Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'

The driver was a bit surprised, thinking to himself that the person in front of him was quite ill. He didn't dwell on it and simply slapped his hand:

"What's with this business? I'll give you an extra box!"

Li Aozi didn't bargain and used the terminal to exchange for ten packs of 'Romantis' cigarette boxes from the driver.

The cigarette itself wasn't of much significance, but it was involved in a chain achievement task in the game.

He had just completed a dialogue with someone, finished all three tasks of [Descend], and unlocked all the functions available to players, including: [Game Forum], [Limited Time Event], [Starry Abyss Auto Chess], [Game Mall], and 19 other functions.

Some things he hadn't had time to check out yet, such as the good stuff in [Game Mall]. And icons like [Player Forum], [Limited Time Event], [Auto Chess] were still shown as greyed out, indicating they weren't unlocked.

"Maybe it has to wait until the version updates to unlock. Some things were only added with the game upgrades. For example, Auto Chess and mini-games were all added after version 4.0."

However, some functions were open to everyone from the beginning. Li Aozi had initially worried that as an NPC template, he wouldn't be compatible with player systems. But now it seemed that at least most functions were operable.

This included the [Career Achievements] function.

In "Starry Abyss," there were hundreds of thousands of achievements, each providing various enhancement effects to players.

According to Li Aozi's knowledge, a certain stage achievement could be completed right here on Azure Star, and it wasn't too difficult. It was related to these 'Romantis' cigarettes.

Right in front of the driver, he had opened the cigarette box, returned all the cigarettes, and kept the cigarette box itself, tearing off the outer shells one by one and extracting the foil paper layer between the cigarettes and the box.

Under the driver's disdainful gaze, Li Aozi folded the foil paper in reverse along the creases, and finally, he folded all ten sheets of foil paper into individual cards.

[You obtained one of the 'Romantic Messenger' series sets: Achieved "Dream Talk"]

[You obtained one of the 'Romantic Messenger' series sets (duplicate)]

[You obtained one of the 'Romantic Messenger' series sets (duplicate)]

[You obtained one of the 'Romantic Messenger' series sets: Achieved "Foolish Words"]

[You obtained one of the 'Romantic Messenger' series sets (duplicate)]

......

[You obtained one of the 'Romantic Messenger' series sets: Achieved "Mad Song"]

[Accumulated three 'Romantic Messenger' sets: Obtained Perpetual Perk: Hunting Love]

[Perpetual Perk: Hunting Love]:

Cidney Romantis was a passionate and romantic man. Long before he became Nassic's first sharpshooter, he was a crazy guy who could charm both men and women.

Swearing on his great-grandmother's name, even robots couldn't resist his affections back then.

However, a man's most attractive trait is not his appearance, but his eternal pursuit of his original intentions.

Cidney Romantis abandoned the allure of having beauty by his side and, without hesitation, carried his guns deep into Nassic's hunting grounds, facing the most ferocious and evil beasts head-on.

Here was the home of the hunter.

[Effect]: Main Attribute Growth Value +1.

[Perpetual Effect]—If the main attribute is [Charm], main attribute gains +30%.

"Good, this is it!"

Li Aozi nodded.

A perk is one of the direct reflections of the combat power of players and NPCs, providing a boost panel, support, and resistance.

A good perk can even make up for gaps in attributes.

Thinking of this, Li Aozi began to look at the driver with more favor.

If it wasn't for the extra box the driver had given him, he wouldn't have been lucky enough to draw three different sets.

Perpetual perks were rather rare and only activated under certain conditions, mainly related to ability growth.

Li Aozi placed great importance on his main attribute, [Charm].

As an experienced player, he knew very well that if the core attribute was low, playing any occupation would feel like being in prison.

[Meteor Fall Master] and even its initial occupation [Mutant] particularly emphasized a long, prison-like experience. If the core attribute couldn't keep up, one couldn't exert any useful effect.

"I almost forgot, although Frost Plated is barren and full of troublesome people—Frost Plated is also the place where you can gain the most perks!"

Li Aozi knew many female players from Frost Plated. Although their levels were suppressed compared to players from other countries, each of them had at least five perks when they competed in the arena.

One professional player even had 24 combat perks at just level 60!

Many people couldn't gather that many perks even by level 100, and they were all combat perks. When it came to a real fight, it was like having three extra pieces of equipment.

This allowed that female player to dominate the solo rankings for two versions of the game.

The 'Romantic Messenger' series had a total of 13 cigarette box sets. Once all were collected, one would gain a considerable [Charm] boost, which fit very well with the [Mutant] perk.

"Similarly, if I head to the shelter, I should be able to get that extremely rare perk too…"

Li Aozi squinted his eyes.

Although that perk wasn't a [Charm] benefit, it had an effect that everyone envied. If obtained early, it could completely reverse the prison-like experience of [Mutant] in the early stages.

"Get off quickly, or you'll freeze to death when it gets dark."

The driver started shooing him off. Li Aozi didn't linger, picked up his luggage, and pushed open the car door.

Roaring winds whipped up ice and sand, fiercely pounding against the car doors. Li Aozi was used to it. He wrapped his scarf around his head like a turban, leaving only a slit for his eyes like a bandit. He calmly pulled the car door shut behind him, closing it with a heavy thud that was almost lost in the wind.

As soon as he shut the door, the driver stepped on the gas and left without hesitation.

Li Aozi turned his head, not caring about the truck driver's hasty departure. Instead, he looked up toward the sky.

The Outer World's sky.

The cold sky was shrouded in an eerie mix of black and red gaseous substances. No sunlight could penetrate the thick black and red atmosphere to reach the ground. The cold air was filled with a sense of unease. Without sunlight, the snow-covered earth couldn't melt, leaving a thin layer of frost on the barren sand like a galvanized coating.

Snow and sand fiercely rubbed against each other in the raging wind, causing tiny particles to collide and overlap, creating a delicate rustling sound that lingered by the ears. Just one step into the snow, the soft snow and sand deformed underfoot, producing a weird creaking sound. The sound was distorted by the wind, making it seem like a whisper was right next to the ear.

Cold, despair, lifelessness.

This was the world abandoned and exploited by the Four Nations, occupying seventy percent of Azure Star.

The large atmosphere was layer upon layer surrounded by nanomachine particles, intercepting and absorbing sunlight. Meanwhile, the Four Nations built orbital elevators around the four oceans, using the accumulated solar energy from the nanoclouds for power generation, monopolizing the resources tightly.

"Human cruelty towards their kind far surpasses that of the Void and Demons."

Li Aozi quipped sarcastically, wiped the ice particles off his eyelashes, and shivered massively in the cold. The sensation on his skin clearly told him that he was no longer entering this world as a player.

This was his life.

Players had the chance to start over, but facing this deathly expanse, he had only one choice.

Conquer.

Not merely survive, as this harsh land was filled with danger and brutality. Only the strongest could live here.

"Welcome to the Outer World."