Inside an artificially simulated bamboo forest.
Deep green, towering stalks of bamboo reached upward, seemingly endless, while the ceiling pressed down with a pitch-black weight.
A clear spring murmured beside creek stones. A winding stream flowed around the bamboo forest, with fine sand and pebbles laid out beneath the transparent water. The splashing water made a rhythmic gurgling sound, reflecting the figure of a young girl swinging a sword by the side of the pool.
Before long, the girl sat down on the grass, staring blankly at the sword in her hand.
"Strange. Why won't my proficiency go up?"
【sword maiden resonance: Mind's Eye (Entry) 3753/10000】
As Xu Xiaoyou lay down while clutching her head, the surrounding scene began to shift, and the simulated images flickered.
The scenery of the bamboo forest eventually transformed into a pure white space, and an ethereal mechanical female voice echoed from above.
"Hello, Mr. Xu Nian. Your simulation room time has expired."
"Add three more hours."
"Kangpei Institution is pleased to be of service. If you encounter any difficulties during our service, please consult the front desk of the local Fixer Association..."
Looking at the notification on her phone showing an automatic deduction of two hundred credit points, Xu Xiaoyou sighed. The simulation room effects of the Kangpei Institution were indeed quite good.
The surrounding scenery turned back into a simulated bamboo forest, deep and quiet.
She had long heard that Kang Tao Security Training Company possessed gravity singularity technology, which could alter the gravitational field covering an area. Besides its applications in engineering, it could also be used in simulation rooms like this.
By adjusting the gravity, humidity, and various environmental indicators in the venue to the most comfortable level for the individual, one could reach an optimal training state, achieving twice the result with half the effort.
Though for most low-level fixers in the Corrupt Hive City, this slight boost in micro-efficiency was negligible.
Moreover, they simply couldn't afford to rent this kind of simulation room. At one hundred credit points per hour, for those fixers who risked their lives to complete commissions only to earn a few thousand credit points and barely scrape by, this was no different from robbery.
This sensory boost was quite mystical; a better training environment really could make a person more relaxed both physically and mentally, allowing for sharper focus.
Over the course of the morning, she had spent nearly eight hundred credit points and increased her sword maiden resonance proficiency by almost two thousand points. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before the resonance talent reached the next proficiency level.
You had to realize that a few days ago, no matter how focused she was on swinging her sword, it was considered lucky if even one out of ten swings met the standard to increase her proficiency.
In this simulation room, until just now, almost every single swing had consistently increased her proficiency by one point. Occasionally, when her insight deepened, she would even trigger a 'critical hit' growth, increasing it by five to ten points at once.
More importantly, she didn't feel tired training in this simulation room. Even if her whole body was incredibly sore, her spirit remained excited; with a little grit, she could keep swinging.
"You get what you pay for. This money was well spent."
However, once her proficiency reached 3700, the judgment criteria for increasing proficiency seemed to have risen again, and the speed of improvement slowed down.
She hadn't seen a proficiency growth notification for over half an hour.
A pair of furry ears rubbed against her face.
【Character Anya has completed attack training; strength attribute has increased!】
【Character Anya has completed evasion training; agility attribute has increased!】
【Character Anya has completed impact resistance training; constitution attribute has increased!】
【Character Anya is now proficient in Swift Pounce, Bite, and Danger Sense!】
【Anya's strength, agility, and constitution have reached 50, 65, and 50 respectively!】
Looking at the training report emerging from the character card in front of her, Xu Xiaoyou nodded with satisfaction.
During these past few days, she had used the full moon to give all those experience boost cards to Anya. Now, Anya's attributes had exceeded the standards of a grade 2 fixer. Her combat power was extremely formidable; dodging bullets was no problem at all, and tearing apart a few low-level fixers who didn't know their place would be an easy task.
In theory, as long as she took Anya to the association to register, she could enjoy the grade 2 fixer benefits provided by the association.
But what made Xu Xiaoyou feel strange was precisely this: clearly, all of Anya's attributes had fully reached the grade 2 standard, yet she still couldn't condense her own mimicry weapon.
The association usually judged whether a fixer had reached grade 2 based on whether they could condense a mimicry weapon. If she couldn't condense one, she naturally couldn't register.
Could it be that using those experience boost cards to help Anya grow too quickly had backfired?
Or was there some prerequisite condition that hadn't been met yet?
Xu Xiaoyou fell into deep thought.
This wasn't the only point that confused her.
After her bond level increased, Anya could currently share 20% of her attributes with her.
Looking at Anya's favorability level toward her—which had reached the peak of 【Dependence】, with the next level being 【Lovers】—Xu Xiaoyou's lips twitched slightly.
She didn't even know if Anya was eight years old yet...
The favorability story button, which should have unlocked at 【Familiar】, was still grayed out and locked, even though the current level was bordering on the criminal.
【Anya Favorability Story: The Trial of Iron and Blood.】
【Cannot be triggered. Reason: Prerequisite conditions not met.】
Anya had been training for the entire morning and was exhausted. She crouched down and hugged Xu Xiaoyou's leg, her eyes pleading and her tail swaying back and forth.
After becoming familiar with the girl, Anya would often act spoiled with Xu Xiaoyou this way—sometimes because she saw something she wanted to eat, sometimes because she felt neglected.
Xu Xiaoyou's gaze softened.
The other girl had already started treating her like family.
Yes, family members should be considerate, understanding, and tolerant of each other.
The always-considerate Xu Xiaoyou nodded.
Suddenly, she gave a sinister grin, and a stamina recovery potion card appeared in her hand. "Anya, acting cute is useless! You want to rest before finishing your training?"
Plop.
The stamina recovery potion card transformed into a bottle of water that glowed an eerie green and was bubbling away, looking somewhat ominous.
Upon seeing that bottle of potion, Anya reacted as if she had seen something terrifying; her little face went pale, and she tightly covered her mouth.
"Keeping your mouth shut won't help~"
Xu Xiaoyou targeted the character card Anya directly with the potion and used it!
Gulp, gulp—
The liquid level in the potion bottle slowly dropped.
Green potion sprayed out from Anya's mouth and nose.
【Character Anya's stamina has been restored to 100%】
Seeing Anya—whose little face was filled with thick resentment—running back to the corner to continue training, Xu Xiaoyou grinned like a child who had only been born for two hundred months.
"What are you laughing about, Yuzu? You look so happy."
Upon hearing a young woman's voice coming from not far away, Xu Xiaoyou turned around and was slightly stunned after seeing the girl's appearance.
Today's Bai Youyou was dressed differently than usual; she was no longer wearing that pure white investigator uniform.
She wore a dress with an exquisite ribbon tied at her waist. The patterns on the hem of the skirt were delicate and fluttering, like a white flower.
Her strapped sandals accentuated the long, beautiful lines of her calves, and her figure looked light and slender. She stood at the doorway holding a shoulder bag as the waves of heat rolled in behind her, looking like a spirit bringing the summer.
Rate on N.U.
