While I was temporarily left to my own devices, I decided to study the "Player" system in more detail. More specifically, how characteristics affect my abilities.
Strength is the main characteristic for weapons and armour. Each unit of strength allows you to deal more damage with weapons whose main characteristic is "Strength." Each unit of Strength increases the weight you can carry and your striking power. The damage coefficient is as follows:
GS=WS+ST-RS
GS is the damage dealt, WS is the weapon damage, ST is the strength/dexterity modifier, and RS is the enemy's defence.
Seems simple, right? Not quite. If, for example, you have a lot of strength but don't know how to use a weapon, the chances of you inflicting any damage on your opponent are extremely low. This is because you don't really know how to use it. Thus, the Weapon Proficiency indicator has not yet been added to this formula, as I pointed out in my request to the Administration. After all, if, ideally, you master a one-handed sword while having about 40 strength, wouldn't almost every strike be considered "Critical"?
Strength also affects a characteristic called "Stamina." The higher a character's strength, the higher the chance that they simply won't feel the effects of an enemy attack. They are harder to knock down, knock out, or, simply put, they can withstand physical blows from enemies more easily.
Resilience can also be acquired in other ways, but the system does not specify how. Again, gameplay features to make my already terrible life even harder? Okay, whatever.
Overall, it's a pretty useful stat, but I don't think you can beat everyone and everything with brute force alone. There's bound to be someone stronger out there. In any case, I'm sure that to level up this stat, you'll just have to train until you're blue in the face.
Dexterity is the main stat for bandit weapons and armour. Dexterous characters, or DDs as they are also known, were given this name in RPG games because DD stands for Damage Dealer, i.e. someone who deals the most damage. They are responsible for attack accuracy, dodge chance, ranged and melee weapon damage, the main indicator of which is "Agility". Sounds pretty cool, unlike strength, right? But it only sounds cool. In order to fully utilise all the skills, professions, and abilities of Dexterity characters, you need a high "Stamina" stat, because most of them require speed and long movements without the ability to stop.
Well... with my luck, it's pretty obvious what's going to happen. If I'm marked by "Fate," then only some higher power can remove it. With the help of Chronos or someone else. At the moment, there's nothing I can do about it.
Intuition is a trait that determines your ability to predict the outcome of events, whether good or bad. It's a pretty useful trait for avoiding even bigger problems in the future.
Willpower is a characteristic responsible for mental spirit indicators — protection from all kinds of mental attacks, telepaths, mind control specialists. That is, it is more difficult to intimidate/convince/control me than ordinary adults. Or easier. What is the norm here? Everything is clear with this.
Wisdom increases any experience gained and allows you to learn new skills and abilities faster. In general, it increases your chances of adaptation. I think this is one of the most useful characteristics, considering that I want to become stronger as soon as possible... and I want to know everything. After all, my life is at stake!
Physical build — this one is terrifyingly simple. Each point of this characteristic adds 10 health points and increases health regeneration by 0.005 per second. I'm no Wolverine, but it'll do. So, with my current physical build, I can restore 0.15 HP per second.
Endurance — this is also straightforward. Each point of this stat adds 10 to your stamina. For some reason, they're abbreviated as AP — Action Points. Each point increases stamina regeneration by 0.01, so I can recover 0.1 AP per second.
Charisma affects persuasion/intimidation in certain situations. With a high level of charisma, you can successfully increase the reward for a particular task. In other situations, you can avoid combat altogether and turn your enemies against themselves. It is not difficult to guess that this indicator increases the interlocutor's favour towards you. Something like an "aura of trust".
Intelligence is obvious, the main characteristic of a mage, and the higher it is, the stronger the spells and other skills will be. I can't say much about it because, for some reason, mana is not available to me, and I can't use magical skills yet.
We've figured out the characteristics. The special features have also been taken into account, and it's best to forget about my God for now while I'm here. I'm supposed to entertain him, not demand the impossible and ask for help at every opportunity.
Chronos Karma +5
What...? You can read my thoughts, can't you? Well, I'll try not to disappoint you.
Chronos Karma +1
He clearly likes my attitude.
While I still have time to pretend to be a vegetable in a mattress, and since no one can see the notifications and the blue Player interface window, I should, in turn, deal with another important component.
"Inventory"
Like any typical character, I had one, but I couldn't bring myself to open it. What if there were surveillance cameras somewhere, or one of my cellmates decided to turn me in? No, I can't use it yet, even in my own cell. I can't take any risks. Yes, I have another "life" that can be activated with the Reset ability, but I don't want to waste it on such nonsense.
Now... back to the most important thing. My ability — Time Manipulation! It sounds cool, of course, but how much do I know about this power? Practically nothing. From a scientific point of view, time is a force that controls the existence of this world. It is the most dangerous weapon in the hands of man because it is impossible to predict the consequences of its use. The most famous example of such unpredictability is, of course, the "Butterfly Effect" from Ray Bradbury's famous story. How many theories have been constructed, how many copies broken in an attempt to understand the truth... However, the theory remained just a theory because no one in my world has ever been able to jump through time to prove it.
The Administration said something about me being able to influence time using my OD points. Well, let's give it a try.
Concentrating, I closed my eyes and imagined how the world around me should stop. Instead of words, I decided to use a simple snap of my fingers as a mental anchor to activate the ability. When I opened my eyes, I saw a picture where the colours seemed to have disappeared from the world, and I was the only living character in this strange picture: I could breathe, move, and speak. And before the shock of what I saw engulfed me, I quickly opened my status to check how long I could stop time with my current level.
The status screen showed how my precious Action Points were rapidly depleting.
Five seconds.
Five seconds — that was all I had. Well, I won't complain, that's not bad for a start.
You are under the Fatigue debuff! (5 minutes to fully recover))
You have activated the active ability "Time Stop" Level 1!
Skill consumption: 20 AP/1 sec. Cooldown: 10 sec
After opening the skill tree, I noticed that with each level, the AP cost would decrease, but the cooldown would remain the same. Is this how the developers want to balance the skill? The main skill branched out into a decent tree, but most of the abilities were locked and didn't even have names. Not very impressive....
Before I could finish my thought, I heard a noise outside, and two Germans in black uniforms burst into my cell.
"Schnelle! Schnelle!!
That was the only thing I could understand from their sharp and threatening phrases, accompanied by unpleasant jabs with the barrel of an MP-40 submachine gun. Heh, it's surprising that I remembered the name of this machine gun because I played Call of Duty 2... The man accompanying me interpreted my smirk at my own thoughts in his own way, and I felt the full force of a blow from a well-shod German boot. Screaming in pain, I fell to my knees. It felt like he had broken my leg with that blow!
They clearly had no intention of listening to my whining and complaints and dragged me across the floor again like some kind of animal. First, we ended up in some kind of lift with only three buttons. My cell was on the first floor; I had no idea what was on the second floor, because we got out on the third. The atmosphere here was completely different. The white marble floors were polished, the wooden doors were made of stained oak and were, to put it mildly, expensive. The nameplates on each door convinced me that this was the floor of the Administration or the Council of Heads. Bastards. Nothing else came to mind. I was led to one of these dwellings. Our professor's office was neat and clean, fully in line with the standards of office plankton. Only the abundance of swastikas, medals and photographs from the last war convinced me that this guy was a mad scientist. And the H&K G3 hanging on the wall made it clear that the Reich was no more.
"Do you remember who you are?" he said in perfect English, but my mind seemed to translate his words into Russian. It sounded like a translation superimposed on the original audio track. This technique is often used in film dubbing.
Your body is familiar with the English language, but due to the nature of your soul, it will be easier for you to orient yourself in Russian. Available languages: Russian, English.
"No..." I answered honestly, because I didn't want to test my ability to lie.
"That's fine. Your life before you got here doesn't matter anyway. Congratulations, you're the only one who survived the experiment," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, folding his arms behind his back and asking me with slight interest:
"You used that 'power'... didn't you?
Damn, I didn't think they'd figure me out so quickly. I was naive enough to think I could pretend I couldn't use the power until I had mastered it to some decent level.
"Don't say it. I can see it in your face. Our equipment recorded an unknown surge that lasted a few seconds. What did you do?!" His hands fell on my shoulders, and a terrible, fanatical gleam appeared in his eyes.
"I... I stopped time, sir.
"Mein Führer, you must always address me as such, 'Führer'?
"Jawohl, Mein Führer.
"Good. Describe the details.
"It's... hard to explain. Everything around me seemed to freeze and lose its colour and... well... everything.
"Hmph, I expected something like that. How long did it last?
"A couple of seconds," I lied a little, hoping that this answer would not please him, but...
"Ausgezeichnet!" I had no idea what he said, but the phrase clearly expressed his joy. Damn it...
"You have only one path, 88th — to become our weapon for the resurrection of the Great Empire from the ashes! This time we have found a real Wunderwaffe! And we didn't let the traitors of the Aryan race hand it over to the Western pigs!
At the words "Great Empire," that insane fanatical fire lit up in his eyes again.
Psychological Attack Blocked.
Main Event Chain Launched!!!
One of Us Among Strangers
You must break free from the shackles of your current masters. You have three paths:
"The Path of the Reich's Weapons," "The Path of the Hero," and "The Path of the Lone Wolf." The choice is yours.
Time to complete: unlimited
Reward: Selective (???) Failure: Death
Read the details later?
I mentally answered "Yes" so that this quest would finally disappear from view.
"Always ready, Mein Führer.
"No, you're not ready yet. First of all, I'd like to clarify something between us..." From under the table, he took out a silver hoop, which he immediately fastened around my neck. "This is your leash. If you use your power without permission, you will receive a very unpleasant shock therapy. For example," he took a small control panel with a single red button out of his pocket and... "Like this.
My body was covered with a film of electricity, and a muffled scream escaped from my mouth. May you be trampled by a crowd! Bastard! Scum! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!!
I flailed from side to side, but it didn't help, and tears involuntarily streamed from my eyes.
"Now do you understand? You belong to the Reich, and only I will decide when you are ready to become our weapon and when you are not. Right now, you are just a worm who has been given a chance.
The demonstration was over, and I could barely stand up. My whole body was numb and shaking. I hated him more than I feared him, but I tried not to show my emotions and attempted to make it look like I was really scared of him. It seemed to work...
"Good, now you understand. From this moment on, you will do everything I say until I am sure that you are truly ready to become our weapon. Now our theory teacher will take you. — Confirming his words, a muscular, almost bald man with a small beard and a vertical scar crossing his face from eye to cheek immediately entered the office. — In the end, you must become the best of the best...
After that, I was escorted to the second level of the Laboratory. I didn't know exactly how big it was because of the wall formed by my escorts, and I couldn't move around freely. Usually, I was always taken to some huge gym. On the way there, there were barracks for soldiers with private rooms for scientists. In general, this level belonged entirely to the "staff." So far, everything was pretty harmless and simple. I was given a simple quest to learn German and tactics, and after completing it, my Experience Points and, in some cases, even Wisdom increased by a couple of points. My teacher said that I was learning incredibly quickly by normal standards. In just a week, I was able to learn German and the basics of combat tactics, which opened up and improved new skills.
Bonuses from books:
+5 to Wisdom
+10 to Intelligence
+5 to Intuition
Passive:
"The Art of War" — now you know how to behave in various situations on the battlefield, thereby unlocking a permanent bonus.
Your Cold and Firearm Weapon skills are increased by +5%, and the chance of being caught off guard is reduced by 20%. Critical Strike chance +1%
Theory wasn't the only thing I was taught. There was also rigorous physical training, which left me almost unable to stand.
Thanks to the rigorous training, you have improved your stats this week:
+14 Strength
+14 Agility
+7 Endurance
+7 to Constitution
+2 to Willpower
Thanks to training with cold and firearms, you have gained permanent skills:
Knife Proficiency Level 3 (40.5% to the next level)
Hand-to-Hand Combat Level 2 (12.5% to the next level)
Pistol Proficiency Level 3 (56.3% to the next level). You can use: Walter P38, TT, Colt 1911.
Submachine Gun Proficiency Level 2 (61.5% to the next level). You can use: MP-40, MP-5, PPS.
The first level of mastery gave a 4%+1 bonus to critical hits, and each subsequent level increased this chance by half, resulting in the following ratios:
2 Level 7.5
3 Level 11.25
4 Level 16.875
5 Level 25.3
6 Level 37.9
7 Level 56.8
8 Level 85.2
9-10 Level 100%...?
Levels 9-10 remain the most mysterious. This is probably the "Grand Master" level, where the character can perfectly master a given weapon.
I also raised myself by 2 levels thanks to successfully completing simple tasks, and now I understand how the levelling system works. For each level up, you get 10 points to distribute among your characteristics and 1 point to unlock a skill/ability. There are many skills, and they are divided into classes. There are "Normal" skills that do not require any specific knowledge, and even an ordinary person with proper training can learn them, and there are "Class" skills that require you to choose your Main Attribute to use them. If I want to become stronger as soon as possible and get out of here, I need to decide for myself who I want to be. This will also affect my leveling up. All my physical training will mainly level up this main attribute.
There are three main branches of characteristics:
+Strength
+Dexterity
+Mage
At high levels, I'm sure these attributes will overlap. Something is wrong with my mana, and for some reason it is blocked, so the path to mages is closed for now. Strength is the choice of impenetrable tanks, while Agile will rely solely on damage and dodges, without high defence stats. Although, considering my special ability, I don't think I need much defence. I just need to kill as many enemies as possible while my ability is active and deal as much damage as possible to win. How easily I talk about killing. As if it were nothing, like a machine. Probably because of Cold Mind, I've gotten used to thinking of such things as normal.
Well, I think I've made my choice.
Right now, when I'm in the common dining hall, I shouldn't be doing this. Who knows how it will affect me if I choose the Primary Attribute? I've also decided not to waste my hard-earned 20 points and two skill points just yet. I haven't decided where to put them yet.
While eating some kind of "space" porridge, I glanced once more at the three points of my main task, which could be completed simultaneously, but in the end, there would only be one outcome.
One of Us
The Path of the Reich's Weapons
Destroy the top brass and take over the organisation.
Reputation among the military:
Cold Weapons Master, "Fang" level 35. - +60 (Interest)
Hand-to-Hand Combat Master, "Boom" Level 34. - +25 (Almost Indifferent)
Firearms Master, "Shooter" Level 40. +50 (Interest)
Reputation among scientists:
None
Reputation among the organisation's leadership.
Head of the Organisation, Heydrich Faust II - -900 (Expensive Item)
"Right Hand of the Reich," Arthur Stultz - -500 (Doubt)
"Left Hand of the Reich," Magnus Trask - -2000 (Hatred)
Where did these positive ratings from my teachers come from? Well, this week I didn't say a word too many, did everything they asked, didn't complain, and always exceeded their expectations. No wonder they only had positive feelings towards me. Another reason they were friendly towards me was that they were just mercenaries and not fanatics. Work is work. As long as they get paid, they can do whatever they want, as long as it doesn't conflict with their interests. At least, that's what Fang told me, thanks to my Charisma. So, with enough respect/trust, there's a chance to win them over to my side? Interesting. Although... what can I offer them? No money. No connections. Okay, we'll think of something.
What did I do to Magnus? I have no idea. I've never even met him, but he already seems to hate me more than anyone else.
The Hero's Path
Free yourself and the captives from the oppression of the Nazis!
Reputation with prisoners:
None
The Lone Wolf Path
Use all means at your disposal to become free!
Well... seizing power was not part of my plan, and the choice was either to get out with everyone else or to get out on my own. Of course, the Lone Wolf path seems the simplest and easiest to achieve, but a sense of justice and heroism awakened in me. I wanted to save these people. I didn't want them to live... like that. Every day, when I returned to my cell, I saw one of the guards raping a prisoner for fun. I heard his hysterical cries to stop, but the guard didn't stop, and none of us could do anything about it. We... were just a resource for them. If I was "special" to them and they didn't touch me for that reason, the rest were also turned into mindless puppets who were taught to fight for the future of the "Reich." The only difference between us was that I had the Chronos Clock, and they didn't.
At times, I would talk to the test subjects in the dining hall or training hall. I would build relationships with them and hint that it would be wonderful if we could all escape this place and start over. I gave them hope, while I decided to work out a precise plan for our joint escape.
During roll call, I chose Dexterity as my primary attribute, and then I looked through the skills that had become available to me in my status menu. There weren't many, but among them were a couple of important and possibly even essential abilities.
"Acceleration" - Supported.
Cost: 10 AP/sec.
– You accelerate your body, significantly increasing your movement and thinking speed.
"Tireless" Level 1. — Passive
Your Stamina recovery speed doubles!
"Stealth" Level 1. - Supported
Cost: 5 AP/sec
You blend into your surroundings and become virtually invisible. When attacked by an enemy, "Stealth" will be automatically removed, and if you successfully launch a surprise attack, you are guaranteed to land a Critical Strike.
It's funny that at high levels, the character, i.e. me, will not come out of invisibility at all.
I'll make a note of that for the future. I'll definitely have to study it when I decide to escape from here. Right now, there's no need to do so because I'm under constant surveillance and won't be able to train it.
The passive skill was too good to ignore, even considering my low level, so I put one skill point into it. I was a little saddened by the fact that the next skill upgrade will only be available at levels 9, 18, and 32. Probably "balance" again.
Acceleration is certainly a useful skill, but given my current low stamina, I'm unlikely to find a use for it. Even Time Stop looks better. And I can't just carelessly throw away skill points like that.
I also now have the option to choose a specialisation at level 10 in the future.
Assassin, Thief, Poison Master, or Tempest.
While the first three were pretty straightforward, the last class is, simply put, a kind of universal Alchemist-Rogue who creates potions and drinks that enhance his weapons and abilities.
The second specialisation could only be chosen at level 50.
In the Reich Leader's office.
"You have very impressive learning abilities, '88'. You were able to learn the basics in just a week, while it can take others months or years. This has made some adjustments to our plans. From now on, you will undergo a special procedure in room 172 on the second level. You don't need to know the details.
Something about Faust's tone made me feel uneasy. What is he going to do...?!
***
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