He had little interest in the remaining items. After spending 1,100 Points, his balance had dropped back down to just over 500. With that meager amount, he wouldn't be able to buy anything decent, whether from the store or the player market.
Truth be told, he still had an admission ticket to an Adventure Script on hand, "Dave's Car Keys". That item had been sitting in his storage for quite some time. "Lost Sunflowers" was a C-grade Adventure Script. When he first obtained the key, he was merely an F-grade player, and challenging such a Script would have been tantamount to suicide.
Furthermore, the Dave series of Adventure Scripts were likely role-playing scenarios that placed massive restrictions on Players. He wasn't entirely sure how much of his current arsenal he would actually be able to utilize.
He really wanted to acquire a few more plant-related skills, especially those involving the diverse array of garden plants. However, to clear this Script, he currently lacked the spare Points needed to purchase the necessary items.
He decided to hold off for now. He planned to gather more Points before using the key, ideally raising his base attribute points a bit more in the process. Besides, Xiao Wei had just escaped from that Ancient Manor, and he felt she needed a little time to adapt to her new environment.
After Xiao Wei finished watching an episode of Tom and Jerry, he brought the naive girl to a newly created Training Room to test out her freshly learned skills. She focused her energy on a wooden dummy to cast Magic Missile. Following a delay of about two seconds, her charge reached its maximum. Six Magic Missiles radiating a hazy light shot forth from her palms, slamming into the wooden dummy with a series of heavy thuds.
Bai Mu approached the dummy to inspect the impact zones. The wood showed varying degrees of cracks and damage, with a scattering of splinters fallen on the floor. Judging by the size of the cracks and the extent of the damage, the power was slightly inferior to a handgun. However, compared to a firearm, its primary advantage lay in its automatic tracking—it could accurately hit a target without the need to aim.
Furthermore, when continuously casting Magic Missile, the power of the sixth consecutive hit was equivalent to a pistol bullet. If more missiles landed, the damage would gradually increase. Based on the test results, though, there was still a hidden cap. The maximum damage was reached when eighteen missiles hit consecutively within a ten-second window. At that point, a single missile could blast a visible hole right through the dummy, capable of snapping it completely in half.
If more than ten seconds passed without hitting a target, this damage multiplier would reset.
The automatic tracking feature was actually quite intelligent. Even if the target hid behind cover, the missiles would do their best to curve around the obstacle and strike the target directly.
Bai Mu tried placing a stone wall between Xiao Wei and the dummy, completely obstructing it from view. Incredibly, the missiles tilted from all directions, actively attempting to bypass the stone barrier.
However, because the distance was too short, only two of the six missiles successfully cleared the wall. At a greater distance, they would automatically adjust their trajectories, swerving to crash into the target.
The maximum casting range was roughly a hundred meters. Any further, and the missiles would turn into something akin to shooting stars, flashing once before annihilating into thin air. The properties of Frost Arrow were much more straightforward. It simply fired an arrow made of ice, though it required manual aiming. Upon shattering, the ice arrow would unleash an area-of-effect frost explosion. If the weather were hot, it would actually be quite convenient for making shaved ice.
Had he possessed this skill back in the Abandoned City of Doppelgangers, he could have manufactured his own ice to cool down.
As for Updraft, this skill was honestly a bit useless. The gust of wind it kicked up was roughly just strong enough to blow up a girl's skirt. At most, it could lift an open umbrella to a height of seven or eight meters. Either way, lifting anything heavy was completely out of the question.
If he could find something to enhance the intensity of the wind, it might become somewhat useful. For example, creating a wall of wind to block incoming arrows and similar projectiles.
After finishing the skill tests, Bai Mu took Xiao Wei for a stroll around the community. The community rooms had no windows. Even with electric lighting, staying cooped up inside for too long would inevitably feel stifling.
Bai Mu walked with Xiao Wei along the beach to relax. The young girl stared out at the ocean in a daze. It had been afternoon when Bai Mu and Great Northern Wilderness went to participate in their Script, and they had spent around four hours inside. It was now dusk, and the sea was dyed a brilliant gold by the setting sun.
Xiao Wei blankly watched the surface of the water, remaining silent for a long time. Seeing this, Bai Mu led her to a quiet corner of the beach, far away from the other Players, and they sat down together.
They didn't leave until the sky had gone completely dark.
That night, Xiao Wei reverted to her doll form. Whenever she needed to rest, she had to become a doll.
Bai Mu placed the doll beside his pillow, covered her with a blanket, and softly bid her goodnight.
Over the next few days, Bai Mu educated Xiao Wei on the rules of Paradise, helping her understand exactly what "Community Time" and "Scripts" were all about.
At the same time, he taught her how to recognize modern objects. The background of their next Script was completely unknown, so having her familiarize herself with these things in advance was a good idea, and it doubled as a relaxing way to pass the time.
With another person in the room, Bai Mu's sleep quality had suddenly improved significantly. He could now fall asleep at night without needing to play horror movies in the background.
Xiao Wei's presence gave him a nostalgic feeling, much like the days when his old dog, Big Yellow, used to sleep right beside his bed.
The young girl stubbornly insisted on doing some chores for Bai Mu. After she learned how to use the gas stove, she attempted to cook for him using that old stew pot.
Her cooking skill level was higher than Bai Mu's. Bai Mu was the type who would eat absolutely anything as long as it didn't kill him. He had almost zero requirements when it came to taste. No matter how awful something was, if it kept him alive, he could force it down. As a result, he had never bothered to hone his culinary skills. Not that he ever had the proper conditions to do so anyway, considering how difficult it was to find fresh ingredients in the apocalypse.
To him, eating was just about convenience and filling his stomach.
This was evident from the fact that ever since he arrived in Paradise, he had exclusively bought bland, custom fitness meals as his rations.
However, Xiao Wei seemed to have frequently done chores back in her own home. Bai Mu bought her a modern cookbook. Since the food produced by the stew pot provided buffs based on its "deliciousness" and the "rarity of the ingredients", training Xiao Wei's cooking skills wasn't a wasted effort. The item description explicitly stated that there was a chance for it to apply negative buffs as well. If the food tasted too terrible, it could inflict debuffs like "Diarrhea", "Food Poisoning", or "Stamina Decay".
For the first time in a while, Bai Mu finally experienced what it truly felt like to rest over these past few days.
Wearing an apron and following the cookbook, Xiao Wei diligently chopped ingredients on the cutting board. Vegetables, fruits, and meats were ridiculously cheap in the community store. Although items that weren't purchased from the Script Shop couldn't be brought into a Script, Bai Mu could buy as much as he wanted simply to serve as practice materials for her.
Today's menu was potato and beef stew. By noon, the worn-looking iron pot was resting on the modern stove, bubbling and steaming as it released a rich, savory aroma.
The tender, melt-in-the-mouth beef and thick sauce poured over perfectly cooked rice tasted fantastic. After just a few days of practice, Bai Mu felt that Xiao Wei's cooking was already at a level where she could open her own restaurant.
The buff provided by the "Potato and Beef Stew" was "Reduces stamina consumption by 5%". The dish tasted great, but the ingredients were likely too common, rendering the resulting buff somewhat negligible.
The two of them sat across from each other at the dining table. After they finished eating, Xiao Wei absolutely refused to let Bai Mu do any chores, firmly taking it upon herself to wash all the dishes and pots. Her personality was incredibly earnest—so earnest that it was actually a little cute.
During this time, Bai Mu also went out to grab a meal with Great Northern Wilderness and a few other friends.
However, these relaxing days couldn't last forever. Community Time was slipping away with every passing second.
A week later, once Xiao Wei had become proficient at using Magic Missile and Frost Arrow, Bai Mu reorganized his inventory, preparing to initiate a main Script.
While this kind of life was quite pleasant, he knew that resting for too long would only cause his body to grow sluggish. Even within the community, he insisted on exercising every day, but without going to the Training Room, he simply couldn't go all out.
It was time to head into the next Script. There was no need to wait until his Community Time was completely depleted before rushing to start one. Besides, Community Time was a form of currency in itself. Right now, they were essentially paying just to rest. It would be better to enter a Script, where they could technically still find time to rest while simultaneously gaining practical combat experience.
"I'm ready," Xiao Wei declared.
She reverted to her doll form, and Bai Mu placed her into his inventory. His other friends still had plenty of Community Time left and had no intention of queuing up for a Script just yet.
Because of this, Bai Mu didn't bother looking for any teammates. He directly initiated a random Script.
[Do you wish to initiate a random Script early?]
[Yes / No?]
[Player K8107 has joined the random Script queue. Drawing a random Script for you now.]