Chapter 33 Midnight Meal, Mission Incoming

After she finished speaking, she mentioned a few other miscellaneous things. After three o’clock, Hua Tian left the vast room and walked into the corridor outside.

She stopped at the door of the exercise suite and looked inside, seeing an array of fitness equipment. Approaching the dumbbells, she recalled how, back in school, she’d gritted her teeth and paid for a gym membership, managing at that time to barely press a hundred kilograms overhead. After half a year spent hoeing fields with no strength training, she wondered what she could manage now. She decided to assemble a two-hundred-pound dumbbell and give it a try.

As she was putting it together, the open door attracted a crowd of idle, burly bodyguard types. They noticed the weight she was assembling and paused, curious to see if she’d pull it off.

Their stares made her nervous. After not lifting for half a year, she’d already forgotten the proper form. Once the dumbbell was ready, she drew a deep breath, steadied herself, and lifted.

Even she could scarcely believe it—she succeeded, lifting the weight overhead without any hesitation or struggle.

“Hey, are you really up to this, brother?” One of them approached and looked Hua Tian in the eyes. “I’ve been watching you for thirty seconds, and all you’ve done is hold it at your chest, trying to push it forward. Are you going to press, or not? If not, put it down and let me try.” The lightest of the bodyguards couldn’t help interrupting. In competitions, safety was always paramount, so one could forcibly intervene if needed, but since she seemed to be having fun, it didn’t seem necessary. Still, he was itching to try before his shift was over—lifting was his hobby. He wondered if he could manage it himself.

At his challenge, Hua Tian redoubled her effort, raising the dumbbell from her collarbone and pressing it overhead. Ten seconds passed. She’d forgotten how to safely lower the dumbbell, but miraculously managed to guide it back down to the floor, trembling slightly. She was amazed at how much stronger she’d become; it had never been so easy before.

The bodyguards crowded in, blocking her. She wanted another go but, with no choice, assembled a heavier dumbbell, determined to discover her limit. Over the next hour, the bodyguards looked on with disbelief as she went from two hundred to four hundred pounds, trying both the clean and jerk and the snatch. It made no sense—she shouldn’t be able to do this!

To the group of muscular bodyguards, she looked like some lifting virtuoso pretending to be a novice, perhaps seeking tips. In the end, under the instructor’s eye, she snatched four hundred pounds, becoming the center of attention—a “phenom” who left everyone speechless. Even as she feigned weakness, it was clear to them what kind of person Hua Tian was.

Because of hotel safety regulations, the equipment didn’t go any heavier, so Hua Tian had to concede and move on to other exercises, like single-arm lifts. But soon enough…

Once word spread that a lifting prodigy was around, the other bodyguards slipped away to a different gym room. Hua Tian tried every piece of equipment available until dusk fell, and after eight o’clock, she completed a simple check in the restaurant—everything repeating much as it had at noon.

That evening, upon seeing the impressive “combo meal” again, she enjoyed another feast, her appetite even stronger than at lunch. With her energy depleted from training, she ate voraciously, as if she might stay up all night.

During the meal, Han Qianyun watched the two gluttons—one large, one small—in amazement, wondering what their stomachs were made of and where she might buy one herself. Seeing her little sister unable to finish, she considered for a moment and asked Hua Tian if she could pack up the leftovers to take home. After parting ways, both sides returned to their respective homes.

At midnight, in her rented room, a solitary light shone through the window into the darkness. Beneath its glow, Hua Tian wolfed down the “mountain delicacies” she’d brought from the hotel.

The next morning, she woke at eight, prepared for the day, and logged into the game world, pondering her plans.

Gear was one thing she never had to worry about. She considered whether to hunt for pets or skills first. Skills could be found on the Sunriver Plateau, but they were notoriously rare. Still, all class skills could drop there, and all professions could learn them—even a gunner could acquire sword techniques, though she couldn’t use them, making it a waste of time if she discovered their incompatibility only after learning them.

That left pets, and there were four possible locations. As a Berserk Shieldbearer, her needs were different. Mages preferred pets that could tank and fight up front; warriors wanted ones with healing, defense, or escape skills; assassins favored pets that boosted attack or movement speed; gunners liked pets with control abilities to facilitate overwhelming firepower up close. As for Paladins, their natural healing, defense, and resistance came with a lack of offensive power—they had two choices: become all-rounders able to tank and deal damage, or focus on control and become dedicated support.

But her little Yu would probably choose support, and with Liu Ge, that meant double control for their gunner build.

She herself was built to absorb damage. For most, the shieldbearer ratio was 109, but hers was a staggering 555. Staring at her character stats, she was left speechless.

Now things were even trickier—she was completely balanced, with no particular strengths, which left her frustrated. Pets that could tank and deal damage? She’d probably outpace them herself. For healing, all she needed was to punch a monster and her health would be instantly restored. She still had two healing skills, one control skill, and the rest required charging. Unless the control lasted more than five seconds, it wasn’t worth it. Other players’ shieldbearers only needed defense, healing, and immunity to control. She, on the other hand, had absolute immunity to everything.

Forget it—she decided not to worry. If she found a rare-ranked pet with defense or control, that would do. She glanced at her info:

Name: Rampage Slayer
Level: 31 [Intermediate]
Class: Berserk Shieldbearer
Attributes: 150/150/150 [Beginner and Intermediate Max]
Skills: Earthshaker [Void Rank lv5], Heaven-Devouring Fist [Void Rank lv5], Lucky Meteor [Void Rank Passive lv1], Command [Weapon Enhancement], Blood Claw [Weapon Enhancement], Devour [Weapon Skill], Transform [Weapon Skill], War Ashes [Weapon Skill], Magic Slash [Weapon Skill], Divine Burst [Weapon Skill], Mimic [Weapon Skill], No One Behind [Equipment Skill], Guardian [Equipment Skill], Ignore [Equipment Skill]
Technique: Fist Technique, Zombie Hunter Rank [Level 10]
Equipment: Phantom Wave Will [Void Rank Set], Wave Leader [Void Rank Weapon]
Guild: Han Crown Team [Vice Captain]
Guild Coins: 1,501,219,514 (1.5 billion)
Gold: 208
Summoned Sea Monsters: 517,411 [units]

Control skills, she realized, were still a bit lacking. She checked the website for control-type pets and found that the ones with control abilities looked eerily like zombies. Upon closer inspection, she realized they were the Nightmare Clan.

They came with dream and suppression abilities, and the highest quality was red-rank—she wasn’t interested. (No player had yet caught a control pet higher than red; official records only listed red-rank.)

She searched for pets that boosted defense. Aside from Greenleaf Sprites and Fire Sprites, there weren’t many options. The Fire Sprite’s healing only benefited itself, not its master, and its defensive skill blocked all current attacks but provided no lasting defense. The Greenleaf Sprite had a skill that healed its player when killing enemies—an active defense, of sorts. One was rainbow-ranked, the other had no visible rank.

But if there was only one defensive skill, it was no better than her own half-absolute defense. Fine, she’d look for an attack-boosting pet instead. The drop rate was one hundred percent, but she was growing particular.

She kept searching and found the Woodriver region, home to the Greenspring Sprite, which could boost her attack and provide some defense.

Its skills: Possession and Waterflow Shield. Again, the highest quality was red-rank. Was that really the best available? So be it—she’d settle for this one.

Just then, the treasure map in her mind vibrated. Hua Tian felt a surge of delight—was the second quest finally about to begin?

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Side Note: [Game and Professional Tournament Settings] (For those interested)

Exam scores (total rank) go up to 100 points, with each subsequent exam also worth 100 points. Max level is 700 points (higher exam scores grant higher starting levels, and luckier players may get combo skills). Every 20 levels, you can take a free exam; if you haven’t reached the required score, you can’t progress.

[Level Exam Rules: All equipment and technique bonuses to attributes are cleared, leaving only 1 point each in strength, speed, and defense, and 3 points in health—this applies to every class. Only weapon skills, personal skills, passive skills, and all techniques are usable. Beginner exam: 10 zombies; each level adds 10 more, up to a max of 70 at full level. Passing requires killing 80%.]

Every 10 levels, you can learn a new skill (passives and techniques not included); over a lifetime, you can learn 6 active skills and 2 passive skills. Techniques and equipment skills can be learned without limit. (Rewards from the Hall of Gifts ignore level restrictions, but may not be learnable, and all items from the Hall of Gifts are single-use and self-use only.)

Weapon and equipment ranks: White, Green, Yellow, Blue, Cyan, Purple, Orange, Red, Rainbow, Void. [10 ranks] “No-Rank” items can be any quality—highest as Void, lowest less than White.

Skill and pet ranks: White, Blue, Purple, Orange, Red, Rainbow, Void. [Max skill level is 5, requires proficiency. The current cute sprites aren’t pets; pet skills have no proficiency.]

Technique ranks: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Top, Master, Professional, Zombie Hunter. Technique proficiency: Level 1-10, each level adds 1 point to all attributes. (If you have different weapon techniques, the highest rank applies.)

Zombie and monster levels: Stages 1-9 (Mortal), Levels 2-3 (Troop), 4-5 (Soldier), 6-7 (Officer), 8 (General), 9 (King), 10 (Emperor)—each with subgrades: Half, First, Second, Third, Peak.

1-9: Minor zombies; 2-7: Leader zombies; 8-10: Boss zombies.

Player power: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Top, Master, Professional, Zombie Hunter (matching the above stages).

Player levels (the final number in parentheses is the current max power, must pass the exam to advance): Basic (0-20), Intermediate (21-40), Advanced (41-60), Top (61-80), Master (81-100), Professional (101-120), Zombie Hunter (121-150). Max level is 150.

Human stats: In-game, the three attributes are strength, speed, and defense. Attack power is the average of strength and speed. HP is the sum of all attributes. Weapons mainly add active skills; clothes grant defense, pants grant speed, belts grant strength, techniques add to all attributes. (Void-level equipment always adds a skill, plus 10 points to each attribute.) Perfect exam scores add another 10 points to each attribute.

Current ratios: Warrior (Physical): 820, Mage (Magic): 820, Gunner (Physical): 910, Assassin (Physical): 640, Berserk Shieldbearer (Mixed): 109 (Main character: 555), Paladin (Magic): 037. (Ratio multiplied by total exam score, not affected by exam points.)

Modes: In solo mode, only pet eggs and recipe books are unobtainable; all other items, equipment, skills, and techniques can drop. Pets and non-personal skills are unavailable. Free mode matches solo power; everything can drop. Team mode is similar to the pro tournament: all banned items are forbidden, except for power. Otherwise, it’s much the same.

[Professional tournament rules differ: unrelated to external power. Only revive coins, forced-drop items, recipe books, unlearned skills/techniques, unworn gear/weapons, and pet eggs are banned; all else is allowed.]

Professional tournament class stats:
Warrior: Strength 80, Speed 20, Defense 1, Health 100, Attack 50
Mage: Strength 80, Speed 20, Defense 1, Health 100, Attack 50
Gunner: Strength 90, Speed 10, Defense 1, Health 100, Attack 50
Assassin: Strength 60, Speed 40, Defense 1, Health 100, Attack 50
Berserk Shieldbearer: Strength 10, Speed 1, Defense 90, Health 100, Attack 5
Paladin: Strength 1, Speed 30, Defense 70, Health 100, Attack 15
Main Character: Strength 50, Speed 50, Defense 50, Health 150, Attack 50

Zombies have varying attributes, styles, and power levels, but share health and attack values. For all minor zombies, attack is 35, health is 175—so Berserk Shieldbearers and Paladins are largely immune to their scratching attacks. Leader zombies have 100 attack, 600 health. Boss zombies have 300 attack, 2100 health. Zombies and players both have skills: one has more variety, the other more numbers, making battles like guerrilla warfare.

Author’s note: In the end, there will be a massive zombie outbreak. The pro tournament simulates humanity’s counterattack after such an outbreak. The level exams are solo survival simulations—if you meet a zombie, the first step is self-rescue. Other novels feature 80% or more of the population zombified (in a million people, 800,000 are zombies); my ratio is lower, at just under 40%, lest readers complain. The first basic exam is in a black room, simulating self-rescue in a closed space, with a wardrobe as a five-meter-high platform; the second is outdoors; later, there are city, ship, forest, and mountain maps. For instance, if a plane crashes into any region, survivors are severely injured, so I made it so that one hit from a zombie means game over.

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