"
Three hours later, Su Luo's eyes snapped open. The long Meditation had not completely dispelled his exhaustion, but a sharp light had returned to his eyes.
He took one last look at the endless darkness, then turned his gaze to the point of Dungeon light.
[Su Luo: I'm going into the Dungeon.]
[Qin Lang: Got it! Your safety comes first, intelligence second!]
[Su Luo: Remember to send over the Skill Books you've collected.]
[Qin Lang: Okay!]
Without further hesitation, Su Luo took a deep breath of cold air and resolutely reached for the soft glow that represented the unknown.
[Dungeon: Wizard's Abandoned Experimental Field]
[Recommended level: 0–5]
[Enter?]
"Yes!"
[You have entered the Dungeon: Wizard's Abandoned Experimental Field]
[Maximum stay: 48 hours]
[Rewards: Skill Books, wizard's manuscripts, Class Change Certificates...]
[Clear condition: Kill Experiment Subject 003]
[Teleporting...]
After a brief but violent bout of dizziness, Su Luo forced himself to steady his footing, shook his woozy head, and looked around warily.
He stood at the edge of a dense forest. Before him was a neatly constructed stone Dungeon entrance that gave off an ancient, mysterious air.
The dilapidated stone-brick entrance Su Luo had seen outside looked as though it were this Dungeon after it had decayed over countless years.
[Enter the Dungeon and kill monsters.]
[Experiment Subject 003 has a chance to drop a Class Change Certificate.]
Ignoring the system prompts right in his face, Su Luo found his gaze drawn irresistibly to the vibrant forest beside him.
The air was filled with the fresh fragrance of vegetation and the damp scent of earth.
He took a deep, greedy breath, and the corners of his mouth, which had been tense all this time, finally curved upward ever so slightly despite himself.
"That's great!"
"At least... I won't starve to death."