The First Skill Learned in Another World

After a child died, Mel Carlo and the others stopped fleeing. They returned to the back alleys of the Imperial City, continuing to live under the gang's control.

The original gang boss was dead. A month passed, and Anke did not gain power; instead, he was imprisoned. The gang's higher-ups sent someone new.

Mel Carlo felt a bit uneasy about this sudden turn of events, as he didn't know what was happening, and it was different from the original plan.

Begging and stealing as usual, in his second month in this otherworld, he successfully completed ten thefts. The system finally gave feedback: Upon completing 10 thefts, the skill [Theft] was acquired.

His long-dormant heart finally stirred. This was the golden finger he had been waiting for, the kind of cheat everyone who transmigrated should have.

In the Skill Panel, he could already see the sole skill, [Theft]. According to game classifications, this was a Thief skill, learnable at Level 1. He had acquired this skill after ten successful thefts.

On the eleventh attempt, he tried the skill. The activation range for Theft was similar to the game. Due to low proficiency, the stolen item would likely deviate, meaning it was random. Furthermore, there was a high chance of failure and detection.

Looking at a man passing by, Mel Carlo decided to try his skill. "[Out of Range]."

Transparent text appeared in his vision. The skill was out of range. Perhaps he needed to get closer, within 3 meters or even 1 meter. Just like in the game, skills should improve with proficiency.

Mel Carlo moved closer and activated the skill again, his thoughts directing it. The skill activated successfully, followed by a prompt: "[Detected, Theft Failed]."

The man he targeted suddenly turned his head, looking at Mel Carlo with fury, and threw a punch straight at his face.

Mel Carlo was knocked to the ground, but a smile spread across his face. "[Theft Proficiency +1, Current Proficiency: 1/10000]", "[Effort +1]".

This was different from the 5 skill points per level in the game. In the game, skill points maxed out at 30, making it impossible to max out all skills. However, the proficiency system gave him that possibility.

Anyway, he could reset his points and reallocate them at any time; they weren't fixed points that disappeared after use.

It was finally here, his own golden finger. It seemed the system was somewhat useful. He was going to become a Full-time Transmigrator.

Anyone who has been beaten knows that when there's an absolute difference in strength, you should curl up your body, try to take the hits with your back, and always protect your head with your hands.

Getting caught stealing and then getting beaten was normal. Before transmigrating to this otherworld, he had been beaten like this before, probably around the same age.

It still hurt like hell.

Mel Carlo hugged his head tightly, curling his body. His first skill was [Theft], which was truly useless. If he wanted to max out the proficiency of this skill, he'd probably be beaten to death.

However, this incident gave him an idea. Perhaps if he successfully completed certain actions a certain number of times, skills could be unlocked. It was just a bit more troublesome than in the game, without a Skill Tree.

Level 1 Skills:

Warrior's [Mighty Slash], [Back Hop]; Mage's [Fireball], [Staff]; Thief's [Theft], [Flying Blade], [Cut]; Priest's [Grapple Throw], [Empty Strike]; Knight's [Mighty Kick], [Shield Bash]; Spearman's [Thrust], [Rising Uppercut]; Archer's [Dagger Attack], [Arrow Shot]; and the additional class Fighter's [Upper Kick], [Middle Kick], [Low Kick]. The hidden class Gunner had no skills learnable at Level 1.

Now that he had acquired [Theft], if he wanted to try other skills, he would have to attempt the skill's actions or behaviors.

Many skills required weapons, which he couldn't obtain now. Moreover, some combat skills required physical fitness, which he definitely couldn't achieve good results with at the moment.

The universal skill [Back Hop], and the Thief class skills, might be good choices for him right now. If Anke were willing to teach him, it might be easier.

The Level restriction limited his choices; there weren't many he could pick.

His thoughts could distract from the pain, but the pain was still there. The man whose things he had stolen was kicking him, finally cursing, "You filthy rats!"

In the shadows, Chubby watched Mel Carlo being beaten. But he couldn't step forward. Intervening now would draw the man's anger onto him. He could only wait for the man's rage to subside before checking on Mel Carlo's condition.

Soon, the man grew tired of hitting. Mel Carlo lay on the ground, covered in wounds, not wanting to move at all.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, slowly stopped his nosebleed, and a smile gradually appeared on his lips.

Chubby quickly approached Mel Carlo. "Mel, are you okay?"

"Haha, not dead yet." Mel was still happy about discovering how to use his golden finger. The pain in his body didn't seem to matter much; at least it wasn't fatal. He just needed some rest.

"You don't look too good. Are you really okay? Did he hit your head?"

"I'm fine, Chubby. I'm a bit hungry. Is there any leftover food today?" Mel Carlo staggered to his feet with Chubby's help.

It was a truly painful lesson. He had thought that even if the theft failed, he wouldn't be discovered, and he could hide the items in the system's space. But he hadn't expected that low-proficiency skills wouldn't work so well. It would have been better to just steal directly.

Chubby carried Mel Carlo on his back, walking towards other streets in the setting sun. Akai and Lily had decent hauls today; someone gave them 30 Oren. It wasn't much, but at least they weren't easily beaten to death.

"Mel, are you okay!" Lily's eyes were full of worry.

"Sigh." Akai gripped the copper coin in his hand, feeling very helpless. He didn't know if he should comfort Mel, as Mel didn't seem like someone who needed much comfort.

He could feel a maturity in Mel, like that of an adult, and Mel didn't want to steal.

"Akai, don't worry, I won't die. But you guys absolutely shouldn't learn from me. This is the consequence of getting caught stealing. It's lucky I wasn't beaten to death." Mel Carlo got off Chubby's back, and the four of them walked towards the restaurant's back alley together.

He was truly hungry today, and he had wanted to change his clothes for a long time. His whole body was sticky and messy. He had gotten used to it over time, but now he desperately wanted something: paper and pen. He needed to write down all the skills from the game. Even though he remembered those skills very clearly now, human memory was ultimately unreliable.

As time passed, he would spend more and more time in this world, and perhaps those things he knew well would slowly blur. Something that took over ten years to memorize would also take the same amount of time to forget. Because after playing a game for a long time, those skills were etched into your blood. A short period wouldn't make you forget, but time always moves forward.

"Eat, Mel." Chubby pulled a half-eaten chicken leg from the kitchen garbage bin. Normally, he would have stuffed such a delicacy into his own mouth, but Mel was injured today.

After finishing dinner by the swill bucket, the group prepared to return to the gang's courtyard.