Settlement and Departure

Darkness, emptiness, nothingness. This was not Jiang Rui's first time experiencing this feeling, but compared to the first time, he could now feel his body and his five senses.

He felt like a feather, drifting up and down through endless darkness.

But only moments later, several streams of light appeared around him, reflecting scenes from his experiences in the Marvel world like mirrors...

Mission settlement?

He looked around again. Strangely, no matter how he turned his head, the mirrors and the scenes within them remained steadily before his eyes.

"Initial world complete. Settling rewards."

"Mission difficulty: Easy."

"Base evaluation: E-C. Additional rewards may be obtained for exceeding requirements."

"Mission completion... Mission One failed... evaluation slightly reduced... E→E-... Mission Two complete... killed C-rank character Iron Monger... exceeded requirements... evaluation slightly increased."

"World exploration... None."

"Fate distortion... None."

"Participated in a high-sequence area beyond current rank... survived... participated in a high-sequence mission and made the greatest contribution... evaluation greatly increased... E→C."

"Killed a supernatural being beyond current rank... evaluation greatly increased... influence of faction and world reached a certain scale... evaluation greatly increased. Obtained one Legend Point... C→A."

"Final evaluation: A."

"Distributing rewards--"

You obtained 1,000 Extraordinary Points.

You obtained 18 free attribute points. Each attribute point increases an attribute by 0.1.

Additional evaluation reward--Please choose:

B-rank evaluation reward: Sequence 9 Soldier, random supernatural characteristic, designated Sequence 8 fusion or synthesis formula.

A-rank evaluation reward: random Talent upgrade, additional attribute advancement, random skill upgrade.

"Please make your selection within 30 minutes. You will be forcibly returned to the real world after 30 minutes!"

Straight back to the real world?

Jiang Rui looked at the Light Barrier before him and considered it briefly. First, he chose the random supernatural characteristic without hesitation.

An additional Sequence was useless to him. He could obtain Sequences through Predator anyway, much less a Sequence 9.

And as for formulas, Great Sage was not just sitting around doing nothing...

As for supernatural characteristics, they were materials produced after supernatural creatures died. They could be used to create Sequences and were also one of the necessities for fusion advancement.

Thus, Jiang Rui naturally chose the random supernatural characteristic...

It was the A-rank reward that made Jiang Rui's little face scrunch up...

This is so hard!

Only kids have to choose, okay? Can't I have them all?!

There was no need to say much about a random Talent upgrade. His Talents...

Predator and Great Sage, Water Manipulation, all kinds of resistances—tsk.

Just thinking about it made him feel like some overpowered protagonist!

But for his current self, his Talents were already very strong. What he needed to make up for was his strength and other areas.

Additional attribute advancement... He did not know what it was for now, but it definitely had something to do with attributes. His current attributes were all low. What if it was refinement or a multiplier? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?

A random skill upgrade did not seem to include Sequence abilities, but among his skills...

Wait, no!

He hurriedly opened his skill panel and took a look—

I... I only seem to have two skills?!

Right, my abilities all count as Talents and Sequences. It seems my only extra skills are Swift Feather and the Magic Break skill that crappy dagger gave me...

Then why the hell would I pick that?!

Having finished thinking, Jiang Rui stopped hesitating. He directly chose Talent, then closed his eyes—

If possible, what he most wanted to upgrade was Mimicry. So far, aside from the beginning, when some unknown existence—or perhaps this damned Paradise—had interfered and allowed him to retain Brent's complete appearance...

Whether it was Ruksinth or the nameless mage whom he had later devoured, after Mimicry, they would not only turn into child forms, but also have freaking sky-blue hair and golden eyes.

Who wouldn't recognize that?!

Jiang Rui now felt that what distinguished him from most novel protagonists was that he still lacked a mask capable of concealing his aura and changing his appearance!

Mainly because he felt that using Rimuru's identity for many things was inappropriate. Besides, in the real world... blue hair and golden eyes... that was way too conspicuous, okay?!

Although he had Brent as an alternate identity, there was no such thing as having too many alts!

"You obtained the supernatural characteristic Tornado."

"Your Talent Paralysis Resistance has upgraded to Tenacity."

Tornado's description was quite similar to the Merman Orb's: after being absorbed by a related Sequence, it had a chance to increase Spirit and Agility. It could be used for Sequence creation or as advancement material.

That meant he now had two supernatural characteristics. Unfortunately, neither increased Constitution or Strength...

Jiang Rui nodded inwardly and looked at his upgraded Talent...

Tenacity: Resistance to control skills greatly increased. Immune to or reduces the duration of bodily control.

Holy shit! Permanent super armor?!

Control-type skills affecting the body... that meant negative conditions like stun, paralysis, and slow, right?

Does knockback count...? I'm probably overthinking it. Reality isn't a game, after all.

Jiang Rui blinked. It seemed his strengths and weaknesses were becoming increasingly obvious...

He was a killer of physical classes.

But he still seemed to lack offensive and defensive methods on the mental level.

Unfortunately, he was still not strong enough...

After sighing hypocritically for a while, Jiang Rui, who was actually delighted inside, put all his attribute points into Constitution and silently muttered amid his apprehension.

Return to the real world...

In an instant, the endless void dispersed like dark clouds, and dazzling sunlight shone on his face...

What a clear blue sky...

Jiang Rui reflexively raised his head, then slowly lowered his gaze. Towering steel skyscrapers blocked the sky and part of the light, leaving only shadows and clamor coexisting.

"Beep... beep beep..."

A car horn suddenly sounded behind him, and only then did Jiang Rui realize that he seemed to have stopped halfway across the crosswalk.

He hurriedly nodded apologetically and ran to the other side.

His appearance had clearly been so abrupt, yet the people around him turned a blind eye to it. He quickly walked to the roadside and examined the pedestrians around him.

The mannequins and posters in shop windows, the traffic flowing along the road—yes, that familiar feeling.

It would have been even more familiar if the hurried pedestrians on the streets had black hair and black eyes instead of brownish-blond hair and blue or green eyes.

There were somewhat familiar accents, and a somewhat familiar city.

Jiang Rui quickly figured out where he was.

New York.

New York... in the real world.

He walked into a formalwear store nearby, ignoring the surprised stares and greetings of the saleswomen.

He went straight to a full-length mirror...

He still had sky-blue long hair, smooth strands falling against his back and chest. Starlight shimmered in his golden pupils, making him seem mysterious and noble.

No disguise at all...

Supernatural Paradise was being rather irresponsible...

Jiang Rui felt troubled when Seal Throat's voice rang out beside his ear again.

"Captain asked me to convey his greetings. Should you ever honor Xia Country with your presence, he will personally visit you to express his gratitude."

Gratitude? More like keeping a close watch on me and staying on guard, right?

Brent's identity would work. Even though foreigners entering the country faced significant restrictions, what worried him most were Brent's enemies—the brother Ruksinth had mentioned. What if he discovered Jiang Rui and secretly gave him a little surprise...

Jiang Rui's eyes shifted. Should he return to the country as Brent, or lie low first and develop through a few more worlds?