Chapter 4: Skill Mastery and Hidden Triggers

Breath of Life has three ways to cast skills.

The first: say the skill name aloud and aim at the target.
Simplest, but it telegraphs your move.
Opponents can prepare, making it clumsy in player battles—like the four-man squad learned the hard way.

The second: each skill has a fixed, simple motion.
Master it, perform the motion, aim, and the skill activates.
For example, a whip user flicks and releases for a skill.
Compared to the first, it’s harder to predict in combat.

The third is the toughest, with a high barrier.

Interstellar holographic games work for any mental strength level, from F to S.
Aside from anti-addiction time limits, everyone plays equally.
But “equal” means accessing the game—mental strength subtly affects performance.
In short, bad players exist at any mental level, but top players often have high mental strength.
Most Breath of Life interstellar league pros have B-grade or higher.

How does the third method work?

Mystically: fully embody your role.
Your character’s abilities become yours.
You know each skill’s use, timing, and limits intuitively, casting freely.
Take a fire user’s fireball: instead of chanting or moving, a glance sends it flying.
The effect is slick, the ultimate dream for many players.

Scientifically: master every skill’s mechanics, combos, and cooldowns.
Know where and how to aim—fixed combos for stuns, knockbacks, or critical hits for burst damage.
Memorizing combos works, but without adaptability or precision, hesitation breaks the flow.
In real combat, no one waits for you to check your skill bar.

Precision and smooth casting depend on a player’s awareness, proficiency, and mental strength.
This third method is a must for Breath of Life league pros.

Under a tree, the cyan figure just claimed the last head of the four-man squad.
From the moment he prioritized the control user, Bo He knew this wasn’t an ordinary player.

The wind user’s control skill pulled enemies together.
The four weren’t static targets—they moved, especially when the wings flapped, jerking them wildly.
Yet every arrow hit a vital spot, thinning their numbers in record time.

His two single-target skills are instant-cast, but “instant” still has a 0.3-second refresh.
Ignore that, and casting fails if you try too soon, breaking your rhythm.
Regaining focus takes seconds, but this wind user had no issue.
His movements were flawless—Bo He couldn’t spot a single mistake.

The four lost without a chance.

From the tree, Bo He studied the wind user’s skills.
No burst ultimate, just three attack skills, yet this support wind user played like an assassin.
Not like the pros Bo He knew, but not a newbie either.

Maybe he stared too long—the wind user looked up, spotting him.

Bo He waved, offering a friendly greeting.
The wind user looked away coldly.

Yun Shi ignored the mist user on the tree.
Thanks to him, he didn’t grind mobs—he got player kills instead.

Player battles give experience, though not much.
But defeating players drops random currency.
Yun Shi loots the small pouches by the corpses: 1 gold, 10 silver, 10 copper.
Not a total waste.

After collecting, he heads to his planned grinding spot.

The three corpses vanish, reviving elsewhere.

Yun Shi grinds in the forest as planned, while the mist user stays in the same area, grinding on the other side.
They don’t interfere, coexisting peacefully for now.

The game’s realism extends to its maps.
Twin Islands mirror real islands, vast with many grinding spots.
Since players spawn at sea and face multiple hurdles to reach the village, this forest is sparsely populated.

No early-game mob stealing happens.
Yun Shi smoothly hits level 8.
The level 5 mutant wolves here give less experience now.
For optimal gains, he needs level 10 mobs.
Higher ones likely lurk deeper in the forest.

After clearing a wave, Yun Shi retreats from the mobs’ range, resting for three minutes.

Resting recovers health.
With no healing potions or skills, sitting is his only option.
He eats a grilled drumstick from the boat and drinks purified water, topping off survival stats.

Health and survival stats restored, Yun Shi stands, heading deeper into the forest.

The deeper forest differs from the outskirts.
Trees grow thicker, the ground bare of grass, covered only by damp leaves.
The only low growth is a thorny patch near a stream.

His steps crunch softly on leaves—and he’s not alone.

Yun Shi turns.
The mist user follows, eyes behind glasses smiling gently, tossing him a puzzled look.

Yun Shi says nothing, turning back to move forward.
The mist user’s level matches his, and grinding higher-level mobs deeper in makes sense.

After walking farther, oddly, no mobs appear.
Is this area empty?

Fighting sounds echo in the quiet forest.
Yun Shi looks toward the noise, seeing the mist user battling a small green tree.

Mist skills are elusive.
His weapons are dual short guns.
The tree’s roots burst from the soil.
The mist user vanishes, leaving wisps, one gun piercing the trunk.
MistInTheView reappears behind the tree, his second gun hitting the same spot, linking both wounds.

The tree doesn’t scream, but its trembling leaves and flailing roots show heavy damage.
MistInTheView doesn’t stop.
He pulls the front gun, merging both into a double-headed long gun, then slashes and sweeps.
The tree, twice human height, falls.
He leaps, turning to mist, reappearing two meters above, plunging the gun through the tree’s wound.

The tree’s roots stiffen, then go still.

Yun Shi calculates: 25 seconds total.

Mutant plants.
The game’s unknown disaster didn’t just kill humans—it mutated plants and animals.
Plants’ hidden abilities often outshine animals’.

So—

Yun Shi eyes the thorny patch by the stream.
Approaching, a thorn-covered vine lashes at his leg.

He dodges instantly.

[Poison Thorn]
Level: 10
Health: 888
[Growth]: Recovers 50% of lost health every 10 seconds
[Entangle]: Each wrap increases poison damage by 10
[Parasite]: ???

Three skills? An elite mob?
The last skill’s unknown.

Yun Shi frowns but has no time to think—the vine strikes again, reaching farther than expected.
He dodges, aiming for the thorn’s root.
But dense vines block most damage.

This mob exposes his role’s flaws.
Low damage relies on critical hits—vines block vitals, reducing damage.
Few attack skills, no burst—thorns regenerate.
Sub-weapon piercing damage—thorns prevent melee.

Yun Shi takes no damage but grinds for three minutes.

The thorn stops thrashing, wilting into a bud-like shape, dropping materials nearby.

[You’ve successfully killed the Poison Thorn!]
[System: Congratulations, you’ve reached level 9!]

Leveled up, but Yun Shi’s not thrilled.
As he bends to collect materials, someone yanks him back, teleporting him five meters away.

Before his face hardens, the bud explodes into a granular mist.

[Parasite]: Leaves seeds on death, spreading after 2 seconds.

“You haven’t played Breath of Life?”
A smooth, watery voice sounds beside Yun Shi.

“Not just plant mobs—many mobs and bosses have hidden skills, often instant-kill ones.”
Bo He, surprised, studies the skilled “newbie” beside him.

Bo He initially found this support wind user’s assassin-like playstyle amusing.
Now, he’s genuinely intrigued.

Yun Shi doesn’t know what the other’s thinking.
He just knows the devs must have a rough life, since even a chill guy like him wants to curse them out.

Grind a mob, finally kill it, go to loot—then a hidden skill kills you, wiping your new experience.
Do the devs even play their own game?

Yun Shi takes a deep breath, turning to MistInTheView.
“Thanks.”
Despite a poor first impression, he’d have lost a level without him.

Bo He replies: “No problem.
My bad for earlier.
Mind if I ask—what games did you play before?”

Yun Shi blinks, his mind flashing to the finals stadium.
He walks toward the dropped materials, keeping it vague: “Lots.”

Bo He raises a brow but doesn’t press.
His cousin messages, saying he’s at the beach and needs picking up.

Bo He glances at the cyan figure, about to tell his cousin he’s busy, when a flurry of messages arrives:

– You’re not bailing, are you?
– Pretending to be AFK?
– No way, no way—actually making excuses?
– Bro, Captain Bo, Boss Bo, you promised to carry me three years ago.
You’ve been retired two years—still remember?

Bo He: …

Yun Shi collects the thorn’s materials and turns back—the mist user’s gone.
A friend request pops up.

[MistInTheView] requests to be your friend. Accept?
[Got stuff today—play again next time?]

Yun Shi accepts, then organizes his inventory.

Dried branches fill most slots, followed by grass, then variously colored mushrooms, none marked as toxic or safe.
Herbs include licorice, peony, and mint; edibles are two paddlefruits, plus drumsticks and shark meat from the sea.
Materials are plentiful: wolf pelts, wolf fangs, shark skin, thorn spikes, and flower seeds.

Notes indicate pelts can make armor or sails.
Wolf fangs and thorn spikes are green (good) quality, usable for sub-weapons or traps.

Traps?
Hunting traps, maybe?
Yun Shi’s unsure, but these can be sold to NPCs or players for coins.

Closing his inventory, he notices the NPC Yan Ziyu’s shoe and sock still clogging two slots.

Why are these still here?

They’re gray (poor) quality, useless to players.
At trading NPCs, they’d auto-sell for a copper or two.

Did his unconventional trade with the weapon merchant mess it up?

Yun Shi considers tossing them but, being broke, even a copper counts.
He leaves them be.

Checking the time, it’s 30 minutes to 6 PM in-game.
He could grind more but skips this forest’s plant mobs.

He moves to a new spot, seeking level 8-10 mutant animals.

No mobs, but he finds an NPC.

Name: Wen Fengqi
Level: ???
Ability: Water
[Amnesia]: This person is currently amnesic

“You have a familiar smell…”

They meet before a stone wall.
The NPC, Wen Fengqi, stops Yun Shi as he passes.

Normally, such NPC lines are generic, but Yun Shi’s brow twitches.
On impulse, he asks: “What smell?”

The NPC steps back, frowning.
“Stink.”

Yun Shi: …

His eye twitches.
He pulls the smelly sock from his inventory, tossing it on the ground.
“This thing?”

The NPC leaps back, covering his nose dramatically, staring at Yun Shi like he’s a hero.
“Yes, it reminds me of someone familiar, but I can’t recall who.”

Yun Shi’s face cracks.
He suspects his old helmet’s scent system is broken, missing the stench.
He carried this sock from the boat, through the village, weapon buying, fighting, and grinding…

F*ck!

The NPC asks: “Do you know their name?”

Yun Shi grits his teeth: “Yan Ziyu!”

“Yan Ziyu, Yan Ziyu…”
The NPC clutches his head.
“I’m starting to remember.
Where is he?”

Yun Shi: “Dead.”

“Dead?!”
Wen Fengqi’s eyes widen, head pounding.
He leans against the wall, gasping, then looks up.
“I remember!
Yan Ziyu was my teammate!”

[System: Congratulations, you’ve triggered the storyline [Vanished Teammate]!]
[System: Automatically accepted the quest [Death of Yan Ziyu]!]

Golden text scrolls across the sky for all server players:
[System]: Congratulations to player [Clouds and Breezes] for triggering the storyline [Vanished Teammate]!

System-wide plot notifications mean one of two things: a world-tier upgrade quest or a hidden storyline.
It’s opening day, so not the former.

World chat explodes, messages flooding:
How’d he trigger a hidden plot?
Hidden plots yield rich rewards, even unique items—weapons or skills.

Yun Shi: …
No one would believe it, but he triggered this plot because he’s too poor to toss a sock.