[Ding ~ Investigation complete]
[Target: Viya]
[Status: Normal]
[Sanity: ? ?]
[Spirit Power: 20]
[Inspiration: 10]
[Cognition: 15]
This result surprised Lloyd a bit. The four attributes were much lower than he had anticipated.
He had expected to see a vast expanse of "? ?", which would have meant exceeding the upper limit of his 20 points of [Inspiration].
As it turned out, only [Sanity] had a very high numerical value...
This changed Lloyd's impression of Viya slightly. Although she was still as aloof and beautiful as ever, she no longer felt as out of reach as he had previously thought.
"Is something the matter?"
Viya walked up to Lloyd, noticing that he had been staring at her, and asked.
"It's nothing, good morning, Inquisitor Viya."
Lloyd offered a casual greeting.
Viya did not reply. She merely nodded at an almost imperceptible angle and walked straight past him.
Yet the moment she brushed past Lloyd, her pace stiffened slightly, and a flash of bewilderment quickly crossed her gray eyes.
She felt that Lloyd seemed somewhat different from the last time they met.
However, inspiration was her weak point. Unable to pinpoint exactly how he was different, she did not jump to conclusions, nor did she stop walking.
She would just chalk it up to another gifted youth emerging.
Viya had been staying in Sector 18—a place specially dedicated to cultivating newcomers—for nearly six years. During this time, she had witnessed all kinds of geniuses, so many that she could no longer remember the count, and she had long since grown accustomed to it.
The only one who had ever left a deep impression on her was that single person from three years ago.
In other words, Sector 18's training model—which offered no guidance, relied entirely on self-discipline, and granted a maximum of two years—tested not only the Enforcers' self-control and learning abilities, but even more so, their raw talent.
Who among those who finally walked out of here didn't possess a touch of "genius"?
……………………
Lloyd watched Viya walk away, then casually sought out a few Clerics and Enforcers to investigate their conditions.
As a result of this check, he truly appreciated Viya's "attribute strength"—
Aside from [Sanity], the remaining three attributes for the other Clerics basically failed to exceed 10 points, and [Inspiration] was universally very low, hovering around 6 to 7 points.
In contrast, Viya's four attributes—which stood out entirely on their own—along with her striking appearance and physique, made her tower above the rest like a "five-star" character in a gacha game.
Judging by these people's attributes, high sanity and low inspiration seemed to be the general trend here. That was actually quite good, emphasizing a sense of mental stability where everyone's condition remained completely normal.
On the other hand, the overall stats for the Enforcers were much lower, lingering at an average of around 3 to 5 points—only marginally stronger than ordinary people. Their attribute distributions were also quite random. Among them, the most extreme case had an [Inspiration] as high as 5 points, but a pitiful [Sanity] of just 1 point.
Consequently, his mental state was in very bad shape, and he had already fallen into [Mild Madness]. If things continued this way, there would likely be no turning back.
Out of the goodness of his heart, Lloyd quickly caught up to that Enforcer and patted him on the shoulder.
The man turned around, his face pale and cold, his gaze filled with bitter hatred as if he had just laid eyes on a mortal enemy. He coldly brushed Lloyd's hand away and walked off without looking back.
For a moment, Lloyd had no idea what to say and could only let the man leave.
Sigh...
"Stepping into the realm of mystery and the transcendent always demands risks and exacts a price..."
Lloyd murmured with a low sigh of emotion, then proceeded to remind himself inwardly:
Although through my unremitting struggle and hard work over this period, I've acquired a rather decent set of attributes, as a modest, restrained, and low-key young man, I cannot let myself become blindly arrogant. Attributes are just attributes; I still lack the skills or means to translate them into actual power and combat effectiveness...
Of course, I shouldn't disparage myself either. My efforts during this time have yielded results, and I am no longer inferior to those Clerics. Yep! Keep up the hard work!
His understanding and positioning of himself remained very clear-headed. His attributes in Sector 18 could indeed be considered "towering above the heroes," but if it genuinely came to executing monsters, he certainly wouldn't be as practiced as an old hand like Buster; and if it came to direct combat with a monster, he definitely wouldn't be as graceful as Viya.
He still lacked skills and practical combat experience, and he needed to find a way to improve in this area as quickly as possible.
Pondering this, Lloyd walked over to the notice board on the first floor of Tower No. 9.
As usual, Buster was already waiting for him here, arriving earlier than Lloyd every single day.
Yet, based on the various hints Lloyd had gathered through probing around, Buster did not lodge here overnight, and he deeply disliked riding the "advanced subway," yet he managed to appear early at the notice board every day to pick the monsters with higher bounties.
He was truly a hard-working person as well.
Therefore, Lloyd approached him, offered a greeting first, and then activated [Investigate].
Buster's attributes were indeed very strong, basically all sitting around 6 to 8 points—the same tier as those Clerics. It seemed he hadn't been boasting earlier; he was truly capable of walking out of here successfully.
Yet...
His [Sanity] was only 6 points, and he had already entered the state of [Mild Madness].
"Are you alright?"
Lloyd asked in a low voice.
Buster replied with a calm expression:
"Huh? What could possibly be wrong with me? The tasks scheduled for today aren't very good, though—none of them are on Basement Level 2."
Lloyd hurriedly took a careful look at the notice board. Sure enough, there were no Basement Level 2 tasks, but Basement Level 3 tasks had increased by a few, which was indeed different from the past few days.
In truth, he had been secretly observing this notice board all this time, summarizing some simple patterns. Basically, the keys for Basement Level 1 appeared most frequently and were always picked clean the fastest.
As for the remaining Basement Level 2 keys, only veterans like Buster would choose them.
As for the few Basement Level 3 keys, Lloyd had never seen anyone voluntarily choose them, yet every night when he went home, those keys starting with the number "3" would also be gone. Were they cleared out by those Clerics, perhaps?
As for even deeper levels, not even a single key had been seen...
This was actually quite normal. According to the monsterology knowledge Lloyd had acquired over these past few days, the number of such high-tier monsters was inherently small, and capturing them and shipping them over was both dangerous and troublesome. Most of the time, they were simply dealt with directly on the spot.
Besides, if keys for even deeper levels started appearing in large numbers one day, the situation would probably become rather grim...
"Why don't you pick a Basement Level 1 one today?"
Lloyd glanced at the remaining keys on the notice board and offered a suggestion.
"No, I'll take this one."
Buster reached out and plucked the key to Cell 305.
"Isn't this pushing it a bit too hard?"
Lloyd hastily tried to dissuade him, well aware of Buster's mental state.
However, Buster shook his head, a trace of an unprecedented smile even appearing on his face.
"My daughter's birthday is coming up soon, and I want to prepare a decent gift for her."
Lloyd was left completely dumbfounded.
How on earth do you have the nerve to say something like that?