Chapter 5: The Belated Attribute Allocation

I tried a few more times in succession, but my punches were still feeble and slow, just as before—soft and floating, utterly lacking in force. With fists like these, there was no way I could inflict any real damage on a person. No wonder that slime hadn’t even reacted when I kicked it in the eye earlier; with power like this, I’d be lucky to scratch a slime!

But what on earth was going on? Why was my strength so weak?

I quickly found a relatively safe spot and called for White Valentine.

After I recounted what had happened, there was silence on the other end…

A few seconds later, the system notified: “White Valentine has requested to chat. Accept?”

Accept.

Both White Valentine’s and Black Tea’s voices sounded in my ear at the same time—this was a channel that allowed up to fifty people to chat simultaneously, but only the creator could invite friends, mercenary brothers, or guild members.

“Little Lin, I heard from White you were really brave just now…” Black Tea’s teasing laughter came through. “Fighting slimes empty-handed… How did it feel?”

I broke into a cold sweat.

“Little Lin”? Was she talking to me? It sounded awkward, more like a girl’s name.

But since I needed their help, I could only accept this nickname that sounded like it belonged to a child or a girl…

“All right, Sis Black Tea, I admit I was wrong. Just tell me, are you guys experiencing the same thing as me?”

As soon as I finished speaking, both White Valentine and Black Tea retorted simultaneously:

“If we say you’re stupid, you really don’t disappoint. At level zero, you only have fifteen attribute points…”

“How did you assign your starting stats? Did you put them all into stamina?”

Five attribute points? Starting stats?

What were they even talking about? I was completely lost.

“What do you mean by fifteen attribute points and starting stats?” A sudden instinct told me that what they called “attribute points” might be the reason I had no speed or strength.

Sure enough, my question left both White Valentine and Black Tea silent with shock.

Anyone with basic gaming experience knew what attribute points were for.

Who knew how much time passed…

White Valentine finally spoke. “Little Lin… Stop messing around. When you entered the game, the system would’ve prompted you to distribute your free attribute points. Don’t tell me you didn’t even assign your starting stats?” His voice was uncertain, even a little tense. For humans, before distributing free attribute points, each of the five basic stats was at only one point…

If you didn’t assign the remaining ten free attribute points, not only would your attack and defense be pitifully weak, but your HP would only be two points—you’d die from a single hit…

“Ah…”

White Valentine’s words sent a jolt through me! I recalled the chaotic Frost City square where I’d first entered the game…

With all that noise, how could I have heard any system prompts?

Damn, that must have been it—I’d missed a crucial reminder…

…

“You just wandered outside without even assigning your stats…” White Valentine and Black Tea both gasped.

“Age of Magic” had countless classes, and every character’s stats were assigned entirely by the player, except for the initial base attributes upon entering the game (five categories, each with a minimum starting value of one).

Anyone with even a smidgen of gaming common sense would know that leaving town without assigning your attribute points was as good as suicide…

Humans had the lowest base stats of all races: Strength 1, Agility 1, Stamina 1, Intelligence 1, Spirit 1—the weakest starting stats of all!

Normally, even if a newcomer hadn’t read any guides, the system prompt upon entering the game would remind them to distribute attribute points. As long as you didn’t assign them completely at random, you’d have no problem handling the lowest-level monsters.

My situation was rare indeed.

Once they got over their shock, both of them couldn’t help but marvel:

What could they say? Was I just hopelessly stupid… or absurdly lucky? A level zero human commoner with only one point in stamina, wandering outside the city, passing through a two-hundred-meter-long slime zone… and I’d even fought a slime head-on!

And I was still alive?

Calling me a cockroach survivor wouldn’t be an exaggeration!

After struggling to process this reality, White Valentine and Black Tea’s nerves tensed up again.

“Little Lin, hurry and find a safe spot!”

“For what?”

“What do you mean, ‘for what’? Assign your points! How can you be this dense?”

I shivered.

Today… I really was a bit slow.

…

After leaving the slime area, I still wasn’t reassured. I kept a wary eye out for more than half a minute, making sure no monsters would spawn nearby. Then, following White Valentine’s instructions, I silently thought “Character Stats.”

A miniature version of my character, Scrapper Qilin, appeared before me, along with five clearly listed stats:

Strength: 1 (Attack: 1–4; Dagger attack: 1–3)
Agility: 1 (Defense: 0–1)
Stamina: 1 (HP: 2/2)
Spirit: 1 (Unavailable for commoners)
Intelligence: 1 (MP: 2/2)

Next to the stats, a small line read: Remaining free attribute points—10.

Sure enough, my HP by Stamina read as two points, and a cold sweat instantly trickled down my forehead.

Whew…

I patted my chest. That was close…

Thank goodness I’d retreated in time when I sensed something was wrong. Otherwise, I’d probably be dead by now and back in that “human meat grinder” city, suffering all over again.

Just as I was sighing in relief, White Valentine and Black Tea’s voices returned:

“Now do you understand what each attribute does? Sigh, I give up! I’d better explain, or who knows what you’ll do next time.”

Blushing, I said nothing.

“Listen up… Strength determines your attack—the higher your attack, the more damage you inflict. Agility affects defense and speed. You can see your defense value, but speed is a hidden stat; you can only feel it yourself. Stamina corresponds to HP… If you say you don’t know that, I’m never introducing you to any girls! Hmph. Spirit determines magic attack, and Intelligence is for MP. Remember, if you assign your stats wrong, just wait until your sister here gets her hands on you!”

I gave a wry smile, thinking to myself: Can you really blame me? It’s all because there were too many people in Frost City… (Trying to find an excuse…)

But all I could do was agree meekly. It couldn’t be helped; I was the junior here, after all…

“And another thing—humans are different from other races. We have no innate abilities… so how you assign these ten free points and the points you earn when you level up is crucial. It will decide how strong or weak your class will be! But no matter what class you choose, I suggest you put your points into Strength, Agility, and Stamina before level ten! These three are essential not just for warriors—even other classes need enough Strength and Agility to equip better weapons and armor. As for Intelligence and Spirit, you can deal with those after level ten.”

White Valentine picked up where Black Tea left off, continuing the lesson: “Three points in Strength adds one to your attack; three in Agility adds one to your defense; one in Stamina gives you two HP. A single point of attack does two HP damage.”

Wait… hold on!

Hearing White Valentine’s explanation, my data-sensitive mind caught a subtle inconsistency.

“Three points in Strength for one attack? One point in Stamina for two HP, yet one attack only does two HP damage? Are you sure about that, Brother White?”

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