GAMMT - Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Feathered Spider Silk Ring
Her parents were both civil servants. While not in high-ranking positions, their long careers as officials had cultivated a certain dignified air, and they never made a misstep. Their way of life had a rather significant influence on Fu Chuan's personality.
She had never been a person of intense temperament—unless she was pushed too far.
It was too much. She had never been whipped in her entire life. Even when she was at her most mischievous, her parents preferred to use more civilized methods to discipline her.
It was a slow, grinding pressure.
But a real whipping was truly painful. Her worldview had been shattered, and she keenly felt that she was now in a cruel world.
So, just like in all the games she had played and all the adventure novels she had read, every principle pointed to one supreme law: to survive, you had to be more ruthless than anyone else.
That was why, after killing Li Kai, she had stomped on his head. It was a way to vent the pain in her own body and a declaration that the part of her that belonged to a world of peace, truth, and beauty was fading away.
But after she was done, the professionalism of a veteran resource-farming expert took over... she crouched down and began to loot the corpse.
The previous notifications were still ringing in her ears.
"Killed bandit leader Li Kai. Experience +50."
"Killed bandit A. Experience +4."
"Killed bandit B. Experience +5."
"Killed bandit C…"
"Killed…"
"Experience full. Level 1 increased to Level 2. All attributes +10. Skill point +1." (Attribute increase is current level multiplied by a base of 5 points).
"Experience full. Level 2 increased to Level 3. All attributes +15. Skill point +1."
Fu Chuan's heart had calmed down now, but instead of checking her level, she focused on looting Li Kai's corpse. Soon, she received a notification.
"Bandit leader Li Kai dropped three skill books + three low-grade mental potions upon death. Please inspect."
Fu Chuan picked up the skill books to examine them.
Level 2 Fire Arcane: Flame Blast
Level 2 Special Surface Trap Arcane: Iron Thorns
Level 1 Wind Arcane: Arcane Missile
The last one was a duplicate, but she could learn the other two. She was now level 3 and had earned two skill points. All she had to do was allocate the skill points to the branches of her Gene Tree to slot in the new skills.
Fu Chuan considered her options and decisively learned the first book, Flame Blast. The second one, however, required coordination with other Arcanists. She didn't have a team she could rely on, nor did she trust anyone else, so she decided against it for now, leaving one skill point unspent.
With the skill book learned, she could now level up her skills. Her Arcane Missile was currently level 1, while she was level 3. According to the rules of Arcane Throne, a skill's maximum level was equal to the user's own level. Leveling up a skill required consuming more copies of its skill book. To raise her level 1 Arcane Missile to level 3, she would theoretically need a total of five Arcane Missile skill books.
No rush. The immediate crisis was resolved for now.
First, she had to clean up the mess.
Fu Chuan quickly looted all the bandits' corpses.
"Unbelievable. In the game, you needed to be level five to get a one-click loot function. I wonder if that exists here. If I have to keep doing this... my back is going to kill me."
After Fu Chuan finished looting all the bandits, she found that aside from Li Kai's drops, the main haul came from the other nine Arcanists. They dropped a total of nine level 1 arcane skill books of various elements, but the most common and frequently repeated one was Arcane Missile.
Arcane Missile was so common because it was the most cost-effective choice for a level 1 Arcanist in the arcane system.
The wind element was ubiquitous, offering a combination of speed and destructive power. It also had no obvious elemental counters, making it a preferred category for damage-focused Arcanists. Its skill books were also relatively common, unlike elements like lightning and ice, which seemed powerful but were in fact rare and difficult to level up.
However, this worked in her favor, allowing her to get Arcane Missile to level 3 with one skill book to spare.
In addition to that, she also selected another skill book.
"So it was him."
Fu Chuan remembered that this dead Arcanist had been the second most important person when Li Kai cast Iron Thorns. The thorns belonged to the wood element, and he was the one who had controlled their growth.
Level 1 Wood Element Support Arcane: Forest Thorns
Fu Chuan learned it without hesitation.
Because the current situation had forced her to prioritize Arcane Missile for her early-game build, she had several builds in mind based around it. One of the better options was a wind, fire, and wood combination.
These three arcane types were common, easy to obtain, and easy to level up. Individually, they could be used for single-target attacks, but combined, they were effective for area-of-effect damage. The combination offered speed and crowd control, making it the most cost-effective choice for strengthening herself and ensuring her survival in her current circumstances. Of course, there were more perfect and powerful combinations, but she couldn't get her hands on them!
A roasted sweet potato right in front of you is more satisfying than some distant feast of crayfish and duck.
With a clear goal in mind, Fu Chuan quickly learned Forest Thorns and then checked her stats.
Level: 3
Primary Attributes.
Mental Power: 213 (Initial Mental Power 1+99)
Strength: 73 (Initial Strength 1+18)
Constitution: 94 (Initial Constitution 3+15)
Agility: 124 (Initial Agility 2+25)
Skills: Arcane Missile LV3, Flame Blast LV2, Forest Thorns LV1.
The higher a skill's level, the more mental power it required to cast, but its power also increased proportionally.
The strong grow stronger.
After sorting all this out, Fu Chuan took stock of her financial gains. She now had a total of five low-grade mental potions and 650,000 copper coins.
She wasn't particularly impressed with this amount of money; what she was really interested in was the bandits' treasure stash.
"This hideout looks like it's been around for a few years. They've been at this for a long time, who knows what they've hidden away."
It was definitely dirty money, but she wasn't the one who had committed the crimes. Taking them down could be considered an act of justice, so she felt perfectly justified in taking the spoils as her reward.
The old gaming hound had been thoroughly spooked upon her arrival in this real world, but once she recovered, her old instincts kicked in. Her nose for loot was sharp, and she soon found something amiss in the bathroom of Li Kai's private room.
"From the outside, the room's dimensions are roughly ten meters long by eight meters wide. Inside, the bedroom is four meters by three meters, but the remaining bathroom is only two meters by one and a half meters."
Did the rest of the space just become walls?
That doesn't make sense.
Fu Chuan thought for a moment and began to search the bathroom. The mechanism for a hidden door was located under the base of the toilet.
"What a sicko. No wonder he was only a third-rate bandit leader despite being a level 2 Arcanist," Fu Chuan sneered, enduring the foul stench as she pressed the switch.
With a clank, a side door indeed opened in the bathroom wall.
Fu Chuan stepped inside to take a look.
Just as she thought, the missing space was here.
It wasn't large, but it was big enough to hold some copper notes, jewels, and other valuables. However, what caught Fu Chuan's eye was a box on a shelf.
This wasn't a proper dungeon, but Fu Chuan felt as if she were back in a game—a treasure chest lay ahead, waiting to be opened.
Fu Chuan's heart pounded with excitement. Just as she was about to step forward and open it, the floor tile she stepped on suddenly clicked. Like a trap mechanism, a hole abruptly appeared in the opposite wall, and a sharp, swift crossbow bolt shot out.
Bang!!!
Just before the bolt could pierce her brow, Fu Chuan raised her left hand. A level 3 Arcane Missile, condensed in her palm, shot out at two or three times its previous speed, intercepting the bolt mid-flight and splitting it in two.
The broken pieces of the arrow clattered to the floor. Cold sweat beaded on Fu Chuan's forehead.
She had been careless. That Li Kai was a real bastard. He must have set up the trap to guard against the other bandits in his own den.
Fu Chuan let out a shaky breath. Not daring to get any closer, she retreated to a safe distance at the doorway and began blasting the floor tiles with Arcane Missile. She quickly triggered three more bolts from different angles.
Damn it, wasn't the bastard afraid he'd get drunk one day, forget the safe path, and step on the wrong tile himself?
Fu Chuan cursed inwardly, but only after clearing all the hidden dangers did she approach the shelf. She reached out, opened the box, and froze when she saw what was inside.
This is?
Lying quietly on the red velvet lining of the box was a ring. It was a sickly green and rather ugly, resembling a skinny green spider. The band was formed by countless thread-like strands twisted together.
This was Bronze-grade equipment, a step above common gear.
Normally, it wouldn't be considered particularly rare. With tens of millions of copper coins to her name, Fu Chuan could easily afford a decent set of Bronze equipment. But if it were that ordinary, a cunning man like Li Kai wouldn't have guarded it so carefully.
Color also represented its tier.
It was green, so could it be Green-grade equipment, a tier above Bronze?
"The Feathered Spider Silk Ring. One of the top-tier Bronze items in Arcane Throne, comparable to Green-grade gear. It was even crafted from the same materials—green currency combined with other supernatural substances. The only reason it wasn't classified as Green-grade was because of its usage requirements."
Fu Chuan inspected the Feathered Spider Silk Ring.
Feathered Spider Silk Ring: Allows the user to shoot out spider silk to launch themselves into the air. With skillful use, one can traverse high places like a spider. The feathered silk also has a gravity-reducing effect, allowing the user to partially negate gravity and move between different heights with ease. Requirement: 300+ Agility.
No wonder players had dubbed this thing a "super-niche top-tier item."
Players who could get their agility to 300 were typically level 10. The elite among level 10 players could farm enough resources to buy a small airship, which allowed them to fly directly and even had defensive capabilities. Why would they choose the Feathered Spider Silk Ring?
As for the average level 10 players who might need it, they couldn't afford it!
It was too expensive for them.
Still, the item was perfect for certain niche builds. Fu Chuan had once served a customer like that. In real life, he was just an ordinary guy, not particularly skilled at anything, but he had the perseverance and determination to build a future for his family. Relying on a bit of gaming talent, he had managed to single-mindedly push his agility to 300 by level 7, all because he had chanced upon the Feathered Spider Silk Ring.
But he lacked information and guides, so even after equipping it, he didn't know how to make the most of it. He gritted his teeth, saved up his money, and came to Fu Chuan to buy a tailored guide.
Fu Chuan had admired a young man like him. She had carefully planned out a strategy for him, which probably helped him out later. At the very least, it gave him a small push in the early stages of his journey to becoming a top player, saving him from taking unnecessary detours.
She never expected that this very item would now fall into her hands.
"God, I don't have his kind of perseverance, to dump all my resources into agility."
Fu Chuan's personality wasn't suited for extremes; she preferred a stable approach. So, while she could see ways to use the Feathered Spider Silk Ring, she wasn't willing to go all-out just to maximize its potential.
Unless her circumstances became so dire that she had no other choice.
But it was better than nothing.
"Couldn't you have given me another S1 Gene Key instead?" Fu Chuan sighed, putting the ring away. Just as she was about to continue counting the rest of the loot, the communicator in her hand suddenly rang.
It was a signal from the person in charge at the Li Corporation.
Oh? Contacting me now?
Let me tell you, if I had died just a little bit sooner, you wouldn't have even made it in time for a hot meal at my funeral!
Fu Chuan rolled her eyes and answered the call.
The person in charge on the other end seemed surprised that the call connected, but he quickly asked, "Young Master Xie Keli?"
"It's me," Fu Chuan said, deliberately making her voice sound weak.
"You're alright? That's wonderful! Thank heavens!"
Well, my surname is Xie.
Thanks a lot.
"I'm in great danger right now. I was locked up here, and there was a huge explosion outside just now. I managed to escape during the chaos... I still don't know what happened. Are you sending people to rescue me? Please hurry, it's terrifying! I'm injured, I've lost so much blood, I…"
She was about to ramble on, but the man on the other end cut her off.
"Young Master Xie, it's not that we're unwilling to come, it's that your rescuers are already on their way. According to our company's X5 aviation monitoring department, an official fleet is currently heading toward your signal's location. Since they're officials, and our company is currently under investigation, it wouldn't be wise for us to engage in any conflict. We don't want to cause any trouble. It's a good thing the officials are on their way. With their methods, no evil deeds can remain hidden... I hope you can ask them for help in time. This is a great stroke of luck for you. Hello? Hello, are you still there?"
The "lucky" Fu Chuan stared at the corpses littering the ground, her mind buzzing.
No evil deeds can remain hidden, was it?
If she were exposed... and the Xie Clan received news from the officials, would they be delighted to find they had such a not-so-stupid illegitimate little darling?
If she had known this would happen, she would have just played dead. Why go through all this trouble?
What was the name of this person in charge who couldn't even deliver a message on time? She would remember him.
She hoped he would change this bad habit of his in the future. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be on time to eat hot shit—he'd have to settle for it cold.
She wished him well.
Comments
Post a Comment