Gambler's Route

"Enhancement Element?"

As Ruan Ruan explained, Xiao Xiao felt a strange sensation that refused to go away.

Was this really an Enhancement Element?

Why did it look more like... certain symptoms?

Although he had failed to obtain a certificate from a doctor four years ago, he could still be considered someone who had learned to be a doctor through years of illness. It wasn't as if he knew nothing...

But when he thought of the malicious gazes at the class reunion, the eerie feeling in the alley where his family lived that always made his skin crawl, the Rat-Man in the subway station, and the city's bloated body and sticky tentacles, then thought of these "Enhancement Elements," the resistance in his heart gradually faded. He slowly suppressed his strange discomfort and asked in a low voice:

"Then how can I obtain these things?"

"..."

"Points!"

Seeing how quickly Xiao Xiao had caught on, Ruan Ruan revealed a satisfied smile and said softly, "In this city, whether people or buildings, monsters or weapons, everything belongs to the city."

"And we can exchange for anything in this city through points."

"..."

"Then I..."

Xiao Xiao looked at the things on the tablet, and his expression began to turn conflicted.

He felt that every one of these things sounded dangerous and abnormal.

Even though he had accepted them mentally, he still couldn't decide which element to give himself.

"I knew you'd be troubled."

Ruan Ruan appeared to be in an excellent mood as she said, "Actually, newcomers usually don't know how to choose when faced with these dazzling arrays of elements."

"Of course, I'll help you."

"People like us are called Enhancement Designers precisely because we have thoroughly studied this world's Enhancement Elements, allowing us to better help you allocate points and combine elements."

"..."

Xiao Xiao's heart stirred. He looked up at her and asked, "Then which one do you think I should choose?"

"Actually..."

Ruan Ruan narrowed her eyes slightly, then smiled. "You can't afford anything..."

"?"

Xiao Xiao was completely dumbfounded. He blinked.

"You've only just signed a contract and become a newcomer. You've only eliminated one Rat-Man for this city..."

Ruan Ruan smiled. "I estimate that Xiao-gege, you have at most thirty points right now, and that includes the goodwill the city gives newcomers..."

"Even the lowest-level Violence Factor requires three units to be used together, which means sixty points. You only have half that amount."

"So you don't actually need to worry about what to choose right now..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao resigned himself to accepting this fact. In truth, he did only have thirty points.

So it had all been a false alarm. He didn't need to struggle over the choice.

Ruan Ruan wore a sweet smile as her slender fingers swiped across the tablet several times. Just as she was about to say something, her expression suddenly froze slightly.

Xiao Xiao hurriedly asked, "What is it?"

Ruan Ruan turned the screen toward him, her expression surprised. "This is..."

Name: Xiao Xiao

Age: 21

Points: 130

Contract: Low-level

...

"Hmm?"

Xiao Xiao was also surprised. "How did I get another hundred points?"

Ruan Ruan checked the records and suddenly understood. "Jiajia-jie lent you a hundred points. Didn't she tell you earlier?"

"No..."

Xiao Xiao was also somewhat surprised.

Was Yang Jia really this good to him? She had transferred a hundred points without even mentioning it.

Of course, it seemed normal for acquaintances to look out for each other.

Back in high school, Yang Jia had borrowed two coins from him to ride the bus. Hadn't he never thought of asking her to pay him back either?

But after lowering his head and glancing at the list Ruan Ruan had provided, he couldn't help frowning again. For some reason, he didn't like a single one of the abilities or substances listed there.

He still felt that none of these elements were quite normal.

In the midst of his indecision, he looked at Ruan Ruan. "Then now..."

Ruan Ruan was frowning as well. After silently calculating for a moment, she said to Xiao Xiao, "You still don't have a choice..."

"?"

Xiao Xiao was momentarily confused. Didn't these one hundred and thirty points already exceed the prices of most things on the list?

"Xiao-gege, you're thinking of this world too simply."

Ruan Ruan smiled. "It's true that we have many Enhancement Elements, so many that they can easily overwhelm newcomers. Some combinations of different elements have even been developed by those who came before us into powerful paths."

"But those are problems for after you've accumulated more points."

"No matter the circumstances, physical attributes come first. So no matter what Enhancement path you take in the future, for your first enhancement, I'd recommend choosing Violence Factor."

"It can greatly improve your physical attributes. Its side effect is a bad temper."

"On top of that, the detector every newcomer needs costs another thirty points."

"To be honest, if Jiajia-jie hadn't lent you a hundred points, it would have taken you a long time of fighting to obtain even these necessities for newcomers."

"..."

"...All right!"

Perhaps because he was used to being poor, Xiao Xiao adapted to his current situation with surprising ease.

Still, he felt somewhat reluctant and asked, "Do I have to buy all the things you mentioned at once? Can't I buy them in several batches?"

"Of course not."

Ruan Ruan smiled. "The low-level gene potion made with Violence Factor as its base element can enhance your body with each injection, but only after you've used three injections can it push your physical capabilities to their limit."

"Only then will you have a chance of surviving when facing those Aberrant Creatures."

"And the monitor is even more important."

She seriously introduced it to Xiao Xiao. "It's used to monitor the presence of Pain Substance. It can also help us monitor the malice of the people around us and learn in advance when they will mutate."

"..."

Xiao Xiao understood. He immediately stopped dwelling on the matter.

Still, he felt somewhat resistant to the idea, and unconsciously swiped across the tablet. Apart from the basic Enhancement Elements at the very top, he gradually saw more options.

Bloodlust Pistol: Can inflict powerful damage on all sentient lifeforms. Requires no bullet reloading. (It needs killing, not gunpowder.)

Prisoner of Despair: Can trap any creature within your field of vision, regardless of rank. (I'm going to die here. Don't think you're leaving either.)

Ethereal Mist: Can make the bodies of any creatures enveloped by the mist ethereal, unaffected by physical laws. (Hey, you can't hit me.)

"There are things like this too?"

Xiao Xiao was tempted. These things seemed extremely powerful, yet they didn't require him to transform himself into something so strange and twisted.

"Special Items—things that even the city cannot easily decompose and fuse."

Seeing that Xiao Xiao was interested in them, Ruan Ruan smiled and explained, "You really have a good eye, Xiao-gege. These things are indeed extraordinarily powerful, but..."

"...Did you forget to look at how many zeroes come after their prices?"

"..."

Xiao Xiao merely glanced at them, then immediately understood the smile on Ruan Ruan's face. He easily abandoned the idea.

Wasn't this the advantage of being poor? He would never have to suffer from indecision.

"Xiao-gege, don't worry..."

Ruan Ruan comforted him with a smile. "These things aren't only expensive. They also often come with huge pitfalls."

"For example, Bloodthirsty Bullet. Its power is indeed extremely strong, and it doesn't require reloading, but using it means enduring the killing desire it brings."

"When you have an opponent or a monster to deal with, you can use it to kill. When you don't, it still wants to kill. Even if you simply find someone at random to kill, and if you truly can't find anyone, it will force you to kill yourself."

"But even we can't kill people in this city indiscriminately, or we'll suffer severe point deductions."

"...By the way, any illegal act we commit in this city will deduct points, unless we accept the corresponding legal punishment after breaking the law."

"..."

"All right..."

Xiao Xiao nodded to show that he understood, but he was still somewhat curious. "Are they all this expensive?"

"Every Special Item is something extraordinary to this city, so of course they're especially expensive."

Ruan Ruan casually explained, "Of course, if you explore on your own, find a promising Special Item, and then enhance it with points, it would be much better."

Xiao Xiao was surprised. "You can explore for them yourself too?"

"Of course."

Ruan Ruan smiled. "You just need to walk around the city more."

"Special Items are things that even this city can't fuse, and they have an essential similarity to Aberrant Creatures."

"If you can find a creature in the city that contains Pain Substance within its body but hasn't mutated, you can buy it, then expend your own points and use the city's will to enhance it."

"If it hasn't mutated, you can obtain a Special Item at an extremely low price."

"Long ago, there was a group of mysterious outsiders who followed this as their primary Enhancement path. They possessed terrifying power and influence and were called the Collectors."

"..."

Xiao Xiao listened seriously, his heart stirring slightly. "Wouldn't that require extremely good luck?"

"Quite the opposite..."

Ruan Ruan smiled. "Special Items are often born in desperate and painful environments, and they always contain undiluted negative energy."

"So only people with the worst luck have any chance of encountering them..."

"..."

She said this casually, then suddenly looked at Xiao Xiao. "But you're not really going to do that, are you, Xiao-gege?"

"In theory, that's how it works, but the success rate is unbelievably low. Of the units you detect, there's a ninety-nine percent chance they'll mutate after enhancement."

"That is also one of the reasons the Collectors' path is called the Gambler's Route."

"If you gamble a hundred times and get one right, that's already pretty good."

"No one does anything that foolish anymore. If they really need a Special Item, they simply save up points and buy one. There are countless Special Items in this city anyway..."

"..."

"I was only asking."

Xiao Xiao shook his head. He had always been cautious, so naturally he wouldn't do something so reckless.

Gamblers? How many of them ever had a good ending?

There was a minor bug in yesterday's draft. The unit numbers for Enhancement Elements were wrong, but they've been corrected.

A minor aftereffect of the draft revision.