Interlude Five

No one paid any attention to Li Qingzhi's confusion.

Elsewhere, much like the many people in the surrounding crowd who had quickly found the most pressing matter at hand, Li Yun also quieted down and examined his "current" personal status panel.

[User Li Yun, ID 0107005]

[Level One Main God User]

[Race: Human]

[Constitution: 1.9]

[Mentality: 4.0]

[Enhancements: None]

[Overall Assessment: First Tier]

[Note: "No, bro! What did you grow up eating? Spinach and Mind Flayer brain matter...?"]

It seemed a little too Jane-like.

He blinked. At Li Yun's clear mental request for "detailed information," the Main God immediately responded to its visitor's question.

In an instant, a terrifyingly detailed human-body analysis model, along with vast lists of information, replaced the previous personal panel in its Jane-like simplified form and appeared within the light screen—

Cell activity, bone density, muscle fiber composition and strength, average telomere length, alveolar ventilation, partial pressure of blood oxygen...

As the human figure serving as the foundation of the analysis slowly rotated across the screen, countless minute data entries unfolded layer by layer, followed by densely packed fine print and decimal points that made his brow twitch.

Clearly, when faced with a user like Li Yun, who perhaps preferred more detailed and clearly quantified figures, the Main God's response was utterly straightforward—a truly "hardcore" style.

—That was, until merely glancing at it twice successfully made him lose interest.

He shook his head.

Li Yun knew perfectly well that the basic attribute panels provided by the Main God were generally this Jane-like and simplified. Usually, only after a user obtained certain elements outside the "normal" range would the panel change according to the individual.

After all, a living being's actual "attributes" were constantly undergoing subtle changes due to growth, eating, current condition, and all manner of influences.

Many things, such as "mentality," were in fact difficult to quantify clearly enough for assessment at all...

There was no need to force the issue.

Next... the assessment information for a newcomer's clearance.

[...Main Quest One: Survive for seventy-two hours (Completed)]

[Main Quest Two: Reach an Exploration Score of five (Completed)—Upon leaving the mission world, your total Exploration Score was five. This Exploration Score has been converted into an assessment bonus.]

[Triggered the side quest "Mystery of Divine Blood." Received an additional assessment bonus and additional Universal Points.]

[Your performance assessment for this mission: Rare Grade]

[—Based on the overall mission rating, your final mission rewards are: 1,130 Universal Points (after Newcomer Trial amplification), and one Rare Grade Exchange Card.]

Faced with that rather unexpected four-digit number, Li Yun narrowed his eyes. Without saying anything, he first opened the detailed reward information panel.

—The main quests had awarded 106 Universal Points, while the side quest had awarded 120, for a total of 226. After the Newcomer Trial amplification, that naturally became 1,130 points at five times the amount.

This had been a benefit designed from the very beginning to attract newcomers. There was nothing strange about it.

But...

"Main God, I can understand the reward for the main quests. After all, for a mission type without mandatory combat, the score should mainly depend on information gathering and actual performance."

"But just triggering this side quest gave me one hundred and twenty points. What's the reasoning behind that?"

It was not as though he begrudged such a small Universal Points reward, nor was he questioning it.

Li Yun simply could not quite grasp the specific standard being applied.

After all, as an administrator in the objective sense, he knew very well that once Universal Points possessed practical currency value, any unreasonable "point inflation" would undoubtedly be extremely dangerous.

Under his silent inquiry, swathes of new text immediately surfaced on the panel.

"...The reasoning is very Jane-like, Administrator."

"The side quest you triggered was of a relatively high level. The condition for gathering its corresponding prerequisite information—the very first glimpse of the true form of that 'Blood Moon'—would theoretically have killed an ordinary newcomer on the spot, perhaps even caused the entire group to be wiped out."

There seemed to be a faint hint of helplessness in the Main God's indifferent voice.

"According to theoretical projections, an individual with at least Third or Fourth Tier mental attributes would be required as the primary condition to have any chance of initially enduring it. They would also need a method of promptly stopping their own 'gaze,' or they would likewise quickly sink deeper into it."

"In truth, it was because of your own particular nature, which essentially ignored the effects involved, that you were able to successfully gather the relevant information after indirectly looking upon the target, verify it afterward, and trigger this side quest."

"From that perspective, you should understand that this side quest's trigger reward was not high at all. It was merely set at a price equivalent to a newcomer's main quest."

"..."

Someone fell silent for a moment.

Oh, so I'm the problem. Then that's fine.

Naturally, he understood what the Main God meant. Even merely reaching the step of "triggering the quest" made this side quest far more valuable than that.

It was only because of a certain Administrator's "external factor," as well as the need to establish an ordinary user identity for him, that the Main God's assessment had symbolically assigned it the "cheap price" of merely matching a newcomer's main quest.

That was a little awkward.

"Mm, I did leave a loophole. It was my first time personally taking part, so I really didn't have a good grasp of the Newcomer Trial's balance. Sorry."

He frankly acknowledged his own mistake in his mind.

With two fingers pressed against his glasses, Li Yun quietly considered it for a moment before looking back at the pale-blue illusory screen.

"Now that things have come to this, there's nothing to dwell on."

"Then, Main God, speaking as an ordinary user, how do you think I should handle the resources I currently possess?"

"You know, Administrator, vague standard inquiries, like queries about the next mission world, require 'Captain Authority' to use."

Quite unusually, perhaps due to a touch of social awareness simulated from that "humanity," the Main God did not directly answer him. Instead, it proactively made what seemed to be a rather inexplicable pun.

Hearing that, Li Yun shook his head, a subtle smile quietly appearing on his face.

"Of course, given the current circumstances, if you are to operate as an ordinary user, your identity indeed requires an outward plan."

"Considering your current intention and your need for a relatively low-profile approach, the more suitable method would be to invest these resources into exchanges that are more oriented toward the 'later stages' and will not produce such conspicuous effects early on."

By comparison, the Main God's analysis was extremely concise in a Jane-like fashion and unadorned.

"One especially critical point, Administrator, is that your true body is currently undergoing an unknown process of 'evolution.' Therefore, data analysis does not recommend that you rashly exchange for items likely to have a significant impact on your current state, such as certain 'bloodlines' and 'enhancements' with more obvious mutational traits."

"You need to keep yourself in a relatively stable state of change as much as possible. Therefore, the exchange should ideally possess an all-purpose quality that can adapt to most possible evolutionary directions, or at the very least not conflict with them too severely..."

"Thus, after considering every aspect, the category of items more suitable for you is—"

As the Main God explained, the exchange item list before him automatically unfolded.

Yet unlike the countless, boundless variety from when he had checked before, fewer than thirty exchange items now remained before him.

Li Yun's gaze naturally fell first upon the name at the very top—

[Electric Current Drive (Only available to newcomers within their first three missions; grants unranked initial potential)—Requires 1,000 Universal Points and one Rare Grade Exchange Card...]