god of tomorrow

The six skeletons were completely naked, lacking any protective armor. Their bodies were old and grayish-white, the surfaces of their bones riddled with pits from the erosion of time. In the hand of each skeleton, a short knife was tightly gripped, crafted from leg bones. The blades were rough, crudely sharpened, with only the tips showing exceptional sharpness.

Another bone dog was swift, with sharp spikes protruding from its vertebrae. Its four paws stomped silently on the ground, like a ghost. Its speed was even more exaggerated than that of the skeleton soldiers. Its eyes, which were burning with soul fire, were fixed on Gawain, and it opened its mouth to let out a silent roar.

The flashlight could only illuminate ten meters, meaning that the moment Gawain saw the skeleton soldier, he himself had entered the skeleton soldier's attack range.

With just three steps, the bone blade could easily pierce his chest.

Within three steps, the knife is swift!

The gun is accurate and fast!

Without a word, Gao Wen's right hand flashed into his robes, pulling out the heavy revolver. In the instant the bone blade, carrying deathly aura, lunged at him, he retreated, raised the gun, and pulled the trigger—the movements were smooth and fluid, executed in one fluid motion.

Pressure can really help people grow.

boom!

The gunshots were deafening in the silent darkness, but the expected scene of bones shattering did not occur.

Miss!

Chapter 7: Recharge your membership and watch ads to revive.

At such close range, there was no reason to miss. It was simply that the skeleton soldiers had a racial advantage; they had no flesh and blood, and their bodies were full of holes. The bullets passed through the gaps between their bones without causing even the slightest damage.

Seeing that the enemy ignored the firearms, Gawain decisively quickened his retreat, while pulling out the baseball bat tucked into his waistband.

This fire poker won't do, get a different one!

Calm down and think about it; blunt weapons are still the best way to deal with a skeleton.

Thankfully, beginner weapons aren't sharp objects like swords or knives, as they wear out easily and don't last long. Firearms are even worse; while they seem safe unless you engage in close combat, you'll likely only hit the target briefly, and even if you do manage to hit them, it won't kill them with acute metal poisoning.

After taking several steps back, Gawain was surprised to find that the skeleton soldiers hadn't followed, or rather... the skeleton soldiers weren't as fast as him and had lost track of them.

"Dear host, now is the time to take the initiative and decisively win the first battle."

"Shut up. You're the host, and I'm the host? You'd be easy prey if you just gave up, haven't you heard of that?"

Gao Wen blushed slightly, realizing he had been too cautious. He snorted and scolded himself to save face, then glanced at his character panel.

Let's be more cautious.

Speed: 130 (S+)

Strength: 136 (S+)

Endurance: 155 (S+)

Charisma: 60 (A+)

Magic Power: 0 (F)

This is the maximum boost the system can provide without affecting Gao Wen's life. It enhances three basic stats by 100 points, lasts for 30 days, and is issued as a newbie protection card.

It's understandable that his charm wasn't enhanced; the undead don't respond to charm. He doesn't even have a tool for his crime, truly achieving a state of detachment. Gawain's charm, no matter how high, is meaningless unless he masters magic related to charm that can directly affect the opponent's mind and soul.

The magic points are still 0, which is understandable; they can't be added.

Humans cannot imagine things they have never seen, and systems are no exception. The AI ​​assistant scanned Gawain's body data but found no trace of energy related to magic.

In short, with its impressive stats in speed, strength, and endurance, and just a few bones, there's nothing to fear.

Gawain waited in place for a moment, until the fastest-moving and most powerful Bone Dog appeared in the light. He then stomped one foot on the ground and leaped out.

boom!

The powerful explosive force erupted instantly, splashing up a large amount of mud and gravel. The afterimage shot out like an arrow released from a bow, with astonishing speed, arriving in front of the undead bone hound in the blink of an eye.

The baseball bat swept across, scraping against the air, and drew a sharp arc before slamming into the bone dog's head.

This strike had no technique; it was simply a combination of speed and power.

Click!

A terrifying sound of bones cracking suddenly rang out.

Before the undead bone hound could react, its skull shattered into pieces under the heavy blow. The force exploded and spread outwards, shattering the bone hound's chest cavity as well, sending countless fragments flying like snowflakes.

The pale blue soul fire encased in the skull floated in mid-air, flickered violently for a moment, and then turned into specks of light, extinguishing in the darkness.

One fatal blow!

Gao Wen struck a blow and, without pausing, dashed away more than ten meters away before the skeleton soldiers could surround him.

Play it safe to avoid getting bogged down.

"..." x6

What's that noise? Where's the dog? x6

The skeleton soldiers were incredibly dim-witted and had no idea what was happening. One second they were aggressively preparing to surround and kill their prey, and the next they could only stand there dumbfounded, staring blankly at the bone fragments scattered all over the sky.

Click!

A sudden gust of wind sent a skeleton soldier flying backward. Before it even hit the ground, its skeletal body began to disintegrate from the chest, leaving only its head to fall to the ground and roll a long way.

Gao Wen once again fled far away, playing to his strengths and avoiding his weaknesses. He used the advantage of speed as power and power as speed to dash back and forth, attacking only one target at a time, and never stopping regardless of whether he succeeded or not.

The values ​​are like this, which makes up for the lack of combat experience.

Click! Click! Click!

The sound of bones shattering echoed everywhere. All the skeletons whose skulls were struck hard had their ghostly blue soul flames extinguished and turned into specks of light and vanished.

Click!

The last skeleton soldier fell apart, and its soul fire went out.

Gawain strode forward, found the lost skull, and waited for the AI ​​assistant to collect data and understand what magic was before smashing the soul fire with a single blow.

With enough strength, even physical methods can exorcise demons.

"Congratulations, host, you have completed the first battle. Settlement will now begin..."

"Settlement is paused; we'll discuss it later."

Gao Wen interrupted him directly, saying that there had been many problems along the way, and he had a new idea regarding membership benefits.

Now is not the time to talk. Making too much noise, especially with the gunshots, is not advisable to stay here any longer.

Gao Wen looked back at the path he had come from and charged in the opposite direction.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the darkness, Gao Wen ran quickly, using the light of his flashlight.

"Dear host, you won't get stronger by just running around like this," the AI ​​assistant gently reminded you.

"I can't get stronger, not because I run away, but because your cheat ability is too weak. In many books, the protagonist becomes invincible as he runs around."

Gao Wen remained calm and composed, demonstrating exceptional ability to shift blame.

He knew, of course, that his performance had been lackluster. His stats were maxed out, enough to easily defeat seven opponents, yet he insisted on using guerrilla tactics to pick them off one by one. But you couldn't blame him. Just a few days ago, he was sitting in his office, not even daring to help someone who had fallen on the street, let alone perform bone setting.

There needs to be an adaptation process.

Next time, definitely next time!

After running a few more steps, Gao Wencai turned off his flashlight and stopped: "Let's quickly modify the membership benefits we mentioned before, before we top up our accounts."

Having traveled this far and through the recent battle, he discovered that the system still had shortcomings and was preparing to add a few things.

"Please speak."

The AI ​​assistant's tone immediately became tense, fearing that Gao Wen would make exorbitant demands, wanting both and doing something unwise that would jeopardize his own life.

"First of all, the membership benefits should include a map function. I won't make things difficult for you. You can explore the road ahead next time. There's no reason why the road you've traveled should still be completely dark. I'm not wrong with what I'm saying, am I?" Gao Wen explained the map and asked that the road he came from be lit up.

"No problem."

The AI ​​says it's not a big problem; it simply presents the collected data intuitively, which is its purpose. It's just building a model; it won't kill the host.

"Secondly, during the battle just now, everything was pitch black in front of me, and I only managed to stay awake thanks to the flashlight. But the undead all activated Eagle Vision. Is that reasonable?"

This is clearly unreasonable; it's cheating, and it should be condemned!

To be fair, he'll open it too!

The AI ​​assistant instantly understood Gawain's thoughts and hurriedly said, "Respected host, you are currently in the underworld. The undead have the advantage of having a wide field of vision..."

"Stop arguing. Now is not the time to discuss respecting the dead. The flashlight won't last more than a few days. Once the batteries are dead, it will be too late to fix it." Gao Wen argued logically, emphasizing the need for immediate action and vigilance.

Gawain requested that red dots be added to the map and that night vision be reasonably granted upon check-in. If that wasn't possible, night vision goggles would do; he was willing to endure carrying extra weight during combat.

The AI ​​assistant said it couldn't do it. This is the underworld, and the darkness here is not the usual night. Gaining night vision would inevitably involve the laws of the underworld and would threaten Gawain's life. It was forbidden to comply.

The same principle applies to night vision devices.

Both sides had their own explanations. Gao Wen knew that the AI ​​assistant was also looking out for him, and he himself didn't want to continue overdrawing his life force. So he readily stepped back and let the AI ​​assistant figure out its own method. The goal was to enable him to locate the undead in the dark without endangering his life, rather than becoming completely blind after the battery ran out.

After pondering for a while, the AI ​​assistant suggested providing a red-name function, allowing Gao Wen to know the target's location and control the distance for attack and defense.

Any more than that, it'll kill you.

Gao Wen knew when to stop, and when he got to the third point, his tone immediately became worried: "Did you notice that the last skull, the one nobody wanted, when I got there, it had already grown half of a spine? If I hadn't cut it in time, it might have grown limbs too."

The undead possess self-healing abilities!

If you're even bolder, it's not just about self-healing; the undead have a huge home-field advantage, and those soul fires scattered by the baseball bat might very well resurrect in the fountain.

The AI ​​assistant had no relevant data, but thought Gao Wen was right, and asked warily, "What do you mean?"

"What others have, I, the host, must also have. As for benefits... I'll add new features: pay for membership and watch ads to revive."

Gao Wen found his words increasingly convincing and quickly convinced himself: "Three ads a day, you can recharge to continue watching once you run out. How about that? Something that can be solved with more money isn't too difficult for you, is it?"

AI assistant: "..."

It's not difficult, but it's a bit of a waste of the host.

"Say something!"

"..."

The AI ​​assistant remained silent, reverting to its "playing dead" mode.