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Chapter 49: Rare Attribute – Cockroach?
Yue Qiang did go all out and hold nothing back during the fight against the female tiger just now. However, he also had some hidden strength left in him, and that was the four freely distributed stat points he hadn’t used.
His very first idea was that with a powerful escape skill like Run LVL 2, running away was a possibility and a choice even if he ran into enemies that he could not defeat. But contrary to expectations, he ran into a tiger who dumped its stats into Agility. It was nearly impossible to escape the claws of such a big felid. His victory in the end was thanks to his gaming experience, Yin’s assistance and a certain amount of good luck; it actually did not have much to do with his stat distribution.
In a battle where both sides shared nearly the same prowess, the tiny bit of difference brought about by stats could decide who had the upper hand and who didn’t. However, since he was facing a tiger; a monster that had exceeded him by an entire level, factors other than stats had become the main keys to victory instead.
Yue Qiang’s hesitation was due to the fact that, even if he added all 4 stat points into Strength or Agility, he might not necessarily be able to beat the female tiger, much less the male tiger outside that might very well be even more powerful.
Also, how did Yin know that he still had 4 freely distributed stat points left?
“My eyes are different from others; I can see the origin of many things. But let’s talk about something else. I believe that you have to use all your strength in the battle later, because it is probable that that male tiger is incredibly swift that this mechanism may not necessarily be able to kill it. Start preparing anything ability you have or any equipment you need for this battle.”
Yin’s words did remind Yue Qiang about something.
He still had a lot of books in his backpack! It would be a terrific boon if any of these books contained some powerful skills or something that could instantly increase his combat power. Reading these books usually required a particular special stat at a very high number, but with Yin’s ‘Eye of Truth’ skill, they might just be able to crack these requirements.
The Eye of Truth, man. The skill’s name alone was obviously a lot more better than Ai Qian’s Keen Sight.
All the books in his backpack, be it readable or unreadable, were all taken out by Yue Qiang. There were ‘Shi’, ‘Analect’, ‘Gui Gu Mathematics’, ‘Neijing’ and Waijing’.
Yin immediately threw the ‘Analect’ to the side. Her gaze stayed a little longer on the other four books that required certain stats to view before she finally spoke, “That ‘Analect’ is useless, but the remaining four books are very useful, especially ‘Neijing’. The pill making method of pills that could permanently increase one’s physical strength seems to be recorded inside it. However, even with my Eye of Truth it is incredibly difficult to read them. It seems that certain requirements need to be met before one may read them without any difficulties whatsoever. Our time is too short right now, and we do not have the time to research it either. Do you have anything else?”
The two books ‘Neijing’ (Inner Canon) and ‘Waijing’ (Outer Canon), which he had swindled from the doctor Ming Que, were ranked seventh in the top ten classic literatures leaderboard. Yue Qiang had high expectations towards them. Contrary to belief, although Yin did not possess an ‘Intelligence’ stat, she was barely able to read it with the ‘Eye of Truth’. This was incredibly good news.
However, the highest priority right now was still dealing with the crisis before them. Yue Qiang went through his backpack again when suddenly, he discovered yet another book.
This was the book which he had gotten from Ai Qian for 50 Progress Points, ‘The Philosophy of Cockroaches’. On first glance it appeared to be an incredibly comedic and completely valueless inspirational babble type of book. For whatever reason, he handed out this book, “Can you check this book for me?”
This book was very thick, and it was made from paper. In this world where all books were made in the form of bamboo slips, it gave off a constant disharmonious feeling.
Yin accepted it.
Her eyes were closed tightly as usual. She held that very thick, and very comedic-looking ‘The Philosophy of Cockroaches’, but did not open it. After a while, Yin’s face looked even more languish than before. With a look of utter exhaustion, she returned the book back to Yue Qiang.
“How is it, this book?” Yue Qiang asked.
When he traded with Ai Qian, he did not realize how hard it was to acquire Progress Points. Now that he finally knew after killing some mobs, it made him feel a little anxious.
This was a book that was exchanged with 50 Progress Points!
“This isn’t a book.” Yin said. Her voice revealing a terrible exhaustion. It appeared that reading this book took a lot of strength out of her, “This seems to be a kind of… energy? I don’t know what it is. I’ve cracked the thing sealing it from outside, so give it a try.”
Yue Qiang took the book back from Yin. The book’s appearance did not change, but he received a system message instead.
System Message: You have acquired the Attribute Book ‘The Philosophy of Cockroaches’. Using this book will give you the attribute [Cockroach]. Will you use it?
A skill book?
This plaything, is actually a skill book?
It’s not just any skill book either. It’s a book that can increase one’s attribute unique only to this game!
He hurriedly checked the explanation for [Cockroach].
Stat Information [Cockroach]: Possess exuberant vitality like a cockroach. This stat decides the recovery effect of all gauges. It multiples the recovery rate of the Health Gauge, Stamina Gauge, Rage Gauge and ?? Gauge. The base stat of the Cockroach attribute is 10.
This was without a doubt, a rare stat.
In this game, there were only two kinds of base stats, Strength and Vitality. Everything else was a fantastic oddity of every description, not to mention that most of their functions were a complete mystery, such as his Wisdom, Charisma, Wealth; and the ones he collected such as Tactics and Dexterity; and that Libido and so on.
But Cockroach was different. The system had stated very clearly the rare stat Cockroach’s function very clearly: Increase the recovery rate of all gauges.
This was a classic combat purpose stat!
If someone was to say that Strength and Vitality determined on the whole the offense and defense aspect of the game, then this ‘Cockroach’ skill which he acquired by accident determined Yue Qiang’s endurance.
This was an incredibly practical stat.
The increase in the rate of health recovery indirectly increased Yue Qiang’s ability to survive, and this was incredibly important in this game where death was forbidd’en. More Rage points equaled higher frequency of powerful skills, not to mention that the recovery rate of his stamina directly determined how many skills Yue Qiang could use at a time.
It could be said without any exaggeration that the stat Cockroach had increased Yue Qiang’s overall combat capability in all aspects.
Stats was something that could be increased through the distribution of freely distributed stat points! If he added 4 stats under the stat Cockroach, it would be the equivalent of adding both Strength and Vitality at the same time.
He only needed a simple analysis to come to the conclusion that this was definitely a stat of great value!
He selected ‘Use’ right away without any hesitation.
Yue Qiang opened his character status screen, and discovered that his attributes had changed from 5 to 6 now. He now had an additional attribute other than Strength, Vitality, Wisdom, Wealth and Charisma.
Cockroach: 10 (You are physically pretty fit. Your body is exceptional in terms of endurance and resilience)
He added the four freely distributed stat points under Cockroach and selected ‘Confirm’. Now his status was:
Cockroach: 14 (You have an exuberant vitality that is close to a cockroach’s)
Cockroach is an ancient species that has lived over billions of years on Earth. The system’s explanation towards his 14 points of Cockroach lent Yue Qiang a bit more confidence towards the upcoming battle.
At the side, Yin looked very curiously at Yue Qiang. She was incredibly curious about the change brought forth by the book on Yue Qiang. However, a frown soon appeared on her face.
“It’s here.”
Then, she spoke again right after.
“It’s coming real quick.”
Yin was as expressionless as ever, but her tone held a trace of heaviness. Yue Qiang held his breath and concentrated. He had also heard that noise.
It wasn’t a tiger’s roar, but the sound of a tiger’s feet stepping against the ground.
Tiger loved to ambush their prey. Their paws had incredibly thick meat pads that allowed them to walk almost soundlessly on the ground just like a house cat. This was also why that female tiger from before was able to launch a surprise attack at Yin without her noticing at all. But this time, they were inside a cave passage.
They were deep inside the belly of a mountain. The air was humid, and there were shallow pools of water in some hollows on the ground. The sound of a tiger paw stepping into water might be very soft, but it was incredibly clear in this silent cave.
The male tiger’s ambush attempt had been exposed.
Yin continued to close her eyes, but she now wore a heavy expression on her face. Facing towards the corner of her passage, she placed one hand on the jutted switch.
Plop, plop. The sound of footsteps on water grew closer and closer. The moment the tiger charged through this corner, she would press the switch, and the giant rock would immediately fall from above.
Yue Qiang unconsciously held his breath.
A huge tiger’s head appeared at the very end of his field of vision. What followed after was its strong and magnificent body. It was more fearsome than the female tiger from before. Yue Qiang could clearly sense the pressure emanating from the king of beasts.
It was at this moment Yin decisively activated the mechanism.
A giant rock abruptly fell from the cave roof. It fell straight towards the tiger’s head and looked to smash it to death!
Yue Qiang stared dead-eyed at that particular position, but he immediately followed up with a regretful stomp of the feet.
“Dammit!”
Thanks!