Chapter 13: Fifteen Passives
Hanks stared at the 4 remaining attribute points. His eyes locked first on Constitution.
"If I boost durability and recovery first, maybe it'll reduce the crash from energy burn."
"After all… as our forefathers once said: 'The body is the capital of revolution.'"
He acted immediately—polished off the last of the food in his pack.
"System—add point!"
A wave of bone-deep agony surged through him—sudden and violent.
It felt like red-hot needles stabbing through his bone marrow, racing through his veins.
"Hiss—f**k!!!"
Cold sweat drenched his back. His teeth clenched hard, veins bulging on his forehead.
He felt something like a fire igniting inside his chest and spreading through his limbs—cells tearing and fusing, muscles twitching and tightening before relaxing again, like steel hammered over and over.
His skin thickened; muscle and fat distribution shifted to a more efficient structure.
His stamina, lung capacity, blood circulation, and oxygen utilization all improved dramatically.
Most noticeable was the fading of the weakness and dizziness caused by his earlier Agility upgrades—his recovery baseline had risen.
[Constitution: 2/10]
New Passives Unlocked:
Iron Stomach: 1/5
(Your digestive system works like a furnace—extracting far more energy from food, easing Attribute upgrade energy drain.)
Regeneration: 1/5
(Cell activity boosted—wounds heal and stamina recovers faster than normal.)
Vitality: 1/5
(Stronger bones and organs—slightly higher resistance to disease, toxins, and fatigue.)
"Iron Stomach, Regeneration, Vitality!"
Hanks' eyes lit up. This was exactly what he needed as a foundation.
Especially Iron Stomach—tailor-made for his situation. Much more efficient energy conversion.
With this at his back, he finally felt confident enough to continue upgrading.
"Strength—add point!"
BOOM!
This time, raw explosive force erupted inside his body.
Muscle fibers tore and re-knit in thicker ropes, bones vibrated with a dense hum as they grew stronger, heavier, harder.
It still hurt—but the combination of Constitution passives kept him from blacking out.
He was starving again, but he remained conscious and stable—his body could handle the shock now.
[Strength: 2/10]
New Passives Unlocked:
Carrying Capacity: 1/5
(Muscle and bone structure optimized—heavy loads feel lighter.)
Burst Power: 1/5
(You can channel full-body strength into a single instant of explosive force.)
Toughness: 1/5
(Muscle density increased—impact and force are absorbed and dispersed more effectively.)
"It works!"
Hanks grinned through the pain. The 'Constitution first' strategy paid off.
He could feel the surging strength and resilience beneath his skin. Yes, he was starving, but he felt stronger than ever.
He could still keep going. 2 attribute points left.
"Perception—add point!"
Instantly, the world sharpened. His senses—hearing, sight, smell—intensified.
[Perception: 2/10]
New Passives Unlocked:
Danger Sense: 1/5
(An early warning instinct for threats—your gut reacts before your mind does.)
Insight: 1/5
(You notice environmental anomalies—hidden loot, unnatural disturbances, traces others miss.)
Hyper Sense: 1/5
(When focused, one sense—hearing, sight, or smell—temporarily heightens drastically.)
One point left.
Hanks lay on the ground twitching like some junkie mid-high.
The hunger hit hard again—Iron Stomach working overtime, like it wanted to digest his stomach acid next.
Continuous upgrades were torture—but as they say, better one big pain than a thousand small ones.
"Add… add the point!"
A cool yet strangely electrifying current surged straight into his cerebral cortex. His thoughts accelerated sharply—processing, analysis, and comprehension all jumped to a new tier.
[Intelligence: 2/10]
New Passives Unlocked:
Mechanics: 1/5
(You now grasp basic mechanical and physical principles. You can analyze mechanical failures systematically—not just by trial and error.)
Energy Science: 1/5
(You understand the fundamentals of power generation, energy conversion, storage, and utilization.)
Information Science: 1/5
(You've gained basics of information theory, cryptography, and signal processing—making it easier to filter radio noise, decode complex signals, and crack simple ciphers.)
"Huh—? What did you cram into my head!?"
"Slow down—too much—too fast—!"
"Ah—! Ngh—!!"
Hanks nearly collapsed. A stabbing pain shot through his skull, and he rolled on the floor as if struck by a psychic overload.
A flood of knowledge—mechanical schematics, energy systems, data logic—poured into his brain and printed itself in place.
Gears meshing. Electrical currents. Information packets and coded structures.
Concepts he had never studied now connected with crystal clarity, as if he'd always known them.
Pain aside, a strange enlightenment bloomed. His perception of the world was reshaped—at a physical, structural level.
He looked at the P226 in his holster—not just as a weapon he could take apart and clean, but…
He now understood the firing mechanism, the efficiency of the primer's chemical-to-kinetic conversion, the fatigue limits of the metal components, and how to optimize them.
His eyes drifted to the damaged fence on the farm's east side.
His brain instantly generated three different reinforcement models using only on-site materials—structurally sound and mechanically efficient.
"This… this is the power of knowledge."
Panting, sweat-drenched, Hanks finally pulled himself out of the torrent.
His body felt drained to the brink of collapse—but his mind had never been clearer.
For the first time, he didn't just feel strong—he felt capable.
No longer just a brute with a gun—
Lock the door and call him Engineer Hanks.
[Name: Hanks Adolf]
[Level: 4 | EXP: 15/30]
[Attribute Points: 0]
Perception: 2/10 (Danger Sense Lv1, Insight Lv1, Hyper Sense Lv1)
Strength: 2/10 (Carrying Capacity Lv1, Burst Power Lv1, Toughness Lv1)
Constitution: 2/10 (Iron Stomach Lv1, Regeneration Lv1, Vitality Lv1)
Agility: 4/10 (Speed Lv1, Parkour Lv1, Stealth Lv1)
Intelligence: 2/10 (Mechanics Lv1, Energy Science Lv1, Information Science Lv1)
His physical stats had nearly doubled.
Fifteen passives now supported him—pushing his combat and survival abilities to a whole new level.
"Though… damn, is this draining."
"No way I'm doing all upgrades at once ever again."
He muttered weakly, trying to stand and search for food.
Just then—
A soft, slightly awkward voice sounded behind him:
"Uh… hey. Do you… need help? You look really hungry."