Reincarnated NPC, But It's Arknights Chapter 5

Chapter 8: Level Up

Bai Ye walked through the underground levels for a full half hour before finding a new exit back to the surface.

It was nearly three o'clock, the dead of night.

Bai Ye took off his mask and let out a long sigh of relief.

He had changed back into his original clothes. From now on, he was a free man with a Lungmen identification.

Although the process had been tense and exciting, the planned objective had been achieved.

Moreover, by choosing the most difficult starting path, Bai Ye had reaped considerable rewards.

The most tangible gains were experience and skills.

Arknights OL had a unique experience point calculation system.

Unlike ordinary old-era games where experience was gained solely by killing monsters, in Arknights OL, experience points could be obtained through various channels besides killing or defeating targets. For example, reading Originium Arts theories, learning medical knowledge, studying martial arts, and even the most common high-intensity training could increase one's experience pool.

In addition, completing quests, achieving accomplishments, and other actions were also common ways to gain experience.

Of course, the higher the level, the less experience low-level actions would grant, eventually reaching zero.

Experience not only increased character level and granted attribute points but could also be allocated to skills to improve their level. Therefore, experience was always the most important resource in the game.

Bai Ye's endeavors had resulted in a significant amount of experience, enough to raise his personal level by three.

In addition to that, after passing the checks, he had acquired several skills.

[Melee Weapons - Swordsmanship (Proficient)]: Countless hours of training and combat have allowed you to wield weapons with ease; they are an extension of your body.

[Unarmed Combat (Skilled)]: You can skillfully use your body to fight; your body is the best weapon.

[Blind Fighting] (Passive): Brutal combat training has enabled you to judge your opponent's movements based solely on your senses. You fight better when blinded, in darkness, or against invisible opponents.

[Crossbow Shooting (Adept)]: Aim, fire; this is just the beginning.

[Basic Originium Arts (Novice)]: You are a newcomer in this field.

[Agile Movement] (Passive): After long-term training, you can fully utilize your agility to perform various actions, as nimble and swift as a cat.

In fact, Bai Ye had already mastered these skills in his previous life, and at quite high levels. However, before his transmigration, he had controlled a virtual character in the game to use skills, and even utilized the system's intelligent casting assistance for Originium Arts. Therefore, when these were reflected in his real body, they were somewhat diminished.

Even so, Bai Ye was very satisfied. As long as he trained and fought, he could reacquaint himself with and improve these skills, slowly regaining his feel for them.

"Level up first."

Bai Ye poured the experience from his pool into his personal level. His character level reached 4.

Then, Bai Ye noticed something was off.

"Why did I get 6 attribute points for a single level-up? And my Sanity increased by 2!"

Bai Ye certainly wouldn't misremember. A player leveling up by 1 typically granted +1 Sanity and 4 free attribute points.

In the early game, players were indeed no match for the natives. On Terra, even the most common races had excellent individual stats. As for the fantasy races, their individual strength and talents were terrifyingly high.

However, players' advantage lay in their infinite potential for growth and rapid progression, as well as the ability to revive repeatedly.

By the late game, players could play significant roles on the world stage, even influencing the fate of planets and civilizations.

"Perhaps I need to find a way to upgrade my template."

Bai Ye looked at the 18 free attribute points he possessed, lost in thought.

Whether it was the innate talent he started with or the additional free attribute points, they were likely changes brought about by this NPC template.

Currently, it was just "Normal."

If it were "Elite," or even a higher level, what benefits would there be?

Bai Ye couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

Regarding attribute point allocation, Bai Ye distributed the 18 free attribute points evenly among Constitution, Strength, and Agility.

Arknights OL did not have a concept of extreme stat allocation. Among the four core attributes, the first three could not differ by more than 10 points from each other, and the Mental attribute could not exceed Constitution by more than 20 points.

With 10 Constitution, Mental could only be increased to 30 at most.

Bai Ye currently did not possess an Originium Staff, nor had he learned many spells, so he did not need to increase his Mental attribute for now.

In fact, in his previous life, Bai Ye had only reached a functional level with Originium Arts. He hadn't specifically studied more advanced Originium Arts, and he didn't know many himself. This was one of the few areas he wasn't particularly skilled in.

Actually, players were allowed to have weaknesses, or rather, weaknesses were inevitable. Resources were limited, and players would selectively focus on developing in a certain direction. Teamwork would compensate for individual shortcomings.

In his previous life, Bai Ye would also cooperate with other high-level players. Lone wolves indeed had disadvantages at times.

However, now, Bai Ye would find ways to compensate for these deficiencies.

Because he was alone.

After finishing the stat allocation, Bai Ye's personal status panel was as follows:

Name: Bai Ye

Identity Verification: Lungmen

Template: NPC (Common)

Race: ██ (Warning, this entry is corrupted)

Level: 4

Sanity: 21/21

Constitution: 16 (Related to physical strength, endurance, immunity, and self-healing)

Strength: 16 (Related to muscle strength and raw power)

Agility: 16 (Related to hand-eye coordination, limb flexibility, reaction time, and balance)

Mind: 10 (Related to mental fortitude, willpower, Originium Arts, sensitivity, and intuition)

Charm: 96 (Fixed attribute)

Inventory: 0/10

Talent:

[Thought Acceleration]: Accelerates thinking, judgment, reflexes, and brain information processing speed for a certain period.

Skills:

[Melee Weapons - Swordsmanship (Mastery)]

[Unarmed Combat (Proficient)]

[Blind Fighting] (Passive)

[Crossbow Shooting (Adept)]

[Basic Originium Arts (Novice)]

[Agile Movement] (Passive)

Items:

R.G. Industries M30 Standard Single-Edged Straight Sword

R.G. Industries T20 Portable Folding Crossbow "Petrel"

Lungmen Guard Department Standard Armor

Penguin Logistics Special Light Protective Suit

Overall Evaluation:

["Newbie"]

Bai Ye closed the panel and couldn't help but laugh.

This evaluation was quite insightful.

Frankly, his level was indeed low, but his equipment configuration was incredibly luxurious. This gear was definitely not something obtainable at his current level.

The increase in attributes brought about a comprehensive enhancement. Bai Ye hopped in place, feeling great from the boost in strength. The improved Constitution attribute also aided the slow recovery of the minor injuries he sustained from his clash with Officer Chen.

Another benefit Bai Ye gained from his past life as a veteran player was his ability to quickly adapt to his enhanced capabilities.

After all, he had been powerful before—even if it was virtual.

Chapter 9: Why Are You Blushing?

Bai Ye stretched.

Although he hadn't rested since his transmigration, Bai Ye had just leveled up three times in a row and was currently in excellent condition, feeling invigorated.

He wanted to find a place to settle down and make a proper plan.

Bai Ye knew that his real opportunity would come after the players logged in. As an "NPC" who understood players best, he knew exactly how to deal with them.

Issuing quests and opening "NPC Shops" to exploit players was just the simplest method. Based on his gaming experience from his past life, Bai Ye believed players could serve a more significant role.

Lost in thought, Bai Ye suddenly looked up. His keen senses instinctively alerted him that something was wrong.

With a swift movement, the cold hilt of his sword was in his hand. Bai Ye immediately activated Thought Acceleration.

This was the first time he had used his talent.

The moment the skill activated, the world slowed down before his eyes.

Simultaneously, Bai Ye felt like he had transformed into some kind of machine, his thoughts cold and detached, like an observer.

This was the first time he had viewed the world from a different perspective. Light, airflow, sound... the sensation was peculiar. As everything around him slowed, he felt an omnipotent sense.

It wasn't that the world had slowed down; it was that he had become too fast.

Then, he saw a bullet hurtling towards him.

It wasn't an etched bullet, but a peculiar rubber one, aimed at his thigh. It wasn't lethal.

The bullet traveled "slowly" through the air, rotating, like a beautiful oil painting.

Bai Ye already knew what kind of strength and angle was needed. He gently raised his right wrist and batted away the bullet with the sword in his hand.

Then, Bai Ye exited the [Thought Acceleration] state.

A cold intuition told him that if he continued, he would sustain damage; his mental power wasn't enough to maintain this state for much longer.

Bai Ye believed this wasn't intuition, but rather a conclusion reached after accelerating his thoughts.

After taking a slight breath, Bai Ye turned his head and looked across the road not far away.

There, a car was slowing down and stopping. From the rear window, a short-haired girl with a bright halo above her head was peeking out, pretending to blow on the muzzle of the firearm in her hand.

Clearly, this bullet had been fired by the girl.

The car had still been moving, and Bai Ye himself had been walking, yet the bullet was terrifyingly accurate.

As expected of a Laterano.

These angels with halos above their heads were naturally skilled with firearms. Ordinary people needed a lot of learning and training to handle handguns, but Laterano people could casually wield multiple large firearms at once, which was outrageous.

If converted into a template, it would at least come with [Firearm Mastery].

"Oh my, Texas, our target is quite something, managing to block the bullet."

Exusiai, with her short red hair, said with a smile as she opened the car door.

"What you're holding isn't the real thing either," Texas said, her voice very plain, without any surprise or emotional fluctuation.

Exusiai jumped out of the car, muttering, "Even so, it's a bullet fired by me, Exusiai, so even if it's a toy gun..."

"Alright, let's finish this quickly. Illegal parking on the roadside will result in a fine," Texas interrupted Miss Exusiai's rambling.

Texas had tracked Bai Ye from the safe house he used for his "Zero Yuan Purchase." This was the first time a Penguin Logistics base had encountered a "burglary," so the Emperor seemed to be taking it quite seriously.