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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: 040 - I'm the Only Point Tycoon
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I crammed as much information as possible into my head since it was all related to me.
"Hey. System. What's my current level?"
You are Level 0.
"Hmm..., as expected...."
I'd never done any training or practice inside the Tower to improve my skills, nor had I ever fought in life-or-death battles.
All I'd done was shoot zombies on the first floor with the help of stat skills and passive skill buffs, then do the same on the second floor in Battlegrounds 2.
I'd never once stared at a wall and trained diligently like others, or spent over ten grueling years honing my skills inside the Tower.
And I hadn't risked my life in fights to grow my pure, innate abilities either—and I had no desire to.
'If I wanted to grow my pure innate abilities through combat...,
I'd probably have to fight zombies barehanded on the first floor or something insane like that...?
And if I slipped up, I'd die...
...Why the hell would I do something that stupid?'
To raise a survivor's level, you had to develop your pure innate abilities.
All I'd done was mow down zombies using modern weaponry—a gun.
Any elementary or middle school kid could do it if you just taught them how to shoot properly.
'The grenades that blew up those zombies...,
that wasn't because my innate skills were superior...
They were just an outstanding weapon.'
I scoured the internet for even more information.
For instance, Easy difficulty survivors spend an average of 20 years in the Tower, with a minimum of 10.
Most of that time, they're holed up like they're trapped in a room of distorted time and space, training relentlessly.
Inside the Tower, you don't age, and time in the outside world doesn't flow, making it possible.
Normal difficulty is a minimum of 50 years, averaging 100.
Hard difficulty hasn't been fully uncovered yet, but the minimum is 150 years, averaging over 300.
"A Korean survivor holds the world record for the shortest time... Impressive.
...But the guy himself regrets coming out so fast...?
Says it's because growth speed and limits are exceptional inside the Tower? Hmm...."
I also dug up the exact point rewards for clearing each floor in the Tower trials.
It matched what I'd known before.
"...10 points for clearing floor 1,
...20 for floor 2,
...30 for floor 3?
It keeps ramping up like that,
so most Easy difficulty survivors only get 550 points by the time they clear floor 10? Holy crap...
Damn..., System, you cheap bastard...,
you were a total saint to me?"
I gaped at the points others received.
"You were ridiculously generous with my points...?
I'm the only outlier, and it's like this across all difficulties?
n x 10 points for clearing floor n? Damn...
Even the final Hard difficulty trial at floor 50 is just 500?
The only extras are rare bonus points?
Whoa..., holy shit... I get that just for killing 50 regular zombies...."
Easy difficulty survivors used that 550 points to buy two Strength stat skills (100+200),
one Agility and one Stamina each (100+100),
and spent the remaining 50 on hemostasis potions.
Subspace Storage? No chance for them.
Because it costs a whopping 100 points...
If they could afford that, they'd buy another stat skill instead.
"...Ah, so that's why they train for over 10 years locked in the Tower...
They don't have trials as easy as mine, and points are scarce,
so they grind training that long just to survive?"
Only Normal or Hard difficulty folks could afford Subspace Storage.
Easy ends at floor 10, Normal at 30, Hard at 50.
Honestly, from my perspective...,
it felt like looking down from a Manhattan skyscraper penthouse at African refugees.
"Whoa..., holy crap... They live so frugally...."
For me, Normal difficulty wasn't much different.
Normal Tower trial survivors earn a final 4,650 points, excluding bonuses.
They have to strategize their point allocation.
Of the basic six stats—Strength, Agility, Stamina, Magic Power, Insight, Mentality—they specialize in half, abandoning the other three.
That lets them invest 1,550 points into each of three stats.
100+200+300+400+500 = 1,500 to max stat skills at Lv.5.
Go warrior build with Strength, Agility, Stamina? Lv.5 across the board.
Mage build? Lv.5 Magic Power, Insight, Mentality.
100 of the leftover 150 goes to Subspace Storage,
and the final 50 to hemostasis potions...
I shook my head and browsed more internet posts.
One detailed stat skills and passive skills.
"Stat skills are like multiplicative enhancements, right?
For example, a Lv.50 survivor with Strength Stat Skill Lv.10
has Strength boosted +10, nearing an average Lv.60 survivor's Strength.
Hey. System. That's right, yeah?"
Correct.
That meant my basic six stats—excluding Magic Power—were all equivalent to a survivor's Lv.10 level.
In other words, I was on par with the average Easy difficulty survivor, dubbed "quasi-superhuman."
My survivor level might be 0 due to nonexistent pure innate abilities...,
but every stat skill for the basic six—Strength, Agility, Stamina, Insight, Mentality—is Lv.10.
0+10 means those stats approach average survivor Lv.10 levels.
'So my current physical specs..., thanks to stat skill buffs,
match the peak prime of tier-1 special forces soldiers.'
I'd never been to a gym, but I could probably bench 500 in the big three.
If the internet articles were accurate.
'...Top 0.1% of all men, right?
So my Strength, Agility, Stamina, Insight, Mentality—all top 0.1% among men...
Dynamic vision and mentality influenced by Insight and Mentality would be top 0.1% too.'
I now had a clear picture of my physical specs.
My body was currently at the peak physical level of a tier-1 special forces operative.
I'd achieved near-superhuman specs just from killing zombies.
"Passive skills like 'Swordsmanship Lv.1' equate to 10 years of eating and practicing nothing but swordsmanship...."
Someone in a trial met a Sword Saint (Sword Master), paid 1,000 points in front of him to buy Swordsmanship Lv.1, and asked.
The Sword Saint appraised it as exactly 10 years of pure sword training.
The asker had been a total novice with swords before buying the skill...
This info revealed that passive skills buy you 10 years of training for 1,000 points.
I could afford them thanks to my points..., but for average Tower trial survivors, passives were a stretch.
Swordsmanship, Spear Arts, Shield Mastery, Martial Arts, Archery, Marksmanship, Gunnery—all start at 1,000 points...
Easy's final 550? Forget it.
Normal's 4,650 is barely doable, but they'd prioritize stat skills.
Hard's 12,750 allows it, but even they buy maybe one..., preferring personal training since time doesn't pass in the Tower.
'Yeah, I'd do the same. With only 12,750 final points, stat skills are the better buy.'
Plus, the Tower has no growth caps,
so persistent training over years yields proportional gains.
It's famous that humans have growth limits in reality, but the Tower nullifies them.
For example, 30 years vs. 50 years of sword training in reality might show little difference.
Real-world growth plateaus as you near mastery due to innate limits.
Beyond a point, it's more about physical specs and talent than raw training.
Simpler: One month of beginner swimming vs. one month after 10 years—the growth rate differs wildly.
Humans hit growth ceilings, making further gains marginal.
But in the Tower, it works differently.
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