Thanks for the invite, I'm in Honkai leveling up stats

"Do you confirm the upgrade?

Yes/No?"

Chapter 39: Upgrade? Preparing for the Unexpected

Did I do it?

Cough... I can upgrade?

Looking at the big "Yes/No" option, even though Gwen tried to calm his emotions, he couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Gwen had originally planned to continue challenging higher-level Royal Guard Honkai Beasts or Divine Knight Honkai Beasts, wanting to test what kind of "great achievement" he needed to accomplish to upgrade. He hadn't expected to have already met the upgrade requirements.

This not only meant that Gwen's thinking was basically correct – to upgrade, one needed to achieve certain "great achievements," such as defeating powerful enemies – but also that the conditions for upgrading were lower than Gwen had anticipated.

If he only needed to defeat a team of low-level Honkai Beasts to meet the upgrade requirements, it meant that for at least the first few levels, Gwen wouldn't have to worry about finding the "great achievements" needed for upgrading and could directly achieve them in Destiny's virtual training room.

This way, Gwen's upgrade path would be smoother and more straightforward than originally expected, without having to worry about facing a Herrscher directly due to the significant gap in strength required for an upgrade.

However, amidst the surprise, Gwen didn't rashly click "Yes." Instead, he controlled his trembling will and chose "No."

It was almost predictable that as Gwen's strength increased, gaining ability points would become increasingly difficult.

Once Gwen leveled up once or twice, ordinary training that now brought significant improvements would yield little reward.

Therefore, with no urgent crisis at hand, Gwen decided to first increase his Lv 1 stats further. He didn't aim for an EX rank in mental attributes, but at least SSS for all of them.

Based on the similarity between the current upgrade system and the Blessing system in the DanMachi world, Gwen had reason to believe that after upgrading, his current stats would be retained as hidden ability points, becoming part of his "vessel" and the foundation for Lv 2.

And based on his current progress, Gwen believed that he would only need another ten days to half a month to max out all his attributes.

Since that was the case, why not wait until all attributes were maxed out before upgrading?

Controlling himself from opening the flickering level display, Gwen closed his status panel, glanced at the unchanged chat group interface, and sighed in his heart.

Although the lower upgrade threshold of the upgrade system made Gwen's path to improvement much smoother, it didn't mean Gwen didn't want another cheat to use simultaneously.

"Oh well, if I don't have it, I don't have it. It saves me the trouble of deciding whether to trick or be honest..."

Ultimately, Gwen could only comfort himself like this, drank two pots of tea, read some study materials, and prepared to go to bed.

Of course, before sleeping, Gwen didn't forget his nightly routine. He poured all the Honkai energy he could control into the Light Shadow Stone, which he had summoned under his covers, to cultivate at the energy level.

However, Gwen, who had been falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow for a month and a half after being discharged from the hospital, surprisingly suffered from insomnia today.

Although the silent chat group had slightly discouraged Gwen, the good news from the upgrade system had invigorated him, suppressing even his sleepiness.

Out of boredom, Gwen summoned the system again, this time opening the shop.

Normally, he was too busy with studying and training to carefully examine the countless white items in the shop. Now, he decided to take a look.

Glancing at his points, which had already risen to over eight thousand, Gwen didn't act rashly. Instead, he began to browse the white items as he had planned.

Half a month ago, the limited-time shop had refreshed, and Gwen had checked the non-white items that day.

Unfortunately, this time, no high-level items that Gwen could use had refreshed. There were only two items that, based on their descriptions, seemed to be props for switching forms like Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. They weren't even considered mediocre.

With special effects props refreshing twice in a row, Gwen even suspected if the shop had gone to the wrong production set.

If the shop was tied to the upgrade system, it probably intended to cultivate a non-mainstream tokusatsu protagonist who could fight with their physical body.

If the shop was tied to the chat group, it might be trying to cultivate a group leader who would gather a bunch of tokusatsu characters to fight in mecha battles...

Could it be that the invitation letter didn't work because Honkai Impact 3rd isn't a tokusatsu production set?

As Gwen's thoughts ran wild, he was taken aback for a moment.

However, he immediately thought of the Light Shadow Stone in his hand and felt that it shouldn't be the case. Otherwise, he shouldn't have been able to obtain this Light Shadow Stone.

"Later, when I save up enough points, I'll buy ten invitation letters at once and try a 'ten-pull.' After all, it's normal to be rejected for invitations..."

Comforting himself this way, Gwen immersed his mind into the countless white items, wanting to see if there was anything worth buying.

As everyone knows, browsing Taobao is addictive. Gwen quickly became engrossed, temporarily forgetting his worries about the chat group.

By the time Gwen felt a little tired and finally closed his eyes to sleep, his "backpack," which came with the shop, had acquired a few white items.

However, they weren't anything particularly outstanding. They were just some plentiful and good-quality food and water, as well as a few vehicles that, combined, could adapt to most terrains. They only cost a few dozen points.

Although Gwen was very satisfied with his current life at Destiny Headquarters, he considered himself merely a pawn in Otto's unknown plan. There was a high possibility of a day when he would turn against Otto.

At that time, even if he wasn't an enemy of the world, his situation wouldn't be too good. Before defecting to Anti-Entropy or World Serpent, he might even be hunted for a while.

Having these things prepared in advance was better than losing his life due to such an oversight.

Similarly, Gwen's purchase of the Light Shadow Stone, besides gambling on his luck, was also a precautionary measure.

If he really turned against Otto in the future, his armor might not be taken away, but wearing it to fight Destiny would always carry some risk.

No one could be sure if Destiny had any remote control methods for the armor they manufactured.

At that time, if he had a set of armor that was of good quality, unrelated to Destiny, and completely under his control, it would bring Gwen much peace of mind.

Therefore, let alone the fact that Gwen couldn't use the Light Shadow Stone to summon armor yet, even if he could, he wouldn't expose it unless it was a matter of life and death.

Who would expose their complete armament to the tyrannical ruler before even rebelling?

After Gwen fell into a deep sleep, the Light Shadow Stone, which Gwen had used as a pillow today, emitted a soft, earthy yellow glow as usual, but it lasted longer than usual.

Chapter 40: Level Up!

With Gwen's diligent studies and constant sweat-drenched training, half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

"Then I'll be going, Sister Amber..."

Outside the restaurant, Gwen, full and satisfied, waved goodbye to the Bishop's secretary, who wore golden crystalline goggles.

"Mhm, goodbye..."

Amber waved back at Gwen and turned to leave, her golden crystalline cloak fluttering slightly in the breeze behind her.

Since You Lan Dai Er, Rita, and Anna were all out on missions, Gwen had decided to have dinner at a restaurant Anna had highly recommended.

It was at this restaurant that Gwen unexpectedly ran into Amber, who was also out for dinner.

Gwen was no stranger to Amber. Besides the explanation she'd given at his home on the night he was discharged from the hospital, Gwen had also seen the Bishop's secretary a few times after his medicinal baths.

Naturally, when acquaintances meet, they greet each other. Gwen, forgetting that Amber had a straightforward personality, had invited her to his table as soon as they met, which led to the scene of their farewell just moments ago.

Although Gwen felt a slight hesitation about encountering Amber at the restaurant, he suppressed his doubts, maintaining a calm and natural demeanor—

In the less than three months since he'd arrived in this world, Gwen's experience interacting with the opposite sex had increased significantly, and he no longer felt easily flustered.

The scene of Gwen, the highly popular handsome youth, having dinner with the renowned Bishop's secretary Amber, and then waving goodbye, was witnessed by many present. It was quickly posted on the headquarters' community forum and became a hot topic of discussion.

After all, Gwen, the pseudo-shota, might not be the only one of his kind at headquarters, but combined with his Honkai resistance, he was practically in a league of his own, already possessing considerable popularity within the community.

Furthermore, the individuals who frequently appeared by Gwen's side were no ordinary people. There was Rita, rumored to be on track to become the next S-rank Valkyrie; Anna, the genius girl from the Schariac family; and You Lan Dai Er, the office's notorious overachiever. These individuals further cemented Gwen's status as a "figure of interest" in many casual conversations.

Now, with Gwen even having dinner with Bishop's secretary Amber and addressing her familiarly, it added fuel to the fire of the community, which was already showing signs of speculative trading.

However, Gwen himself paid no attention to the attention he was garnering, or rather, he completely ignored it.

Compared to such trivial matters, Gwen was more eager to return home—

After half a month of diligent study and practice, Gwen's stats had, as he had hoped, all reached the triple-S limit. As of yesterday, only his energy stat, which had started later, was still a little short. And today—

Gwen - Lv1
Strength - SSS1999
Durability - SSS1999
Dexterity - SSS1999
Spirit - EX
Energy - SSS1999
Energy System: None

Sitting on the sofa, looking at his stats, which had finally all reached the triple-S limit through his day-after-day of arduous training, Gwen couldn't suppress a smile.

While there was no surprise in seeing progress every day, looking at these luxurious stats, Gwen couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.

Of course, always suspecting that there might be surveillance devices in his home to monitor him as a pawn, Gwen didn't upgrade directly. He prepared some cover—

Gwen turned the bathroom lights to their brightest setting and took a bath without turning on the ventilation fan. Soon, the bathroom was filled with a dense white mist, reducing visibility to a minimum.

Raising his hand to check and confirming the mist was thick enough, Gwen, with an excited heart, opened his status panel.

Even though leveling up in the DanMachi world didn't have any special effects, he was using a system, so Gwen chose to be cautious.

Looking at the flashing "Lv1" that made his heart involuntarily race, Gwen held his breath, focused his mind, and clicked on it. A prompt window popped up.

Facing this "Yes/No" choice again, Gwen didn't hesitate for a moment and clicked "Yes."

As his intent clicked down, Gwen's vision blurred, and a surge of heat erupted through his limbs and bones, making him feel as if magma was flowing through his veins. It was as if he had become Sun Wukong in the alchemy furnace, his body being roasted by the Samadhi True Fire, about to be refined into an immortal pill.

Instantly, a stream of heat gushed out from Gwen's pores, which had opened due to the hot bath he had just taken. Accompanied by trickling sweat, it caused the bathroom temperature to rise by more than ten degrees.

In the next moment, from the inside out, from body to soul, Gwen felt a searing heat, yet his mind inexplicably became clear. He even seemed to enter a special perspective, as if he could see the changes happening within his body at that moment.

However, with Gwen's current mental strength and knowledge reserves, understanding these changes was as impossible as a fool's dream.

Before Gwen could even try to scrutinize the fleeting images, his vision returned to the misty white bathroom. Everything he had just seen was like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water, illusory and hazy, as if it were merely a hallucination.

Knowing that this was a secret beyond his current comprehension, Gwen shook his head, wiped the sweat from his face, and realized with a start that his body temperature seemed excessively high, and he could faintly smell a peculiar odor.

Recalling some novel plot points from his previous life, Gwen looked down. He saw that the sweat in his palm, though incredibly hot, was otherwise no different from ordinary sweat. The phenomenon of pores being washed clean or shedding muddy impurities, as described in novels, was absent.

Feeling his body still burning hot, Gwen felt as if he had gone through the alchemist's furnace of Taishang Laojun, like Sun Wukong who had refined the Golden Elixir and Peaches of Immortality, feeling utterly comfortable.

Silently savoring the bodily changes after leveling up, Gwen didn't immediately check the system. Instead, he released hot water to cleanse his burning body.

As Gwen gradually lowered the water temperature, his body temperature also rapidly decreased, returning to normal.

After spending some time clearing the mist and odor from the bathroom, Gwen, wrapped in a towel, lay on the bed, resting his hands behind his head and spacing out. However, his eyes already displayed his current status panel—

Gwen - Lv2
Strength - I0
Durability - I0
Dexterity - I0
Spirit - I0

Energy - I0

Energy System: None

Development Abilities (Optional): Nourish Soul with Soul, Nourish Body with Soul, Power of Earth.

Seeing that his ability stats had indeed changed from the pre-upgrade SSS to I0 starting with "i", Gwen quietly breathed a sigh of relief—

This meant Gwen's guess was correct. The upgrade system he possessed was extremely similar to the boon of the DanMachi world. Ability stats were evaluated by a grading system starting from I to S, and after upgrading, they transformed into hidden ability stats that could be further improved.

It was just that Gwen's system seemed even more powerful, making the previously protagonist-exclusive ability stats exceeding one thousand no longer out of reach for Gwen.

Chapter 41: As Everyone Knows, Experience Buffs Are Important for Leveling Up

Although he didn't have the inner sight ability common in wuxia or xianxia worlds, and the fleeting glimpse he'd had revealed almost nothing, even just by feeling, Gwen could sense that he was stronger now than before his upgrade.

This meant that for Gwen, the ability stats of the previous level, which transformed into hidden attributes, were also retained.

Of course, although the changes in the basic ability stats met Gwen's expectations, they didn't bring him much surprise since he had anticipated them.

In comparison, the newly appeared Development Abilities below brought Gwen more pleasant surprise.

Although he couldn't clearly recall the specific definition of Development Abilities in the boon system of DanMachi, in Gwen's understanding, this was a type of ability that could be regarded as a passive skill, granting the user a certain special ability or talent.

For example, "Magic Mastery" could strengthen the user's magic power, effect range, and mental energy consumption, serving as proof of a high-level mage.