Adding Points Feels Great for a Moment

[Name: Romanov]

[Age: 19]

[Strength: 8 (Current stage: 2000 points/point)]

[Agility: 7 (Current stage: 2000 points/point)]

[Stamina: 12 (Current stage: 5000 points/point)]

[Intelligence: 8 (Current stage: 20,000 points/point)]

[Charisma: 10 (Current stage: 50,000 points/point)]

[Current Points: 115,001]

The whole "Shenlan" thing was naturally just a joke; the system had no intelligence, so Norsha still had to manually add the points himself.

So stamina has gone up to five thousand points per level? He noted this and muttered to himself, Crossing the stage threshold more than doubled the cost. That's a bit of a rip-off.

Without hesitation, he pressed the "+" button several times next to Strength and Agility, raising both attributes to 12.

At 2,000 points per level, he pressed the button 9 times in total, spending 18,000 points.

The cost for Strength and Agility also increased from 2,000 to 5,000 points per level, just like Stamina.

[Current Points: 97,001]

"Next is Stamina..." Norsha's gaze shifted downward, intending to use Stamina to test exactly how many points it would take to reach the next stage.

In any case, this was the attribute he had been focusing on, so even if he went a bit overboard, it wouldn't matter.

[Player spent 5,000 points, Stamina +1]

[Player spent 5,000 points, Stamina +1]

The information bar scrolled rapidly. Finally, after spending a full 30,000 points to bring his Stamina to 18, the cost per point jumped sharply again, reaching 20,000 points.

"Whoa..." Norsha's eyelids twitched, and he decisively stopped, fearing he might accidentally drain all his points if he clicked too fast.

"For the first three basic attributes, every 6 points crossed a threshold and entered a new stage," he summarized. "The subsequent increase in points is steep, but it was within expectations and still acceptable."

6 points, 12 points, 18 points... looking at it this way, the next time it doubles would be at 24 points?

That was still a bit far off for him. Norsha remembered that Momousagi was currently around that level; if he wanted to catch up to her, it would likely be difficult before graduation.

After finishing with Stamina, Norsha still had over 60,000 points left, which was enough to bring both Strength and Agility to 18 as well.

However, that would essentially bottom out his points, leaving only a few thousand, which didn't align with his plan to reserve a portion for the shop's item refresh next week.

Therefore, he ultimately only spent 30,000 points, adding three points to each of those two attributes.

With that, Norsha's current attribute panel looked like this:

[Name: Romanov]

[Age: 19]

[Strength: 15]

[Agility: 15]

[Stamina: 18]

[Intelligence: 8]

[Charisma: 10]

[Current Points: 35,001]

"Strong as a ghost..."

Norsha stared at his brand-new attribute panel, dazed for a good while, before scratching the back of his head and murmuring, "It feels inexplicable, like I've suddenly started becoming invincible..."

In terms of mastered skills and combat experience, he might still be lacking compared to the top talents of his generation.

But looking solely at these physical stats, he was undoubtedly a monster-level entity, more than enough to walk sideways through the Recruit Camp.

However... the numbers on paper only provide a limited intuitive sense, much like the balance in a bank account.

Therefore.

With the intention of gaining a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of his current physical condition, Norsha continued his journey while taking advantage of his spare time to conduct a series of tests on this desolate night path.

First was speed.

He pushed his limits and ran at full speed, feeling the wind whistling past his ears and dust kicking up behind him. The confidence that came with such a sudden surge in speed even gave him a strange, delusional feeling—

Tonight, I am The Flash! Running from Central City to Gotham? That would only take a few seconds.

As he ran, he suddenly caught sight of a giant tree in the corner of his eye. It was thick enough for six or seven people to wrap their arms around, over ten meters tall, and lush with foliage.

He slammed on the brakes and threw a direct uppercut, smashing it into the "face" of the giant tree.

Bang!

A dull thud startled the birds roosting in the night.

He hadn't used any physical techniques, nor had he deliberately gathered his strength, but the powerful kinetic energy released was still enough to make the giant tree collapse with a roar, unable to withstand the impact.

Noah retracted his fist, looking thoughtful as he realized that before adding his stat points, a punch with the same movement would have, at most, only caused this giant tree to sway violently for a moment.

"My speed and strength have both roughly tripled..."

"As expected, I am practically invincible now!"

Feeling the surging power boiling within his body, he felt exceptionally pleased, but he suddenly noticed that the top of the fallen giant tree had spilled out a multitude of nuts—hazelnuts and chestnuts—which poured onto the ground like a flowing stream.

Three adorable chipmunks darted out from somewhere, their chubby cheeks puffed up as they squeaked angrily at Noah in protest.

One of them even picked up a hazelnut from the ground and threw it at Noah in a fit of pique.

"Ah, sorry!"

The invincible Lord Noah fled in a panic through the pitch-black night.

Thanks to his increased speed, it took Noah less than two hours to successfully arrive at the 329th Branch.

Several figures were waiting outside the base gate, and the one in the lead looked somewhat familiar from a distance; Noah guessed it was Colonel Bako, whom he had met just two days ago.

He slowed his pace and stopped running, his face not flushed and his breath not short; his breathing rhythm remained as steady as usual, as if the two full hours of high-speed running had never happened.

Watching the handsome youth walking toward him under the moonlight, Colonel Bako, who had been so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open, suddenly snapped to attention.

"Are you the one Rear Admiral Shizi mentioned over the phone, the one with a temporary mission who needs to mobilize our base's ships?" He looked Noah up and down with suspicious eyes. "Tsk, how old are you? What kind of mission could you possibly have... Are you even one of our Marines?"

"Marine serial number 10745, just arrived from Headquarters."

Noah didn't have a very good impression of this guy, so he didn't bother with pleasantries, stating his identity briefly and directly. "The mission is classified; your rank is too low to be informed."

He had always been a very polite person, but that depended on the person; now that he didn't have Momousagi's status to rely on, being too polite to someone like Bako would only make him easy to look down upon.

It was better to put on some airs and act a bit "arrogant."

Bako was, as always, sensible enough; although he felt a bit unhappy after hearing that response, he didn't dare to ask any more questions.

He turned around, pulled a youth from behind him to the front, and said to Noah:

"I've already arranged the ship. You can head directly to the north side of the harbor in a moment. This kid is named Pengen, and he's the helmsman assigned to you."

The youth was about sixteen or seventeen years old with short black hair, a thin and frail build, and somewhat peculiar—or even ugly—features.

He seemed unaccustomed to being singled out like this, and seeing Noah look at him, he gripped the hem of his shirt with both hands, his expression nervous and uneasy.