[System Prompt: You have entered the second zone of the Endless Tower…]
The scenery shifted.
Gone were the stone corridors and metal chambers. Now, Dawei stood on a forest path, sunlight filtering through thick, painted tree leaves. The art style hadn't improved—still that "small studio vibe"—but at least it had changed.
Ahead, a Young Devil Leopard, labeled Level 2, prowled in the brush.
Dawei blinked.
"Wait… Level 2? I just beat a Level 30 boss. Why the reset?"
He frowned, then shrugged. Might as well try it out. Let's test the skill progress.
–58–58
[System Prompt: Player is absolutely lucky!][You have obtained Wind Speed Shooting – Intermediate Skill Information.][You have obtained Wind Speed Shooting – Intermediate Skill Information.]
"Huh?"
Dawei paused.
"Why did I trigger the skill notification twice in one hit?"
It wasn't due to his passive 'Goddess Aura', otherwise it would've directly upgraded the skill. The system used specific language: information obtained. And the double notification… that was strange.
Still, there was no time to overthink it. He farmed through the forest like a chainsaw in bamboo.
Eventually, a mini-boss dropped a shiny reward. Dawei took a break, reviewing his logs.
"Ah… I get it now."
He tapped the upgraded skill.
[Wind Speed Shooting – Basic]:Attack Speed +20%, Hit +10%, Duration: 1s, Cooldown: 10min.
Dawei muttered under his breath.
"Skills have multiple parameters. If any one stat exceeds the current limit, it triggers insight into the next tier."
"In this case… the system triggered twice because two separate attributes—Attack Speed and Hit Rate—both broke through the basic threshold."
He scratched his chin, analyzing it deeper.
"Makes sense. I'm using a Camouflage Crossbow. That gives me +25% attack speed. Then Wind Speed Shooting gives another 20%. Plus, I've got Absolute Accuracy, which gives +10% hit rate permanently. So the moment I activate the skill, both stats exceed the 'basic' range by default."
Stacked synergy.
It clicked. This is why his skill was skyrocketing so fast.
"This—this is why I chose Absolute Accuracy instead of those flashier god-tier actives. Nobody ever thinks of passives as game-breakers."
To test the theory, he logged off, let the 10-minute cooldown tick down, then reentered and used the skill again.
The mob level had already climbed to Level 4, confirming the trend: each floor added +2 levels to the enemies.
[System Prompt: Player is absolutely lucky!][You have obtained Wind Speed Shooting – Intermediate Skill Information.][You have obtained Wind Speed Shooting – Intermediate Skill Information.]
Still no full breakthrough. So, he waited again.
Next round:
[System Prompt: You have obtained Wind Speed Shooting – Intermediate Skill Information.][System Prompt: You have obtained Wind Speed Shooting – Intermediate Skill Information.][System Prompt: Congratulations! You have comprehended Wind Speed Shooting – Intermediate.]
Boom.
[Wind Speed Shooting – Intermediate]:Attack Speed +20%, Attack +10, Hit +20%Duration: 2s, Cooldown: 10min
Dawei clenched his fist.
"Damage bonus unlocked."
And more importantly, this upgrade didn't trigger with 'absolute luck'. It came from true comprehension—meaning the path forward no longer required divine intervention.
"I've left the realm of RNG. This… this is what it means to step into the high-end."
He smiled and entered full cooldown farming mode, standing still between fights, waiting out his CD, then firing the skill again. Like an old-school martial artist, perfecting every strike before moving on.
Thirty minutes later, a new prompt appeared.
[System Prompt: You have obtained Wind Speed Shooting – Advanced Skill Information.][System Prompt: You have obtained Wind Speed Shooting – Advanced Skill Information.][System Prompt: Congratulations! You have comprehended Wind Speed Shooting – Advanced.]
[Wind Speed Shooting – Advanced]:Attack Speed +25%, Attack +10, Hit +30%Duration: 3s, Cooldown: 10min
Dawei nodded in satisfaction.
"From here on, it's going to get harder. Probably dozens of activations to hit Master-level. But no rush."
He glanced at his kill stats. The mobs were scaling quickly. And once his Wind Speed Shooting hit Master-tier, he'd be strong enough to crush whatever the tower threw next.
Back at Alice Studio…
Chen Ke'er stared at the leaderboard and yawned.
"He's been stuck in the second area for over an hour. Still farming low-level mobs. Pretty disappointing."
Another girl chimed in, "You think he's bottlenecked?"
Ke'er rolled her eyes. "It's pathetic. If he really was god-tier, he wouldn't be stuck killing Level 4 mobs."
But Sophie leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowed.
"…No," she said quietly. "He's not stuck. He's farming."
"Huh?" Ke'er frowned.
Sophie's gaze didn't leave the screen. "He's farming skill progression, not experience. He's already unlocked the Intermediate and Advanced stages of his crossbow skill."
A hush fell over the room.
"He's not playing slow because he's weak. He's playing slow because he's strategic."
A slow chill passed through the studio.
Sophie whispered, "He's building a weaponized skill tree, Ke'er. And when he's done…"
"He'll detonate."