Chapter 47: Harvest

There was no delay or dizziness; the scene before him instantly returned to the familiar bedroom he had lived in for seventeen years.

Li Cheng turned his head to look at the alarm clock on the desk; the clock hands were identical to when he entered the mission, meaning that from the perspective of the real world, he had never left.

'If a player dies in a script mission and is teleported out as a corpse, to others it will appear as if one moment the person was fine, and the next they were decapitated—surely a bizarre sight.'

Thinking this, Li Cheng's cold expression suddenly cracked; he frantically pulled out deodorant from his backpack slot and sprayed himself wildly.

The earlier killing had been too wild—he hadn't noticed he was splattered all over with blood, filthy as hell.

'It'd be great if the killing ground game had a built-in cleaning function—I could just shout, "Master God! Full-body clean! Deduct points from me!"'

Li Cheng muttered to himself, took off his dirty clothes, stored them in his backpack slot, found a clean outfit from the wardrobe, changed into it, then sat back down at his desk and opened the freshly generated mission log.

【Player overall performance: S, game currency and experience gained increased by 60%】

【Reward settlement in progress】

Li Cheng raised his eyebrows slightly; the killing ground game evaluated players' final performance from C- to S, and the higher the rating, the better the final reward.

'The reason I received an S rating was not only because I completed the three secret rooms in just thirty minutes—half the mission time—but also because I uncovered the truth behind the escape room game and directly found its designer.'

Li Cheng lightly tapped his cheek, thinking seriously, 'Looking back, this beginner mission was cleverly designed. The first room—the seawater chamber—actually gave players over twenty minutes.'

Even if you hadn't heard the song "Drunk Sailor," you could smash through the captain's wooden door with brute force, spending some time and effort, to obtain the key items: the sextant and the marine chronometer.

Second, even if you couldn't read the sextant, you only needed to use the marine chronometer's hint to calculate longitude 759, then solve the dial combination lock by brute force—after all, the first two digits of latitude had only ninety possible combinations.'

'And the second secret room, though it seemed you'd be crushed into pulp if you failed to solve the code, actually left a way out: crawl into the stone fireplace and take a gamble.'

'As for the third secret room, it was even simpler: whether or not the player chose to save Mike had no effect on the final outcome.'

'Seen this way, as a beginner mission, the killing ground accommodated both puzzle enthusiasts with some experience and ordinary people who could think calmly. In a way, it was quite fair.'

Still, perfectly clearing it was naturally better.

Beginner players can quickly gain the most important experience points by improving their mission rating, leveling up, and receiving one free attribute point to enhance their physical base stats.

After passing the beginner stage, improving your rating also increases the chance of obtaining rare items from mission rewards.

If a player just wants to coast through, taking only the lowest rating each time, they will easily die in increasingly difficult missions.

You must seize every opportunity to strengthen yourself to survive the death spiral.

【Mission Reward 1: 100 experience points】

【Mission Reward 2: 200 game currency points】

With the 1.6x bonus from the S rating, Li Cheng received 160 experience points and 320 game currency points this time.

After claiming the reward, he was notified he had reached Lv2, with current experience at 60/200.

'According to the official exchange rate of one game currency point equaling ten thousand RMB, this single mission earned me over three million—players really are a profitable profession.'

Li Cheng clicked his tongue and looked at the third reward.

【Mission Reward 3: rare item skill scroll ×1】

In the virtual interface, a parchment scroll bound with hemp rope floated in midair, emitting a blue glow.

At the thrilling moment of opening the treasure chest, Li Cheng rubbed his hands like a fly, his expression tense as he frantically rubbed his palms together, muttering, 'Open!'

The hemp rope snapped suddenly; the parchment scroll burst into bright light.

【Skill Scroll Name: Mist Concealment Technique】

【Attribute: Learning-type (single use only)】

【Type: Spiritual Energy】

【Usage: Active】

【Rank: Rare】

【Effect: Mist Concealment. Continuously generate a dense fog with a 20-meter radius centered on the user. Within the fog, the caster's voice, thermal signature, and presence are all weakened.】

【Cost: 1 spiritual energy point per second. Each one-meter expansion of the fog increases the cost by 1 point per second.】

【Cooldown: 30 seconds】

【Learning Condition: Perception attribute ≥ 7】

【Note: During casting, the fog follows the caster. If the caster leaves or stops casting, the fog dissipates at the rate of ordinary fog under environmental influence.】

【Note: Today, our frontline reporter was lucky enough to interview Mr. Zabuza, the Mist Concealment Ghost. He once held his own against the Sixth Hokage of Konoha, suppressed the Seventh Hokage and his famed rival, the last heir of the Uchiha clan, with a single Water Clone—truly a legend who shook the Ninja Realm and stood alone through millennia.】

'Ugh'

Li Cheng squinted, forcing his gaze away from that utterly ridiculous skill note.

In the killing ground game, skill scrolls are divided into two types by usage: 【Consumable】 and 【Learning-type】.

The former, as the name suggests, has a limited number of uses and is activated by tearing, chanting, or sacrificing. Once all uses are exhausted, it self-destructs.

The latter allows players to learn the skill recorded on the scroll; this process usually consumes the scroll (only a few scrolls can be learned multiple times).

Generally, consumable scrolls have stronger effects than learning-type ones.

As for the skill 【Type】, they are broadly categorized into 【Martial Arts】, 【Shooting】, 【Spiritual Energy】, 【Mechanical】, 【Life】, and 【General】, each with many subcategories.

For example, 【Spiritual Energy】 can be subdivided into spells, illusion techniques, divine arts, witchcraft, curses.

【Life】 can be subdivided into cooking, forging, medicine, fishing.

Some skills too hard to classify are all grouped under 【General】.

Additionally, since the supernatural power systems connected to the killing ground are too numerous and complex, for convenience, the concept of 【Spiritual Energy Points】 is uniformly used as the indicator of a player's supernatural energy.

The formula is: (50% Intelligence points + 50% Perception points) × 50 = Spiritual Energy Points.

This is merely the most basic source of spiritual energy; players can increase their maximum spiritual energy and recovery speed through various means (such as cultivating internal energy, chakra, the Force, etc.).

With Li Cheng's current blank state, his spiritual energy is 300 points.

'Reaching Lv2 granted me one free attribute point, just enough to meet the learning condition for Mist Concealment Technique—but no need to rush now.'

Li Cheng thought for a moment, chose not to immediately consume the learning-type scroll, reopened the player forum, gathered some information, then opened his panel and selected log-in to the physical killing ground.

The player black market there had been operating for four and a half years—greater opportunities might exist; perhaps he could use his 320 game currency points to buy something useful.

(End of this chapter)