All In

An unadorned name.

Lu Ban thought it over and resisted the urge to open the video file immediately.

After all, it said not to open it at night. It was not like he had to court death.

Setting down his phone, Lu Ban casually opened the copy of "The Dauntless" that had once suppressed the Lan Lan Lu doll.

However, Zweig's poetic prose had vanished, replaced by the system's cold, grim panel descriptions.

Name: Lu Ban

Occupation: Director

Education: Bachelor's Degree

Willpower: 80

Education: 70

Luck: 20

Sanity: 76

Silence Points: 100

Inherent Skill: All In

Upon opening his personal panel, Lu Ban discovered three things.

First, his sanity had dropped by four points.

Second, the beginner mission's reward had already appeared on his panel.

Third, there was now an entry for Silence Points, something that resembled system currency.

Lastly, under his occupation, the formerly lead-black text had turned dark green, as though it could be tapped.

"Was my sanity lowered because I experienced those things just now?"

Lu Ban had roughly encountered some theories on horror films and related literary works. He knew that in certain fictional settings, human sanity could be quantified, and witnessing horrifying events would reduce it until it reached zero, resulting in complete madness.

Just one investigation beneath the bed had cost him four sanity points. That was a little excessive.

Lu Ban had no idea how to restore sanity, so he could only accept it as an established fact.

He looked at the dark-gold words All In. Beside them, the passage that had once described the life of a great composer had become the description for this Inherent Skill:

All In

Inherent

Can interfere with the operation of The Silent Land. Can be used once per mission.

Below those descriptions were several lines of tiny gilded text.

A die from an era beyond tracing.

An object said to be capable of reversing fate.

Once cast, not even the gods could interfere with its result.

Even with such immense power, the die could only be commanded by others.

Or perhaps the god who forged it used it to glimpse the fates of all living beings.

"Those who seek to control fate will ultimately be devoured by fate."

Beside these cryptic, riddle-like descriptions was a vividly drawn pair of dice rendered in a classical style. Unlike ordinary six-sided dice, these dark-gold dice had ten faces, numbered from 0 to 9 in ornate script, possessing an eerie beauty.

"So, if I run into trouble during a mission, I can rely on these dice and try my luck?"

Lu Ban seemed to have grasped how to use this Inherent Skill.

Simply put, it was a safety-net skill. With good luck, even divine punishment could be escaped unscathed. With bad luck, even a scratch might turn fatal.

As a cautious player, Lu Ban felt that he could not truly wait until he was in danger before using it. Or rather, he had to be fully prepared and avoid ever needing this skill in the first place.

Since he was not currently on a mission, he naturally could not use it. He turned his attention to the Silence Points.

Based on Lu Ban's experience, this thing should be used to buy goods offered by the system, or exchange for something.

With a thought, Lu Ban flipped through several pages of the book in his hand. From the composer who had become a genius overnight, he arrived at the general defeated at Waterloo. The text upon the pages twisted, changing from a bitter and grand epic poem into rows of cold, indifferent data entries.

"Sure enough, this can be used to buy things."

Lu Ban saw that beside the words Silence Department Store were grayed-out options. The gray text stated that they could only be unlocked after obtaining at least 5,000 Silence Points.

Clearly, he could not select them yet.

Then let's see what the store had.

He took a closer look.

Good grief.

Lu Ban could only say, good grief.

There were no timeless works of entertainment or purchasable artistic talents in this store. Instead, it contained all sorts of strange things.

"So this wasn't some entertainment system after all? Then what was the point of choosing an occupation at the start?"

Confused, Lu Ban casually examined several products.

Uncontrolled Revolver

Excellent

An ordinary, unremarkable revolver.

Its shooting accuracy is poor, but it occasionally produces miraculous results.

This pistol once belonged to a detective who went to investigate Ruined City.

At a critical moment, she chose to fire, only to accidentally hit her companion.

"Strike my teammate hard!"

Price: 666 Silence Points

Otherworldly Stealth Technique

Excellent

A technique for stealth.

Contaminated. Use with caution.

Outstanding thieves from Black Tower could usually conceal themselves within the shadows. This was the rudimentary form of stealth.

Yet techniques taken to extremes often brought unpredictable consequences.

"Hey, buddy. If you're lucky, maybe not even the gods will be able to find you!"

Price: 777 Silence Points

Never-Fading Light

Excellent

A flashlight.

Lightweight and practical, sturdy and durable.

It can provide sufficient illumination; not even the darkness of Night Country can obscure it.

A line of tiny words is engraved upon it: Can only be used during the day.

Price: 450 Silence Points

A Sigh

Ordinary

A sigh that can sound anywhere.

Its defining feature is that it can be used repeatedly.

A sigh said to have been left behind by the great physician Hippocrates before he passed away.

Was it grief over his own life, or acceptance that all mortals must eventually die?

"Sigh—"

Price: 100 Silence Points

Air Friend

Ordinary

An Air Friend.

It cannot be seen, touched, or perceived.

You may speak to it, but do not pray for a response.

"On Harmony Island, everyone has their own Air Friend."

Price: 70 Silence Points

".What the hell are these things?"

Lu Ban flipped through the catalog. Perhaps because his level and permissions in this system were still not high enough, he could only view products of Excellent quality at most.

Most Excellent-quality products were related to something from reality, but their descriptions were all strange, carrying a certain air of danger.

Ordinary-quality products were a complete mess. Most felt rather useless; compared to proper items, they were more like props that would only appear in some comedy cartoon.

Lu Ban only had one hundred Silence Points, so he could not afford most Excellent-quality items.

As for Ordinary-quality items, Lu Ban did not think any of them were worth spending points on right now.

Buying A Sigh to scare people might be fine, but buying an Air Friend just made him feel like he was being scammed.

He searched around and suddenly caught sight of a cheap Excellent-quality item in the corner.

Madman's Knowledge

Excellent

The skull of someone who once obtained knowledge concerning the gods.

Can be used to acquire knowledge of foreign realms.

Contact with forbidden knowledge can satisfy overflowing curiosity.

But it may also drive one mad.

"I understand!"

Price: 100 Silence Points (First daily purchase discount: 50 Silence Points)

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