System Point Allocation

"I'll make dinner!"

Lily suddenly jumped down from the bed, snapping Gallo out of his focus on the interface before him.

He offered his mother a few comforting words, then followed Lily to their family's "little kitchen."

Their kitchen was the narrow balcony outside the attic, only wide enough for one adult to stand there and look out at the street. Two people would make it feel rather cramped.

Their landlord, Mr. Jell, had installed a gas pipe leading here, connected to the gas line from his family's large kitchen on the second floor.

Each month, they also had to pay the landlord an extra ten Copper Nil for gas usage, all included in the monthly rent of one Nalang and thirty Copper Nil.

Pushing open the little balcony door, Gallo saw that a small rain shelter had been erected over the balcony kitchen.

Watching his little sister deftly prepare dinner, Gallo felt there was not much he could help with. He could only ask, "What are we having tonight?"

Lily glanced back at him. "Your favorite baked beans!"

"Wonderful."

Gallo looked outside through the balcony.

Cold, damp air rushed against his face, mixed with the pungent odors of coal ash, sewage, and some kind of industrial waste.

The sky was lead-gray, and thick smog hung low over the rooftops, making the evening light murky and dim.

The streets were narrow and muddy, flanked by tightly packed, dilapidated buildings whose walls had been blackened by coal smoke.

In the distance, enormous chimneys in the factory district stood like black giants, tirelessly spewing thick smoke into the sky. Faint, dull mechanical rumbling drifted over from afar.

This was Tin City, the capital of the Iron Glory Empire—a beast in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, where splendor and filth coexisted, and opportunity intertwined with despair.

But for poor residents like their family, there was only the latter.

After chatting with his sister for a few moments, Gallo stopped paying attention to the bustle in the kitchen.

He looked around at his impoverished home in this world, a tiny rented attic.

What met his eyes was a low ceiling sloping down on both sides.

The space was pitifully cramped.

Other than the balcony, the attic had only one small window in the opposite wall, providing a scant trace of natural light.

He lived here with his mother and sister. The only partition was a faded old cloth curtain hanging in the middle of the attic, barely dividing the space.

One attic had been falsely split into two rooms.

At night, Lily and their mother, Aisha, slept together on a wide plank bed, while Gallo slept on a narrow bed on this side.

There was also a small desk for his studies, with several textbooks neatly arranged on top.

Gallo picked one up and flipped through it. As a "graduate," he no longer had any use for these textbooks.

Sitting at the desk, Gallo casually opened a book and pretended to read it intently, while actually looking at the interface before him.

All it had taken was a thought to summon the interface. It appeared and disappeared at his will, which Gallo instinctively found convenient.

[Available Points: 5]

[Selectable Paths: Wisdom, Psionic, Physical]

That was all the interface displayed. There was nothing else.

Gallo could not help sighing inwardly. How minimalist!

The cheat granted to him as a transmigrator was visibly stingy.

There was not even a single extra explanation. Was he supposed to figure everything out himself?

He carefully examined the three options.

[Psionic] and [Physical] both sounded anything but ordinary, perhaps even dangerous.

Did Psionic represent supernatural abilities?

As for Physical, Gallo could not figure out what exactly it referred to. Could he himself be considered a Physical existence?

Or did it mean other physical objects?

Perhaps both options represented supernatural power. The very existence of this cheat system was supernatural in itself.

His soul had only crossed into this world today, and he assessed the situation objectively with the experience of an adult.

In a world that appeared ordinary but was actually filled with enormous uncertainty, would rashly choosing a path so clearly tied to the supernatural bring unforeseeable trouble?

What he needed most urgently was to solve his survival problem—to make money—not to fight and kill or study superpowers.

[Wisdom] seemed like the safest and most "ordinary" option.

Increasing his wisdom might help him learn this world's skills faster and find better job opportunities. It seemed to suit his current needs best.

He made his choice with almost no hesitation.

[Main Path Selected: Wisdom]

[Wisdom Path has unlocked sub-options:]

[Learning]

[Memory]

[Knowledge]

[Please allocate 5 initial attribute points.]

Gallo carefully studied the three branches.

[Learning] and [Memory] both looked useful and could directly improve his abilities.

But [Knowledge]?

Did it mean obtaining information from a specific field?

It sounded like he could directly gain certain knowledge, but the system did not explain what field that knowledge would concern.

To be safe, he decided to invest mainly in the first two.

With a slight shift of thought, he began allocating his points.

[Memory] +2

[Learning] +2

One point remained.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately put it into the somewhat uncertain-looking [Knowledge].

What if it turned out to be some useful practical technical knowledge? Like... steam engine improvements. Anything was possible.

[Allocation Complete!]

[Current Status:]

[Wisdom]: Learning (lv2), Memory (lv2), Knowledge (lv1)

[Attribute Points]: 0

The instant he finished allocating points, a sudden change occurred.

Gallo felt as though his brain had been plunged into ice water before abruptly being placed in warm water. A strange sense of clarity swept over him.

The faint sounds, smells, and light of the world around him seemed to become exceptionally clear, easier to notice and understand. This was the effect brought by Learning lv2.

At the same time, Memory lv2 made all of his past memories—both those of the original owner and his own—become extraordinarily clear and organized, like neatly archived files that could be retrieved and examined at any time.

Then, close on its heels, an immense, chaotic torrent of indescribable information violently flooded into his consciousness!

It was not any kind of practical knowledge he had imagined.

It was twisted dimensions, indescribable forms, mad whispers, bizarre phenomena that defied the laws of physics, and a cold, dark void.

And fragmented information about countless incomprehensible symbols and rituals... vast, mysterious, horrifying, and almost boundless.

Subspace... distortion... the void... These concepts appeared like brands seared into his mind.

Cold and ancient, carrying an inhuman indifference, they frantically battered at the limits of his understanding.

"Urgh..." Gallo groaned and gripped the edge of the desk. His face instantly went pale, and fine cold sweat seeped from his brow.

This... was the knowledge about "Subspace" brought by adding one point to [Knowledge]?

What the hell was this?!

This was completely different from what he had imagined!

It had nothing to do with real life... nothing to do with science!

Not only was this knowledge useless, it was... extremely dangerous!

He had merely touched its most superficial layer, yet he already felt a tremor and discomfort rising from the depths of his soul.

Panting heavily, he struggled to press those mad, bizarre images and whispers beneath the surface of his consciousness, forcing himself to focus on reality.

Damn it... he cursed inwardly, feeling both lingering fear and helplessness.

I can't even afford to go to school, yet I put points into "Learning" and "Memory"...

And this so-called Subspace knowledge can't improve my ability to make money in this society at all.

Just recalling the contents of the Subspace knowledge I acquired makes my blood run cold. It's like flipping through a bottomless horror photo album, filled with terrifying images beyond description!

At that moment, Gallo wished he could forget everything about Subspace in his mind.

But the enhancement from Memory lv2 had engraved it deeply within him.