Chapter Four: Enhancement

“All right, all right, stop making that miserable face. It irritates me,” the brick-like object sent a beam of white light toward Xiao Zhang.

“What is this?” Xiao Zhang stared in confusion at the virtual screen before him. There were only two options displayed; he tapped one.

Personal Information

Strength: C+
Speed: C
Flexibility: D-
...
Combat Ability: C-
Intelligence: Rather low (without the system’s personal bias)

Although this henchman isn’t much, the system is confident it can train him into a formidable fighter.

Xiao Zhang: (⊙x⊙)

Is that last assessment even humanly possible?

Xiao Zhang felt as if he’d just been utterly defeated. Is this a game? A game system? And such a shamelessly unfair one at that?

Having read countless online novels, Xiao Zhang began to weigh the possibilities—was this a game, a transmigration, or an infinite loop? Most importantly, this system seemed a bit dodgy! Still, it felt rather powerful.

The map has opened... Eh? What’s this?

“Henchman, see how generous I am? I’ve given you a free reconnaissance map.”

“A map?”

“Henchman, open it and take a look.”

Xiao Zhang tapped to open it, and a frame appeared on the interface.

Near the edge of the map was a green dot, and beside it a dull red dot. On the right side of the map, there was a dense cluster of flashing red and yellow dots.

Xiao Zhang pondered for a moment. The green dot must be himself, and the red dot... Could it be...

“Damn, is there another monster here?!”

“Henchman, you’re not as dumb as you look!” The brick floated in the air, spinning around. “You’re lucky—the BOSS is right here with you.”

At that moment, the red dot suddenly flickered.

Meanwhile, a guttural roar echoed from within the carriage.

Xiao Zhang shuddered: Damn, did that monster just wake up?

Wait... wait... I’m not ready yet. “Brick, for god’s sake, give me a weapon!”

The brick froze in place after hearing this. “Henchman, actually...”

Just then, a mechanical female voice sounded from the sky, “The BOSS will awaken in thirty minutes. All players please proceed to Point B.”

Hearing this, Xiao Zhang confirmed that the monster was about to wake, and the brick seemed to be hiding something from him.

“Brick, if there’s something, just say it! I can handle it.” Xiao Zhang, at least, had a stronger psyche than most.

“Henchman, actually, your system got accidentally formatted by me. Not only do you have no weapon, even the newbie protection is gone.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means, if others die here, they’ll return to their original world, but you’re different—you’ll be over for good.”

“Over?” Xiao Zhang asked, bewildered.

“That’s right. Others have resurrection tokens if they die; you die and you’re just dead, nothing left.” After saying this, the brick retreated far away.

“Oh, nice, nice.” Xiao Zhang grabbed a wrench from the ground and charged at the brick.

“Hey, bro, don’t hit my face!” The brick dodged in mid-air. “There’s a solution!”

As Xiao Zhang chased after the brick, the red dot on the map panel suddenly dimmed, then disappeared, only to light up again a second later—but Xiao Zhang didn’t notice.

He stopped, wrench in hand. “What solution?”

Though he’d seemed to be chasing the brick, Xiao Zhang was thinking: If this is a system setup, there must be a corresponding workaround. No point questioning why such absurd things happen—focus on solving the immediate problem.

“Before the monster wakes, use that wrench to smash it to death.” The brick wobbled, releasing a beam of white light at Xiao Zhang. “Henchman, though I didn’t give you a weapon, I’ve granted you 1,000 enhancement points. That cost me...”

Xiao Zhang opened his personal information. “Enhancement points?”

On the interface, a “+” symbol appeared next to each stat.

Xiao Zhang studied the screen, considered for a moment, and decided: Strength and speed are crucial.

Also, mental power and recovery!

The other options could wait.

He split the 1,000 points evenly among four stats.

Soon, the points were spent...

Strength went from C+ to A-, speed from C to B, mental power and recovery both up to D.

He didn’t feel any difference.

“No sensation at all!”

“Damn, henchman, you didn’t use up all the enhancement points, did you?!”

Xiao Zhang stretched out his hand and slapped the floating brick.

Bang! The brick smashed straight into the ground.

System: That was unexpected—I have no idea what just happened.

Xiao Zhang’s heart surged with excitement! He swung the wrench at a nearby tree, splitting it at the base and toppling a whole row of trees.

“The BOSS will awaken in ten minutes. All players proceed to Point B,” the mechanical female voice announced again.

The monster hadn’t woken yet—such a prime opportunity couldn’t be missed!

Glancing at the map, Xiao Zhang ignored the system still stuck in the dirt and charged toward the flashing red dot with his wrench.

He rushed straight to the side of the wrecked train, and, propelled by momentum, crashed headlong inside.

The BOSS stared in bewilderment at the sudden arrival: What on earth is this thing?

Xiao Zhang shivered and climbed to his feet. He found himself face-to-face with a white-clad youth, equally baffled. “Bro, who are you?”

“Who are you?” The youth in white glanced at his system’s map panel. This guy didn’t show up—he wasn’t a player! Was he here to substitute as BOSS, like me? Trying to steal my job?

“Brother, I’m just here to fill in as the BOSS, earning some points. It’s not easy.”

Seeing Xiao Zhang silent, the youth continued, “Come on, you gotta respect first come, first served. I’ve been waiting here forever, these new players are just arriving.”

Xiao Zhang, still staring at his system map in a daze—the red dot now overlapped his own—instantly understood. So this youth was the boss. “Oh, how come you’re the BOSS?”

“I don’t know either! I was hanging out in the task hall, when the system suddenly gave me a weird mission: come to Zone 999 and temporarily act as the newbie BOSS.” The youth eyed Xiao Zhang suspiciously. “Aren’t you here for the same reason?”

Feigning confusion, Xiao Zhang replied, “Brother, I was just fighting the BOSS when I got randomly teleported here.” Looks like he’s doing a mission too, Xiao Zhang thought. Now he understood—this must be an infinite loop novel’s plot.

The youth nodded, “There’s been a lot of issues lately. I heard after the first battle zone merged, even the top-ranking boss got taken down.”