A Lavish Newcomer Status Panel

Seven or eight seconds after the man named Luo Ji finished speaking, the mentally unstable female teammate's eyelids twitched slightly. Meng Yi, after a two-second delay, "woke up" shortly afterward as well.

The meeting room carried the smell of blood, and the atmosphere fell into dead silence.

The three theoretical "teammates" sized one another up, but no one spoke again.

Meng Yi glanced around his vicinity from the corner of his eye and found none of the hand cannon, dagger, chainsword, or long blade he had brought with him.

Fine. It's understandable that Evolution Paradise, which can pull people from all kinds of worldviews, wouldn't let players rely on external items to get through the early stages.

Without weapons in hand, Meng Yi was not worried in the slightest. His greatest reliance was his Psionic Power, not guns or blades.

As someone who fancied himself a "cultured man," Meng Yi would not mind shamelessly declaring, "Doctor Meng has never liked fighting, so he can only mediate fights."

If Evolution Paradise had not placed any "veterans" or "guides" among the players in this Selection Dungeon, and the only drop-off location was the meeting room beneath their feet, then that would truly be outrageously generous.

Of the three new players, Luo Ji, who had spoken first, wore a suit. His clothes had been soaked through with ice water, making him shiver violently. He looked as bedraggled as a drowned rat.

As for his appearance, he was an average yellow-skinned carbon-based Lifeform, a corporate slave in his thirties. Having lived beneath the shadow of the Trisolarans every day, he looked far more weathered and mature than his biological age.

The female teammate Curled Up in the corner by the wall near the window. She wore a silver-white combat suit brimming with technological flair. Her silver Hair Strands were simply held by a black headband, while the hair behind her head fell loose to her waist.

What was surprising was the color of her pupils. Unlike any eye color Meng Yi had seen in either his Previous Life or Current Life, her blue-pink eyes were clearly extraordinary at a glance.

Lastly came Meng Yi. He wore patched-together, ancient clothes covered in repairs. Having lived for so long at the bottom of a heavily polluted Hive Star, there was no point expecting him to smell pleasant. His self-trimmed black hair was uneven as though chewed by a dog, and his face was grimy like a tabby cat's. He looked every bit like a refugee from a war zone.

Luo Ji, whose physical condition was not particularly good, could no longer endure it. Trembling, he took off his suit jacket and tossed it aside, then wrung out his inner shirt with all his strength, squeezing out a large puddle of water.

Looking as though he had been saved, Luo Ji spoke apologetically to the girl by the window.

"Circumstances are urgent. I hope you can understand."

The girl, who seemed to have only just regained her senses, Shook Head indifferently. It was the disregard of someone who no longer cared about life, the dazed emptiness of a heart reduced to ashes.

"Help yourself."

After replying with two crisp words like a soldier, the girl Shut Up and continued observing the surrounding environment.

Great. A Problematic Girl.

Luo Ji Sighed in distress, putting on the polite smile of a working adult. He turned to Meng Yi and asked familiarly, "Little brother, what should I call you?"

"...Names are meaningless in an environment like this. I suggest you pick a codename too. Just call me White Devil."

Meng Yi's expression remained calm. His tone was no less indifferent than that of the "female warrior" who had just disregarded life and death, but at least he was still willing to communicate.

He was speaking the Common Tongue of the Human Empire from the Warhammer World, while Luo Ji spoke the Chinese language that Meng Yi knew well.

Judging from the girl's lip movements earlier, Meng Yi was certain that she had not spoken any language he recognized.

Yet the three of them could still understand exactly what the others meant.

Evolution Paradise can grant universal language comprehension without discrimination, but it can't even be bothered to mention it?

Evolution Paradise... evolution. Perhaps what "It" cares about is merely the occurrence of "evolution" itself.

Some kind of mechanism that affects the multiverse? A powerhouse who gains endless growth through the concept of evolution?

Meng Yi sank into thought again, making Luo Ji's eyelids twitch wildly.

What the hell was this place? Were both teammates he had encountered mentally unstable?

A bizarre combination of a Problematic Girl and a problematic boy—could this situation get any better?

"Fine, then I'll call myself Wallfacer."

"Let's first see if there's anything around us that can provide information."

Luo Ji, a corporate slave in his thirties, rubbed his forehead in frustration. Fighting through his muddled mind and weak body, he began to move.

The world had never been peaceful, and the universe was a Dark Forest.

Happy lives were all alike, while miserable lives each had their own hardships.

Luo Ji did not intend to tear open the scars of the girl's and Meng Yi's past experiences. He did not even ask.

Meng Yi likewise stopped pondering the nature of Evolution Paradise. With his current strength still lacking, there was no point overthinking it.

No matter how treacherous it was, could it possibly be worse than the Warp Chaos Gods of the Warhammer Worldview?

Khorne, the Blood God; Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways; Slaanesh, the Dark Prince; Nurgle, the Grandfather; the Eldar Pantheon; The Greater Good; The Great Devourer; countless Warp Great Demons...

The Material Universe was no less treacherous: The Immortal Old Ones, C'tan Star Gods, Necrons, the Deathless, Tyranids, 'Ere We Go Orks, humanity, Aeldari, T'au, Space Aliens, The Fallen...

Compared to that, a Selection Dungeon overrun by viruses and filled with Zombies was as wonderful as a damn dreamlike Eden!

Pushing himself upright with one hand on the ground, Meng Yi unconsciously discovered an "∞" mark on the back of his Right Hand. It resembled a Möbius Ring, like an ancient serpent swallowing its own tail.

Focusing his attention on the mark, he unsurprisingly received feedback from Evolution Paradise.

A torrent of information surged into his mind. Countless complex pieces of information were simplified by Evolution Paradise into text Meng Yi could understand.

[Partial Digitization complete. Players may review their information themselves.]

As soon as Meng Yi formed the thought of "reviewing" it and nodded, several categories appeared in his field of vision—no, within his mind.

[1: Information Panel.]

[2: Current Mission.]

[3: Storage Space (base capacity: 1 cubic meter; can be expanded later by spending Paradise Coins).]

[4: Authority too low. Unable to review.]

Only the first three options were visible. Everything after them could not be viewed because of his "authority."

Concentrating, Meng Yi Clicked On [Function One: Information Panel], and his entire condition was quantified in text.

Player ID: K0071348612

Player Nickname: Meng Yi (modifiable)

Authority: lv1 (First Rank)

Clearing dungeons could raise one's authority level. Every ten levels, one would be forced to participate in a Promotion Assessment. Authority rank only affected Main Quest difficulty and involved no additional factors.

Health: 80% (long-term mild poisoning, suboptimal health, an overly powerful spiritual body oppressing the material body; maximum Health cannot currently be restored.)

Energy: 73% (Spirit quantified according to the Psionics System). Recovery rate: 8.3% per hour.

Spirit Strength: C+

Body Strength: F

Core System: C+-rank Psionic Power (the Mind System has been roughly developed; further expansion is possible...)

Active Skills: Psychic Attachment · Puppet Drive, Psychic Diffusion · Mental Scan (maximum detection diameter: ten kilometers), Psychic Interference · Cognitive Modification (tampering with emotions, senses, memories, thoughts, and action logic), Psychic Shock · Mind Shriek (precise single-target mental attack within five hundred meters), Psychic Burst · Annihilation (indiscriminate group mental attack within a hundred-meter diameter)

Passive Skills: Memory Palace, Expert-Level Chemistry, Expert-Level Medicine, Expert-Level Biology, Expert-Level Explosives, Expert-Level Unrestricted Combat, Basic Cold Weapon Use, Basic Firearm Use...

(Note: Aside from self-created skills, the universal skill rankings are: Basic, Expert, Mastery, Specialization, Master, Grandmaster, Mythic.)

Equipment: None

Overall Evaluation: C- (Body Strength and Spirit Strength are disproportionately mismatched. A severely specialized Glass Cannon that, given enough time, can overturn the world order of a conventional surface civilization.)

[Warm Reminder: Will you, a tiger among sheep, willingly restrain your claws and fangs and choose to become useless?]

The world background mentioned a "demon" that broke free of its cage. Could it be referring to me?

Meng Yi, who had never liked fighting and was socially anxious and introverted, "understood"!