Interlude Five

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

Elsewhere, much like many among the crowds around him who had swiftly identified the current priority, Li Yun also quieted down and checked his "current" personal panel.

[User ID 0107005: Li Yun]

[Level 1 Main God User]

[Race: Human]

[Physique: 1.9]

[Mental: 4.0]

[Enhancement: 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 simplistic.

Blinking, Li Yun made a clear request for "detailed information" in his mind, and the Main God immediately responded to this Visitor's question.

In an instant, a terrifyingly detailed human-body analysis model and a vast list of information replaced the simplified personal panel, appearing across the light screen—

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

As the humanoid figure serving as the foundation of the analysis slowly rotated within the light screen, tens of thousands of minute labeled entries unfolded layer by layer. Each was followed by dense tiny text and decimals, making his brow twitch.

Clearly, when faced with a user like Li Yun, who perhaps preferred more detailed and clearly quantified data, the Main God's response was utterly unambiguous. It favored a thoroughly "hardcore" style.

—Meaning that after only two brief glances, it had successfully made him lose interest.

He shook his head.

Li Yun knew very well that the basic attribute panels provided by the Main God were generally this simplistic. Usually, only after users acquired certain elements outside the bounds of "normality" would the panels undergo individualized changes.

After all, a living creature's actual "attributes" often underwent minute changes constantly due to growth, eating, current condition, and all sorts of influencing factors.

Many things were even fundamentally difficult to quantify clearly enough for assessment, such as "mental" attributes...

There was no need to force the issue.

Next... the assessment information for clearing the newcomer trial.

[...Main Quest 1: Survive for seventy-two hours (Completed)]

[Main Quest 2: Reach an Exploration Score of five points (Completed)—Upon leaving the mission world, your total Exploration Score was five. This Exploration Score has been converted into an assessment bonus.]

[Due to triggering the side quest "Mystery of Divine Blood," you have received an additional assessment bonus and an extra Universal Points reward.]

[Your mission performance assessment this time: Rare Grade]

[—Based on your overall mission score, your final mission rewards are: 1,130 Universal Points (value after Newcomer Trial amplification), one Rare Grade exchange card.]

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

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

This had been a benefit intended to attract and accommodate newcomers from the very beginning, so it was nothing unusual.

But...

"Main God, I can understand the reward for this main quest. After all, for a mission type without mandatory combat, the score mainly depends on information gathering and specific performance."

"But just triggering this side quest gave me a reward of 120 points. What exactly is going on here?"

It was naturally not because he begrudged such a small Universal Points reward, nor could it be called a challenge.

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

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

Under his silent questioning, a large amount of fresh text immediately appeared on the panel.

"...The reasoning is very simple, Administrator."

"The side quest you triggered is of a high level. Merely meeting the prerequisite for collecting the relevant information—catching that glimpse of the true form of the 'Blood Moon'—would, in theory, have caused an ordinary newcomer to die on the spot at that very stage, perhaps even resulting in a total party wipe."

A trace of helplessness seemed to faintly emerge within 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 a primary condition to have some chance of initially enduring it. They would also need a way to promptly stop their own 'gaze'; otherwise, they would likewise rapidly sink deeper into it."

"In reality, it was because of your own unique nature, which essentially ignored its effects, that you successfully collected the relevant information after indirectly looking upon the target. Subsequent verification then triggered this side quest."

"From that perspective, you should understand that the trigger reward for this side quest is not actually high. It is merely set at a value equivalent to a newcomer's main quest."

"..."

Someone fell silent for a moment.

Oh, so the problem was me. Then it was fine.

He could naturally understand what the Main God meant. Even merely reaching the step of "triggering the quest," this side quest was worth far more than that.

It was simply because of a certain Administrator's "outside 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 main quest.

That was a little awkward.

"Mm, I left a loophole. This was my first time personally participating, so I really did not have a proper grasp of the Newcomer Trial's limits. Sorry."

He candidly acknowledged his own mistake in his thoughts.

Pressing two fingers against his glasses, Li Yun quietly considered the matter for a moment before looking once more at the pale-blue illusory light screen.

"Since things have come to this, there is nothing worth dwelling on."

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

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

Rather rarely, perhaps due to a bit of emotional intelligence produced by its "humanity" simulation, the Main God did not directly answer him. Instead, it proactively told what seemed to be a rather nonsensical joke.

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

"Of course, given the current situation, your identity as a regular user does indeed require an overt plan."

"Considering your current intention to remain relatively low-profile, the more suitable approach would be to invest these resources into exchanges that are more 'late-stage' and will not produce such conspicuous effects early on."

By comparison, the Main God's analysis was extremely concise and unadorned.

"One especially crucial point, Administrator, is that your true body is essentially undergoing an unknown process of 'evolution.' Therefore, data analysis does not recommend that you rashly exchange for items likely to greatly affect your current state, such as certain 'bloodlines' and 'enhancements' with more obvious mutation traits."

"You need to keep yourself in a relatively stable state of change as much as possible. Therefore, the exchange should ideally possess a versatile quality that can adapt to most possible evolutionary directions, or at least avoid excessive conflict with them..."

"Thus, after considering all aspects, the category of exchanges more suitable for you is—"

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

Yet unlike the vast, endless range of options from before, fewer than thirty exchange entries now remained before him.

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

[Electric Current Drive (Available only to newcomers within their first three missions; grants an ungraded initial potential)—Requires 1,000 Universal Points, one Rare Grade exchange card...]