Chapter Two: Developmental Path

[Omni-Network Prompt: You have performed a lethal strike, check passed! Enemy (Bionic Mechanical Guardian Type IV) has fallen.]

[Dungeon clearance conditions met, calculating rewards.]

[Your rewards for this dungeon run are: Omni-Network Disaster Coins * 5, General Experience * 25.]

[Portal countdown: 10, 9... 3, 2, 1.]

A deep purple vortex swirled in the open space within the lighthouse, emitting a whimpering wind.

The Night Watchman stooped to emerge from the portal, carrying a heavy robot on his back and tucking a bundle of copper wire under each arm. This frugal, calculating appearance made him look much like a refugee fleeing a famine.

As the portal closed, Lin Bo dropped the wreckage of the mechanical guardian and the scavenged copper wire onto the floor with a loud, clattering crash.

It is said that a thief never leaves empty-handed; having entered a dungeon, he would be unsatisfied if he didn't bring back some local specialties. If it weren't for the fact that a player's inventory only accepted game items produced by the Omni-Network, Lin Bo would have absolutely hauled away the mountains of steel and copper wire piled up around the perimeter of the abandoned factory.

[Omni-Network Prompt: Dungeon [Abandoned Ancient Mechanical Factory] "Normal" difficulty has been unlocked. Please check the invitation details.]

Dungeon Name: Abandoned Ancient Mechanical Factory (Remaining challenges today: 2)
Level: 1-3
Difficulty: Normal
Clearance Rewards: Omni-Network Disaster Coins * 15, General Experience * 100, Gray-quality equipment (low probability), Knowledge Fragment (Version Limited) (extremely low probability).

[Omni-Network Prompt: Death in this dungeon will cause the player to fall into a Soul Weakness state (1 natural day).]

[Please clear the dungeon to unlock further difficulty levels.]

Lin Bo’s invitation now held two cards—one for Simple difficulty and one for Normal. He tossed them casually into his player inventory.

The chat channel remained bustling.

[Flying Grass]: 2 attempts left today, running Purgatory difficulty, team of 4 looking for 1, strong players only +++, tanks preferred.

[Three Wolves by the Road]: Any experts leading a party? I’ll pass on all Disaster Coin drops in Purgatory difficulty and add 199 for the trouble.

[Bulwark]: One challenge left, I’ll lead a group. Two spots for casuals, no payment needed.

Everyone: It’s the Paladin expert! Please take us with you~

[Multi-Link Trading Network - Merchant Agylin]: Buying goods~ Buying goods~

Lin Bo popped up: "Do you have a price list for acquisitions?"

Merchant Agylin immediately perked up: "Friend, let's add each other for a private chat. I can satisfy whatever you need. The Multi-Link Trading Network is renowned across the multiverse; our prices are absolutely fair, and our acquisitions are completely honest."

[Nightingale]: Merchant brother is back in business, take a break!

[Scavenging Makes Me Happy]: Lighthouse Guest, I’m also buying scrapped robots. My prices are a tiny bit higher than the trading platform.

Lin Bo added both the merchant and the scavenger as friends.

Agylin was a professional merchant affiliated with a large trade guild, and one could get the latest quotes for all circulating commodities from him.

The massive file the merchant sent contained an ocean of equipment, potions, accessories, general skill books, dungeon invitations, knowledge fragments, and a variety of miscellaneous crafting materials.

Lin Bo looked at his current assets: a meager 5 Disaster Coins.

However, the purchasing power of an Omni-Network Disaster Coin was quite solid; one coin could be exchanged for 50 grams of gold with Merchant Agylin, meaning he effectively held the real-world equivalent of half a catty of gold.

The price offered by [Scavenging Makes Me Happy] was three Mechanical Guardian Type IVs for one Disaster Coin. As the saying goes, rarity makes things valuable; since these cannon fodder enemies were abundant in the dungeon, the price naturally wouldn't go up.

However, [Scavenging] offered another service: for 15 Disaster Coins, he could repair a scrapped mechanical guardian and transfer control permissions to Lin Bo. It was effectively buying a robot follower.

[Lighthouse Guest]: Does the Omni-Network allow players to bring their own followers?

[Scavenging Makes Me Happy]: That's right. Isn't the freedom of the Omni-Network higher than you imagined? Many players who have already mastered real-world power in their local worlds organize armed squads to run dungeons for them.

[Lighthouse Guest]: Won't there be penalties for doing this?

[Scavenging Makes Me Happy]: In the same game, everyone has different playstyles. You can't blame these people just because their methods sound a bit "unorthodox." The Omni-Network is inclusive of all types of players.

[Lighthouse Guest]: So, do you enter the dungeons with a mechanical army to grind mobs?

[Scavenging Makes Me Happy]: Tee-hee.

Lin Bo understood. He certainly didn't think unorthodox playstyles were wrong; on the contrary, he believed they often represented the most creative side of the player base.

He asked the merchant again: "Do you have any cheap and useful general skills?"

Agylin replied enthusiastically: "I do, brother, I do. I can tell you're a newcomer, right? The variety of general skills is overwhelming, isn't it? Let me help you. When you choose things, don't you have to think about your needs first?

"What do new players lack the most? Fierce combat power? Overpowering equipment? None of that! What you truly lack is always time. Eating takes time, sleeping takes time, talking to family takes time. How can you squeeze out enough time for practice?

"Therefore, I strongly recommend 'Meditation' as your first general skill. Any meditation skill can significantly shorten the time needed for sleep and rest, helping you carve out more time for training and learning."

The current version of the Omni-Network truly lived up to its name as the "Dawn of the Diligent." Even the merchants were encouraging players to bury their heads in hard work. This trend of "involution" had even reached the online shopping platforms, showing that grinding proficiency was a consensus among the vast players of the multiverse.

Lin Bo truly felt the merchant was right.

With his harpoon gun in hand, his current combat power was barely passable. There was no need to rush into learning combat-oriented general skills; once he developed his professional skills, his combat power would inevitably see a significant boost.

Therefore, buying general combat skills might seem like a solution to an urgent problem, but it was actually a waste of early-game development time. Investing in auxiliary skills was paving the way for the future.

"Besides meditation, any other recommendations?"

Agylin remained enthusiastic: "As an Omni-Network player, you cannot ignore the help of the real world. One or two life skills can help you gain a foothold in reality, earning fame, wealth, and power, which in turn helps you collect more lingering relics."

"That makes sense."

"Of course it does. That's why I recommend choosing a life skill based on your real-world profession. Medicine, blacksmithing, farming, taming—these four major categories and their countless branches are classic development paths that never go out of style in the multiverse."

"Thanks. I'll consider it."

Lin Bo pondered. The spell system of True Name Mages included healing incantations. Combined with medical skills like pharmacology and surgery, he could become a saintly healer in the eyes of mortals, capable of wrestling with the Grim Reaper.

As a lighthouse keeper, farming, blacksmithing, and taming pets to aid in combat in his spare time were also not bad choices.

He could walk all four development paths. Since he had trouble choosing, he would naturally take them all.

"It's a pity I can't walk any of these paths right now because I'm broke. Even the cheapest meditation skill starts at ten Disaster Coins. I'd better get back to the dungeon and start grinding."

Lin Bo checked the dungeon guide shared in the channel.

The only difference between Normal and Simple difficulty was that the number of enemies increased from one to three: two melee guards with weapons and one ranged guard with a gun.

Suggestion: "These robots are spaced apart, and their aggro is not linked. Therefore, the best method is to use the terrain to lure the melee robots away, deal with them individually, and then handle the ranged unit last.

"PS: If you feel the dungeon difficulty is too high, just call for help in the channel. We don't tolerate them; recruiting teammates is not a shame. Mutual help is the essential path for the growth of Omni-Network players."

Lin Bo pulled the harpoon from the chest of the damaged robot, checked its wear and tear, and then reloaded.

[Dungeon Selected — Abandoned Ancient Mechanical Factory]

[Current Difficulty: Normal]

[Opening dungeon portal, player please prepare.]

A deep purple spacetime vortex appeared, and Lin Bo stepped in once more.