Chapter Sixty-eight: Assessment of Strength

After using agility, strength, and stamina potions to enhance the three summoned characters, Wang Ling had consumed a whopping 27,000 currency points! By the time he returned to the Dream Space, there were only a pitiful two hundred or so points left on him. Even after including the mission completion reward, he was still short by 11,800 points.

In the Dream Space, currency points were used for almost everything—learning new skills, upgrading abilities, enhancing weapons and equipment, and even for daily living expenses. Most novice dreamers found that their earnings barely covered their costs.

Wang Ling gathered up all the items he currently possessed, exchanged all the surplus coins from the Mushroom Kingdom for currency points, keeping only one gold, one silver, and one copper coin as mementos. Even so, his total only climbed to 8,400 points.

“I have to sell something now!”

His fine steel battle axe was already damaged, and the meteoric iron spearhead had been given to the mop-headed dwarf. In the hands of such an agile dwarf, this weapon—with its high damage and wounds that were hard to heal—could play to its greatest strength.

The white iron musket had been one of Wang Ling’s mainstays in the Double Dragon mission world, so selling it was out of the question. As for the Heart of Peach, the Gold-Crimson Mask, and Linda’s Wish, each was extraordinary in its own way—these precious items were not up for sale either.

The tentacle whip, with its ability to change shape, was highly useful and, being a purple-grade weapon, had considerable potential for growth. The meteoric iron powder was a strengthening material that might be needed for future weapon forging. Both the sliding and homing turtle shells were handy gadgets, and the Kung Fu Scenario Card was a crucial trump card!

“There are also two skill books I can’t use.”

Giant Swing and Shoulder Charge—both scrolls were E-grade skills with lackluster abilities, so it was unlikely they would fetch a high price.

Setting aside his thoughts, Wang Ling remembered there was still a mission reward chest left unopened. Upon opening the black iron chest, he drew currency points—just as he had from the previous mission’s chest—but it was not as lucrative as the flashing chest, yielding only 1,000 points.

Anxious to fuse the Celestial Dragon Soul and transform his bloodline, Wang Ling could not afford to tarry. He rushed straight to the Free Market and set up a stall, but it was clear that the two skill books held little appeal.

After more than half an hour had passed, the Giant Swing—a power-based throw technique—finally sold for 3,200 currency points, while the Shoulder Charge, a skill fit for cannon fodder, still attracted no interest.

While manning his stall, Wang Ling’s Dream Badge suddenly received a message from “Su”—the two had added each other as friends after the last mission and, being in the same area, could exchange messages, though each message cost one currency point.

After packing up his stall, Wang Ling left the Free Market and, following the coordinates Su had given him and after receiving permission, entered Su’s private room for the second time. There, he saw the German boy with golden tousled hair, emerald eyes, and delicate features.

“You made it back safe and sound, that’s wonderful—thank God!”

Su, dressed in a white casual suit, beamed as he pressed his palms together in gratitude and then said, “I’m sorry to bother you out of the blue. In the last mission world, I killed an old enemy and drew an excellent skill book from the Slaughter Chest—a close-combat skill.”

“Yes, it’s a C-grade skill. For novice dreamers, C-grade skills are very hard to come by. I don’t specialize in close combat, and selling the book to someone else felt like a waste. I thought of your help last time and was very grateful, so I contacted you to see if you’d want it.”

Wang Ling could only manage a wry smile; he was still scrambling for currency points to fuse the dragon soul, with no spare funds for buying skills. But recalling how in the Double Dragon world he had relied almost entirely on summoned allies and the white iron musket—and how lacking he was in offensive means—he realized that acquiring a skill to boost his combat burst was absolutely necessary.

“Share the data with me.”

Upon reviewing the skill scroll’s data, Wang Ling was immediately tempted. This C-grade skill turned out to be the signature move of the Soviet wrestler Zangief from the Street Fighter world:

The “Blossom Drop”! (Note: The official name is “Spinning Piledriver,” but the folk name “Blossom Drop” is classic and nostalgic, so it’s used here.)

Grabbing the enemy’s legs, locking their body with his hips, hoisting them upside down with their head pressed beneath his hips, Zangief would spin, soar into the air, and then slam the opponent brutally into the ground! Anyone struck by this move would suffer devastating damage to the head, neck, and spine.

The reason this move is called the “Blossom Drop” is that, during the leap and spin, the afterimages traced in the air resemble a blooming plum blossom. (Note: Back then, chrysanthemums still meant chrysanthemums, or else a move that smashes someone’s head with your backside would have been called the “Chrysanthemum Drop”…)

Without a doubt, this was a highly damaging, brutally violent close-grappling technique!

Wang Ling had always been troubled by his lack of offensive skills. Even with three powerful dark warriors and a staff master like Wang Long, what if an enemy bypassed his summoned allies and ambushed him directly? With this close-combat skill, he could counterattack any sudden assault with a devastating blow!

“How much do you want for this skill book?”

Of course, Wang Ling wasn’t so naïve as to expect the other to give away such a precious C-grade skill book for free.

“Well…” Su hesitated. He was still grateful for Wang Ling’s help last time—especially the 6,000 currency points at the end, which allowed him to buy another gun and survive a crisis. Without a firearm, a ranged gunner might not have been able to kill his enemy and could have died instead, so Su sincerely appreciated Wang Ling.

Yet such a valuable skill book could not be given away for nothing. After some thought, Su said, “How about 13,000 currency points?”

“E-grade skills range from 2,000 to 8,000 points, D-grade from 6,000 to 15,000, C-grade from 10,000 to 30,000, and B-grade from 25,000 to 50,000. Given the power of the Blossom Drop, it’s probably among the best C-grade skills. Thirteen thousand isn’t expensive… but learning a skill from a scroll costs an extra 9,000 points, fusing the dragon soul needs 20,000, not to mention equipment upgrades… Looks like I’ll have to sell mushrooms…”

With that thought, Wang Ling nodded. “I’ll buy it, but I’m short on points right now. Give me a day or two.”

“All right, no problem,” Su replied with a smile.

After leaving Su’s room and returning to his own, Wang Ling immediately opened the cross-region communication scroll left by Dio of the Free Mage Guild.

“Oh? You actually reached out to me—do you have more anti-erasure, life-boosting mushrooms?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect. Our guild finally found the B-grade skill book we were seeking for you. It’s a skill with tremendous potential—even I’m tempted, but it’s yours. As we agreed, the book in exchange for your mushroom, priced at sixty thousand, plus one skill point.”

Wang Ling, now able to obtain the Blossom Drop, had not planned to buy more skills, but Dio’s words piqued his curiosity. “What skill is it?”

After listening to the description, Wang Ling pondered, then said, “I’ll sell you two life-boosting mushrooms! I don’t need the skill point. Besides that skill book, I want seventy thousand currency points as well!”

“Two life-boosting mushrooms?” Dio audibly gasped. “Currency points are consumed at a staggering rate by dreamers—seventy thousand is a huge sum, even for our guild. I’ll have to ask the guild leader. Please wait a moment.”

About ten minutes later, Dio’s voice came through the communication scroll again, “We just upgraded our members’ equipment, so that price is really steep, and right now it’s hard to gather that amount. But given your potential as a novice dreamer, let’s call it an investment in friendship. Wait for me—I’ll be right there.”

Wang Ling hadn’t given him his private room’s coordinates, so they met at the Free Market. Dio’s arrival drew many glances from other dreamers. After all, for a mid-level dreamer to enter the novice zone required a transfer fee of 10,000 currency points—few would bother.

Through a fair trade using their Dream Badges, Wang Ling received the skill book and seventy thousand currency points; Dio, in turn, received two life-boosting mushrooms.

“Upgrading B-grade skills consumes a lot of skill points and currency points. If you learn the skill from a book, it doubles the cost. So my advice is, after learning the skill, don’t waste resources on upgrades—improving through practice and comprehension can also level up a skill. Plus, things you master and comprehend yourself aren’t counted in the Dream Space’s power assessment.”

“What is the power assessment?” Wang Ling immediately caught the key point in Dio’s words.

“It’s crucial intel. Our guild paid dearly to learn this from the advanced zones. If you want to know, the price is 5,000 currency points.”

Wang Ling didn’t haggle—he paid the not-insignificant sum without hesitation.

Dio nodded approvingly. “With your judgment and decisiveness, you could well become a real force in the future.”

Using his Dream Badge, Dio activated a soundproof barrier to envelop them, then explained:

“The main brain of the Dream Space evaluates you based on your attributes, skills, and post-mission ratings, which all affect what kind of world you’ll face next. According to high-level dreamers’ analysis, attributes have little effect, skills matter more than attributes, and mission ratings matter more than skills.”

“These factors have some influence on the difficulty of your next world, but not too much. Unless you do something extreme, like piling on attributes, frantically learning skills, or getting S or X ratings, your next world’s difficulty will only rise a little, which is manageable. Generally, each new world is slightly harder than the last.”

“However, skills you comprehend yourself or level up through training, as well as abilities acquired via bloodlines or professions and honed through additional cultivation, are not included in your power assessment at all… This space encourages dreamers to create and develop their own abilities, to transform what they learn into something truly their own!”