Template: New York Architect

"Do you have an architect's license? I mean one that can actually be entered into the system?"

After scanning the player-run marketplace, Li Si walked over to a player's stall selling forged documents.

"No!"

The player running the stall shook his head. Li Si didn't waste time and went straight to the next seller.

He'd actually noticed these players selling forged documents last time, but he'd been busy ripping people off then, and had forgotten all about it by the time he went back.

This time, he'd come to buy a forged document. As he remembered it, there was a rare blue template he could obtain with one of these certificates.

The non-full-immersion mode had plenty of restrictions, but it had its advantages too. In full-immersion mode, you had to do everything yourself, but in non-full-immersion mode, the game system helped you with all kinds of skills.

By interacting with the natives, players could learn a variety of skills from them. These included combat skills, support skills, and life skills, and document forgery was one of them.

Starting templates such as Office Worker and Thug gave players a high chance of meeting natives who could teach them these skills. Some players even started out with the identity of a document forger.

In non-full-immersion mode, it was less a matter of players learning skills and more a matter of the game system unlocking their ability to use them.

The game system handled the actual use of these skills. Combat Mastery, for instance, temporarily flooded a player's body with combat instincts, while support and life skills were performed directly by the system or through its control of the player's body.

The advantage of this approach was that the system could imbue these skills with abilities beyond the ordinary.

Combat Mastery gave players a chance to spot an opponent's weak point, while life skills could sometimes produce items of exceptional quality. The Forgery Skill, for example, had a small chance of producing special forged documents.

Li Si was looking for exactly the kind of special document that could register identity information with the relevant authorities. Most of these documents could only serve to disguise one's identity, but used well, they could lead to unexpected gains.

Take the architect's license he was after. If he knew the right method, he could skip a series of complicated applications and exams and directly obtain a rare blue template. It was considered one of the easiest rare templates to get in the entire game.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

After asking around, Li Si finally found what he wanted at a player's stall.

"That's right. I'll take it. How much?"

Li Si smiled as the player carefully pulled a certificate from inside his coat.

"Well..."

The player running the stall hesitated. He'd accidentally gotten it while practicing his skill, and had no idea what it was worth.

Li Si saw his hesitation and took out a few bills. "Five hundred dollars. That's my limit. It's only a forged document, after all. Ordinary ones go for ten or fifteen dollars at most."

"All right, deal!"

The seller gritted his teeth and agreed.

He'd used similar certificates himself. Aside from making a fake identity seem more authentic, they had no other effect. Five hundred dollars was indeed a lot.

"Max, let's go. We'll find somewhere to grab a late-night snack!"

Taking the architect's license, Li Si didn't hesitate. He turned and left with Max.

Item: Forged Architect Qualification Certificate (Perfect Quality)

Type: Support Item/Miscellaneous

Effect: Upon use, you will obtain a forged architect's professional qualification certificate, and the certificate will be entered into the relevant authorities' records.

Note: Though it can pass for the real thing, it's still fake. If you use it to deceive people, be sure to pray you don't run into a certain department with an absurdly long name. Also... stay far away from one-eyed Black men.

"Pfft! Just how much does this game system hate S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Li Si couldn't help laughing. The game system's notes made him laugh every time he saw them.

Once he'd finished laughing, he immediately used the certificate.

[Prompt: You used Forged Architect Qualification Certificate (Perfect Quality). You have gained the disguised identity: Architect!]

[Prompt: Since you used Forged Architect Qualification Certificate (Perfect Quality) in New York, you triggered a hidden effect and fulfilled the requirements for obtaining [Template: New York Architect]!]

[Template]: New York Architect (Rare)

Attribute Bonuses: None

Special Effect Bonuses: None

Template Skill: Rapid Construction

Rapid Construction (Active): When leading a team in construction work, construction speed increases by an additional 100% for 24 hours. Cooldown: 7 days.

Evaluation: As a New Yorker who has endured one disaster after another, you know how important it is to build quickly.

Requirements: Obtain architect's professional qualification certification recognized by the relevant New York City authorities.

The New York Architect template was considered one of the easiest rare templates to obtain by players from his previous life. Anyone who passed the architect's qualification exam in New York could get it, and a forged certificate of perfect quality skipped the entire exam process.

This template had no attribute or special effect bonuses, but its one skill made up for everything.

Doubling construction speed for 24 hours didn't just apply to buildings. It worked for anything from giant robots to aircraft carriers, and the effect applied to an entire team. Even machinery benefited as long as he was leading the work.

For players following the mutation or modification paths, this skill might be little more than dead weight. But for him, it was absolutely perfect.

Moreover, in full-immersion mode, this effect manifested as a combination of enhanced memory, body coordination, and other buffs. Used well, it could produce results far beyond what the numbers suggested. Applied to large quantities of machinery, its effects would be even more astonishing. It had tremendous potential in the late game.

[Prompt: You have obtained the new template [New York Architect]. Would you like to lock it in as your new identity template?]

"No!"

Li Si decisively selected the option to refuse.

The so-called locked identity template was the primary identity that determined how you played the game. For instance, Li Si's current locked identity was his initial Student Template.

The biggest change brought about by switching identity templates was a change to the usual ways of earning experience. The Student Template offered daily classroom tasks, while the Soldier Template provided various assigned missions such as patrols and guard duty. The Thug Template offered random event missions that triggered by chance.

If it were the Scientist Template or the Entrepreneur Template, Li Si would have changed his locked identity without hesitation. But the New York Architect template's experience-gaining method was a pain: it usually involved long-term construction projects that took ages and offered little in return. It simply wasn't worth it.