Chapter 2: Insane, Self-Realized

Second-floor bedroom.

Lin Mo was completely unaware of his parents’ grand plan downstairs to “practice their alt accounts.”

He locked the door behind him, threw himself hard onto the soft bed, and immediately opened his career panel.

On the panel, the icon for 【Fireball Spell】 remained gray.

“It’s been half an hour already—still not back?”

At that moment.

A series of messages popped up on the panel.

【Your skill “Fireball Spell” has traveled a long distance and arrived at the southern suburbs of Jianghai City—“Green Meadow” (Lv.1–Lv.3).】

【Encountered enemy! Ahead, a “Sharp-Toothed Rabbit” (Lv.1) is grazing.】

【“Fireball Spell” mocked the Sharp-Toothed Rabbit: Is that all? Is this even considered a monster? Are you here to make a joke?】

【“Fireball Spell” struck in anger, hitting the rabbit’s front teeth with perfect accuracy!】

【Kill successful! Experience +5, skill proficiency +1.】

【“Fireball Spell” felt deeply dissatisfied! It considered the experience points from this low-level monster an insult to its noble status!】

【It is accelerating its search for stronger opponents! It roars: I want to fight ten at once!】

Looking at these battle logs on the panel, Lin Mo fell into deep thought.

First and foremost, the most critical point: the experience points had genuinely returned.

This meant that although 【Fireball Spell】 seemed to have run away, it still belonged within his own skill system.

“Which means…”

Lin Mo rubbed his chin.

“Has my golden finger finally arrived?”

“After eighteen years, I’ve waited eighteen years—and my golden finger finally arrived?!”

Skill personification!

Lin Mo was lazy, but he wasn’t stupid.

As a veteran bookworm from his past life, he instantly realized just how terrifying the value of this golden finger was.

First, fully automatic training.

Others had to risk their lives venturing into the wild to fight monsters hand-to-hand.

Though this world was highly gamified, life only came once—die, and you were dead, no resurrection coins here.

And what about him?

Sitting at home, experience rained from the sky.

As long as his skill was ambitious, even if he lay in bed sleeping, his level and skill proficiency would skyrocket!

Second, and most insane of all—absolute micro-management!

Even at the same level, mages could differ wildly in actual combat power.

In intense battles, predicting movement and controlling skill trajectories required exceptional combat talent and real-world experience.

But now?

The skill had its own mind!

It aimed itself, predicted movements, and might even understand how to kill monsters better than Lin Mo himself!

“This isn’t just a golden finger—it’s a fully automated AFK cheat…”

Lin Mo leaned back comfortably, propping his pillow higher.

“Not bad, not bad. Though it has a terrible temper, I’ll forgive its sudden disappearance for how hard it’s working.”

“Also, releasing skills in this world consumes mental energy—but Little Fireball is leveling up outside without draining any?”

“Is this another benefit of personification?”

【Ding! Your skill “Fireball Spell” has been surrounded by a “Grassland Gray Wolf Pack” (Lv.1)!】

【Quantity: 15!】

“Huh? Fifteen Lv.1 monsters?”

Lin Mo’s heart skipped a beat.

These were beginner monsters, yes—but still dangerously numerous for a Lv.1 practitioner.

“Hey, don’t be stupid! If you can’t win, run!”

Lin Mo blurted out instinctively.

Though he didn’t even know if a skill could die.

But the next system message left Lin Mo stunned.

Faced with the encirclement, “Little Fireball” didn’t fear—it felt ecstatic!

【It thought single-target strikes were a waste of time, severely slowing its leveling efficiency!】

【In fury, it began to think, to simulate, to attempt reorganizing fire element arrangements!】

【“Little Fireball” exploded! It unlocked the secret of fire element fission!】

Congratulations! Due to your skill’s extraordinary insight, it independently evolved and advanced into a new skill—Multiple Exploding Fireballs (Lv.1)!

【Multiple Exploding Fireballs: Instantly splits into 10–15 fireballs for area bombardment, triggering secondary explosions upon impact! Cooldown: 15 seconds】

【Boom—!!!】

【Killed 15 Grassland Gray Wolves! Experience +75! Skill proficiency greatly increased!】

【“Little Fireball” looked at the pile of wolf corpses and spat a lazy smoke ring: Pathetic trash, thinking you can block my evolution?】

“What the hell?!”

Lin Mo shot upright from the bed.

Right there in his skill bar, a new skill now appeared: Multiple Exploding Fireballs.

“Is this even possible?!”

Lin Mo was a poor student, but he still knew basic career knowledge.

In this world, learning skills wasn’t simple.

Skills were divided into six tiers: 【Basic】, 【Low】, 【Mid】, 【High】, 【Legendary】, 【Forbidden Spell】.

Basic skills like 【Fireball】 or 【Water Arrow】 could be learned by any mage.

But from 【Low】 tier onward, it wasn’t so easy—you couldn’t just read a skill book and master it.

【Multiple Exploding Fireballs】 was only a Low-tier skill, yet it involved “element splitting” and “secondary detonation” techniques.

Even a Fire Specialist couldn’t master it on the first try.

Let alone someone like him—a blank-slate mage.

But now?

Less than half a day after transmutation, he hadn’t even seen a monster, hadn’t touched a skill book—and the skill had just unlocked itself because it was bored of killing too slowly?

Unheard of…

Lin Mo stared blankly at the newly appeared skill icon.

“Mind-blowing… ridiculously mind-blowing.”

“Is this the world of the ultimate grind?”

“Others train their skills—I’m being trained by my skills.”

Lin Mo shook his head slightly, thinking.

If this trend continued…

When he reached Lv.10 and could learn a second Basic skill, if he learned 【Water Arrow】, would it also get bored of its weak power and evolve into 【Tidal Wave】 on its own?

If he learned 【Earth Shield】, would it think it wasn’t sturdy enough and evolve into 【Absolute Defense】?

If every skill in every element did this…

Then this so-called “blank-slate mage” might become a full-element Forbidden Spell god?

“Whoa—”

Lin Mo sucked in a sharp breath.

This was the path to godhood while lying down!

“If this keeps up, will I, this blank-slate mage, shock everyone at the career exam in three days?”

Lin Mo couldn’t help but feel excited.

Though he was lazy, if he could get a great result without lifting a finger and earn his parents some face, why not?

【Ding! “Fireball Spell” finds the monsters in Green Meadow too weak—it is heading to the higher-level zone “Darkwood Forest” (Lv.3–Lv.5).】

【Message: Go sleep, don’t freak out and interfere with my operation!】

Seeing this arrogant message, Lin Mo finally relaxed.

Fine.

If the skill was working this hard, how could he hold it back?

At a time like this, the greatest support was not getting in the way.

“To support my skill’s leveling mission, I’ve decided—”

Lin Mo yawned, adjusted into the most comfortable position:

“Sleep!”

“Big world, big sky—sleeping is the biggest thing.”

"Hey you... Xiao Huo, work hard. If you haven’t reached Level 3 by morning, I’ll tease you."

Two minutes later, even breathing filled the luxurious bedroom.