Wake Up, Warrior-Let Us Burn the Outland into-

Wake up, warrior—let us burn the Outland into—

The driver was a little surprised, privately judging that the guy in front of him had to be at least somewhat insane. Thoughts aside, his body was honest enough as he slapped a large hand against the dashboard. "What kind of situation is this? I'll throw in an extra pack for you!"

Li Aoz did not haggle. He used his terminal to trade for the empty packs from ten packs of Romantis cigarettes.

The cigarettes themselves were meaningless, but in the game, they were tied to a chained quest achievement.

He had already spoken with someone. All three arrival quests had been completed, unlocking all player functions, including the Game Forum, Limited-Time Events, Star Abyss Auto Chess, the Game Store, and nineteen other features.

He had not had time to inspect some of them yet, such as the Game Store, which was quite a useful thing. Icons for the player forum, Limited-Time Events, Auto Chess, and the like were still grayed out, indicating that they had not been unlocked.

"Maybe they won't unlock until the version updates. Some features were only added with later game updates. Auto Chess and minigames, for example, were added after version 4.0."

Still, some functions had been open to everyone from the beginning. Li Aoz had originally worried that, as an NPC Template, he would not be compatible with the player system. It now seemed that he could use at least most of its functions.

Career Achievements were among them.

Star Abyss had hundreds of thousands of achievements, each granting players various buffs.

One achievement Li Aoz knew of could be completed on Azure Planet. It was not particularly difficult, and it happened to be related to these Romantis cigarettes.

Right in front of the driver, he had opened the cigarette packs and returned all the cigarettes. Keeping the empty packs, he peeled away their outer layers one by one and pulled out the foil lining sandwiched between the cigarettes and the box.

Under the driver's disdainful gaze, Li Aoz followed the creases and refolded the foil sheets in reverse. In the end, he folded all ten sheets into cards.

You have obtained one card from the Romantic Envoy series: Achievement unlocked—Dream Murmurs

You have obtained one card from the Romantic Envoy series. (Duplicate)

You have obtained one card from the Romantic Envoy series. (Duplicate)

You have obtained one card from the Romantic Envoy series: Achievement unlocked—Infatuated Words

You have obtained one card from the Romantic Envoy series. (Duplicate)

...

You have obtained one card from the Romantic Envoy series: Achievement unlocked—Mad Song

You have obtained three cards from the Romantic Envoy series in total. You have gained Permanent Feat: Love Hunter

Permanent Feat: Love Hunter—Trisdi Romantis was a passionate and romantic man. Long before he became Nasik's legendary Gunslinger, he was a wild man who pursued both men and women.

By his grandmother's name, even robots could not refuse Trisdi Romantis's courtship back then.

Yet the most charming thing about a man was not his appearance, but his unwavering pursuit of his original aspirations.

Trisdi Romantis gave up the temptation of beautiful companions and resolutely carried his guns deep into Nasik's World Hunting Ground, facing the fiercest and most evil beasts head-on.

This was where a hunter belonged.

Effect: Primary Attribute growth value +1. Permanent effect—if the Primary Attribute is Charisma, Primary Attribute benefits +30%.

"Excellent. This is exactly what I needed!"

Li Aoz nodded.

Feats were one of the most direct measures of Combat Power for players and NPCs. They enhanced one's stats, provided support, and granted resistance.

A good feat could even make up for gaps in attributes.

Thinking of that, Li Aoz found the driver much more pleasing to the eye.

If the driver had not given him an extra pack, his luck might not have been enough to draw three different cards.

Permanent feats were relatively rare. Their permanent effects only activated when certain conditions were met, and they were generally related to ability growth.

Li Aoz placed great importance on his Primary Attribute: Charisma.

As a veteran player, he knew perfectly well that with low core attributes, playing any class felt like serving a prison sentence.

Starcaller, and even its starting class, Mutant, were especially notorious for their endlessly miserable early-game experience. If their core attributes could not keep up, they were basically useless.

"I almost forgot. Frostplate may be a godforsaken place full of vicious people, but—Frostplate is also the place where you can obtain the most feats!"

Many female players Li Aoz knew who came from Frostplate had their levels suppressed by players from other countries. Yet when they fought in arena matches, every one of them had at least five feats.

One professional player had even acquired twenty-four Combat Feats by level sixty! Many people could not gather that many feats even by level one hundred, let alone have them all be Combat Feats. In a real fight, it was equivalent to having three extra pieces of equipment.

As a result, that female player had once occupied the top three spots on the dueling rankings for two whole version cycles.

The Romantic Envoy series had thirteen cigarette-pack cards in total. Collecting them all would grant a considerable Charisma bonus, making it a feat particularly suited to Mutants.

"Likewise, if I head to the shelter, I should be able to obtain that extremely rare feat too..."

Li Aoz narrowed his eyes.

That feat did not boost Charisma, but it had an effect that everyone envied. Obtaining it early would completely reverse the miserable early-game experience of a Mutant.

"Hurry up and get out. Once night falls, you'll freeze to death out there."

The driver began chasing him out. Li Aoz did not linger either. He picked up his luggage and pushed open the door.

WHOOOOSH! CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG—

The frenzied freezing wind swept up icy grit and battered the car door violently. Li Aoz was used to it. He wrapped his scarf around his head like a turban, leaving only a narrow slit for his eyes like some hardened bandit. Then he calmly pulled the door open and stepped down, slamming it shut behind him. The impact was swallowed by the wind, almost impossible to hear.

The instant he shut the door, the driver stomped on the gas and sped away, unwilling to stay a second longer.

Li Aoz turned around. He was not watching the truck driver flee as though his life depended on it. Instead, he raised his head and looked toward the sky.

The sky of the Outland.

The frigid sky was enveloped in strange black and red gaseous matter. Not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate the thick black-red veil and reach the surface. The cold air carried a stench that made the body instinctively recoil. With no sunlight, snow covered the earth everywhere, while the low temperatures prevented it from melting. Like a layer of galvanized coating, it gave the barren gravel a thin frost-white sheen.

Snow and sand ground violently against each other in the gale. Tiny particles collided and intertwined, producing fragmented sounds that lingered around the ears. If he took a step and pressed his sole into the snow, the soft snow-sand would collapse and deform with a strange creaking sound. Twisted by the wind, it no longer sounded like itself. To human ears, it was like whispers murmuring beside them.

Cold. Despair. Utter lifelessness.

This was the world abandoned and drained dry by the Four Nations, occupying seventy percent of Azure Planet's territory.

The vast atmosphere was wrapped layer upon layer in nanomachine particles, used to intercept and absorb sunlight. Yet the Four Nations had built Orbital Elevators around the four oceans, directly using the solar energy accumulated by the nano-clouds to generate electricity and monopolize resources.

"Humans are a hell of a lot better at harming their own kind than the void and demons are."

Li Aoz mocked them, raising a hand to wipe the frozen icy grit from his eyelashes. The cold made him shudder violently, and the real tactile feedback from his skin told him that he was no longer participating in this world as a player.

This was his life.

Players could have another chance. But facing this deadland, he had only one choice.

Conquer it.

Not merely survive. This wasteland also held murderous danger and cruelty. Only the strongest could live here.

"Welcome to the Outland."