Chapter 37: A Hidden Mechanic
At that rate, it might take ten days or even half a month.
What kind of game designed a beginner phase this absurdly long?
Rather than continuing to obsess over the issue, Joo Joowon hesitated briefly before ultimately deciding not to immediately test what happened when a single attribute reached ten points.
Instead, he continued hunting zombies.
He had no idea what sort of changes might occur after adding attribute points.
It was better to prepare thoroughly first.
At the very least, he wanted to test it while inside a safe environment.
After dealing with the remaining zombies one by one, Joo Joowon finally returned home carrying four newly gained experience points and one copper coin as his rewards.
Perhaps his luck had already run out.
Not a single piece of equipment dropped on this floor.
On the contrary, one of his crossbow bolts had completely broken after being used too many times and was no longer usable.
After gathering all useful supplies, Joo Joowon brought Byeol back home with him once more.
He shut all the doors and windows tightly before drawing the curtains closed.
After seeing the zombie birds earlier, Joo Joowon had already decided that he would no longer open the windows even during daytime.
It did not matter if the room became darker.
At least he would not attract unwanted attention.
After pouring cat food for Byeol, Joo Joowon arranged his own food on the table while placing medicine and water nearby as preparation.
Only after everything was ready did he take a deep breath and place the single free attribute point into Mental Power.
The instant the attribute point was added, Joo Joowon did not experience any dramatic or earthshaking transformation.
If he absolutely had to describe it, then it felt more like a vague sensation deep within himself that he had already reached some kind of limit.
It was as though something very bad would happen if he continued adding more points beyond this.
This damned game was already operating on hell difficulty.
Was it seriously introducing level caps too?
Joo Joowon frowned deeply.
If level restrictions truly existed, then what was even the point of players working so hard to level up?
If everyone eventually became stuck at the same level anyway, then would all that effort not become meaningless?
Suppressing the negative emotions rising within his heart with difficulty, Joo Joowon opened his attribute panel and stared at it while thinking carefully.
After pondering for a long time, he finally managed to come up with one explanation capable of convincing himself.
Perhaps it was not that he could no longer improve.
Rather, his other attributes simply could not keep up anymore.
Every attribute probably needed to complement each other in order to function properly.
There was no reason Mental Power alone would exist independently from the rest.
Although Mental Power currently appeared relatively self sufficient and did not seem to require support from the other attributes, that did not necessarily mean it truly functioned completely alone.
So... the problem was Physique!
Even while wearing equipment, Joo Joowon’s Physique only reached six points.
It was undeniably the attribute dragging him down the most.
There was already a four point gap between it and his Mental Power.
At the current stage, that difference was practically equivalent to an entire person’s worth of attributes.
After all, considering the generally unhealthy condition of modern people, many individuals probably only started with three or four points in their base attributes to begin with.
Whether his guess was correct or not could easily be tested later anyway.
At present, since Mental Power temporarily could not be increased further, there was no point overthinking it.
And regardless of the outcome, investing attribute points into Physique would definitely not be a bad decision.
Although allocating attribute points had brought Joo Joowon bad news, there was also good news mixed in.
Reaching ten points in Mental Power had actually granted him a talent!
[ Talent: Enhanced Cognition (Temporary) ]
[ Description: Your outstanding Mental Power makes it easier for you to notice hidden details. ]
The vague description left Joo Joowon somewhat confused.
At first glance, this talent did not seem especially useful.
And on top of that, the word "Temporary" was attached to it.
Was that because his ten points in Mental Power came from equipment enhancement rather than his natural attributes, causing the talent to disappear once the equipment was removed?
Whether that assumption was correct or not, testing it would reveal the answer.
In any case, since he still did not fully understand the talent’s actual use, losing it would not feel too heartbreaking.
After removing the necklace, exactly as Joo Joowon predicted, the Talent section on his status panel immediately disappeared.
When he put the necklace back on, the Talent section reappeared once more.
However, the talent displayed this time was no longer the previous talent Enhanced Cognition.
[ Talent: Sixth Sense (Temporary) ]
[ Description: Your exceptional Mental Power grants you extraordinary intuition, making it easier to notice dangers hidden in the shadows. ]
Joo Joowon fell into thoughtful silence.
It almost seemed like he had discovered some kind of bug that allowed him to repeatedly reroll talents until he obtained one he liked.
After repeatedly removing and reequipping the equipment, Joo Joowon discovered that the number of available talents was actually quite limited.
There were only five in total.
[ Enhanced Cognition ]
[ Sixth Sense ]
[ Time Dilation ]
[ Mind’s Eye ]
And [ Soul Link ].
At present, Joo Joowon still did not fully understand what Enhanced Cognition actually did.
The remaining talents, however, were relatively easy to understand.
Sixth Sense is just like it’s name.
Time Dilation allowed players to perceive the movement trajectory of objects far more clearly.
For example, Byeol’s parkour like movements would appear almost in slow motion within Joo Joowon’s vision.
However, this talent was not especially useful for him personally.
After all, even if the eyes could keep up with movement, the body’s reaction speed often could not.
Because of that, the talent was probably more suitable for players who preferred close combat and pursued one hit kills by exploiting openings in enemy movements.
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