After reading the game details further down,
Zuo Cheng'an realized that the damage the game referred to included more than the few scrapes he had accidentally picked up while fighting the Hunter.
It also included his surgical scars, slight misalignments where his bones had healed, accumulated hidden injuries in his vessels, and so on.
A wave of lingering fear swept through Zuo Cheng'an. Of the issues listed for repair, some were problems he knew about, while others were not. If he hadn't been dragged into the game, he never would have imagined that his body had accumulated so much damage when he could still eat anything with a hearty appetite.
He selected [Confirm], and his points balance dropped to 175.
Zuo Cheng'an felt his body grow lighter, as though all the garbage inside him had been swept away in one go, instantly relieving him of a huge burden.
By the time the warm sensation faded, even the Constitution on his panel had increased by 1.
It seemed that the harmful substances left behind by years of eating food loaded with chemicals and dubious additives had been cleared out as well. Looking at the 10 Free Attribute Points awarded at settlement, Zuo Cheng'an didn't hesitate and put them into Strength first.
Only after discovering that he couldn't raise Strength beyond 10 did he put the excess into Constitution and Speed.
His panel now read:
[Player: Zuo Cheng'an] [Level: Not Yet on the Ladder] [Spirit: 74/100] [Constitution: 10] [Strength: 10] [Speed: 10] [Items: Tetanus Potion ×1 (31%), night-vision glasses, dried mutton (2 strips)] [Skill: Eye of Truth]
--
Originally, Zuo Cheng'an had only had 5 Strength. He had earned 3 Free Attribute Points through achievements in the instance and ultimately put them all into Strength, bringing it to 8.
Of the 10 Free Attribute Points he received after the instance settlement, he put two into Strength to max it out.
After using the remaining 8 points to bring both Constitution and Speed to 10, he actually had 2 points left that he couldn't use.
When he tried clicking the "+" beside the values again,
the game prompted him to raise his level in the Ladder Tower before he could break through his body's limits and continue allocating points.
Break through my body's limits? Isn't that just advancing to the next tier in a game?
I have to advance before I can level up normally. This setup couldn't be simpler.
Zuo Cheng'an felt increasingly convinced that those 25 points had been well spent.
If spending those points hadn't cleared out his hidden injuries and raised his Constitution by 1, he wouldn't have been able to save those two Free Attribute Points.
But the change in his Spirit value concerned him quite a bit.
Before the instance began, his Spirit had been 97. After just one instance, it had fallen to 74.
What exactly does this value affect?
Before he had time to think it through, Zuo Cheng'an realized that he was beginning to hear sounds from the street.
For instance, the stallholder right beside him was haggling with a customer.
A loudspeaker-shaped item had been bargained down from 200 points to 161, and now that customer was still battling the vendor over the final single point.
The utterly unnatural sight of Zuo Cheng'an suddenly appearing on the street hadn't drawn a crowd.
At most, passersby left a remark of "Another newcomer" before hurrying off to their own business.
There were, however, a few probing gazes from the corners, though they carried no malice.
So Zuo Cheng'an ignored those gazes and focused on observing his surroundings.
The surroundings looked like those of a perfectly normal human city, but the pure white sky, and the fact that every corner was clearly visible despite there being no light source,
all told him that this wasn't the real world. They were still inside the game.
Every so often, newcomers like him suddenly materialized on the streets nearby.
The place where he stood seemed to be the entrance to a market. Vendors filled the space inside, occupying an entire plaza. Some seemed unwilling to be seen and had covered themselves completely with black cloth.
Zuo Cheng'an took a brief look around near the entrance and checked the prices. He found that the 175 points in his pocket could be considered either a lot or very little.
It mainly depended on what he wanted to buy.
If he bought ordinary food, 175 points would let him eat as much as he pleased for over two months. But if he bought items, a single ordinary white-quality item could clean him out.
At that moment, someone who had been watching from the shadows finally approached and greeted Zuo Cheng'an.
"I've been watching you for a while. You suddenly appeared on the street, so you must be new, right? Do you need a guide? Just 5 points! Super cheap!"
A shrewd-looking woman walked up to Zuo Cheng'an, immediately grabbing his wrist tightly as she enthusiastically pitched her services.
It was as though she feared her mark would run away.
Zuo Cheng'an recalled the prices he had just seen. Five points were enough for five kilograms of rice.
He wasn't opposed to finding a guide to quickly familiarize himself with the game, but that price was definitely too high.
And he wasn't in the habit of being taken for a sucker.
Besides, what could someone who intended to fleece newcomers tell him?
She might even deliberately conceal crucial information and leave a newcomer suffering a loss without realizing it.
But the woman still clung to him, even hinting that there would be a few additional special services after the tour. She looked quite ready to refuse to let him leave unless he paid.
Without changing his expression, Zuo Cheng'an gripped the woman's wrist and gradually tightened his hold.
His maxed-out Strength of ten made her cry out in pain and hurriedly let go. She looked at Zuo Cheng'an with fear tinged with barely perceptible envy, realizing she had picked the wrong target.
She never even dared consider that Zuo Cheng'an's rating might have been S.
Instead, she guessed that he had been physically fit to begin with and had a solid physical foundation.
Those qualities meant this newcomer had very likely earned an extremely high rating in his instance! His point reward must have been greater than other people's! Accordingly, he ought to be more generous with his spending.
But as the pain in her wrist intensified, the woman feared that if she didn't give up now, her wrist would be crushed!
"Please! I was wrong! If you don't need it, that's fine! Let me go!"
Only then did Zuo Cheng'an release his hand and let her go.
After this incident, many people hoping to fleece a newcomer saw what had happened to the woman and no longer dared approach.
Left in peace, Zuo Cheng'an discovered through his own observations that quite a few people here seemed to make their living as guides.
Almost as soon as a figure appeared out of thin air, several gazes locked onto them, and different people were sent over depending on the target.
If a hot-blooded young man appeared, the woman from earlier would go.
If it was a girl, someone with a disability, who could more easily elicit sympathy, would take her place.
Points could clearly heal bodily injuries, and begging for points for a couple of days would be enough to get them back on their feet. Yet they continued maintaining these pitiable appearances and had even turned it into an industry.
Just how enormous must the profits have been?
Watching some newcomers being thoroughly taken in, Zuo Cheng'an had no inclination to help others by stepping forward to warn them.
However, once the organized "scammers" left, those who had been driven aside and genuinely made their living this way finally had a chance to approach.
A child who looked only eight or nine cautiously stepped forward. He didn't rudely grab Zuo Cheng'an's clothes and refuse to let go.
Instead, he stood politely half a meter away and spoke at an unhurried pace.
"Sir, do you need a guide? For just 1 point, I can show you all the main functional areas of Safe Zone 7."
Only now did Zuo Cheng'an finally manage to pick up a useful clue.
For example, this place was called Safe Zone 7. If there was a Zone 7, then there would be Zones 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Offering a little information right away was much more generous than those "scammers," who only demanded that he spend money while keeping a tight lid on their information.
And the price was cheap, too.
Before you continue