Chapter 18

The Umbrella Corporation's painstakingly created terrifying predator—the Crawler—unexpectedly received only a "too weak" evaluation from Tang Cheng. If they could know this, one can only imagine their reaction.

Leaving that aside, after Tang Cheng killed the Crawler, the long-absent cold voice resounded in his mind again, "Congratulations, Challenger No. 9527, for successfully killing the Crawler. You have earned 50 survival points. Furthermore, since No. 9527 is the first challenger in this beginner mode to kill a BOSS-level monster, you will receive a special first-kill reward: a Reincarnation Card. Scratch the Reincarnation Card to randomly obtain one of the following: equipment, skill book, or item, all of which match the difficulty of the current副本 world... Special note: This information applies to all challengers in the current副本 world."

"Even a first-kill reward, it's becoming more and more like a game. And it sounds like a server-wide announcement, so Li Lao and the others should know that I killed the Crawler and received survival points and a first-kill reward, right?" Tang Cheng muttered. Although he found this setting a bit unfair, he wasn't too concerned.

After all, someone who isn't afraid of death naturally doesn't care about being high-profile or low-profile.

What did concern Tang Cheng was the 50 survival points. Just one Crawler yielded such a high reward, so if more Crawler appeared, he could rack up a lot of points.

"Ah, no, that won't work." Just as he thought this, Tang Cheng shook his head and started coughing violently. If it weren't for the darkness, one would see that his face was deathly pale, like that of a terminal cancer patient.

"Indeed, such a large-scale adjustment of the body is still too much of a burden for me at this point."

Everything has its pros and cons. Although Tang Cheng could freely control his body, this control wasn't arbitrary and required a great deal of energy, causing significant mental and physical strain. If used frequently, it could even lead to side effects.

When he was unlocking the code lock, just adjusting his vision made him feel tired. Adjusting his hearing, brain function, and nerve reactions simultaneously was the first time he had used this ability so frequently, and the energy consumption was not simply additive but increased exponentially.

So, despite appearing to kill the Crawler easily, he had actually used his full strength. If another Crawler appeared now, he could only fight to the death with it.

"Indeed, solo SAO always has an insurmountable barrier. At least having a healer would be safer..."

Tang Cheng said this, but he wasn't worried. When he entered the Overgod Mode (the name he gave his ability), he had already calculated the range of the pit through sound propagation. It was ten meters high and nearly the size of one and a half soccer fields, and there were no other Crawlers besides the one on the ground.

So, he wouldn't be attacked in the short term.

However, he couldn't leave either.

If he had been in good condition before the battle, it would have been fine, but now, with his energy severely depleted, he couldn't escape the ten-meter-deep pit. To recover to the point where he could use Overgod Mode again, he needed at least three to four hours of rest.

So, for now, he could only rely on Alice and Rebecca.

With nothing to do, Tang Cheng decided to check out the Reincarnation Card. Opening his backpack, he found a new card inside, which was the first-kill reward that had been directly added to his inventory.

"E-Class Reincarnation Card. Scratch the black strip on the card to randomly draw one of the following: E-Class equipment, skill book, or item. There is a very small chance of drawing a higher-class item."

"Even the levels are divided..." Tang Cheng couldn't help but comment. He had already known from checking the beginner equipment that items in this world had levels, but he didn't know the classification method. Now it seemed to be the typical A, B, C, D grading system. This E-Class Reincarnation Card from the beginner副本 world was likely the lowest level.

The small chance of drawing a higher-class item meant that getting good items still depended on luck.

Although the darkness prevented Tang Cheng from seeing his surroundings, the card was unaffected and clearly visible to him. The card itself was plain, entirely white, with only a black question mark on the front, looking extremely simple.

"Alright, since it's a reward from the beginner village, I shouldn't expect too much." Tang Cheng said indifferently and then scratched off the question mark on the card.

Then, with a faint glow, the card in Tang Cheng's hand turned into a small book. The letter "D" was engraved in the upper right corner of the cover.

"Wow! My luck is really on fire today." Tang Cheng never thought that he, who hadn't stepped in dog poop all day, would have such good luck, drawing a higher-class item, and it was even a skill book.

Among the three items—equipment, skill book, and item—Tang Cheng had no need for equipment, as his two beginner items were already sufficient in this副本 world. More would just be superfluous. As for items, he only needed something that could instantly restore his condition, like a miraculous elixir.

So, the skill book was the most useful. With his abilities, if he could learn a good skill, his combat power would definitely increase several times over.

Thus, Tang Cheng happily opened the skill book.

Actually, this so-called skill book was more like a diploma, just two thin pages. It wasn't really a book, but Tang Cheng didn't mind the details. As soon as he opened it, he immediately saw some impressive words on the left page... Secret Technique: High Tail Slash!

Anyone who has played games knows that anything called a "secret technique" is definitely a powerful skill. Since it's a "slash," it's likely some kind of cutting move. Tang Cheng had a military knife that could be used as a short sword, so he knew he had really hit the jackpot this time.

Just by learning this skill, he could advance from a writer to a—jerk!

However, when Tang Cheng saw the skill description on the right page, his expression froze, as if he had expected a delicious Mapo Tofu but got a dish of dark cuisine.

The right page read:

"Name: Secret Technique—High Tail Slash."

"Type: Skill."

"Level: D."

"Applicable to: Female challengers with a chest size of D or above."

"Skill Details: A powerful claw technique that converts the high-speed up-and-down movement of the chest into an attack. It is a secret technique passed down through generations of the High Tail family. However, only those with large breasts can learn it, making it a dream skill that men and flat-chested women can only dream of. The larger the user's chest, the stronger the skill."

"Note: I'm sorry, Dad, I'm a flat-chested woman—said a daughter of the High Tail family, ashamed."

...

"Damn it!" Tang Cheng stared at the skill book for ten seconds and then threw it to the ground. Although he was lucky enough to draw a high-level item, and it was the most useful skill book for him, he never expected it to be such a ridiculous skill.

"Clearly a claw technique, and you call it a 'High Tail Slash'? Did your Chinese teacher teach you sports? A chest, even if it's as big as a basketball, how much energy can it generate from up-and-down movements? Can it even split a watermelon? And the larger the chest, the stronger the skill? When the chest is as big as the Earth, can it destroy planets like Frieza? Reincarnation World, do you have any decency at all?!"

Tang Cheng, who usually remained calm even in the face of a collapsing mountain, was forced to unleash a five-hit combo of complaints, showing just how much this bizarre skill had shattered his worldview and left him deeply shaken.

"But, thinking about it, since there are even goddesses' undergarments as ridiculous equipment, this skill book isn't that blind... After a minute, Tang Cheng picked up the skill book again, flipped through it, and muttered, "And once you accept this setting, it's actually quite cool."

But the question now was, what should he do with this skill book?