As Zheng Zha took Lori to pick a room and rest, the people beneath the Great Light Sphere gradually dispersed.
Only the cold Light Sphere remained on the platform, along with Shuofang Si and Lori Number Two, who stood timidly beside him.
Shuofang Si casually chose a door no one had opened. As he pushed it open, fragments of his memories of home surfaced in his mind and were passed to the Main God.
Wooden floors and a soft bed...
The entire room was identical to his rented apartment back in the real world.
"Go inside and rest," Shuofang Si told Lori Number Two.
The girl blinked her hazy eyes at him, then obediently nodded and walked into the room. Shuofang Si gently closed the door behind her.
He did not follow her inside. Instead, he returned to the Great Light Sphere and sat cross-legged beneath it.
The effects of NZT-48 had not worn off yet. That exhilarating sense of omnipotence still filled his mind. While the drug was still active, it was time to crunch the numbers.
He closed his eyes, connected to the Main God, and pulled up his records.
Reward Points: 17,000. Side Plots: one A-rank, one B-rank.
That was everything he had earned in the Naruto World. Then he had to subtract the 1,649 points spent on treatment, followed by the 50 points for NZT-48.
"Repairing the Gene Lock really is expensive," Shuofang Si remarked.
Treating the aftereffects of the Gene Lock alone had cost over a thousand points. Of course, there was no avoiding that expense in Reward Points.
After all, in the Main God Space, unlocking the Gene Lock was the only way to truly get a foot in the door.
Without a Gene Lock, even the most powerful bloodlines and skills he exchanged for could not deliver their full potential.
He currently had the First-Order Gene Lock. By the Main God Space's evaluation standards, that was already impressive progress for a newcomer, putting him in the promising category.
But that shouldn't be enough to get me copied into the Demon Team...
As for the second order, he remembered the Dragon Blood shortcut. Exchanging for a dragon blood enhancement could forcibly unlock the Second-Order Gene Lock without requiring him to risk his life in a desperate struggle.
There were shortcuts to the third order, too. Methods such as Rune Analysis could help him break through.
But that could wait. Shuofang Si set those thoughts aside for the moment and began browsing the Main God's exchange list.
Unfortunately, he lacked sufficient access privileges. The Main God's exchange list was as vast as an ocean, but without permission, he could only browse it page by page. He could not even search directly by keyword.
It was like trying to find a specific book in a chaotic library, relying entirely on sharp eyes and luck.
Still, since he was already in the Main God Space, he had to try some of those legendary crutch builds.
"Main God, exchange for the Psychokinetic Floating Cannons."
[No matching exchange found.]
So they really aren't here. Shuofang Si was not discouraged and continued testing the options one by one.
The Sylph archer was available, but it did not come with the skill "Arrow of Wind," which made it a stripped-down version.
Mental power enhancements were available, too, but he lacked the aptitude to become a mental power user. He would have to waste points building that up before making the exchange, and there was no need.
"Looks like shortcuts aren't allowed," Shuofang Si said with a click of his tongue.
The crutch enhancements he wanted, the ones that delivered maximum combat power at minimum cost, either did not exist or had their core skills stripped out.
Though this Main God Space had clearly been modified, it was just like the original in refusing to let reincarnators take shortcuts.
Still, as he kept browsing, he found several cost-effective options.
One C-rank side plot and 3,000 reward points for the Limitless Bullet Guanmai King.
With its high rate of fire and heavy firepower, adding unlimited ammunition made it a killing machine in any non-supernatural horror movie.
One B-Rank Side Plot and 5,000 points for the Heaven-Warding Ring, a defensive item in the magical legend category.
Once activated, it formed an energy shield that could withstand a hit from a small nuclear bomb without being damaged.
After its energy was depleted, it could be recharged using supernatural energies such as true essence, internal energy, or blood energy, or by spending reward points with the Main God.
There was also the troll mutant bloodline in the bloodline category, costing one B-rank side plot and 4,500 points.
Not only did it provide great strength, but it also offered incredibly fast regeneration and a tough, durable body. It was another exchange whose exceptional value had been verified by Chu Xuan in the original story, though there was no getting around how ugly it made you.
Of course, in the Main God Space, looking good was something to worry about only after surviving.
The vampire mutant bloodline Zheng Zha had exchanged for in the original story was available, too. It offered survival, mobility, and endurance all at once, making it an extremely cost-effective, well-rounded enhancement. Add Crimson Flame later, and that was another crutch build.
He also found two worthwhile skills.
Bullet Time cost one D-rank side plot and 1,000 points. It greatly increased dynamic neural reaction speed for a short period, effectively serving as a minor dodge cheat.
Shadow Leap cost one C-rank side plot and 3,000 points. It allowed the user to enter shadows and teleport between them, making it extremely useful for infiltration and assassination, as well as excellent for staying alive.
These were all very good exchanges.
If Shuofang Si intended to stick around in the Main God Space long-term, he could put together a complete build right now.
The vampire bloodline as his foundation, Shadow Leap and Bullet Time as his skills, the Limitless Bullet Guanmai King for damage, and the Heaven-Warding Ring to keep him alive.
With that setup, he would almost certainly be able to carry the next horror movie.
But his ambitions went far beyond that.
Ever since returning to the Main God Space, Shuofang Si had been able to sense the state of the thing in his mind responsible for bringing him here.
While he was in the Naruto World, the energy bar in his mind had barely moved, as though it were dormant.
But it had started moving after he returned to the Main God Space, filling at a rate countless times faster than it had in the Naruto World.
With NZT-48 enhancing his mind, Shuofang Si made a rough estimate. At the current rate of accumulation, the energy bar would be full within two weeks at most.
Based on the information his cheat had conveyed to him, he reckoned that surviving one more horror movie would let him escape this cesspit of a Main God Space.
Since he did not plan to stay here long, both the troll mutant bloodline and the vampire mutant bloodline were out.
Within the setting of Terror Infinity, they were indeed good, cost-effective enhancements.
But their growth ceilings were far too low.
The troll mutant bloodline just made you a tough, durable super-soldier. The vampire mutant bloodline was decent, but once he ventured into the myriad worlds, it would be nothing special.
Most importantly, once he exchanged for these bloodlines, enhancing himself with something else would become troublesome. In the original story, conflicts between the positive and negative energies of Zheng Zha's internal energy and bloodline had left him a perennial embarrassment among those of his own tier.
That was why Shuofang Si had to take the long view.
He needed an enhancement system with both strong compatibility and combat power, a foundation that could support his growth in whatever world he entered. He did not want to arrive in a New World only to discover that his strength had become utterly unremarkable.
It might be a growth trap within the Main God Space, but with his cheat, a higher long-term ceiling was naturally worth pursuing.
Just then, his gaze stopped on an entry in the exchange list.
Shuofang Si froze for a moment, then took another careful look to make sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him.
Before you continue