Chapter 279: Interacting with the System & New Tech

October 29th, 2023. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Richard opened his system and navigated to his Skill Tab. He had reached level 60 thanks to the nuclear strike operation across the world. Due to that, a new tier of skills was unlocked.

[New Skills Available]

He tapped that floating message icon and suddenly, the new skill was revealed.

[New Skills Available]

The first skill, [Vitality Level 1: Increase your health points by 25 percent], was just the beginning. He continued to explore the other newly unlocked abilities:

[Reinforced Resolve Level 1: Bolster’s mental fortitude, reducing stress and decision fatigue by 20 percent in high-pressure environments.]

[Enhanced Perception Level 1: Sharpens sensory awareness, increasing the ability to detect and react to imminent threats by 250 percent.]

Richard frowned as he noticed the similarities in the new skills. They are all intrinsic skills like they improved him internally. He looked at his current stats displayed.

[User: Richard Gonzales

Health: 100/100

Age: 22

Level: 60

Available Skill Points:18

Skills: Weapon Proficiency Level 3, Melee Proficiency Level 3, Driving Proficiency Level 1, Tactical Mastery Level 2, Pilot Mastery Level 1.

Experience points: 13,172,678,512/15,451,156,390

Gold balance: 2,135,556,215,097]

Richard hummed. He has eighteen points. First and foremost, he needed to increase his Pilot Mastery Skill to Level 2 hoping that it would improve his performance, especially on flight, while using the Titan’s Guard Mark II. So he upgraded that, spending four points, and now he was down to 14 points.

Next, Richard noticed during his battle with Lin Feng that his health bar was taking a hit, though not in Lin Feng but on other enemies. It was certain that if his health points reached zero, it would be over for him and for humanity. So he chose the Vitality Skill and leveled it up to 2, which increased his health by over 500 percent. He is down by 9 points.

He checked his health bar and saw that his health points increased from 100 to 1,000. He wondered how many health points Lin Feng had.

Richard shook his head from distracting thoughts. It’s time that he focused on himself first before others. So nine points. The Enhanced Perception Level 1 skill caught his eye. Even though the Titan’s Guard Mark II had predictive features, having such skills intrinsically would likely give him an extra edge, a deeper level of awareness that could be crucial in the heat of battle. Deciding it was worth the investment, he selected Enhanced Perception Level 1, costing him five of his remaining nine skill points.

After acquiring the skill, Richard immediately felt a heightened sense of awareness. His surroundings in the command center became more vivid, and he could perceive minor details he previously overlooked. It was as if his senses were amplified, allowing him to pick up on subtle cues in his environment.

With four skill points remaining, Richard contemplated his next move. He considered further enhancing his Tactical Mastery or perhaps saving the points for future needs. After a moment of thought, he decided to hold onto the remaining points. The situation was evolving rapidly, and it was wise to have some skill points in reserve for unforeseen circumstances.

Richard then shifted his focus to his next agenda, and that is, the Wheel of Fortune! That’s right, the Wheel of Fortune, the system feature that granted him the Hail Mary in the early days of the apocalypse. He wondered what the prizes were as he noticed that as he leveled up, the prizes increased as well.

[Wheel of Fortune Prize List:]

[500,000,000 Gold Coins.]

[750,000,000 Gold Coins.]

[Luxurious Chest 1x]

[Random Futuristic Tech (Can be used regardless of level)]

[Precious Chest 5x.]

[2x Wheel of Fortune Spin]

[Discount Capsules Supply Packs]

[Misfortune]

And it was the end of the list. 8 possible prizes. The prize he was aiming for was the Random Futuristic Tech. Why? Because he only has a copious amount of money he doesn’t need it. Luxurious Chest? Well, who knows what it contains so if he didn’t get what he wanted, he would want the luxurious chest as the second choice.

But what about "Misfortune"? Weird, he didn’t see those before in his previous spin. Does that mean if the arrow stopped at it, he’d receive nothing? If that’s the case, it would be bad for him so he hoped the Wheel of Fortune won’t stop there.

Okay, enough thoughts. Richard pressed the "Spin" icon and it began, the Wheel of Fortune spun rapidly, with Richard’s gaze intently following its every movement. As it began to slow, his heart rate increased slightly in anticipation. The wheel edged past the gold coins and the Luxurious Chest, coming to a stop on [2x Wheel of Fortune Spin]. Richard’s lips curled into a small smile; this meant two more chances at the Random Futuristic Tech.

He didn’t waste any time and immediately hit the ’Spin’ button again. The wheel spun with a whirring sound, the colorful segments blurring before his eyes. The wheel gradually lost momentum and approached the prize sections. Richard’s hope surged as it neared the Random Futuristic Tech, but then, to his dismay, it clicked past it and landed on [Misfortune].

A wave of frustration washed over Richard. The ’Misfortune’ segment meant he received nothing from this spin. He took a deep breath, trying to push away the irritation. This was a setback, but he still had one more spin.

"Please don’t be a gold coin and or a precious chest," Richard mouthed a prayer.

Gathering his focus, Richard tapped the ’Spin’ icon for the last time. As the wheel began to slow, it passed the gold coins rewards and the precious chest. With that, Richard sighed but it was not the end. It also passed the luxurious chest.

Richard’s eyes widened as it inched closer to the Random Futuristic Tech. And then, it stopped right there.

[Congratulations! You have won: ’Random Futuristic Tech’]

A rush of exhilaration replaced the earlier frustration. Richard felt a surge of victory - this was exactly what he had hoped for. He eagerly tapped to reveal his prize:

[Congratulations! You have received: Heavily-Armed Mecha]

Richard’s eyes lit up as he read the description of his new prize. The ’Titan’s Defender’ was a state-of-the-art armored mecha, designed for high-intensity combat scenarios. The detailed specs appeared on his screen:

Model: Titan’s Defender - Level 1 Mecha

Height: 8 meters

Weight: 30 tons

Armor: Nano-composite armor plating with reactive armor capabilities. Provides high resistance to ballistic, energy, and explosive damage.

Power Source: Dual-core fusion reactor, providing extended operational capability and high energy output.

Propulsion: Hybrid system consisting of legged mobility for ground operations and jet propulsion for short-range flight and enhanced mobility.

Armaments:

Primary Weapon: Dual shoulder-mounted railguns, capable of firing armor-piercing rounds at hypersonic speeds.

Secondary Weapon: Arm-mounted plasma blades for close combat, with adjustable intensity for cutting through various material densities.

Tertiary Weapon System: Chest-mounted micro-missile launcher, housing a rapid-fire array of guided missiles.

Defensive Capabilities: Deployable energy shield, capable of deflecting projectiles and energy beams. Integrated countermeasure system for missile and tracking disruption.

Additional Features:

Advanced targeting and surveillance systems with real-time data link capabilities.

AI-assisted piloting and combat decision-making systems.

Environmental adaptation systems for operation in diverse climates and terrains.

Emergency ejection system with pilot safety capsule.

"So in higher levels, there are mechas huh?"