Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
Li Ang heard a system prompt by his ear, indicating that the black corpse was finally dead and he could at last relax. Then, he pulled out the ax deeply lodged inside the tree trunk.
[Quest Reward 1: Eliminate the quest target to obtain an additional 50 EXP]
[Player’s Overall Performance: S+, Game Credits and EXP obtained increased to 160%]
Li Ang nodded. He had originally been at Level 2, and his EXP bar had been at 20/200.
The impermeable black corpse provided 70 EXP. Combined with the additional 50 EXP obtained and multiplied by 160%, he obtained a total of 192 EXP, which was enough for him to meet the criteria to level up to Level 3.
[Quest Reward 2: 200 Game Credits]
Due to the S+ quest rating, the 200 Game Credits increased to 320.
Li Ang now had a total of 480 Game Credits after adding the 160 Game Credits he had obtained by completing the possessed ghost quest.
Nonetheless, he still could not afford any items available on the market, although he could look at them…
[Quest Reward 3: Rare Grade random skill scroll*1 has been placed in the player’s inventory. Please check.]
According to the system’s introduction, [Skill Scroll]s could be categorized into [Expendable Scroll]s and [Learning Scroll]s.
As the name suggested, an [Expendable Scroll] was a single-use item. The player could destroy the scroll by tearing it, chanting, sacrificing it, and other methods to release the Skill within.
On the other hand, a [Learning Scroll] allowed players to learn the Skill recorded in it, although doing so would destroy the scroll as well.
Usually, the strength of Skills in Expendable Scrolls was significantly greater than Learning Scrolls of the same level.
The term [Skills] was quite broad by definition.
The usage methods could be categorized into [Active] and [Passive].
They could also be categorized into [Melee], [Psionic], [Mechanical], [Life], [General], and so on.
The [Melee] category included Eighteen Dragon-Conquering Palms, Foshan Shadowless Kick, Ten-Thousand Buddha Stance, Fist of the North Star, and others.
The [Psionic] category included Lightning Arrow, Necromancy, Icy Awl Spell, Fireball Spell, Chokehold of Force, and others. This category was the largest and broadest and could be further split into sub-categories, including Force, Alchemy, Spell, and Illusion.
The [Mechanical] category included piloting excavators, repairing modernized guns, tanks that modified lights, etc.
The [Life] category included cooking, fishing, first aid, singing, dancing, and playing basketball.
The [General] category included Appraisal, Alchemy, Scroll Crafting, Marksmanship, etc.
A [Skill] was split into these five main categories. Using some Skills required the consumption of [Physical Points], [Spirit Points], and [Intellect Points]. The exact calculation of points required would be indicated in the description of the Skill.
The player needed to meet a certain requirement to be able to learn any Skill. For example, one should possess more than 10 Strength, 9 Agility, 9 Constitution, and 4 Intelligence to be able to learn the Eighteen Dragon-Conquering Palms.
Other than the Stats criteria, there would be additional hidden prerequisites as well.
For example, people who had lost their legs could not learn the Foshan Shadowless Kick or the Wave-Like Subtle Steps, and people who had lost their arms could not learn the Cloud-Expelling Palms or the Rock-Breaking Sky-Shocking Fists.
After informing him about the quest reward, the system sent another prompt.
[Scripted Quest is complete. Teleporting in 5 minutes. Do you wish to teleport now?]
“Teleport back?”
Li Ang frowned and realized that these 5 minutes were given to allow the player completing the quest to clean the place up, organize their arms, and collect their loot.
As for the loot… Li Ang looked at the decapitated zombie, momentarily stumped. What use did he have for it?
Surely, he would not cook or eat it? He was not a demon who liked eating human flesh.
The old lady was actually quite pitiful. Therefore, he decided to extract her inhuman body parts, leave her human-shaped body behind, and bury it.
With that thought in mind, Li Ang took out a dagger and used its blade to swiftly cut away the impermeable black hair and the exceedingly long fingernails on it before putting them in his backpack.
After briefly cleaning the place and making sure that he had missed out nothing, he chose to teleport.
He stared at the decapitated black corpse and, a second later, he was back in his own living room.
The teleporting process was very fast and uneventful. There was no sky-reaching light pillar, no earth-shaking vibration, and no cool sound effects.
The first thing he did when he returned was look at the clock hanging on the wall.
It was 5:47 a.m, the exact same time he had accepted the quest and had been teleported. However, he was certain that he had spent at least two hours in the Hidden Mountain Village.
“Did time stop? This is a good thing. At least, I do not need to worry about suddenly vanishing by accepting another Scripted Quest…”
Li Ang frowned and removed the tattered bulletproof shirt he was wearing. Then, he walked to the computer in the bedroom and started searching for information on the Hidden Mountain Village.
In a news article titled “Village Party Secretary Takes the Lead in Repairing Road, Farm Produce Leaves the Mountain”, the name ‘Hidden Mountain Village’ was clearly mentioned. There was a photo of the people’s commune congress hall as well.
“It actually exists in the real world…”
Li Ang nodded. “It seems that those strange stories are indeed a product of the players’ actions.”
Fortunately, Li Ang had paid attention to obliterating all evidence of the corpse. Thus, he had cleaned up the place quite well. Even if the police or any official player organization headed over to investigate, they should not be able to trace it back to him.
It was exactly because the Hidden Mountain Village existed in the real world that Li Ang chose not to use the other method of clearing the quest.
When he had first discovered the impermeable white corpse, he had already suspected that this Scripted Quest was too difficult.
Any other ordinary player would have only equipped themselves with a butcher’s knife or a crossbow, meaning that they would be unable to fight with the white corpse upon entering the quest. Killing the white corpse would be completely impossible.
However, the quest stated “Eliminate a zombie in the Hidden Mountain Village 0/1” and did not specify which zombie.
This signified that even the most ordinary player could use other methods to complete the quest.
For example, one could suddenly take action while playing cards to break Feng Tiejia’s limbs first. Then, they could drag the others before the coffin and use the zombie’s teeth and fingernails to break Feng Tiejia’s skin before the white corpse woke up.
Next, they could drag the man to the woods, break the bones of his four limbs and vertebra, and tie him securely against a tree using hemp rope.
Following that, when the white corpse woke up in accordance with the script, the hatred would be transferred to its son, who would start chasing them along Panshan Road.
The player who had gotten rid of the threat of the white corpse would naturally wait for broken-limbed Feng Tiejia to undergo zombie transformation. This zombie would be extremely weak.
After eliminating it, the player would complete the “Eliminate a zombie in the Hidden Mountain Village 0/1” quest.
Alternatively, after the white corpse ran up Panshan Road, the player could lie and lure the Hidden Mountain Villagers into chasing it.
Even if these villagers were no match for the white corpse, there was strength in numbers. The white corpse might fail to kill all the villagers.
Upon witnessing how frightening the white corpse was, the villagers, who had suffered heavy casualties, would run away in terror. The player could then chase the villagers injured or bitten by the white corpse and wait for them to undergo zombie transformation, thus completing the quest…
A genius like Li Ang needed to make a Herculean effort to complete the quest. Hence, an ordinary player could only abandon their morals and conscience to complete the quest easily as well.
Although these players would achieve a much lower quest rating between C- to B-, their survival would be much more important than the rewards.
When comparing the difficulty level of these two methods, it was evident that the system was trying to lure the players into becoming evil.
Li Ang had thought of this other method but had chosen not to use it.
There were two reasons why. First, Li Ang had his own morals and did not wish to complete the quest by sacrificing the innocent.
Second, he suspected that the other method would lead to an evil effect. Merely killing a villager and not the white corpse would at most get him a B- rating. One could not earn a lot of EXP or Game Credits that way.
Such methods could probably ensure one’s safety in the short term.
However, following the progress of the Killing Field game, players who only completed C- Rank quests would fall behind in terms of gaming rank, skills, and equipment. In the end, they would die in Scripted Quests, as their difficulty would surely continue to increase.
“This Killing Field game is indeed sick.”
Li Ang pondered this for a moment, opened the inventory, and clicked on the blue scroll inside.
[Skill Scroll Name: Glandular Organ Stimulation- Adrenal Gland]
[Category 1: Learning]
[Category2: General]
[Grade: Rare]
[Effect: Stimulates the sympathetic nerve, causing the adrenal medulla to secrete adrenaline. No Cooldown]
[Consumption: 50% Physical Points]
[Learning Requirement: Constitution more than or equal to 7]
[Remarks: It is best to have healthy kidneys]
Li Ang believed that this skill would be very useful. Adrenaline could help prevent one’s heartbeat from weakening and their blood pressure from dropping. It was also used as emergency first-aid for anaphylactic shock, bronchial asthma, and cardiac arrest.
In addition, adrenaline could be considered a good stimulant and was used by athletes to enhance their constitution and increase their strength and speed. As a natural hormone secreted by the human body, its side-effects were not as severe as those of other stimulants.
The consumption requirement of 50% Physical Points meant that this skill should only be used at the most crucial moment. In that case, the advantage of having no Cooldown was, in fact, meaningless.
Besides, the name [Glandular Organ Stimulation- Adrenal Gland] implied that there was a series of skills that could control someone else’s glandular organs…
The pineal gland, the pituitary gland, the adrenal gland, the thymus… If one could control these glandular organs, one could completely control the human body and attain the limits of what the human body could achieve.
Li Ang opened the player’s window and chose to level up to Level 3. His EXP reached 40/300. Then, he added the one free stat point to his Constitution to meet the requirement to learn the skill.
He chose to learn the skill [Glandular Organ Stimulation- Adrenal Gland].
The player’s window now stated:
[Li Risheng]
[Level 3 EXP bar at 12/300]
[Strength: 6] (Standard of a highly-experienced fitness enthusiast)
[Agility: 6] (Standard of a highly-experienced fitness enthusiast)
[Wisdom: 7] (Genius)
[Constitution: 7] (Standard of a professional athlete)
[Perception: 7] (Standard of a professional hunter)
[Charm: 4] (Mediocre appearance with slightly weird speech and behavior)
[Equipment: Odd Eyeball]
[Inventory: AK-47, CQB bulletproof shirt, camping hand-held ax, dagger, torchlight, grenade, Molotov cocktail, black corpse hair, black corpse fingernail]
[Skill: Adrenaline Activation]
[Game Credits: 480]