Item: Pyromaniac's Flamethrower (Punisher World, Stage Two)
Class: Weapon (Dull Silver Equipment)
Requirement: Spirit 10
Effect: Emits flames dealing a fixed 35 points of continuous damage.
Ammo Capacity: 50/50 (Automatically refills when entering the next world)
Description: "Haha! Playing with fire means wetting the bed, but no worries—I'm wearing a diaper!"
Skill: Iron Body (Punisher World, Stage Two)
Rank: B-Rank
Effect: Increases defense scaling from +1 per 10 Constitution to +1 per 5 Constitution.
Description: "You think bullets can break through tempered muscle? Watch me tighten my core and take it all!"
Inspecting his loot, Qin Ming felt both items were worthwhile. The flamethrower's terrifying power, which almost turned him into roasted meat, still left an impression. Although the Pyromaniac had enhanced it with a B-level skill, the weapon alone still carried substantial power, a testament to its Silver Equipment class. Without its ammo limitations, this flamethrower could probably even rank as a Pure Silver item.
However, Qin Ming already had a trusty revolver; the flamethrower's range was shorter and not especially useful to him. But it was the skill book that brought him real excitement—he'd hit the jackpot with a B-level defense skill dropped from the Battle Robot! Even though it wasn't the lethal laser, doubling his defensive scaling made this skill invaluable. Learning Iron Body immediately, Qin Ming's defense shot up to an impressive 11 points, almost like gaining a new piece of armor.
His skin toughened until it practically felt like iron, and with True Sonic Palm, Essence Absorption, and now Iron Body, Qin Ming found himself equipped with three powerful skills. But a new realization dawned on him: his skill slots were filling up fast.
Nightmare Space, it turned out, limited each adventurer to a maximum of five skills (not including basic passives). Extending this limit required either rare items or an upgrade in one's Adventurer Rank, both of which were notoriously hard to come by.
In Nightmare Space, adventurers ranked by the number of worlds they survived. Qin Ming, having cleared just three worlds, was considered a low-level adventurer—a newcomer, really. Surviving six or seven worlds earned the title of "Veteran Adventurer" or "Old Hand." At nine worlds, adventurers faced their tenth mission as a rank-up challenge.
Clearing this test allowed adventurers to advance to the Intermediate Tier, gaining new privileges and the chance to enter more challenging worlds. Failure, however, incurred severe penalties, deducting many base attributes before demoting the adventurer back to beginner-level tasks to train anew.
Further failures only made things worse. Repeated demotions kept sapping stats, trapping the unlucky in a deadly spiral. After enough setbacks, adventurers either fell in a mission or became too weak to endure, ultimately eliminated by Nightmare Space.
Having only passed three worlds, Qin Ming knew it would be some time before he faced a rank-up. For now, he focused on gearing up and maxing his core stats. If he could push each attribute to 20 and obtain powerful gear before the rank-up challenge, he'd be able to dominate the boss.
But the Space had a catch—equipment bonuses only extended as far as a stat's initial threshold. For instance, without surpassing 20 in a base attribute, no amount of gear could boost it beyond 40. Reaching that limit and breaking past it, as he'd done with Constitution, pushed the cap to 60, and so on.
With a sigh, Qin Ming examined his 32 Strength with equipment and title boosts, knowing that if he didn't improve his base Strength soon, he'd hit a ceiling in just a few missions. These quirks were part of Nightmare Space's unique mechanics.
Holding the flamethrower, Qin Ming left his room, heading toward the stalls of the Beginner Zone. He planned to sell this equipment to stock up on more gear, all part of his ongoing preparations for his next task.
Once he set up his stall with the flamethrower for auction, he decided to wander around, eyeing the other items available. However, he'd barely begun his search when a low voice sounded beside him.
"Hey, you selling that flamethrower?"
Qin Ming paused, glancing over. "Yeah, but if you're interested, it's up for auction."
"Oh, no need to worry—I'm not here to buy."
"Then…?"
"We've taken an interest in you," said the shadowy figure draped in a thick, black mist. "Interested in joining our team?"
The man tapped the emblem on his shoulder, and as Qin Ming leaned closer, the name Wolfpack gleamed back at him.
(End of Chapter)