Crippled Constitution

This Dilapidated Villa nestled in the mountains had three floors in total.

Now that they understood certain prerequisites, their exploration speed undoubtedly increased greatly.

After more than two hours of searching, they had finally investigated every corner of the Villa, including the Rooftop on the Top Floor.

Following the Dead Person's head in the Kitchen Refrigerator on the first floor and the arm Under The Bed in the master bedroom, Bai Zhi and Beard Guy Successively found the remaining Corpse Puzzle Pieces on the second and third floors.

However, when everyone gathered again around the Sofa in the living room on the first floor, they discovered that the Corpse Puzzle Pieces they had found were still missing one thing before they could form a complete corpse.

The head, Torso, left hand, Right Foot, and Left Foot—those were the five Corpse Puzzle Pieces they had found in total, but they had never managed to find the remaining right hand.

After two minutes of wordless silence as they looked at one another, Night Owl timidly raised her hand and proposed a hypothesis.

"Uh... could it be that the victim was disabled before he died? Like, maybe he lost a hand in a sudden car accident, or perhaps he was born missing one...?"

"No. If you want to summon Exodia, the Sealed Right Hand is an indispensable part."

Carefully covering the Instant Noodle Box, Bai Zhi wore a solemn expression.

"Exodia? What is tha... Wait, where did you get instant noodles from again?"

Turning to look at Bai Zhi, who was peeling a Sausage into his Instant Noodle Box, Temperance Gentleheart wore the same expression she had when she and Night Owl caught each other eating Popcorn earlier.

"Thinking consumes a great deal of mental energy. My Constitution is very low, not even fifteen points. I need to replenish my energy at all times."

Bai Zhi calmly tapped his forehead with a finger.

"As for Exodia, it's a super card that lets you win the Game outright once you collect all five cards."

"Even if you need energy, high-calorie food like Chocolate is obviously more suitable, isn't it? How the hell can junk food replenish your brainpower?!"

Temperance Gentleheart, whose mindset was on the verge of collapse, loudly complained.

Earlier, when she and Beard Guy had gone to investigate the Rooftop, an ill-timed flash of lightning illuminated the night sky, allowing her to clearly see her reflection in the accumulated water.

Although Beard Guy had promptly used up one Subordinate Body to save her, a rather conspicuous Black Fingerprint had appeared on her left Calf, looking incredibly creepy.

At the same time, those Black Fingerprints, which could not be wiped away at all, had imposed additional negative effects on her stamina. For instance, the Constitution in her Attribute Panel, originally "10," had become "10(-2)" in just over two hours, dropping at an average rate of one point per hour.

If this continued, once the value in the parentheses reached "-5," she would lose the ability to move entirely. In an environment like this, the consequences of losing mobility required no imagination.

—And there were only about four hours left until dawn.

In other words, she would completely lose the ability to move during the final hour. As everyone knew, survival-type missions generally became more dangerous the further they progressed, so her mood was understandably terrible.

"I hate sweets."

Bai Zhi dropped the Sausage into the Instant Noodle Box with a disgusted look.

"Back to the point. Obviously, the difficulty of this mission lies in finding the missing Sealed Right Hand. I studied a little anatomy online. Judging from the cross-section of the wounds and the degree of bruising on the bones, the victim was dismembered with a blunt Axe. The missing Sealed Right Hand definitely exists."

"Uh... no normal person would think of teaching themselves anatomy online, right?"

Hugging the Radio as she curled up on the Sofa, Night Owl, looking pitiful, tiny, and helpless, timidly raised her hand.

"That's because I was bored out of my mind!!"

Bai Zhi answered with complete confidence.

"..."

"The Black Fingerprints on Temperance Gentleheart's neck and Calf both appear to have been made by a right hand."

After coughing lightly a few times, Beard Guy spoke up to assert his presence.

"There should still be somewhere in the Villa that we haven't searched, so I suggest we search it again. Since Temperance Gentleheart's current condition has reached a dangerous level, it would be very risky if she were attacked again. So I think you and Night Owl should stay here in the hall, while Black&White and I..."

When he reached Bai Zhi's name, Beard Guy paused slightly.

"...the two of us will conduct a detailed search of the Villa. I still have two usable Subordinate Bodies left, and my Constitution is eleven points. Even if I'm attacked, it won't be a problem."

"Eleven points of Constitution? I only have eight."

Curled up on the Sofa, Night Owl looked deeply envious.

"Mm..."

Bai Zhi looked at his own six points of Constitution, then at Night Owl's petite frame. He decided not to say anything and lowered his head to eat his instant noodles.

"It's actually very simple to increase your Base Attributes. You don't need to envy anything."

Glancing at the person who was quietly eating instant noodles without offering an opinion, Beard Guy simply sat down as well and began explaining.

"There are two types of Attribute Value: Base Attributes and Growth Attributes. Base Attributes can be rapidly improved through regular training, while Growth Attributes refer to the additional Attribute Points gained upon leveling up."

"Ah... but even then, I can only gain one Attribute Point when I level up. Doesn't that mean I'm naturally several levels behind you?"

Night Owl looked rather dejected.

"I know that regular exercise can raise Base Attributes, but it takes a lot of time to show results. And you said earlier that it's been less than three months since the first Player appeared, right? Even if someone trained desperately for three months, they couldn't possibly reach the limits of human potential... My attributes might be the lowest among all of us."

—Bai Zhi silently lowered his head and ate his noodles.

"Official Players don't need to worry about that."

Beard Guy smiled.

"After reaching level two and becoming an Official Player, once the System Store opens, one of the ten Item refresh opportunities each month remains fixed. By spending Game Coins, you can raise the three major attributes—Strength, Agility, and Constitution—to the human limit for a limited time. Forget eight points of Constitution; even a Crippled Constitution of six points can reach the maximum of fifteen within that time limit."

"..."

—Bai Zhi, who had been quietly eating noodles, silently turned to look at Beard Guy.

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