Wang Ming's avatar dimmed silently. The channel briefly rippled with a few cheap condolences, quickly drowned out by more practical survival discussions.
"People die so fast..."
"Indeed, over 3,000 people have already died so quickly."
"Stop calling out, go out and find supplies while the initial six-hour light source lasts. Once it goes out and there's no new light source, you'll fall into a vicious cycle and die sooner or later!"
"No problem."
"But I haven't found anything..."
"It's fine, at least you have a shelter."
"Doesn't everyone have one? @Su Luo"
"Doesn't everyone have one? @Su Luo"
...
"Su Luo:..."
Interrupted from his studies, Su Luo pursed his lips, sat on the ground, carefully took out an AD Calcium Milk, drank halfway, and then cautiously stuffed it back into his pants.
[Appraisal Level 3 (67/300)]
[You can currently appraise relatively complete information of targets at the same level]
The speed of this upgrade was terrifying. On the forum, some survivors were specifically using skills to level up, and they had just reached Level 2.
His hands felt like they were filled with lead, a bit hard to lift. Su Luo looked up at the distant light point.
"Climbed for two and a half hours... only halfway?"
In the darkness, time and distance lost their standards, making it hard for Su Luo to judge.
He decided to sit and recover his strength, reading while keeping an eye on the channel and forum information.
"Qin Lang: Any special situations?"
"Su Luo: No, my mental state is very good."
Qin Lang hesitated, starting to suspect Su Luo had gone mad. A normal human staying in absolute darkness for three hours would likely start having mental issues.
"Qin Lang: Really?"
"Su Luo: Really, the skill book you sent is very interesting, especially the part about Appraisal."
Qin Lang was somewhat convinced Su Luo had gone mad. He had glanced at it before, and couldn't understand any of the obscure stuff.
"Qin Lang:...Alright, your mental state is good, I'm just here to remind you to be careful."
"Su Luo: Okay."
"Qin Lang: Several players sent us monster information, but their avatars went gray halfway through. Finally, a player with stealth talent managed to take a photo."
"Qin Lang: (A photo of a giant)"
"Qin Lang: Be careful not to stray too far from the shelter if you get lost. Preliminary judgment is that this level of monster usually operates beyond three kilometers from the shelter. They're not like those on the forum, completely different level, more like... boundary guards, meant to prevent players from straying too far from the shelter."
Looking at the nearly ten-meter-tall giant monster, Su Luo's temples throbbed.
His shelter wasn't even in this world! Let alone not straying too far from it.
"Su Luo: Got it, understood."
"Qin Lang: We're compiling information on monsters of this level. Once sorted, we'll post it on the forum. If you discover anything new, please send it to me immediately!"
"Su Luo: Ok."
Ending the chat, Su Luo rested for an hour, pushing Appraisal to (256/300), then got up to continue climbing.
"@Su Luo, I have extra oil lamps, do you want one?"
"@Su Luo, I have one too!"
"@Su Luo, me too!"
"Su Luo: I'll take them all, save them for me."
After replying, Su Luo opened Qin Lang's chat window to continue reading.
The item trading function could only be used within the shelter.
People in the regional channel had started treating Su Luo as a mascot, tagging him playfully.
It made it impossible for Su Luo to lurk.
Fortunately, after another three hours of difficult climbing, the light point was within reach.
[Appraisal Level 5 (198/500)]
[You can now appraise partial information of targets one level higher than you]
The forum had previously recorded common monsters, all Level 0, which everyone could easily appraise.
Now Su Luo could appraise Level 1 monster panels, which seemed useless...
But Su Luo's gains went far beyond the effects on the system panel.
His observational skills, detail-capturing ability, and spatial estimation ability had all improved significantly!
Su Luo had learned step by step!
"Just not sure if others' skill upgrades have these effects." Su Luo climbed slowly.
As he got closer, he finally stood up, long-missed, and carefully examined the light source before him.
It was a dilapidated stone entrance standing abruptly among desolate rocks, like an alien object forcibly inserted into the world, with no road leading to it. Above the entrance, a soft yet penetrating light orb floated.
Approaching, information appeared on the light point:
[Dungeon: Wizard's Abandoned Experimental Grounds]
[Recommended Level: 0~5]
Just two simple lines, nothing else.
[Enter?]
"No." Su Luo refused without hesitation.
He was here to borrow light, not to throw his life away. With zero information, he chose caution.
Su Luo opened the forum to search for information, only to find no survivors had shared anything about the dungeon, just a few speculative posts.
"@Su Luo, I have a genuine maiden's original scent nk, I'll send it to you!"
"Su Luo: Send it over."
"Yay! Su Luo replied to me!"
"@Su Luo, I have my original scent..."
"Su Luo: No guys."
"Damn it!"
Su Luo's name was known by most in the region, being the only survivor who had stayed in the dark for so long without dying, partly because Su Luo idly replied to messages.
The silly group members tagged him for no reason.
Su Luo sat by the dungeon, not in a hurry to enter, waiting until his supplies ran out.
Staying here would lead to death eventually, he needed to move to a new place.
Su Luo had two choices.
One was the dungeon before him, with a clear challenge level and more information.
The other was the unknown Story Dungeon Scroll, with no information, and Su Luo didn't think the system's gift was anything good.
When supplies were exhausted, he would enter the dungeon first.
"I need to enhance my risk resistance..." Su Luo pondered, opening Qin Lang's chat window.
"Su Luo: Do you have skill books?"
"Qin Lang: We do... but we don't have many, most were used on the spot."
Why ask about skill books if Su Luo couldn't trade?
Qin Lang was puzzled.
"Su Luo: Can you take pictures of the contents for me? It won't consume the skill book anyway."
"Qin Lang: That's... not convenient, haha."
"Su Luo: Important information, dungeon."
Su Luo saw the chat window pause for a moment, Qin Lang must have gone to ask his superiors.
"Qin Lang: Please elaborate! How many skill books do you want to see?"
"Su Luo: As many as you have, we can continue trading later. I'll provide you with information from inside the dungeon, and you help me with skill book photos."
"Qin Lang: Alright!"
Su Luo briefly described the characteristics of the light orb and the dungeon's appearance, attaching a photo.
Soon, Qin Lang's side sent another person to send photos of four skill books, clearly afraid of spamming and covering important information.
[Basic Body Strengthening Technique]
[Frost Arrow]
[Raise Shield]
[Meditation]
Four skill books, exuding the temptation of unknown power, unfolded before Su Luo in picture form.