Chapter 28

Ma Le felt a sense of foreboding, wondering if the things he had absorbed were too powerful, causing indigestion. If the pain continued to intensify, he might faint. If he collapsed in Times Square and was discovered by the Black Watch, who would take him back for dissection and research, what would he do... Thinking of this, Ma Le endured the intense pain and moved away from Times Square, transforming back into Anderson's appearance, taking off the Black Watch uniform, and leaning against the wall all the way back to Chinatown.

As soon as he entered Anderson's home, the last thread of tension in Ma Le's mind snapped, and he fell to the ground with a thud. Jerry, who was in the room, rushed over to help Ma Le, shaking him and saying, "Mr. Anderson, what's wrong? Mr. Anderson? Anderson..."

Ma Le's consciousness grew increasingly hazy, and he finally fainted from the pain...

When Ma Le woke up again, he found himself in a white room. The intense pain had disappeared, and the familiar electronic voice sounded in his ear: "Detected that adventurer 110405 has awakened, welcome to Miracle City! Now starting the reward settlement for completing the level..."

"Have I returned? Have I entered Miracle City?" Ma Le shook his still dazed head, stood up from the ground, looked at his hands, and muttered to himself, "I remember returning to Anderson's apartment, and then I knew nothing... So, I spent the seventh day in a coma?"

"Settlement complete, now distributing rewards!" As the electronic voice sounded again, a holographic screen appeared in front of Ma Le, showing his main experiences in the Prototype world, from fighting the injured hunter to encountering Alex, to being betrayed by the veterans, wandering in the infected zone... until finally participating in the battle against Elizabeth. After these images played, Ma Le's basic information was displayed.

"Adventurer 110405 in the Prototype world:

Main quest: Survive for seven days, completed.

Side quest: Secret files, completed.

Side quest: Resting spirits, completed. Completion status: Qualified.

Side quest: Hunter blood, completed. Completion status: Qualified.

Side quest: Zombie blood, completed. Completion status: Excellent.

Side quest: Research results, completed.

Major event participation: Punishing Elizabeth Greene. Contribution: 3.2%.

Exploring hidden plots: Gun shop harboring zombies; Gold rush in the infected zone.

Final score: 91 points. Overall evaluation: Excellent.

Clearance reward: 15 free attribute points, 3000 credit points, 20 skill points.

Kill statistics: 667 ordinary zombies, each rewarded with 2 credit points; 12 mutated zombie minions, each rewarded with 15 credit points; 1 elite mutated zombie, each rewarded with 100 credit points and 2 merit points; 2 hunters, each rewarded with 300 credit points and 5 merit points. Total credit points: 2214, total merit points: 12.

Detected interference due to unknown reasons, the difficulty of this trial world is veteran level. Adventurer 110405 receives difficulty rewards, all rewards are quadrupled.

Final reward settlement: 60 free attribute points, 20856 credit points, 80 skill points, 48 merit points.

Please allocate the rewards, adventurer 110405."

After listening to the explanation, Ma Le was somewhat stunned. Although he didn't know the purchasing power of credit points, how to allocate skill points, or the use of merit points, he understood the significance of free attribute points! A normal person's total of seven attributes is only about 20 points, and he had just gained 60 points! By extension, the other rewards must also be substantial! Now, it seemed that Ma Le should thank those veterans for bringing him to such a high-difficulty world. High difficulty and high risk often come with substantial rewards!

However, in the side quests, there was one called "Resting spirits" that Ma Le didn't remember completing. After some thought, it must refer to the task Lauren, the gun shop owner's daughter, asked him to perform to rest her relatives. Ma Le never had the time to do it and never met her aunt and uncle... It seems he must have resolved it while living in the infected zone...

Not thinking about these trivial matters, the holographic screen in front of Ma Le changed, displaying an overview, talents, attributes, energy, skills, items, team, social, honor, and titles, similar to the tablet in the edge space.

Ma Le excitedly opened the attribute interface, and his post-trial body attributes were displayed:

Strength: 34 points, exceeding human.

Agility: 27 points, exceeding human.

Stamina: 38 points, exceeding human.

Spirit: 29 points, exceeding human.

Perception: 16 points, exceeding human.

Spiritual Power: 3 points, a typical muggle, no magic talent at all!

Charisma: 3 points, has a girl ever confessed to you? No, with your conditions, you should take the initiative!

Five out of the seven attributes had significantly improved. Ma Le was delighted and considered how to allocate the attribute points. He decided to specialize in a few attributes. After a simple analysis, he realized that attributes like spirit and spiritual power were likely related to magic, which he had never seen. His main combat method was still physical, and as for charisma, Ma Le couldn't think of any use for it in such a brutal world. Therefore, he decided to focus on strength, agility, and stamina. Ma Le remembered his two innate skills: Iron Bones, which increases health, and Swift, which increases movement speed. Both skills were tied to attributes, and to maximize their effects, he needed high attributes. Thus, he prioritized stamina and agility.

Ma Le first increased his stamina to 60 points, making his armor reach 30 points. Combined with defense, this would limit the damage from most light firearms. In any world, survival ability was paramount. He then increased his agility to 40 points, as the Swift skill improved every 20 points. This left him with 25 attribute points. Ma Le thought about the pitifully low spiritual power and charisma, bit his lip, and decided to invest all the remaining points into strength! As the saying goes, strength overcomes all. With greater strength, not only would his attack power increase, but many obstacles that seemed insurmountable to ordinary people would be nothing to a superhuman!

After allocating the attribute points, Ma Le clicked the confirm option. Instantly, a golden light descended from the sky, and Ma Le felt a powerful force enter his body, coursing through his limbs and bones, strengthening his muscles! However, this enhancement was based on destruction and reconstruction, accompanied by intense pain and the strange itch of tissue regrowth! This pain and itch might be unbearable for ordinary people, but Ma Le had already experienced even more terrifying pain in the Prototype world. He gritted his teeth and endured the enhancement without moving!

The transformation lasted about twenty seconds, and the golden light finally disappeared. Ma Le wiped the sweat from his forehead and saw the new attributes displayed on the holographic screen:

Strength: 59 points, exceeding human.

Agility: 40 points, exceeding human.

Stamina: 60 points, exceeding human.

...

Suddenly, the holographic screen distorted and changed, and the electronic voice sounded: "System detected that adventurer 110405's stamina attribute reached 60 points, granting additional rewards; system detected that adventurer 110405's stamina attribute is entirely real, upgrading additional rewards; system detected that adventurer 110405's stamina attribute reached 60 points before entering the formal mission world, upgrading additional rewards... Adventurer 110405 met hidden reward conditions, reward form is talent reward, and there is a high chance of rare, unique, and one-of-a-kind rewards. Reward drawing in progress..."

Ma Le was startled by the sudden change. After listening to the explanation, he realized that the rapid increase in his attribute points had triggered some hidden rewards.

After a moment, the image on the holographic screen stabilized, and the electronic voice sounded again: "Reward calculation complete. Please select three out of the following eight talent rewards. Selection time: 5 minutes. If no selection is made after 5 minutes, the system will randomly assign rewards."

Ma Le looked at the holographic screen, which displayed eight options, each a talent:

1. Healing: Increases life recovery speed by 10 points per hour, stackable.

2. Heavy Armor: Armor type upgraded to heavy armor, with an additional 15 points of armor. Heavy armor: armor priority increased to level 2, physical attack weapon sharpness reduced by 2, minimum reduction to 3. (Rare talent, appearance probability 1%~3%)

3. Tough Hide: Increases armor by 15 points, stackable.

4. Indomitable: 15% chance to absorb 50 life points from physical attacks, life absorption is a life removal effect, not affected by armor, defense, or resistance. (Rare talent, appearance probability less than 0.1%. Selecting this requires two selection opportunities.)

5. Alchemist: Using life recovery consumables increases life recovery by 50%. (Rare talent, appearance probability 1%~3%)

6. Strong: Increases maximum life points by 300, stackable.

7. Absolute Defense: Defense calculation constant reduced from 100 to 50; defense priority increased by 1 level; all life reduction effects are affected by defense. (Unique talent, once learned by an adventurer, it will not appear in any form for other adventurers. Selecting this requires three selection opportunities.)

8. Asbestos Coat: Reduces fire damage by 50%.

Seeing these rewards, Ma Le was overwhelmed. What were these priorities, life removal, and defense constants? The holographic screen had no search options, and the electronic voice ignored his questions. With only five minutes left, Ma Le decided to use the simplest method. The unique talent looked impressive, and selecting it required three opportunities. As the saying goes, cheap things are not good, and good things are not cheap. He chose it!

Ma Le decisively selected the seventh option, and the strengthening golden light shone on him again. The pain and itch returned, but this time it was much more intense. Even the well-tested Ma Le almost couldn't bear it, curling up on the ground and screaming in pain. Worse still, this pain and itch were more intense and lasted longer, about twenty minutes, before Ma Le could barely stand up.

Although he was exhausted and pale from the intense pain, Ma Le still smiled: "Damn, looks like I didn't choose wrong! Such intense pain, the enhancement must be significant!"

--- End of Chapter ---