Travel

July 11th, early morning, Gu Yi Mai District.

Ji Minghuan's consciousness was like a storm petrel, setting out from Tokyo, Japan, spreading its wings across the vast East China Sea, and finally entering a residential building in Li Capital, China.

Controlling the body of Game Character No. 1—"Gu Wenyu"—he woke up in bed and opened his eyes.

A red-and-black Prompt Panel floated before his retina.

Main Quest 3 completed: Investigate what your "Younger Sister," Su Zimai, has been hiding.

Quest rewards obtained: 1 Split Point, 1 Skill Point, 1 Attribute Point.

Main Quest 3 updated: Establish a cooperative relationship with Exorcist "Su Zimai," a member of the Ghost Train Troupe, and subsequently expand your network within the Exorcist Association.

Ji Minghuan tilted his head, unable to keep from finding it amusing. "So I used the second Game Character to complete the first character's Main Quest. That works?"

He had originally considered using Black Cocoon to track Su Zimai, but by a strange twist of fate, he had skipped that step.

He turned to glance at the clock on the wall. China and Japan were one hour apart. It was currently 9:15 a.m. in Japan, which meant it was 8:15 a.m. here in China.

It was July 11th, ten days before the White Crow Troupe made its move on the Tokyo Underground Auction.

Ji Minghuan yawned, tears of fatigue gathering in his eyes. He raised a hand and tapped the gear icon to bring up his personal panel, then assigned the newly obtained Attribute Point to "Speed."

Game Character No. 1 "Black Cocoon" had undergone a change in its "Speed" attribute: C++ Rank → B Rank

Black Cocoon's current three attributes were as follows: Strength: C++ Rank; Speed: B Rank; Spirit: C Rank

He then opened the Skill Tree and checked the development progress of each branch.

"I'll learn Restraint Belt Suppression."

With that thought in mind, Ji Minghuan held down the skill's name with his finger. As the text brightened from dim to clear, a red-and-black Prompt Box slowly appeared before him.

Consumed 1 Skill Point. Successfully learned the "Fury" branch skill—"Restraint Belt Suppression" (after using a Restraint Band to bind an altered species, you may briefly suppress the target's extraordinary abilities).

Learning permission for the next skill in the "Fury" branch has been unlocked.

Ji Minghuan looked at the newly unlocked skill beneath that branch, and his eyes lit up slightly. "I should've opened this branch earlier."

Superpower Stealing: After using a Restraint Band to bind a superpowered individual, you may temporarily steal and store their ability. The ability will disappear after being used once. (Stolen superpowers have only 50% effectiveness, and their power depends on Black Cocoon's attributes.) (Maximum storage time: 24 hours)

"The power of stolen superpowers gets reduced, so stealing offensive abilities would be pretty stupid. But it's different if I steal utility abilities," he thought. "I'll learn this one next."

Ji Minghuan closed the Character Skill Tree, swiped to the last page, found "Create a New Game Character," and brought up the panel.

Split progress has not been completed. Unable to create a new Game Character.

Prompt: Creating the next brand-new Game Character requires 9 Split Points. (You currently possess only 2 Split Points. Once you have accumulated a total of 9 Split Points, you may create your next "Game Character" in the real world.)

"Nine Split Points for the next character?" he thought. "The requirement suddenly jumped so high. Is it worried that too many characters will give me Mental Split?"

As he was thinking, he suddenly noticed another option had appeared on the System Panel. It was called Event Card, so he clicked on it to give it a try.

It has been detected that the player has remained in the same city (Li Capital, China) for three days. This city's "Event Cards" have been unlocked. At intervals, a "Card Event" may appear somewhere in the city. Complete a Card Event to obtain an Event Card.

Prompt: The player may see the exclamation mark symbol for an "Event Card" above the city. Travel to the area beneath the exclamation mark and locate the event trigger point to enter the "Card Event."

"A city exploration mechanic... It kind of has that Ubisoft open-world checklist feel," Ji Minghuan thought. "But Li Capital is huge. I can't possibly run all over the place for this exploration mechanic. At most, I'll stick around downtown and see whether any 'Card Events' spawn nearby."

Just then, he suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"Coming, coming."

Putting on an impatient tone, Ji Minghuan jumped out of bed, twisted the doorknob, and opened the door. Gu Qiye's face entered his view. Today, he wore a blue T-shirt printed with a Blue Arc animation design. It looked like fan merchandise.

"What is it?" Ji Minghuan asked.

Gu Qiye stood leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded. He smiled at him, then asked, "I want to travel to Japan in a week. Do you want to come with me?"

Wait, why are you going to Japan too? Ji Minghuan thought for a moment. "I've wanted to visit Japan for a while. Which city are we going to, Hokkaido?"

"Tokyo. Japan's biggest city. It's pretty fun."

"Okay, book me a ticket too."

Gu Qiye nodded, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Then ask Wheat whether she wants to go to Tokyo too. If she does, have her come home first."

"Sure." Ji Minghuan lowered his head and sent Su Zimai a message on his phone.

A ding rang out. Her reply came quickly, consisting of a single word: Get lost.

"Wheat refused."

Ji Minghuan looked up at Gu Qiye and inwardly teased, Dear brother, your Younger Sister is already in Japan. Why would she need you to buy her a ticket?

"Okay, then send Wheat a text. Tell her to be careful at her friend's house, stay safe, and eat three proper meals a day."

Gu Qiye fell silent for a moment, seeming hesitant to speak. "And... while you're at it, ask Old Man whether he wants to go to Japan with us."

"Come on..." Ji Minghuan sighed. "Can't you ask him yourself? You're leaving everything to me?"

"I'm taking you to Tokyo for fun. It's not too much to ask you to do me this favor, is it?" Gu Qiye said, rubbing Ji Minghuan's hair.

At that moment, he seemed somewhat distracted, thinking, The United Nations sent Rainbow Wing to capture Ghost Bell. It shouldn't be a problem if I leave the city for now... Though I'm a little unwilling, it's the Association's order. Besides, if Ghost Bell is left to people like Rainbow Wing, he probably won't escape this time. I'm afraid that... by the time Wen Yu and I return from Japan, we'll hear news of Ghost Bell's death.

"Old Man says he's going to Japan too." Ji Minghuan glanced at the text he had received and spoke without raising his head.

Gu Qiye froze for a moment. "Okay. Then I'll book the tickets."

Old Man is going too? he thought.

To be honest, Gu Qiye had never expected Gu Zhuoan to agree. He simply felt it would not be right to go to Japan behind his back, so he had Wen Yu send him a token message, lest the old man give up on himself again and run off to another city for several years before returning home.

"Forget it... It won't make much difference if he comes along. I just hope he won't interfere with my work. I still need to cooperate with Japan's Exorcist Association to ensure that auction proceeds normally."

With that thought, Gu Qiye slowly turned around and headed toward the staircase to the second floor.

Requesting Moon Tickets! There'll be another chapter later!