Active Skills at Zero? No Problem, I Have a Humanoid Forklift

Isolde took half a step forward and lowered her voice.

"Father, since we're going to proceed with the fusion, I'd like to inspect the materials in the underground laboratory beforehand."

Valen said nothing. His murky eyes settled on her frail figure.

As though she hadn't noticed his scrutiny, Isolde continued, "The black salt, soul-sealing wax, potions, and bone ash used to secure souls all need to be inventoried again."

She raised her eyes, her voice growing even softer.

"This batch of body parts is more precious than the previous ones. I don't want any low-level mistake to mar your perfection. That way, your perfection will have a part of me in it as well."

Those words clearly struck at Valen's pathological pursuit of "perfection." He slowly nodded.

"Fine. Go."

Isolde lowered her head. "Yes."

That almost nauseating flattery really was right up Valen's alley.

A madman and a madwoman, loving father and filial daughter—the whole lot of them were dark, damp, and utterly deranged.

Then Valen waved his malformed forelimb, signaling for her to leave.

The nerves wound tight in Isolde's mind loosened slightly. She put on a reluctant expression and withdrew from the room.

Once the study doors closed behind her, the expression on her face instantly faded, and only then did her breathing return to normal.

Lia stood outside the door, her gray eyes fixed on her.

"Miss, your complexion is very pale."

Isolde glanced at her.

"I was overwhelmed by Father's majestic presence."

Lia paused.

"Would you like me to prepare a vomit basin for you?"

Isolde: "..."

She raised a hand and rubbed her brow. "No. Back to the room."

After returning to her room, Isolde leaned against the door for quite a while after closing it, only managing to suppress the nausea afterward.

This dungeon was even more hellish than she had imagined.

In her previous life, she had only heard people say Valen was disgusting. How could she have known the real version would be disgusting to this extent?

So the game had skipped virtual experiences entirely and thrown players straight into an immersive, full-sensory simulation, huh?

But this wasn't the time to complain. She needed to figure out what cards she held as quickly as possible.

If this was still the world from her previous life, then players had status panels. NPCs affected by the game should have them too.

Besides, what exactly was she now?

An awakened NPC?

Or a limited hybrid edition combining reincarnation and game mutation?

Isolde closed her eyes and cautiously murmured in her mind.

System?

Personal status panel?

Hello?

The air was dead silent. All that was missing was a crow flying over her head.

She frowned. Could it be that she didn't have one?

Impossible.

In her previous life, someone had revealed that the residents of this continent were not much different from players in terms of abilities.

If there was any difference, it was that they couldn't call up a system panel.

But being unable to call it up didn't mean they didn't have one.

Moreover, those who joined different professions or faiths possessed different basic abilities, while ordinary civilians possessed none.

Since Isolde was a Soul Stitcher, she was bound to have the most basic profession attributes.

She changed her approach, focused her mind, and reached for that indescribable sense of familiarity in her head.

The next moment, a translucent gray screen indeed appeared before her eyes.

[Name: Isolde]

[Primary Affinity: Evil Affinity]

[Profession: Soul Stitcher]

[Secondary Affinity: None]

[Health: 350]

[Mana: 80]

[Defense: 50]

[Agility: 10]

[Strength: 10]

[Intelligence: 120]

[Passive Skill: Witch's Mask]

[Skill Description: You possess exceptionally refined disguise and acting abilities. You can beguile creatures with intelligence lower than your own, reducing their vigilance by 60%.]

[Active Skills: None]

The primary affinities in Fallen Realm were not moral judgments, but sources of power.

Evil Affinity included darkness, curses, undead, souls, and decay.

Her early-game attributes were fairly decent, but Isolde stared at the final line and fell silent again.

Although she had prepared herself mentally, facing that result directly still left her utterly crushed.

She was a proper mad beauty NPC, Duke Valen's adopted daughter, an important figure in the castle lure-and-kill dungeon—and she didn't have a single active skill.

Was that reasonable?

This...

Was extremely reasonable.

Isolde held her forehead and laughed bitterly at the panel.

No wonder the original owner had mainly been responsible for deceiving people in the dungeon. She really was nothing but an acting specialist.

Squishy, low attack, low agility, no skills. If she got caught, she was dead.

Her only advantage was her high intelligence and barely passable mana.

With her current attributes, fighting Valen head-on probably wouldn't even count as scratching him. At best, she could provide him with a free localized massage.

But she wasn't completely without hope.

The continent in Fallen Realm was called Selentia.

The most insane thing about Selentia was that it had multiple faiths, countless different races and factions, absurdly high freedom, and equally absurd chaos.

She remembered the five main factions: Holy White City, the Frostspine Northern Alliance, the Red Kite City-State, the Emeraldsleep Forest Court, and the Furnace Mountain Dwarf Alliance.

Each faction controlled different resources and possessed distinct beliefs.

Their skills were even more varied, each with its own strengths, and there were countless ways to acquire them.

Because there was no direct reflection of levels, how to improve basic attributes and skill strength became a major subject of research.

According to the information Yu Lingye knew, one could equip gear, drink potions, or train to raise attribute values. As for skills, one could open treasure chests, steal scrolls, learn from one another, collect fallen fragments, or even create advanced skills based on basic formulas.

In her previous life, there had been a group of elemental players who were both insane and unbelievably hardworking. By collecting basic formulas, they forcibly crafted absurdly powerful skills with their own hands and steamrolled everything in their path. Some had even soloed an entire city.

They could already be considered the best among the best. Most of the others had died along the way.

Back then, Yu Lingye could only watch their glory from afar or hide nearby and eavesdrop on a few tips.

Now, things were different.

This body might lack strength, but it had a brain—and one with 120 intelligence.

If she still only knew how to kneel and beg others to carry her, then she really ought to stuff herself back into that snake pit for another round of training.

Isolde continued reading. At the very bottom of the screen was another line of small text.

[Soul Contractor: Lia]

[Primary Affinity: None]

[Profession: Puppet]

[Health: None]

[Mana: None]

[Defense: 50]

[Agility: 60]

[Strength: 100]

[Intelligence: 20]

[Status: Absolute Obedience]

Isolde's gaze stopped.

Slowly, she lifted her head and looked at the maid standing not far away.

Lia stood quietly in the shadows, half her face wrapped in yellowed bandages. Her gray eyes contained no emotion at all.

She was thin as a withered branch, her wrists so slender that the hard knots beneath the bandages were visible. No matter how she looked at her, she didn't seem like someone who could fight.

Yet her strength was 100. The limit for ordinary people was 99, and she was just one point above that limit. She was absolutely a stat monster.

Her own strength as the master was 10, weak as a chick that had just spawned by the roadside in a beginner village.

If Lia wanted to, she could probably punch her, along with her self-respect, straight into a wall.

Still, thankfully, Lia was a Puppet who wasn't very good at thinking and obeyed her absolutely. Their flaws even complemented one another's, making Lia a bodyguard practically tailored for her.

But according to memories from her previous life, there was very little information about Isolde. After Valen died, no one mentioned where she had gone.

Looking at Lia again, Isolde suddenly felt a little safer.

"Lia," she said.

Lia immediately raised her eyes. "Miss."

"Lift that cabinet."

Lia walked over, gripped the heavy old cabinet with both hands, and lifted it smoothly without even showing a hint of exertion.

The bottles and jars inside clattered loudly.

Isolde: "..."

What frail maid was this? She was a household-version humanoid forklift.

She looked weak, a pure tool-character setup.

But so what if she was a tool character?

Use a tool character properly, and she became the answer to the current meta.

"Put it down," Isolde ordered.

Lia obediently set the cabinet back in its original place.

Isolde looked at her and asked again,

"Lia, if I ordered you to attack Valen, would you do it?"