nagpurpolice Chapter 23 Earth Online is getting more and more fun!
Chapter 23 Earth Online is getting more and more fun!
Stepping out of Professor Lovecraft's house, the cold mist of Regent's Park hit me.
Winston stopped on the steps, put one arm behind his back, and stared motionlessly into the void in front of him.
Martin followed behind him, closing the door behind him to shut out the smell of old paper mixed with biscuits inside.
"prime minister?"
Winston raised his hand, signaling him not to speak yet.
The system panel floated silently in his field of vision.
[The meeting has concluded! It successfully inspired everyone present! The loyalty of the esoteric members who listened attentively to the meeting has increased.]
Loyalty cannot be quantified... after all, this is a real world.
[Management Skills: 6→11 (You shouldn't be a cult leader; you should start your own business and open a small shop, at least you won't go bankrupt)]
[Authority: 5→10 (You have a certain reputation within a certain area... mainly because a few people trust you too much)]
[Charm: 7→12 (It's too early to expect young girls to fall at your feet)]
[Passion: 10→20 (Parallel Universe Earth Online: The More You Play, the More Fun It Gets)]
Authority Points: +100
Current authority points: 150
But I can quantify it myself.
Winston stared at the contents in parentheses for a while, then couldn't help but think to himself:
"Come here and admit that you wrote all these descriptive words, and I will definitely not scold you."
"Caw!" the black eagle cried from its perch on a treetop. "It wasn't me... really not! At most, your cheat ability was only slightly affected by me..."
A tiny bit, right?
Birds were chirping in the sky, and Martin beside him was puzzled, wondering, "What kind of bird is that? Why do I keep seeing it lately?" Winston, on the other hand, walked to the side of the street and called for a driver, intending to get back to Downing Street before dawn.
On the way, he reopened the system panel and decided to upgrade his skill.
He had fifty authority points left, but this time he was rewarded with one hundred points at the meeting, which is enough to upgrade Absolute Materialism to Lv.5.
[Consuming 80 Authority Points, Absolute Materialism Lv.4 → Absolute Materialism Lv.5]
To upgrade to Lv.6, you need 160 authority points, and each upgrade requires twice the amount of the previous one.
After reaching level 5, the skill description remained unchanged, but the cap for Mysticism immediately increased from 999 to 1200.
To Winston's surprise, the system no longer warned that "excessive occultism may attract the attention of unknown beings."
Does "too high" actually mean that the upper limit is too high?
If he can raise the upper limit to one million, even if the occult value is one hundred thousand, it won't be considered high.
If that's the case, then system, you understand relativity...
Winston hoped so, because he simply couldn't stand being watched by the Old God every day—don't think migraines aren't an illness; Cao Cao even beheaded Hua Tuo for a headache back then (not really)!
But then again, as much as it's a headache, the skill of "absolute materialism" is really useful, practically a life-saving technique.
The Eye of Insight is also very useful, and Winston has never been able to bring himself to upgrade it because the Eye of Insight Lv.1 is already quite good.
What are the underlying principles behind these skills? Are they simply cheat codes?
Winston couldn't help but recall the conversation he had just had in Norman's study.
"Magic is the most extravagant and useless power in the world."
"The most harmless spells are mostly innate—a very small number of people will spontaneously learn a spell as they grow up."
Are the skills given by the system considered magic?
If we're talking about spells, Norman said each person can only learn one spell, but Winston already has two.
He'll definitely have a third, a fourth skill in the future... What's the difference between them? What is magic power? What's the difference between skills that consume magic power and those that don't? And why weren't the exorcism prayers that were effective before counted as system skills?
Winston thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so he decided to give up. According to Norman, the occult is a niche discipline in this world. Those in the field either lack money or life. If he could figure out all his questions, he could probably publish ten papers in "Supernature".
He asked the system bluntly, "Besides upgrading existing skills, can I use Authority Points to exchange for new skills?"
The reason for asking this question is that the system has always been reliable, and v1888 keeps making irresponsible remarks about "human beings developing less than one percent of the cheat codes".
The system was silent for a brief moment.
Then the panel refreshes, and a brand new interface pops up.
[Skill Exchange List]
Wow, it really works!
Winston was utterly shocked—could the system have secretly updated itself in those few seconds after he suggested it? Did the programmer even have fingers left?!
He quickly glanced up and down and found that the list contained a dense array of skill names, but most of them were heavily pixelated, and he could only vaguely make out some distorted outlines and symbols of unknown meaning.
[Warning: You currently lack sufficient occult knowledge entries; most skills are locked.]
It seems reasonable that there are no illiterate monks among them.
Only the bottom few lines are still somewhat clear.
Animal Affinity Lv.1
Required Authority Points for Exchange: 70 points
[After using this skill, you will be able to communicate with animals on a very basic level, limited to the transmission of instinctive emotions and the understanding of simple commands. Each use will consume 3 mana.]
Whisperer Lv.1
Required Authority Points for Exchange: 70 points
Your voice can subtly influence the listener's mind; the effect depends on their willpower, mental state, and relationship with you. Each use consumes 3 points of magic.
Night Vision Lv.1
Required Authority Points for Exchange: 50 points
[Gain cat-like vision in the dark. This skill is a continuous effect, costing 3 mana per minute.]
Besides that, we can't afford to replace the rest.
Winston's gaze lingered on the list for a moment.
It's animal-friendly and can talk to pigeons and stray cats and dogs on the street, which sounds impressive. However, considering the brain capacity of ordinary animals, its effect is probably roughly equivalent to a "paper towel and radish cat".
Night vision, putting aside whether it's even useful, consumes five mana points per minute—why not just kidnap a legendary mage on the street to use as your health pack? This skill is second only to setting fire to the national treasury in terms of its worthlessness.
Finally, there's the "Whisperer," who can exert a slight influence on the listener's mind... Winston deals with humans every day, so this skill might just be surprisingly effective!
Winston telepathically told v1888, "I have a plan."
v1888 replied gagaly, "How rare! Someone, bring a larger cup! I'm all ears."
Winston: "Knowing that the prime minister of this country, unfortunately, that is me, is still in the stage of being infamous for fainting in front of the king, what do you think would happen if I used 'whisperer' in front of all the reporters and audiences during a media interview? It's a pity that there is no television or radio now."
Before v1888 could answer, Martin, sitting opposite Winston, was so annoyed by the birdsong that he said irritably:
"London's sanitation needs improvement, otherwise these birds, which look like they'll peck at corpses and might even eat feces, will soon be everywhere."
v1888: [...]
v1888: [...]
Once it realized what was happening, its feathers stood on end: "You're the one who eats shit! Your whole family eats shit!! Winston, I agree with your plan and strongly suggest you test it on this person first!"