Chapter 390: My Cowardice Is My Strength

The results were already out, even if the Explorer was unwilling to accept them.

The truth could not be changed in the end.

The revelry in the livestream room continued, the barrage filled with taunts like "Just accept your fate, Explorer," "The Way of Going-with-the-Heart is also a Way," "Fast-forward and let's see the mysteries of the Cowardly Dao"—urging and teasing of that sort.

The text scrolling at breakneck speed was truly a stab to the heart.

Although he had been teased for over two years, being teased and being officially certified by the system were two entirely different things.

From now on, his excuses would no longer carry any weight.

Truly stifling!

But the Appraisal System had already given its answer, so he felt he still had to go in and take a look.

To see what exactly was going on.

Ignoring the barrage's revelry, he walked down the high platform and came to stand before the Door of Cowardice.

Instantly, the vortex at the center of the great door quickened its rotation.

He hesitated no longer, lifted his leg, and stepped through the Door of Cowardice.

The scene before his eyes changed in an instant; once the warped surroundings settled, he found himself standing in a pure white room.

A selectable interface popped up in his mind.

【Might-Cowardice】:

Domain Pressure (Level 1): Releases an aura of cowardice, forming an invisible pressure domain centered on oneself.

Range: Affected by the pressure level; at Level 1, it can cover an area with a radius of 30 meters centered on oneself.

Level 1 Pressure Traits:

Collapse of Battle Intent: Targets within the pressure domain will passively sense an immense unease stemming from instinct; their attack desire and fighting will suffer continuous weakening. For targets whose strength or will is far below the user's, their battle intent may be completely collapsed, falling into a cowering or fleeing state.

Functional Interference: Targets severely affected by the Cowardice Pressure will experience a drop in internal energy circulation efficiency, and slight disorder in limb coordination (manifesting as reduced attack accuracy, slowed casting speed, hesitant or trembling movements).

Aura Concealment: A strong tendency toward self-preservation and diminished presence; after releasing the pressure, one becomes less easily prioritized and locked onto by hostile detection methods (at low-level pressure, there remains the possibility of being seen through by higher-tier perception methods).

Compatibility: 82.7%

Compatibility Introduction: Compatibility is related to the player's own personality and emotional traits; the higher the compatibility, the lower the Shou Shou Jili consumed to activate (or upgrade) the pressure.

Cost to Activate Level 1 Pressure (Original Price): 1,000,000 Shou Shou Jili.

Price After Compatibility Reduction: 173,000 Shou Shou Jili.

……

"Hm?!"

The Explorer, whose mood had originally been low, suddenly grew interested after reading the introduction to the Cowardice Pressure.

It mentioned that releasing the pressure domain could conceal one's aura and reduce one's presence.

This was practically a divine skill for an explorer.

Out and about, what he feared most was encountering monsters, or being ambushed.

With the Cowardice Pressure, perhaps monsters passing by would be too lazy to glance at him, or even upon seeing him would feel a languidness all over and not wish to attack.

This pressure was simply wonderful.

What surprised him even more was that comprehending Level 1 Cowardice Pressure only required spending 173,000.

Equivalent to cost price, a 1.73 discount.

Feeling curious, he immediately asked the Guide for the reason.

The Guide at this moment opened its drowsy eyes and said lazily:

【This is also why a compatibility test is needed in the early stage. Under normal circumstances, to master a kind of "Momentum" and condense it into a domain that can be driven, one's own emotions and personality traits must highly resonate with that "Momentum." A compatibility of at least 70% counts as having a seed; only above 80% is there the potential to cultivate Momentum into a force; and to truly let the "Momentum" manifest outside the body and display its power requires a perfect 100% match.】

【This process is extremely arduous, requiring vast effort to introspect oneself, constantly simulating, constructing, and adjusting one's own emotional frequency, attempting to approach the source of the Momentum.】

The Guide yawned and continued its leisurely explanation:

【Players generally cannot meet the entry-level requirements, so the meaning of the Pressure System's existence is to construct this kind of Momentum out of thin air, turning the release of Momentum from learning, mastering, and forming a domain into a one-click switch. This requires filling in the part that the player does not possess.】

【And your personality and emotional traits have a compatibility of 82.7% with the Momentum of Cowardice, meaning you have saved the vast majority of the 'learning cost.' You only need to pay a small amount of Shou Shou Jili to fill in the unperfected portion—that is, the current 173,000 Shou Shou Jili. To put it simply, this is an emotional power that every living being inevitably possesses, but opening this door requires forging a key; the more of it you inherently possess, the lower the cost of forging that key.】

Hearing the Guide's explanation, the Explorer nodded in sudden understanding.

The melon-eating masses in the livestream room, who had also heard the Guide's explanation, instantly could not remain calm.

They had wanted to see the Explorer suffer a setback, but had not expected him to actually pull it off.

"I'm so miserable, I just went and took a look—it costs 530,000 to master Level 1 Courage Pressure, yet you only need 170,000. I think the Momentum of Cowardice doesn't suit you, hurry and switch, go switch to the Momentum of Courage right now. Compatibility can be patched up with Shou Shou Jili, but face cannot be lost."

"The smile on my face suddenly froze. I want it too. What coward, what not a coward—spending less Shou Shou Jili is just too fragrant."

"Truly worthy of being certified by the Strange Butterfly as the strongest coward. I can't imagine how terrifying you'll be once you grow stronger later—wherever you go, all is peaceful, no conflict, everyone under the influence of your cowardly aura cowering and shrinking... I heard from lore-obsessed players that cultivating Momentum to its absolute peak has the potential to ascend into a Rule. This path really suits you too well, hurry up and choose it (Explorer wailing. jpg)."

Glancing at the barrage, a smile returned to his face.

Although deep within he still stubbornly refused to admit he was not the "Chosen Coward" the barrage called him.

But the 827,000 Shou Shou Jili saved was real and tangible.

It felt like being forced to accept a "Lifetime Coward Qualification Certificate."

But the accompanying discount coupon's value was outrageously high, making him curse inwardly while simultaneously unable to resist admitting it smelled sweet.

"Ahem."

He cleared his throat, attempting to salvage a bit of his crumbling—or perhaps never-existing—image before the livestream room:

"Resource optimization, right? The cost-performance ratio is extremely high—wouldn't it be a waste not to take it?"

Before making his choice, he tried his best to make himself appear to be conducting a shrewd strategic investment, rather than passively accepting a tailor-made brand of shame.

What he got in return was the melon-eating masses in the livestream room spamming "kneeling and crying meme" stickers, along with middle-finger emoji responses.

The testing phase required no actual payment.

The Explorer ignored the barrage's collective mockery, his gaze locked onto the "Confirm" option, his consciousness tapping it.

Immediately, the interface jumped.

【Aura - Cowardly Momentum】:

Aura Specialty Points: 100 points.

Tip: Aura Specialty Points can be used to strengthen specific tendencies of Aura, shaping a unique path of Momentum. Please allocate according to your style and needs (the allocation is not permanently fixed after assignment, but subsequent adjustments will consume Shou Shou Jili resources).

Available specialty tendencies:

【Range Expansion】:

Effect: For every 1 point invested in Aura Specialty, the radius of the Aura domain increases by an additional 1.25 meters.

【Intensity Focus】

Effect: For every 1 point invested in Aura Specialty, the combat-intent collapse and functional interference effects within the domain are enhanced.

【Aura Concealment】:

Effect: The base effect is already possessed; investing Aura Specialty points can strengthen the aura concealment effect.

【Presence Dilution】:

Effect: The base effect is already possessed. For every 1 point invested in Aura Specialty, the probability of being detected by perception and detection means (including visual confusion, aura perception, probing techniques, etc.) is reduced (cannot dilute rule-level perception).

【Malice Evasion】

Effect: Reduces hostile intent directed at oneself from external beings, enhances one's perception of killing intent, and weakly interferes with such targeting (requires investing at least 50 points in "Presence Dilution" to unlock).

【Environmental Assimilation】Greatly reduces one's own sense of presence; the disturbances caused by movement (sound, airflow, etc.) are reduced, making it easier to blend into the environmental background (requires investing at least 70 points in "Presence Dilution" to unlock).

【Slowness Field】:

Effect: For every point invested, the action desire of all targets within the Aura domain's coverage range, other than oneself, can be reduced.

【Heavy Steps】(Invest 20 points): Within the Aura domain, enemies' movement speed will receive a weak but continuous slowing effect.

【Energy Stagnation】The energy recovery speed of enemies within the domain receives a slight lag effect (requires investing at least 50 points in 【Heavy Steps】 to unlock).

【Focus Blur】Interferes with enemies' judgment of threat level within the domain, making them more inclined to attack other targets rather than you (effect depends on the enemy's willpower and specialty level).

【Battle Aversion】: When enemies are enveloped by the Aura domain, all targets within the range develop battle-averse emotions; the specific effect is influenced by the domain level and specialty level...

His gaze swept over the dazzling array of specialty options, and the Explorer's eyes immediately lit up.

There are 128 specialties available for selection in Cowardly Momentum.

It can be seen that this is a combat system that allows deep customization.

Especially the 【Aura Concealment】 series, it was practically tailor-made for an exploration-focused player like him.

More importantly, Momentum is the only power that can be unleashed without any consumption.

Unlike Painful Painful Minghun, and even skills self-learned by players, the use of Momentum, in the explanation of the lore-focused players, belongs to skills with no cooldown and no consumption.

Can be switched on and off at any time, with no consumption throughout.

After all, this is an emotional power originating from oneself, rather than a consumable energy like spiritual power or qi and blood.

This is also why "Momentum" is very close to a rule.

It is equivalent to turning one's own emotions into a rule-like area effect, only unable to achieve the absolute logic of a rule.

For the 100 specialty points at level 1, he chose to allocate all of them to the Aura Concealment series.

After completing the allocation, he clicked confirm again.

Immediately, an invisible force surged into his body.

He seemed to hear a low hum from the depths of his soul.

An invisible "cognition" continuously surged into the depths of his consciousness.

Similar to the feeling after embedding Painful Painful Minghun, the process of comprehending the ability was different from knowledge infusion; it was more like a long-sealed instinct suddenly unlocked at this moment.

He naturally understood how to mobilize the avoidance emotion toward danger hidden deep within his heart.

With a slight shift of his mind, he attempted to activate this power according to the feeling in his heart.

There was no imagined blaze of light, or a magnificent, overwhelming eruption.

With him at the center, a layer of pale gray-white aura, so faint it was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, quietly spread out.

Like a drop of ink dropped into clear water, it quickly diffused around, forming a faint force field with a radius of thirty meters.

Standing within the Aura domain, there was a strange silence.

Even his own "sense of presence" was gradually blurring.

He felt as if an extra layer of membrane had formed between himself and the surrounding environment; his emotions were amplified and radiated outward.

The feeling it gave him was like telling others not to pay attention to him, even if they did indeed notice him.

They would be influenced by his emotions, and then no longer pay attention to his existence.

This emotion carried a sticky, cloying sense of disinterest and retreat.

If the other's emotions carried aggressive desire, it could be regarded as a ball of flame.

And his cowardly Aura was a handful of cold, cool water, causing the other's emotional temperature to drop rapidly, and the boiling momentum to stagnate.

If the thought of killing cannot be raised, naturally the body cannot be driven to act against him.

He lowered his head to look at his hands, and an unprecedented, wonderful feeling welled up in his heart.

"It seems... really quite suitable for me."

This thought popped up involuntarily, causing the expression on his face to instantly become somewhat complicated.

There was both the joy of obtaining a new ability, and a trace of indescribable awkwardness mixed in.

He still didn't want to admit that he was a coward.

Glancing at the barrage in the livestream, he summoned the event interface from the function panel at this moment.

In the interface, the eight major Aura categories corresponded to eight different trial paths.

Each path presented a different style.

The path behind the Gate of Crimson Fury was like a lava hell, the path behind the Gate of Azure Grief was a misty rainforest… and the path representing the momentum of cowardice was a grey-white trail that looked unusually calm, even somewhat unremarkable.

【Trial Name: Path of Cowardice】

Trial Requirement: Reach the safe zone at the end of each stage without engaging in combat. Encountering combat or causing monster disturbances will lower the score.

"Go unnoticed? Reach the safe zone?"

The Explorer looked at this requirement and wasn't surprised.

The momentum of cowardice was never a combat-type pressure; making him pass the stage through combat would be completely inconsistent with the setting.

Most likely, emotions related to courage and anger would be the combat-clear modes.

He chose the Cowardice Momentum trial without hesitation, his consciousness tapping to confirm.

The pure white space before him twisted and shifted once again.

【First Stage: Restless Woodland】

After the golden text materialized before his eyes, it gradually faded and vanished.

He found himself appearing in a dimly lit, densely vegetated woodland.

The air was filled with the smell of damp rotting leaves and a certain feral musk drifting from wild beasts.

From a distance came the faint sounds of low growls and branches colliding, drawing from far to near.

Realizing danger was approaching, he immediately activated his pressure, and a faint grey-white aura quietly spread out.

He carefully chose to move through shadows and densely vegetated areas, trying not to make any sound.

Just then, the figures of monsters appeared.

They looked like enlarged grey wolves, massive in size, fangs bared, eyes fierce and vicious.

After appearing nearby, they would occasionally claw at the ground with their paws, appearing very restless, as if any slight disturbance could draw their group attack.

As if catching some scent, they glanced a few times in his direction, nostrils flaring, but upon contact with the nearly invisible grey mist, their eyes quickly shifted from fierce to somewhat puzzled and listless, as if they thought he was just an insignificant, uninteresting little stone.

The feeling it gave the Explorer was.

They had clearly seen him, but simply couldn't muster any emotion toward him.

To his pleasant surprise, the three beasts growled twice, then paced away.

The initial test's effect left him very satisfied.

He simply mustered his courage and ventured forward.

Along the way he would occasionally encounter monsters, but relying on the emotional infection of the Cowardice Pressure, he passed through the dense woodland safely the entire way without mishap.