Chapter 37: Chapter 37

"With a new plan in mind, Mu Ying felt much more at ease. Just then, the food arrived.

She skillfully summoned her Player’s Handbook and began browsing the forums as she ate.

One trending post in particular caught her eye.

She’d seen this post before—it was trending for the second time.

The thread was active with a group of players fascinated by magic, who had ignored the Handbook’s class recommendations, given up their advantageous stats, and stubbornly chosen spellcasting classes.

Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma were the spellcasting stats. If any of these were below 10, the option to choose a spellcasting class hadn’t even appeared during character creation.

But as long as you had 10 points, you could pick one—though the recommended order was way down the list.

Some players, being more rational, chose classes like Bard, Ranger, or Paladin—classes with minor spellcasting abilities that didn’t rely heavily on spellcasting stats.

But even among these, Paladin had strict requirements: you had to strictly adhere to a code of conduct, which many found impossible.

Bards, on the other hand, were seen as too weak in combat, so there were still some stubborn players who picked pure spellcasters like Wizard, Cleric, Druid, or Warlock.

The last time this post trended, it was because those who chose Cleric or Druid discovered that, after taking the class, their spell list only contained 0-level cantrips.

No Warlocks had spoken up yet, but later, some Wizards confirmed the same issue.

Their revelations were the first clear proof of how crucial stats were to class choice.

The class and stat introductions before character selection clearly hadn’t wasted a single word—anyone who ignored them paid the price.

Based on the comments in the thread, it was almost certain: you needed at least 11 points in your spellcasting stat to cast 1st-level spells for that class.

Some of those who’d chosen the wrong class were filled with regret, while others kept trying.

Because of their low spellcasting stats, learning spells was much harder for them than for others—even cantrips were a struggle.

They pinned all their hopes on leveling up.

But today, a Cleric who had finally reached the level 1 experience cap posted that, to advance to level 2, you had to learn at least one 1st-level spell.

This created a deadlock, crushing their last hope.

Now, the thread was full of resentment, regret, despair, and people searching for ways to change class—but the top comment was a speculation that concerned everyone:

“If you need at least 11 Wisdom for 1st-level spells, what about 2nd-level, 3rd-level spells? This isn’t a game you can just grind your way through—maybe our limits were set from the very beginning.”

“Oh no, I have 12 Intelligence—does that mean I’m capped at 2nd-level spells? What’s the highest spell level?”

There were plenty of worried voices like these.

Mu Ying couldn’t help but wonder herself: her Wisdom was currently 17, and she’d already used up all her free stat points. Was 7th-level spells her limit?

No, there should still be chances to get more stat points—like that Spirit Peach she’d found before.

Mu Ying was much more aware than most of just how important stats were.

She’d started with only 14 Wisdom, and every one of the 3 points she’d added since had brought her significant improvement.

Mana increase was just the most basic benefit.

The difficulty of learning spells and skills, the effectiveness of spells, the ease of class progression, affinity with nature—every aspect was closely tied to Wisdom.

It was fair to say that her consistently top ranking on the level leaderboard was due, above all, to her above-average Wisdom.

“Hey, what are you thinking about, boss?”

A lively figure plopped down beside her, looking at her curiously.

“Oh, it’s Luoluo. I’m just browsing the forums. And don’t call me ‘boss’—I’m younger than you,” Mu Ying said, pointing in front of her.

Normally, the Player’s Handbook was only visible to its owner, so Liu Luoluo could only see her gesturing at thin air.

“‘Boss’ is just my way of showing respect—uh, fine, Little Mu,” Liu Luoluo quickly corrected herself under Mu Ying’s threatening look. “Sometimes I feel like you’re more mature than me, even though you’re still in high school.”

“I’m a senior, actually—less than a month away from the college entrance exams,” Mu Ying replied. It was true—she was mature for her age.

“Right, I’m getting off track. I came here to ask you something,” Liu Luoluo whispered. “You know how I often, um, peek—no, admire your progress on the level leaderboard?”

Mu Ying nodded. So, she’d noticed Mu Ying had reached level 3?

Most people in the camp knew she was the Mu Ying at the top of the leaderboard, but she usually kept to herself, and her training methods didn’t mesh with others. Only the few friends from her old mountaineering club dared approach her directly.

Among them, Liu Luoluo considered herself the closest, and could at least hold a conversation.

They’d had a rocky start, but Liu Luoluo had apologized and made up for it, so they’d become friends after all.

“Little Mu, I just wanted to ask—does leveling up to 3 give you more stat points? And does it unlock 2nd-level spells?”

Mu Ying understood her concern—she must have read that post too.

“No, and yes.”

“That’s it, I’m stuck at level 3,” Liu Luoluo said, dejected, and wandered off.

Mu Ying didn’t think her situation was that bad, though. Spellcasting classes were rare to begin with, especially those with high Wisdom. Some people had even chosen Druid because of Mu Ying’s influence.

Clerics were even rarer.

In this post-apocalyptic world, where medicine was scarce and fighting was frequent, Clerics’ healing abilities were invaluable—even low-level Clerics couldn’t be ignored.

Someone like Mu Ying, a Druid whose healing spells seemed even stronger than a proper Cleric’s, was a rare exception—entirely thanks to her higher level and Wisdom.

Besides, Druids didn’t get healing spells at 2nd level.

Today was a special day—some people were busy finding food and drink, others worried about the future, but reality marched on regardless, and all you could do was live in the moment.

Mu Ying pulled herself together, went home, and immersed herself in the Trial World.

Unlike the changes in the real world, the blocky Trial World was exactly the same as it had been for the past week—the square sun rose on schedule in the eastern sky.

[Your Trial World character, Mu Ying, has survived for 1 day. Gained 1 Source Energy.]

She climbed out of her single bed—another point of Source Energy in hand.

Life in the Trial World had been extremely dull lately: every day she either planted or harvested wheat, or mined endlessly.

She’d dug her way up the mountain, layer by layer, almost hollowing out the entire interior. Just as she’d expected, there was plenty of coal in the mountain.

Every two days or so, she could gather enough for a full stack of coal blocks—and even more stone.