Chapter 66

"Is there any problem?" Ma Le asked.

The Snowy Owl replied first: "After completing this main quest, both the Kitten and I have enough points to reach the Ordinary level. I had already agreed with an Ordinary-level senior to join his team after leveling up, so... I'm sorry."

"There's nothing we can do about it..." Ma Le shrugged, after all, different levels meant they couldn't form a team.

Speaking of the levels of adventurers, the criteria for leveling up were quite simple: it was based on the completion score at the end of each quest. The score was out of 100 points, divided into Excellent, Good, Average, Pass, Fail, and Poor. Completing the main quest would earn 60 points, which was the passing score, and only passing would grant the completion reward. Scoring between 30 and 60 points was considered a Fail, with no reward and no penalty. Scoring below 30 points would result in a Poor rating, not only losing the reward but also being penalized with a deduction of credit points, and the difficulty of the next world would be increased. If one received three consecutive Poor ratings, the fourth time they would definitely be thrown into a world of higher difficulty, with a higher-level main quest, but the double difficulty reward would not be reduced, which could be seen as the system encouraging adventurers to strive for rewards and catch up with others.

As for the conditions for leveling up, the completion scores from each quest would accumulate, and once the total score reached a certain value, the adventurer would level up, and the total score would reset. Ma Le currently knew that reaching the Ordinary level required 300 points, and upgrading from Ordinary to Senior required 500 points. Ma Le had experienced two worlds, scoring 91 points in the Prototype world and 55 points in the Terminator world, totaling 146 points, and he needed 154 more points to level up. Generally, beginner adventurers were still unfamiliar, often failing to complete the main quest, and most of the time their scores hovered around 40-50 points. An average score of 60 was considered good, and a score of over 65, which was an Average rating, was considered an expert. Those who could consistently score over 75 points and receive a Good rating were basically geniuses with a bright future.

Ma Le sighed, it seemed he would have to go it alone. At this moment, the Persian Cat suddenly leaned in, expressionless, and asked, "Idiot, how many more points do you need to reach the Ordinary level?"

Ma Le scratched his head and replied, "Over 150 points, probably two or three more worlds..." "Two!" The Persian Cat stared into Ma Le's eyes, holding up two fingers firmly, "I won't form a team, but I'll wait for you for two worlds, come quickly!"

"Ah... Ah?!" Ma Le was taken aback by the Persian Cat's proactive and determined attitude, but seeing the determined look in the kitten's eyes, he laughed and agreed, "Don't worry, no problem!" "It's not just no problem, it's a must!" The Persian Cat said firmly, "Before then, I won't contact you, and if you contact me, I won't respond. After two worlds, come find me at the Ordinary level, we have a deal!" Ma Le found these requirements a bit puzzling but still nodded.

Mentioning teaming up, the three of them recalled the various experiences in the Terminator world, and couldn't help but sigh. "There's something I need to tell you!" Ma Le suddenly said seriously, "You mentioned before, Xiao Wang... might be Sun Wenxing's teammate..."

The two nodded, and Ma Le sighed, "As you saw, I absorbed the Terminator's skin ability, which allows me to take on others' appearances. This ability also has the function of reading memories! When I killed that vampire, I specially read their memories from the previous world. In the quest world, the system might have some protective measures for adventurers, so I could only read very few and mostly useless fragments, but one thing is certain: in the previous world, when they clashed with Sun Wenxing's group, they didn't see Xiao Wang!"

"You mean... Wang Xiaofu isn't Sun Wenxing's teammate?" the Snowy Owl said. Ma Le nodded, "At least, he probably isn't. I believe Xiao Wang is also a frightened beginner, who, to survive, had no choice but to stand with Sun Wenxing. Without this damned city battle system, he would have been a kind child!"

The Persian Cat pressed down the brim of her cap and said in a low voice, "He's dead, what's the point of talking about this now? In the end, he initially followed us to be Sun Wenxing's spy, it's not betrayal, and I don't hate him..."

"Hating or not is your business!" Ma Le smiled and patted the Persian Cat's head, "I just don't want an innocent child, struggling for survival, to be branded a traitor after death." The Persian Cat still didn't like Ma Le touching her head, so she turned and fled to the Snowy Owl's side, glaring at Ma Le with her heterochromatic eyes.

The Snowy Owl stared at Ma Le's face for a while and smiled, "Foodie, you're really a good person!" Ma Le laughed, "Don't say that, when a beautiful lady like you calls me a good person, it feels like I'm being dumped, hahaha..."

The three of them chatted a bit more and then left the room. The Snowy Owl was going to find a senior to join a team, and the Persian Cat had some matters to attend to. The three of them added each other as friends using their Miracle Medals and then parted ways.

Ma Le scanned the tavern, not seeing Old Dog or Night Cat, so he left. Having gained more merit points and being able to level up, he naturally went to the Merit Review Office first. After the review, Ma Le's rank became a Third-Class Citizen:

"Merit Points 68/100, Current Status: Third-Class Citizen: No entry fee required; can purchase property in the main city; has voting rights; can use intermediate facilities; storage space increased to 5 cubic meters; weekly time limit in Miracle City extended to 30 hours; 100 credit points required after each quest world."

After becoming a citizen, the permissions greatly increased. Ma Le checked the time; with the extended time limit, he still had nearly 25 hours. There was nothing else to do here, so he decided to go to the main city first.

The most noticeable change after becoming a citizen was that the city guards would nod to Ma Le, without the arrogance they showed to slaves and commoners. Ma Le didn't have to pay the entry fee and entered directly, taking out the map he bought last time to check.

He was particularly interested in the privilege of buying property, so he went to the property purchase center first. Unlike the spacious halls and beautiful saleswomen in the real world, the property "building" in Miracle City was just a small, dilapidated window, with an old man wearing reading glasses inside, reading a newspaper, and a tin teacup beside him, looking like the reception area of a nearly bankrupt factory.

"Hey, sir, this is... the property purchase center, right?" Ma Le asked, looking at the map, somewhat disbelieving. The old man lowered his glasses and looked at Ma Le, asking, "Here to buy a house?" Ma Le nodded, and the old man threw a brochure out, saying, "Look for yourself, pick one and let me know!" before continuing to read the newspaper.

Ma Le unfolded the brochure, which listed nearly a thousand vacant houses. These "houses" were actually personal spaces, with no distinction in layout, the only difference being their location. Some people preferred to be close to the training grounds, others close to Miracle Square, each with their own preferences, but the price was the same at 5000 credit points.

In addition to the house information, the brochure detailed the benefits of buying a house. It turned out that once one bought a house in the main city, they became a city resident, and using basic facilities would be at a 10% discount, and some special items in stores were only available to residents. Moreover, after buying a house in the city, the personal space would no longer be just a blank area like in the slums. For a small fee, adventurers could freely decorate their personal space, whether it was a luxurious villa or a presidential suite, the choice was theirs. As permissions increased, some facility functions could even be moved to the personal space, saving time and effort. Because of these numerous benefits and functions, countless adventurers worked hard to save money to buy a house in the city.

Ma Le chose a house close to Miracle Square and paid the old man 5000 credit points. The old man asked for Ma Le's Miracle Medal, and Ma Le handed over his phone, but the old man didn't take it. Instead, he took out an old key and threw it at Ma Le's Miracle Medal, which disappeared into the phone. At the same time, Ma Le received a notification that the house had been purchased and could be accessed through the Miracle Medal.

Although he knew the old man was a system character, Ma Le still smiled and thanked him before running to his house. The old man poked his head out of the window, watching Ma Le's back and muttering, "A beginner? Buying a house so early, this kid isn't simple..."

Arriving at his house, the exterior was indeed much better than in the slums, a two-story detached house with a yard, and his adventurer number "110405" at the door. After all, there were only two to three thousand residents in Miracle City, and if the houses were small apartments, it would be too shabby for such a large city.

Entering the house, the inside was a white space, much larger than in the slums but still quite monotonous. In the center of the house was a large black round table, which was the decoration arrangement device. Ma Le went to the round table and, following the instructions in the brochure, placed his Miracle Medal on the table. The black surface immediately lit up, and a large rectangular shape appeared, which was a miniature version of the personal space. The decoration method was similar to a sandbox, allowing adventurers to design and modify freely, and the system would charge credit points based on the scale of the modifications.

The size of the personal space could also be adjusted, as long as the height did not exceed 15 meters and the area did not exceed 500 square meters, the layout could be freely designed. The decoration device also contained many pre-designed samples, allowing adventurers to choose a suitable preset and make minor adjustments, saving the time and effort of designing from scratch.

There were over a hundred pre-designed samples, in various styles. Ma Le randomly chose a palace sample, which was spacious, comfortable, and exuded a sense of grandeur. However, upon checking, he found that such a modification would cost 2400 credit points, and Ma Le immediately felt a pang of pain. Although he had many credit points, he couldn't afford to be wasteful. This time, he had already spent 8000 points on subsidizing the Snowy Owl and buying the house, and now spending another 2400 on decoration? That would be too extravagant! So, Ma Le chose a suite for now, which only cost 20 points to modify. He could always redecorate later, so he wasn't in a rush.

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