He kept laughing like a madman for a full two minutes. Only then did he finally regain his calm and composure. Even so, the smile never left his face, and his body remained tense from sheer excitement.

  He took a deep breath and muttered mockingly,

  "At least all that suffering wasn’t for nothing. Now, I don’t need to worry about ranking up to the next Rank anymore. All I have to do is wait a little."

  Based on what he had learned from his last Rank Up, it was extremely important for his physical condition to be in good shape to ensure a smooth process.

  Otherwise, the Rank Up wouldn’t be perfect, and he would lose some of its benefits.

  He didn’t even need to think about it. Without any hesitation, he decided to delay his Ascension to D-Rank for a short period, maybe two or three days at most. That would be more than enough time for him to recover.

  There was no need to rush. On top of that, the system rewards this time were plentiful, and he felt an intense curiosity toward all of them. Because of that, he shifted his attention to something else just as important—Evolution Points.

  'If I hadn’t read the system’s last message, I wouldn’t have realized these points had an expiration date.

  But where do they even come from? I know that for a certain amount of XP, I gain EP, but what’s the true source of all this?'

  He had never thought about it before. Now that the idea surfaced, confusion crept in, and his curiosity about the system’s mechanics deepened. Without hiding anything, he asked directly,

  "System, what exactly are XP? I mean, they clearly have a source. It doesn’t make sense for them to just appear out of nowhere."

  The system fell silent for a brief moment.

  Then, a transparent blue screen appeared before him. It contained no explanation—only a list of settings.

  — — —

  [ — System Settings — ]

  – Host Account ?

  – Privileges List ?

  – Restrictions & Security ?

  – Basic Settings ?

  – Important Alerts ?!!

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  – Logs ?

  – Emergency Settings ?

  – Other Settings ?

  — — —

  Arthur’s eyes widened slightly. Even after enduring several consecutive shocks, he was stunned by what he saw. But his expression quickly shifted, and he spoke with clear annoyance:

  "Settings list?! Has something like this been here all along? Why didn’t you tell me? This is really important."

  [You didn’t ask.]

  He furrowed his brow and felt like the system was actually mocking him this time. Despite his irritation, he ignored it and focused on the settings list instead of engaging in a pointless argument.

  He concentrated on the screen, and as if it were a computer linked to his mind, he directed his mental power and pressed “Host Account.” Another screen appeared, filled with details.

  [ — Host Account — ]

  Host: Arthur Grafton

  Species: Wolf

  Current Location: Grimfen Forest

  Owned Privileges: Limited

  Owned Skills: 10

  Achievements Unlocked: 3

  Potential Evolution Paths: 3

  — — —

  After reading it carefully and taking in the details, he pressed the second button.

  — — —

  [ — Privileges List — ]

  Intelligent Assistant (Restricted)

  First Login Package

  Achievement Reward Collection

  Absorb Primal Energy (XP) ?

  Distribute Primal Energy (EP) ?

  Skills & Effects ?

  Unlock Full Evolution Potential ?

  — — —

  'Primal Energy… this is new, I’ve never heard of it before, and apparently both XP and EP are linked to it.'

  Driven by curiosity, he quickly pressed the “Absorb Primal Energy” button to check the details, only to be met with an unexpected system message.

  [Access Restricted: You do not have sufficient permissions to view this data]

  "What? What do you mean by that?"

  He pressed the button again, only to be denied a second time. Realizing there was no point in repeating it, he pressed the “Distribute Primal Energy (EP)” button, but access was denied again.

  His mood soured. Then he pressed “Skills & Effects,” and again he was blocked. Finally, he pressed “Unlock Full Evolution Potential,” and this time encountered no obstacles.

  He let out a short sigh and read the information carefully, unwilling to miss a single detail.

  [— Full Evolution Potential Unlocked —]

  ? Following the Personal Freedom Clause, the system has no authority to determine or force the host to follow a specific evolution path.

  ? All future evolution possibilities are acquired based on the host’s personality, skills, and achievements, essentially reflecting their identity.

  ? At each advanced Rank Up, the host has the right to choose one of the evolution paths they have acquired.

  ? A sub-evolution path can be unlocked at the next Rank Up, or the host may focus on developing a single path.

  — — —

  When he finished, a strange expression appeared on Arthur’s face—not confusion, but a kind of regret.

  Despite having more questions than before, the knowledge he gained from reading the system settings was extremely valuable.

  If he hadn’t been foolish enough not to notice this feature earlier, he wouldn’t have spent his first month in this world in complete ignorance.

  'Wait… didn’t I just read in the "Host Account" section that I have three potential evolution paths?

  I think one of them is the Zombie Wolf I just acquired, and the other two are probably main evolution paths.'

  Although the system provided limited and sometimes vague information, Arthur handled it very cleverly, trying to piece together the puzzle to reach a logical conclusion.

  Naturally, he didn’t take these conclusions—or more accurately, his theories—as absolute truth, leaving room for doubt until the reality revealed itself.

  For him, knowledge was the second most valuable thing after skills, so he genuinely enjoyed exploring this new information. His happiness grew, and in fact, he felt this was the best day he had spent since arriving in this world.

  He returned to the main settings interface and pressed the “Restrictions & Security” button, discovering a very long list containing usage conditions and permissions, rules, and many clauses full of complex wording.

  Like any modern human encountering such a list, he skimmed a few lines and decided to leave the rest for later. He pressed the "Basic Settings" button, but access was denied due to insufficient privileges.

  He didn’t get annoyed, and tried the "Emergency Settings" and "Other Settings" buttons, only to be blocked again for both. A flicker of anger appeared in his eyes.

  He then pressed the "Logs" button, which contained only a record of achievements, acquired skills, and other important notifications.

  Finally, he pressed the "Important Alerts" button, which turned out not to be very significant.

  [ — Important Alerts — ]

  ? Two foreign elements detected inside the host’s body?!

  ? A malfunction detected in the host’s body (one limb missing).

  ? Please distribute accumulated Evolution Points before they expire.