Is It Hard to Learn? The Real Difference Between Players!

Thinking back on the events of the past two days, they felt like a dream, a fleeting illusion.

He closed his eyes and checked the game panel again.

[Physique: 5]

[Spirit: 7]

[HP: 50 (Physique x10)]

[MP: 70 (Spirit x10)]

[Level 1]

[Experience: 40/100]

He took another deep breath. That was right—he had a cheat now.

Immortality was within reach. He had to stay steady.

Looking at the map, his current location was already on the edge of Xu Corporation's sphere of influence.

Continuing south would bring him to Liang City, under Liang Corporation's jurisdiction.

Liang Corporation was slightly larger in scale than Xu Corporation, but overall, they were on the same level.

The night stretched long, and in the distance, faint wolf howls could be heard.

But Gao Linzhi's heart burned with fervor, not fear.

He waited for a while, checked the mini-map, and found no danger nearby.

After thinking it over, he chose to enter the game again.

Of course, he still opted to enter through his game character.

With the Corpse Vine guarding him, his Resurrection Pearl, and the Game System fused to his body granting him revival abilities, he had triple insurance. Only then did he dare to enter the game and check the situation under these circumstances.

After entering the game, it was also night in the game world, clearly synchronized with the real world in time.

That at least made it convenient for him to keep track.

When his game character logged off, it had been in the Fourth Elder's courtyard.

Upon logging back in, he naturally appeared there again.

Immediately, he saw the Fourth Elder in the courtyard, explaining a skill to Lin Qing.

Lin Qing was frowning in thought, struggling to understand the skill's content.

"As a guard, you must have sharp ears and keen eyes."

"Watch the six directions, listen to the eight sides. I'll explain this Heavenly Sight, Earthly Hearing, Person-Judging Secret Art to you one more time," the Fourth Elder said one by one.

"This secret art has three parts: Sky Reading, Earth Reading, and Person Reading..."

Gao Linzhi stood to the side. The Fourth Elder didn't avoid him, merely nodding at him to signal that he should listen along.

After listening for a while, Lin Qing was still frowning in thought, occasionally asking questions.

Meanwhile, Gao Linzhi heard a system prompt from the game.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, on successfully learning the Heavenly Sight, Earthly Hearing, Person-Judging Art (Incomplete).]

[Skill Effect: Sky Reading, Earth Reading, Person Reading. Allows preliminary judgment of weather, terrain, and other conditions, as well as a basic assessment of others' hostility or goodwill toward you.]

[Only after fully mastering the skill can you invest experience to upgrade it.]

This skill was truly formidable.

This was the gamified otherworld—even an ordinary old farmer could yield nuclear-age technology...

After listening, Lin Qing looked troubled. "Fourth Elder, I still don't understand some parts."

The Fourth Elder wasn't anxious. "Don't rush. Learning a skill is very difficult."

"It takes time to learn—at least a month just to get started."

"But you Descenders have a unique advantage: you can gain experience by killing monsters. Once you've started, you can consume experience to upgrade the skill."

"That's something we locals can't match."

"Once you reach that point, learning will be fast."

"For now, just learn a few more skills, and later you can use experience to improve them."

"Thank you, Elder," Lin Qing said, beaming.

Hard to start?

I've already learned it through my own effort and talent.

Gao Linzhi thought to himself.

He hadn't cheated—he just hadn't turned off his cheat.

"Mm, I'll teach you one more set—Basic Lightness Skill. You Descenders only have one life, so if danger comes, prioritize escape for now."

"Once you've grown strong enough, then you can fulfill your duty as protectors." The Fourth Elder finally addressed them both.

He certainly didn't think Gao Linzhi had learned it.

If Lin Qing couldn't, then Gao Linzhi naturally couldn't either.

But he wouldn't explain it a second time to Gao Linzhi.

Soon, the Fourth Elder demonstrated Basic Lightness Skill again—how to walk, leap, and exert force—all with their own tricks.

Just like before, Lin Qing jotted it down in her notebook to practice slowly afterward.

And Gao Linzhi? He learned it again.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, on successfully learning Basic Lightness Skill Level 1 (0/100). Invest experience or practice on your own to level up.]

Gao Linzhi suddenly realized this game had a hidden pitfall: the higher the level, the harder it was to gain experience.

Experience came easily at low levels, so one should train various skills while still weak.

Playing this game meant you had to lock your level.

But the problem was, learning skills here was almost like in reality—to get started, you'd need to spend over a month of hard practice.

Yet players only had one life. How could they waste massive amounts of time training a bunch of beginner skills?

After all, they faced the constant risk of exposure and capture by Corporate Players!

If their identity was exposed, they could log off to avoid monsters, but what about Corporate Players? How could they log off to dodge them?

They had to rush to level up, boost their basic attributes, increase their survival ability in both reality and the game, and then come back to practice skills.

That was the only viable path.

Because they wore their real bodies, any strength gained in the game synced to reality.

Even living like a savage, relying on a stronger physique, they could survive.

But this meant ordinary Rogue Players' accounts couldn't follow a perfect development plan. From the start, their accounts were mostly crippled, only to be patched up slowly once things stabilized.

Gao Linzhi was different.

He could rely on spending money to boost his survival ability.

He could afford to lock his level.

First, learn all the basic skills, max out all basic attributes.

That way, his advantage would be a huge chunk ahead of others.

Of course, Gao Linzhi's advantage wasn't unique.

Leaders of Corporate Players, like Xu Tianlang, had a similar edge.

As a leader, he could rely on others' protection, not needing to be strong himself early on, and could also lock his level.

But that came with a weakness—if a subordinate grew too strong, they might develop covetous intentions.

So Corporate Player leaders couldn't stay level-locked forever.

Only Gao Linzhi could pull it off.

After all, as long as I don't die and don't get trapped, do whatever you want.

After finishing Basic Lightness Skill, the Fourth Elder taught a set of Basic Fists and Feet and Basic Parrying.

Again, Lin Qing was told to jot it down and slowly comprehend.

The game provided a log function, making it easy for them to record things.

Even though they only had one life, basic game features were still there.

Game Backpack, logs—all present.

But the core player function—revival—was missing, and that was the biggest flaw.

Meanwhile, Gao Linzhi gained two more skills.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, on successfully learning Basic Fists and Feet Level 1 (0/100).]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, on successfully learning Basic Parrying Level 1 (0/100).]

Gao Linzhi almost simultaneously felt streams of knowledge flooding his mind.

That knowledge quickly transformed into his body's instinct.

His brain soon understood: how to gain the upper hand in close-quarters combat.