Reaching downward, I plucked a blade of grass.
[Ding! Through a special Action, a Skill has been generated.]
[Ding! Gathering - Lv1 (0.0%) has been added to your Status.]
'It really was that easy!?', I exclaimed inwardly.
Gathering...This can be quite useful for me, especially if I happen to wander into old power plants and the like, ripe with raw materials.
Sadly, I couldn't even check what Gathering's Skill Description was before I was greeted with more Gamer Notifications. That's right, doing this completed the Quest!
[Ding! You have completed the Quest, "Create A Skill"!]
[Ding! Your Quest Log has been updated.]
[Ding! You have received 10 EXP and 1 Point.]
[Ding! Point Doubler has triggered.]
[Ding! You have received 20 EXP, and 2 Points!]
[Ding! You have Leveled Up! Level 1 (0/10) -> (10/10).]
[Ding! Current Level: 2 (10/20).]
[Ding! Total EXP: 20.]
[Ding! You have not set a defined growth pattern.]
[Ding! You may now set a growth pattern for your Status.]
[Ding! You have received 6 Points for Leveling Up.]
[Ding! Point Doubler has triggered.]
[Ding! 12 Stat Points have been added to your Points!]
[Ding! Available Points: 14.]
[Ding! You feel lucky.]
[Ding! You have encountered an unexpected situation.]
[Ding! After your initial plucking of the nearby grass, it has left behind something.]
[Ding! Death Blade (Rainbow) x1 has been deposited into your Inventory.]
[Ding! Your Status has been updated and is now ready to view.]
'What the ****?', I exclaimed, obviously keeping my thoughts to myself.
This...is quite a lot to take in. Stat Doubler triggers every instance!? It doesn't just happen at the very end!?
I seriously underestimated this Skill...
I can't tell which one is better. Point Doubler, or Soul Protection? Each one is powerful in its own right, so I can't really compare the two. And through these Gamer Notifications, I learned something new.
Until I define a growth pattern for my "game character", it will just dump Stat Points into what I currently have available. It won't distribute them across the board. That is quite useful knowledge to have on hand. What this means is I can do whatever type of build that I want.
And it was all thanks to investing my Stat Points before I was brought into the MCU...
Thankfully, I didn't shout or anything. I was just minding my own business while looking out toward the city of Los Angeles.
An hour or two passed by before I realized it. The nearby family who were playing with their kids had already left for the day. People could now be seen walking their pets now, enjoying their walk.
Seeing no disturbances, I decided to take a gander at what I received. The Gathering Skill, and my new Item. Additionally, I decided to look over my Status Window again.
I'm going to be looking at my Status Window a lot. You always do when playing games early on, wanting to see what has changed and all. I am no less. Let's take it from the top. I'm also curious to see if my HP and MP have increased too.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Myles Alexander
Age: 18
Level: 2 (10/20)
Total EXP: 20
Location: San Fernando Valley, LA
Time: March 1st, 2006. 9:00 AM
Weather: Sunny, 48*F
Inventory: Unlocked
Quest Log: Unlocked
Create A Skill (1/1) Task 1: Create 1 Skill: (1/1)
Field Skill:
Soul Protection (SSS)
Point Doubler (SSS)
Gathering (F) Lv1 (0.0%)
HP: 210 MP: 30/30
STR: 1 VIT: 1 DEX: 1
INT: 1 WIS: 1 LUK: 11
Points: 14
[Gathering (F) - Lv1 (0.0%)] (NEW)
The classic Gathering skill. Allows you to harvest materials scattered around your current location. Higher LUK may determine gathering rate and item drops.
Special Effect 1: 11% chance for Purple-Grade Drop Item. 1% chance for Orange-Grade Drop Item. 0.1% chance for Rainbow-Grade Drop Item.
Special Effect 2: 11% chance to double the Drop Item.
[Death Blade - Legendary] (NEW)
Quantity: 1
Special Effect: 100% chance to inflict death. Consumed upon use. Can only work on Monsters, Boss Monsters included.
Bruh...
You're telling me this lucky chance triggered a 0.1% chance, and gave me a Rainbow drop? What is this, a gacha game?
Honestly, I'd try to make more use of this. I could spend my entire day gathering grass, but nah. One, that'd draw attention, and two, I don't have the counterpart Skill that goes hand-in-hand with Skills like Gathering. The Observe Skill!
I just need to spend some time observing my surroundings to trigger it, I bet. Or do an in-depth analysis of when I do my first battle.
But more importantly, I experienced my first Level Up!
What's more, this System is giving me the freedom to assign my Stats however I want. That's why I did not get any direct stat increases when the level up happened. It all got dumped into my Points. It doesn't end there either. It even has the ability to let me preset my Stats. I can allocate to whatever type of build I want to do.
If I want to be a frontliner, I can. If I want to attack from afar, I can. I think you get the idea.
Every Level Up results in six Stat Points. With Point Doubler, every instance of that becomes twelve. Pretty nutty, right? That's why I said this will half the leveling speed while I earn double the profit.
My stats are going to soar, and I'm all for it.
In regards to MP, or Mana Points, they'll be required to use Skills. Right now, my Skills are just classified as Field Skills. I do not have any Combat Skills yet, which are commonly referred to as Active Skills. And this is the MCU. Magic is real, and it is something I could potentially learn!
Does that mean I'll waltz right into Kamar-Taj and politely ask them to teach me? Absolutely not. I don't need them! As cool as their Magic is, I don't need to rely on that to create my own.
As for HP, or Health Points, it's your bread and butter. Let it reach zero, and you're cooked. I don't know whether it will knock me out or kill me outright, but I have no intention of finding that out. I am not a masochist, haha!
I'd love to try out this Death Blade piece of grass I got. That was such a lucky drop too. I'd hate for it to work on humans, so thankfully it only works on Monsters. It even says Bosses are included, so when I face off against my first Boss, I may have a one-hit kill for it. Sweet. Will I use it? Likely no. It's my only one. I can keep it as a trump card.
Besides my current progress so far...I think I have one last thing to check. Underneath Available Points, I saw one more field.
Wallet: $0 USD
Face-palm.
It said it converted my assets and everything so I had my hopes up, but since it focused on creating my identity as Myles Alexander here in the MCU, it left me with nothing else to work with.
Fine by me. This is where the grind truly starts then. And that marks my next plan of attack.
I can't even afford bus fare! I'm flat out broke. I'm equivalent to that of a homeless person! I'm not against them or anything. I've had some friends who had to deal with that crap, and I have full respect for them. I didn't think I'd wind up penniless on my first day here.
Gotta start somewhere, right?
As if sensing my determination, I was greeted with a new Gamer Notification. It looks like I had just received my second Quest. So soon!
[Ding! A new Quest has been issued to you.]
[Ding! Your Quest Log has been updated.]
[Ding! Quest: Create Instance Dungeon has been added.]
[Ding! Through a special Action, A new Skill has been generated.]
[Ding! ID Creation LV1 (0.0%) has been added to your Status.]
There it is. One of the defining features of the Gamer System.
Instance Dungeon Creation!
Or ID Creation for short.
I didn't hesitate and reviewed its details right away.
[ID Creation Lv1 (0.0%)]
You can now create Instance Dungeons within the MCU. Stronger Instance Dungeons may be created at higher levels. Once an Instance Dungeon has been registered once, you can spend MP to create the Instance Dungeon again. The first time is free.
Current IDs:
1. Empty ID - Monsters: Unregistered
[Quest: Create Instance Dungeon]
Task 1: Create Instance Dungeon (0/1)
Task 2: Kill Slimes (0/20)
Reward:
20 EXP
2 Stat Points
1 Accessory Box - Ring (Blue)(Random)
1 Accessory Box - Earring (Blue)(Random)
[Ding! Your Skill, ID Creation Lv1 (0.0%), has been registered with a new ID.]
[Ding! ID Creation Skill Proficiency has increased!]
[Ding! You may now challenge Slime Tunnel - Level 1.]
Slime...Tunnel? Honestly, that sounds disgusting.
Nonetheless, the Gamer System went ahead and assigned me my first ID. I was wondering what sort of beginner-level monsters I would end up fighting first. There's quite a few of them. Goblins, Kobolds, Wild Rabbits, Skeletons, you name it. It really went with Slimes!
Slimes, eh? I think I can work with that. At least for the time being, let's find a spot. Thankfully there were some trees around. After taking in the sights for a good hour or two, it was now 9AM. If it works like the original Skill, when I use ID Creation, it shouldn't be visible to other people. Fingers crossed.
Doing a little bit of stretching, I found a good spot that obscured my figure from most blind spots.
"This is my first time using a Skill, though...Is it different from Inventory?", I asked, wondering how to do this. 'ID Creation'.
Wooosh!
[Ding! You have successfully used Skill, ID Creation.]
[Ding! Please designate your ID.]
"Slime Tunnel.", I uttered, keeping my voice low.
[Ding! You have set Slime Tunnel - Level 1 as your designated ID. It can now be challenged.]
Before I could do anything else, a similar-looking portal that brought me into the MCU showed up. It had an endless-starry look, like I was looking into the abyss. A portal that led into my first Instance Dungeon.
[Ding! Soul Protection has triggered.]
[Ding! You have successfully avoided detection!]
Seeing these two new Gamer Notifications appear, a wry smile appeared on my face.
Yep, this Skill is broken alright. Imagine a portal suddenly opening on Planet Earth. I'm sure some type of force could detect it. I just have to keep in mind that this only applies to god-like beings. While it may impact people like the Ancient One, it will not likely impact humans and mortals.
Still, with my head held high, I strutted inside the Instance Dungeon.
"Let's kill some slimes, shall we?"