Infinity, The Arcade Age

The familiar scene transition unfolded, and once again, the slideshow began.

As the light shifted, the image froze on Qin Ming ambushing the Moonlit Sect disciples in the car, signaling his official return to the Nightmare Space.

He reappeared in his room, and with a beam of white light descending from above, his injuries rapidly healed. His severed arm grew back in an instant. Qin Ming flexed his newly restored limb but frowned, his dissatisfaction evident.

This mission had been a poor one. He earned a paltry 5000 points and only 5 free attribute points.

Aside from this, his spoils were negligible—his treasure chests were used up, and the only notable rewards were two white titles.

The culprits behind this disappointing result? The three adventurers.

Their needless interference led to a pointless conflict that left everyone worse off. They were dead, and he barely escaped with his life. No one gained anything.

"Damn those bastards," Qin Ming muttered. "Dying was too easy for them."

Sitting on the bed, he rotated his arm, his expression dark. He had believed his strength sufficient to dominate among low-level adventurers, facing missions leisurely without urgency to strengthen further. After all, his promotion mission was still far off.

But the encounter with Feng and his companions shattered that complacency.

It revealed a harsh truth: even at his level, there were stronger contenders.

"This place really is crawling with hidden dragons and crouching tigers," he sighed. "I can't afford to let my guard down."

Lying back, arms behind his head, he mulled over his next steps. The 5 attribute points he earned would go to Strength to mitigate his numerical disadvantages. Additionally, he decided to fuse his titles for maximum efficiency.

Instead of enhancing his Strength-based title, Nature's Guardian, Qin Ming opted to fuse the newly acquired Elite Steward, which boosted Constitution. His decision was deliberate—his Strength stat was already nearing the 40-point cap, the limit for the first tier. Any further increase would overflow and be wasted.

By focusing on Constitution, he could maximize his survivability.

After adding his points and fusing all four titles, a new title emerged:

Title: Elite Steward (Blue Quality)

Effect: Constitution +20

With this title equipped, his updated attributes were as follows:

Strength: 14 (23)Constitution: 21 (55)Agility: 10Spirit: 10Defense: 19

His equipment remained as robust as ever:

Therion's Wife (Radiant Silver, Plot Item)

Dinosaur Glasses (Ordinary Silver, Plot Item)

Bloody Butcher's Cotton Vest (Dull Silver, Plot Item)

Percival's Battle Pants (Blue Quality)

Ace Bodyguard's Gold Belt (Blue, Plot Item)

He had five fully occupied skill slots:

Advanced Martial Arts Mastery (B-Level)

Advanced Firearms Mastery (B-Level)

Intermediate Armed Combat Mastery (C-Level)

True Sonic Hand Knife (B-Level)

True Essence Drain (B-Level)

With 55 points in Constitution, his defensive capabilities were nearly unmatched among low-level adventurers. Yet, Qin Ming felt an underlying unease.

Could he win against someone like Feng in a rematch? If he couldn't confidently defeat an equal-tier rival, how could he hope to challenge stronger adversaries in the future?

To bridge this gap, Qin Ming decided to enhance his abilities further. He fused Ninja Bee, a newly acquired B-level finishing move, into another skill slot to create his first A-level skill.

The fusion succeeded, resulting in a new ability:

Skill: Super Essence Drain (A-Level)

Effect: Grapples and bites the target, forcibly absorbing 5 points from all attributes while siphoning their life force to heal injuries.

The added healing effect was a surprise. Qin Ming had expected increased attribute absorption—perhaps +8 or +10—but instead, the skill gained a utility boost. While the ability to heal was undoubtedly valuable, it didn't address his primary goal: compensating for his weaker Agility and Spirit stats.

Even with this enhancement, his low Agility and Spirit remained glaring vulnerabilities. Additionally, with his title change, his Strength dropped significantly. In essence, his overall combat strength slightly declined despite these adjustments.

However, his 55-point Constitution made him exceptionally resilient, ensuring that defeating him was one thing—but killing him was an entirely different challenge.

"Fine," he muttered, "life's never perfect. This will do for now."

With his attribute points and title set, Qin Ming turned his attention to the 5000 points remaining in his balance.

3500 points went toward purchasing a C-level skill to upgrade his final C-level passive skill into B-level.

The remaining 1500 points replenished consumables lost during the previous mission.

After exhausting every last point, Qin Ming felt as ready as he could be.

Having finalized his preparations, he exited the Nightmare Space to rest and recover in the real world.

Meanwhile, the blindfolded woman who had fled the mission also returned to her squad's base in the Nightmare Space, her expression dark and contemplative...

(End of Chapter)