Su Luo rubbed his throbbing temples as the regional channel's group of silly netizens began their daily "care" for him again.
[@Su Luo, my shelter has upgraded to Level 1! When's yours upgrading? (Peeking)]
[@Su Luo, the leaderboard is about to open!]
[@Su Luo, I have an original flavor...]
[Su Luo: (sends picture)]
[Damn?! Grilled fish?! Where did you get that?!]
[??? Why is your background so bright? Did you find the sun?]
[Boss! Did you find a way back to Earth? Take me with you!]
[Am I the only one noticing that Su Luo seems to not be wearing pants...]
With a slight move, Su Luo caused chaos in the regional channel, then casually blocked the avalanche of private chat requests, satisfied as he withdrew his hand.
[Remaining time: 3 hours 05 minutes]
That grand, cold, indistinguishable voice, neither male nor female, once again echoed in the minds of every survivor as promised:
[Survival Log Update: Day Three]
[Current Region (Region 76) Survival Rate: 75.73%]
[Based on survival data from the first three days, regional adjustments are complete]
[Resource Refresh Mechanism: [Iron Chest] has been added to the refresh sequence. [Gold Chest] and higher-level chests currently have no refresh mechanism.]
[Leaderboard System Officially Activated: Level Ranking, Shelter Ranking, Kill Ranking are now active. Survivors can view real-time rankings on the system interface]
[Leaderboard Reward Mechanism: At 0:00 every day (system time), those ranked in the top 1000, top 100, top 10, and the top of each leaderboard will receive survival supplies, special items, or even title rewards of varying tiers]
[Monster Ecology Adjustment: As some survivors' strength increases, the monster communities in the darkness will dynamically evolve, with a higher probability of Level 2-3 monster units appearing. Additionally, there's a very small chance of "Elite" monsters appearing, which might offer unexpected surprises if defeated.]
[Regional Event Preview: A "Monster Tide" is gathering in the distance, expected to affect this region in 96 hours. During the Monster Tide, environmental visibility, monster activity, and resource distribution will undergo drastic changes. Please prepare in advance.]
The 7-Day Safety Period wasn't even halfway over, and already a quarter of the people were gone. Su Luo couldn't help but sigh.
After the announcement ended, Su Luo opened his panel to check his gains:
[Spirit: 7.2 (↑1.0)]
[Mana: 9 (↑7)]
[Meditation Level 6 (0/600)]
[Basic Visualization Method Level 6 (0/600)]
[Fireball Level 3 (186/300)]
When Meditation reached Level 6, his mana hit 7 points.
But from Level 1 to Level 4 of the Basic Visualization Method, it only increased his spirit attribute without adding to his mana.
This was because the low-level Basic Visualization Method was no longer sufficient to increase Su Luo's mana; it required reaching a higher level to continue growing.
Low-level skills have a noticeable diminishing effect on high attributes.
For example, if a man with a 7.0 strength attribute learns the [Basic Body Strengthening Technique], can he immediately increase his strength by 0.1?
Obviously not, just like an athlete's muscles won't become stronger just by drinking protein powder.
Ahem, in short, once attributes reach a certain level, low-quality, low-level skills can no longer increase attributes.
Su Luo checked the forum and found that some survivors had noticed this phenomenon, but no one had specifically brought it up for study.
Su Luo quickly crafted a post and published it on the forum.
[On the Marginal Diminishing Effect of Skill Quality and Level on High Attribute Enhancement]
It gave Su Luo, who had just graduated from college, a sense of déjà vu of writing a thesis.
With his nearly empty basket on his back, Su Luo walked into the forest to gather food.
He focused on collecting fruits and roots with high water content, as Su Luo had no container to bring stream water out of the dungeon.
After half an hour of work, Su Luo lay on the ground with his eyes closed, having finished everything.
In just a few seconds, Su Luo's consciousness began to blur...
The [Meditation] book recorded many related techniques, all of which Su Luo memorized. Among them was a very comprehensive deep sleep method.
Su Luo combined it with segmented sleep and quick sleep methods, allowing him to meet his body's needs with less than three hours of sleep each day.
"Yes!"
Su Luo sat up abruptly, startled from his near-death state.
"I can also post something."
[Quick Mastery of Flexible Sleep and Short Sleep Training Methods]
After completing all this, he finally fell into a deep, satisfied sleep.
[Remaining time: 0 hours 05 minutes]
Su Luo opened his eyes on time, dressed, and checked his basket.
"It's about to end..."
Su Luo's gaze turned to the dungeon entrance he hadn't visited.
"Entered the dungeon, but haven't fought a single monster."
The powerful perception brought by his high spirit attribute gave him an unprecedented confidence, allowing him to slowly move towards the dungeon entrance.
He approached the heavy door carved from unknown giant stones. Several peepholes were open on the door.
Su Luo stopped, standing on the steps, observing the interior of the door.
Adventure was out of the question; at most, he would stand aside to investigate the situation.
Peering inside, behind the door was an extremely spacious hall. And right inside the door stood a whole circle of skeletons clad in rusted iron armor, wielding weapons!
They stood motionless, like ancient guards, but the occasional flicker of ghostly blue soul fire in their hollow eye sockets emitted a chillingly dangerous aura.
"Appraisal!"
[Appraisal: Unknown Target]
[Assessment: Your level is Level 0, target level is Level 3, your Appraisal level is Level 5...]
[Assessment failed, appraisal unsuccessful]
Su Luo: "..."
Su Luo sighed and cast Appraisal several more times.
...
[Assessment successful, you obtained partial information on the target]
[Armed Skeleton]
[Level: 3]
[Strength: 10]
[Constitution:?]
[Spirit:?]
[Skills:???,???]
10 points in strength... it could really cut Su Luo in half with one strike.
Su Luo sighed again and sent the information to Qin Lang.
[Su Luo: Here, this is the gatekeeper]
[Qin Lang:... Exaggerated, there are only a few in our Mutual Aid Association who can temporarily reach 10 in strength.]
[Qin Lang: Wait, what level are you? How can you appraise a Level 3 monster!]
[Su Luo: Level 5 Appraisal]
[Qin Lang: Have you been grinding Appraisal these past few days?]
[Su Luo: Been grinding levels]
"Not much difference, been grinding all along," Su Luo muttered.
As soon as he finished speaking, the white light of the system's teleportation lit up.
[Dungeon: Wizard's Abandoned Experimental Grounds—Challenge Failed]
[Strategy Progress: 0%]
[Comprehensive Evaluation: Trash]
After a dizzying spin, Su Luo found himself back at the spot he had stood before entering the dungeon, basket on his back.
After adjusting, Su Luo turned around and once again pointed at the glowing spot.
[You have entered this dungeon recently, please try again after the cooldown period]
[Cooldown Period: 23 hours 59 minutes]
"There's a cooldown period too..." he said, somewhat disappointed.
Su Luo took a deep breath, turned around, and faced the boundless darkness that had once left him feeling hopeless and helpless.
Then, he slowly raised his hand and snapped his fingers crisply.
Poof!
A blazing, bright, and vibrant orange-red fireball appeared, floating in his palm, instantly dispelling the thick darkness around him for several meters, illuminating his face clearly!
The warm glow enveloped him, lighting the way forward into the unknown.
"I'm not the same as before now!"