Chapter 21: Skill Level 2

[Dungeon clearance conditions met. Processing rewards.]

Beside the deep purple spacetime rift, the four-person squad was busy gathering their spoils. This marked their sixth successful collaboration.

The Barbarian announced with glee that he had looted a piece of blue-grade equipment. The others offered their congratulations with much enthusiasm, though the Rogue’s sour expression was impossible to hide.

The Witch remarked in the channel that clearing maps was becoming increasingly easy. The group had developed a rhythm; in particular, the Mage’s ability to handle elite monsters had become overwhelming. It was as if he had grasped their fatal weakness—the Sword Guard would overload after taking two or three hits, leaving it helpless to be slaughtered.

As the others were busy, the Barbarian suddenly sent a message announcing he would be leaving the team. He was about to break through Level 4 and could no longer earn Disaster Coins or experience, so he planned to seek higher-level echoes in reality and might not have time for dungeon runs in the future.

Though they had anticipated this day would come, they hadn't expected it so soon.

Just as [Flying Grass] finished speaking, [Starry Eyes] shyly indicated that she also intended to leave. The reality she inhabited was of a high level, and the probability of obtaining echo relics was high; she might even already be attempting to tackle higher-tier dungeons.

The Rogue looked at the Mage and shook his head.

[Nightingale]: Since everyone is leaving, let's just disband. I’m just a burden if I stay; the Mage is already capable of soloing.

Lin Bo was indeed confident in his ability to face two elite monsters simultaneously. This was mainly due to his mastery of dealing with Sword Guards; by simply keeping his distance from the Shield Bearers, he could break the combat down into two separate duels.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: I can carry you through the maps.

[Nightingale]: I really don't need that, man. I’m just dead weight. Even if I can't help much, I shouldn't be holding you back.

The Omni-Network player community divided users into three tiers: Big Shots, Buds, and Noobs.

Riding the coattails of a Big Shot was nothing to be ashamed of—after all, clearing maps was just a trivial task for them, a simple one-click sweep. But clinging to a Bud like a parasite, watching them sweat and bleed while contributing nothing, was unacceptable to any player with dignity.

Lin Bo fell silent for a moment before nodding.

After returning to the Lighthouse, he found himself lost in thought for a rare moment. In the dungeon chat channel, [Nightingale] had already started calling out to find new teammates for Purgatory-difficulty runs.

His daily challenge limit had been exhausted. The dungeon gains were 108 Disaster Coins, 540 general experience, three gray-grade items, and two white-grade items. Since these were either duplicates or useless, he sold them to the merchant, netting a total of 87 Disaster Coins.

Lin Bo looked at his savings of 380 Disaster Coins and browsed the item list on the Multi-Trade platform.

Dungeon invitations were frequently out of stock. After all, they were the hardest currency in the current version. Even invitations for novice-level dungeons rarely circulated on the open market, and if a few ever appeared, they were snatched up instantly.

Lin Bo asked his contact, Old Man Agilent, when the invitations would be restocked.

[Agilent]: Don't count on it. Unless you're wealthy beyond measure, you won't be able to outbid the others. Besides, to be honest, the invitations that make it to the trading platform often have issues.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: Are they traps?

[Agilent]: More or less. Either the yield rate is notoriously low, or they are malicious. You need to be careful when trading with other players in the future—watch out for a special type of dungeon invitation. If the envelope is stained with blood, or even has fresh blood flowing on it, stay away.

[Agilent]: If an invitation becomes like that, it means a player is trapped inside the dungeon, unable to resurrect or return to reality.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: How do the trapped players get out?

[Agilent]: I don't know the specifics, but rumor has it that they have to wait for the next player who receives the blood-stained invitation to clear the dungeon. The trapped players will put up a portion of their assets as a bounty to increase the dungeon rewards, hoping to lure others into clearing it.

Lin Bo thanked him for the lesson.

He abandoned the idea of buying dungeon invitations on the trading platform and decided to find other opportunities in reality instead.

He had gathered a large pile of wreckage from today's dungeon run. Rather than handing it over to the "Enthusiastic Scrapyard," Lin Bo used it to practice his Surface-Touch Endoscopy technique.

A mechanical guard pierced through the neck by an electric short-spear would inevitably have multiple short circuits and fused connections inside. These subtle damages were impossible for anyone but an experienced veteran to diagnose.

Lin Bo continued to use his "Listen to All Things" ability, skipping the deduction process and going straight to the answers.

Within just half an hour, he had accumulated enough skill proficiency.

Surface-Touch Endoscopy: Lv1 (60.9/60)
[Upgrade requirements met.]

"Upgrade."

A familiar cold current surged from between his brows, traveled through his skin, and gathered in his palms.

Lin Bo quietly experienced the sensation of the upgrade. He felt as if a layer of fine, invisible hair had grown beneath the skin of his hands, acting like probes; any slight movement would trigger a cascade of nerve signals.

Surface-Touch Endoscopy: Lv2 (0.9/300) - By touching an object, perceive its entire internal and external structure.

The upgrade brought a clear improvement.

On one hand, the skill itself evolved. Lin Bo could now not only perceive the damage points inside mechanical wreckage but could also vaguely detect fine internal structures, such as hairsprings, gears, and motors.

Placing his hand on a wooden storage crate and tapping it lightly, he could guess how many books and pieces of clothing were inside just by the feel.

On the other hand, his sense of touch was enhanced, which had a synergistic effect with his "Listen to All Things" trait. He could now more clearly capture the "languages" he previously couldn't perceive. Even a stubborn stone would break its silence in his hands and speak to him.

Lin Bo patiently dismantled all the scrap he had collected today, gaining a significant amount of experience for his technique. He then picked out a few useful parts to keep and handed the rest over to his "Enthusiastic Netizen" contact.

[Scavenging Makes Me Happy]: Oh, you're so thoughtful! You even helped me dismantle them, saving me a lot of time.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: It was no trouble.

[Scavenging]: You're practicing Surface-Touch Endoscopy, right? Hehe, just imagining you scratching your head over that scrap makes me laugh. Enjoy the torture I went through back then! If you need more weird junk to practice with, just say the word. I'll make sure you're well-supplied.

Lin Bo did have that need. The mechanical guards provided limited experience, and as a Mechanic, his path of study would inevitably require contact with all sorts of machinery. They hit it off immediately.

He then reached out to [Starry Eyes]. As a Soul-Calling Witch, she was an expert in the field of medicine, and Lin Bo intended to buy some herbs from her to practice his Pharmacist’s Tongue-Sense.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to purchase some non-toxic medicinal herbs. I don't need large quantities, but I'd like a wide variety.

[Starry Eyes]: Sure thing! Does the Mage need anything else?

[Lighthouse Keeper]: That's all for now.

[Starry Eyes]: Is the Mage planning to study medicine? Wait a moment! (Offline) ... (Online) I'm back, Mage. Open a trade channel.

A sea-blue vortex opened, and a stack of archaic volumes tumbled out. Lin Bo flipped through them—they were all medical texts.

During trades, players could choose to spend a certain amount of Disaster Coins to have the Omni-Network's automatic translation module generate a copy of any text-based material, allowing them to keep the original while receiving a translated copy.

Previously, [Scavenging Makes Me Happy] had sent him many documents related to Mechanic knowledge, and now [Starry Eyes] was so helpful that Lin Bo felt overwhelmed.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: This is too much... I don't even know how to thank you.

[Starry Eyes]: You’re the one who always looked after me and Nightingale in the dungeons, Mage. If I didn't do something, I'd feel like I owed you. Let’s stay in touch! If we ever happen to meet in a future dungeon, let’s run it together again!

[Lighthouse Keeper]: Of course.

Lin Bo sat on the edge of his bed, flipping through the medical books. He didn't take in a single word, but he felt incredibly good, unable to stop himself from smiling in the quiet room.

The sun was setting, and the lighthouse needed to be lit as usual.