Chapter 4: The True First Productivity Is the Golden Finger

Leo stared intently at the virtual panel before him.

He stood frozen for over ten seconds.

Time seemed to nearly stop.

Tentatively, he stretched out his hand and blindly grabbed at the air.

His fingertips passed right through the lines of deep blue text without any resistance.

Strangely, the text wobbled slightly, like jelly being touched, then immediately returned to its original state.

This was not an illusion!

A wild surge of joy exploded through his body, instantly rushing to his head and washing away the despair that had plagued him moments before.

System!

It’s the System!

My Golden Finger has finally arrived!

He had said so!

How could a transmigrator not receive newbie benefits?

Though the delivery was late—almost making him think he had the script of “Hell Difficulty Survival.”

“Your Highness, are you alright?”

Alfred’s voice came from the doorway.

The old butler was holding a steaming cup of tea, and when he saw Leo smiling foolishly at empty air with a strange, twisted expression, his heart tightened.

“Are you too tired?”

“Ah? Oh, no, I’m fine, really!”

Leo snapped back to reality, instantly regaining control of his expression, took the tea cup, and took a disguised sip.

“I was just thinking about the territory, you know, our future development direction. Just now, a brilliant idea suddenly struck me!”

Alfred gave him a look that clearly said, “You’re lying, but I won’t say anything.”

Still, he nodded with relief.

“It’s a blessing for the people when Your Highness cares about the territory.”

Finally getting the old butler out of the room, Leo immediately immersed his entire mind into the System in his head.

A thought.

An incredibly familiar interface popped up in his consciousness.

Top left, the character portrait and status bar.

Top right, a mini-map.

Below, skill bar and inventory.

This layout, this style—it was exactly the same as the game he played before transmigrating: simple, efficient, pure joy for any veteran player.

He quickly clicked open the character panel.

【Name: Leo Viandell】

【Level: 1】

【Class: None】

【HP: 80/80】

【MP: 50/50】

【Strength: 5】

【Agility: 6】

【Constitution: 4】

【Spirit: 10】

【(Note: Average adult male stats are 10)】

Seeing this pitiful string of single digits, Leo’s face twitched uncontrollably.

Especially the “Constitution 4”!

This was a joke.

No wonder he felt like he was falling apart after a whole day bouncing in the carriage.

This physical constitution could probably be blown away by a gust of wind.

Pure trash tier.

But, it was not a big problem.

As long as he could level up and allocate points, everything would be fine.

He rubbed his hands eagerly and opened the inventory.

A shining golden package icon lay quietly in a slot.

【Starter Pack】

【Open it?】

“Yes! Now! Immediately! Right away!”

Leo roared inside his mind with all his strength.

The pack exploded with a “bang,” transforming into streams of light that flooded into his body.

【Congratulations: Talent Lock Removal!】

【Congratulations: Initial Skill Point x1】

【Congratulations: Storage Space (10 cubic meters)】

【Congratulations: Gold Coins x100】

The moment he saw the first reward, Leo shuddered all over.

An indescribable warmth spread throughout his body.

The feeling that had always bound him, making him feel sluggish and stifled, was like an ice block poured with hot water, melting rapidly.

It was gone.

He could clearly “feel” the magical elements drifting in the air.

They were no longer vague concepts, but lively little creatures jumping happily around him, within reach.

He even had the illusion that, if he wanted, he could easily command them.

It worked!

The thought connected!

That biggest problem that had troubled him to the point of despair was instantly solved by a newbie pack!

Forget about bursting potential in despair or fighting soul corruption…

Those are nonsense!

The true first productivity is the Golden Finger!

“Haha… hahahaha…”

He could no longer contain himself, lowering his voice to let out a strange yet joyous laugh.

This script had instantly switched from “Hell Survival Mode” to “Male Lead Mode.”

Who could resist that?

Forcing down his nearly boiling excitement, he continued studying the System.

Focus.

The skill panel unfolded.

An enormous, intricate skill tree appeared before his eyes.

Most branches were gray and unclickable.

Only the most basic few branches emitted a faint white glow.

Among them, a huge branch named “Summoning” was radiating brilliant golden energy.

This meant his talent level here was at its maximum!

And below the Summoning branch, a sub-branch that should be hidden and require special conditions to unlock—“Necromancy”—was also lit up.

It could be learned directly.

“Huh?”

Leo froze.

This wasn’t right.

In his gaming memory, this necromancer skill tree belonged to a hidden class.

Players had to kill the original owner, the Leo Viandell who had become corrupted by revenge, in the main storyline to obtain this legacy.

Now, it was directly open to him?

“Could it be because I inherited the original owner’s body, and along with it, his deep-seated resentment and potential?”

Leo touched his chin, guessing.

“Or maybe the System felt sorry for me and gave me special compensation?”

Who cared.

Unlocked was unlocked.

It was a huge benefit.

He now had one initial skill point.

It had to be used wisely.

He carefully compared the few available initial summoning skills.

【Summon Shadow Wolf】: Consumes 30 MP, summons a Shadow Wolf to fight for 15 minutes. HP 100, ATK 12.

【Summon Earth Elemental】: Consumes 40 MP, summons an Earth Elemental to fight for 10 minutes. HP 200, ATK 8, high DEF.

【Summon Skeleton Soldier】: Consumes 20 MP, summons a Skeleton Soldier to fight for 30 minutes. HP 70, ATK 10. Special ability: Undead Revival (each summon can revive once).

Which to choose?

Did that even require thought?

The Shadow Wolf was average in all aspects but had high mana cost and average duration.

The Earth Elemental was a pure tank with weak attack and ridiculously short duration, extremely poor cost performance.

Only the Skeleton Soldier!

This was the true godsend for clearing early-game!

Lowest consumption!

Longest duration!

And damn, it comes with a built-in revival!

The cost performance maxed out!

“For a grinding maniac ready to start from zero, endurance is everything!”

Leo didn’t hesitate, using his will to ruthlessly spend the precious skill point on “Summon Skeleton Soldier.”

Instantly,

A massive influx of information poured into his brain.

How to condense magic power, how to construct summoning circles, how to link with the distant undead dimension…

This knowledge imprinted itself deeply in his soul as if he had been born with it.

It was done!

He jumped to his feet and walked to the most open spot in the room.

He imitated the movements in his mind, stretching out his right hand and concentrating his mental power forward.

He felt the pitiful 50 MP inside him instantly drain by 20 points.

A palm-sized miniature summoning circle made of pure black energy quietly appeared on the floor before him.

The circle’s patterns were complex, twisted, and eerie.

At its center, a faint blue flame flickered to life.

A pale, withered skeletal hand suddenly shot out from the circle, “smacking” onto the floor.

Next came another hand.

Then the creaking of a spine and ribs.

Finally, a bare skull whose jaw kept opening and closing.

A complete Skeleton Soldier about 1.7 meters tall clumsily crawled out of the circle and stood up.

It held a rusty iron sword in one hand and raised a pitifully small, broken wooden shield in the other.

In its hollow eye sockets, two points of pale blue soul fire quietly burned.

It tilted its head, the upper and lower jawbones opening and closing, emitting a crisp “ka-ba” sound.

As if greeting its new master.

Leo looked at his first summoned creature and nodded in satisfaction.

Although it looked fragile and could probably fall apart if touched,

this was his first step to changing his fate!

He glanced at his status bar: MP remaining 30.

He could summon another one!

This unit had no quantity limit, purely restricted by available mana.

If a Skeleton Soldier died, triggering “Undead Revival,” and then died again, it would enter a cooldown so short it could almost be ignored.

His MP would also naturally regenerate over time.

So as long as he didn’t let both skeletons get killed simultaneously, he could instantly summon one upon another’s death and always maintain two Skeleton Soldiers on the field!

Perfect!

This perpetual monster-farming machine was complete!

“Good. From today on, you shall be called… Bone One.”

Leo casually gave it a name.

The soul fire in the Skeleton Soldier’s eye sockets flickered, as if responding.

Leo’s gaze passed beyond Bone One, landing on the deep, endless darkness of the Monster Forest outside the window.

A determined smile curled on his lips.

Poor territory?

No resources?

What a joke.

The vast Monster Forest before him was the largest, richest resource reservoir.

To others, it was a deadly forbidden zone swallowing lives.

But to him, it was a patchwork of moving experience bags and Gold Coins!

“Blackwood Ridge, huh? Just you wait.”

Leo reached out and patted Bone One’s smooth shoulder.

The cold, hard touch of bone gave him unprecedented reassurance.

“Before long, I’ll make this place the richest land in the entire Kingdom.”

“Now, the great Lord shall lead his loyal soldier to the Novice Village for level grinding!”