Skills

With Qin Ran's charged strike, the dagger stabbed into the pursuer's back, sinking in halfway.

Blood instantly flowed from the wound.

"Ah!"

The pursuer let out a scream, his body instinctively lurching forward.

Qin Ran followed closely behind. He pressed his left hand over his right, which gripped the dagger, and forced it downward. However, the dagger did not advance even an inch.

Damn, it's stuck in the bone!

Qin Ran's heart tightened, and he instinctively pulled out the dagger.

Splat!

Scalding blood sprayed out, splashing across Qin Ran's face and obscuring his vision.

Temporarily unable to see, Qin Ran grew increasingly panicked and could only wildly swing the dagger in his hand.

At that moment, there was only one thought in Qin Ran's mind: he could not give the other party any chance to catch his breath, or he would be the one to die!

Driven by that thought, Qin Ran swung the dagger with incredible speed.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

A series of sounds of metal tearing through flesh followed.

After swinging the dagger several times, Qin Ran was astonished to discover that he clearly understood how to use it.

It should not be this blind flailing that merely cut the opponent's skin!

It should be thrusting!

Avoid the hard bones and thrust toward the opponent's soft muscles!

Qin Ran's body moved almost instinctively.

The next moment, with his vision slightly restored, Qin Ran gripped the dagger in reverse, drove with his elbow, and the dagger shot out as though spring-loaded.

Slash!

The dagger plunged into the pursuer's chest, sinking all the way to the hilt.

The pursuer, who was holding a kitchen knife and preparing to retaliate, lowered his head in disbelief to look at the dagger embedded in his chest before falling straight to the ground.

Even in death, the pursuer did not understand how someone who had posed no threat a moment ago had suddenly become so deadly.

Qin Ran was equally shocked. Looking at the pursuer's corpse, the pungent stench of blood reminded him what he had done.

Bleurgh!

Faced with a completely real corpse, the vivid red blood assaulted Qin Ran's vision. The thought that the man had died by his hand made his stomach churn, and he could not stop himself from vomiting.

As he vomited, Qin Ran collapsed to his knees, weak all over.

With tears and snot streaming down his face, he looked utterly miserable.

"Done vomiting?"

A hoarse voice sounded beside Qin Ran's ear, making him raise his head instinctively.

He saw a face obscured by dust and grime. The gray eyes that should have been bright instead held indifference and vigilance.

"I..."

"The spoils are yours. I won't fight you for them."

Qin Ran wanted to say something, but the other person directly interrupted him. Pressing against the wall, the person kept their eyes fixed on Qin Ran and slowly edged toward the exit along the wall.

That person did not trust him!

And was deeply wary of him!

Watching those movements, Qin Ran came to a realization.

That realization kept Qin Ran from saying anything else or making any further movements—he was afraid the other person would misunderstand and cause unnecessary trouble.

In his current weakened state, Qin Ran did not think he could handle such trouble.

Therefore, Qin Ran quietly watched the other person leave.

Only after the figure had completely disappeared did Qin Ran finally let out a breath of relief and push himself up from the ground.

"Cold, but still a kind person."

That was Qin Ran's conclusion.

After order had collapsed, someone who did not take advantage of another's weakness could still be considered kind, even if they were cold and wary.

At the very least, that person was several times better than those thugs!

After sighing, Qin Ran looked at the system notification.

[Skill Comprehended: Cold Weapons (Dagger) (Basic)]

It was precisely this skill that had turned him from a complete novice with daggers into someone intimately familiar with one, allowing him to kill his opponent in a single strike.

Curious about the appearance of the skill, Qin Ran checked the battle records.

[Thrust: Dealt 15 damage to the opponent's Health...]

[Slash: Dealt 3 damage to the opponent's Health...]

[Slash: Dealt 2 damage to the opponent's Health. Opponent entered Light Wound Status...]

...

[Three effective attacks. Skill Comprehended: Cold Weapons (Dagger) (Basic)]

[Thrust: Vital attack. Dealt 80 damage to the opponent's Health (40 Cold Weapons (Dagger) (Basic) x2). Opponent died...]

(Note: Vital attack = actual damage x2)

"Three effective attacks?"

Qin Ran muttered, then quickly opened the skill tab.

The first slot of the previously empty skill tab now contained a skill named [Cold Weapons (Dagger) (Basic)].

As Qin Ran stared at it, the description for [Cold Weapons (Dagger) (Basic)] quickly appeared on the screen visible only to him.

[Name: Cold Weapons (Dagger) (Basic)]

[Related Attributes: Strength, Agility, Constitution]

[Skill Type: Attack]

[Effect: You know how to use a dagger. Increases destructive power by 10%.]

[Cost: Stamina]

[Learning Requirements: Strength F-, Agility F, Constitution F]

[Remark: You have only just gained the basics. Don't dream of slicing through gold and jade!]

"Raises destructive power by 10%?"

Looking at the description, Qin Ran instinctively compared it with the system's earlier battle records.

Then, he quickly walked over to the pursuer's corpse and yanked the dagger, buried to the hilt, from the man's chest.

The moment his palm gripped the dagger, that familiar feeling surged up from within Qin Ran again. Instinctively, he thrust the dagger forward once more.

It was as though he had practiced the movement thousands, even tens of thousands, of times.

Whoosh!

The sharp metal immediately sliced through the air.

It was incredibly fast. His hand did not tremble in the slightest, and the dagger struck precisely where Qin Ran imagined an enemy's chest to be.

The entire process was no different from the strike that had instantly killed the pursuer earlier.

It was fast, accurate, and ruthless!

"This is only 10%? And I can reach it with three effective attacks?"

Qin Ran murmured in disbelief.

He found it hard to imagine that a 10% increase could create such a huge difference.

Because in Qin Ran's view, that 10% improvement was already a complete combination of strength, speed, and experience. Without years of training, it would have been impossible to achieve.

Yet he had completed in just three effective attacks what others needed years of training to accomplish.

Not to mention that Qin Ran did not think he possessed talent beyond others, enough to be called a genius.

Could even a true genius accomplish what he had just done?

Qin Ran silently pondered.

Then, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

"The hint?!"

Qin Ran thought of the game prompt from when he entered.

He immediately checked the system records—

[Main Quest: Survive Seven Days, 0/7]

[Side Quest (Optional): Rescue more civilians before the war ends. Each civilian rescued can improve your completion rating.]

(Hint: A Beginner Instance is a rare opportunity for every player!)

The game's hint was clearly displayed beneath the main and side quests.

Qin Ran's gaze lingered on the words "rare opportunity" for a moment before he finally let out a long breath.

The Underground Game may be incredibly realistic, but some game rules haven't changed. It would never throw a "newbie" directly into an extremely dangerous situation. Instead, it progresses step by step! As long as I seize the opportunity, I'll gradually gain the strength to deal with the danger!

However, Qin Ran soon frowned.

He thought about what would have happened if he had not carefully searched that corpse earlier and obtained a weapon.

Thinking of the possible outcome, Qin Ran felt a wave of lingering fear.

"No wonder it's the Underground Game, where only one-tenth of the players survived the closed beta! Quite a few of those players probably lost their lives because of carelessness and failure to adapt, right?"

As Qin Ran thought, he lowered his head and searched the corpse before him.

With utmost seriousness!

When he had checked the battle records earlier, Qin Ran had not found any XP or experience points, even after the opponent died. Yet there were skills, and they had even been marked with the word "Basic."

They could clearly be leveled up!

Furthermore, the game had directly stated that he had entered an instance.

Based on Qin Ran's past gaming experience, he would not receive XP or experience points directly. Instead, after clearing the current instance, he would receive an evaluation.

The quality of that evaluation would directly affect his rewards.

As for how to improve the evaluation?

Other than the side quests directly provided by the game, it naturally depended on his performance within the game.

And according to Qin Ran's understanding, in-game performance was nothing more than killing monsters and obtaining equipment, gold, and the like.

Qin Ran had no further thoughts about the side quest for the time being.

But he was extremely familiar with killing monsters and obtaining equipment, gold, and the like.

After all, he had searched a corpse not long ago, and there was another one right in front of him.

What was more, he had killed this one himself!

The pungent smell of blood was still just as pungent.

Even after killing someone, Qin Ran still loathed the smell, though he had adapted to it slightly.

At least, Qin Ran did not vomit again.

Nor did he feel as much fear.

The first item Qin Ran picked up was naturally the kitchen knife in the pursuer's hand.

[Name: Kitchen Knife]

[Type: Bladed Weapon]

[Quality: Damaged]

[Attack Power: Weak]

[Attributes: None]

[Special Effects: None]

[Can Be Taken Out of This Instance: Yes]

[Remark: Normally used for chopping vegetables. Of course... you can also choose to chop people.]

The moment Qin Ran picked up the kitchen knife, its item details appeared before his eyes.

After examining it for a moment, Qin Ran placed the kitchen knife into his backpack and continued searching.

Very soon, Qin Ran made another discovery.