Chapter 6: Skill System

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The lunch break was over, and at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, Lu Ming woke up and had a small amount of fresh fruit, which counted as a snack for the afternoon.

After that, Lu Ming found himself a bit idle with nothing to do.

With his attributes fully replenished in the morning, he was unable to gain any more attributes, Lu Ming did not want to put any additional strain on his body.

After a ten-minute slow walk on the treadmill, Lu Ming went to the reading area and turned on his computer to learn how to shoot a slingshot once again.

The video was not long, but it was a dry recording. After firmly grasping the knowledge from the video, Lu Ming picked up the slingshot and the small glass marbles used for practice.

The fitness area alone occupied 80 square meters on the 100-square-meter second floor.

At this moment, the fitness area was already filled with various equipment and weights, but there was still a long and narrow walkway on the side. One end of the walkway was connected to the reading area, while the other end had a foam archery target.

The walkway was about 10 meters long, which served as Lu Ming’s designated shooting practice area.

…

As a pessimist doomsayer maverick, Lu Ming had envisioned numerous types of global catastrophes, and a biohazard disaster was one of them.

Regardless of the type of doomsday scenario, weapons and a certain level of military force were indispensable.

Hunting and defending against external threats were all closely related to the use of force and weapons.

Long-range weapons played an important role in the use of force and combat.

Considering the strict gun control in China, Lu Ming chose three long-range weapons: bows, crossbows, and slingshots.

However, Lu Ming was not a shooting expert. As someone who preferred staying indoors, his proficiency with these weapons was only average.

With the arrival of the zombie apocalypse, even though Lu Ming had confidence in his safe house, he had to consider the inevitable possibility of engaging in combat.

“Moreover, I need to study the skill system in the attribute panel.”

Yesterday, he acquired the skill of fitness.

This made Lu Ming wonder if he could try to continue acquiring new skills himself.

On the second day after the apocalypse, in the afternoon.

With nothing better to do, Lu Ming picked up the slingshot.

…

It was extremely difficult to achieve precise shooting with a slingshot.

This was because the structure of a slingshot was simple and did not have any aiming mechanism.

Moreover, slingshots did not require ammunition, let alone standard projectiles for them. And different projectiles also had varying levels of wind resistance, which also determined the shooting trajectory and accuracy of the shot.

He stuffed the glass bead into the rubber band and pulled it open. He aimed at the target of the arrow, which was ten meters away.

There was a “Snap” sound.

The ammunition left the chamber and hit the barbell at the side. The glass bead exploded into glass dust.

“Heh, it’s challenging. Let’s give it another try.”

“Pa!”

As he fired, Lu Ming adjusted his hand position, hand gesture and shooting technique.

For a moment, the sound of glass beads shattering was incessant, but it was completely blocked by the excellent soundproofing of the safe house, and not a trace of it spread outside the door.

It was not until about the 20th shot that the glass bead finally hit the target.

Although it was a bit off target, hitting the second ring instead, it still gave Lu Ming a sense of accomplishment.

He opened the attribute panel.

Name: Lu Ming.

Age: 25 years old.

Strength: 6.4

Physique: 6.8

Agility: 6.7

Fitness lv1 (50/100).

[Slingshot Lv1 (1/100): You have mastered the initial shooting technique of the slingshot. Agility increased by 0.1 points.]

Lu Ming’s eyes lit up.

Skills could increase additional attributes—Lu Ming’s agility had increased by 0.1 points because of his slingshot!

This was a gain from farming attributes every day. It also meant that Lu Ming’s speed of farming attributes had increased again.

That went without saying.

“Just farm it!”

…

Every time the bullseye was hit, the slingshot shooting skill would increase by 1 proficiency point. Hitting a perfect ten earned a 2-point increase.

About half an hour later, the foam archery target was completely shattered, and Lu Ming’s slingshot shooting skill had leveled up to Level 2!

Slingshot Shooting Lv2 (5/200): You have acquired the basic shooting technique of the slingshot. Agility increased by 0.3 (+0.2) points.

Lv. 1 slingshot, increases agility by 0.1.

Upgrade another 0.2.

It only took a little more than half an hour.

“This speed is not slow…”

There was a “Snap” sound.

Another 10th ring.

Slingshot Lv2 (7/200).

“Moreover, there doesn’t seem to be any limitations on the proficiency points gained every day.”

There was no limit to proficiency, but there was a limit to Lu Ming’s wrist.

Even though Lu Ming’s physical fitness was already very strong, anyone who had played with a heavy-duty slingshot knew that pulling back the slingshot required significant strength. It was definitely a demanding task.

Feeling some soreness in his wrist, Lu Ming decisively stopped shooting.

Back in the reading area, Lu Ming gently massaged his wrist while deep in thought.

“I’ve obtained another skill.”

“And I can be sure that skills can also increase attributes.”

“Therefore, after basic fitness every day, I should put the matter of farming skills on the agenda…”

Anyway, the apocalypse was here. He had nothing to do. If he did not farm attributes or skills, Lu Ming would have to lie down or sit in front of the computer and watch small movies. That would be even more boring.

“And I kind of understand the logic behind skill acquisition.”

“Then can I get more skills to increase my three-dimensional attributes faster?”

Of course, the answer was yes!

He changed to a new target.

He picked up the crossbow beside him.

After some thought, Lu Ming removed the arrowhead from the crossbow, loaded it, and aimed at the archery target.

Using a crossbow was much simpler than a slingshot—because it had a sight scope, making aiming much easier.

There was a “Snap” sound.

The arrow flew from the crossbow and hit the bullseye, scoring a perfect ten.

He opened the attribute panel.

Agility: 7.

Crossbow Shooting Lv1 (1/100): You have mastered the initial shooting technique of the crossbow. Agility has increased by 0.1 points.

“But the proficiency obtained is different from a slingshot.”

Hitting a perfect ten with the slingshot earned 2 proficiency points, while the crossbow arrow only earned 1 point.

After a brief reflection, Lu Ming felt relieved and at ease with the results.

Because the difficulty was different.

The difference between having a sight scope and not having one was indeed significant…

Loading the crossbow again, Lu Ming took aim and fired.

This time, it hit the seven-ring.

There was no increase in proficiency.

“It could be a matter of the distance being too close. Crossbows inherently have a longer effective range compared to slingshots, making the shooting process easier. If I can shoot from a longer distance, the proficiency gained from hitting the target with a crossbow should be equivalent to that of a slingshot.”

Unfortunately, there was really not that much room in the house.

“Pa pa pa.”

Lu Ming shot thirty crossbow bolts in succession, damaging two of them. Finally, his crossbow shooting proficiency leveled up to level 2!

Crossbow Shooting Lv2 (0/200): You have mastered the initial shooting technique of the crossbow. Agility has increased by 0.3 points.

Agility had also increased to 7.2 points.

But there was bad news.

The proficiency in crossbow shooting could not be further improved—because the distance was too close and the difficulty was too low, thus it did not serve as an effective training exercise.

Lu Ming changed the target and took out his bow and arrows.

The fifth arrow hit the target.

[Slingshot Lv1 (1/100): You have mastered the initial shooting technique of the slingshot. Agility increased by 0.1 points.]

The difficulty of gaining proficiency in archery was the same as that of a slingshot shooting. Hitting a perfect ten earned 2 points, while hitting the target earned 1 point.

Instead of rushing to improve his archery proficiency, Lu Ming sat back in front of his computer. He opened the pre-downloaded material and found a tutorial on basic hand-to-hand combat.

“Since ranged weapons can trigger skills, there’s no reason why hand-to-hand combat can’t trigger skills.”

“If all the three shooting skills increase agility, then hand-to-hand combat should increase strength and stamina.”

Once again, I appreciate the internet for removing barriers to the dissemination of knowledge.

Lu Ming downloaded numerous combat tutorials, diligently watching and learning from each one. He then practiced the techniques himself, and soon enough, his skills were triggered.

Unarmed Combat lv1 (1/100): You have acquired the basic essentials of unarmed combat. Strength and stamina have increased by 0.1.