Chapter 4 - Testing

Drake's heart sank. Brainwashing was a common method of subordination, and while in the game, a brainwashed character would simply become an ally of the faction, it was completely different now! Losing his sense of self was the worst-case scenario.

'No way!'

The good news was that memory-altering technology available on the planet was still under-developed, so the organization's methods were very primitive; they made use of sensory stimuli to re-calibrate the subject. A character with at least ten points in intelligence would be immune to the effects of the brainwashing.

Valkyrie had already given Drake a +1 boost to the growth of the potential of Endurance. Growth potential was an innate star that affected the growth rate of the affected stat. Different races had differing starting potentials in each stat, and in the entire world of Galaxy, humans generally had a mediocre growth rate. They did, however, boast the highest intelligence potential. As they also possessed the lowest Health, this single point in Endurance growth potential was nice to have.

[Concentration] gave him a 10% increase in mastery and crafting speeds, also increasing their success rates.

[Low-level willpower] gave him three points of Willpower, which substituted for three points of intelligence, so he still lacked three more intelligences to survive the brainwashing.

'Leveling the civilian class will boost a random stat by one, and also give me one unassigned stat point.. the chance of intelligence to be boosted is extremely low.'

Drake knew he could not rely on luck. He had always suspected that he was cursed. If a god or goddess did smile upon him, it would be the goddess of disaster. Rather than relying on luck, finding some way to learn a new class was a more reliable idea.

Although Drake was incapable of moving freely, there had to be a way! After all, it was a scenario, wasn't it?

Suddenly he thought of something.

'If I am a transmigrator. I should be protected by the system. right?'

Take him!” Ordered Hila.

Drake was yanked away once again and brought to another room.

Drake noticed that there was a bookshelf in this room.

[Tom's introduction to Machinery]

[A Theory on Human Genes and Lizard Genes]

They were all reference books

'Hold on, there's a class book there!' rejoiced Drake.

Drake disregarded the two guards behind him as he stood up to walk towards the shelf.

His actions startled everyone, and instantly, the two guards were pointing guns at him. However, Drake steeled his nerves and continued to approach the bookshelf.

'You should better not fire!' he prayed.

'I am a valuable test subject.'

“Hold your fire! Let's see what he's up to,” shouted Doctor Calebite all of a sudden.

The two guards hesitantly lowered their guns.

Sigh!

Drake heaved a sigh of relief. He had been banking everything on his status as the first successful subject.

[Tom's introduction to Machinery]

This was the book that caught Drake's eye. He picked it out from the shelf and started flipping through it.

Although the long paragraphs of texts and complex diagrams were hard for Drake to comprehend, he patiently read on. After twenty seconds or so, the interface lit up.

*

«You have completed one session of self-learning in basic machinery knowledge!

[Basic Assembly] has progressed by 2.0% (based on your intelligence).

(+0.2% from Concentration)»

*

'As I expected!' Drake rejoiced. Although he wasn't able to understand the book's contents on his own, the system's automated mastery system has allowed him to directly absorb the knowledge.

Doctor Calebite's curiosity was piqued. The test subject seemed to be learning!

He allowed Drake to continue to observe him more. The entire room was now silent, except for the rustling of paper.

«Basic Assembly:

Progress Rate: 15% (+1.5%)

29% (+2.9%)

48% (+4.8%)»

Drake's reading speed increased with time. However, the pressure mounted on. Every second that passed could be his last. When Hila arrived at the room, the sight of Drake reading caused her to frown.

“What's going on?”

Doctor Calebite began to explain what had happened.

“You're saying that his learning ability has been strengthened?”

“That is my initial conclusion. If you allow me to open his head up to perform a thorough assessment, I will be able to come up with a more complete answer.”

Drake flinched.

'How much does this bastard love brains!'

Hila thought to herself

'If his brain has been enhanced, he could prove to be even more valuable than we initially thought.'

“Is the brainwashing apparatus ready?” she asked.

“Preparations are complete.”

'Damn it! I have to be faster!' thought Drake.

Suddenly a notification accompanied by a sound rang in his head and an interface popped up.

«Basic Assembly

Progress Rate: 90% (+10)

You have learned basic knowledge of Machinery, unlocking the Mechanic talent tree!

You have unlocked a new profession:

[Mechanic (Novice)]

Strength: +10

Intelligence: +1

Endurance: +1

You have gained 2 stat points

You have gained 1 talent point

You have acquired new skills:

[Mechanic (Novice)]

[Basic Maintenance]

[Basic Enhancement]»

As warmth surged through Drake's body, he realized to his surprise that he could comprehend the content of the book now!

'I can gain knowledge from the game!? Are you kidding me!? Of course, I can, this is my new life.. hold on! Galaxy has been in service for over a decade! How come the Federation of Earth hasn't conquered the Milky Way yet!?'

Sigh!

'What am I thinking? I should focus on the situation at hand. The system has updated my status window.'

«Name: Drake Michaelson

Race: Human/Carbon-based (Yellow)

Model: NPC (Countdown to version 1.0 launch: 358 days 10 hours 11 minutes)

Level: 2

Experience: 0

Main class: Engineer (Novice) – Level 1 (0/200)

Sub-class: Civilian level 1 (0/50)

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 3

Endurance: 5

Intelligence: 4

Mystery: 1

Charm: 2

Luck: 1

Unassigned stats: 2

Energy 10 (level 1)

Level 1 (10) – [Strength +1, Dexterity +1, Endurance +1, Max Stamina +20]

Energy Rank: 3~4

Grade: F (Mortal)

[System's remark: You still have the combat power to take on five lowly thugs!]

Health point: 43/50 (injured)

Stamina: 36/36

Abilities: Concentration (+10 to learning and crafting speed), Lesser  Willpower (+3 to focus)

Skills: Creator (Novice)

Level 1 (0/1,000) – Increases mastery of engineering

[Basic Maintenance] Level 1 (0/400) – Able to perform simple maintenance

[Basic Enhancement] Level 1 (0/600) – Able to enhance machinery

Potential: 1

Class Talents: Arms Basic Assembly Level 1 (19 talents not learnt), Energy (20 talents not learnt), Control (20 talents not learnt)

Influence: 0

Legend: 0

Equipment: None

[System's conclusive remark: On the right track. I suggest you speed things up, there's not much time!]»

Regarding his stats, strength improved melee damage and was also a requirement for some heavy equipment. Dexterity improved speed, attack speed, and evasion. It also gave a bonus to ranged attacks. Endurance increases Health and Energy. 1 Endurance gave 10 Health Points and 10 Energy. Endurance also affected some abilities and skills and increased Health Points and Energy recovery rates. All actions depleted Energy, be it attacking, blocking, walking, running, swimming, crafting, etc.

Endurance also affected physical defence. There were many formulas contributing to the calculation of defence. For example, even if two characters' defence stats were equal, one of them might not be wearing metal armour, so they would take more damage from a bullet than another character.

Other factors that affected damage taken included Energy, range, bullet type, racial characteristics, and equipment material. All of these factors were taken into consideration when calculated by the quantum computer that the servers were run on. It was impossible for players to accurately optimize defence, but this wasn't that big of a deal, as having more defence could only be a good thing.

Intelligence affected growth rates and Willpower. A character with higher intelligence could master their skills faster. It also increased mastery and crafting speeds, and it could affect the quality of any machinery crafted by a Mechanic, making it the most important stat for the class.

Mystery affected a character's talent for supernatural powers, and it also affected psychic powers and magic abilities like how Strength or Dexterity affected physical abilities.

Charm was useful when improving relationships with different NPCs and Factions. It even enabled characters to enjoy discounts with certain sellers.

Luck affected judgement and item drop rates.

These were the seven main attributes that stat points could be added to. Then there was also Energy, a core component of the game that functions as 'Mana' for superpowers. It could only be increased through levelling or by acquiring certain skills, and it was described as a manifestation of the dormant power that lies in living cells. Energy was a requirement to unlock superpowers, as well as talent awakening.

Now having gained two unassigned stat points from unlocking the Mechanic class, Drake still needed one more intelligence to endure the brainwash. Apart from levelling up, there did not seem to be a way for him to obtain it. How was he supposed to gain experience? He obviously couldn't hunt monsters now or complete quests!

'Damn it, is there no way!?'