Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 152 The Three Laws of Equipment Modification (to be continued)

About a month ago, Zhai Da received the "Hard Man Razor" and, to prevent the risk of tetanus, he sharpened it at home.

A series of system notifications appeared, indicating that he was "modifying" the equipment.

Although in the end it was just polished up and didn't change any of the effects of the "Hardcore Razor", it allowed Zhai Da to glimpse a deeper way of playing the system.

According to this theory, it seems that all equipment can be changed to some extent from a material level. However, at that time, his mind was full of Chinese, mathematics, and English for the college entrance examination, and he had no knowledge or skills in this area.

Today, he has finally reached a certain level and is ready to give it another try.

The reason for choosing the "Student-Specific Seat" and the "Tough Guy Razor" is that the former is made of pure wood, is large, and is easy to operate, while the latter is because the "transformation" started with the razor, so it can be used as a comparison.

Of course, the deeper reason is that I wouldn't feel bad if I broke these two.

Zhai Da found a woodworking kit and first used a pencil and ruler to draw lines on the table of the "Students' Seat".

He is very fast, which is one of his major characteristics. Generally speaking, being fast is either due to low precision or skill.

Zhai Da has neither.

He is purely confident.

After systematic learning, he clearly understood how to use his hands—precisely, quickly, and flexibly.

Sometimes it even feels like the brain is restricting the hands.

After completing the preparations, he began to cut grooves on the table. When the third chisel stroke brought the mass of the altered material to a certain critical point, he indeed heard the system notification sound.

"The [Student-Failure Seat] has been modified. Its effect is temporarily disabled."

Zhai Da did not stop, because based on his previous experience, he would make a judgment once he stopped.

Soon a groove appeared on the table. Zhai Da quickly placed the "Hard Man Razor" into the groove and sealed it with a pre-prepared cap.

Because of its precision and planning, the entire process is seamless and appears as a single, unified whole.

Then take two steps back and wait for the system prompt.

"The 'Special Seat for Underachieving Students' renovation has been completed. Reassessment is underway."

"Integrity assessment. Functional assessment. Conceptual assessment."

"Judgment passed, the status of the [Special Seat for Underachieving Students] remains unchanged."

Zhai Da pondered for a moment, then opened the equipment list to check the status of the [Hardcore Razor], but there wasn't even a single notification.

Well, it's just a preliminary test, and it seems the equipment can't be assembled in such a simple way.

No desks or chairs were found that could alleviate pain.
But it doesn't matter; his main purpose today is to explore the rules, not to actually create a magical artifact.

Let's move on to the next experiment.

Zhai Da removed the table legs from the "Special Seat for Underachieving Students" area.
"The [Student-Failure Seat] has been modified. Its effect is temporarily disabled."

"Integrity assessment. Functional assessment."

"Judgment complete. The [Difficult Student Seat] is currently damaged. Equipment effect disabled."

The system's equipment list was also updated in sync, but Zhai Da didn't stop there; he replaced the table legs with metal ones.

"Detected"

"Judgment complete. The damage status of the [Student's Seat] has been removed, and the equipment effect has been restored and updated."

In the equipment list, an additional description has been added regarding the effect of this equipment.
Weaken.

"Equipment effect: Must be used in combination to take effect; table or chair alone is ineffective. Slightly increases the probability of unruly students repenting (weakening), and significantly increases the probability of unruly students getting pimples."

This is a newly emerging description.
Moreover, only the former effect was weakened, seemingly because the material of the table legs did not affect the students' exposure to chalk dust.

This is important information, but he still needs more testing.

Zhai Da began his third project: to use the removed legs of the "Student's Seat" table as material to make a knife handle to replace the original one on the "Hard Man's Razor".

A moment later, seeing the razor's drastically changed appearance, the system gave another prompt.

The performance of the Hardman Razor passed the test perfectly this time, with no change in effect and no "weakening".

Even though the knife handle has been replaced, taking up a much larger proportion than a table with a new leg, it doesn't seem to diminish the overall effect. Is it because it doesn't affect usability at all?
Continue the experiment
Following the plan, Zhai Da modified the two pieces of equipment time and time again, and explored the system's rules and mechanisms repeatedly.

Each change was made very carefully, trying not to affect subsequent arrangements, and then gradually escalated, becoming more and more excessive.

Two hours later, he finally achieved a meaningful result.

The "Hard Man Razor" has been completely transformed into a completely different piece of equipment. The original old razor no longer has a foldable handle, and the blade has been sharpened and shaped into a pointed shape, further reducing its already small size.

It looks like a fruit knife.

"Integrity assessment. Functional assessment. Conceptual assessment."

"Verification complete. This equipment has been upgraded to the [Painless Knife]: You can still use it to shave, but be more careful."

Ownership: Owned, Activated.

"Equipment effect: This knife will not cause pain when cutting a wound, and this effect will last for 3 hours (weakened)."

"Note: It can't make very deep wounds, but you can cut, cut, cut."

Zhai Da stroked his chin. Unless there was a special need, he probably wouldn't use it to shave anymore.

Shaving with a dagger doesn't make you a tough guy, it makes you a psychopath.
Cutting open the wound is painless, which feels both kind and cruel.

The original pain reduction effect, which lasted for 12 hours, has been weakened to 3 hours, which is a significant reduction in numerical value. However, due to the change in the mechanism of action, it actually feels stronger!

Gradually, through a series of trials, Zhai Da discovered three laws governing equipment modification.

Three laws:

First, equipment cannot be stacked with other equipment. Even if they are fused together in terms of material form, they will only function separately. However, equipment can be successfully combined with ordinary materials.

Second, the effects of equipment will not completely change due to modification, but the triggering and usage methods may differ.

Third, the effectiveness of equipment will not be enhanced during modification, but only weakened, like a ball of 'Nian' energy that is constantly being worn down. However, if we refer to Law Two and change the form of use, there may be an unexpected "enhancement".

Zhai Da also made some other discoveries during the process, but because the number of control groups was insufficient, they could not be arbitrarily regarded as "laws" and may just be "special cases".

But this was his important first step, opening the door to a new world.

With more and more attempts in the future, he may be able to summarize a fourth law, a fifth law, and so on.
The "Hardcore Razor" was transformed into a "Painless Knife," a result that Zhai Da was quite satisfied with. He used the extra materials to make a sheath for the knife and then stopped modifying it.

Turning to the completely altered "Students' Seats," the set of desks and chairs has been drastically changed, missing parts, covered in damage, and its effectiveness has been weakened in two ways.

In terms of total quality, more than 30% is missing.

After a moment's thought, Zhai Da decided to make a final modification. If it failed, he would consider it a loss of equipment, which was not unacceptable.

Just then, the roller shutter door was pulled open, and Xu Xuejun returned on his tricycle. He glanced inside and asked curiously, "What are you doing with the door closed?"

Zhai Da pointed to the "Special Seats for Underachieving Students": "I practice there. The students passing by keep staring at me, so I closed the door."

That's true. Xu Xuejun's workshop is right at the intersection of Utopia Road. He can work with the door open without fear of being spied on, but he is always disturbed.

Xu Xuejun didn't say much and started tidying up the scrap on the tricycle: "I've put together some stuff. I'll teach you welding and riveting tonight."

Zhai Da nodded and said, "You go ahead and get ready. I'll finish the last bit of work."

Xu Xuejun kept working with his hands, but still couldn't help muttering, "You think you're so capable, making it seem like I'm working for you."

The old man was still the same person; he couldn't utter a kind word, and insults and sarcasm seemed to be etched into his genes.

But Zhai Da had already gotten used to it, letting it go in one ear and out the other. The old man was teaching his skills for free, and had even stopped doing much of his own business recently in order to train Zhai Da.

He only wanted to pass on all his skills to Master Yu's grandson, asking for nothing in return.

This made Zhai Da increasingly believe that Xu Xuejun and his maternal grandfather had a teacher-student relationship back then, or even a closer one.

The two were busy with their own tasks in the workshop, and Zhai Da worked quickly, making bold and decisive changes to the "Special Seat for Underachieving Students" in no time.

Or, to put it another way, "rescue."

"Integrity assessment. Functional assessment. Conceptual assessment."

"Judgment complete. This equipment has been upgraded to [Underachiever Bench]: This is all the equipment I made for you."

Ownership: Owned, Activated.

"Equipment effect: Sitting on it slightly increases the probability of unruly students repenting (weakened); swinging it on the head has double the effect."

"Note: Unfortunately, when you swing your fist, the unruly student is no longer a student, but a victim."

Zhai Da smacked his lips.
Yes, he thought the system made sense.

The rescue attempt failed; he's completely ruined.
　Chapter Two will be a little later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)