Langlang Mountain.
Deep in the forest.
Swish—!
From Yu Jin's fingertip, a beam of light only a few millimeters thick shot out.
Sizzle—!
A pile of dry leaves on the ground started crackling with the sound of burning.
Yu Jin willed it and activated the 'Shield of Light' skill.
Buzz—!
A thin halo instantly enveloped his whole body.
But…
Yu Jin stretched out his hand and poked it with a bit of force.
Pa—!
The Shield of Light shattered.
"What the fuck…"
"This weak?"
Yu Jin was speechless for a moment.
When he'd used 'Light Wings' earlier to scare off that couple making out at the foot of the mountain, he'd already realized something was off.
After all…
At the time, he'd only floated above ground for a few seconds and already felt exhausted and unable to keep it up.
Because of this—
Yu Jin took advantage of the remote, deserted surroundings to repeatedly test his other abilities.
The result was…
Level 1 Laser: Only enough to burn leaves, can't even pierce a wooden stake.
Level 1 Shield of Light: A finger can poke right through, let alone block a bullet, probably even a stone would be too much.
Light Touch Lv1: Somewhat useful, but not much; with concentration, you can 'see' things very far away, but you can only see—not hear.
Light Wings Lv1: Super cool, super flashy, but absolutely useless. Can last no more than 5 seconds—one second longer and you'll fall from midair.
"Tier Three Evolver, and this is it?"
Yu Jin hadn't even had time to be happy about becoming the 'Superman of Light' before reality dumped a bucket of cold water on him.
"No way…"
Yu Jin muttered to himself, gut instinct telling him something was wrong.
It was like…
All his abilities had been forcibly nerfed, severely weakened.
This feeling was especially intense when using his Abilities—like he was being suppressed by something, frustrated and powerless.
"Sigh—"
Yu Jin sat on a tree stump, giving a long sigh.
When he first activated the 'Light' Attribute, he thought he was about to become Motherland People.
Looking at it now?
The road ahead is rough, the burden heavy!
"I don't believe this!"
"If Tier Three isn't enough, then Tier Four; if Tier Four's not enough, then Tier Five!"
"As long as I keep leveling up, reach Tier Nine or even Tier Ten, there'll be a day when I become Happy Hero!"
Yu Jin grit his teeth, his unwillingness blazing up again.
"To level up, gotta leech more system rewards."
"Picking up trash and feeding stray cats and dogs—the reward tier is too low, can't meet my needs anymore."
"I'll have to branch out and find new ways to game the system!"
Yu Jin mulled things over as he walked down to the foot of the mountain.
There's still a 'Tier Two Energy Crystal' lying in the Points Mall.
Scaring off the dog couple also earned two 'Tier Three Energy Crystals' from the system.
Originally, Yu Jin wasn't in a hurry to use them.
But now…
"Use 'em, gotta use 'em, no choice!"
And so—
Half an hour later.
7+7 Chain Hotel.
Yu Jin checked in again with the front desk manager's warm welcome.
He closed the curtains, locked the door, cranked the TV volume up to max.
Sitting on the bed, Yu Jin crunched and swallowed all three energy crystals at once.
[You used 'Tier Two Energy Crystal'!]
[You have awakened, the crystal transforms into evolution energy!]
[You used 'Tier Three Energy Crystal'!]
[You have awakened, the crystal transforms into evolution energy!]
[...]
It was only a moment after swallowing the crystals—
That familiar woozy feeling hit him again.
Yu Jin drowsily flopped onto the big bed and quickly fell asleep.
That night—
Yu Jin had an incredibly vivid dream.
He dreamed he'd crossed into a strange Wasteland World and become the real Superman of Light, going full superhuman however he pleased…
...
...
"Whew—"
"Finally awakened!"
Wasteland World.
Dawn City, an alley in the Outer City.
Yin Yao clenched her fists, her face glowing with excitement.
After failing twenty whole times, after dying twenty full deaths, she'd finally succeeded!
"Congratulations, Miss!"
"On becoming a powerful Evolver!"
On both sides of the alley—
Four young buzz-cut guards offered genuine congratulations.
At their words, Yin Yao shook her head:
"No, I'm still far from it."
At that, the four young men were momentarily stunned.
Didn't she already awaken her powers? How's she not an 'Evolver'?
"Evolvers go from low to high, divided into Tier One to Tier Nine."
"I might have awakened using 'Pollution Crystal', but I haven't activated my 'Attribute'—I'm not even at Tier One yet, just Tier Zero at best."
Yin Yao explained.
When she finished, she looked at the group and sincerely thanked them.
"Thanks for working so hard these past days to collect Pollution Crystals for me."
To awaken successfully, Yin Yao had used up a full twenty Pollution Crystals.
Every one of them was dug up by hand by those four—out in the wilderness, day and night…
In response to Yin Yao's thanks, the four were a bit uncomfortable. After two days, they'd already learned from above about the young girl's identity before them.
She was that old man's granddaughter…
"Miss, you said you need to activate an 'Attribute' to count as a true Evolver. What exactly is an Attribute, how do you activate it, and what resources do you need?"
The leading youth among the four asked in a deep voice.
"An Attribute is the evolver's ability path."
"Generally, each Evolver can only awaken one Attribute. Some are stronger, some weaker, but which you get is totally random."
"To activate it, I still need Crystals."
Just as Yin Yao finished speaking—
Boom—
Rumble—!
A deafening roar erupted out of nowhere.
"What's that…"
Yin Yao and the four young men all turned toward the sound.
The source: Dawn Inner City's center.
Swish—!
After the enormous noise—
Before the eyes of hundreds of thousands in Dawn City—
A blazing pillar of light shot up, instantly shredding the always-gloomy clouds above Wasteland World!
A mighty oppressive force swept the whole of Dawn City.
Where it passed, refugees dropped to their knees like wheat stalks.
Whoosh—!
The pillar blazed and vanished just as quickly.
Gone in seconds, returning everything to silence.
Yet every face in Dawn City was alight with joy.
"It's the New City Lord!"
"The New City Lord has taken office!"
"This is great! With the New City Lord holding the fort, Dawn City will be safer than ever—not even Mutant Beasts or Infected Bodies can threaten us now!"
"..."
The crowds cheered.
Even though…
None of them had actually seen the so-called 'City Lord' in person.
But the center of the Inner City is City Lord's exclusive territory!
That commotion just now—it was the New City Lord announcing their arrival to all the people!
"Miss?"
The four young men had also been shocked by the sudden event, and when they returned to themselves, they realized Yin Yao's pupils were still narrowed, fixed on the center of the Dawn Inner City.
"Light Attribute, huh…"
"Light Attribute is definitely one of the most powerful in this whole wasteland."
"Who exactly is this New City Lord?"
"Wasn't Yu Jin supposed to be the future Dawn City Lord?"
Yin Yao stood there, confusion mounting.
Everything before her was completely at odds with what she remembered from her previous life.
"Wait!"
"Tonight I'll have them send him three more helmets. Judging by the time, he should've just logged into the game using the helmet…"
"Could it be…"
"That's Yu Jin? He was the one who made all that commotion just now?"
"His starting spawn point is right in the Inner City? His identity is New City Lord?"
The bold guess gave Yin Yao goosebumps in an instant!
As wild as the guess was, it wasn't totally baseless.
According to past-life memories, players in the 'Wasteland' closed beta all got random identities at the start.
Almost all of them—like 99%—were the lowliest Wasteland Wanderers, the same as her.
But there were exceptions!
A tiny handful of lucky bastards got not-so-simple starting identities.
For instance—
Yin Yao once heard a story in her last life: A Tier Five Boss started the game as a 'Wasteland Trader', specializing in peddling resources between Refuge Cities for profit.
Because—
He inherited a good amount of resources from that Trader role at the very start, including some ultra-valuable Energy Crystals!
It was those crystals that let him pull way ahead right out of the gate, and in the end he became a Tier Five Evolver and ruled a sizable Refuge City.
Of course—
That was a closed beta player-only perk.
Five days later, all the people forcibly sent to Wasteland World by random selection started exclusively as bottom-level Refugees—just like Yin Yao in her past life.
"Should I go talk to Yu Jin?"
Yin Yao stood there for a long time, staring toward the Dawn Inner City, the idea bubbling up in her mind.
Dawn City has both Inner and Outer City—her Refugee status means she can't get into the Inner City, can't actually see the 'New City Lord' either.
But…
She could always go find Yu Jin in real life and check her theory.
But just then—
As Yin Yao hesitated,
From the alley outside,
Suddenly came a yell—
"Holy shit!"
"Old Cui wasn't lying, this game is just way too real!"