“Shen Lu,” a mysterious game that descended upon Lan Xing 20 years ago. Only one million spots are available each month. Once you become a player, you gain extraordinary power and rise to the top of society. ...... Ling Yi awakens the Super Mutation System. From consumables to divine artifacts, everything can be mutated! Once the mutation potential reaches perfection, he can even mutate multiple abilities comparable to a “golden finger”! By mutating the “Luck +1” talent, he gains the game-breaking ability—Probability Reversal! A 10% probability flips to 90%! A 0.1% drop rate becomes 99.9% for him! By mutating the “Eye of True Vision,” he gains the game-breaking ability—Eye of Truth! Not only can he see invisible units, but he can also view hidden information about items! In addition to these, there’s “Malice Manifestation,” which turns others’ ill will into voice-over commentary, and the “Intelligence-Lowering Aura,” which continuously reduces enemies’ intelligence… One year later.
Chapter 23: A Rescue Mission?
After applying the attributes, her character panel had completely transformed. 『 Name: Luo Yao Level: 4 (0/500) Talent: Fire Elemental Specialization Strength: 3 Mana: 14 Agility: 9 Constitution: 2 Stamina: 2 Skill: Fireball (1 Star) Remaining Star Slots: 3 Combat Power Rating: Only slightly stronger than an ordinary person 』 Players choose their own talents after passing the player selection process and becoming players. All these talents are equal; there are no tiers of quality. Some who feel they need luck choose the “Luck +1” talent; others who need strength choose the “Strength +3” talent; and those planning to pursue a fire-based path choose the “Fire-Elemental Skills Slightly Enhanced (approx. 2%)” talent... Luo Yao has the “Fire Elemental Proficiency” talent, so naturally, she’ll prioritize fire-based skills when acquiring them in the future. “No skills dropped again.” Looking at the empty patch of grass, Luo Yao let out a soft sigh. She wasn’t interested in the little grass monster’s skills, but she was very tempted by the gold coins. You see in Shen Lu, aside from system rewards and the good fortune of stumbling upon treasure chests, the only way to obtain gold coins is through recycling. Recycling is everyone’s primary source of gold. “Do you really need the gold that badly?” Qin Mengya, who resided within Luo Yao’s soul, asked curiously upon seeing Luo Yao’s downcast expression. “Not really…” As Luo Yao walked forward, she lowered her voice and murmured, “It’s just that there are quite a few places where I’ll need gold later on, and I don’t want to ask my family for it.” “Of course, it’s best if I can save up as much as possible on my own.” Hearing Luo Yao say this, Qin Mengya nodded slightly: “That’s right. I really like your self-reliant attitude.” “You’re just like I was back then—just as self-reliant and optimistic. I believe that with my help, your future achievements will certainly be no less than mine.” “Hehe, thanks.” Luo Yao scratched the back of her head shyly. Qin Mengya was her idol. Hearing such words from her idol, she couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement inside. But her sweet smile didn’t last long; a man who suddenly appeared in her field of vision made her expression turn cold instantly. “Hey? Isn’t that Miss Luo? What a coincidence!” About ten meters away from her, a man wearing a dark blue tracksuit and sporting a purple “lightning bolt” hairstyle emerged from behind a tree. Upon seeing her, his face lit up with joy as he greeted her. Luo Yao shot him a cold glance and turned to walk away. The man knew why she was acting this way, but he wasn’t upset. Instead, he called out loudly after her: “Miss Luo, you’re wrong! Brother Wang will definitely be the first to reach Level 10...” Hearing this, Luo Yao quickened her pace. In the blink of an eye, she had walked over a hundred meters and arrived at a secluded, peaceful spot surrounded by trees. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, casting oddly shaped patches of light onto the grass. The wildflowers on the grass gave off a faint, fresh scent, which helped calm her agitated mind just a little. The chirping of birds echoed from the surroundings, seeming to be the only sound in this quiet area. Feeling her mind in disarray and her thoughts muddled, Luo Yao sat down in the shade of a nearby tree, intending to rest for a moment. Seeing this, Qin Mengya—who resided within her body—paused thoughtfully for a moment before asking, “You didn’t seem quite right yesterday. What’s going on? Do you know the eldest daughter of the Xia family?” Hearing this, Luo Yao nodded with a slightly bitter expression. “Yes, we’re classmates and good friends. She entered Shen Lu a year before I did.” “A year before you entered Shen Lu?” The “mini” Qin Mengya, in her soul form, floated gently above Luo Yao’s soul while stroking her chin and furrowing her brow in thought. “But isn’t the eldest daughter of the Xia family just an ordinary person? Wait a minute—a year!? Could it be that...” “That’s right.” Luo Yao sighed with a touch of melancholy: “Wanqing was one of the victims of the ‘Zone 87 Assessment Incident’ a year ago.” “I see.” Qin Mengya nodded with feigned profundity, thinking to herself that so that was her name—Xia Wanqing. Coming back to her senses, she asked with a hint of curiosity, “I’ve only heard a little about what happened a year ago. What exactly went down?” Luo Yao paused briefly to gather her thoughts before summarizing simply, “That Zone hadn’t challenged the Demon King for half a year after opening, which triggered Shen Lu’s assessment.” “The Demon King led a legion of monsters to attack the camp, and they failed to hold the line.” “Then they all turned into ordinary people.” After saying this, Luo Yao complained with a hint of regret, “Sigh, Wanqing was dragged down by those ‘little fairies’ in her zone.” “There are just too many women in their zone...” Qin Mengya smiled faintly and changed the subject: “Are you two close? You seemed pretty angry yesterday when you heard about the wager.” When news of the wager between the Wang and Xia families reached Luo Yao, she was so furious she downed three bowls of liquor in one go. Then she passed out, slumped over the table. It wasn’t until evening that the family maid found her. “It’s not exactly great.” As soon as Qin Mengya brought this up, Luo Yao clenched her fists and said indignantly, “I’m mostly angry at that group of people. They saw Wanqing turn into an ordinary person and just abandoned her. Back when Wanqing was still a player, they treated her so well.” “I see...” At this point, Qin Mengya finally understood the whole story. “So that’s why you were so meticulous in planning last night—it was to reach Level 10 before Wang Shaoyu and snatch your friend away, right?” “At least she’s safe with me.” “Are the two of you planning to spend the rest of your lives together?” “No way!!” After resting for quite a while, Luo Yao patted her bottom and stood up, ready to continue on her way. Just then, Qin Mengya’s voice echoed softly in her mind once more. “Haven’t you ever thought about challenging the Demon Lord of Zone 87 to restore her to player status?” Luo Yao’s foot, which had just lifted off the ground, paused for a moment before slowly coming back down. With a long face and an air of resignation, she replied, “Of course I’ve thought about it, but it’s completely unrealistic.” “Although other players can request a ‘rescue operation,’ only one five-person squad is allowed in at a time.” “With just five people, forget about the Demon Lord. I doubt we could even beat the monsters under her command.” Only players at Level 30 or below can enter beginner maps. No one in the world believes that five players, each capped at Level 30, could defeat a Demon Lord of the same level. That’s simply a pipe dream! In fact, The final boss of each map is only defeated with great difficulty through a relay battle involving thousands of players lasting several hours. It’s long been common knowledge that “you should rest for three days before fighting the Demon Lord, so everyone can save up 9 hours of Descent Time to take him on.” Therefore, even though Luo Yao was very confident in her future, she had absolutely no intention of applying for a “Rescue Operation.” After all, it wasn’t without a cost. “Okay, enough of that. I need to hurry up and level up.” Luo Yao shook her head, banishing that unrealistic fantasy from her mind. She quickened her pace.
