Chapter of Gloom

Riding in an official car from the Xia Kingdom Special Administration Bureau and chatting with He Qianqian along the way, Wang Zhifan and Chu Wei soon arrived outside a suburban building bearing the sign of the East River Second Bureau Building. They then went inside and gave statements regarding the Gray Domain Incident.

Chu Wei was the name of the short-haired girl who had given her statement alongside Wang Zhifan. He Qianqian had chatted with them about some personal information during the ride, which was how Wang Zhifan learned it.

Moreover, when He Qianqian learned that Chu Wei's player class was the relatively rare Spiritualist, she immediately displayed an extraordinary degree of enthusiasm. Her gaze practically said outright that she wanted to recruit Chu Wei into the Special Administration Bureau.

In contrast, when He Qianqian learned that Wang Zhifan was a Blade Warrior, she merely nodded politely at him, with no desire to spare him much thought at all.

About an hour later, after Wang Zhifan had completed the statement procedure in the East River Second Bureau Building and was allowed to leave, he happened to see Chu Wei still talking with several Bureau personnel, including He Qianqian, as he passed an office doorway. He vaguely caught words such as "benefits," "personal development," "Fine Grade rewards," and "Rare Grade rewards," which made him realize that Chu Wei apparently was not as lucky as he was—not able to leave so quickly.

"Discrimination! This is outright discrimination against the Blade Warrior class! When will us melee physical players finally rise up?!"

Though it felt great to be released so quickly after being brought into the station, Wang Zhifan still felt rather like complaining.

This time, he had further experienced the misery of being a melee physical class. Not only did he look like an idiot when running Dungeons and struggle to contend with ranged opponents in reality, but even the official establishment treated him as a dispensable presence. His treatment was completely different from that of Chu Wei, a Spiritualist.

"This is seriously depressing... Once I get the chance, I'm definitely changing classes!"

At that moment, Wang Zhifan's desire to change his class flared up once more. It couldn't be helped—no one wanted to be beneath others.

Feeling somewhat displeased, Wang Zhifan soon took a bus back to his Rental House.

Come to think of it, this trip had gone rather smoothly. Not only had he successfully sold most of the Fine Grade Bullets, damaged Short Blades, and other items in his possession, earning 45,000 in Survival Funds and solving his short-term living problems, but he had also seemingly picked up a reward for free.

This brought up why Wang Zhifan had suddenly looked surprised while hiding beneath the bus seat earlier. It was because a reward selection panel had suddenly appeared before him! It was very similar to the one he saw after clearing a Dungeon, except it had appeared in reality! And to avoid drawing attention, Wang Zhifan had ignored it until now, leaving it tucked away in a blind spot outside his field of view. Only now did he intend to make his selection.

Please choose your rewards independently (maximum of 2 items)

Common Grade (70% drop probability):

Corpse Ghoul Dagger (Common) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Short Club (Common) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Spike (Common) X0–2...

Corpse Ghoul Bone Shield (Common) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Belt (Common) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Boots (Common) X0–2...

Corpse Ghoul Poison (Common) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Explosive (Common) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Dust (Common) X0–2...

Corpse Ghoul's Ring of Curse (Common) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul's Ring of Doom (Common) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul's Ring of Pain (Common) X0–2...

Warrior Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Common) X0–2, Mage Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Common) X0–2, Gunner Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Common) X0–2...

...

Fine Grade (29% drop probability):

Corpse Ghoul Dagger (Fine) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Short Club (Fine) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Spike (Fine) X0–2...

Corpse Ghoul Bone Shield (Fine) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Belt (Fine) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Boots (Fine) X0–2...

Corpse Ghoul Poison (Fine) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Explosive (Fine) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul Dust (Fine) X0–2...

Corpse Ghoul's Ring of Curse (Fine) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul's Ring of Doom (Fine) X0–2, Corpse Ghoul's Ring of Pain (Fine) X0–2...

Warrior Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0–2, Mage Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0–2, Gunner Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0–2...

...

Rare Grade (0.01% drop probability):

Chapter of Gloom (Rare) X0–1

As the contents before him showed, the reward selection panel Wang Zhifan saw now was extremely similar to the one that appeared after he cleared a Dungeon. The only difference was that most of the rewards contained the words "Corpse Ghoul," and the drop rates for rewards of each grade differed from those in Dungeons. But such differences meant nothing to someone like him who could choose his rewards independently.

Just as when selecting Dungeon rewards before, once Wang Zhifan saw that there was only one type of Rare Grade reward and that he could only choose one, he decided he would definitely pick it. Rare Grade items were relatively valuable; even if it did not suit his personal use, he could find a way to sell it for money or trade it for other equipment.

As for the remaining slot, Wang Zhifan had to think carefully. He had actually already done that during the earlier period of waiting; now, he merely needed to make the final decision.

"Too bad there aren't any firearms among these weapon rewards. Otherwise, I'd definitely choose another Fine Grade firearm."

"Things like the Corpse Ghoul Belt and Corpse Ghoul Boots add poison damage to attacks, but they also come with the negative effect of weakening the player's physique. No need to choose them. Excluded."

"Corpse Ghoul's Ring of Curse can have a chance to blind enemies with attacks, Corpse Ghoul's Ring of Doom can stun enemies, and Corpse Ghoul's Ring of Pain can corrode enemies. Their effects are all pretty good, but the targets they affect can't exceed Lv3. That limitation is far too severe. Excluded."

"The other miscellaneous things like Corpse Ghoul Poison and Corpse Ghoul Explosive look pretty disgusting too, and they don't seem that strong..."

"Forget it. I'll gamble once. At my current level, if I want my blade techniques to improve further, I'll have to take this gamble sooner or later."

Without hesitating for long, Wang Zhifan used his mind to make his choices on the reward panel before him inside his Rental House.

In an instant, two items popped into existence from thin air in the space before him. One was a gray, old-looking Brass Crest Pendant, while the other was an inconspicuous pale-yellow scroll—the Rare Grade reward Chapter of Gloom and the Fine Grade reward Warrior Class Skill Upgrade Scroll that he had selected.

The attributes of the Chapter of Gloom were as follows: Chapter of Gloom (Rare Grade)

Birds of a Feather: When you wear this pendant, non-Leader Grade evil creatures will regard you as one of their kind and will not take the initiative to attack you.

Gloom: All damage enemies within 13 meters of you receive from you is increased by 7%.