Chapter 23: The Mysterious Mask

"Five gene points—what exactly should I unlock?" Yan Luo pondered carefully.

If his goal was to maximize combat power at this stage, he could unlock Basic Strength, Basic Agility, and Basic Constitution—all three for just three points. With the remaining two, he could unlock the foundational fists and kicks of the Combat System.

But he would never choose such a path.

With only eight gene slots, what would he do once most were consumed in a single stroke?

To be honest, each branch of the four foundational gene systems was useful in its own way. Any choice held value. Yet, now that Yan Luo had become a World Modulator, how could he, as a man, simply follow the crowd? He must stand at the summit, surveying all beneath him.

Every gene must be chosen with the utmost caution!

Should he unlock the Psionic branch?

Psionics were of paramount importance. After all, the worlds behind the veil came in all varieties. The zombie-themed world he and his companions had traversed was already daunting, but should they encounter ghosts or curses—monsters or bosses immune to physical attacks—without access to energy or energy-based skills, one would be doomed.

The Psionic branch enabled the use of energy.

This system’s genes were expensive: Magic Power cost five points; Spiritual Power and Ectoplasmic Power, ten points each! Among regular genes, the highest requirements were all ten points.

There were also pure elemental genes:

Earth: four points. Fire: four points. Water: four points. Wind: four points.
Light: eight points. Darkness: eight points.

For instance, in Yan Luo’s current gene system, without unlocking any psionic abilities, if he acquired a spell like Fireball, it would consume his mental source directly upon casting! If he possessed Magic Power, it would instead draw from that reserve.

Mental source stemmed from the soul.
Life source came from the body.
Magic Power could be accumulated through meditation.

If he didn’t allocate points to Magic Power but directly unlocked the Fire Element gene, then any skill like Fireball would draw from his internal fire elemental energy. Being a single-system gene, there would be no loss from converting magic to element—purer and more powerful.

To specialize in a single element seemed tempting as well.

Of course, if his skill was Waterball, fire elemental energy would be useless; he'd still consume his mental source, whereas Magic Power could be converted to any element.

Undoubtedly, the Psionic branch concealed hidden genes.

Yan Luo considered his Fate Talent: Heartless Doll.

One hundred points of intense emotion were needed to fuse a Level 1 Persona Mask, and even then, there was a chance of failure! Moreover, once used, the Persona Mask would shatter and vanish.

This required accumulation, even luck, yet the power it offered was immense! Yan Luo did not know what other emotions or ratios would produce; the Nightmare mask had annihilated the Biochemical Aberration: Zombie Brain! The Level 3 World Modulator, the guide, had killed Zombie Claw and Zombie Fang, but fell to Zombie Eye.

As the saying goes, “To do a good job, one must first sharpen one’s tools.” Persona Masks were like formidable tools—but single-use.

From the Persona Mask: Nightmare, it was apparent that certain transformations likely came with energy attributes.

Nightmare wielded Hellfire!

Therefore, at least in the early stages, the Psionic branch could wait.

The Perception domain.

In traditional martial arts, “Bodily Perfection, Diamond Body” fell under the Combat System, while “Unseen and Unheard, Sensing Danger and Avoiding It” belonged to Perception. In fact, the ten-point gene “Basic Spiritual Sense,” when fully upgraded, achieved precisely this.

Enhanced vision, when maxed out, became Super Vision—akin to the Buddhist “Heavenly Eye.”
Enhanced hearing, when maxed out, became Super Hearing—akin to the Buddhist “Heavenly Ear.”
Sharper thinking, when maxed out, became Spiritual Transcendence...

All of these were alluring, but he had to plan his gene system rationally. Besides, to upgrade, for example, vision to Super Vision, how many gene points would that take? The main quest in a Level 1 world only awarded one point!

Compared to these, the Occult branch was truly mysterious. Luck, for example, belonged to this category—alas, ordinary gene points could not unlock Luck.

Patiently, he reviewed the abilities and upgrade trees of more than a hundred genes.

At last, Yan Luo settled on the second of his eight gene slots.

Combat System: Regeneration.

The name was simple.

The power was equally straightforward: accelerated healing of injuries. Of course, it consumed some life source, but not much—for instance, if stabbed in the chest, life force would naturally bleed away rapidly. With Regeneration, the wound would gradually heal and cease bleeding, reducing the overall drain on life source.

At present, Yan Luo possessed Basic Life.

His vitality far surpassed that of ordinary people.

No doubt, many World Modulators coveted Regeneration. However, if another could kill you with a single blow, what use was there in healing? It cost five gene points to unlock. With that many points, even unarmed, someone could unlock Basic Strength with just one point and overpower you!

Spending five points to unlock Strength, Agility, Constitution, and foundational martial arts would make you a match for ten ordinary men!

Yan Luo was different, possessing Basic Life, enhanced constitution, and now Regeneration, which would greatly bolster his survivability and endurance. With Basic Life, his improved physique meant that even if stabbed severely, the wound would heal over time.

After unlocking this with five gene points, he endured another round of genetic turbulence and transformation.

Then he conducted an experiment.

Taking a knife, he made a cut about one centimeter deep on his arm. Blood flowed instantly—a wound of such depth would normally require stitches, but under the influence of his genes, the gash closed within minutes. After a few more minutes, it vanished entirely, leaving not even a scar.

In truth, Regeneration alone would not have been so effective. Yan Luo’s Basic Life gene and Regeneration gene interacted synergistically, producing a powerful “combination effect.”

His cellular vitality, beyond that of any normal human, dramatically boosted the efficacy of Regeneration!

“In One Piece, Zoro must have had this gene,” Yan Luo mused.

Regeneration consumed life force, replenished in the most basic ways: sleep and eating well.

This gene’s upgrade tree was straightforward:

Regeneration → Renewal → Flesh Rebirth

However, seeing that Renewal required a full fifty gene points, Yan Luo dismissed the idea. Regeneration plus Basic Life already gave him potent healing—fifty gene points were far beyond his current means.

After allocating the points, Yan Luo glanced at his personal status screen.

Yan Luo
Limit Breakthrough: First Tier
Life Source: 100%
Mental Source: 100%
Emotional Fluctuation: 0
Soul Corruption: 1
Alignment: Absolute Neutrality
Bloodline: Human
Innate Ability: Heartless Doll
Skill Slot: Empty
Gene Slot: Combat System: Regeneration, Basic Life
World Modulator Level: LV1

It was worth noting that Life Source and Mental Source, though described as percentages, each had a long bar, much like the health and energy bars of fighting games. Yan Luo noticed that his Life Source bar, previously a single strip, was now two!

This was the tangible enhancement brought by Basic Life.

In fighting game terms, where once he had only one health bar, now he had two.

He donned his clothes, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. In the hidden world, he had been, at his core, just an ordinary man, surviving through to the end until the Persona Mask fusion succeeded, granting him the strength to face the boss. Now, at last, he had a foundation:

A body.

He then retrieved from his phone’s storage space the strange substance dropped by the boss.

Biochemical Aggregate: Remnants of Brain, Eye, Fang, and Claw.

The description called it a mysterious material, usable for Fate Talents, bloodlines, skills, or genes, from which items corresponding to those abilities could be created.

The explanation was vague, and at present, Yan Luo had three choices: use it for Regeneration, Basic Life, or Heartless Doll. As for what item would result, it was impossible to predict. After some thought, he applied the strange substance to his Fate Talent.

The substance, appearing as a small crystal, began to glow intensely as Yan Luo made his selection. Bathed in light, it changed form.

A mask, slightly larger than the face of a mechanical watch, semi-transparent and gem-like in texture, exquisitely crafted in miniature, appeared before him.

“You have obtained the Strange Mask…”