Thinking back on what had happened over the past two days, it all felt like a dream.
He closed his eyes and checked the game panel again.
[Constitution: 5] [Spirit: 7] [HP: 50 (Constitution 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 keep his cool.
He checked the map. He was currently at the edge of Xu Corporation's sphere of influence.
Continue south, and he would reach Liang City, under Liang Corporation's jurisdiction.
Liang Corporation was somewhat larger than Xu Corporation, but they were still roughly on the same level.
The night was long, and the distant howling of wolves could still be heard.
But Gao Linzhi was burning with excitement, not fear.
He waited for a while and checked the Minimap. No dangers had appeared nearby.
After some thought, he chose to enter the game again.
Naturally, he still chose to enter with his Game Character.
With the Corpse Vine guarding him, the Resurrection Pearl, and the Game System attached to him, he had the ability to come back to life.
With those three layers of protection, he dared to enter the game and check things out under these circumstances.
It was night in the game as well. Clearly, time was synchronized with the real world.
That would make it convenient to keep track of time.
When his Game Character had logged out, he had been in the Fourth Elder's courtyard.
After logging back in, he naturally appeared there again.
He immediately saw the Fourth Elder in the courtyard, explaining a skill to Lin Qing.
Lin Qing furrowed her brow as she thought, trying hard to understand the skill.
"As a bodyguard, you must be sharp-eyed and keen-eared."
"Keep your eyes on all sides and your ears open in every direction. I'll explain the Heavenly Sight, Earthly Hearing, Person-Judging Art to you again." The Fourth Elder went through it step by step.
"This art has three parts: Sky Reading, Earth Reading, and Person Reading..."
Gao Linzhi stood to one side. The Fourth Elder didn't avoid him, but simply nodded to indicate that he should listen too.
After listening for a while, Lin Qing was still frowning in thought, occasionally asking questions.
By then, Gao Linzhi had already heard a system notification from the game.
[System: Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have successfully learned the Heavenly Sight, Earthly Hearing, Person-Judging Art (Incomplete).] [Skill Effects: Sky Reading, Earth Reading, and Person Reading allow you to make a preliminary assessment of weather, terrain, and other conditions, as well as identify whether others feel goodwill or hostility toward you.] [You can only spend experience to upgrade this skill after learning it completely.]
This skill really was impressive.
This was a gamified otherworld. Even an ordinary old farmer could have knowledge on par with nuclear-era technology...
After listening, Lin Qing looked a little troubled. "Fourth Elder, I still don't quite understand."
The Fourth Elder wasn't in a hurry. "Don't be impatient. Learning a skill is difficult."
"You need to study it gradually. It'll take at least a month to get started."
"But you Descenders have a unique advantage: you can gain experience by killing monsters. Once you've gotten started, you can spend experience to improve your skills."
"That's something we locals can't do."
"Once you reach that point, learning will be much faster."
"For now, learn as many skills as you can. Later, you can use experience to improve them."
"Thank you, Elder." Lin Qing looked delighted.
It was hard to get started?
I learned it through my own hard work and talent.
Gao Linzhi thought to himself.
He didn't have a cheat; he just never turned it off.
"Mm. I'll teach you a set of Basic Lightness Skill as well. You Descenders only have one life, so when you encounter danger, escaping should be your priority."
"Once you've grown stronger, you can take up your duties as bodyguards." Only then did the Fourth Elder address the two of them.
Of course, he didn't think Gao Linzhi had learned it.
If Lin Qing hadn't learned it, then naturally Gao Linzhi hadn't either.
But he wouldn't explain it to Gao Linzhi a second time.
Soon, the Fourth Elder demonstrated Basic Lightness Skill again, explaining the tricks to walking and leaping, and how to channel and apply force.
As before, Lin Qing wrote it all down in a notebook, planning to practice it slowly later.
Gao Linzhi, meanwhile, had learned it again.
[System: Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have successfully learned Basic Lightness Skill Level 1 (0/100). You can upgrade it by spending experience or practicing on your own.]
Gao Linzhi suddenly realized that this game had a hidden trap: the higher your level, the harder it was to gain experience.
Experience should be easy to get at low levels, so he ought to train all kinds of skills while his level was still low.
You had to level-lock in this game, too.
The problem was that learning skills here was much like learning in real life. Getting started took more than a month of diligent practice.
Yet players only had one life. How could they spend so much time training a whole pile of beginner-level skills?
They were constantly at risk of having their identities exposed and being captured by Corporate Players!
If their identities were exposed, they could log out to hide from monsters. But how could they log out to escape Corporate Players?
They had to hurry and level up, improve their basic attributes, and boost their ability to stay alive in both the real world and the game. Only then could they go back and practice their skills.
That was the only workable path.
Since they entered the game in their own bodies, any increase in strength in the game also carried over to the real world.
Even if they lived as wild men, they could survive with their stronger physiques.
The downside was that ordinary Rogue Players couldn't follow a perfect progression plan. Their characters were already ruined halfway from the start, and they could only gradually make up for it once things settled down.
But Gao Linzhi was different.
He could spend money to improve his ability to stay alive.
That meant he could level-lock.
First, he could learn all the basic skills and max out all his basic attributes.
That would give him an even greater advantage over everyone else.
Of course, this advantage of Gao Linzhi's wasn't unique.
The leaders of Corporate Players, like Xu Tianlang, had similar advantages.
As a leader, he could rely on others to protect him. He didn't need to be strong early on, so he could level-lock too.
But that meant he had a weakness: if any subordinate grew too strong, they might start coveting his position.
So the leaders of Corporate Players couldn't level-lock forever either.
Only Gao Linzhi could do it.
As long as I don't die, and you don't manage to trap me, do whatever you want.
After finishing Basic Lightness Skill, the Fourth Elder taught them Basic Fists and Feet and Basic Parrying.
Once again, he had Lin Qing write everything down first and study it at her own pace.
The game had a log feature to help them record things as they learned them.
They only had one life, but they still had the basic game features.
They had the Game Backpack, the log, and other things.
But they didn't have the most important feature of all—the ability to revive. That was the biggest flaw.
Gao Linzhi learned two more skills at the same time.
[System: Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have successfully learned Basic Fists and Feet Level 1 (0/100).] [System: Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have successfully learned Basic Parrying Level 1 (0/100).]
Gao Linzhi almost simultaneously felt waves of knowledge appear in his mind.
That knowledge swiftly became instinctive in his body.
His mind soon knew how to gain the upper hand in close-quarters combat.
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