Chapter 31: The Mysterious Lin Yan

Li Gang didn’t mind at all. He nodded and switched the virtual screen in front of him to display his basic four human attributes, presenting them to Lin Yan. In fact, he was even thinking that this was the perfect opportunity to show off his numbers to the person he liked.

After all, with all the hard training he’d done recently, he believed his stats were at least above average among all the survivors—perhaps even above the median.

“Stamina 313, Mind 92, Strength 121, Speed 100, Combat Power 148. The basic attributes are overall decent, but your total combat power is still a bit low,” Lin Yan said as she looked over the numbers. Then she asked, “By the way, what were your stats when the game began? And what were they after you used the full restoration treatment?”

“My stamina was only 72 at first, mind 67, strength 72, speed 60, and combat power just 40. I used my first enhancement opportunity on stamina today, then I used the full restoration treatment. Honestly, that treatment is truly miraculous—my stats changed so much. Specifically, they became…”

Li Gang remembered his initial stats very clearly. At that time, his AI assistant, Xiao Bai, had ridiculed him mercilessly, and after training for quite some time without any improvement, he’d been left with a deep impression.

When Li Gang mentioned his starting combat power was only 40, he glanced at Lin Yan, feeling a bit embarrassed about such a low number. But as he began to describe the wonders of the full restoration treatment, his excitement took over, and he detailed every change with great enthusiasm.

Lin Yan nodded, then continued, “I see. Now, tell me in detail about your training and how your numbers changed each day since the game began.”

Li Gang didn’t know exactly why Lin Yan was asking all this, but he recounted everything from the past twenty days. Lin Yan listened, occasionally interrupting to ask about specific details, and Li Gang answered honestly, hiding nothing.

After listening to his account, Lin Yan fell into silent thought. Li Gang stood quietly at her side, knowing she was pondering something, so he didn’t disturb her. Instead, he just watched her, and before he knew it, he found himself utterly entranced.

Lin Yan’s appearance was not striking; even after the effects of the full restoration treatment, she looked quite ordinary. Yet the more one looked at her, the more attractive she became. There was a unique quality about her that ordinary people lacked.

There’s a saying that in the eyes of a lover, their beloved is a goddess. There’s some truth to that—for Li Gang, Lin Yan was the very picture of beauty, the goddess in his heart.

After three or four minutes, Lin Yan finally spoke softly, “Based on your description, your training methods are actually quite clumsy. From now on, let me train you. I’ll set specific routines and daily tasks for you. I believe your abilities will improve greatly in a short time under my guidance.”

Perhaps her voice was too soft, because Li Gang seemed not to hear her at all. He just stood there, lost in a daze, gazing at her without replying.

After waiting a while and getting no response, Lin Yan turned, puzzled, to look at him. She found him standing in a trance, staring at her, and asked with a frown, “Why are you looking at me like that? Did you even hear what I just said?”

“Huh?”

Li Gang snapped back to reality, smiling sheepishly.

Lin Yan saw this and realized he’d clearly been daydreaming. She scolded, “What are you daydreaming about? With vigilance like that, if I’d attacked just now, I could’ve killed you several times over before you even reacted.”

“Killed me several times?”

Li Gang was skeptical—he believed that his current abilities should be much higher than Lin Yan’s, at least in terms of raw stats.

Lin Yan saw the shift in his expression and knew what he was thinking. Her dark eyes flickered with amusement as she smiled, “You don’t believe me? Let me show you my personal stats. Just don’t get too discouraged after you see them.”

As she spoke, she brought up her own personal stat panel.

Li Gang stared at the numbers on her virtual display, utterly stunned and in total disbelief.

Except for stamina and strength, Lin Yan’s basic stats were all far superior to his—especially her combat power, which was off the charts.

Her stamina was 123, 190 lower than his. Her mind was 141, 49 higher than his. Her strength was 116, just 5 lower than his. Her speed was 330, a full 230 higher than his. Her combat power was 381, a staggering 233 higher than his.

Li Gang checked the numbers again and again, making sure he wasn’t seeing things. It was clear that her overall strength far surpassed his.

He’d always dismissed the combat power number, believing that true victory in battle wasn’t determined by a simple stat. If that were the case, two people could just compare numbers and the loser would simply accept defeat—no need to actually fight. But Li Gang knew that such a vast difference in numbers did, in fact, reflect a real gap in strength.

When he noticed Lin Yan still had one enhancement left and two full restoration treatments remaining, he was truly shocked. That meant she had only used the treatment once and had used the enhancement five times—one less than him.

The more Li Gang thought about all the training he’d done over the past three weeks, the more confused he became. “Why are your stats so high?” he asked.

Lin Yan seemed quite pleased with his astonishment. She smiled and replied, “That’s a secret.”

“What were your starting stats?” Li Gang pressed.

“That’s not really a secret—I can tell you,” she said. “When the game began, my basic stats were: stamina 92, mind 118, strength 90, speed 150, and combat power 182. I didn’t try to train myself first to see if I could improve, unlike you. For personal reasons, and to test the full restoration treatment, I used the free restoration right away. Afterwards, my stamina became 112, mind 128, strength 116, but my speed didn’t change—it stayed at 150. Maybe it was already at the human limit. My combat power jumped straight from 182 to 328.”

Li Gang listened quietly, finding her story more and more unbelievable. The more he heard, the more he realized that Lin Yan was far from as simple as she appeared on the surface.

He recalled her precise sniping, her cold-blooded follow-up shots, and the way she’d evaluated his skills—subtly implying that if he didn’t meet her standards, she wouldn’t let him burden her. He’d always thought this was because she was a top-tier FPS gamer, one of the elite.

But now, thinking about it carefully, it was clear things weren’t so simple. How else could she have such formidable stats unless she was blessed with extraordinary talent? And where did that sniper rifle come from? How could she remain so calm while killing, or so cold when firing a second shot without hesitation? Who was she, really, before the apocalypse?

Li Gang’s imagination ran wild, and he even speculated that Lin Yan must have been a professional assassin in her former life.

He asked, “Lin Yan, why are your stats so high? Are you really the same person I used to hang out with all night at the internet café?”

“I still prefer when you call me Sister Lin,” she replied.

Noticing a hint of nervousness in his expression, Lin Yan pretended not to see it and simply insisted on her preferred form of address.

Li Gang swallowed nervously. “Sister Lin, you’re not an assassin in real life, are you?”

Lin Yan couldn’t help but laugh. She shook her head and said, “Don’t worry. I’m not a killer. But as for what I actually do, that’s a secret.”

“A secret? Another secret?”

Hearing her say that yet again, Li Gang was at a loss for words. If she wasn’t an assassin, then what was she?

Lin Yan smiled slyly and said, “Little brother Li Gang, it’s secrets that make a woman more intriguing.”

Li Gang was left speechless once more.

Seeing his exasperated expression, Lin Yan thought for a moment and continued, “Alright, give it a few days. If you manage to impress me, I’ll tell you everything about myself. Now isn’t the time.”

Li Gang didn’t press further. He simply nodded, but he couldn’t help feeling there was something ambiguous in her words.