Jiang City, Langlang Mountain.
Deep within the mountain forest, inside a natural cavern.
Yu Jin floated in mid-air with his eyes tightly shut, arcs of thunder flickering around him.
Wild currents of electricity crackled over his body, casting web-like cracks onto the cave's rocky walls.
[You used 'Attribute Activation Stone'!]
[You have successfully awakened your second attribute: Thunder!]
[You have unlocked Tier One Thunder Attribute Ability: Thunder Lv1]
[Passive Effect: Immune to Thunder attacks below your own Tier, and can absorb thunder to convert into energy]
[Active Effect: Release thunder to deal damage]
[You have unlocked Tier Two Thunder Attribute Ability: Flying Thunder God Lv1]
[Active Effect: Transforms into lightning to move at high speed, ignoring physical obstacles over short distances]
[You have unlocked Tier Three Thunder Attribute Ability: Thunder Roar Lv1]
[Active Effect: Unleash a high-energy thunder pulse, inflicts mental shock and 'paralysis' on enemies below your Tier]
[You have unlocked Tier Four Thunder Attribute Ability: Thunderstorm Lv1]
[Active Effect: Summon thunderclouds within a kilometer, rain down thunder pillars on targets, inflicting extra 'Purification' on Mutant Beasts/Infected Bodies]
...
[You used 'Tier Two Energy Crystal'!]
[You used 'Tier Three Energy Crystal'!]
[You used 'Tier Four Energy Crystal'!]
[You used 'Tier Five Energy Crystal'!]
[Your Tier has increased!]
[You have become a Tier Five Evolver!]
[Energy surplus, keep boosting...]
[You are one step closer to becoming a Tier Six Evolver!]
...
[Detected promotion to 'Tier Five Evolver']
[You have unlocked Tier Five Thunder Attribute Ability: Thunder Realm Lv1]
[Passive Effect: Forms a thunder electric field around your body, can continuously absorb free electrons from the environment into your own energy]
[Active Effect: Generates a thunder realm with 100-meter radius, annihilates all enemy units inside]
[You have unlocked Tier Five Light Attribute Ability: Light Realm Lv1]
[Passive Effect: Greatly increases efficiency of absorbing sunlight or artificial light as energy]
[Active Effect: Generates a 100-meter radius Light Realm. Within the realm, you receive major damage reduction, and all 'Light' attribute attacks receive a huge boost]
...
No idea how much time passed.
Inside the cave.
The thunder arcs around Yu Jin's body gradually stilled.
Boom—!
Yu Jin slowly drifted downward until his feet firmly touched the ground.
"Hoo—"
Yu Jin opened his eyes, exhaling a long, deep breath.
"I've leveled up—big time!"
Yu Jin clenched his fists softly, feeling that he had an endless supply of power inside him.
With his current enhancements from reaching Tier Five, he could probably kill… a baby cow with a single punch!
Not to mention——
All those dazzling, eye-popping skills on the system panel could practically make him dizzy.
"Thunder, Thunder Roar, Thunderstorm, Thunder Realm..."
"Flying Thunder God?"
Yu Jin arched a brow.
In the next second—
A crackling zap, thunder light flashed.
Yu Jin's figure vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was already ten meters away.
After that,
Yu Jin experimented with 'Thunder', 'Thunder Roar', 'Thunderstorm', and 'Thunder Realm' one by one.
He still sensed a vague suppression, but compared to before—maybe it was the offensive nature of 'Thunder' itself, or maybe reaching Tier Five helped—their abilities finally weren't all bark and no bite anymore.
At this moment, Yu Jin wouldn't call himself 'Thunder God' yet, but 'Thunderbolt Boy' wouldn't be an exaggeration!
Especially——
When 'Thunder Realm' was activated, a full three meters around Yu Jin crackled and roared with thunder, looking absolutely otherworldly.
The power of this thunder might not 'annihilate everything' as the system boasted, but slicing through giant trees that would take several people to hug together? Child's play!
What's more,
Yu Jin immediately tested out his 'Light' attribute abilities as well.
Just as he suspected, after reaching Tier Five Evolver, although the suppression was still there, his 'Light' attribute abilities were several times stronger than before!
Buzz——!
A single thought—
A pair of splendid, translucent Light Wings condensed on his back, lifting his body gently off the ground.
One second, two seconds, ten seconds.
One minute, two, five!
He kept it up for a whole ten minutes before finally feeling like it was hard to maintain.
During that time, he even piloted his light wings on several laps around the mountain forest.
"Now that looks kind of like Superman!"
Yu Jin grinned from ear to ear, leisurely dispersing the wings and landing steadily.
This upgrade may have burned through every Energy Crystal and Attribute Activation Stone he'd collected at the zoo today, leaving his resources bone dry—
But...
Totally worth it!
His dream of becoming 'Happy Hero' just got a major boost ahead!
"I don't know if Yin Yao was serious about this invasion, or when it would happen."
"But..."
"As long as I keep advancing, keep getting stronger..."
"Even if I really drop into a crisis-filled Wasteland World, I'll survive!"
Yu Jin's fighting spirit soared, but he wasn't the least bit cocky about it.
Quite the opposite—
He eyed the long string of new abilities on his system panel… all stuck with 'Lv1' after their names.
A full screen of Lv1—painful!
"Let's see if grinding monsters can level these up."
Yu Jin muttered and set about stalking targets through the forest.
It was the middle of the night.
Langlang Mountain was utterly deserted, most of the little animals hiding away, nowhere to be seen.
But wouldn't you know it—
Bzzzz—
Bzzz-bzzz—
A noisy band of mosquitoes was still buzzing and patrolling through the darkness.
Yu Jin had always believed that mosquitoes served zero purpose for nature or the ecosystem—there was simply no need for their existence at all.
So...
He took action.
Partly experimental, partly personal grudge.
Swoosh——!
A thin laser beam shot from Yu Jin's fingertip, instantly piercing a mosquito right through the body.
[You used 'Level 1 Laser' to kill 'Tier Two Mutant Beast—Blood Mosquito'!]
[Your ability 'Level 1 Laser' gained experience!]
"It actually worked!"
Yu Jin burst out laughing.
The mosquitoes were only rated as 'Tier Two Mutant Beast' by the system, but there were so freaking many of them!
How many mosquitoes did Langlang Mountain have?
Just in Yu Jin's vicinity, they swarmed—one wave after another!
They seemed to want a taste of Yu Jin's blood but were also wary, maybe sensing danger.
"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you, Brother Mosquito!"
Yu Jin quipped, then raised his hand again—
Crackle——
Thunder sparked—Brother Mosquito, game over.
[You used 'Thunder Lv1' to kill 'Tier Two Mutant Beast—Blood Mosquito'!]
[Your ability 'Thunder Lv1' gained experience!]
...
Half an hour later.
Thanks to Yu Jin's tireless efforts, his 'Laser' and 'Thunder' skills had both leveled up from Lv1 to Lv2.
Within a radius of several hundred meters, not a living Brother Mosquito could be found.
"Langlang Mountain is huge—plenty more Brother Mosquitoes out there!"
Yu Jin wasn't worried in the slightest, locking onto a direction and heading deeper into the woods.
But it wasn't long before—
Yu Jin realized——
Grinding monsters this way was way too slow, horribly inefficient.
So—
After some serious brainstorming, Yu's Mosquito Extermination Technique was officially born tonight——
"Mosquitoes love light, so use 'Shield of Light' to make a bright lure."
"Activate 'Thunder Realm' just outside the light shield…"
"They seem really into my blood. Fine, then! Sacrifice a bit, smear it all over the Shield of Light…"
"..."
Ten minutes later—
A figure glowing all over and wreathed in thunder arcs darted through the mountain forest, whistling as he flew.
Every now and then—
He'd flick out a few laser shots or bolts of thunder.
That night——
The small animals of Langlang Mountain all tossed and turned.
That night——
Brother Mosquito met unprecedented calamity.