Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Skill Card Acquired: Hasty Repair
Skill Type: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered
Skill Category: Mechanics
Effect: Temporarily upgrades a mechanical object of Trash or Tattered quality to Common quality for three minutes.
Resource Cost: 100 Stamina
Learning Requirement: Mechanics Proficiency F
Note: As the epitaph of Mr. Steve Jobs, the goblin inventor and entrepreneur hailed as an industry pioneer, famously reads: "Only a novice tries to fix something completely." To help more people understand this philosophy, he even printed his company’s logo—a bitten apple—on his tombstone.
Feng Bu Jue had always had terrible luck in games, and this skill was proof. At low levels, skills like Explosive Divine Fist—which had lenient learning requirements, low resource costs, and limited uses—could be incredibly helpful.
But Hasty Repair? It was the kind of skill that, even if your skill bar wasn’t full, you’d shrug at by the time you hit level twenty.
The effect was half-baked, the stamina cost steep. Worse, it only worked on mechanical objects. If it could apply to all equipment, it might have value. For example, a player could salvage a Tattered-quality rusted iron pipe, spend 100 stamina to upgrade it to Common for three minutes, and gain a slight damage boost.
But reality was cruel. This skill only worked on machines. Feng Bu Jue tried imagining scenarios where it might matter. If I found a broken chainsaw… spending 100 stamina to run it for three minutes might be worth it. Theoretically, it could even revive a broken-down vehicle. If I hopped on a junked car at full stamina, timed the skill perfectly, and recast it seconds before it expired… that car could run for nearly fifteen minutes.
But these were all assumptions. Whether vehicles even counted as "mechanical objects" here was unclear. Cars were large environmental props, not items you could inspect for attributes.
Still, this skill wouldn’t sell for anything during the official release. Feng Bu Jue shrugged and learned it anyway, adding it to his skill bar. He then approached the second glass pillar. The system prompt appeared:
Choose your additional reward:
1. Randomly draw equipment matching your level.
2. 5,000 Game Currency.
3. 200 Experience Points.
Feng Bu Jue chose equipment without hesitation. The latter two rewards were useless to him now. Besides, he thought, I’m level 5 already. Other than this useless skill and a plastic syringe, I’ve got nothing. Surely I won’t pull another [Stone]!
Light gathered, materializing into a hazy shape inside the pillar. Before it fully formed, Feng Bu Jue knew—this time, it was good. The silhouette was unmistakably a weapon.
Name: Mario’s Pipe Wrench
Type: Weapon
Quality: —
Attack Power: Moderate
Element: Fire
Special Effect: High chance to critically wound the head of humanoid or humanoid-like creatures.
Note: The owner of this wrench is famous. He claims to be a plumber but never fixes pipes—just jumps around in them fighting evil, saving kingdoms, and chasing princesses. He sometimes disguises himself as a frog, raccoon, or even Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. He throws fireballs, hammers—but never, never uses this plumber’s essential tool. The wrench grew furious. It wanted to prove that a wrench could fight too!
“This worldbuilding’s pretty weird,” Feng Bu Jue muttered after reading the attributes. Still, he was pleased. Regardless of how bizarre the note is, the stats are solid.
Returning to the elevator, he found a communication request from Wang Tan Zhi. Accepting it, Feng Bu Jue sent a party invite. “Level five yet?”
“Barely made it. You?” Wang replied.
The game only displayed friends’ nicknames and statuses—levels weren’t visible. But as Wang asked, the party interface popped up, revealing Feng Bu Jue’s level.
“You did make it,” Wang said. “Got any gear?”
“I used my last Divine Fist. Before that, I only had a fruit knife. Now I found some armor,” Wang replied.
“Never mind that—did you use a Key in your scenario?” Feng Bu Jue asked.
“Yeah… how’d you know?”
“How’d you get it?”
Wang paused. “At the end, I found a Key lying on the ground in front of the exit door. I still don’t get it. I was almost dead, stamina and vitality drained, something chasing me. Then I picked up a Key, opened the door, and finished the scenario.” He hesitated. “Hey, you know why? Did yours end the same?”
“Mine was tough,” Feng Bu Jue said. “Yours? The system probably decided that, for your intellect, picking up a Key counted as a puzzle. Hence the ‘challenge.’”
“That’s a puzzle for apes!” Wang snapped.
Feng Bu Jue chuckled, steering the conversation. “Ready? Anything to sort before queueing for team survival?”
“Good to go,” Wang replied.
Feng Bu Jue tapped the touchscreen, pulling up the queue menu. At level five, the modes had changed. Singleplayer Survival Mode (Common) and Team Survival Mode (Common) were now options.
The training mode was grayed out, inaccessible. So was Singleplayer Survival Mode (Common).
[Feng Bu Jue, Level 5]
[Wang Tan Zhi, Level 5]
Select a game mode for your party.
You have selected: Team Survival Mode (Common). Confirm?
Confirmed. Team size randomized to five players.
Your party has entered the queue. Searching for other ready players or parties.
Match found. Coordinating nerve connection. Scenario generation in progress…
Loading begun. Please wait.
(End of Chapter)
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