"You have completed this exploration of the Old Shadow."
"Evaluation for this Reflected World exploration: Above Average."
"Obtained: Old Dust ×500"
"Rewarded rest time: 10 days (you may enter early or spend Old Dust to extend it)."
"Additional rewards detected..."
Zhang Anzai was rather surprised. He had actually managed to earn an Above Average rating this time. But then, he decided it made sense:
"Seems like most high-difficulty newbie dungeons work this way. You can beat them by figuring out the mechanics and finding an opening. As long as you're careful not to get hurt, you can earn a high rating.
"But the dungeons at Advanced rank and above aren't so easy. You need both raw strength and the ability to explore dungeons, and you can't clear them just by solving one or two puzzles..."
Of course, despite what he said, the dungeon he had experienced was still quite unusual.
"I can't even think of a way to escape this dungeon with only minor injuries... It feels like you either get away or die."
To the administrators, this kind of dungeon was like hitting the jackpot. Players either died for nothing, struggled and still died for nothing, or—if they cleared it—proved they were absolutely top-tier players.
"Guess that makes me a dungeon exploration expert, too." Zhang Anzai was rather proud of himself.
Now, the expert was going to check out his exploration rewards.
As for Old Dust, he hadn't spent much to begin with. After completing just one mission, he had shot up to over 700, almost 800.
The remaining days meant nothing to him. Unless something unexpected happened at the company, he probably wouldn't have to wait that long before entering another dungeon.
That meant the most important rewards were the additional ones.
"You discover that after spending time in the distorted Reflected World, your body seems to have been affected in some way. In such an extreme environment, your actions can greatly alter your body."
That was the first notification. Zhang Anzai wasn't surprised. Gaining experience from dungeons and improving their talents and skills was standard.
And after escorting so many players, there was no way he wouldn't know that.
So long as you survived the game, you were bound to surpass ordinary people. Stronger players could usually list several D-rank or even C-rank talents.
"This time..." Zhang Anzai was curious about what he had improved.
"Your brain and consciousness have received extensive training..."
Standing on the River of the Past, Zhang Anzai wholeheartedly agreed with the system: "Figuring out Chen Xing's mechanics and using the ghost's traits to hold off that Road-Blocking Demon for so long... My intelligence is just..."
Then the full notification appeared: "The greatest training was received by your hands. You have gained a new talent:
"[Dexterous](D): You are more adept at crafts and other activities that require the use of your hands. You can even perform two delicate tasks at once, one with each hand, without expending much mental effort."
"Tch, are you messing with me?" Zhang Anzai felt like the game system had made fun of him. He could only sigh helplessly.
Still, it was a good thing. Whatever the talent, growth was good.
Besides, given how he had performed in this dungeon, what talent could fit him better than Dexterous?
In just over an hour, he had cut up nearly two notebooks' worth of paper. By the end, he didn't even need to look—he could mass-produce paper ingots.
If even D-rank items were far more durable than any modern industrial product, he felt he could've worn out the item he'd just gotten his hands on.
After that, no other talents changed. A few material rewards followed.
"No special rewards were generated by this dungeon, but your exploration yielded the following unexpected rewards:
"[Blood-Stained Burial Soil](Unranked material. Roadbed soil from somewhere, stained with the rotting blood of a creature that evolved into a ghost. It contains a dense aura of resentment.)
"[Road-Blocking Demon Bone Fragments](Unranked material. The partly decomposed bone fragments of a dead soul, concealed in the soil. They contain traces of the Road-Blocking Demon's soul.)"
Materials were important resources for upgrading their Old Legacy professions. In other words, they were materials in their own right, but could also be used like experience books.
Both happened to be related to dead souls and burial, so they should be a good fit for his Past-Time Shovel profession.
But when Zhang Anzai saw the two items, his first reaction was to grow wary.
"So there were bones buried in all that soil I brought back? That's a little creepy.
"And materials like these look dangerous. Even if I use them now, I feel like something could go wrong."
Yes, things from dungeons could have effects outside them, too. Players weren't entirely safe in the real world; they could still be affected by dungeons. Dungeon items were the most common medium for this.
But Zhang Anzai didn't dwell on it. He immediately summoned his legacy.
Detecting that he had completed another dungeon, the Past-Time Shovel hidden in his shadow instantly appeared in his hand.
As usual, its blade was mottled, and its long wooden handle remained smooth.
He didn't rush to start drawing. Instead, he extended the shovel and held it over the two materials floating on the River of the Past.
He was still in the very early game, and apart from upgrading his legacy, he had no use for materials. For him, devouring them was the best way to put them to use.
"Your legacy [Past-Time Shovel] is devouring materials."
Zhang Anzai saw the notification. Then he noticed that some of the rust covering the shovel's blade seemed to have disappeared, while a few cracks he could feel on the handle seemed to have closed up.
On his personal status screen, the completeness of his Old Legacy began to rise slowly.
That was how the game's upgrades worked. Game experience applied only to skills and talents. To upgrade a legacy, you had to devour materials, items, or even someone else's legacy.
Completeness was its level. Every 5% unlocked a new skill or upgraded an old one.
Naturally, such basic materials couldn't raise his legacy to 5% completeness all at once.
Generally speaking, materials didn't add much—anywhere from a fraction of a percent to a few percent. As for items, D-rank ones could only add 1%, while the highest, A-rank, could add just 10%.
Above all, it depended on compatibility. If the compatibility wasn't high enough, the legacy couldn't absorb it at all.
The same principle applied to absorbing legacies. Some only raised completeness by a fraction of a percent, while an exceptionally compatible legacy could raise it by over ten percentage points in one go. The range was enormous.
"In the very early game... everyone's scraping by. You can't afford compatible materials, so you have to cobble together upgrades bit by bit."
As an administrator who liked browsing the forums, Zhang Anzai knew all about this. That was exactly where he stood.
"0.98... 0.99... 1.03!" As the soil flecked with blood and the few bone fragments he had picked out separately slowly disappeared, his legacy's completeness finally broke 1%.
That wasn't surprising. Legacies were easier to upgrade at lower levels. Later on, even a 1% increase might take dozens of batches of materials, and there were bottlenecks to overcome as well.
Of course, none of that concerned Zhang Anzai for now. What mattered was that reaching 1% completeness unlocked the first true legacy skill. After that, the cycle of one upgrade every 5% began.
So the second ability he had just gained was what completed his newbie-stage build.
"Ability acquired: [World-Breaker Excavation]."
Before you continue