Chapter 36: Level Up! Let’s Enjoy the Thrill First!

One of them is something Jiang Yi desperately needs right now—an Upgrade Life Plate!

With this Upgrade Life Plate, he can reach Level 1 as soon as possible. Level 1 is a crucial turning point! Only by reaching Level 1 can one obtain the exclusive Life Disk of the Doomsday Game and truly become an official player. Once he does, he can use the exclusive Life Disk to access more player features of the Doomsday Game. For instance, he could view various leaderboards or even compete for ranking rewards. He could also use forums and chat channels to gather more information.

But for him, something even more critical is the ability to use the trading functions available to official players to rapidly expand the advantage he gains from his wheel spins. As long as he keeps trading with others, he can acquire a massive number of wheel spins at the fastest possible rate. He can then use the rewards from those spins to trade for even more spins—and then spin, spin, and spin! A frenzy of spinning!

In an incredibly short amount of time, he could grow to a level that shocks everyone. Even though he is a month behind in this doomsday game, he could still manage to surpass everyone quickly and perhaps even shatter everyone's perception of reality. Therefore, the Upgrade Life Plate is extremely, incredibly important to Jiang Yi at this stage! It will directly determine the speed of his rise.

However, on the blue wheel, the second option that troubled him was an important item called the [Crown of Hades]. For the average person without detection-type skills, just looking at the four characters "Crown of Hades" might not reveal how precious this item truly is. But Jiang Yi, having been reborn, possessed vast knowledge. He didn't need a detection skill to know the effect of the Crown of Hades:

[Crown of Hades: Consumes 100 years of lifespan to bind; triggers automatically upon receiving fatal damage. Grants the user an instant 1 year of lifespan and resurrects them in their prime state.]

Resurrection! Those two words alone are enough to show how heaven-defying this item is! Of course, a blue-quality Crown of Hades only works for players below Level 10. Furthermore, the Doomsday Game contains death methods more advanced than "fatal damage" that can bypass the effect of the Crown of Hades. But regardless of the limitations, one cannot deny the extraordinary nature of this item, as it essentially grants a player below Level 10 an extra life!

You only have one life! How precious is that? No matter how heaven-defying an item might be, it couldn't possibly be more valuable than life itself, could it? Moreover, ever since he discovered he could designate the rewards of the wheel, Jiang Yi had become particularly protective of his own life. Growth could be slower, and revenge could come later, but his life—no matter what—must be preserved!

Therefore, the [Crown of Hades] option on this blue wheel was also extremely important to him. And there was more... the [Crown of Hades] and the [Upgrade Life Plate] differed in terms of acquisition difficulty. An item like the Crown of Hades would only appear as an option on the wheel. According to his past life experience, you might not see the Crown of Hades appear even once in hundreds of thousands of blue wheel spins! Even with his ability to designate rewards, it would likely be very difficult to encounter another wheel with the Crown of Hades option in the near future.

Relatively speaking, the difficulty of obtaining an Upgrade Life Plate is much lower. It can not only be drawn from a blue wheel, but it also has a chance to be found in special environments within the Beast World or dropped by killing certain rare beasts. If his connections were wide enough, he could even trade items for one with other official players. Speaking of trading... an heaven-defying item like the Crown of Hades, if listed in the official player trading area, would likely be sought after by leaders of major factions even at a price of ten Upgrade Life Plates!

So, in terms of both rarity and acquisition difficulty, Jiang Yi should logically choose the [Crown of Hades]. Choosing the Crown of Hades is the safest, most secure, and most rational decision. The Upgrade Life Plate could be sought out slowly later.

But alas! Even the most rational person finds it hard to obey logic completely at times. The Crown of Hades is undoubtedly precious, but obtaining it now provides no immediate feedback! Without receiving fatal damage, having this item or not makes no difference. In fact, he would have to pay 100 years of his lifespan just to bind it. This thing is essentially an insurance policy; you have to pay the premium first, and it only provides a benefit when an accident occurs. Rationally, saving one's life is worth it, but emotionally, it lacks the instant gratification that leveling up provides!

There is a motivational saying: "The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. The second best time is now." In psychology, there are also concepts of immediate and delayed feedback. It seems that most success requires one to use reason to pursue delayed feedback. But in this world, who is really that rational?

Jiang Yi's reason told him: "Choose the Crown of Hades! Play it safe!"
But his emotions were screaming: "Choose the Upgrade Life Plate! It will feel great!"

At this moment, Jiang Yi... was ultimately overcome by his emotions! "Screw it! I'll take the pleasure first!" Anyway, once he becomes an official player, his rapid growth rate means the probability of encountering life-threatening danger will naturally decrease as his strength increases!

Therefore—Jiang Yi held down the blue wheel, feeling a pang of regret as he mentally apologized to the [Crown of Hades] option. Then, he fiercely muttered in his heart:

[I choose 7: Upgrade Life Plate!]

The blue wheel immediately emitted a pleasant prompt:
[Ding—]
[Congratulations on drawing the reward: Upgrade Life Plate!]
At the same time, the one-time-use blue wheel disintegrated.

In Jiang Yi's hand appeared a dark silver object the size of a playing card. Even though he couldn't see it clearly in the polar night environment, he knew what an Upgrade Life Plate looked like. On the front, there was the character "Life" in a flamboyant font, with the final stroke of the character drawn out very long. On the back, there was an interface somewhat similar to a player's data panel. Before use, only the word "Name" appeared on the top line.

Jiang Yi skillfully pressed his palm against the interface. A voice automatically rang out in his mind:
[Authenticating player identity...]
[Recording player information...]
[Ding—]
[Player has met the requirements for an upgrade! Do you wish to upgrade?]

Without any hesitation, Jiang Yi skillfully replied in his heart: [Yes!]

As he responded, the card-sized plate transformed into specks of silver light and rapidly merged into his body. At that instant, Jiang Yi felt a sense of relief throughout his entire being! The fatigue, hunger, and other poor physical conditions he had accumulated while in the form of a Life-Tumor Worm seemed to be purged at once! Simultaneously, a surge of heat flowed through his meridians, making him feel as if he were filled with power!

This sensation, of course, was merely an illusion. The act of upgrading itself did not increase his strength attribute. About half a minute later, that exhilarating flow of heat finally settled at the center of his brow. At that moment, Jiang Yi felt a heat at his brow, accompanied by an inexplicable sense of palpitation. He raised his hand to touch his forehead and instinctively sensed a hard texture. With a thought, a round object the size of a coin flew out from his brow.

That... was his exclusive Life Disk!

The exclusive Life Disk of an official player is the most crucial item for a player to connect to the Doomsday Game. If this apocalypse is truly a game, then the exclusive Life Disk is equivalent to the login device! Once bound, it cannot be destroyed or dropped. Moreover, it can take on any form according to the player's will! Watches, glasses, silk scarves—whatever one can imagine.

Due to modern habits, many official players are accustomed to morphing their exclusive Life Disks into the shape of a smartphone, allowing them to conveniently use all player functions just like operating a mobile app. However, Jiang Yi, having returned from rebirth, could already be considered a veteran player. In his past life, about half a year into the apocalypse, players' attitudes toward using the Life Disk gradually shifted toward "dematerialization." In other words, they stopped morphing the Life Disk into physical objects and instead kept it integrated into their brow, accessing player functions directly within their minds. That was significantly more convenient, efficient, and discreet than using a physical object.

Thus, Jiang Yi only held the Life Disk in his hand for a moment to get a feel for it before pressing it back into his brow. He then proceeded to skillfully use the Life Disk's functions in his mind. Just as he was about to check the current player leaderboard, his sharp hearing suddenly detected the sound of approaching footsteps.