Second Floor Bedroom.
Lin Mo was completely unaware of his parents' grand plan downstairs to "level up their alternate account."
He locked the door behind him and threw himself heavily onto the soft bed, immediately opening his class panel.
On the panel, the icon for [Fireball] was still grayed out.
"It's been half an hour, and it hasn't returned yet?"
Just then.
A series of messages popped up on the panel.
[Your skill "Fireball" has traveled a long distance and arrived at the southern outskirts of Jianghai City—"Verdant Grassland" (Lv.1-Lv.3).]
[Encountered an enemy! A "Sharp-Toothed Rabbit" (Lv.1) was spotted grazing ahead.]
["Fireball" mocked the Sharp-Toothed Rabbit: Is this it? This kind of creature can be called a monster? Are you here to make me laugh?]
["Fireball" struck in anger, hitting the Sharp-Toothed Rabbit's front teeth with precision!]
[Kill successful! Experience +5, Skill Proficiency +1.]
["Fireball" felt very dissatisfied! It considered the experience points provided by such a low-level monster an insult to its noble status!]
[It is accelerating its search for stronger opponents! It roars: I want to fight ten!]
Looking at the lines of battle records on the panel, Lin Mo fell into contemplation.
First and foremost, the most crucial point was that the experience points were indeed being fed back.
This meant that although [Fireball] seemed to have run away from home, it still belonged to his skill system.
"So that means..."
Lin Mo stroked his chin.
"My golden finger has finally arrived?"
"Eighteen years, after waiting eighteen years, the golden finger has finally arrived?!"
Skill Personification!
Although Lin Mo was lazy, he wasn't stupid.
As a veteran bookworm from his past life, he instantly realized how terrifying the value of this golden finger was.
First, it was fully automatic training.
Others had to risk their lives to fight monsters in the wild to level up.
Even though this world was highly gamified, life only came once; death meant death, with no such thing as a revival coin.
And for him?
Sitting at home, experience falls from the sky.
As long as the skill is diligent, even if he sleeps in bed, his level and skill proficiency will keep rising!
Secondly, and most perversely—absolute micro-control!
Even at the same level, the power displayed by the Mage class could vary greatly.
In intense battles, predicting movements and controlling the trajectory of skills required high combat talent and practical experience.
But now?
The skill has a mind of its own!
It can aim by itself, predict by itself, and might even know better than Lin Mo how to kill monsters!
"This isn't just a golden finger; it's practically an 'auto-bot plugin'..."
Lin Mo comfortably leaned back, raising his pillow a bit.
"Not bad, not bad. Although it's a bit temperamental, I'll forgive its sudden departure since it's working so hard."
"Moreover, in this world, casting skills consumes one's mental energy, but it seems that the Fireball doesn't consume mental energy while leveling up outside?"
"Could this be another benefit of personification?"
[Ding! Your skill "Fireball" has encountered a pack of "Grassland Gray Wolves" (Lv.1)!]
[Number: 15!]
"Hmm? 15 level 1 monsters?"
Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat.
Even though these were beginner monsters, they were still too dangerous for a level 1 classholder.
"Hey, hey, don't get yourself killed. If you can't win, just run!"
Lin Mo instinctively shouted.
Although he didn't know if a skill could die.
However, the next system message left Lin Mo dumbfounded.
[Faced with the encirclement, "Fireball" not only wasn't afraid but felt extremely excited!]
[It thought targeting one by one was a waste of time, severely slowing its leveling efficiency!]
[In its anger, it began to think, to deduce, to attempt to reorganize the fire element arrangement!]
["Fireball" exploded! It comprehended the fission mystery of the fire element!]
[Congratulations! Due to your skill's extraordinary insight, it independently deduced and evolved into an advanced skill—Multiple Explosive Fireballs (Lv.1)!]
[Multiple Explosive Fireballs: Instantly splits into 10-15 fireballs for a blanket bombardment, causing secondary explosive damage upon impact! Cooldown: 15 seconds]
[Boom—!!!]
[Killed Grassland Gray Wolves x15! Gained Experience +75! Skill Proficiency greatly increased!]
["Fireball" looked at the ground littered with wolf corpses and disdainfully blew a smoke ring: A bunch of trash, thinking they could stop my evolution?]
"Damn?!"
Lin Mo shot up from the bed.
At this moment, a new skill, Multiple Explosive Fireballs, appeared in his skill bar.
"This is possible?!"
Although Lin Mo was a poor student, he knew the basic class knowledge.
In this world, learning skills wasn't that simple.
Skills were divided into six levels: [Basic], [Low-Tier], [Mid-Tier], [High-Tier], [Legendary], and [Forbidden Spell].
Basic skills like the fire-based [Fireball] and water-based [Water Arrow] could be learned by any mage.
But starting from [Low-Tier] skills, it wasn't so easy; you couldn't just casually eat a skill book and comprehend it.
Although [Multiple Explosive Fireballs] was just a Low-Tier skill, it involved techniques of "elemental fission" and "secondary detonation."
Even a [Blazing Flame Mage] specializing in fire skills couldn't comprehend it in one go.
Let alone a Basic Mage like himself.
But now?
Not even half a day since his class change, without even seeing the shadow of a monster, let alone the cover of a skill book, the skill itself evolved just because it was dissatisfied with the slow monster-killing pace?
Unheard of...
Lin Mo stared blankly at the newly appeared skill icon.
"Unbelievable... truly unbelievable."
"Is this the world of the ultimate grinder?"
"Others train skills, but my skills train me."
Lin Mo shook his head slightly, thinking.
If this trend continues...
When he reaches level 10 and can learn a second basic skill, if he learns [Water Arrow], will it also evolve into [Tsunami] out of disdain for its small power?
If he learns [Earth Shield], will it think it's not hard enough and evolve into [Absolute Defense]?
If all skills evolve like this...
Wouldn't he, the so-called "Basic Mage," become an all-element Forbidden Spell Archmage?
"Hiss—"
Lin Mo drew a sharp breath.
This is the path to becoming a god while lying down!
"At this rate, in the Classholder Entrance Examination three days from now, won't this Basic Mage make a stunning debut?"
Lin Mo couldn't help but feel excited.
Though he was lazy, if he could lie down and get good grades, earning some face for his parents, it wouldn't be bad.
[Ding! "Fireball" thinks the monsters in Verdant Grassland are too weak and is heading to a higher-level area, "Gloomwood Forest" (Lv.3-Lv.5).]
[Message: Go to sleep, stop making a fuss and interfering with my operation!]
Looking at this domineering message, Lin Mo was completely at ease.
Alright then.
Since the skill is working so hard, how can he hold it back?
At times like this, the best support is not to interfere!
"In order to support the skill's leveling endeavor, I decide—"
Lin Mo yawned, adjusting to the most comfortable position:
"To sleep!"
"The world is big, but sleep is the biggest."
"Hey... Fireball, keep up the good work. If you haven't reached level 3 by morning, I'll be sure to mock you."
Two minutes later, the sound of even breathing filled the luxurious bedroom.