Chapter 4: Principle Of Increasing Points.

Sure enough, after adding potential points, the highest limit of the attributes increased. It seems he needs to train to bring his stats to the highest level.

Also, how does he use the skill points, and what about the newly appeared Bright? 5 Bright should equal 5 zombie corpses, right?

Well, let's see how it goes. He just killed 5 zombies and gained 5 exp, enough to level up. So, each zombie gives 1 exp, meaning to reach level 3, he needs to kill 20 zombies...

"Ding. Congratulations to the host for successfully surviving the initial phase and leveling up."

"The system offers rewards. Please choose one of the following: First, instantly increase the current level by one, the reward cannot be saved for later use. Second, receive a random skill book ranging from tier one to tier three. Third, receive a random piece of equipment ranging from tier one to tier three."

As Memphis was deep in thought, the mechanical voice startled him with a mix of surprise and joy, along with significant indecision. All three options were highly attractive; each one made him drool with desire, wishing he could take them all.

After careful consideration, Memphis decisively whispered to himself:

"Choose the random skill book."

Choosing to level up would grant 4 potential points, but it would also leave skill points unused, turning them into unusable resources. As for the equipment, he already had a baseball bat, which felt comfortable to use. If the system gave him a dagger, he wouldn't be familiar with using it. Therefore, the skill book seemed to be the most reasonable choice.

The system immediately responded:

"Confirm selection request, open?"

Memphis nodded without hesitation:

"Open."

"Ding. Congratulations on obtaining the second-tier active skill: Ice Manipulation. Skill attribute: Utilize the power of ice to effectively control ice. Skill activation: consumes 1 stamina point, 2 intelligence points, skill maintenance consumes 1 stamina point, 2 intelligence points every 10 seconds, no time limit on maintenance. Note, the power and effective radius are determined by the intelligence stat and skill level."

Memphis exhaled a breath, though he didn't fully understand the skill, it sounded quite impressive. However, it seemed to consume a lot of intelligence. With his current condition, even if fully recovered, he could only maintain it for a maximum of 40 seconds.

As for the consequences of exceeding the body's attribute limits, he didn't dare to try.

"Hmm, let's get familiar with it first, after all, I need to understand its power to know how to use it."

Thinking it through, Memphis activated the skill, consuming 1 stamina and 2 intelligence points. A dense layer of cold air immediately formed on his left hand, and within less than a second, it solidified into a 1-meter-long ice blade, looking incredibly sharp.

Memphis swung it a bit, then, with a thought, the blade transformed into a solid ice spear. He plunged the ice spear into Hughie's corpse at his feet, the sharp tip piercing through the body and embedding into the floor by about 5cm.

With 4 seconds of usage time left, Memphis waved his hand, sending cold air towards a water bottle in the corner of the room, quickly freezing it silently.

Memphis nodded slightly:

"Indeed miraculous, a second-tier skill can make one superhuman."

"The power is quite substantial, with an effective radius of about 30 meters. To control ice further away would require more stamina and intelligence."

He suddenly froze, hurriedly deactivating the ability, inwardly complaining.

"It seems that releasing cold air to affect other targets also consumes resources. Just now, I lost an intelligence point."

Using the ability on himself consumed fixed attribute points, and affecting a wider range required more intelligence points.

His eyes darted around. If he created an ice spear first, then threw it, and then created another, would it consume additional attribute points? Perhaps this could be tested later, as his stamina was down to 5 points and he couldn't experiment further.

Memphis then quickly pondered:

"What would skill point allocation achieve?"

The system on the other side immediately responded mechanically:

"Skill points will enhance skill power and extend duration. Consuming a first-level skill requires 1 skill point, a second-level skill requires 2 skill points, a third-level skill requires 3 skill points."

Memphis felt deceived. In other words, his current skill point was not usable. Ice manipulation was a second-level skill, requiring 2 skill points to enhance.

Memphis rubbed his forehead and smiled wryly, having to temporarily set things aside. He felt a bit sluggish, his intelligence reduced by 3 points, needing rest to recover.

He turned to look out the window, seeing the building opposite. On the balcony, a horde of zombies crowded around a corpse, eagerly biting and tearing.

"Really disgusting."

He bent down to look below; the street was indeed in chaos, with cars scattered everywhere, zombies and humans chasing each other noisily. Although he was temporarily in a safe place, he would have to escape soon.

The city center had too many people, making it too dangerous to stay.

Carefully planning, Memphis pushed the filing cabinet to block the door, then returned to the desk, drew the curtains, sat down, and set his phone alarm for 30 minutes.

He was utterly exhausted and needed some sleep.

In his dream, Memphis saw a giant skull opening its mouth, swallowing the entire city. It then chewed and devoured, with blood, flesh, and broken limbs falling. The giant skull laughed loudly, spitting out leftover bones, which fell straight onto his head.

Before he could react, the alarm suddenly blared, pulling him out of the horrific nightmare.

Memphis looked around in a daze, seeing a stiff corpse at his feet, with rotting, foul-smelling flesh, realizing that the true nightmare had no alarm clock.

Checking the time, 4 PM, Memphis threw his phone into his pocket, stood up, and stretched.

His stamina recovered to 10/12, and his intelligence restored to 9/10. It seemed the short nap had indeed been very restorative.

He picked up the baseball bat, taking a few steps around the office, intending to find useful items.

The office had some snacks; he found 8 packs of noodles, 1 bag of crackers, 2 boxes of hazelnut milk, 1 bag of dried bananas, and a 2-liter stainless steel water bottle, which was Jonny's belonging.