a03 Update Notice: Skill System! After the tireless efforts of the Calamity Online development team, the Skill System had finally been implemented! The citizens of the Great Cemetery could finally use skills!
Players who met the requirements for learning skills could head to NPC shops to purchase Skill Books.
Note: Skill Books had no physical form and were automatically used upon purchase! See the instructional video for casting methods!
Demon Lord Territory, NPC Shop.
Standing behind the counter, Sarah successfully held back another yawn that had risen to her lips. However, the tears at the corners of her eyes and her drooping beast ears gave away the exhaustion she had accumulated over the day.
Although Lord Demon Lord had assigned her to work here as a shopkeeper, her actual job was really just standing there.
She could not understand a word these skeletons were saying.
She had not even realized at first that those creaking noises were actually communication.
Besides that, they seemed to pay for things with their thoughts, so there was not even any need for a cashier.
All she had to do was check whether the magic crystal on the table lit up, then fetch what they needed and hand it to them.
Still, no matter how boring this job was, it was far better than wandering outside.
Its only flaw was that Lord Demon Lord's servants looked a little frightening, but she had gotten used to them after seeing them for so long.
In any case, to live up to the skewers Lord Demon Lord had bestowed upon her, she had to show some proper enthusiasm—
At the very least.
She could not fall asleep during work hours! Just as Sarah slapped her cheeks for the third time, the two Skeleton Soldiers standing before the counter, unable to make up their minds, finally seemed ready to decide.
"Have you thought it through? You really want to learn this skill?" Hu Wan asked One Leaf Knows Autumn in a serious tone.
Although the game did not openly limit the number of skills players could learn, and it was theoretically possible to learn both warrior and mage skills at once, there was a fatal trap involved.
That was the rule governing attribute point allocation! Take warriors, for example.
According to introductions on the Official Website forum, most skills based on the Dragon God Faction system—traditional warrior skills, in other words—consumed not only a small amount of MP when cast, but also a moderate amount of HP.
In this game, HP did not merely represent health. It was closer to a composite measure of vitality and physical stamina.
In other words, "health points."
Although running out of HP would not kill someone outright, it would completely rob them of the ability to move, putting them into a near-death state.
It was equivalent to exhausting one's stamina!
Therefore, if a warrior wanted to improve combat endurance, they had to prioritize Constitution, while increasing the damage of single-target skills required Strength! Mages were different. Intelligence and Spirit were their top priorities; putting even one extra point into Strength was a waste.
Yet that was precisely where the contradiction lay.
Experience gained through physical attacks and body training would ultimately yield level-up attribute points that had to be assigned to either Strength or Constitution!
Thus, once a player chose warrior skills, they would most likely only go further and further down that path.
Unless they never used those skills at all.
Hu Wan believed that if he could see this, there was no way One Leaf Knows Autumn could not.
Yet One Leaf Knows Autumn's reply was calmer than he had expected.
"Yeah, I've already thought it through."
As he spoke, he reached out and selected the payment button in the player interface.
The moment the purchase was completed, the skill was automatically loaded into his skill tree.
Skill Learned: Execute! Description: A common adventurer skill! Gather the Extraordinary Power throughout your body in the form of "qi" upon the blade's edge! Once charging is complete, swing forward with force to deal qi-based physical damage within 1–2 meters ahead! Damage was affected by the Strength attribute! Minimum Casting Requirement: Black Iron-level or above Usage: See video link
This game was surprisingly realistic.
To cast a skill, he not only had to silently recite its name and imagine its form, but also imitate the video step by step. He even had to memorize the mental cultivation method for those Dragon God Faction combat techniques.
In short, he had to imagine Extraordinary Power in the form of qi and infuse it into his weapon.
Why bother? Wouldn't it be better to make it automatic?
Still, that was not necessarily a bad thing for a technical player like him.
If players could decide the rhythm of a skill's windup and recovery themselves, then players with better awareness and stronger execution would undoubtedly be able to create a more powerful tempo.
One Leaf Knows Autumn watched the video repeatedly on the skill page, carefully memorizing every detail.
I'll try it in the maze later!
Seeing One Leaf Knows Autumn "silently staring," Hu Wan suddenly felt a little guilty.
"I remember you wanted to become a mage... Ah, if you're doing this just to carry me, there's really no need. I don't think having no skills has affected me much anyway."
One Leaf Knows Autumn froze slightly upon hearing that. He immediately realized what his friend had misunderstood and said with a helpless laugh.
"It's not like that. I'm really not doing this to carry you. This was entirely my own decision after weighing the pros and cons."
Hu Wan said, "Can I hear the reason?"
One Leaf Knows Autumn did not hide it. He smiled and said.
"Think about it from another angle. If we don't learn skills and just grind levels through basic attacks, then the attributes we gain in the end will still be added to the three physical attributes, right?"
"That's true... Wait, would it be different if you had skills?" Hu Wan stared at him in astonishment, suddenly realizing something.
"Spirit!"
The Netherworld Fire flickering within his skull swayed faintly as One Leaf Knows Autumn continued.
"Using skills, even physical skills, can train Spiritual Power! The only difference is how much!"
"I see..." A sharp glint flashed in Hu Wan's skeletal eyes as well. "Rather than putting all your attribute points into Strength, you can divert some of them into Spiritual Power, right?"
One Leaf Knows Autumn said, "Not just that. Based on how we've been farming monsters, the Cave Spiders can barely touch us. Almost all the attribute points I've gained from leveling have gone into Strength. Since using physical skills actively consumes a certain amount of HP, maybe I can divert some of the points that were originally destined for Strength into Constitution instead."
"I see... That's brilliant, brother!"
Watching Hu Wan's sudden realization, One Leaf Knows Autumn smiled and continued.
"For a mage, Constitution is useful no matter what, unlike Strength. At worst, I can become a tank mage."
"Anyway, it's the lesser of two evils... I can't just keep waiting for the developers to update mage gameplay."
Judging from the developers' intentions, it should be possible to reincarnate into other species in the future, but it did not seem like attribute resets would be supported?
In that case, he had to carefully consider every attribute point.
Even if some attribute points were bound to be wasted, he had to make sure they were wasted somewhere at least somewhat useful.
Meanwhile, with the release of version a03, the Calamity Online Official Website forum became lively again, as expected.
Knowledge Explosion: "Fuck! One Skill Book costs fifty thousand! I just want to know how much a loaf of bread costs! (Rage)"
Xiao Wan Can't Get Enough: "I mined coal all day and only earned five thousand Hell Money. QAQ"
Minotaur Warrior: "Holy shit?! How did you mine five thousand catties?!"
Boar-Headed Knight: "Did Gold Miner players transfer here too?!"
Xiao Wan Can't Get Enough: "Don't even mention it. Good thing skeletons don't need to eat, or I'd probably have starved to death already. T.T"
Hu Wan: "Uh, after you level up a few times, mission rewards go up... And don't just mine coal. Fight some monsters too. The place where coal is stored is practically about to be filled up by you crafting-class players. (Awkward)"
Xiao Wan Can't Get Enough: "But what can I do if I don't mine coal? QAQ"
Gou Shi: "Grow mushrooms? (Smirk)"
Peerless Hero: "How about making some Tables and Stools or something? (Smirk)"
Little Mushroom Picking Red Caps: "This is too hard. Please take better care of crafting-class players' gaming experience in the next update. T.T"
Can't Afford to Play: "Stop going off-topic. Let's protest version a03... Damn it! This a03 version was completely updated for one dog bastard alone!"
Boar-Headed Knight: "Exactly! Level 0 players can't experience it at all! (Frenzied)"
Innocent Female Donkey: "By the way, where's One Leaf Knows Autumn?"
Roasted Mutton Skewer: "That dog bastard definitely went into the game to have fun! He doesn't have time for us!"
Tanghulu: "@One Leaf Knows Autumn Get out here! It's time to write a guide!"
"..."
After work.
A certain office building in Wanghai City.
A neatly dressed, capable-looking middle-aged man sat at his desk, reading the posts on his computer screen and laughing loudly.
"Look at these barking bastards. This is exactly why I can't be bothered with them."
When they used someone else's guide, they never spared that person a single kind thought. The moment they got even a little unhappy, they started mouthing off.
When the day came that they could no longer find proper guides and were left with nothing but recycled nonsense from marketing accounts, those bastards would just bow their heads and eat shit without making a sound.
Tsk tsk, they were practically goblins.
This man who laughed like a villain was none other than the boss of the Long Xing Tian Xia Guild, Long Xing Wan Li, who had previously teamed up with One Leaf Knows Autumn!
Although he had never made a single post on the Official Website forum, he was clearly lurking.
A woman dressed in a black business suit stood beside the desk.
She wore rimmed glasses over the bridge of her nose, and there was an inconspicuous beauty mark near the corner of her eye. If she let down her hair, which was tied behind her head, and removed those unfashionable glasses, she would undoubtedly be a beauty.
Judging from her attire and bearing, most people would take her for some sort of secretary at first glance.
Yet from the atmosphere between her and the boss, that was clearly not the case.
After all.
It was always the boss who talked back to the secretary. When had a secretary ever talked back to the boss?
"...But I think they're just fooling around. They don't really mean any harm. Maybe you don't understand because your era has passed."
Long Xing Wan Li glanced at her. Rather than argue, he merely chuckled.
"Is that so? Maybe. Looks like I'm getting old."
The woman nodded seriously.
"You really aren't young anymore. The old man still hopes you'll learn from your cousin or younger cousin and do something serious instead of playing games all day."
Long Xing Wan Li seemed to seriously consider the matter for a while before nodding.
"Good idea. I'll talk to my uncle's side of the family, bring in a few internet giants, raise funding, and start a livestreaming platform."
The woman looked at him speechlessly.
"...You should just keep playing games."
She did not doubt that he could pull it off, but their family was not some nouveau riche family. They truly could not afford that embarrassment.
Of course, she also knew he was joking.
At that moment, the office door suddenly opened, and a young man around twenty-five or twenty-six walked in from outside.
He had a temperament very similar to Wan Li's. The way he walked made it seem like he carried the wind with him.
The woman turned and glanced at him, speaking in a meticulous tone.
"Not knocking again. What did I tell you last time?"
"Next time for sure! Hehe, next time for sure!"
Not daring to offend her, the young man grinned as he brushed it off. Then he looked toward the boss behind the desk, his expression turning solemn.
"Bro, we couldn't find anything. That game publisher is way too mysterious. The servers are fucking like they're sitting in another world."
Long Xing Wan Li took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and said.
"Don't tell me you found someone online again and got scammed in the end."
There was nothing wrong with this brother of his except that he was too careless. He often pulled off operations so absurd they left people dumbfounded.
The young man shook his head like a rattle and swore earnestly.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible this time! I found one of our own! And someone else has noticed the issue too. A URL that can't be blocked... Even my uncle suspects there's an insider."
Long Xing Wan Li raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting."
In another corner of the same city, a perfectly ordinary Experience Bro was also browsing the Calamity Online Official Website.
Unlike those ridiculous netizens.
He did not care whether there had been an update.
Nor did he care who had made it onto the server-wide announcement.
There were only twenty-four hours until he could enter the game! He only wanted time to pass faster! And—
He also wanted the secondhand glasses he had bought with the compensation from that black-hearted merchant to arrive sooner!
Meanwhile, in the maze beneath the Demon Lord Territory, whistling Sword Qi was like an invisible battle axe, slicing the Cave Spider that was screeching "chee chee chee" into two halves.
Just as the ridiculous forum users had guessed, One Leaf Knows Autumn had absolutely no time to update any guides or tips right now. He was busy having fun in the game.
After practicing for a while, he had already mastered the trick to casting skills.
"Thirty-first one... At this rate, I'll get you to Black Iron by tomorrow."
With the help of skills, the two of them were farming monsters at more than twice their previous efficiency! They used to rely on positioning to pull monsters, but now Hu Wan only needed to use his shield to take the first hit, then One Leaf Knows Autumn, who had charged up in advance, could step in and use Execute.
Seeing his Contribution Points about to break into four digits, even the normally calm Hu Wan could not help growing excited.
"Thanks, brother."
One Leaf Knows Autumn smiled.
"No need to be polite. If anyone should be thanking someone, it should be me thanking you for letting me reach Black Iron first. By the way, we've already cleared out the spiders near the maze entrance. Should we go a little deeper?"
"Yeah!"
Hu Wan quickly nodded, lifting his shield and sword as he said eagerly.
"That's what I was thinking too!"
There should not be only Cave Spiders in this maze. There had to be other monsters deeper inside!
In the darkness, a black-shelled, flower-faced spider stared at the two Skeleton Soldiers, its scarlet eyes observing them carefully.
"Servants of a necromancer... Those probably aren't ordinary adventurers."
Its name was Arakdo, one of Queen Arachinos's fierce generals.
Behind him, several vicious-looking "Hunters" stirred restlessly, cruel light gleaming in their eyes.
"Are these the things?"
"I think I smell something strange... It's kind of... fragrant?"
A burly hunter walked up to Arakdo's side, grinning viciously with a raspy chuckle.
"Lord Arakdo... leave this minor nuisance to me."
Arakdo pondered for a moment, then finally nodded his enormous head.
"Be careful. Don't let your guard down."
It would be good to test the other side's strength.
Besides...
They were only two Skeleton Soldiers, inferior even to ratmen. There shouldn't be any problems.
The hunter could no longer wait. He flung out his eight legs and scuttled forward at high speed.
"Don't worry, boss."
"I'll be back in no time."
Before you continue