[Current Skill Points Held: 1 (Available for "Skill Tree" development)]
"One skill point to start with, is this a newbie perk?" Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow, recalling the origin of this skill point in the blink of an eye: "Oh no... I remember getting this skill point during the initial Q&A session."
Reflecting on today's series of experiences, he belatedly understood why the correct answer to that first question was—"This is both a dream and reality."
Under those circumstances back then, it was quite an incredible stroke of luck that he managed to pick the right answer.
Unfortunately, he had already forgotten the specific answering process, but there must have been a very rigorous logical reasoning involved, not just a simple-minded choice like "when in doubt, choose the longer option" like a school kid.
He consecutively clicked on the first skill of the three branches, bringing up the skill description in front of him.
[Branch "Hidden"—Restraint Sensing: Grants your restraint belt "vision" and "hearing," allowing you to see the scenes and hear sounds on the opposite side of a barrier (such as a wall or floor) when pressed against it.]
[Learning this skill requires spending 1 skill point]
[Branch "Frenzy"—Restraint Extension: Increases the maximum extension distance of your restraint belt from 8 meters to 15 meters.]
[Learning this skill requires spending 1 skill point]
[Branch "Li"—Restraint Detection: When you use the restraint belt to touch an opponent (must be human or humanoid), a series of data (attributes, abilities) will pop up in your mind.]
[Learning this skill requires spending 1 skill point]
"Choose one of three, learning a skill from one branch unlocks the next skill in the branch. This mechanism is common in many RPG role-playing games I used to play in the computer room." To Ji Minghuan, this familiar skill tree system felt like a reunion with an old friend, just short of bringing tears of joy to his eyes.
"If my superpower truly has its own mind, it certainly knows how to please me," he thought.
This feeling was like a brand designer tailoring products to your preferences, aiming to spark your interest and fully immerse you in it.
After considering the three initial skills for a moment, Ji Minghuan finally chose "Restraint Sensing."
The reason was simple, as this skill was evidently useful for scenarios like "peeking," "tracking," and "covert investigation," which were vital for him now to survive.
If he couldn't investigate clues about the laboratory early and retrieve his body from the detention room, anything could happen tomorrow, even if those experimenters decided to dissect his body immediately.
By holding down the skill text, the entire skill icon gradually lit up, shining with a red-black luster.
[Skill point "1" consumed, successfully acquired the skill "Restraint Sensing" from the "Hidden" branch.]
[The next skill in the "Hidden" branch is now open for learning.]
After turning off the TV, Ji Minghuan got up from the sofa and walked towards the staircase.
The second floor of this residential building housed the rooms of three children, while the third floor was the parents' suite.
With the father rarely at home and the mother having passed away in an accident, the third floor often lay desolate, barring trips to the third-floor balcony for drying clothes, as they avoided going there to prevent stirring up memories.
On reaching the second floor, Ji Minghuan paused in front of his room and extended his right hand.
The black restraint belt emerged from his body, like a black hand, resting on the doorframe.
In the next instant, as if the restraint belt had grown "eyes," the scene behind the door came into full view—he stood outside the door, yet he could see inside the room.
The bookshelf, wardrobe, bed in the room, every detail was vividly clear, possibly clearer than if he were inside observing directly.
"Fascinating..." he raised an eyebrow with interest, retracting the restraint belt from the doorframe, "just as described, placing the restraint belt on a barrier allows seeing through it. The vision ability is incredibly useful for observation and tracking, and the first skill already seems like a gem."
Ji Minghuan then ventured upstairs to the third floor and walked to the end of the corridor, reaching the rooftop of the residential building, where he leaned against the railing and gazed at the horizon.
The sky had turned dark, and under the night sky, the neon lights flickered like tumbling dominoes, lighting up various parts of the city, forming a dragon of light made by gathering luminescence that stretched into the distant mountains before dimming.
He closed his eyes, letting the restraint belt gaze at the far horizon for him.
The closer to the sky, the darker it got, with the cliffs at the horizon appearing gentle, and the closer to the city, the brighter it was, with countless lights illuminating every street and alley. The restraint belt listened to the cicadas on the trees and the voices on the brightly lit streets.
The summer evening breeze gently brushed against his cheeks, and the black restraint belt twisted in the wind like a little snake, as if experiencing the world in a unique way. After a long while, the boy slowly opened his eyes and retracted the restraint belt into his body.
"Its senses are much sharper than mine in every aspect, especially in the darkness where it has a certain adaptiveness, even clearer than seeing in the light, equivalent to an expensive night vision device. This has hidden value: if there's a power outage in a mall and everyone's vision plunges into darkness instantly, I can rely on the restraint belt to restore my sight first and take the initiative," Ji Minghuan whispered to himself, "This skill is definitely worth learning."
He lay on the railing of the rooftop, blowing on wind while checking the "Character Skill Tree" interface.
[Branch One (Hidden): Restraint Sensing (Acquired) → Restraint Truth (Learning this skill requires consuming "1" Skill Point) → Unknown (Unlock after acquiring the previous skill)→ Unknown]
Ji Minghuan raised his hand and clicked on the newly unlocked branch skill, and a text description popped up before his eyes.
[Restraint Truth: After using a restraint belt to bind the opponent, you can compel them to speak their mind.]
"This looks quite useful too." He muttered, "If I could catch an experimenter from that research facility, any one of them could be forced to reveal the location of the lab."
As he thought about this, he turned his head towards the direction of the Welfare Institute.
Because the Welfare Institute was quite far from the Gu Yima District, even from this high point he could only see a vague, general outline. The lights seemed to be on in the library's attic; presumably, a child had been punished by the director again. Ji Minghuan couldn't help but grin. Every time the nurses locked them in the attic, they would go down to the first floor to cut the power, as no one would be afraid to spend the night in the attic otherwise.
"After some time, I'll use this body to go to the Welfare Institute to look for clues, but for today I'll just leave it. Having just acquired this body, it's better to play the role of an ordinary high school student well and not let people around become suspicious."
"It's best to plan long-term: after I have a second 'game character,' then I'll start taking action, so if one character gets caught by them or is destroyed, I can continue with another character."
"In general, I'll stay observant first without acting too hastily; quick actions are likely to alert the enemy, and moreover... the important thing is that I still don't know if those mentors and their allies are hidden in the Welfare Institute. Not knowing their background, being targeted by them would certainly be troublesome."
With these thoughts in mind, Ji Minghuan withdrew his gaze from the horizon.
After leaving the rooftop, he went down the stairs to the second floor and strolled to the second door from the left in the corridor, slowly turning the door handle and pushing the door open.
The feeling of being back in his room was very comfortable.
As the saying goes, "A golden nest and a silver nest are not as good as one's own grass nest." In his memory, "Gu Wenyu" was someone who really liked to nest in his room doing various miscellaneous things—sometimes supporting his favorite mutants on superpower user fan websites, engaging in sharp debates with other netizens, and sometimes quietly piecing together models at home, ignoring the world.
However, ever since awakening his superpower a month ago, his state had become uncontrollable: he would stay in his room almost every day after school, practicing how to control the restraint belt as if possessed, ignoring his friends, and spending every day with the restraint belt like secretly raising a pile of little black snakes.
In contrast, Ji Minghuan lacked this monk-like spirit.
He viewed himself as a player and his superpower allowed him to examine the world from a player's perspective, just like a person from a higher-dimensional world controlling a 2D character on a screen, each step as utilitarian and efficient as possible. Thus, at this moment, he simply lay back on the bed to continue flipping through the system interface, raising his hand to click the [Attribute Panel] option at the top of the interface.
[Character Name: Gu Wenyu]
[Character Type: Superpower User]
[Current Nickname: None (Too low a notoriety in the Real World, has not yet emerged)]
[Character Age: 17 years]
[Character Gender: Male]
[Character Attributes: Strength (Determines Physical Qualities): C-level; Speed (Determines Neural Reactions): C-level; Spirit (Determines Mental Strength): C-level]
[Overall Rating: C-level]
[Currently held Event Cards: 0 cards]
[Currently held attribute points: 0 points]
"All C-level... trivial data." Ji Minghuan's gaze swept across the three attributes, making an evaluation.
He currently didn't know how high the cap of attributes in this world was, but the pressing issue was to fully understand the functions of the system interface first, so he closed the attribute panel and instead clicked on the most conspicuous [Character Exclusive Cultivation System].
[Introduction to the "Character Exclusive Cultivation System":
In the character creation stage, choosing different growth mainlines will result in the derivation of different exclusive cultivation systems. Moreover, each game character will possess a unique "Character Cultivation System," with cultivation systems not repeating between any characters.]
[Exclusive cultivation system for the game character "Gu Wenyu" (Chosen "Gray Character" route) is as follows.]