Qingbao City, Novice Village No. 401.
Zhao Yuan stood frozen in place.
The surrounding scenery felt completely unfamiliar. People wearing gorgeous armor were walking through the streets and browsing the shops.
What's going on? A film set? Didn't I fall asleep at home? Why did I appear here the moment I opened my eyes?
A flood of fragmented memories surged into his mind, forcing him into a brief daze.
"Zhao Yuan? What's wrong with you? At eighteen, you're supposed to undergo semi-digitalization. Haven't you chosen your cornerstone skill yet?"
A handsome, flat-headed boy asked him in confusion.
Zhao Yuan blinked as information rapidly unfolded in his mind.
This was a parallel world similar to Blue Star. However, thousands of years ago, the Doomsday Game had suddenly descended.
The entire planet became half-digitalized. Human metropolises were divided into safe zones by the Doomsday Game System.
Outside the safe zones, countless ferocious beasts roamed freely. Humanity had become "players" within the Doomsday Game.
Everyone in this world would receive their own Doomsday Game System Panel at the age of eighteen.
A small skill could be obtained every five levels.
A cornerstone skill could be chosen every ten levels.
Players could freely develop and eventually become professionals with vastly different combat styles.
Zhao Yuan absorbed the memories and recognized the boy in front of him.
His name was Zhong Wen.
They had been primary school classmates. Years later, they reunited in college and became close friends once again.
"I'm fine. Have you completed your semi-digitalization?" Zhao Yuan asked calmly, quickly adapting to his new identity.
"Yes. The cornerstone skill selection has begun. Every choice determines your future development path."
Zhong Wen stared seriously at the three options in front of him.
At that moment, Zhao Yuan's body completed its own semi-digitalization.
A system panel appeared before him visible only to himself.
---
Name: Zhao Yuan
Level: Lv0
Talents:
Eternal Blessing (Unique): All acquired skills are permanently fixed at SSS level.
Billion-Times Proficiency (Unique): Skills have no level cap. Proficiency gained from kills is multiplied infinitely. (Current multiplier: 1.5x)
Keystone Skill: To be selected
Skills: None
Backpack: None
Other panels are locked.
---
What?
Two unique talents?
According to his memories, novice players weren't even supposed to have a talent column.
Could it be…
Zhao Yuan's heart pounded with excitement.
Was this his transmigrator's golden finger?
All skills permanently fixed at SSS level!
The skill quality rankings in the Doomsday Game were:
SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
SSS was the highest tier.
This "Eternal Blessing" talent was completely outrageous.
And "Billion-Times Proficiency" removed skill level caps entirely, allowing endless strengthening while multiplying proficiency gains through kills.
This was outright cheating.
Zhao Yuan suppressed his excitement and opened his cornerstone selection panel.
Three options appeared before him:
He could only choose one.
Bow Mastery — A prerequisite cornerstone for becoming an archer. Choose carefully.
Bloodthirstiness — Grants attacks lifesteal properties.
Anti-Armor — When damaged, reflects a portion of the damage to the attacker.
Based on the original owner's knowledge, Anti-Armor was typically considered a mid-to-late-game ability.
Without strong defense and high HP, relying solely on reflected damage was dangerous. You might not even know how you died.
Bloodthirstiness was rare and extremely valuable. A lifesteal build had tremendous long-term potential.
Bow Mastery was ideal for those committed to becoming archers.
Zhao Yuan thought briefly.
Then he chose:
"Anti-Armor."
Because with Eternal Blessing, his future strength was already guaranteed.
He didn't need to optimize for early game survival.
He could choose whatever suited his preferences.
---
[System: Player Zhao Yuan has selected the cornerstone ability "Anti-Armor."]
[Player has obtained D-Level Anti-Armor.]
[Triggered: Eternal Blessing.]
[Anti-Armor has been upgraded to SSS-Level!]
Anti-Armor Lv1 (SSS):
Passively grants high physical and magical defense.
When damaged, reflects true damage based on the attacker's Strength attribute.
Zhao Yuan inhaled sharply.
This was terrifying.
At Lv1, it already provided high dual defenses and reflected true damage.
True damage ignored defense and damage reduction effects.
At this moment, Zhao Yuan had become a walking hedgehog.
Anyone who attacked him would hurt themselves.
Zhong Wen suddenly asked, "What three options did you get? Mine are Strength Enhancement, Magic Enhancement, and Critical Strike Enhancement."
"I'm leaning toward becoming a caster, so Magic Enhancement is probably best."
"My options are Bloodthirstiness, Bow Mastery, and Anti-Armor," Zhao Yuan replied casually.
"Definitely choose Bloodthirstiness! It's rare. Anti-Armor turns you into a meat shield. Without strong base stats, that tiny reflect damage is almost useless."
Zhao Yuan smiled faintly. "Just confirm your choice first. Let's see what grade you get, then we can start leveling."
Zhong Wen selected Magic Enhancement.
[Player has obtained S-Level Magic Enhancement.]
"Oh my god! S-Level!"
Zhong Wen's eyes widened in disbelief.
"I can't believe my luck! Looks like I'll be the one carrying you from now on!"
"S-Level Magic Enhancement? Send me the data," Zhao Yuan said.
---
Magic Enhancement Lv1 (S-Level):
Greatly increases basic magic-related attributes.
Magic damage +10%.
---
And that was only Lv1.
If it continued scaling, its potential would be scary.
"In the future, we'll probably become an Arcane Master and a Bloodthirsty Swordsman. Let's go pick up the novice quests," Zhong Wen said proudly.
"I chose Anti-Armor," Zhao Yuan replied calmly.
Zhong Wen froze, disbelief written all over his face.
"It's SSS-level Anti-Armor."
"Impossible! There aren't many SSS-level abilities in the entire Xia Country. And with your expression… is it really SSS-level Anti-Armor?"
Zhong Wen knew Zhao Yuan well. His friend wasn't the type to joke about something like this.
Without saying anything further, Zhao Yuan sent him the attribute panel of the SSS-level Anti-Armor.
Zhong Wen stared at the panel again and again, scanning it from top to bottom. His eyes gradually began to shine.
"Invincible… absolutely invincible! You're about to take off! I thought I was lucky enough, but I didn't expect you to be the real monster!"