Chapter 12: Gaining Attributes by Disassembling Items

Miniature cans are special rewards in DNF, usually obtained through events or by defeating major bosses. They contain equipment or weapons. Opening a miniature can is entirely a matter of luck; with good fortune, you might draw a rare item in one try, but if luck isn’t on your side, even thirty attempts could leave you empty-handed.

Sprinting all the way back to his parked car, Lin Xiao flung open the door and sank heavily into the seat, gasping for breath. Recalling what had just transpired, he still felt the lingering thrill of a narrow escape from death.

The giant hound was simply too powerful—blades and bullets were useless against it, and its strength was monstrous. Purely physical attacks clearly couldn’t kill it; only magic offered a chance. He remembered in the original story, Jonathan and Nancy had set a trap, using a bear trap to immobilize the monster, then tried to burn it.

Though they didn’t manage to incinerate the beast, they gravely injured it. The fire they employed, however, was ordinary physical flame, not genuine magical fire.

This meant magical attacks would certainly be effective. The urgent task, then, was to learn some magical skills or acquire equipment capable of dealing magical damage.

To avoid being tracked down by the lab personnel, Lin Xiao drove out of town instead of heading home. He sped into the roadside woods, switched off the car lights, and hid in the darkness.

After a brief rest, he couldn’t wait to summon the system interface. In his inventory, a white jar-shaped icon appeared—the miniature can he had just been rewarded.

“Buddha, Guanyin, Jade Emperor, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, all you deities, please watch over your humble follower. Let me draw something useful, not some ridiculous joke of a reward.”

He pressed his palms together in prayer for a moment, then clicked on the miniature can. A flash of light later, a small interface popped up displaying three items:

[Maiden’s Heart of Adoration: LV1 Skill Card. You have saved an innocent young girl, earning her adoration. Activating this card will cause enemies to feel affection toward you. Duration: three minutes.]

Lin Xiao’s face darkened. Affection? He pictured the snarling, monstrous beast gazing at him with soulful eyes, its gaping maw bristling with fangs. The image was so absurd his mind nearly exploded.

[Blank Enchantment Card: LV1 Enchantment Card. Can be used to imbue weapons or equipment with an attribute.]

This was actually quite useful—unfortunately, he didn’t have any attributes yet, so the card was useless for now. Distant water can’t quench present thirst.

[Blessing from an Angel: Mysterious Gift. Your actions have caught the eye of a certain angel, who has decided to grant you her holy blessing. You may freely upgrade a female priest skill, regardless of its level.]

“Oh, finally, something truly valuable.”

Lin Xiao was overjoyed. This blessing was far superior to SP points. With SP points, not all skills could be upgraded—some had prerequisites, requiring a certain level before they could be enhanced. The angel’s blessing, on the other hand, ignored all such restrictions and was nothing short of a divine boon.

What puzzled him was whether angels really existed in this world.

“Who cares? I’ll upgrade first and ask questions later.”

Putting aside his doubts, he opened the female priest skill tree, carefully comparing each skill’s effects, considering his recent encounter with the monster. After much deliberation, he made his choice:

Holy Light!

[Holy Light: LV1 Basic Skill. Converts internal magic power into light-attribute energy, forming a holy light to dispel darkness. Grants a 10% damage bonus to magic attacks against dark creatures. When the light collides with enemies, it explodes, dealing light-attribute magical damage. Each use consumes 50 mana points.]

The reason for this choice was simple. The giant hound was certainly a dark creature; a 10% bonus to attack power might be enough to penetrate its defenses, avoiding another embarrassing stalemate.

After opening the miniature can, Lin Xiao continued to study the interface. He had 14 units of source energy left. Should he continue saving up for an upgrade, or use some to bolster his strength now? It was a question worth pondering.

After careful consideration, he decided to spend some source energy to enhance his power first—for example, enchanting his Interstellar Demolition Battle Axe.

For enchantment, the most important item was the enchantment card, followed by magic solvent and elemental crystals.

According to the system, elemental crystals could be substituted with magical essence—three units of magical essence could be synthesized into a lower-grade elemental crystal. Magic solvent, however, had to be purchased from the shop.

Checking the price, magic solvent cost one source energy per unit—not expensive. He bought one.

For the elemental crystal, Lin Xiao simply broke down another demon hound, collected three units of magical essence, then spent one source energy to fuse them into a lower-grade elemental crystal.

With those two ingredients in hand, the crucial piece was the enchantment card. He had a blank card, but as for the attribute itself, it couldn’t be bought in the shop—he’d have to acquire it another way.

“By dismantling relevant items, I can obtain the corresponding attribute. Since I need an attack attribute, fire, ice, or even lightning would be ideal. The question is, what should I break down to get the right attribute?”

Scanning the items in his car, Lin Xiao felt a headache coming on. Only by dismantling an item could he see if it yielded the desired attribute, but he hardly had source energy to waste on trial and error.

To search more thoroughly, he rummaged in the glove compartment and found his lighter. Flicking it, a bright flame sprang up, casting an orange glow.

Staring at the flame, Lin Xiao had a sudden thought—could he store the flame in the system to create an attribute? Or perhaps dismantle the lighter to produce one?

No sooner thought than done, he tried storing the flame in the inventory. To his surprise, it worked—the lighter’s flame instantly died out, and a flame-shaped icon appeared in the inventory.

He then selected the dismantler and placed the flame icon inside. This time, it required two units of source energy, but the result was worth it:

[Fire Attribute: LV1. Enchantment attribute, can be imbued onto a weapon to grant fire-attribute attacks, inflicting magical fire damage. Consumes 10 source energy per second, dealing 30 burn damage.]

To his astonishment, he had successfully created a fire attribute. Lin Xiao immediately took out the blank enchantment card and copied the fire attribute onto it, producing a fire-attribute enchantment card.

The stage was set. He eagerly opened the enchantment station, placed the Interstellar Demolition Battle Axe inside, along with the three required items, and clicked confirm.

As expected, a prompt appeared, stating that this enchantment would cost five source energy.

Gritting his teeth, he confirmed. The enchantment station burst into light, and the fire attribute was successfully imbued onto the battle axe.

Later enchantments could overwrite earlier ones, so Lin Xiao wasn’t worried about damaging his weapon. For now, the most important thing was boosting his combat power to defeat the monster.

Altogether, he had spent ten source energy, leaving him with just four.

But gains come with losses. Now, if he confronted the monster again, he estimated he had a sixty percent chance of killing it.

“In the original storyline, I recall the monster emerging from the Upside Down tomorrow night to attack Jonathan’s mother, Joy. If I lie in wait and launch a surprise attack, my odds might rise by another ten percent. The only problem is how to explain my abilities.”

As he pondered his battle plan, Lin Xiao finally resolved to go home and hide tomorrow night, waiting for the monster to appear. He would take it down in one fell swoop and fill his empty pockets.