How Am I Still Alive?-Chapter 66 - 54: Auxiliary

In the second round, Lu Ping’an reached the eleventh floor.

More specifically, after defeating the can-like BOSS on the tenth floor, Lu Ping’an decides to give up. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"...I finally understand what it feels like to continuously open cans. It’s terrible, aggrieving, and makes me want to cry."

His opponent on the tenth floor didn’t carry any ill intentions to bring another 2-tier, same-affiliation enemy.

It was an ordinary 2-tier Animated Armor of the Heavy Knight classification.

"Did I say ordinary? Why did I say ordinary! It’s clearly filled with malicious intent."

Animated Armor is tough enough, but combining this with the second-tier profession from the heavy equipment shield system makes it double-layered equipment. Lu Ping’an had to open so many cans with a bitter heart, aching hands, numb feet, and dizzying head... He spun around so many times that his feet became soft.

"Thinking positively, at least it’s not Mr. Knight’s signature profession... uh, Mr. Knight’s Heavy Knight is a third-tier, right? The second-tier one would be food delivery for me."

However, this was the fundamental reason why Lu Ping’an didn’t continue to press on.

Mr. Knight’s 2-tier Dueling Swordsman is a light swordsman which, for the current Lu Ping’an who is adept at wide-ranging slashes, is actually relatively easy to handle.

But the third-tier Athletic Knight is particularly tough among the canned varieties.

"If my guess is correct, I’ll probably encounter an Animated Armor Athletic Knight on the fifteenth floor, who may be several times tougher than the 2-tier one."

If the double-can features match, it wouldn’t be as simple as one plus one equaling two.

If he must face it, he obviously needs to be in his prime condition to take it on. Currently, with Lu Ping’an’s hidden injuries and energy exhaustion, he can’t push any further.

Upon leaving the Secret Realm, Lu Ping’an experienced difficulty in making a choice yet again. The system’s options were basically the same as before.

However, this time the evaluation was only an F, two levels lower than before, which was actually normal.

Although the options haven’t changed, this time Lu Ping’an doesn’t really want to choose Blessing.

"...Considering Mr. Knight’s obsessiveness with fairness and justice, it’s unlikely he’ll give me a good blessing."

On the way, Lu Ping’an asked Meow whether or not to continue choosing Blessings. Could it be possible to stack another BUFF? But Meow answered with a counter-question.

"If all of this hadn’t happened, relying solely on yourself, how far do you think you could go?"

"Eleventh or twelfth floor? I probably still wouldn’t be able to handle the third-tier one. If I used up all my supplies, I might make it, but I wouldn’t throw away my life-saving items for just 1 or 2 points."

"How far can you go now? Aren’t you already beyond your original expectations?"

Lu Ping’an understood in an instant.

With the "balance" of the Secret Realm, it doesn’t matter what he chooses next, he probably won’t get anything good.

"...Then, I’ll choose option C, at least some insurance. At least I’ll get some quasi-taboo items."

And so, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Lu Ping’an was fortunate enough to receive a silver-white bottle of...shower gel!

[Conservative Beloved Armor Cleaning Fluid (Quasi-cursed item)]

[Function: Metal Hot Bath (No Enchantment Demon), boil and use to let armor and weapons have a bubble bath, improving comfort, increasing vitality, and greatly enhancing their brightness!]

[Note: Mr. Knights’s favorite, shiny armor, you deserve to have!]

Lu Ping’an couldn’t help but laugh and cry as he held the white bottle. He wasn’t sure if it was a cleaning agent or a shower gel.

Even knowing that he wouldn’t get anything good, this item was a bit ridiculous.

But then, he shrugged it off. Mr. Knight had already given him such a great BUFF; he didn’t need to be too extravagant.

"Thank you, Deng... Mr. Deng in heaven."

After expressing his gratitude to the source of everything, Lu Ping’an turned his attention to the scoring ranks outside.

"The highest has already reached the 17th floor? So, my base score would be 10/17, which would be around...3.9 points. Right, there’s also the time correction, maybe 0.9 if it’s good, so it’s probably only around 3.6."

The college entrance examination here uses a standard scoring mechanism, with the first place as the full-score benchmark, and you are given a score corresponding to their progress.‌

If they reach the 20th floor and you only make it to the 10th, then their score is 5 and yours is 2.5.

The time-adjusted coefficient is also based on the speed of the highest scorer and the final score is multiplied by this coefficient, usually between 0.6 and 0.9. The exact amount will only be known after the completion.

The mechanism is quite simple and only looks at the numbers.

Although it’s not very humane, every year there are unlucky students who cry because they encounter bad luck (like three consecutive Animated Armors), making it difficult for them to experience unfair human manipulation.

Ten floors are not low for Lu Ping’an. After all, he must pass the second-tier combat power at the tenth-floor BOSS, and ninety percent of the candidates will end there. His main weakness is the time, as both BOSS fights were too tough.

"No, my time score should be very low, maybe just 2.6... This won’t work. Wait, the seventeenth floor probably isn’t the limit for the other candidates, perhaps they can reach the nineteenth floor. In that case, my score could drop below 2.0."

This score is quite dangerous, and Lu Ping’an cannot accept it.

It also reveals a fact - most candidates ultimately have poor combat scores.

Don’t even mention passing, having 3 or 4 points out of 10 is considered good; most only have one or two points.

On the screen, Lu Ping’an deliberately searched and found Meow’s figure. She was pretty lucky, entangled with the Minotaur on the tenth floor, and seemed to have a good chance of passing.

The Beastification system has obvious advantages in the early stages, with Qi, recovery, and physical strength far surpassing ordinary people. In this kind of protracted battle, as long as she doesn’t encounter a canned enemy, her advantage is obvious.

"He shouldn’t have come out early. He should have, at least, been able to grind through the thirteenth or fourteenth floor..."