Shen Lu: I've Mutated into Multiple Game-Breaking Abilities

Chapter 4: Mutated Skills

As is well known. Monsters are creatures created by Shen Lu and are extremely powerful. Even at Level 1, they are opponents that most new players would struggle to handle alone. Therefore. For new players just entering Shen Lu, the game offers a special perk—every player’s inventory contains a [Initial Skill Selection Voucher]. [Initial Skill Selection Voucher]: Upon use, allows the player to choose one of five initial skills. Once a player possesses one of these skills, dealing with Level 1 monsters becomes much easier. Before entering the woods, Ling Yi naturally used this voucher. The next moment. A list of skill descriptions appeared before him, with exactly five skills listed. Ling Yi scanned them one by one. [Charge Punch (1-star)]: Quickly charge toward the target and punch, knocking the target back and dealing a small amount of damage. [Physical Conditioning (1-star · Passive)]: Strengthens your physique, increasing Strength and Agility by 5 points. [Fireball (1-Star)]: Generates a fireball in the palm of your hand; when thrown and hitting an enemy, it deals a small amount of fire damage. [Poison Mist (1-Star)]: Releases a poison mist over an area that lasts for 5 seconds, causing enemies within the area to take a small amount of poison damage per second. [Starfall (1-Star)]: Channel a streak of starlight to fall from above the enemy’s head (1-second delay), dealing a small amount of damage. There is a small chance to release a second streak. There are no classes in Shen Lu. Players acquire all their skills by defeating monsters. To obtain a specific skill, you must seek out the monster that possesses it. Upon defeating it, there is a chance the skill will drop. Players can freely combine their skills as they please, enjoying extreme freedom. Looking at the five skills in this row, Ling Yi hesitated only for a moment before choosing [Starfall]. For no other reason. It was simply because he possessed the [Probability Reversal] talent—skills that rely on luck are the perfect match for him! 【You have obtained the 1-star skill [Starfall]! 】 At that moment. In his player inventory, the item that had previously occupied the [Initial Free Choice Voucher] slot had been replaced by [Starfall]. It was also the only item currently in his inventory. If Ling Yi wanted to, he could learn this skill right now. But he wasn’t in a hurry to do so. It was simply because he saw “Starfall (1-Star Skill) — Mutation Potential: Extremely High” It’s actually “Extremely High”... “Hurry up, mutate!” Ling Yi couldn’t be bothered to express any surprise or joy; he just wanted to see the new skill resulting from the mutation as soon as possible. “Are you sure you want to mutate the skill ‘Starfall’? (Requires 87 mutation points. )” “Yes, yes!” Ling Yi glanced at his current emotion value. 13,786! That meant he had 137 mutation points. After using them, he’d have exactly 50 mutation points left. Right before his eyes, the [Falling Star] skill blurred for a moment, then quickly sharpened again. Having gone through a mutation once before, Ling Yi knew immediately that the mutation was complete. He tapped to view it at lightning speed. [Starfall (1-Star · Scalable)]: Channel a Flame Star to strike the target area, dealing massive damage to everything within it (5-second delay). There is an extremely low chance that the Flame Star will be amplified tenfold. “It’s no surprise that the mutation went exactly as I’d hoped.” During the mutation, Ling Yi had hoped the resulting skill would deal higher damage, have a wider area of effect, and offer a higher chance of triggering [Probability Reversal]. Now, this mutated Starfall perfectly matched his expectations. Without further delay, Ling Yi learned it immediately. The next second. Shimmering golden and red starlight appeared all around him, swirling and circling. It wasn’t until several breaths later that it gradually faded away. Although he felt nothing physically, on some deep, intuitive level, Ling Yi sensed that he could now summon meteorites. It was as if he had awakened a superpower. Mysterious and wondrous—a feeling that lingered endlessly. “So, next...” With this skill—whose power far exceeded that of a 1-star skill—Ling Yi’s heart swelled with boundless confidence. He broke into a smile and strode swiftly into the forest. ...... Sunlight filtered through the lush canopy, casting dappled spots of light onto the lush green grass. A bright yellow chicken was strolling about here. It wasn’t just any ordinary chicken, but a low-level monster from Shen Lu—a Battle Chicken! Although it looked no different from a domestic rooster, its combat prowess was on par with that of a tough guy. When Ling Yi stepped out from behind a tree and unexpectedly spotted it, the chicken also turned to look at him, drawn by the commotion. The man and the chicken locked eyes for a second. Then! “Cock-a-doodle-doo—cock-a-doodle-doo—” The Battle Chicken flapped its wings violently, crowing as it swung its legs like spinning wheels of fire, charging madly toward Ling Yi! “Holy shit.” Ling Yi’s eyes widened, and he blurted out the exclamation before instantly turning and running behind a nearby tree. Only when he was about to collide head-on with this extraordinary creature did he suddenly realize he hadn’t formulated a battle plan yet—what should he do when facing a melee enemy? And what about a ranged enemy? ‘What should I do now?’ The moment this question flashed through his mind, the answer came to him. Summon a Flame Star at his current location! The [Starfall] skill has a 5-second delay and cannot hit a moving enemy, so he had to anticipate the enemy’s intended path. And clearly, a melee-type combat chicken would target him directly. Five seconds—that would be right around the time they made contact. With that in mind, Ling Yi hesitated no longer. “Starfall!” Shouting the skill’s name can greatly increase the success rate of its casting. Since the casting of all skills depends entirely on the player’s will—and lacks any obvious visual cues—it’s difficult to tell whether a player truly intends to use a skill or is merely thinking about it. Therefore. Apart from a few exceptionally determined individuals, most players have developed the habit of shouting the skill’s name. As soon as Ling Yi finished speaking, a crimson-gold speck of light suddenly appeared hundreds of meters above the ground. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a crimson orb with a diameter of four or five meters, enveloped in golden flames. As it flew, it trailed a long, golden trail of fire. “So this is the Flame Star...” Seeing it flying straight toward him, Ling Yi suddenly furrowed his brow. “Come to think of it, this thing won’t hurt me, will it?” The Flame Star, plummeting at high speed, looked very much like a burning meteorite. No one would remain calm upon seeing a burning meteorite hurtling toward them at such high speed. [Note: Shen Lu is extremely free-form and allows players to self-harm] Ling Yi: “......” With no time to utter any profanity, he took off running forward. From its appearance to impact was only 5 seconds; several seconds had already passed. If he said even one more word, he might just become the first rookie to commit suicide this season! Just as he sprinted to a tree ahead, a sharp, loud sound rang out from the sky. Whoosh—! “Here it comes,” Ling Yi said, growing tense. He saw the emerald-green grassland around him light up in that instant. It was as if a flash of light had suddenly appeared in the dark grassland. BOOM!! Like a bomb exploding, a loud roar came from behind him. The ground beneath his feet trembled slightly for a moment, and the wind, blowing in all directions, knocked many leaves off the cypress tree, which were now rustling as they fell. Ling Yi waited a moment longer; seeing no other sounds, he felt slightly puzzled. All thunder and no rain? “That makes sense.” He suddenly remembered. “After all, I’m only Level 1, and my stats are still low.” “No matter how powerful the skill is, it can’t be that strong.”