Chapter 14: Taking Stock of the Gains
The feeling of reaping rewards could be summed up in one word: satisfying! All that effort, all those attempts, all those deaths—finally, the payoff was richer than ever before!
Counting the one leftover Traversal Coin from the last simulation, he now possessed a grand total of 12 Traversal Coins!
A man destined to control time in the future!
"Achoo…"
A cold gust of wind swept in, making Zhou Ning, who had just stepped out of the shower and hadn't yet gotten dressed, sneeze. He walked over to the window and stared outside for a few seconds, only to realize that it had started snowing at some point.
Zhou Ning: "…"
He quickly shut the window tight and pulled out a white shirt to put on.
This was just ridiculous. It had clearly still been raining when he came upstairs a moment ago, and now it had already turned to snow.
What's with this weather… did it study Sichuan opera or something?
In the game Apocalypse, the weather changed so rapidly that every dorm room at Vick University was equipped with a gas heater. But since large coal deposits only came from areas controlled by the northern Walrusmen, gas was quite expensive—burning through a single Roshen in just a few hours wasn't unusual.
A Roshen was the second tier in the Bryston Kingdom's currency system, derived from the ancient Falric word "Groshen," meaning "shiny thing." Before Zhou Ning's simulation, 1 Roshen had the purchasing power of about 20 RMB—pretty expensive. The currency tier above Roshen was the Veckta, with 1 Veckta equal to 10 Roshens, and 1 Roshen exchangeable for 10 Venis.
In past years, there had even been cases of poor students freezing to death during extreme weather just to save a single Roshen.
If he hadn't looted some money off those cultists from the Curse God Cult today, Zhou Ning probably wouldn't have been willing to spend that money either.
Cue crying-in-poverty meme.
Zhou Ning inserted a Roshen and twisted the gas heater's switch. A cluster of blue flames sprang to life, gradually growing in intensity.
From a modern standpoint, the heater's design was quite refined. It even had a thermal sensor and an overheating switch—if the temperature rose too high, it would automatically shut off the gas. Its practicality rivaled modern appliances.
As the heater kicked in, the room's temperature quickly rose. Zhou Ning let out a comfortable sigh of relief. He was just about to flop back on the bed and keep tinkering with the Traversal Simulator when a sudden woman's scream came from outside the window.
"Ah!"
The unexpected scream startled Zhou Ning. He hurried to the window and looked out.
Due to atmospheric tides, travel between cities wasn't very convenient, so a lot of students, like Zhou Ning, stayed in the dorms during holidays. At that moment, the lights in a dozen or so dorms above and below lit up as well. Apparently, the scream had startled everyone.
Outside the apartment was a small grove. On nice days, it was a popular spot for wild ducks to hook up. But right now, the snow was falling heavily, obscuring everything in a white haze. The only sound was the whooshing of snow hitting leaves.
There was no more movement outside, and since no one was eager to brave the snow at this hour, most of the dorm lights went dark again after a while.
"Probably just a stray cat," someone muttered from downstairs.
No way that was a cat… but Zhou Ning wasn't brave enough to go check alone either. He took a deep breath, made sure the door and windows were shut tight, splashed some water on his face in the washroom, and then reopened the Traversal Simulator panel.
First up—claiming rewards.
This round's choices were actually quite thoughtful. There were loads of great items in the JoJo world. Zhou Ning had survived for so long in the simulation, practically reaching the legendary status of a Black Mountain old demon-tier vampire. Besides the Stone Mask, he might've collected Arrows or other rare artifacts too.
But what truly caught his attention was the Ripple Breathing Technique. No need to chase after uncertain treasures and take unnecessary risks. He chose Option One honestly and straightforwardly.
[You selected Option One.]
[You have obtained the following skills: Expert-Level Flirting Mastery.]
[You have obtained the skill: Ripple Breathing Technique (Beginner).]
[You have obtained the skill: Occultism (Intermediate).]
[Expert-Level Flirting Mastery]: +1 to Charm checks. With your magnetic charisma and shameless confidence, your flirting tends to go unusually well.
[Ripple Breathing Technique (Beginner)]: A powerful breathing technique that boosts Strength by 3 and Agility by 3.
[Occultism (Intermediate)]: +1 to Spirit. You have profound knowledge in the field of occultism and have learned how to craft certain mystical items.
A flood of knowledge surged into Zhou Ning's brain, making his head ache. He suddenly found himself full of arcane information and now instinctively understood a complete set of Ripple Breathing Techniques. It took him quite a while to recover.
He took a deep breath—and instantly, a warm, powerful current surged up from his lungs, with life energy leaping wildly inside his body.
Using Ripple energy, transmitting it into objects—it had all become second nature.
What a strange feeling. He'd been worn out after a long day, but now, Zhou Ning felt bursting with vitality.
Not only was his body free of fatigue, even his mind felt completely refreshed.
Man, what a generous game.
Clicking into the [Occultism] skill brought up a list of formulas and methods for crafting supernatural gear.
The top item listed? The Stone Mask. Further down were Voodoo Dolls, Mithril Bullets, Holy Water Recipes, and so on. It showed just how superstitious that legendary vampire version of Zhou Ning had been!
Still… what's with the Stone Mask? Am I supposed to make vampires in-game?
[Simulation complete. You have perfectly cleared "Mist-Lost London." You now have one chance to retain a Talent in the real world. Proceed with the selection? Yes / No]
"A talent retained in the real world? What does that mean?"
[You may choose one of the three talents from this traversal. Once retained, this talent will be available in both the real and simulated worlds. In simulations, however, you'll be limited to one extra talent at a time, which can be swapped freely.]
Was that even a question? Heart pounding with excitement, Zhou Ning decisively selected "Yes."
[Draw complete: You have obtained the Purple Talent—Tony Stark (Purple).]
Tony Stark (Purple): Like Iron Man Tony Stark, you are a classic playboy with a sharp tongue and brilliant mind. You have exceptional talent in scientific research.
Zhou Ning paused for a moment, then couldn't help asking, "System, if I gain this talent, will my personality change too?"
The system unusually hesitated: [No. Your personality will still be rooted in your core self.]
Zhou Ning nodded. At that moment, the game panel changed again, and for the first time since he started these simulations, his attributes underwent a dramatic transformation.
His Agility alone now surpassed an ordinary human's by 30%, solidly placing him in the realm of the extraordinary.
And his Charm? A whopping 99 points!
Name: Zhou Ning / Wayne Sturwell
Race: Human
Template: NPC [Closed Beta begins in: 47 days 23 hours 58 minutes]
Level: 2
Occupation: Student / Teaching Assistant[1/10]
Sub-class: Linguist[2/10]
Talent: Tony Stark (Purple)
Attributes:
Strength: 10
Agility: 13
Constitution: 8
Willpower: 9
Spirit: 9
Charm: 99
HP: 80 / 80
Stamina: 96 / 96
Willpower: 9 / 9
Mana: 0
Life Skills: Basic Alchemy, Occultism (Intermediate)
General Skills: Advanced English Proficiency, Intermediate Pickpocketing, Advanced Marksmanship, Expert-Level Flirting, Ripple Breathing Technique
Other details hidden.
[Note: A regular person who's starting to gain combat ability—still far weaker than his looks suggest.]
Zhou Ning's eyes welled up with emotion.
At last, the system no longer described him as a guy with nothing but good looks. Finally!
Wait—what about that new map and new features it mentioned earlier?
He reopened the simulator panel, and sure enough, a small red dot had appeared on the map—new content unlocked. One of the two previously locked tabs had also opened up: Lottery.
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