Calamity Fist

Thick dark circles, sallow, dry skin, scars all over his body, and a build that could only be called average—this was Lu PingAn's first impression of the titled mercenary named Xue En.

Honestly, it was pretty awful.

"This is Xue En, a Tier 1 boxer and soldier, a pure combat Professional. He's one of the best fighters in our shop, and should suit your needs quite well."

Though the shopkeeper introduced him that way, the moment Lu PingAn saw those dark circles that looked like they had been cultivated for months, along with the trembling arms and wandering gaze of someone with anxiety, he began to doubt whether the man was mentally sound. Would he suddenly drop dead the next moment?

But soon, it was no longer a doubt.

"...Your foot?"

"Oh, there's a venomous snake. No big deal."

With a casual pull, he tore the green snake into a mass of flesh, then gave himself an injection. Problem solved.

Next, he cleared the extra things off his body—poisonous thorned fruit, venomous insects as large as fists. Things that made Lu PingAn's scalp crawl seemed like everyday nuisances to him.

They had both taken a walk through the forest. Lu PingAn had probably been playing on normal difficulty; this man was playing on hell difficulty.

"Calamity Fist" Xue En was one of the very few powerful mercenaries to earn a title at low rank. His personal strength was not merely among the best of Tier 1—even many Tier 2 combat Professionals would not be his match.

The reason he was currently covered in all sorts of mess was his innate ability—Wish Come True.

Yes, that Wish Come True, the kind where you wished for peaches but could only wish for bad things, never good ones.

For example: "I need to be careful. The road will be slippery because of the rain today. I might fall when I go out." Then, the moment he went outside, he would reliably fall.

The existence of such an ability deeply shocked Lu PingAn. It made him reconsider the variety and limits of supernatural abilities, while also making one reality clear.

"I knew plenty of abilities came with negative effects, but yours..."

"I'll do my best to restrain it. Don't worry, I won't drag you down. I have experience with this."

This man was like a body covered in blades. Lu PingAn did not pursue the subject and merely smiled.

"...Sorry. My emotions are often unstable."

The next moment, the man took the initiative to apologize, making him seem even more troubled.

In fact, according to Xue En's own introduction, he suffered from several chronic mental illnesses, including anxiety and depression. Yet Lu PingAn could understand.

When the slightest negative emotion could cause one's "imagination" to become reality and deliver a fatal blow, one would probably live forever in anxiety and vigilance.

That constant tension would eventually become psychological pressure capable of crushing anyone. Depression and anxiety born from spiraling negative emotions had piled together.

"Forgive my bluntness, but the strange thing is that you haven't gone insane yet."

"My family has ways to deal with it, and we've been trained since childhood. Daytime is actually fine. The worst part is at night. If I sleep too deeply and my nightmares come true, I might really die. That's why I need to reach Tier 2 as soon as possible and restrain the further spread of my ability."

What? His family? His entire family was like this?

"Didn't I mention it? This is our 'inherited ability.' Mine is nothing. My Uncle is the truly outrageous one—he's been denied visas by twenty-seven countries."

Only after truly talking with Xue En did Lu PingAn realize he was not as dull as he looked. He was merely a young man, a second-year college student who had been worn numb by life.

But after traveling with him, Lu PingAn also understood why the other mercenaries had looked at him with sympathy.

Traveling with him really was nightmare-level torment.

"Will this equipment really do?"

First, they spent forty minutes sorting supplies and equipment. They visited several shops and forcefully multiplied the budget several times over. Not to mention all the time wasted on his repeated deliberations over every little thing—Lu PingAn had leveled up on the spot. He had even waited long enough to receive today's midday shared experience!

"There's a smell of blood on this path. Let's take another route."

"The fallen tree trunk ahead bears traces of a giant beast. I'll go take a look. If I'm not back in five minutes, don't wait for me."

"I told you! Don't go near the water! A lake monster could drag you under! That's a painful way to die!"

From helplessness to irritation, from anger to numbness, Xue En was exceptionally skilled at tormenting his employers.

Still, Lu PingAn had genuinely learned quite a lot along the way.

After all, many people said and heard things like "Stay alert at all times. Watch your footing, behind the trees, beneath the water, behind rocks, and anywhere else danger might be hiding," then promptly forgot them.

But when the person saying it was dragged away by a giant python right in front of you, or pulled underwater by a Water Monster, it was hard not to remember.

"First, I need to know that you weren't involved in some serious incident. Did someone secretly alter your bracelet? If so, that violates the contract we signed earlier. I need an explanation."

Now, the man was staring at him with wary eyes. Lu PingAn knew he meant no harm, and he was not nervous in the slightest. He was only trying hard not to laugh.

From his eyes alone, Lu PingAn knew the man had probably imagined hundreds of thousands of words' worth of grudges and drama.

That was what anxiety and depression were like: always assuming the worst, constantly making up elaborate scenarios. The most fatal part was that this person might actually make those scenarios real!

"No, I modified it myself. I have a little method, and my resistance to contamination is relatively strong. But I don't want too many people to see it."

Lu PingAn glanced over. Aklis behind him had already completely dissipated.

If an ordinary Tier 0 newcomer killed a demonic creature close to Tier 2, their bracelet would definitely change color. It might even turn red outright. Yet his still glowed white.

Before setting out, Lu PingAn had personally modified it under Chris's guidance.

No matter what happened afterward, this bracelet would only show a white light.

"This thing is useless to you. If you don't want to walk around with a black light over your head, take it apart. Do as I say and cut the tinted signal wire."

Lu PingAn had done so, but for someone to notice something wrong so quickly, it could only be said that the negative emotions had made the Calamity Fist before him overly sensitive.

Once he heard that his employer was fine, the mercenary nodded without asking further questions.

His "misfortune" was simply too well-known, making it extremely hard for him to find work. When the rate of employers meeting with accidents was as high as sixty-seven percent, it was hard not to become famous.

"Xue En, this really is my first time hunting. Do you have any advice?"

This time, Lu PingAn was very sincere.

He thought he had done everything perfectly, but since an experienced hand had given him only a "four," something must have gone wrong.

Problems were not frightening. What was frightening was not even realizing that something was wrong, because that might mean the issue lay directly in one of his blind spots.

"...You've killed people? At least, you've killed people in a secret realm."

When he said the latter half, the dark-circled "Panda Man" used a certain tone rather than a questioning one.

Calamity Fist could tell that Lu PingAn enjoyed fighting rather than being forced into it. He clearly was not a battlefield novice.

Since he had never hunted demonic creatures, then he had definitely killed people.

"Mm."

Lu PingAn smiled and nodded.

"So, your fighting style is dancing on a blade's edge, gambling your life against another person's. That's how you duel people, but it is absolutely not how you hunt demonic creatures. The most important thing in hunting is not a dazzling performance when killing a powerful monster. It's efficient, stable, safe, low-energy mass slaughter."

Through Calamity Fist's explanation, Lu PingAn understood where he had gone wrong.

Using gaming terms made it easier to understand. In PvP, both sides used every trick they had, and adapting to random circumstances was necessary. The psychological game could go more than a dozen layers deep.

But in PvE hunting, the King's Way was efficient, low-cost, safe killing—trading the number of kills for stable returns.

"An experienced hand would never put himself in danger from the start. Aklis, after two mutations, was indeed quite dangerous. So from the very beginning, you should not have appeared within its field of vision."

"You hadn't prepared any medicine or items to deal with Mist Eye. When you were blinded, you froze for an instant. You hadn't prepared yourself mentally. That was fatal."

"Since you can use Plant Acceleration, and since you have Monkey Shield Trees, why not build a fortress from the start? Protect yourself completely and kill safely. Aklis is very easy to provoke..."

"The greatest difference between killing people and hunting is that demonic creatures in secret realms usually have relatively simple attack patterns and lower intelligence. Dealing with them skillfully is not difficult. We can prepare efficient hunting setups in advance. But if you can't find a method and insist on brute force, wrestling with giant beasts, then it's even harder than killing people."

Without a doubt, Calamity Fist had opened the door to a New World for Lu PingAn.

Lu PingAn hungrily absorbed every relevant piece of knowledge and experience, then quickly practiced it in actual combat, using it to harvest one demonic creature after another and obtain the materials he desired.

"It seems I hired the right person?"

The next morning, when Lu PingAn collected his "share," he became utterly certain that he had made the right choice.