Enhancement, Part 1

What did Qin Ran lack most right now?

Time!

There was no doubt about the answer.

Because only with time could he grow stronger in the game, obtain more equipment, earn more points, and then exchange them for money.

Time was money.

Qin Ran agreed with that saying. Even if money could not buy time, whether it was getting medical treatment, eating, or enjoying life, money was indispensable.

As an orphan, Qin Ran understood this even more deeply.

Just thinking about the instant meals he had eaten three times a day without change for three years, Qin Ran's understanding of money had been branded into his soul through his tongue.

Compared to the [Basic Medicine Crafting Station Blueprint], Qin Ran valued the [Solo Instance Cooldown Accelerator Card] more.

However, Qin Ran would never reveal his thoughts during a trade.

So, he did not immediately agree. Instead, he waited for a moment before replying.

2567: Not enough! The [Solo Instance Cooldown Accelerator Card] has no value.

Lawless: I can add another 2,000 points and 1 skill point at most! Any more, and I'll think of another way!

No more valuable items to offer?

After seeing the other party directly quote points and skill points, Qin Ran paid no attention to that last sentence.

If the other party had another way, he would not have kept talking to Qin Ran here.

There had to be no better option.

Or the other options would cost even more!

Having calculated this clearly, Qin Ran made another offer.

2567: 5,000 points, 3 skill points!

Lawless: 2,500 points, 1 skill point. No more than that!

Qin Ran set the price right on Lawless's threshold—not enough to scare him off, but enough to make him want to give up while still being unable to let go.

It was not a particularly clever tactic.

Because Lawless had already revealed his bottom line earlier.

The other party had at least 6,000 points and 2 skill points!

Or rather, he could at least use that much.

And since the other party could put up the two items—the [Basic Medicine Crafting Station Blueprint] and the [Solo Instance Cooldown Accelerator Card]—they clearly were not necessities and could be traded.

Therefore, the outcome of the deal had been decided from the start.

In the end, Lawless completed the trade with Qin Ran for 4,000 points, 2 skill points, the [Basic Medicine Crafting Station Blueprint], and the [Solo Instance Cooldown Accelerator Card], receiving the [Iron Fist-II] rocket launcher in exchange.

After the trade was complete, Lawless hurriedly said they could chat next time, then vanished.

When Qin Ran tried contacting him again, he received a message saying, "The other party has entered an instance and cannot be contacted."

Qin Ran could only shrug helplessly. He had wanted to learn more about the game through the other party.

However, he was not dissatisfied.

They were merely traders to each other. Neither owed the other anything, much less needed to accommodate the other.

Once the trade was complete, they naturally went their separate ways.

Of course, Qin Ran did not mind waiting until the other party came out of the instance to make another trade—one for information, even if the other party claimed he had nothing valuable to offer.

What Qin Ran needed was more basic information.

Moreover, the other party's attitude was very good news to Qin Ran. No value usually meant low prices.

Good quality at a low price.

No one would mind that.

Qin Ran smiled and checked what he had gained from the trade.

There was nothing much to say about the [Solo Instance Cooldown Accelerator Card]. He could simply use it.

The [Basic Medicine Crafting Station Blueprint], however, required more careful study.

Especially after seeing the system's quoted price—

[Spend 8,000 points to create a Basic Medicine Crafting Station? Yes/No]

[Requirements insufficient,

Unable to create]

"8,000 points?!"

Qin Ran took several deep breaths before calming his shock.

Although he had guessed that constructing a Basic Medicine Crafting Station would be expensive, seeing the actual cost still made his heart race.

[Points: 17000; Skill Points: 10; Gold Skill Points: 1; Gold Attribute Points: 0]

After glancing over his points and skill points, Qin Ran began calculating.

To create a Basic Medicine Crafting Station, he first had to raise [Medicine: Pharmaceutical Knowledge] to the proficient level. Including the construction fee, that would cost 9,200 points and 1 skill point—more than half of his current points.

Furthermore, there was no exact information on the later production costs.

If the costs exceeded the prices players paid each other, it would absolutely not be worthwhile.

However, Qin Ran did not abandon his original idea because of that!

When he accepted the trade with Lawless, he had already planned to create the Basic Medicine Crafting Station. Otherwise, he could have waited until the two guilds' battle reached its peak and sold the [Iron Fist-II] for a high price.

Qin Ran understood the importance of medicine in the game.

This was especially true when the game's [Store] only sold basic medicine.

The blueprint clearly marked it as "basic." Where there was basic, there would inevitably be advanced. Once it was upgraded and medicines unavailable in the [Store] appeared, Qin Ran could easily imagine the enormous profits.

The prerequisite was that he had to own a Basic Medicine Crafting Station!

Qin Ran did not mind a long-term investment if it brought huge returns.

Especially now that an item like the [Solo Instance Cooldown Accelerator Card] had appeared, Qin Ran was confident he could turn "long-term" into a short period of time!

However, Qin Ran did not blindly create it right away.

There was naturally nothing wrong with producing higher-level medicine and seeking greater profits.

But Qin Ran understood the importance of his own strength even better!

In Qin Ran's view, giving up opportunities to increase his strength faster because of the Basic Medicine Crafting Station before him would be no different from killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.

Only by becoming stronger himself could he obtain more equipment from instances and exchange it for more points.

He knew which came first.

Qin Ran could tell the difference clearly.

Of course, if this had been an [Intermediate Medicine Crafting Station], Qin Ran would have sold everything he owned to create it and seize the business opportunity.

Unfortunately, it was only basic.

Especially when it would consume more than half of Qin Ran's points, he chose to strengthen himself first.

Because such strengthening was also expensive.

[Cold Weapons: Dagger (Basic → Beginner) requires 200 points. Pay? Yes/No]

[Dodge (Basic → Beginner) requires 200 points. Pay? Yes/No]

[Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic → Beginner) requires 200 points. Pay? Yes/No]

[Medical: Bandaging (Basic → Beginner) requires 200 points. Pay? Yes/No]

[Medicine: Pharmaceutical Knowledge (Basic → Beginner) requires 200 points. Pay? Yes/No]

[Tracking (Basic → Beginner) requires 800 points. Pay? Yes/No]

The five skills needed a total of 1,800 points to advance from basic to beginner, with [Tracking] alone accounting for nearly half of that.

Qin Ran selected yes for all of them.

Five consecutive infusions of knowledge and bodily coordination followed.

After [Cold Weapons: Dagger], [Dodge], [Hand-to-Hand Combat], and [Medical: Bandaging] rose to the beginner level, their effects became stronger, but Qin Ran's attributes did not change.

They all gave the same notification: [This type of skill has reached the current level's upgrade limit and cannot be raised!]

This did not surprise Qin Ran.

When [Firearms: Light Weapons] had risen to the beginner level and his Perception had not increased, he had already suspected this.

What surprised Qin Ran was that [Tracking] actually changed his Perception.

[Skill Tracking (Basic → Beginner)]

[Name: Tracking (Beginner)]

[Related Attribute: Perception]

[Skill Category: Support]

[Effect: You track targets you wish to pursue by observing various traces!]

[Consumption: Stamina]

[Learning Requirement: Perception F+]

[Remark: Your comprehensive application rivals a hunting dog's nose!]

[Skill Tracking level increased. Related attribute increased...]

[Perception F+ → E-]

"Raising [Tracking] to beginner level actually increased Perception. Was it because I learned it from a skill book, or was the skill itself special?"

Qin Ran guessed.

He leaned toward the latter, but he had no more information to prove it.

Of course, this confusion did not prevent Qin Ran from continuing to strengthen himself.

To make things clearer, Qin Ran listed the costs for raising each skill from beginner to proficient in detail.

[Cold Weapons: Dagger]—1,000 points and 1 skill point.

[Firearms: Light Weapons]—1,000 points and 1 skill point.

[Dodge]—1,500 points and 1 skill point.

[Stealth]—1,500 points and 1 skill point.

[Hand-to-Hand Combat]—1,500 points and 1 skill point.

[Medical: Bandaging]—500 points and 1 skill point.

[Medicine: Pharmaceutical Knowledge]—1,000 points and 1 skill point.

[Tracking]—3,000 points and 2 skill points.

It would cost a total of 11,000 points and 9 skill points.

Among them, [Tracking] was the most expensive, costing as much as raising two skills from beginner to proficient.

[Medical: Bandaging] was the cheapest, costing only half as much as the other skills.

Qin Ran looked at his eight current skills and carefully considered his next round of strengthening.

His most familiar combat methods were an assassination-like style using [Cold Weapons: Dagger] + [Stealth], and a sniping style using [Firearms: Light Weapons] + [Dodge].

Those four skills undoubtedly had to be raised to the proficient level.

[Hand-to-Hand Combat] was also part of the plan, because Qin Ran could not guarantee that he would never face a sudden situation where he had no weapon at hand.

There was no need to mention [Tracking]. Its special effect would be extremely useful anywhere.

[Medicine: Pharmaceutical Knowledge] was the foundation for creating the [Basic Medicine Crafting Station], so it had to be raised.

As for [Medical: Bandaging]?

Unless Qin Ran believed he would never be injured, it would be best to raise it to a certain level.

At a glance, nearly all of them needed to be raised.

Compared to the extreme approach of pushing a single skill to its limit, Qin Ran preferred being well-rounded—because what determined whether someone was truly strong was not their strongest aspect, but their weakest one.

Especially since the former was easier to counter.

That naturally made Qin Ran favor the latter.

But raising everything would inevitably cost a great deal.

Qin Ran could not help frowning.

However, his frown soon relaxed.