Volume 1, Chapter 5 – Intelligence Too Low, Please Top Up

In Night of the Stars, there were two most common ways to unlock a new class.

The first was to find an NPC with the relevant class and learn from them.

The second was to gain an understanding of some body of knowledge related to that class on your own, and thereby unlock the new class yourself.

Right now, Anran had unlocked the Pastry Maker secondary class through the second method.

Being able to increase her stats was a good thing, but what kind of messed-up class was Pastry Maker anyway?

Even if she resisted becoming a BOSS, Anran did not actually want to become a “chef.”

Even if a max-level Pastry Maker could become a powerful support!

In such a magnificent age of the stars, how could she stay trapped on a somewhat decayed trading planet like this?

Go adventuring!

Go wild!

Anran might have the identity of a salted fish, but deep down she had a heart unwilling to remain one.

Looking up at the starry sky, she could still see the brilliant galaxy despite the barrier of the atmosphere.

Twinkle, twinkle, little stars, filling the whole sky.

If she wanted to really let loose in the age of the stars, then a class like Pastry Maker was obviously nowhere near enough.

Take those main classes of “Pirate Princess Anran,” for example: Space Pirate, Artillery Expert, Gale Sword Saint, Storm Archmage. Sure, the names sounded embarrassingly chuuni, but they were awesome.

A fighter and a mage in one, with science on one hand and mysticism on the other. No wonder “Pirate Princess Anran” was ranked sixth on the Supreme Interstellar Bounty List in the setting.

She was powerful in her own right and had a whole group of subordinates too.

Envy was useless. Version changes were irreversible.

Anran could only think of a way to unlock a useful, low-cost primary class to improve her own strength.

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First, she needed to survive long enough to unlock the “treasure” that would start her rise.

If she still followed the rise-to-power route of the Anran in her memories step by step, then in the end she would definitely be ground to dust by the players.

How to unlock a new class?

While making cakes, Anran pondered that question.

“Obtained [Ordinary Mung Bean Cake] x1”

“Obtained [Inferior Mung Bean Cake] x1”

…

Just then, Anran’s gaze suddenly landed on a book placed on top of the television.

Basic Circuit Repair Manual.

This was a blue-covered book that had come free when Anran bought the TV from the junkyard.

It looked like this was a knowledge book related to a class, so wouldn’t that mean she could unlock a new class as long as she understood it?

The moment she thought of it, she acted.

Putting down the mung bean cake in her hand, Anran hurried over to the television in a few quick steps.

She even had to rise slightly onto her tiptoes to take the book down from the top of the old big-backed TV.

That made Anran feel deeply resentful of her height.

A mere 155 centimeters.

How utterly hateful.

But if one traced it back to the root of the problem, it was still Anran’s own fault.

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Who told her to deliberately choose a petite body type when creating her character? Her stated reason had been that people were easily fooled by lolis these days, which made scamming people easier.

Fortunately, the current Anran was only sixteen. There was still hope.

***

Looking at the blue-covered book in her hands, Anran felt the rough paper made it look like some pirated copy, though the printing quality was pretty decent. Hopefully there were no typos, or they might affect the reading experience.

The moment she opened the first page of Basic Circuit Repair Manual, a prompt from her personal panel immediately surfaced in her mind.

“Ding! You opened Basic Circuit Repair Manual and began reading.”

A prompt like that too? It really was still a game.

“A circuit is…”

“Ding!”

Anran had only read three words when the game system prompt sounded again. “Due to insufficient Intelligence, you are unable to comprehend the contents of this book. Your attempt to read it has failed.”

What?

Anran’s expression froze.

Her hands holding the book started trembling at once.

What the fxxk?

Insufficient Intelligence, unable to comprehend?

Are you freaking kidding me? Back in school, I could score 90 in physics. I can easily read every single word in this damn book. How could I possibly not understand it?!

δ. Emmm… wait, how do you pronounce this lowercase Greek letter again? Flip the table!

Anran’s face fell. She had not touched this stuff in ages after graduating, and she had actually forgotten.

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Then she noticed a line of floating annotation text beside the book. On closer inspection, it read: Requirement: Intelligence 7.

Her starting Intelligence stat had been 5. Unlocking the Pastry Maker secondary class had added 1 point, which meant her current Intelligence was 6.

No wonder she could not read this book.

This was a game restriction. It really had nothing to do with how intelligent she actually was!

After doing the math, Anran realized she still had 3 free attribute points that she had not assigned. As long as she added 1 point to Intelligence, she would meet the requirement.

But then she quickly remembered that leveling up her Pastry Maker secondary class also seemed to increase Intelligence.

The distribution of free attribute points had to be handled with extra care. At the very least, she had to confirm her future direction before making a decision. Otherwise, she would have to pay a huge price to reset her build. And poverty just so happened to be one of Anran’s defining traits, so respec was not something she could afford for now.

She would save those 3 free attribute points for the time being.

Putting the blue book down, Anran went back to making mung bean cakes.

[Secondary Class: Pastry Maker Lv1 (46/300)]

She only needed to make 26 more [Ordinary Mung Bean Cakes] to level up.

When her luck was bad, what she got was [Inferior Mung Bean Cake], which only gave 3 class experience. After nearly two hours, Anran had made more than thirty mung bean cakes in one go before finally meeting the requirement.

“[Pastry Maker] has leveled up to Lv2. Intelligence +1, Spirit +1, obtained 3 free attribute points, obtained 1 skill point.”

Anran’s personal panel changed somewhat.

…

Secondary Class: Pastry Maker Lv2 (13/1000)

Six Stats: Strength 3, Agility 4, Endurance 3, Intelligence 7, Spirit 5, Charm 4

[Other than having normal intelligence and a normal mental state, this pauper is good for absolutely nothing.]

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Free Attribute Points: 6

…

What an infuriating evaluation.

Still, at least her Intelligence had finally reached 7, so Anran picked up that blue circuit book again.

“Ding! You opened Basic Circuit Repair Manual and began reading.”

Anran began reading the blue book.

At that moment, the game system prompts kept sounding one after another.

“Basic Circuit Repair Manual study progress +2.5%.”

“Basic Circuit Repair Manual study progress +3%.”

Although Anran’s personal condition was more or less the same as last time, under the system’s judgment, she had already successfully understood the book.

Until…

“Ding! Basic Circuit Repair Manual study progress has reached 100%. You have learned the fundamentals of engineering and successfully unlocked the new class Apprentice Engineer! Endurance +1, Intelligence +1, obtained 3 free attribute points, obtained 1 skill point.”

“You have comprehended the new skills [Basic Circuit Theory] and [Basic Repair], and successfully unlocked the Engineer skill tree.”

After that series of prompts, her stats rose a little. Anran only felt as though she had suddenly become much more alert. Even her stamina seemed to have improved slightly, though she did not know whether that was just psychological.

But none of that was important. What mattered was that Anran had successfully unlocked a primary class.

Engineer, a class full of creative spirit.

It did not have much combat ability in the early stages, but in terms of making money, it seemed pretty decent.

And after reading more specialized knowledge, an Engineer could also develop in directions such as Mechanic or Scientist. The future still looked very bright.