Heavenly Drive

Japan Time, 7:30 a.m., Shiba Park, Minato Ward, Tokyo.

If Tokyo at night was like a gorgeous prostitute striking seductive poses beneath neon spotlights, then Tokyo in the early morning was like a girl doing laundry by a stream—plain and lovely.

Beautiful as it was, though, it lacked the magic that made people want to stop and stare.

Ji Minghuan stopped before the traffic light. Through the curtain of rain, the red signal blinked hazily.

He raised an arm over his head to shield himself from the drizzling rain and lowered his gaze to the message on his phone.

Anonymous User: Waiting in the third private room of the underground bar in 5-chome, Minato Ward, Tokyo.

Once again admiring the system's sense of humor, Ji Minghuan sighed. As he put away his phone, he muttered, "Please... when will my Character Memory finally load? Or do I look like someone who knows Japanese?"

A Prompt Panel appeared before his eyes the next moment.

System Prompt: Loading the memories of No. 2 character. When the five-second countdown ends, the memories of No. 2 Game Character—"Xia Pingzhou"—will be implanted into your mind. Please prepare yourself psychologically.

As the prompt tone faded, Ji Minghuan's mind became like a slideshow playing at a hundred times speed.

In just a moment, he had lived through the memories of Xia Pingzhou's nineteen years of life.

What left the deepest impression on Ji Minghuan was naturally the scene from half a year ago: when Xia Pingzhou came home and saw the dismembered corpses of his family hanging from the balcony. The distant city was ablaze with lights, shrouded in a warm glow, while the Evening Breeze blowing in from the city carried the stench of blood to Xia Pingzhou's nose.

He stared blankly at his family's corpses for a long time, then slowly backed away. Only when his back struck the wall, leaving him nowhere else to retreat, did he slide to the floor and scream soundlessly.

Much later, Xia Pingzhou learned that his family had probably merely been chatting on the rooftop at the time.

They happened to see Jack the Ripper passing through the alley below. They had done nothing more than glance at her twice, yet she casually sliced them into scattered organs and hung them on clothes hangers for people to admire.

It was precisely to track down the evil Exorcist codenamed Jack the Ripper that Xia Pingzhou joined the White Crow Troupe. Though he still knew little about its members, he was certain there was a ninety percent chance Jack the Ripper was hiding among them.

And today was the day he would meet members of the White Crow Troupe for the first time.

The message he had just received was from a troupe member. It named their meeting place.

Since Xia Pingzhou had studied Japanese for a time, after his memories loaded into Ji Minghuan's mind, Ji Minghuan was no longer baffled when he looked up at the Japanese words on the Neon Light signs.

Besides the scene of his entire family being carved into scattered organs by Jack the Ripper and hung out to dry on the balcony, another memory of Xia Pingzhou's that left a deep impression on Ji Minghuan was the moment Xia Pingzhou first awakened his Heavenly Drive.

At the time, Xia Pingzhou had been watching television, where a chess match was playing on the screen.

A sudden aura of interwoven black and white light surged from within him, irresistibly engulfing his entire body. Moments later, the light gradually transformed into chess pieces one by one, circling around him like satellites revolving around their center.

Xia Pingzhou received four pieces in total: a king, a queen, a soldier, and a rook.

After awakening his Heavenly Drive, whenever he willed it, those four types of chess pieces would appear as expected, trailing streams of intertwined black-and-white light as they slowly revolved around him.

By plucking out one of the pieces, he could summon its corresponding unit into reality. They obeyed his commands completely.

Not long after that, people from the Exorcist Association followed the energy fluctuations released during the awakening of his Heavenly Drive and found the seventeen-year-old Xia Pingzhou, inviting him to join the Association.

Because his family was poor, Xia Pingzhou had already been forced to drop out of school and drift through unfamiliar cities to make a living. Faced with the high salary offered by the Association, he gladly accepted their invitation.

Through this series of Xia Pingzhou's memories, Ji Minghuan finally completed his understanding of the "Heavenly Drive" Exorcists spoke of, as well as what an "Exorcist" was.

Two years ago, Xia Pingzhou demonstrated his Heavenly Drive ability to personnel from the China branch of the Exorcist Association.

Because they believed the unique value of his Heavenly Drive could not be underestimated, the President of the Exorcist Association's China branch personally came to meet him. The two spoke at length.

"What exactly is a Heavenly Drive?" Xia Pingzhou asked.

"Every Exorcist possesses a 'Heavenly Mandate Weapon' that belongs to them alone. Another name for this weapon is a 'Heavenly Drive.' Anyone qualified to become an Exorcist will develop the rudiments of a Heavenly Drive within their body as they grow," the President said. "A Heavenly Drive can be a firearm, a blade, a bow, or all sorts of strange objects—glasses, brooms, razors. What form it takes depends on 'the shape of the Exorcist's heart.'"

"Do Exorcists have ranks too?" Xia Pingzhou thought for a moment, then asked.

"Exorcists are divided into three ranks. Every time they advance a rank, they can form a contract with a demon. Once the contract is made, that demon merges into their Heavenly Drive and becomes one of its components."

"Then what do Exorcists do?"

"The work of an Exorcist is exactly what it sounds like: exorcising demons."

"What are demons, then?"

The President smiled. "Every country has different customs and beliefs, so 'demons' are called different things in different places. For example, in ancient China, local Exorcists were often called Taoist Priests, while local demons were often called ghosts, Monsters and Goblins, and so on. In Japan, they call them Yokai. Only Americans call them demons."

He paused briefly. "Later, Exorcists from different countries began to make contact and found that they all had different names for demons. So, to make communication easier, Exorcists around the world gradually reached a consensus and established a standard terminology—regardless of the country, those who hunt demons are collectively called 'Exorcists,' and demons are collectively called 'demons.' It saves the trouble of distinguishing them."

"Then why did you come to me?"

"When your Heavenly Drive awakened, the ability fluctuations it released reached Double S-Rank. That is extraordinarily rare even across the entire world."

At that point, the President's tone turned more solemn. "We need you... If you persist down this path, you are destined to become an unparalleled legend in the future—perhaps even the leader of the entire Association."

Not long after that, something went wrong with Xia Pingzhou's team. Physically and mentally exhausted, he refused the Association's repeated attempts to keep him and chose to return to an ordinary life.

But that peaceful life did not last long before his family encountered Jack the Ripper.

To take revenge on Jack the Ripper, Xia Pingzhou once again pursued power while beginning an investigation into the White Crow Troupe.

Unfortunately, before he could avenge his family, Ji Minghuan's consciousness loaded into this Game Character's body at the exact moment Xia Pingzhou boarded a plane for Tokyo, Japan, about to meet with the White Crow Troupe.

After that, he took over all of Xia Pingzhou's actions.

"Compared to the last character, did this one's backstory really have to be so dark? Taking a trip through those memories... I feel like I'm about to get depressed."

Ji Minghuan scratched his hair, thinking to himself.

Of course, no matter how complicated a character's backstory was, it only existed to serve the resulting Main Quest. It held no meaning worth investing his emotions in.

What Ji Minghuan cared more about was this character's potential and the development value of his skill system. After all, Black Cocoon's skill system leaned toward "reconnaissance" and "support." No matter how he looked at it, it did not seem suited to serving as the main combat force.

If this second character's system was suitable for the main combat role, it would naturally make up for his weakness.

With that thought, Ji Minghuan brought up Xia Pingzhou's Skill Tree System.

The next moment, the outline of a massive tree appeared before him, with three branches stretching upward.

He took one look and saw that the Skill Tree's general shape was no different from Black Cocoon's. The only slight difference was its color: Xia Pingzhou's Skill Tree branches and background were both black-and-white, while Black Cocoon's Skill Tree System was red and black.

Ji Minghuan looked up at the details of the Skill Tree.

Branch One (Group): Recruit Soldiers (requires "1" Skill Point to learn) → Unknown → Unknown...

Recruit Soldiers: Obtain two "Soldier Chess Pieces."

Branch Two (Bravery): Chess Piece Evolution (Requirement: You must spend a total of "3" Skill Points in other branches before you are permitted to learn this skill.) (Requires "1" Skill Point to learn) → Unknown → Unknown...

Chess Piece Evolution: Evolves all your chess pieces. This evolution will raise your chess pieces from "Black Iron Body" to "Silver Body," comprehensively improving their base attributes.

Branch Three (Soul): Demon Hunter (requires "1" Skill Point to learn) → Unknown → Unknown...

Demon Hunter: After your chess pieces participate in killing a demon, you have a chance to obtain a unique chess piece related to it. (This chess piece can only be "manifested" once, and after being destroyed, it will not revive like ordinary chess pieces.)

Having mastered all kinds of RPGs in his early years, Ji Minghuan naturally saw this character's role at a glance.

"So this is a summoner build..."

There will be another chapter later. Please send in more monthly votes!