Checkpoint

"It seemed I'd unknowingly completed two Epic Achievements: 'Turning Cats' and 'Letting Cats Do Your Homework.' Next, I should work hard and complete 'Letting Cats Be Your Errand Runner.'"

Having Big Cat study and prepare for exams sounded fantastical and absurd, but after thinking it over, Lu PingAn realized it was not impossible.

In the bigger picture, the person who most wanted Lu PingAn to get into Guda Refuge was Chris herself.

And on a practical level, Chris definitely had a Scholar side profession, most likely at a fairly high rank.

"Scholar is popular not because it is especially powerful. Research professions such as Gardener, Animal Keeper, and Alchemist definitely require stronger reading, writing, and thinking abilities. Taking Runner as a side profession early on isn't a loss, but it isn't a wise choice either. You'll miss more important things."

Lu PingAn had heard Big Cat say this more than once.

He had thought at the time that Chris surely had a high-level Scholar side profession, and that her learning and Research and Development abilities must be strong.

There was no problem with either the ability or motivation for "the cat to act on her own." All that remained was her willingness.

Or rather, there was a small emotional hurdle. He needed to give her a way out.

"Come on, let's make a deal. Our time is limited, so let's not play games. Don't bring up impossible things like letting you go. Be realistic. Within the current conditions, I can improve your life a little."

This was the most realistic approach. Chris was currently in spirit form. Although she could interact with things inside the secret realm, she did not need to eat or drink, so her daily life was exceedingly dull.

As long as Lu PingAn shut off his senses on his end, she would be alone on an island. How was that any different from prison?

"I'm poor, so requests that cost too much aren't realistic. If it's within my abilities, I can handle it for you. I can buy you some ordinary books. When the computer arrives, it won't be Networked, but playing offline games won't be a problem."

"Heh, don't try to fathom a deity with a mortal's way of thinking. I have no need for a weakling's self-consolation."

Chris sounded irritated, even angry.

But Lu PingAn smiled. If she truly did not need any of it, she would have stopped talking to him long ago.

"Are you sure? Think it through. We'll be together for a long time, and sooner or later, anything you're hiding will come out. If you keep putting on airs, you'll be the only one suffering in the end. The next time I need something from you, who knows when that'll be?"

Lu PingAn did not take the bait about being a "deity." He merely counted silently in his heart.

"1, 2, 3."

When he reached twenty-five, the silence on the other end was finally broken.

"...Buy me some books, and download some shows. Don't misunderstand. I have no interest in humans' lovey-dovey nonsense. I only watched a little while pretending to be human and watching with others. Now I'm curious about what happened next. I'm curious whether those stupid screenwriters can keep setting new records for the lower limits of intelligence."

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

Just as expected. In a sense, this Big Cat was surprisingly easy to deal with.

"...Even though you're verbally affirming me, for some reason, it makes me angry! Mortal, are you looking down on me?! Looking down on Balancer Kerdales, who stands only one step away from the God Seat?!"

"...You know, I've noticed something. Every time you feel guilty or uneasy, Chris, you start saying hard-to-understand things like 'mortal' and 'deity.'"

Sure enough, the communication on the other end immediately turned into a furious outburst that made conversation impossible.

After waiting a while, Lu PingAn used only one sentence to make the other side fall silent again.

"Give me the names of the shows. I'll download them right now. I can even open the website so you can watch along. Think carefully. The only person wasting time by making a fuss is you."

"..."

In the end, after repeated bargaining, Lu PingAn used a pile of oddly specific things, along with the promise to download new shows for her later, to achieve the Epic Achievement "Letting Cats Read and Do Homework."

"This should settle the written test, right?"

Lu PingAn looked through past records. The specific questions for the "interview" and "practical test" varied every year, but there were still some general directions to the assessments.

Among the three tests, there was something important that had deliberately been overlooked, yet it mattered greatly.

"Every person's innate ability has an enormous impact on their profession, but it isn't suitable for separate assessment, so it can only be included in the interview."

The interview would involve a group of Professional Keeper examiners assessing and scoring the students. They would definitely need to display their innate abilities then.

Potential and future evaluations would surely be completed without anyone noticing.

"...I'll put the interview aside for now. With what I can show at the moment, my score won't be low. I'll adapt to the situation when the time comes."

With Plant Acceleration, an ability suspected to be high-level for a Gardener, Lu PingAn's score would not be low.

And he would certainly need to use this ability often. Concealing it was neither practical nor necessary.

But the problem returned to its starting point: the most demanding practical assessment.

Although Lu PingAn had killed happily enough in the secret realm, he had only awakened a week ago. His lack of practical combat experience was obvious.

His mind said, I can do it, while his body said, I can't keep up, goodbye, and that had already happened several times. Otherwise, he would not have been injured at all.

"I still have too few cards in hand. My body needs to get used to real combat, too. Right, my hardware is insufficient as well. Tier 0 still isn't enough."

Lu PingAn had great confidence in himself, but he also knew that individual skill had limits.

Setting aside Lu PingAn's Life Bank, he was merely a Tier 0 rookie.

Not to mention anything further away—if those four wolves had not been scared out of their wits and had rushed him together that day, Lu PingAn would definitely have died.

And when it came to the entrance examination, his opponents would risk their lives for victory.

Tricks and deception could easily backfire if he was not careful. In the end, he still needed true strength.

As Lu PingAn considered his options, he listed his current key tasks one by one.

"First, complete the Runner's Tier 1 advancement as soon as possible—Gardener would work too—and get the bonus points. Second, obtain more stock of demonized plants to increase my combat options. Third, gain more practical combat experience and avoid messing up during the assessment. But I have less than a week. So here's the question: is there a way to handle all of them at once, Chris?"

As expected, there was no response from the other side. Lu PingAn simply reached for the mouse, preparing to turn off the palace intrigue drama playing on the computer.

"...Tell me your profession prompt. I'll help you think it over."

Lu PingAn sighed helplessly. Was this really necessary?

But at that moment, he also felt relieved.

Big Cat had inadvertently revealed something: she could not see Lu PingAn's System Panel. That was good news.

"Only when information is asymmetric and positions are unequal do the weak have room to play tricks."

Yet he did not show it on his face. He merely read out the system prompt honestly.

Black Iron Grade Spell: Ground Shrinking. Requirements: Light Chasing Running Method LV4, Swift Flash Breathing Method LV4, Space Perception LV1, Ground Shrinking proficiency 100/100.

After Lu PingAn finished reading the system prompt, the other side immediately gave him an answer.

"Your Runner advancement is stuck on Space Perception? But you can share other people's experience with Space Perception, while Life Bank cannot be marked. That means it isn't that you 'don't have it,' but that it is 'insufficient.' Lu PingAn, your hardware is inadequate. The system cannot make it take shape. Perceiving space requires mental strength sharper than a mortal's. You don't have it."

Lu PingAn glanced at the panel. Sure enough, it still showed the starting attributes: "Physique (Mortal), Reflexes (Mortal), Spirit (Mortal)."

Although improvements to his Profession Skills, as well as successfully taking on two Tier 0 professions, had strengthened his body's basic capabilities, the improvements were all in physique and reflexes. Neither had reached the level of qualitative transformation.

"Training Profession Skills to a certain level is the only currently known stable way to improve basic attributes. Continuing to train Runner might increase my mental strength, but there probably isn't enough time now."

The improvements after LV4 had clearly slowed considerably. He did not even know when the next qualitative transformation would come.

Both of Lu PingAn's Gardener skills were only LV2. Even if he crammed them up to LV4 and gained an increase in mental strength, it would most likely still not be enough for a qualitative transformation.

Now that he had learned the reality that inadequate hardware was preventing a breakthrough, Lu PingAn finally understood.

"No wonder the Profession Skills only need to be LV4. So the real checkpoint is over there. In the end, I still have to train bitterly until my Profession Skills reach a higher level."

At this point, Lu PingAn even hesitated over whether he should consider Gardener first.

"Gardener won't work either. Its most essential hardware requirement is mental strength. Its profession ability, Talking with Trees, demands the most mental strength among Tier 1 abilities. You can't get around it."

This left Lu PingAn somewhat helpless.

Did he have to take on another side profession specifically to earn bonus points? That would completely disrupt his career plan.

"There is a shortcut for increasing mental strength, and there is also a way to accomplish your three goals."

"...I'll buy a VIP membership for the video site right now. Once I have money, I'll immediately order you a home theater system."

Silence was another name for accepting a deal.

"...Buy the yearly subscription. I want the Diamond VIP with 'advance on-demand' privileges."

"And pay first."

Fine. The other side was even more direct, and apparently had been holding it in for a long time.

Well, since some readers misunderstood, let me clarify. What was mainly prohibited was individual creation, so there was absolutely nothing like content creators.

The video sites here were more like online on-demand cinemas, with strict review and accountability systems. Music platforms and comic sites were similar.

But where there was demand, there was a market. Some people took detours, while others played tricks. Naturally, some of them went too far.